Planning,Control, and Risk Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Planning,Control, and Risk - Research Paper Example In 2011, Steve Jobs unveiled the iCloud, which is an online storage for music, files, photos and software in place of MobileMe. The company is also looking forward to the environmental issues that emerge during the production process. Thus, the company has come up with the initiative of reducing the carbon emission during the production process. In spite of the rise in the revenue of the company over the years, the greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by 15.4% since 2008 in terms of per dollar revenue (Apple Inc., 2012). Rate of Return Apple Inc. is a US based company and, therefore, deals in the US dollar value. Internationally, dollar is considered to be the standard scale in understanding the present status of the market. Therefore, both local as well as parent currency returns for Apple Inc. would be in terms of the US dollar. If the company invests in developing countries where the market is huge, then the foreign direct investments made by the Apple Inc. will turn out to be fr uitful, as the exchange rates of foreign currencies with respect to US dollar are variable over the market. On taking a closer look we can observe that, as per the present US market, the rest of currencies of the countries in which Apple has invested are of a comparatively lesser valuation. Thus, a deviation occurs with the gross margin and the net sales of the company when computation is done in terms of other foreign currencies. As inflationary pressures are faced by the economy at large, it is quite normal that exchange rate fluctuations occur. So the risk of exchange fluctuations still remains even if the company makes majority of its investment in the US dollar. Since the company has generated a maximum return from Asia Pacific, there remains a probability that the foreign direct investment made in this region of the world will tend to bring about more returns for the company. The market of Asia Pacific still remains untapped in a lot of sectors which, if invested in, can gener ate profitable returns for the company. However, before investing in FDI’s, Apple Inc. needs to measure all the elements of the financial statement operating in functional currency. The company should also translate the current exchange rate from the functional currency to the reporting currency. Most importantly, the company should be able to assess the economic changes that are responsible for affecting the exchange rates over the net investment. The changes that are generally observed are on each item of assets and liability of the company over the years (FASB, 2012). Role of Accountants in Managerial planning process The accountant of an organization has a very important role in the operations of the company, based on which the managerial decisions are taken. In the process of accounting, the details of the most useful data related to the transaction of the business are recorded. If the accounting seems to have flaws, the decisions taken by the management may go against t he success of the company. However, if all the rules of financial recording of a company are taken into consideration in the accounting of the organization, the managerial decisions taken on its basis may turn out to be fruitful for the company. The most vital role of an accountant is maintaining the books of accounts for the future planning of the organiz

Learning Communities Essay Example for Free

Learning Communities Essay Concorde Career Institute Orlando has been an educational institution for over 25 years. This organization provides fast-track, health-related programs in various fields. As with any educational institution, proprietary or not, there are many employees-all part of many different departments. Concorde Orlando has developed of a learning community to some extent, but the findings presented in Assignment Two support a need for further development in many areas. Concorde has committed itself to providing online and in-person training in order to continue to connect members of its current learning community. This training usually covers a variety of different objectives and the training is usually provided by outside companies. By utilizing outside agencies to provide training materials, the needs of the organization and its employees are not being evaluated nor met. A more personalized training, tailored to specific and immediate needs is a must. Stronger leadership and a more cohesive working milieu are also imperative. Concorde’s major concerns should be focused upon its communication and teamwork approach but, there are many more areas of that require attention. A cohesive, functional learning environment takes dedication and time. Once those areas are better executed, it can begin to build upon the foundation it has begun to lay. Concorde Career Institution, as a corporation, makes statements that it supports a mature learning environment. The mission statement seems to promote an idealistic working atmosphere that fosters independent thinking, creativity, and a teamwork approach to education. Reality has proven to be different. A motivated and strong team leader should be put into place-one that can appreciate the benefits of a well-built and maturely developed learning community. Concorde Orlando provides a yearly employee evaluation. This valuation is meant to appraise employee performance, acknowledge strengths and identify weaknesses. The employee evaluates himself, and then subsequently, so does his/her immediate supervisor. Depending on the evaluation’s results, it may produce an action plan. This action plan recognizes areas that need to be improved on, provides a strategy by which to improve them and a date in which a reevaluation should take place. Concorde does not necessarily discuss findings in employee performance evaluations with the employees; therefore organizational expectations are not known. This causes confusion and ambiguity. Many organizations have begun to favor consultants when evaluating employee performance. This can assure independent and neutral employee performance feedback. There is research that supports consulting as a strategy for improving teachers implementation of classroom interventions. † Results have supported that internal consultants are able to assess and briefly increase teachers treatment integrity with performance feedback† (Sanetti, et. al, 2013). There is a call, however, for organizations to realize that being proactive instead of reactive is a more logical approach when it comes to employee performance. According to a 2012 Global Workforce Study,† a survey of 32,000 employees across 30 countries, calls for employers to focus on engagement. The report defines such engagement as the intensity of employees connection to their organization based on three factors: the extent of their discretionary effort committed to achieving work goals, an environment that supports productivity in multiple ways, and a work experience that promotes well-being† (TD, 2013). This of course will improve overall employee performance and benefits the organization as a whole. The â€Å"group think† theory suggests that people from similar areas of work and backgrounds have ideas that are familiar are accepted without examination, while those that are unfamiliar are rejected without open consideration (Martin, 2006). Groups affected by group think do not tolerate opinions that do not coincide with their own. A learning community can be especially susceptible to group think when its community members are similar in background, shielded from outside opinions, and when there are no clear rules for decision making. At Concorde, group thinking does not habitually exist. Concorde does consider the input of the community, holding biannual meetings in which area affiliates give their input on school progress, its students and offers suggestions for change. This organization seems to value the input and opinions of others. Community members can feel included when they participate in creating the future direction of their learning community. They will make better decisions when they respect social, environmental and economic needs. When a shared vision is used to devise goals that guide local leadership, the community is well on its way to creating a better, sustainable place for the community (Grunkemeyer and Moss, 2010). Shared visions are an important characteristic of any successful learning community. Concorde Orlando is no exception to this fact. This organization has a clear set of goals to accomplish, and department leaders do communicate these company visions with employees. There does not seem to be a comprehensible plan in place, however, as to how to achieve them. Often times, multiple meetings are held in order to impart the company vision community members. Because we live in a world that is constantly changing and moving, organizations are challenged with conditions that seem to change at the speed of light. Often times, initiatives are poorly planned and executed. These errors can cause crippling effects within an organization. More and more, organizations have come to depend on teamwork. According to Ofoegbu, O. , et. l (2012) â€Å"Teamwork may be an appropriate managerial approach to reducing politics by increasing employees understanding and control, particularly in organizations whose strategic objectives call for employees to work in teams. † Most modern organizations have realized the value and benefits of teamwork and Concorde Orlando is no exception. Most projects are completed by teams. Most issues are resolved through the input of various community members. Many community outreach activities are also organized and carried out by teams. With enrollments being the number one company goal, Concorde Orlando heavily relies on teamwork in order to achieve this. Unfortunately, inappropriate team leaders are often chosen, resulting in poorly executed plans. This can cause major project delays and â€Å"do-over’s†. Dennis J. Elrod (2012), states that â€Å"Great leaders are always learning, whether its from those above them in the hierarchy, their peers, or those they lead. They also dont let opportunities to improve pass them by, so it pays to always be on the lookout for things that may improve your leadership style. There are many different types of leaders and many different types of leadership styles. Leaders not only concern themselves with the organizational goals, but also about the people who are involved in the process. Autocratic and hierarchical models of leadership dominated many businesses and organizations for years. The workplace environment changes from generation to generation. Today, community members are no longer content to go to work in complete obscurity. Employees want to feel significant, stimulated and challenged. Being an effective leader builds a sense of belonging within its learning community. Effective leaders not only increase employee retention, but also improve employee efficiency. Employees are more willing to follow efficient leaders than non-effective individuals. Choosing the right leader is the difference between success and failure. A great team leader needs to understand the organization’s goals and be able to understand what drivers are needed in order to motivate the team members. It is the leader’s job to ensure that great ideas are smartly implemented. The team leader must be able to sell his vision, the organization’s goals and the rewards reaped from the fruits of their labor. He must be able determine which team member could execute what parts of the project, resolve conflicts, and encourage each team member’s creativity and input. Concorde Orlando has a long standing history of ineffective leadership and a very high turn-over rate. During the last year, there have been several personnel changes in the Campus President, Academic Dean and program director positions. This instability and low employee retention ratio in its leadership roles have compromised Concorde Orlando’s credibility with the student body, its employees and the community. Concorde Career Institute has not been a pioneer in the field of communication. Issues are slow to be resolved, meetings are full of redundant material and there is a general fear of communicating with administrators for fear of retaliation. Great communication starts with listening and observing, and this organization has not trained its leaders to do that. Training is requisite in order to learn how to effectively communicate with others in a work environment. Currently, there is no communication training available at Concorde. The same communication methods that have been in place for years are still practiced today. Reevaluation of these methods is needed in order to have more successful communication within its learning community. Internet access provides opportunities for classrooms throughout the world to communicate and collaborate in real time. In the same way, members of the learning community can experience these open new ways of thinking. â€Å"A compendium of organizations and businesses is dedicated to encouraging an emphasis on skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, computer and technology skills, communication, and self-direction skills in US schools and schools worldwide. The educational challenges of the 21st century open up possibilities that, until now, have been beyond imagination† (Roth, 2010). Concorde does utilize different methods of training its employees in order to maximize learning potential. What seems to have been most successful within this learning community is peer leadership. â€Å"Peer leadership contributes to the success of collaborative group learning† (Popejoy and Asala, 2013). Group learning allows all members to be actively involved. When community members are involved in learning processes with their peers, they are more likely to feel comfortable. Concorde Orlando supports and encourages all types of learning models, therefore increases the chance of successful outcomes. Concorde Career Institute-Orlando could be classified as being well on its way to developing a mature learning community. Though this learning community is fraught with quite a few weaknesses, it also has an impressive set of strengths. As long as someone has the initiative and fortitude to move this community forward, Concorde Orlando can prove to be a great success.

Selling the Fantasy :: Shopping Retail Essays

Selling the Fantasy I slow my step to a stroll as I approach the doors to the Staten Island Mall. I am finally back in New York, and, of course, the first thing I am going to do is shop. I am going to make the most of this little excursion. Abercrombie and Fitch, Gap, Express, here I come. Accompanying me on this venture are my trusty friends, Andrea and Jennifer, both also back home for a weekend break from college. As we walk past the sliding doors, we enter what we've been conditioned to think is every woman's paradise. Huge elevators to the left and right, eye-catching signs, beautifully ornate displays. Perhaps more an advertiser's paradise, now that I think about it. Walking along the first floor we come across an Abercrombie and Fitch store. Nothing like images of half-dressed beautiful people to start off my day. Why do we always come here? Every time, the same thing happens. I slow my step and look over at my friends. "Andi, not Abercrombie again," I whine. "Do you remember what happened last time we came here? You bought a tank top for $20 and only wore it once!" Andrea shoots me a bemused look and continues walking into the store. In a few minutes, I reluctantly follow her in. Yay, I think to myself, my voice dripping with sarcasm, prepare to be sold some overpriced beautiful people. Walking into the store, I am immediately confronted by attractive salespeople trying to sell us trendy clothes and huge images on the walls of a gorgeous woman (dressed in Abercrombie and Fitch, of course) in the arms of a handsome man. This is why I hate coming here. That image on the wall. I mean, who doesn't want to be that woman? Every woman does, no o ne can deny it; the countless advertising campaigns have managed to convince us that by dressing like her we could become her. Highly unlikely I know, but that is exactly what advertisers are so good at selling. That particular image. That identity. The "who you are" defined by the "what you wear." The beautiful woman who wears Abercrombie and Fitch. And by the time I realize that I'm not the beautiful woman who wears Abercrombie, but rather the poor college student who can't afford Abercrombie, I've already been convinced to buy just one more shirt.

