Social Differentiation

Social Differentiation
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Social Differentiation
Social differentiation is the distinction between social groups and persons based on their sociocultural, physiological, and biological factors. These factors may include sex, age, profession, and ethnicity, which leads to members of the society giving other members of the society some status or even grouping them into specific roles (Walasek & Brown, 2019). The world is diverse, which implies that diversity is the law of nature. Differentiation is also the law of nature since there can never be two human beings or different societies that share the same features or characteristics (James, 2021). Each individual across the world has unique features that differentiate them from others. However, differentiation may affect the people within society either positively or negatively. The paper will expound on the concept of social differentiation. The paper will also apply the social differentiation concept to two consumers, an actual consumer and a fictional consumer, and analyze how the different social differentiation will likely impact the fictitious consumer.
As seen from the introduction, social differentiation, in simple words, refers to the different ways in which people are differentiated within society. The differentiation can be based on several factors. For one, people are differentiated based on their biological factors, such as gender, and age (young or old), among other biological characteristics and traits. Another method of differentiating people in a society is through their job or their source of livelihood (James, 2021). However, social differentiation regarding the kind of job one engages in does not put the jobs in a given order but just lists them. However, some jobs are given higher respect than others due to the salaries that these people earn or the level of intelligence needed, among other factors.
Every society is based on the economy and resources. Some researchers, for example, Marx Weber, use the economic status of a community to determine the aspect of social differentiation within the community (Van de & Salverda, 2012). This is because the economy is one of the most critical aspects that help to determine almost everything else in society, ranging from how people relate to each other to how they feed and dress. Moreover, the majority of the institutions in society are also based on the society's economy (Van de & Salverda, 2012). Due to the economy's massive role in society, the economy has become a significant factor in social differentiation. According to the economy and resources, people are classified into the upper class (the rich), middle class, and lower class (the poor) (James, 2021). The upper class is the people who own resources and are entitled to executive privileges, for example, access to executive goods and services. The people are highly respected in society (Van de & Salverda, 2012). On the other hand, the lowest in social differentiation are the poor, who, in most cases, cannot meet their basic needs (Walasek & Brown, 2019). These individuals have to work for the rich to earn a living and have no access to executive goods and services.
Other factors that may lead to social differentiation include physical traits such as a person's color or physical appearance. Although society has made significant steps in avoiding racial discrimination, some people still treat people differently based on their skin color, for instance, differentiation between people of color and white people. Another factor that leads to social differentiation is cultural traits. Different people/cultures practice various types of culture. The different types of cultures lead to different statuses ascribed to these individuals.
Several factors may lead to social differentiation. One of the factors is qualities. Different individuals in society have unequally achieved qualities, including physical strengths, morality, and intelligence. For instance, some people are considered wise, while others might be dull. Level of performance is yet another factor that may lead to social differentiation. Different people have different levels of performance. Some individuals may accomplish the task on time, while others might be late despite having enough time to complete the tasks.
Application of the concept with a specific consumer
As seen from the above discussion, the economy is a significant factor contributing to class differentiation. The economy classifies people into three groups; the poor, the medium class, and the rich (Van de & Salverda, 2012). The three groups have unique consumption traits that differentiate them from each other. For this paper, I will analyze the consumption behavior of the upper class with whom I have had the privilege to interact.
One of the unique consumption behaviors of wealthy consumers or individuals with adequate resources is focusing more on the quality of the services or the goods they are getting compared to the quantity. Focusing on the quality of a service implies that such a person will achieve better results in his/her life, which in turn will make them feel accomplished a...