socio-economic group

Classification of buyers according to social and economic characteristics. A classification commonly used in marketing research is the A to E system, which classifies households according to the profession of the head of household, or principal wage earner. The grades are as follows: A (upper middle class) – professional or at director level; B (middle class) – senior management; C1 (lower middle class) – junior management and clerical; C2 (working class) – skilled; D (working class) – unskilled, manual labour; and E – those reliant on the state, such as pensioners and the long-term unemployed.