SIGNIFICADOS DA EDUCAÇÃO PRIVADA NA NOVA CLASSE MÉDIA.

Previous studies on the acquisition of private education as a form of consumption were no identified in the marketing literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the meanings attributed to private education by families belonging to Brazil's new middle class, using an interpretative approach, appealing to Bourdieu's sociology of education as a theoretical basis for empirical research. In depth interviews were conducted with parents from the lower stratum of the middle class who devoted a portion of their budget to private education. Themes such as quality of education and acquisition of social and cultural capital to the children enrolled in private schools emerged. The results of the study are consistent with Bourdieu's proposals and show that the acquisition of private education is closely linked to the process of social ascension of this segment of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]