Frosts Desert Places Essay -- Robert Frost Poem Poetry essays researc

Desert Places   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the poem Desert Places by Robert Frost, the author describes the scenery in which he came across with. It was on a winter day, and the day was turning into a night. As he went across a field, he saw that the ground was almost all covered in snow. But then he noticed a few weeds and stubble on the ground.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the first line, Frost talks about how the night falling fast. This is referring to how fast Frost felt concerning time, which went by fast in real life. At the end of the line, Frost added two simple words which seems to add a sense of desperation, or even a sense of hopelessness, to the whole idea of time going by fast. The words â€Å"oh, fast† seem to show that although Frost did not like it, but there was nothing he could do or change about it. Time will ...

Good and Evil Hand-In-Hand

Characters such as Wolverine from the X-men, Batman from The Dark Knight, and Shrek from Shrek the movie are great examples of people who seemly are evil, but really do good for others around them. These characters are very similar to Jean Valjean in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. People, in general, have both good and evil in them. Hugo proves this by showing that characters that do bad can still be a good person, that they use their conscience to make decisions, and that if they try they can make bad situations, good. In Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Hugo proves that people that do bad things can still be a good person. When you first learn about Jean Valjean, he seems to be this criminal up to no good. When he entered a town unknown to him, people â€Å"regarded this traveler with a sort of distrust† (7), which means he seem deceitful and mysterious. But throughout the book, Jean Valjean becomes a much kinder, nice person. At one point, he saves a young girl, named Cosette, from the abuse she was enduring from the Thenardiess. Before he leaves the Inn that the Thenardiess were running, when he is talking to the lady innkeeper, he asks if he can take Cosette with him. All he says is, â€Å"suppose you were relieved of her? † (174) and she was his. He did a lot for this young girl. One major thing he did was risk his life to save the man that she was in love with. After a big fight, Marius becomes greatly wounded, and Jean tries to save him. Marius was helped from â€Å"the hand which had seized him from behind at the moment he was falling†¦ was the hand of Jean Valjean† (505). Jean tried to help everyone, even though he did badly when he was younger. In Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Hugo shows that characters use their conscience to make decisions. Everyone has choices to make on a daily basis and they can choose to do good or bad. In the book, the characters had the attempt to make the good choice in their decisions. When Jean Valjean stole from the bishop and got caught, he busted himself out even when the bishop covered for him. When the gendarme brought him back to the bishop, Jean â€Å"raised his head with stupefied air† (33) because he knew he had to face the kind people after he had stolen. After this bad choice, he made the choice to do better, which theoretically his conscience is telling him to do good things. Javert also made the better choice by, at the end, letting Jean Valjean free. Throughout the whole book, it’s been a wild goose chase for Javert to catch Jean and finally he does. While Javert, he went on a walk. There he realizes that â€Å"there was matter for self-examination† (529) and he revaluates his situation. During his â€Å"self-examination† he realizes that Jean was good and that now Jean has saved him from death, he couldn’t send him to jail. That self-examination is like having a conversation with your conscience and thinking of if you should do good or bad. And in the end, he did good and let Jean go. In Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Hugo shows that anyone can make a bad situation, good. If you’re stuck in a bad condition, you need to think fast and get yourself out of that bad situation. Most people would do that by doing well. When Fantine gave up her daughter because she knew she couldn’t take care of her alone, she was trying to make a bad situation, better for someone else. She even cut her hair off, so that her daughter had money. Towards the end of her life, she goes a tad crazy. She would say to herself, â€Å"When I am rich, I shall have my cosette with me, â€Å"(64) and she laughed, like she knew what she was saying was totally insane, but she kept telling herself that anyways. When Jean Valjean first took Cosette, he had to hide from Javert and the others with him. He was in a bad situation, but he tried to remember that he had a young girl with him and tried to make it a good situation. When they were running and finally gave up, Jean heard voices. And â€Å"while these voices were singing Jean Valjean was entirely absorbed in them. He no longer saw the night, he saw a blue sky† (200). So even though he was in pain and struggling to go on, he let his religion over take him and he knew he had to go on to have Cosette. No matter how bad a person is, there is always some good in them. Hugo has proved this by conveying that characters that do bad can still be a good person, that they use their conscience to make decisions, and that if they try they can make bad situations, good.

The History and Laws of Apartheid in South Africa

The History and Laws of Apartheid in South Africa ApartheidThroughout history, black people have been discriminated against in all walks of life. From Africa to North America, black people have had to put up with oppression, blatant racism and discrimination, cruelty, slavery, and have been subjugated against in the worst ways in various parts of the world. This paper will provide some insight to the racial discrimination against black people in South Africa during the Apartheid regime. This era truly illustrates the huge amount of oppression that black people in South Africa had to go through. These black people were united in the pretext that both the African Americans were Africans who were primarily taken against their will and transported as slaves to North America where they lived with constant fear of being lynched and beaten just because of the color of their skin. The Africans who were not taken as slaves did not have it any better, especially in the Southern part of Africa, namely South Africa, where black Africans were su bjugated against and had to put up with similar conditions to that of which the African Americans were dealing with, namely Jim Crow.â€Å"For use by white persons† – sign from the a...This paper will go through a number of topics which deal with the situations of black people in South Africa, including the various laws which kept the black populations subjugated against as well as the events leading to Nelson Mandela becoming the president of South Africa in May of 1994.History of Apartheid in South AfricaInformation for this section of this paper was retrieved, made relevant, and summarized from a few websites and provides a summary of the events leading up to the institutionalization of Apartheid in South Africa . The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. South Africa is a country which...

U.S. Marshalls essays

U.S. Marshall's essays Ever since I was a little boy I have wanted to be a police officer, and through the years my interest has grown more and more. In high school I did ride along with the local police department and I also worked as a security guard for the parks and recreation department in my town. I enjoy people and I like to help people so I decided on a career in law enforcement. Coming into college it was important for me to pick a career in law enforcement and I read an article about U.S. Marshals and the duties they perform. This is why I want to be a U.S. Marshal!!! THE MISSION of the United States Marshals Service is to protect the Federal courts and ensure the effective operation of the judicial system. Since 1789, U.S. Marshals and their Deputies have answered the call to service of the American people. From taking the census to protecting the President, the missions of the Service have changed to meet the needs of the nation. Today, the Marshals Service is responsible for providing protection for the federal judiciary, transporting federal prisoners, protecting endangered federal witnesses and managing assets seized from criminal enterprises. In addition, the men and women of the Marshals Service pursue and arrest 55 percent of all federal fugitives, more than all other federal agencies combined. The backbone of the Marshals Service has always been the individual Deputy Marshal. Portrayed throughout history for legendary heroics in the face of lawlessness, these Deputies carry out their daily assignments with dedication and professionali sm. The United States Marshal is appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the U.S. Senate for a period of 4 years. He is required to live in his District, with the exception of the U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia and U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia Superior Court; the two Marshals can live in the surrounding districts. The Marshals ...

Evaluating a Process Analysis Essay

Evaluating a Process Analysis Essay When developing a paragraph or essay through process analysis, you should keep several points in mind: Be sure to include all steps and arrange them in sequence.Explain why each step is necessary, and include warnings where appropriate.Define any terms that your readers may not be familiar with.Offer clear descriptions of any tools, materials, or equipment needed to carry out the process.Provide your readers with a way of determining whether or not the process has been carried out successfully. Heres a draft of a short process analysis essay, How to Make a Sand Castle. In terms of content, organization, and cohesion, the draft has both strengths and weaknesses. Read (and enjoy) this student composition, and then respond to the evaluation questions at the end. How to Make a Sand Castle For young and old alike, a trip to the beach means relaxation, adventure, and a temporary escape from the worries and responsibilities of ordinary life. Whether swimming or surfing, tossing a volleyball or just snoozing in the sand, a visit to the beach means fun. The only equipment you need is a twelve-inch deep pail, a small plastic shovel, and plenty of moist sand. Making a sandcastle is a favorite project of beach-goers of all ages. Begin by digging up a large amount of sand (enough to fill at least six pails) and arranging it in a pile. Then, scoop the sand into your pail, patting it down and leveling it off at the rim as you do. You can now construct the towers of your castle by placing one pailful of sand after another face down on the area of the beach that you have staked out for yourself. Make four towers, placing each mound twelve inches apart in a square. This done, you are ready to build the walls that connect the towers. Scoop up the sand along the perimeter of the fortress and arrange a wall six inches high and twelve inches long between each pair of towers in the square. By scooping up the sand in this fashion, you will not only create the walls of the castle, but you will also be digging out the moat that surrounds it. Now, with a steady hand, cut a one-inch square block out of every other inch along the circumference of each towe r. Your spatula will come in handy here. Of course, before doing this, you should use the spatula to smooth off the tops and sides of the walls and towers. You have now completed your very own sixteenth-century sandcastle. Though it may not last for centuries or even until the end of the afternoon, you can still take pride in your handicraft. Do make sure, however, that you have chosen a fairly isolated spot in which to work; otherwise, your masterpiece may be trampled by beach bums and children. Also, make a note on the high tides so that you have enough time to build your fortress before the ocean arrives to wash it all away. Evaluation Questions What important information seems to be missing from the introductory paragraph? Which sentence from the body paragraph might be placed more effectively in the introduction?Identify the transitional words and phrases used to guide the reader clearly from step to step in the body paragraph.Which piece of equipment mentioned in the body paragraph doesnt appear in the list at the end of the introductory paragraph?Suggest how the single long body paragraph might be effectively divided into two or three shorter paragraphs.Notice that the writer includes two warnings in the concluding paragraph of the essay. Where do you think these warnings should have been placed, and why?Which two steps have been listed in reverse order? Rewrite these steps, arranging them in a logical sequence.

