Stratification and segmentation: Social class in consumer behavior

Comparing working-class and middle-class consumers, Carey and Markus (2016, this issue) highlight the ways that social class determines consumer behavior through a set of mutually supportive culture cycles. We use their framework to re-examine several core assumptions in marketing and consumer behavior, assumptions that may fit middle-class consumers better than they do working-class consumers. Revisiting previous findings with an emphasis on social class allows us to offer an agenda for future research regarding advertising and consumer persuasion, material versus experiential purchases, conspicuous and compensatory consumption, and market segmentation.