Market structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market structure - Essay Example The Spangles candy was a fruity boiled sweet with a slight fix about it, the packaging letters were big fat bottomed font, and they came in several flavors. These candies were popular enough that they made their way into pop culture through songs, and cultural references. â€Å"They were launched a few years ago, but didn't seem to take off. The wording on the packaging was in that big fat-bottomed font, the same one that The Goodies used on their opening titles.† (BBC h2g2, 2011) Available market segments include, persons who were born 5 years prior to the initial release of these candies through persons who were born in the late 1960’s, this would include the ages of 63 – 45. Another market segment could be a foreign market base, the youth market, and potential additional markets like comedy fans. Basic objectives for marketing the Spangles branded candy would be to increase product awareness by 20% in the first year, revive the popular side within the first 6 months, decrease customer resistance to buying our product, which would lead to a 50-100 percent increase in sales within the first year. To accomplish these goals we will need to introduce a valid marketing strategy. In the case of this candy we will want to use focused insertion, and narrow advertising structures. It will be important to introduce the product as a special historical re-launch. An additional objective should be the raised awareness of the Mars ® brand name as a result of the campaign, increases of between 10-15% should be realized in the entire Mars ® line which will make the re-launch a success regardless of the eventual outcome of the Spangles line itself. The price should be approximately what it was at the time of its peak popularity for the initial marketing phase; advertising should be done during the most popular hours of television and radio use for the target market. Distribution should be completed at the popular shopping destinations that already car ry other Mars ® products. One potential approach is to use displays that focus on Spangles as the â€Å"Candy you grew up with.† Another possible approach would include different flavours as well as less boisterous yet still â€Å"retro† looking label on the candy itself. Possibly the â€Å"green† approach can be utilized by promoting the use of recycled materials in the wrappings. Another approach could be the use of popular comedians as personalities promoting the cultural aspects from a comedic point of view on television and radio. If the product is marketed with current pop culture icons as spokespersons the additional benefit would be the appeal to the younger generation. By generating a potential new market and by using easily recognized pop culture icons Mars ® could potentially increase their market share not only through the re-launch of the Spangles boiled sweets but also increased interest in current products. If the marketing approach is followe d the potential for name recognition and additional sales of other popular Mars ® products should increase by 15% or more. Additional approaches can be looked to when the initial launch is complete and sales numbers have been returned. A successful re-launch could mean expanded markets in countries where retirees

Social capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Social capital - Essay Example Putnam, Leonardi and Nanetti in 1993 in their Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, defined the term â€Å"social capital† as â€Å"features of social organisation, such as trust, norms [or reciprocity], and networks [of civil engagement], that can improve the efficiency of society by facilitating coordinated actions† (Hobbs 2000). The World Bank defined it as â€Å"the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society’s social interactions† (Hobbs 2000). However despite the differences in perspectives, all believe that social networks are the most valuable assets for the society â€Å"just as a screwdriver (physical capital) or a college education (human capital) can increase productivity (both individual and collective)† (Putnam 2000, p. 19), in the same way forming social contacts are excellent for increasing the productivity of the individuals and even groups (Putnam 2000, p. 19). ... 