Cultural constraints in management theories Essay

Cultural constraints in management theories - Essay Example Despite their popularity, the validity and reliability of many of these models is easily questioned. Hosftede’s and Trompenaars’ dimensions of culture have far-reaching implications for organizations. In China, which has been heavily influenced by a unique combination of collectivism, communism, and Confucianism, these dimensions and their effects on management are extremely pronounced. In China, which has been heavily influenced by a unique combination of collectivism, communism, and Confucianism, these dimensions and their effects on management are extremely pronounced. Motivation exemplifies one of the most challenging aspects of organizational functioning in China. Yet, despite a wealth of literature on the topic, many of these dimensions and established beliefs require future consideration. The goal of this essay is to review the current state of knowledge about culture and motivation in China. The first half of this essay is devoted to the evaluation and criticism of cultural convictions about China through the prism of Hofstede’s and Trompenaars’ models. The second part of the essay talks about motivation within Chinese cultural contexts and the applicability of motivation theories in the Chinese culture. The main finding of this essay is that there is no one universal approach to the study of culture and motivation in cross-cultural contexts: cultures are never static, and it is never possible to predict how future cultural changes will affect organizations and employees in long-term periods. Hofstede, Trompenaars, and China: the culture-management relationship revisited China is rightly considered as one of the most popular objects of contemporary organization research. Much has been written and said about Chinese culture and its implications for business. Nonetheless, numerous aspects of cultural functioning in Chinese organizations remain poorly understood. Therefore, there is a need for reconsidering the role and implicat ions of Chinese national culture for management. It goes without saying that Hofstede’s model has long been the main instrument of management cultural research. This paper is no exception. â€Å"Hofstede’s dimensions of culture will create a foundation for understanding the effects of national culture on Chinese enterprises† (Geert Hofstede 2009). Geert Hofstede explored China along several important dimensions: long-term orientation, individualism and collectivism, power distance and, which was unique for China, Confucianism. China is believed to be a highly long-term oriented culture: the country is ranked the highest among other Asian countries on the long-term orientation dimension. Simply stated, the Chinese are prepared to work hard to achieve their long-term goals (Geert Hofstede 2009). Furthermore, Chinese national culture is characterized by high commitment to collectivist values: on the individualism dimension China is ranked the lowest of all Asian cu ltures (Geert Hofstede 2009). Low individualism in China is usually attributed to the long-standing legacy of communism and the historical values of family and relationships. Not only do the Chinese rely on the collectivist networks, but they tend to assume responsibility for members of their group (Geert Hofstede 2009). Given the role of communism in the Chinese history and culture, it comes as no surprise that the country ranks high on the Power Distance dimension. In other words, China demonstrates a serious gap between those in power and their subordinates (Geert Hofstede 2009). In no way is power distance imposed on the Chinese people; rather, organizations and individuals in China accept this dimension for granted and as part of their culture (Geert Hofstede 2009). Whether or not China is a feminine society Hofstede does not tell. Moreover, there is no universal agreement on this

Manage change task 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Manage change task 2 - Research Paper Example In most cases, organizational change tends to be radical and can lead to reorientation of the business. Organisational change tends to be deep seated, thereby impacting the stakeholders of the company as well (Smith, Vasudevan and Tanniru). Organisational change is based on external factors and these factors impact the organisation and also act as driving forces in a number of times. Benefits of Change Specialists: Change in an organisation means an impact on the processes of an organisation. This impact can be very wide spread or simply concentrated on one aspect of the business; however it does create major ripples in the organisation. Consulting or hiring a change consultant is crucial for a business attempting change and the benefits of hiring a change consultant is very high (Hiatt and Creasey). Firstly, change management consultants are experienced and well versed with the various aspects and change and have clear resources as well as methods of dealing with change. Also, chang e management consultants have the expertise to manage communication within the organisation, which is crucial. Change is not well accepted in most organisations and having a change consultant, who can communicate the change details effectively, makes the process smoother and more effective (Nelson and Aaron). Consultants of change also design the communication plans, training and development plans, documentation, improvements of the organisation, career development plans, and also the designing, developing of plans to bring about the improvements within the organisation. Also, consultants work with the clients and learn their requirements, make the project plans and also work on the tasks and value added solution. Change management is a professional job and it is best left to individuals with the expertise for it. Need for Change: Strategic change involves a number of changes to the organisation as a whole. Hence before an organisation decides to make a strategic change to itself, a few questions and areas need to be considered. These include the following: Firstly, is the organization a start up business? If yes, then implementing a strategic change is crucial and is a necessity rather than a luxury. The strategic change plan helps identify the business plan and also helps in linking all other elements like marketing plan, financial plans, management plans and also communication plans together (Smith, Vasudevan and Tanniru). Secondly, the next question that the company needs to ask itself is, Are we planning for a new major venture? Here if the company is opting for a major venture like product expansion or brand extensions, new department or division etc, then it is crucial for the businesses to implement strategic change. Is the company due for the annual strategic plan update? If so, it is crucial that the company has the strategic change plan developed and set as well. Companies need to focus on the various performance meters within the organisation and k eep a tab on the trends. This will help the company determine whether or not a change management is necessary or not. Strategic Objectives: The rationale and objectives for any change management program are important aspects. Objectives are in most cases specific and achievable and in most cases these objectives are the most

Kettle Mountain Mining Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Kettle Mountain Mining Company - Case Study Example To be exact, as per the investment analysis, the railway project is estimated to cost (80,000,000 + 25,000,000 + 1,000,000) = 106,000,000. However, if the Federal Government accepts the company’s petition for subsidy, the share of the project cost to the Kettle mining company would be (106,000,000*0.5) = $ 53,000,000. The subsidy would help reduce the burden of the project for the company. Therefore, Dr. Rousseau should consider going public to raise the amount required for investment. Secondly, if, as is recommended, the Kettle mining Company decides to go public, the company’s capital structure must change to reflect the debt borrowed from the public through the issuance of an IPO. In that case, Dr. Rousseau, who seems to oppose the IPO option must make sacrifices and relinquish a portion of the company’s control to the new shareholders. The IPO is the best option since it provides a long-term source of funds, which is appropriate for investments such as railro ad development. It is also important to consider the fact that a loan from a bank has been negotiated at a cost of 11%. This source of finance will increase the company’s weighted cost of capital to 5.8%. Comparatively, the IPO option is better than the loan option for the reason that the loan restricts the company’s decision-making and must be called back on maturity, while the IPO can only be called back when the company goes under receivership (CMA Canada, n.d, p. 1-3). Third, currently, the company heavily relies on road and air transportation media. The cost of the road transportation during winter totals to $ 2 million and that of air transportation during the spring and summer totals to $ 3.5 million. If the project is undertaken, these costs will be avoided. In addition, the train is expected to provide transport and freight services to residents of Carlsbad and Whitehorse, which is expected to generate revenues.

Research report Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report - Research Paper Example In this article therefore, Chen and Chien-Yu conduct a research among students to prove whether students appreciate and consider this test relevant or not. For the study process, the authors used 92 students as the subjects. These were enrolled in a technical college and were part of a remedial class for English proficiency test in their college. These students comprised 75 male and 17 females. Among these participants, 30% studied Applied English, 22% studied Applied Japanese, 25% majored in International Trade, and the remaining 14% majored in Business Management. Therefore, more than a half of the students in this study specialized in applied language. The type of research method adopted by the authors is quantitative. Therefore, through this study, the authors were able to establish the different attitudes of students toward the TOEIC English proficiency test (Chen and Chien-Yu 1-2). After the study, results showed that more than half of the researched students appreciated the TO EIC English proficiency test. Specifically, of those students studied, 63% agreed that they considered the TOEIC guidebook as an important resource in the learning of English grammar. With regard to vocabulary, more than 67% agreed that this guidebook was a great source of reference for English vocabulary. On the other hand, 75% of these college students considered the TOEIC guidebook as essential for reading in English. Nonetheless, close to 60% of them anticipated using the TOEIC guidebook in their English lessons during their freshman year. In addition, 76% of the students agreed that this guidebook has increased their level of interest in learning English (Chen and Chien-Yu 2-3). Overall, the study results point out that the TOEIC test is highly appreciated among students, as a way of testing proficiency. I feel this is true. First, language proficiency tests are important in order to determine a person’s proficiency in a language. Therefore, this is an important language instrument to be used in schools and companies. For example, in international companies, new employees from different countries must be proficient in the English language, because this is an international language for standard communication. Communication is core to companies; therefore, the TOEIC English proficiency test is important for establishing if an individual qualifies to work for the international company, based on their English language proficiency. Additionally, students from different countries wishing to study in the USA or other international countries, which use English language, must be tested for their proficiency in the language using this test, for effective learning process. Chen and Chien-Yu (4) note that, â€Å"an assessment can assist learning if it provides feedback and it becomes a formative assessment which can bring teaching to meet learning needs.† Therefore, to this end, I recommend that high schools in all countries should prepare their student s for TOEIC tests, since after high school; many students are exposed to this test, and many others. Works Cited Chen, Han-Kwang, and Chien-Yu Chiu. "Utilizing Proficiency Test as an English Language Learning Instrument." The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning 7.1 (2011): 1-5. ProQuest. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. Part 2: Food Inc Food Inc. is a documentary that was filmed in 2008. This documentary addresses important issues relating to food and the corporations today. The system of food production

English law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

English law - Essay Example ?s populace from unexpected data losses, as a matter of fact the largest data loss ever recorded in history which occurred on the inauspicious 21st of November 2007 was within the United Kingdom itself, and that too by the inappropriate management by government’s recruits themselves; within this data breach hefty information which encompassed the bank and employment details of more than 25 million Britons was lost. The data also included personal information about many renowned and wealthy personalities. (Hines, ONeill, & Blakely, 2007) Very soon after the data theft incident the Times reported another scandal where the missiles triggered by the ICO had missed by a continent as the report reveals that about 100 hacker websites were candidly selling off Bank details and secret PIN numbers (Mostrous & Kennedy, 2007). This report triggered off yet another tittle-tattle and directly questioned the ostensible â€Å"complexity† of the Data Protection Act. This report specifically focuses on the data protection policies for Banks and their Customers; this also includes avowals in various litigations such as the case of Bavarian Lager Co Ltd. v Commission of the European Communities. At the outset, it is to be declared that the Data Protection Act specifically focuses on the prevention of all sorts of data for living beings, may that be Bank details; personal info such as marital status, age, etc.; profession info; or last but not least secure data. Thus it is clear that the prime focus of Data Protection Act primarily places preference for the customer. As a matter of fact the Data Protection Act in the U.K. is known to be the most austere amongst similar laws in any other part of the world. The author would like to address this case because this created results that were the basic foundations of the data protection and information transfer procedures: The Basis of this case was negligence in clarifying the bank’s policies, this led to the outburst of the so called

