The global trend of individuals from higher socioeconomic backgrounds identifying as middle-class has become widely apparent in Vietnam.

This phenomenon is discussed in the research paper “Media Magic: Making Class Invisible” by Gregory Mantsios and in a study titled “Marketing Social Class and Ideology in Post-World-War-Two” by Erika Paulson and Thomas O’Guinn. These studies show that some Americans mistakenly classify themselves as “middle class” because the media and marketers often blur the lines between the working class and the elite group. This led to the creation of something called a universal middle class.