2). In many of the western democracies of today, we can see the concept of community and social networks at all the civil, political as well as economical levels growing, giving an ample proof of the increase in social relations as the most important cause for maintaining sustainable communities in all the social, economic and democratic spheres of the society. These kinds of social relationships are said to be loaded with the social capital including all the norms or means of production that allow the people to join in the mutual agreement or work in a collective way. There are different traits of social capital like social norms, social network and trust (Productivity Commission 2003, p. x). Social norms are informal rules that formulate the behavior of the people in varying circumstances like showing tolerance and respect towards others etc as well as â€Å"reciprocity† like behavior with others in the way you expect others should behave with you. Similarly social network i s an interconnection between the different groups of people having common characteristics and traits for e.g. family or a religious group. The third one is trust which is simply the way to develop confidence with the people whom you are in contact. Trust is a main thrust of all the relationships and is the most important component for the well being and overall development of the human beings (Productivity Commission 2003, p. xi). Studies conducted on the sociology of economic development in the developing nations as well as around the â€Å"network capitalism† in East Asia have also diverted attention towards the importance of the social networks. In fact even in the Western economies, researchers have found out highly flexible form of â€Å"network

Greek Art in Ancient Greece and Faraway Lands Essay Example for Free

Greek Art in Ancient Greece and Faraway Lands Essay The classical period of Greece (490 – 323 B. C. ) saw the artists perfecting their style. Following Alexander’s conquests, ancient Greece entered the Hellenistic period (323 – 31 B. C. ) (â€Å"Timeline of Ancient Greece†). Of course, Alexander the Great was not the only god of the ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Greeks worshipped plenty of gods that were believed to have appeared to them in human form with extraordinary strength and beauty (â€Å"Culture†). Professor Harris describes Euhemerus as the philosopher responsible for presenting Greek myths as simple stories to his readers. Euhemerus’ interpretation of Greek mythology was considered radical in his times. It was he who wrote that Greek gods and goddesses were human beings to begin with. Because of their extraordinary feats or the cultural and/or social value that they added to life in ancient Greece, their ordinary humanity was turned into godhood in the minds of ancient Greeks (Harris). Thus, ancient Greek gods and goddesses were portrayed in painted scenes on stone, vases, and also with bronze and terracotta sculptures for the sake of remembrance. Although many of the ancient Greek temples honored multiple gods and goddesses, certain places showed greater reverence to a sole deity or a pair of gods, e. g. Olympia’s Zeus, and Eleusis’ Demeter and Persephone (â€Å"Culture†). For reasons described above, the ancient Greeks downplayed the divine aspects of their gods by giving them a typically human form, as the example of the Torso of Apollo reveals (See Appendix I). Made in 2nd century AD, the Torso of Apollo of marble shows young Apollo, â€Å"the Greek god of light, music, archery, healing, atonement, prophecy, and flocks and herds† (â€Å"Torso of Apollo†). The figure was popular with both Greeks and ancient Romans. It is an unclothed manifestation of perfection, splendor and courage with Apollo wearing a belt over one of his shoulders to which a case for holding arrows was fastened at his back (â€Å"Torso of Apollo†). By showing the god as distinctly human, the artist inspires into viewers the spirit to take Apollo for a courageous model and turn into heroes themselves. After all, Apollo was not only a gentle lover of the arts but also domineering to the extent that he was cruel to those who challenged his supremacy among ordinary mortals (Ingfei, 2002, p. 9; â€Å"Apollo†). What is more, he was intelligent and handsome enough to be taken as a model by the ancient Greeks. With the sun as his special symbol, Apollo did not only show physical courage but was also a supporter of intellectual pursuits (Leadbetter, 2004; Regula, 2009). He was known as the god of poetry, medicine, and intellectually enquiry to boot (Leadbetter). In other words, he was next to perfect. Athena Parthenos, too, was considered immaculate in ancient Greece. The Parthenon is a classical temple dedicated to the woman, considered the goddess of wisdom (See Appendix II). The temple was built between 447 – 432 B. C. on the Acropolis, which is in the capital city of ancient Greece, Athens. It has survived despite severe damage over the centuries (â€Å"Art,† 2008). Perikles, the famous politician of Athens, had championed the construction of the Parthenon (â€Å"The Parthenon†). Some of the architectural features of the temple have been described thus: †¦[R]ectangular floor plan with a series of low steps on every side, and a colonnade (8 x 17) of Doric columns extending around the periphery of the entire