Write 8 pages with APA style on To What Level does Social Inequality Dictate Consumption of Products. There have not been many studies conducted about the linkages between product consumption and social inequality. Social inequality under the lens of finance is important to marketing organizations and also the strength of the national economy based on tax revenues earned by governmental bodies and ensuring corporate health. Thus, uncovering what drives consumption between classes, especially the lower-income class, is important for economic issues as well as satisfying knowledge regarding social systems.

People with higher financial resources tend to enjoy the ostentatious presentation that comes from consumer products as a means of demonstrating wealth (Mariana, Raluca & Gratiela 2009). With higher discretionary income comes the ability to highlight their class membership, such as purchasing a Mercedes Benz as a means to experience upper-class social climbing. However, lower-class individuals with less discretionary income have a variety of different problems that are associated with consumption including lack of resources and physiological discrepancies that dictate the type of consumption possible or desired. “It is not easy to meet the needs of people belonging to middle-class society” in relation to product marketing and product availability (Mariana et al, p.1020), likely for these reasons.

There appears to be a fundamental difference between the higher resource consumer and the lower-class buyer. In capitalistic societies, it is theorized that lower-resource consumers view the consumption of products as a form of escapism from political systems that leave these consumers feeling trapped and exploited by the government and corporate growth (Wolff 2004). In essence, people in lower-class or middle-class buying segments see consumption as “the adequate, appropriate reward for their productive efforts” rather than finding personal utility through consumption and psychological needs rewards (Wolff, p.2).

How low and middle-class consumers view consumption is important if the research study is to identify how social inequality dictates consumption patterns. Mass media also seems to have an influence on these decisions. Modern communication technologies are referred to as being “elite manipulation and oppression” (trinity.edu 2011, p.2).