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Wednesday 3 April 2013

Selling Classes The BBC Great British Class Survey 2013


“England is the most class-ridden country under the sun. It is a land of snobbery and privilege, ruled largely by the old and silly.” ― George Orwell, Why I Write 
 

Many Brits are obsessed still by the ‘class’ thing. The success of TV’s Dowton Abbey attests to that.

In the last century we had Yuppies ,Chavs, Sloane rangers, DINKY ( double income no kids yet) the English have always loved to classify and reclassify.

If we really needed any proof of GB being a predominantly secular country the BBC Lab UK study  proves it. Its grading parameters were:-

 economic capital - income, savings, house value –

and social capital the study gives us 7 socio economic grades.  

The old A, B C1 C2  D and E have now been shelved it seems. ( perhaps)

No doubt Advertisers will find the survey of interest along with socio economists.

Since people and relationships are a key currency to selling , Salespeople need to take  note of this ‘new paradigm’ also.
Professor of sociology at Manchester University, Fiona Devine, suggests the survey gives a sense of class in 21st Century Britain. BBC Lab UK worked with Prof Mike Savage of the London School of Economics and Prof Devine on the study.
The findings were published in the Sociology Journal and presented at a conference of the British Sociological Association on Wednesday
The study also measured cultural capital, defined as the extent and nature of cultural interests and activities.

The new classes are defined as:

Elite - the most privileged group in the UK, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of all three capitals

Established middle class - the second wealthiest, scoring highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group, scoring second highest for cultural capital

Technical middle class - a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital. Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy

New affluent workers - a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital

Traditional working class - scores low on all forms of capital, but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high house values, explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66

Emergent service workers - a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital

Precariat, or precarious proletariat - the poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital.

The above grading from fruits of success will still be useful :-)
The GBCS was launched on line in January 2011, but data showed participants were predominantly drawn from the well-educated social groups. I guess this also indicates that such people are the most class conscious !
To overcome this  they ran a second identical survey was run with a survey company GFK, with a sample of people representing the population of the UK as a whole, using the information in parallel.
Related Links:
The Great British Class Survey


Take the survey ( if you dare)

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