Research report Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report - Research Paper Example In this article therefore, Chen and Chien-Yu conduct a research among students to prove whether students appreciate and consider this test relevant or not. For the study process, the authors used 92 students as the subjects. These were enrolled in a technical college and were part of a remedial class for English proficiency test in their college. These students comprised 75 male and 17 females. Among these participants, 30% studied Applied English, 22% studied Applied Japanese, 25% majored in International Trade, and the remaining 14% majored in Business Management. Therefore, more than a half of the students in this study specialized in applied language. The type of research method adopted by the authors is quantitative. Therefore, through this study, the authors were able to establish the different attitudes of students toward the TOEIC English proficiency test (Chen and Chien-Yu 1-2). After the study, results showed that more than half of the researched students appreciated the TO EIC English proficiency test. Specifically, of those students studied, 63% agreed that they considered the TOEIC guidebook as an important resource in the learning of English grammar. With regard to vocabulary, more than 67% agreed that this guidebook was a great source of reference for English vocabulary. On the other hand, 75% of these college students considered the TOEIC guidebook as essential for reading in English. Nonetheless, close to 60% of them anticipated using the TOEIC guidebook in their English lessons during their freshman year. In addition, 76% of the students agreed that this guidebook has increased their level of interest in learning English (Chen and Chien-Yu 2-3). Overall, the study results point out that the TOEIC test is highly appreciated among students, as a way of testing proficiency. I feel this is true. First, language proficiency tests are important in order to determine a person’s proficiency in a language. Therefore, this is an important language instrument to be used in schools and companies. For example, in international companies, new employees from different countries must be proficient in the English language, because this is an international language for standard communication. Communication is core to companies; therefore, the TOEIC English proficiency test is important for establishing if an individual qualifies to work for the international company, based on their English language proficiency. Additionally, students from different countries wishing to study in the USA or other international countries, which use English language, must be tested for their proficiency in the language using this test, for effective learning process. Chen and Chien-Yu (4) note that, â€Å"an assessment can assist learning if it provides feedback and it becomes a formative assessment which can bring teaching to meet learning needs.† Therefore, to this end, I recommend that high schools in all countries should prepare their student s for TOEIC tests, since after high school; many students are exposed to this test, and many others. Works Cited Chen, Han-Kwang, and Chien-Yu Chiu. "Utilizing Proficiency Test as an English Language Learning Instrument." The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning 7.1 (2011): 1-5. ProQuest. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. Part 2: Food Inc Food Inc. is a documentary that was filmed in 2008. This documentary addresses important issues relating to food and the corporations today. The system of food production

Sociology of Gender-sexual assault, abuse and crime Essay

Sociology of Gender-sexual assault, abuse and crime - Essay Example There are actual websites that suggest that if a woman says "no" she really does not mean it. According to the FBI "the rate of forcible rapes in 2007 was estimated at 59.1 offenses per 100,000 female inhabitants" (U.S. Department of Justice, 2008, p. 2). The FBI defines "forcible rape" as forcing a woman to have sex against her will. The greatest challenge for rape victims is that police do not always believe that this has happened to them. According to Fazlollah (2008) there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that police departments ignore rape because "women often lie." (par. 1). The evidence shows that many police departments " fail to report rapes, miscategorize and disguise them and manipulate statistics in order to simplify their work or bolster their departments or their cities images. Often, police believe that alleged victims are lying and categorize reports as unfounded." (par. 5). This has created more problems in women reporting the crime because when they are n ot believed it takes a very long time for an individual to come to trial and/or to be convicted of the crime. In these cases most of the precincts that are adopting this stance continue to be dominated by men. There are many theories about rape and most of them deal specifically with "why" someone commits the crime. For most feminists, rape is more about power than it is about sex. According to Ellis (1989) the feminist view involves a mans decision to "behave towards women in a possessive, dominating, and demeaning manner" (p. 11). Thornhill and Palmer (2000) have taken issue with the feminist viewpoint and devoted work to developing a different sociological theory. In their research they believe that rape is about sex because men are sexual creatures. Also they state these facts: Because of these issues Thronhill and Palmer suggest that rape is a " a natural, biological phenomenon that is a product of the human evolutionary heritage." (p. 2). They show evidence

Natural child birth VS. Medicated child birth Essay Example for Free

Natural child birth VS. Medicated child birth Essay Abstract: Natural childbirth and medicated birth are the two options practiced all around the world by the gynecologists, these days. However there are some issues related to both the birth process. In this paper we will discuss the pros and cons of both the natural child birth and the medicated child birth. Introduction Natural childbirth: it is a natural process with minimum medical intervention, specifically the use of pain relives medications and surgical interventions (Vernon, D (2005) Medicated child birth: in this type of birth, doctor make use of pain killers and other instruments like episiotomies, forceps and ventouse deliveries and caesarean sections during the delivery process. Every woman during her delivery undergoes pain which is a normal physiological reaction. In a normal birth, pain makes the women to react against the pain by tensing and fighting it. Majority of women around the world prefers natural child births however in some cases the mother prefers to be medicated thus reliving pain. Birth pain is sudden and intense. However, with every contraction the pain gradually fades away resulting in birth of a child. (Sakala, C. , M. Corry, and H. Goer. (2004) So for a mother there are both the options available either to select natural birth or a medicated child birth. Natural child birth is a natural process and there is now side effect except the mother undergoes sever pain. However in case of medicated child birth is artificial process therefore it does have some side effects despite it’s practiced very frequently all around the world Here are some of the pros and cons of both natural and the medicated child birth: Benefits of Natural Childbirth Natural child birth is completely without any medication. Remember that medicine is a medicine and, and even the most secure medicines also have some side effects Mothers that go through natural child birth is able to move freely throughout labor and after as the new researches reveals that medicated birth makes it difficult to move during and after the birth. ( Anderson, G. , et al. (2000) In natural childbirth women feel their bodys reflex, there how they can respond better by pushing faster, as the medication does affect the reflexes thus prolonging the pushing time. (World Health Organization Department of Reproductive Health and Research. (1999) Unmediated birth is natural process and the pain during the birth is also natural that guides the mother to seek specific positions that might help the child to move easily to get into right position of delivery. In majority of cases Mothers has fast recovery after a natural childbirth since they can move freely and easily. Generally they eat immediately and their appetite is normal. In natural child birth Endorphins is secreted within placenta and umbilical cord of the mother. That secretion helps the baby to deliver easily and get adjusted to new environment comfortably. (Lieberman, E. and C. ODonoghue (2002) Naturally delivered babies are better responsive and show more interest in pre-breastfeeding behaviors such as sucking and massaging the mothers breasts, as well as the proper length of time they spend nursing during the first one and a half hour. Natural birth also increases the possibility of a healthier and fast recovery because of better hormonal balance. (Righard, L. and M. Alade. (1990). This is because a woman who has given birth with minimal intercession does not need to recover from major abdominal surgery, instrumental delivery, and cut of the perineum, any damage from IV lines, or severe stomach pain, headache backache caused by the use of medication. Natural childbirth increases the natural delivery physiology and laboring progress of healthy, well- feed women and increases interventions in the normal course of natural childbirth. Benefits of Medicated Birth Medicated Birth has a lot of benefits and is been adapted by the mothers all over the world. Some of the benefits are as follows: Women that experience a very long labor pain can benefit from using pain medication to get some relief prior to pushing stage. (Simkin, P. (1992) if the woman is finding the pain unbearable, it will definitely affect the delivery process, pain medication would definitely act as an aiding factor so that her body might not fight against the labor. (E. Jones, Pregnancy, Contraception, and Family Planning Services in Industrialized Countries (1989) similarly if the woman is experiencing some sort of fear, medication would help her by reliving her from severe pain and anxiety. However on the other hand it does have side effects depending upon person to person. Sometimes it is found that Medication has caused the baby sleepy as the anesthesia can penetrate through the placenta. (Ransjo-Arvidson A. B. , Matthiesen. (2001) Moreover pain guides the mother to adjust her position through which the child can adjust within if the child is posterior. However in case of medication the mother can not feel the pain to adjust herself thus may case certain complications in some cases. (Uvnas-Moberg, K. (1998) Conclusion Mothers have the ability to give birth naturally. Despite the women faces the pain but the pain goes away gradually. It is a fast process and has no side effects. The baby is normal and responsive. Pain medication is a great resource in very difficult and prolonged labors when the mother loses her patience to deliver the baby. In such cases epidural is very much effective. Anaesthetics may increase the likelihood of complications ( Knapp, L. (1996) We can find variety of pain killers out there in the market. If the right medicine is used I can help the delivery. Most pain killers do not take pain completely away. It makes pain bearable for the mother thus can concentrate on the birth. However in medicated birth mother always need continuous assistance all through the process.

Psychologically Manipulative Advertising Strategies

Psychologically Manipulative Advertising Strategies Introduction: This research is based on the psychological effects of advertising on the consumer. The controversial advertising campaigns are intended to provoke discussion of global issues, not to sell clothes. Today, any product is made of two things: a percentage of material and a percentage of image. And the part of the product that is made of image is getting bigger (Luciano Benetton)( Financial Times, 2001). Therefore advertising is getting more tricky and complicated. The picture has great importance to the content of the advertisement because it has the possibility to express feelings. Owing to this, it is very important to be sure that the picture expresses feelings that agree with the strategy of the sender. If not, there is a risk that the picture sends out a message that was not intended (Sidenbladh,E 2000). This not only kills the purpose of the advertisement but fails to impact the consumers mind, not to mention the waste of valuable advertising time and the costs attached to it. Ad vertising intends to influence people to think a particular way and to apply pressure for consumers to purchase a product. There is a level of understanding of this fact on the part of the consumer, but this does not mean that the people are able to fully control their own reactions. To persuade the receiver is the most important task of the picture. The receiver is meant to think along the line of thoughts that the sender intended to create. It is therefore believed that peoples self-understanding, behaviour and lifestyle would be affected. The picture is intended to remind people about their own and personal lifestyle and experiences. The fact is that we look at a picture in accordance with our own experiences. The consciousness only grasps a small part of all the sight impressions we actually receive. This is where peoples different associations and experiences enter the picture (Hansson et al., 1992). Many of these messages are certainly involuntary, usually coming from the atti tudes that are widespread in a society at a given time. These messages are intended to attract the viewer and to guide thier thinking on certain channel with the aim of selling the product and making the consumer believe that are getting the complete package that comprises of the product along with the image attached to it. This may be achieved by giving an impression of what that product may account for in their lives by exaggerating and impressing an image of a certain level of emotional importance that they link to the product. There are many different communication models that originate from the classical Stimuli-Organization-Response Model (Aaker et al., 1992; Fiske, 1994). As an example we have chosen Edfeldt (1992) because it stresses the influence of disturbance of the senders message. The sender should create an advertisement and formulate it in the best possible way, in order to sell the product intended. Already at this stage it might happen that the message changes owing to the simple reason that it is not always so easy to put your thoughts into words and pictures. The senders own thoughts have vital importance to how the advertisement will look and through which sender and channel it will be publicized. When the advertisement reaches the sender it will be changed and also be affected by this persons personal thought; later on it will also be adjusted and might again be changed in some ways, in order to fit the media channel, which is intended. After that the receiver, and hopefully also the consi gnee, will get the message and in this step it is their thoughts that decide how the advertisement shall be interpreted. Consequently, at every step there are disturbances, which make the process sometimes troublesome.(Andersson, S. 2004)Advertising agencies make use of their knowledge of psychology to come up with campaigns that will appeal to the consumers desires and needs. In an individual society its easier to victimise the masses with such kind of an advertisement campaign as compared to multicultural societies. Products like fairness creams are significantly advertised in the sub continent and the advertisements give an impression that people who are dark are less likely to succeed in life as compared to the ones with a lighter skin tone. One of the fair and lovely ads shows how a girl cannot get her dream job only because she is dark and after using this product she get it even without an interview. (Fair and lovely, 27 Feb. 2009) Viewing such an ad will impact the people who have a darker skin and in some cases put them in a complex about their appearance. This in turn will make the consumer believe that in order to live a better life they require the product. Contrary to that in countries with a predominant Caucasian population tanning lotions are publicised. These products are again publicised sticking with the same concept. The Coppertone Sun Lotion Commercial from 1989 shows a girl walking on the beach alone and lonely and at the sight of the tanning lotion she starts to fantasize of being really sexy and a male attention magnet. (Coppertone Sun Lotion Commercial 1989, 24 Feb. 2009). This kind of an advertising approach impresses that the product being advertised is not just a luxury cosmetic anymore for the consumer but a survival necessity. Such advertisement campaigns are not taken to be offensive in that particular region and in fact are spot on as these concepts originate from the complexes that originally exist in that particular society. This may also be considered as one of the approaches to this kind of advertising. When the advertisers are dealing with a society like the one in UK that has a mixture of all sorts of cultures using such an advertisement strategy becomes all the more complex and difficult. Some of the ideas might create interest in one particular group of people, while others may be unaffected or worse offended by it. In order to design such a advertising strategy the advertisers may have to have a fairly good knowledge of the way the people think in that particular community which is being targeted. This study will investigate effectiveness of such advertising campaigns as The message of the advertisements is basically to sell products and to be able to catch the receivers attention. Therefore it is important that the sender not only makes sure that the product in the advertisement is successful and is selling, but also is aware of and careful about the pictures many effects. The values that are spread and how they in turn affect the consumer are important for the future of the product ((Hà ¤gg et al., 1972) Literature review Impact of media and in particular visuals on a consumers mind Background Historically, television was assumed to be an excellent vehicle for presenting a message to a relatively captive mass audience (Secunda, 1988). Lead by a large body of research, advertisers often spend noteworthy sums attempting to ensure that certain segments see specific ads enough to prompt some response and spawn the biggest â€Å"bang for the buck† (Vakratsas and Ambler, 1999). There has been a lot of research done on the way consumers react and interpret advertisement. This research focuses on the audience as a whole and consumers as a general market. However there has been no research carried out that divides the consumers in regards to their ethnicity and subcultures and study how each of them react to the same kind of an advertisement. A targeted advertisement is more valuable with the targeted segment because ad characteristics such as actors, symbols, and themes are customized specifically to the characteristics of the targeted consumer segment. Previous research shows that consumers who are members of the group being targeted by an ad are more likely to take a positive interpretive attitude regarding the ad than are members of non-targeted groups (Grier and Brumbaugh, 1999). That is, targeted consumers are likely to create meanings that transmit through the advertisement positively to themselves. It is a common awareness among the managers of multinational companies that advertising plays a vital role in a building brand. Developing and upholding a sturdy brand in the fullest sense requires much more strategic thinking as brand tools suggest the conceiving of a promise of value for customers and then ensuring that the promise is kept. Building a powerful brand requires determining the substantial characteristics of the contributions that carry the brand name and the payback the customers get from those benefits and the psychological or emotional benefits of the products. This may be described as what â€Å"value† means to a typical loyal customer; and what, ultimately, is the crucial nature and character of the brand over time. A good brand image will result in an increase in the brand equity. Strong brand equity allows the companies to retain customers better, service their needs more effectively, and increase profits. (Rajagopal, 2006) Consumers often animate brands by donating them with personality traits, and marketers often create or highlight these perceptions by their brand positioning. Brand personality traits provide symbolic meaning or emotional value that can chip in to consumers image of the brand. Human personality traits are determined by multi-dimensional factors like the individuals behaviour, appearance, attitude and beliefs, and demographic characteristics. Based on the trait theory, (Batra et al. 1993) observed that there are five steady personality dimensions, also called the â€Å"Big Five† human personality dimensions. The â€Å"Big Five† human personality dimensions are Extroversion/introversion, Agreeableness, Consciousness, Emotional stability, and Culture. Based on these human personality dimensions, Aaker (1997) identifies the new â€Å"Big Five† dimensions related to brands. These are Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness. This pattern suggests that these brand personality dimensions might operate in different ways or influence consumer preference for different reasons. Sincerity, excitement, and competence represent an innate part of human personality whereas sophistication and ruggedness tap dimensions of indivi dual desire. Hence, the following proposition has been considered as the customers identify brands that have similarity to their own personalities and represent closeness in terms of the psychographic and emotional attributes.( Rajagopal, 2006) This builds the grounds for the psychologically manipulative advertising strategies. Advertisers study carefully these attributes and try to link it to the consumer. Then base the advertisements to target these personality traits in people. The following discussions in the paper analyze the influence of advertising practices on the buying behaviour of consumers. The discussions in the paper are built around cognitive relationship between the consumer behaviour and communication. There do exist well thought out advertisement strategies that are carefully planned and call upon the values of a closely defined audience or a subculture. Over a period of time, some campaigns can transform the public perceptions, in turn increasing public awareness and changing general perceptions of issues previously overlooked (Rotfield, 2002). Some subjects that are commonly used as the bases of such sort of an advertising strategy are talked about in the following chapters. These form the basis of psychological manipulative advertising strategies and have an underlined meaning and an impact on the way the consumer not just sees the product but also triggers some emotions that they start to relate to it. Sexuality The upcoming and the new focus of advertiser in th fashion advertisement is the homosexual community. With approximately 22-30 million members (Dossi, 2006), or approximately 6-7 percent of American adults (Seckler, 2006), and a combined collective buying power of $641 billion in 2006, the USA gay and lesbian market is commonly considered the â€Å"Dream Market† (Packaged Facts, 2004). The average household income for gay/lesbian households is between $60,000 and $79,999, significantly higher than that of their heterosexual counterparts (GL Census, 2005). These figures portray the homosexual community as a substantial market. There for an attractive target for the advertisers and a potential consumer base for the brands. A recent study addressing this issue investigates heterosexual and homosexual responses to ads containing heterosexual, implicit homosexual and explicit homosexual imagery (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005, p. 429). The authors of the study find that the conventional straight audience is alienated by explicit gay and lesbian imagery, but not by implicit gay and lesbian imagery. They also find that the homosexual audience responds equally well to both implicit and explicit gay and lesbian imagery, and therefore suggested using implicit homosexual imagery to reach this audience and at the same instance avoid alienating or worse offending the larger heterosexual population that makes up a far greater percentage of the market. However, In this study the use of implicit versus explicit gay and lesbian imagery in this study did not represent a deviation in the degree of intimacy, and may have caused a level of inaccuracy in interpretation of the results. The ad that represented the implicit im agery used was an actual beer ad containing the symbolism of a pink triangle, a rainbow flag and the slogan, â€Å"Another one coming out†, this add does have a implicit under lying message to it but does not really have a level of intimacy attached to it that was meant to be studied, whereas the supposedly explicit imagery showed a kiss on the cheek or the forehead with either a lesbian or a gay male couple, both images were taken from clothing ads. Neither ad primarily contained explicit sexual contact, and could have portrayed to be a non-sexual relationship.( Dotson M.J, et al. 2009) Based on the findings of Dotson M.J it is suggested that If narrow targeting is possible, it is preferable to the use of crossover ads. If ones primary audience consists of straight males, one might not wish to use ads with any homosexual themes. There is perhaps wider freedom with a straight female audience who may be more tolerant of ambiguous homosexual imagery. If ones primary audience is gay and lesbian, evident depictions of primarily gay males and lesbians, especially androgynous depictions, are recommended. If management wishes to use crossover appeals in a publication that appeals to both gays and straights, ambiguous subtle approaches would appear to be most appropriate (Dotson M.J, et al. 2009). Gender Gender is one of another tools that can be used for this kind of an advertising approach and plays an important role in how ads are perceived. Both the gender of the audience as well as the gender of the models presented in the ads (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005) is of equal value. The relations between genders may have important implications for marketers. Advertisers often place the same advertisement in multiple media outlets, and rely on it communicate a specialized message to each audience (Penaloza, 1996). This could be a problem or a gamble both at the same time. It may be a problem as all the media might not be aiming to the same kind of a consumer in terms of background and mental and emotional levels, therefore the message may be interpreted differently by the variance in the market that is being targeted. It may be a gamble as the advertisers are trying to reach out to a wider demographic with the same advertisement this could be a hit or miss situation depending on the typ e advertisement and the consumer it is targeting. Advertisers usually use gender stereotypes and gender-linked traits (a collection of psychological characteristics and behaviours characterizing men and women) and gender roles activities differentially appropriate for men or women in advertisements (An.D and kim S. 2007). Usually gender role depictions of women as dependent and emotional have been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes and having adverse effects on a wide range of behaviours (Bretl and Cantor, 1988). Specifically, Jones (1991) summarized instances of subtle stereotyping in advertisements: †¢ functional ranking – the ability to depict men in executive roles and as more functional when collaborating with women; †¢ relative size – the inclination to depict men as taller and larger than women, except in the case when women are clearly superior in social status; †¢ reutilization of subordination – an surplus of images of women lying on floors and beds or as objects of mens mock assaults; †¢ the feminine touch – the tendency to show women cradling and caressing the surface of objects with their fingers; and †¢ Family – fathers depicted as physically distant from their families or as relating primarily to sons, and mothers depicted as relating primarily to daughters. (An.D and kim S. 2007) In the past content analysis has been used as a major research method to investigate gender roles portrayed in advertising (Cooper-Chen, 1995). Since, there has been such high levels of research in this particular area, its is not fair to provide a complete review in a few paragraphs (for articles based on the review , see Courtney and Whipple, 1983; Furnham and Mak, 1999. In the first study of this particular subject, Courtney and Lockeretz (1971) reported that US magazine advertisements depicted woman for having a place only in the household, and also did not consider them of a great value to make important decisions, and thus highly dependent on the opposite sex for that matter. In the next few decades, quite a few studies based on the subject (McArthur and Resko, 1975; Belkaoui and Belkaoui, 1976; Whipple and Courtney, 1985; Gilly, 1988; Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Mazzella et al., 1992; Kramer and Knupfer, 1997; Furnham and Mak, 1999; Furnham et al., 2000) also portrayed and examine d this depiction of woman in US magazine and television advertising. This research implied the status of woman and their role to be more of a passive nature, secondary to men, and thus dependent on men, and not capable of making important decisions, depicting their lack of brainpower and authority, younger, appealing, self-enhancing, and ornamental. Such stereotyping in the portrayal of women has continued into the mid-1990s although percentage of women shown as professionals and managers has made modest gains since the late 1950s (Cheng, 1997). The role of women was also brought forward as for being an attention grabber in advertisements, women were quiet often shown as objects of sex (Soley and Kurzbard, 1986; Ferguson et al., 1990; Klassen et al., 1993). While most researchers were mainly focusing and paying attention to the role of women, another research has observed the portrayal of men and women appearing in advertisements together (Wiles and Tjernlund, 1991; Klassen et al., 1993; Zotos and Lysonski, 1994) or male positioning solely (Wolheter and Lammers, 1980; Skelly and Lundstrom, 1981; Kolbe and Albanese, 1996). These studies generally implied that men are depicted in categorically dissimilar ways as authoritative, sovereign, professional, self-directed, outdoor, middle-aged, argumentative, practical, and pleasurable. Comparative studies showed that the difference in the portrayal of the two sexes was in the presentation (i.e. men were kept in the forground as the main focus as the women provided to be a back ground) of the type of products advertised (e.g. men were used for technical products or women for the purpose of household products). Other researchers (Soley and Kurzbard, 1986; Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Ferguson et al., 1990; Klassen et al., 1993) observed that the advertisers had made some development in the ways both the genders are advertised, mainly in the depiction of women in a less domesticated way (e.g. regular representations of women in more professional and corporate ways) perhaps due to the increasing feminine movements along with â€Å"raising† of feminist consciousness (Ford and LaTour, 1993). In this observation the cases studied the impact that the consumer psychology had on the way advertisers approach their advertising campaigns. This also suggested that the advertisers dont just use advertising to make people believe in things but at times use underlying norms prevailing in the society to structure the advertising campaigns in order to relate to the audiences and reach out to them. Hence leaving an impact on the way they view things. Celebrity Another key aspect that advertisers especially in the fashion arena use to impact and attract the consumers attention is celebrities. From the work of Langmeyer and Shank (1994), we can define this assemble not only comprise objective beauty, but also non-physical beauty, such as sportsmanship, charm, grace, intelligence and credibility. A good-looking celebrity is more likely to be a more powerful foundation of a brands image due to the advantage of their celebrity standing and their physical attractiveness (Kamins, 1990). In research that has investigated physical attractiveness showed that physically attractive celebrities have a positive effect on the products and brands with which they are linked to. As an example, after thoroughly reviewing the literature, Joseph (1982) states that physically attractive celebrities have a positive effect on the way the product is perceived and looked upon. In another study Kahle and Homer (1985) discover that the celebritys attractiveness can i mprove the way the brand is remembered, what the brand promises and the attractiveness of a brand. In an even more current study, Till and Busler (1998) bring to a close that the use of an attractive representative for the brand has positive effects, on the attitude of the consumers targeted, towards the brand. One of the findings from these observations is that the attractive sources tend to attract more attention than other less attractive sources. Therefore they are able to communicate the meaning with more effectiveness. Building on from these findings, we can say that the more attractive the celebrity, the more the image of the endorsed product will benefit. An example of an advertising campaign where the attractiveness-image of a celebrity has been linked with the image of the brand and used as a psychologically impacting tool for the consumer is the Star Ambassador campaign by a renowned watchmaker Omega. This ad champagne features supermodel Cindy Crawford and Formula One racing driver Michael Schumacher. Crawfords who is renowned for her beauty, and Schumachers for his outstanding driving abilities makes them extremely eye-catching and very noticeable in their professions and beyond. These attributes make these celebrities ideal ambassadors for Omegas products (see Omega, 2004). Considering this it is safe to say that celebrity attractiveness has a positive relationship with brand image (seno.d, et al 2007). In a study carried out by Klaus et al. It suggested that, women in particular responded more positively and had a more favourable attitude towards, celebrities in the advertisements.(Klaus N et al, 2008). This research also showed that male and female consumers responded more favourably to adverts with female celebrities, with male participants providing a more favourable response than female participants, but finds only limited interaction effects, in terms of differences between male and female participants attitudes, evaluations, and responses, to adverts with male and female celebrities.(Klaus N et al, 2008) This research observed the impact of this manipulation approach in advertising on male and female consumers. Goldsmith et al. (2000) define celebrity standing in the context of advertising as the extent to which a celebrity is â€Å"perceived as possessing expertise relevant to the communication topic and can be trusted to give an objective opinion on the subject†. This shows that the careful selection of a celebrity to represent a product is crucial, as the celebrity has to have some level of relation to the way the product is preceded by the consumer. It could be in terms of the trust that the consumers hold with the celebrity or the authenticity and the sincerity of the opinion of that particular celebrity on the subject of that product. Expertise and trustworthiness are the most important aspects of celebrity credibility. When consumers evaluate these aspects of a particular celebrity, they echo on the soundness of the pronouncements made by that celebrity. There is a level of trust between the celebrity and the consumer. The trust being that the consumer believes in the credibility of what the celebrity is endorsing (e.g.Hovland et al., 1953). The more the consumer is in favour of these celebrity credibility constituents, the celebrity endorser in turn is seen to be a more convincing source for the representation of that information about the product and also as an authentic representation for that brand (e.g. Ohanian, 1990). After a careful study of the literature on this area, Goldsmith et al. (2000) conclude by saying that the assumed credibility of a particular celebrity has a positive impact, in respect to convincing consumers and influencing consumer attitudes, towards the products with which the celebrity is associated. One such example of a celebrity whose credibility coincides with that of a brands image is John Travolta (actor). He endorses the Australian airlines (Qantas). John Travolta as an individual has a passion for airplanes and aviation. He has a commercial pilot license and also owns a Boeing 707. Considering all this, John Travolta is therefore considered to be a convincing aviation expert. Therefore, the Australian airline (Qantas) values John Travolta as a celebrity endorser for their brand (Gotting, 2002). From what has been discussed above, it could be said that celebrity credibility has a positive relation to the image of the brand. As brand image has a positive relation to brand equity, It can be said that celebrity credibility has an indirect but yet a positive effect on brand equity (seno.d, et al 2007). This research emphasises and proves the importance of such kind of an advertising approach and its positive appeal to not only the brand image but also the brand e quity. Importance of consumer behaviour Consumer behaviour can be defined as ‘the study of the process involved when individuals or groups, select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Solomon et al., 2002). From a marketing perspective, an understanding of consumer behaviour can help marketers to come up with marketing strategies that successfully aim the group being targeted while fulfilling their business objectives. In order to come to a decision the consumer processes the information conveyed to them which in turn triggers a response including feelings and emotions. These messages, usually in form of images, ‘ either present and attractive personality for the product or indirectly suggest to the consumer that they can acquire a certain style by using a particular brand (Duncan, 2002). As an affect of the advertisements consumers relate products and brands to lifestyles or quality. The emotional experience is becoming a crucial part of advertisin g in todays world marketing communicators require a good understanding of these responses and implications in order to be able to foresee the effectiveness of brand messages (Ducan,2002). Cultural diversity in the UK At present marketers supporting ethnic communities are building brand awareness by using central symbolisms to reach ethnic consumers (Holland and Gentery, 1999). The marketers tend to use the stereotypical image of the ethnic minorities as a base for their advertisements. The inevitable stereotypical portrayal of ethnic minorities in intercultural communications results in a wide range of emotional responses and attributes regarding the motifs of marketers (Holland and Ball, 1995). At the same time the negative responses feared as a result of stereotyping regardless of the intention, may be one of the reasons as to why marketers are slow to catch on the ethnic marketing practices (Burton, 2002), also the uncertainty of marketers in how to approach ethnic consumers (Gooding, 1998). From the literature already discussed shows that the advertisers have put quiet a lot of effort in studying the consumer psychology as a whole and in the past have proved to be helpful to the marketers, ho wever very little effort has been put in the past to study the diversity of the market in terms of ethnicity. One such study lead by Holland and Gentry (1999:67) suggested that irrespective of the degree of acculturation of an ethnic individual, they still tend to ‘ maintain expressive symbols of ethnicity and cultural traditions, whilst..adapting or renegotiating them to fit into present day society. The study of these attributes can open a new window of opportunity for the advertisers to reach out to such individuals at a more personal level. In this context the expression to be used goes beyond the symbolic expression, whereas ethnic individuals hand pick parts of their cultural past with the intention of adopting them to the present day society or in other words come up with a hybrid between the two cultures that they coexist in at the same time at more of a psychological level. The strength of ethnic identification is shown to have a significant effect on audience evaluation of advertisements (Greg, 1997), and in turn is more likely to influence the way the information in the advertisements is perceived and subsequently the implications it may have on marketing related decisions (Green, 1999). Donthu and Cherian (1992) discovered that the measure of ethnic identification may be of great significance to the consumer purchase behaviour. Whittler (1991) suggested that individuals with a high ethnic identification had strong cultural attitudes attached to them, therefore are more likely to be affected by the race or origin of the model. Green (1999) discovered in his study that African Americans were more probable to have a positive assessment of an advertisement featuring models from the same race. Advertisers in their attempts to market a product look for the target markets approval for that particular advertisement though when targeting ethnic minorities they should emphasise more on the use of cultural symbols that are closer to that of the target audiences (Holland and Gentry, 1999). Koslow et al. (1994) observed that using Spanish language in advertisements was linked to positive consumer perceptions towards the advertisers sensitivity towards the Hispanic culture. Therefore it could be said that strong ethnic identifiers are likely to trigger a stronger emotional response to the advertisements that depict some sort of cultural attributes (Holland and Gentry, 1999, Green, 1999). Greens (1999) research findings suggested that ‘the individuals feelings towards advertisements depend on the degree of identification with their ethnic group. The proposition of this study would be to the advertisers that there should be a great deal of emphasis on the media strategy which w ould imply that the main focus should be on their target audience rather than on the creative strategy i.e. the use of black/white models. Green (1999) suggested that advertising in the local publications was more effective in regards to national publications when advertising to an ethnic minority. It was also observed that the Asian markets responded better to the ethnic based advertisements irrespective of the type of media (Kinra, 1997). On the other hand the representation of ethnic actors has increased greatly in the media that there is now an over representation of the ethnic minorities in the media as compared to their proportion in the society (Taylor and Stern, 1997). Thi Psychologically Manipulative Advertising Strategies Psychologically Manipulative Advertising Strategies Introduction: This research is based on the psychological effects of advertising on the consumer. The controversial advertising campaigns are intended to provoke discussion of global issues, not to sell clothes. Today, any product is made of two things: a percentage of material and a percentage of image. And the part of the product that is made of image is getting bigger (Luciano Benetton)( Financial Times, 2001). Therefore advertising is getting more tricky and complicated. The picture has great importance to the content of the advertisement because it has the possibility to express feelings. Owing to this, it is very important to be sure that the picture expresses feelings that agree with the strategy of the sender. If not, there is a risk that the picture sends out a message that was not intended (Sidenbladh,E 2000). This not only kills the purpose of the advertisement but fails to impact the consumers mind, not to mention the waste of valuable advertising time and the costs attached to it. Ad vertising intends to influence people to think a particular way and to apply pressure for consumers to purchase a product. There is a level of understanding of this fact on the part of the consumer, but this does not mean that the people are able to fully control their own reactions. To persuade the receiver is the most important task of the picture. The receiver is meant to think along the line of thoughts that the sender intended to create. It is therefore believed that peoples self-understanding, behaviour and lifestyle would be affected. The picture is intended to remind people about their own and personal lifestyle and experiences. The fact is that we look at a picture in accordance with our own experiences. The consciousness only grasps a small part of all the sight impressions we actually receive. This is where peoples different associations and experiences enter the picture (Hansson et al., 1992). Many of these messages are certainly involuntary, usually coming from the atti tudes that are widespread in a society at a given time. These messages are intended to attract the viewer and to guide thier thinking on certain channel with the aim of selling the product and making the consumer believe that are getting the complete package that comprises of the product along with the image attached to it. This may be achieved by giving an impression of what that product may account for in their lives by exaggerating and impressing an image of a certain level of emotional importance that they link to the product. There are many different communication models that originate from the classical Stimuli-Organization-Response Model (Aaker et al., 1992; Fiske, 1994). As an example we have chosen Edfeldt (1992) because it stresses the influence of disturbance of the senders message. The sender should create an advertisement and formulate it in the best possible way, in order to sell the product intended. Already at this stage it might happen that the message changes owing to the simple reason that it is not always so easy to put your thoughts into words and pictures. The senders own thoughts have vital importance to how the advertisement will look and through which sender and channel it will be publicized. When the advertisement reaches the sender it will be changed and also be affected by this persons personal thought; later on it will also be adjusted and might again be changed in some ways, in order to fit the media channel, which is intended. After that the receiver, and hopefully also the consi gnee, will get the message and in this step it is their thoughts that decide how the advertisement shall be interpreted. Consequently, at every step there are disturbances, which make the process sometimes troublesome.(Andersson, S. 2004)Advertising agencies make use of their knowledge of psychology to come up with campaigns that will appeal to the consumers desires and needs. In an individual society its easier to victimise the masses with such kind of an advertisement campaign as compared to multicultural societies. Products like fairness creams are significantly advertised in the sub continent and the advertisements give an impression that people who are dark are less likely to succeed in life as compared to the ones with a lighter skin tone. One of the fair and lovely ads shows how a girl cannot get her dream job only because she is dark and after using this product she get it even without an interview. (Fair and lovely, 27 Feb. 2009) Viewing such an ad will impact the people who have a darker skin and in some cases put them in a complex about their appearance. This in turn will make the consumer believe that in order to live a better life they require the product. Contrary to that in countries with a predominant Caucasian population tanning lotions are publicised. These products are again publicised sticking with the same concept. The Coppertone Sun Lotion Commercial from 1989 shows a girl walking on the beach alone and lonely and at the sight of the tanning lotion she starts to fantasize of being really sexy and a male attention magnet. (Coppertone Sun Lotion Commercial 1989, 24 Feb. 2009). This kind of an advertising approach impresses that the product being advertised is not just a luxury cosmetic anymore for the consumer but a survival necessity. Such advertisement campaigns are not taken to be offensive in that particular region and in fact are spot on as these concepts originate from the complexes that originally exist in that particular society. This may also be considered as one of the approaches to this kind of advertising. When the advertisers are dealing with a society like the one in UK that has a mixture of all sorts of cultures using such an advertisement strategy becomes all the more complex and difficult. Some of the ideas might create interest in one particular group of people, while others may be unaffected or worse offended by it. In order to design such a advertising strategy the advertisers may have to have a fairly good knowledge of the way the people think in that particular community which is being targeted. This study will investigate effectiveness of such advertising campaigns as The message of the advertisements is basically to sell products and to be able to catch the receivers attention. Therefore it is important that the sender not only makes sure that the product in the advertisement is successful and is selling, but also is aware of and careful about the pictures many effects. The values that are spread and how they in turn affect the consumer are important for the future of the product ((Hà ¤gg et al., 1972) Literature review Impact of media and in particular visuals on a consumers mind Background Historically, television was assumed to be an excellent vehicle for presenting a message to a relatively captive mass audience (Secunda, 1988). Lead by a large body of research, advertisers often spend noteworthy sums attempting to ensure that certain segments see specific ads enough to prompt some response and spawn the biggest â€Å"bang for the buck† (Vakratsas and Ambler, 1999). There has been a lot of research done on the way consumers react and interpret advertisement. This research focuses on the audience as a whole and consumers as a general market. However there has been no research carried out that divides the consumers in regards to their ethnicity and subcultures and study how each of them react to the same kind of an advertisement. A targeted advertisement is more valuable with the targeted segment because ad characteristics such as actors, symbols, and themes are customized specifically to the characteristics of the targeted consumer segment. Previous research shows that consumers who are members of the group being targeted by an ad are more likely to take a positive interpretive attitude regarding the ad than are members of non-targeted groups (Grier and Brumbaugh, 1999). That is, targeted consumers are likely to create meanings that transmit through the advertisement positively to themselves. It is a common awareness among the managers of multinational companies that advertising plays a vital role in a building brand. Developing and upholding a sturdy brand in the fullest sense requires much more strategic thinking as brand tools suggest the conceiving of a promise of value for customers and then ensuring that the promise is kept. Building a powerful brand requires determining the substantial characteristics of the contributions that carry the brand name and the payback the customers get from those benefits and the psychological or emotional benefits of the products. This may be described as what â€Å"value† means to a typical loyal customer; and what, ultimately, is the crucial nature and character of the brand over time. A good brand image will result in an increase in the brand equity. Strong brand equity allows the companies to retain customers better, service their needs more effectively, and increase profits. (Rajagopal, 2006) Consumers often animate brands by donating them with personality traits, and marketers often create or highlight these perceptions by their brand positioning. Brand personality traits provide symbolic meaning or emotional value that can chip in to consumers image of the brand. Human personality traits are determined by multi-dimensional factors like the individuals behaviour, appearance, attitude and beliefs, and demographic characteristics. Based on the trait theory, (Batra et al. 1993) observed that there are five steady personality dimensions, also called the â€Å"Big Five† human personality dimensions. The â€Å"Big Five† human personality dimensions are Extroversion/introversion, Agreeableness, Consciousness, Emotional stability, and Culture. Based on these human personality dimensions, Aaker (1997) identifies the new â€Å"Big Five† dimensions related to brands. These are Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness. This pattern suggests that these brand personality dimensions might operate in different ways or influence consumer preference for different reasons. Sincerity, excitement, and competence represent an innate part of human personality whereas sophistication and ruggedness tap dimensions of indivi dual desire. Hence, the following proposition has been considered as the customers identify brands that have similarity to their own personalities and represent closeness in terms of the psychographic and emotional attributes.( Rajagopal, 2006) This builds the grounds for the psychologically manipulative advertising strategies. Advertisers study carefully these attributes and try to link it to the consumer. Then base the advertisements to target these personality traits in people. The following discussions in the paper analyze the influence of advertising practices on the buying behaviour of consumers. The discussions in the paper are built around cognitive relationship between the consumer behaviour and communication. There do exist well thought out advertisement strategies that are carefully planned and call upon the values of a closely defined audience or a subculture. Over a period of time, some campaigns can transform the public perceptions, in turn increasing public awareness and changing general perceptions of issues previously overlooked (Rotfield, 2002). Some subjects that are commonly used as the bases of such sort of an advertising strategy are talked about in the following chapters. These form the basis of psychological manipulative advertising strategies and have an underlined meaning and an impact on the way the consumer not just sees the product but also triggers some emotions that they start to relate to it. Sexuality The upcoming and the new focus of advertiser in th fashion advertisement is the homosexual community. With approximately 22-30 million members (Dossi, 2006), or approximately 6-7 percent of American adults (Seckler, 2006), and a combined collective buying power of $641 billion in 2006, the USA gay and lesbian market is commonly considered the â€Å"Dream Market† (Packaged Facts, 2004). The average household income for gay/lesbian households is between $60,000 and $79,999, significantly higher than that of their heterosexual counterparts (GL Census, 2005). These figures portray the homosexual community as a substantial market. There for an attractive target for the advertisers and a potential consumer base for the brands. A recent study addressing this issue investigates heterosexual and homosexual responses to ads containing heterosexual, implicit homosexual and explicit homosexual imagery (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005, p. 429). The authors of the study find that the conventional straight audience is alienated by explicit gay and lesbian imagery, but not by implicit gay and lesbian imagery. They also find that the homosexual audience responds equally well to both implicit and explicit gay and lesbian imagery, and therefore suggested using implicit homosexual imagery to reach this audience and at the same instance avoid alienating or worse offending the larger heterosexual population that makes up a far greater percentage of the market. However, In this study the use of implicit versus explicit gay and lesbian imagery in this study did not represent a deviation in the degree of intimacy, and may have caused a level of inaccuracy in interpretation of the results. The ad that represented the implicit im agery used was an actual beer ad containing the symbolism of a pink triangle, a rainbow flag and the slogan, â€Å"Another one coming out†, this add does have a implicit under lying message to it but does not really have a level of intimacy attached to it that was meant to be studied, whereas the supposedly explicit imagery showed a kiss on the cheek or the forehead with either a lesbian or a gay male couple, both images were taken from clothing ads. Neither ad primarily contained explicit sexual contact, and could have portrayed to be a non-sexual relationship.( Dotson M.J, et al. 2009) Based on the findings of Dotson M.J it is suggested that If narrow targeting is possible, it is preferable to the use of crossover ads. If ones primary audience consists of straight males, one might not wish to use ads with any homosexual themes. There is perhaps wider freedom with a straight female audience who may be more tolerant of ambiguous homosexual imagery. If ones primary audience is gay and lesbian, evident depictions of primarily gay males and lesbians, especially androgynous depictions, are recommended. If management wishes to use crossover appeals in a publication that appeals to both gays and straights, ambiguous subtle approaches would appear to be most appropriate (Dotson M.J, et al. 2009). Gender Gender is one of another tools that can be used for this kind of an advertising approach and plays an important role in how ads are perceived. Both the gender of the audience as well as the gender of the models presented in the ads (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005) is of equal value. The relations between genders may have important implications for marketers. Advertisers often place the same advertisement in multiple media outlets, and rely on it communicate a specialized message to each audience (Penaloza, 1996). This could be a problem or a gamble both at the same time. It may be a problem as all the media might not be aiming to the same kind of a consumer in terms of background and mental and emotional levels, therefore the message may be interpreted differently by the variance in the market that is being targeted. It may be a gamble as the advertisers are trying to reach out to a wider demographic with the same advertisement this could be a hit or miss situation depending on the typ e advertisement and the consumer it is targeting. Advertisers usually use gender stereotypes and gender-linked traits (a collection of psychological characteristics and behaviours characterizing men and women) and gender roles activities differentially appropriate for men or women in advertisements (An.D and kim S. 2007). Usually gender role depictions of women as dependent and emotional have been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes and having adverse effects on a wide range of behaviours (Bretl and Cantor, 1988). Specifically, Jones (1991) summarized instances of subtle stereotyping in advertisements: †¢ functional ranking – the ability to depict men in executive roles and as more functional when collaborating with women; †¢ relative size – the inclination to depict men as taller and larger than women, except in the case when women are clearly superior in social status; †¢ reutilization of subordination – an surplus of images of women lying on floors and beds or as objects of mens mock assaults; †¢ the feminine touch – the tendency to show women cradling and caressing the surface of objects with their fingers; and †¢ Family – fathers depicted as physically distant from their families or as relating primarily to sons, and mothers depicted as relating primarily to daughters. (An.D and kim S. 2007) In the past content analysis has been used as a major research method to investigate gender roles portrayed in advertising (Cooper-Chen, 1995). Since, there has been such high levels of research in this particular area, its is not fair to provide a complete review in a few paragraphs (for articles based on the review , see Courtney and Whipple, 1983; Furnham and Mak, 1999. In the first study of this particular subject, Courtney and Lockeretz (1971) reported that US magazine advertisements depicted woman for having a place only in the household, and also did not consider them of a great value to make important decisions, and thus highly dependent on the opposite sex for that matter. In the next few decades, quite a few studies based on the subject (McArthur and Resko, 1975; Belkaoui and Belkaoui, 1976; Whipple and Courtney, 1985; Gilly, 1988; Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Mazzella et al., 1992; Kramer and Knupfer, 1997; Furnham and Mak, 1999; Furnham et al., 2000) also portrayed and examine d this depiction of woman in US magazine and television advertising. This research implied the status of woman and their role to be more of a passive nature, secondary to men, and thus dependent on men, and not capable of making important decisions, depicting their lack of brainpower and authority, younger, appealing, self-enhancing, and ornamental. Such stereotyping in the portrayal of women has continued into the mid-1990s although percentage of women shown as professionals and managers has made modest gains since the late 1950s (Cheng, 1997). The role of women was also brought forward as for being an attention grabber in advertisements, women were quiet often shown as objects of sex (Soley and Kurzbard, 1986; Ferguson et al., 1990; Klassen et al., 1993). While most researchers were mainly focusing and paying attention to the role of women, another research has observed the portrayal of men and women appearing in advertisements together (Wiles and Tjernlund, 1991; Klassen et al., 1993; Zotos and Lysonski, 1994) or male positioning solely (Wolheter and Lammers, 1980; Skelly and Lundstrom, 1981; Kolbe and Albanese, 1996). These studies generally implied that men are depicted in categorically dissimilar ways as authoritative, sovereign, professional, self-directed, outdoor, middle-aged, argumentative, practical, and pleasurable. Comparative studies showed that the difference in the portrayal of the two sexes was in the presentation (i.e. men were kept in the forground as the main focus as the women provided to be a back ground) of the type of products advertised (e.g. men were used for technical products or women for the purpose of household products). Other researchers (Soley and Kurzbard, 1986; Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Ferguson et al., 1990; Klassen et al., 1993) observed that the advertisers had made some development in the ways both the genders are advertised, mainly in the depiction of women in a less domesticated way (e.g. regular representations of women in more professional and corporate ways) perhaps due to the increasing feminine movements along with â€Å"raising† of feminist consciousness (Ford and LaTour, 1993). In this observation the cases studied the impact that the consumer psychology had on the way advertisers approach their advertising campaigns. This also suggested that the advertisers dont just use advertising to make people believe in things but at times use underlying norms prevailing in the society to structure the advertising campaigns in order to relate to the audiences and reach out to them. Hence leaving an impact on the way they view things. Celebrity Another key aspect that advertisers especially in the fashion arena use to impact and attract the consumers attention is celebrities. From the work of Langmeyer and Shank (1994), we can define this assemble not only comprise objective beauty, but also non-physical beauty, such as sportsmanship, charm, grace, intelligence and credibility. A good-looking celebrity is more likely to be a more powerful foundation of a brands image due to the advantage of their celebrity standing and their physical attractiveness (Kamins, 1990). In research that has investigated physical attractiveness showed that physically attractive celebrities have a positive effect on the products and brands with which they are linked to. As an example, after thoroughly reviewing the literature, Joseph (1982) states that physically attractive celebrities have a positive effect on the way the product is perceived and looked upon. In another study Kahle and Homer (1985) discover that the celebritys attractiveness can i mprove the way the brand is remembered, what the brand promises and the attractiveness of a brand. In an even more current study, Till and Busler (1998) bring to a close that the use of an attractive representative for the brand has positive effects, on the attitude of the consumers targeted, towards the brand. One of the findings from these observations is that the attractive sources tend to attract more attention than other less attractive sources. Therefore they are able to communicate the meaning with more effectiveness. Building on from these findings, we can say that the more attractive the celebrity, the more the image of the endorsed product will benefit. An example of an advertising campaign where the attractiveness-image of a celebrity has been linked with the image of the brand and used as a psychologically impacting tool for the consumer is the Star Ambassador campaign by a renowned watchmaker Omega. This ad champagne features supermodel Cindy Crawford and Formula One racing driver Michael Schumacher. Crawfords who is renowned for her beauty, and Schumachers for his outstanding driving abilities makes them extremely eye-catching and very noticeable in their professions and beyond. These attributes make these celebrities ideal ambassadors for Omegas products (see Omega, 2004). Considering this it is safe to say that celebrity attractiveness has a positive relationship with brand image (seno.d, et al 2007). In a study carried out by Klaus et al. It suggested that, women in particular responded more positively and had a more favourable attitude towards, celebrities in the advertisements.(Klaus N et al, 2008). This research also showed that male and female consumers responded more favourably to adverts with female celebrities, with male participants providing a more favourable response than female participants, but finds only limited interaction effects, in terms of differences between male and female participants attitudes, evaluations, and responses, to adverts with male and female celebrities.(Klaus N et al, 2008) This research observed the impact of this manipulation approach in advertising on male and female consumers. Goldsmith et al. (2000) define celebrity standing in the context of advertising as the extent to which a celebrity is â€Å"perceived as possessing expertise relevant to the communication topic and can be trusted to give an objective opinion on the subject†. This shows that the careful selection of a celebrity to represent a product is crucial, as the celebrity has to have some level of relation to the way the product is preceded by the consumer. It could be in terms of the trust that the consumers hold with the celebrity or the authenticity and the sincerity of the opinion of that particular celebrity on the subject of that product. Expertise and trustworthiness are the most important aspects of celebrity credibility. When consumers evaluate these aspects of a particular celebrity, they echo on the soundness of the pronouncements made by that celebrity. There is a level of trust between the celebrity and the consumer. The trust being that the consumer believes in the credibility of what the celebrity is endorsing (e.g.Hovland et al., 1953). The more the consumer is in favour of these celebrity credibility constituents, the celebrity endorser in turn is seen to be a more convincing source for the representation of that information about the product and also as an authentic representation for that brand (e.g. Ohanian, 1990). After a careful study of the literature on this area, Goldsmith et al. (2000) conclude by saying that the assumed credibility of a particular celebrity has a positive impact, in respect to convincing consumers and influencing consumer attitudes, towards the products with which the celebrity is associated. One such example of a celebrity whose credibility coincides with that of a brands image is John Travolta (actor). He endorses the Australian airlines (Qantas). John Travolta as an individual has a passion for airplanes and aviation. He has a commercial pilot license and also owns a Boeing 707. Considering all this, John Travolta is therefore considered to be a convincing aviation expert. Therefore, the Australian airline (Qantas) values John Travolta as a celebrity endorser for their brand (Gotting, 2002). From what has been discussed above, it could be said that celebrity credibility has a positive relation to the image of the brand. As brand image has a positive relation to brand equity, It can be said that celebrity credibility has an indirect but yet a positive effect on brand equity (seno.d, et al 2007). This research emphasises and proves the importance of such kind of an advertising approach and its positive appeal to not only the brand image but also the brand e quity. Importance of consumer behaviour Consumer behaviour can be defined as ‘the study of the process involved when individuals or groups, select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Solomon et al., 2002). From a marketing perspective, an understanding of consumer behaviour can help marketers to come up with marketing strategies that successfully aim the group being targeted while fulfilling their business objectives. In order to come to a decision the consumer processes the information conveyed to them which in turn triggers a response including feelings and emotions. These messages, usually in form of images, ‘ either present and attractive personality for the product or indirectly suggest to the consumer that they can acquire a certain style by using a particular brand (Duncan, 2002). As an affect of the advertisements consumers relate products and brands to lifestyles or quality. The emotional experience is becoming a crucial part of advertisin g in todays world marketing communicators require a good understanding of these responses and implications in order to be able to foresee the effectiveness of brand messages (Ducan,2002). Cultural diversity in the UK At present marketers supporting ethnic communities are building brand awareness by using central symbolisms to reach ethnic consumers (Holland and Gentery, 1999). The marketers tend to use the stereotypical image of the ethnic minorities as a base for their advertisements. The inevitable stereotypical portrayal of ethnic minorities in intercultural communications results in a wide range of emotional responses and attributes regarding the motifs of marketers (Holland and Ball, 1995). At the same time the negative responses feared as a result of stereotyping regardless of the intention, may be one of the reasons as to why marketers are slow to catch on the ethnic marketing practices (Burton, 2002), also the uncertainty of marketers in how to approach ethnic consumers (Gooding, 1998). From the literature already discussed shows that the advertisers have put quiet a lot of effort in studying the consumer psychology as a whole and in the past have proved to be helpful to the marketers, ho wever very little effort has been put in the past to study the diversity of the market in terms of ethnicity. One such study lead by Holland and Gentry (1999:67) suggested that irrespective of the degree of acculturation of an ethnic individual, they still tend to ‘ maintain expressive symbols of ethnicity and cultural traditions, whilst..adapting or renegotiating them to fit into present day society. The study of these attributes can open a new window of opportunity for the advertisers to reach out to such individuals at a more personal level. In this context the expression to be used goes beyond the symbolic expression, whereas ethnic individuals hand pick parts of their cultural past with the intention of adopting them to the present day society or in other words come up with a hybrid between the two cultures that they coexist in at the same time at more of a psychological level. The strength of ethnic identification is shown to have a significant effect on audience evaluation of advertisements (Greg, 1997), and in turn is more likely to influence the way the information in the advertisements is perceived and subsequently the implications it may have on marketing related decisions (Green, 1999). Donthu and Cherian (1992) discovered that the measure of ethnic identification may be of great significance to the consumer purchase behaviour. Whittler (1991) suggested that individuals with a high ethnic identification had strong cultural attitudes attached to them, therefore are more likely to be affected by the race or origin of the model. Green (1999) discovered in his study that African Americans were more probable to have a positive assessment of an advertisement featuring models from the same race. Advertisers in their attempts to market a product look for the target markets approval for that particular advertisement though when targeting ethnic minorities they should emphasise more on the use of cultural symbols that are closer to that of the target audiences (Holland and Gentry, 1999). Koslow et al. (1994) observed that using Spanish language in advertisements was linked to positive consumer perceptions towards the advertisers sensitivity towards the Hispanic culture. Therefore it could be said that strong ethnic identifiers are likely to trigger a stronger emotional response to the advertisements that depict some sort of cultural attributes (Holland and Gentry, 1999, Green, 1999). Greens (1999) research findings suggested that ‘the individuals feelings towards advertisements depend on the degree of identification with their ethnic group. The proposition of this study would be to the advertisers that there should be a great deal of emphasis on the media strategy which w ould imply that the main focus should be on their target audience rather than on the creative strategy i.e. the use of black/white models. Green (1999) suggested that advertising in the local publications was more effective in regards to national publications when advertising to an ethnic minority. It was also observed that the Asian markets responded better to the ethnic based advertisements irrespective of the type of media (Kinra, 1997). On the other hand the representation of ethnic actors has increased greatly in the media that there is now an over representation of the ethnic minorities in the media as compared to their proportion in the society (Taylor and Stern, 1997). Thi