structure. Each entrance has an additional six columns in front of it. The larger of the two interior rooms, the naos, housed the cult statue. The smaller room (the opisthodomos) was used as a treasury. (â€Å"The Parthenon†) The temple was constructed with marble, and mainly represented the Doric order with features of the Ionic order incorporated in its sculptural program (Kerr, 1995). The Doric order gave Parthenon its series of ninety two metopes (with panels of sculptured reliefs depicting law and order and struggle); and triglyphs on its entablature. Additionally, the Doric order made the temple a peripteral, simple-looking structure with short and thick columns (â€Å"The Parthenon†). The â€Å"continuous sculpted frieze† of the Parthenon represents the Ionic order, however (â€Å"The Parthenon†). There are four tall and slim columns of the temple, too, that represent this architectural order which happens to support the opisthodomos’ roof at the Parthenon. The capitals or the columns’ tops that are built using the Ionic order have volutes, which are the names of the curlicues special to this order (â€Å"The Parthenon†). Above the metopes and triglyphs of the temple lie the pedimental sculptures, one of which shows the birth of Zeus – yet another god for the ancient Greeks (â€Å"The Parthenon†). The frieze of the temple, running â€Å"around the upper edge of the temple wall† and inside from the metopes and the triglyphs shows day to day life in ancient Greece, the rituals of the Greeks, processions, musicians, gods and goddesses, and much more (â€Å"The Parthenon†). Indeed, the place of the frieze in the sculptural program of the temple is unique, seeing as it does not only portray real life and beliefs of the ancient Greeks, but also gives the Parthenon a central place in the life of Athens. The temple was, after all, a place where religious festivals as well as sacrifices were held. Moreover, this temple gave Athena Parthenos a special place to stay for the protection and welfare of the Athenians (â€Å"The Parthenon: Religion, Art, and Politics†). Whether or not the ancient Greeks would consider it Athena Parthenos’ blessing that took ancient Greek art styles to faraway lands, the fact is that even the ancient art of the Nabataeans and the Arabs experienced the influence of Greek artists. Vries Osinga (2005) state that â€Å"[t]he Nabataeans at their height spread as far north as Damascus, to the coast of the Mediterranean at Gaza in the east and to Madain Salih in the south. † But, the Nabataean kingdom came under Roman rule in the year 106 A. D. It became an Arabian province at the time (Vries Osinga). The Nabataeans were caravan drivers on a large scale. Roman traders visited Petra even before the Nabataean kingdom was taken over by the Romans. These traders came to conclude transportation agreements with the Nabataeans. The latter traveled around the world with merchandise – â€Å"between the Red Sea and the Nile, and sometimes as far away as the Delta† (Sartre, Porter, Rawlings, 2005, p. 268). Unsurprisingly, therefore, their temples expose a variety of influences on the hearts and minds of the Nabataeans (Vries Osinga). Vries Osinga write: The many structures are so diverse that it is difficult to categorize them, at least without oversimplifying or overlooking what may be important details. Philip Hammond, who excavated the Temple of the Winged Lions, concludes that it might be more faithful to the diversity of the temples to see them not as derivatives of Iranian temples, Roman temples or other, but to recognize the borrowing of constructional and decorative technique and to concentrate on why each was unique. (Vries Oringa) Sartre, Porter Rawlings write that Nabataeans were so influenced by Greek art – following the Roman invasion – that they spread that influence in many parts of Arabia. Nude heroes of the Greeks have been found in Arabia and believed to have been conveyed there by the Nabataeans (Sartre, Porter Rawlings, p. 269). However, Vries Oringa have uncovered Egyptian influence in the temples of Nabataeans to boot. Describing one of the most significant temples left by the Nabataeans, the authors state: [T]he Wadi Rum temple took its layout from Egyptian models, specifically the Egyptian Temple Dayr Chelouit. The only reference to the Roman world would be columns of the Wadi Rum Temple. Dharih might also be kin to the Egyptian Temple of Coptos, while the Qasr al-Bint and the Temple of the Winged Lions find construction parallels there also (Vries Oringa). Then again, Greek and/or Roman influence seems to be most profound. Although temple plans of the Nabataeans do not appear typically Roman, decoration outside of the temples may be recognized as distinctly Roman and/or Hellenistic. As an example, the external decoration of Khasneh makes it appear as though it was built in Alexandria (Vries Oringa). Even so, Vries Oringa believe that the Nabataeans did not simply copy the designs that were handed down to them by Romans. Instead, they took influence in their stride, sometimes appropriating â€Å"the general structure,† but modifying and adapting it as time went on (Vries Oringa). In other words, they were open to influence, but also believed in maintaining their local traditions. Taylor (2001) agrees with this view. In her book, Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans, she explains that the Nabataeans did not make copies as slaves would. Rather, Greek ideas were amazingly transformed by the Nabataeans into works of art keeping â€Å"a distinctively Nabataean flavor† (Taylor, p. 92). No wonder, Petra remains as an incomparable feast for the eyes for all lovers of art. Vries Oringa write that the art of Nabataeans, in particular the sculptures they made, also changed from era to era; that is, even before the Romans came to rule the Nabataean kingdom, the Nabataeans went on altering their artistic style (Vries Oringa). Perhaps their visits to foreign lands brought such changes to the art of the kingdom. But, once the Romans had arrived on the scene, the Nabataeans did not only borrow the artistic styles of the Greeks but also others’. The sculptures of deities in Tannur, for example, appear both Hellenistic and Oriental. The Nabataeans also seem to have been influenced by the Syrian artistic style, as revealed through sculptures at both Dharih and Tannur (Vries Oringa). Although Hellenistic artistic style â€Å"of classical proportions† is most often cited as an influence on Nabataean art, there were plenty of sculptures made by the Nabataeans that did not appear Greek at all even though they were made while the Nabataeans were living under Roman rule (Vries Oringa). Vries Oringa cite â€Å"the simple standing block† as an example of such artwork. The fact that the Nabataeans maintained their local flavor in their artistic style shows that these people did not wholly lose their cultural identity at the time. Even the Romans may have delighted in the diversity revealed through Nabataean art, simply because the Nabataeans mingled with many peoples at the time. What is more, the adaptation of Greek art to new cultures must have been viewed as a triumph of ancient Greek artistic styles. After all, ancient Greek art continues to be celebrated around the world to this day. References Apollo. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://felc. gdufs. edu. cn/jth/myth/Greek%20Online/5Apollo. htm. Art. (2008). Ancient Greece. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://www. ancientgreece. com/s/Art/. Culture. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://www. crystalinks. com/greekculture. html. Harris, W. Euhemerus. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://community. middlebury. edu/~harris/SubIndex/greekmyth. html. Ingfei, C. (2002, Aug 2). The Sun also Heals; Some believe. International Herald Tribune. Kerr, M. (1995, Oct 23). The Sole Witness: The Periclean Parthenon. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://people. reed. edu/~mkerr/papers/Parth95. html. Leadbetter, R. (2004, Jan 31). Apollo. Encyclopedia Mythica. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://www. pantheon. org/articles/a/apollo. html. Sartre, M. , Porter, C. , Rawlings, E. (2005). The Middle East under Rome. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Taylor, J. (2001). Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans. London: I. B. Tauris. Timeline of Ancient Greece. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://www. aspasiaproject. com/timeline. htm. The Parthenon. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://academic. reed. edu/humanities/110Tech/Parthenon. html. The Parthenon: Religion, Art, and Politics. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://employees. oneonta. edu/farberas/arth/ARTH200/politics/parthenon. html. Torso of Apollo. (2000). The Detroit Institute of Arts. Retrieved Feb 27, 2009, from http://www. cartage. org. lb/en/themes/arts/scultpureplastic/SculptureHistory/GloriousScul

Investigation of whether Poverty Causes Crime

Investigation of whether Poverty Causes Crime In the current essay we will discuss the fact that poverty causes crime. Poverty is a characteristic of the economic situation of the individual or social group in which they cannot satisfy a certain range of the minimum requirements needed for life saving ability. Poverty is a relative concept and depends on the overall standard of living in the society. According to experts, not getting decent wages for their work, young people gradually lose the desire to marry and to have children they are full of fear for tomorrow, not sure that tomorrow they will not be fired because of another financial crisis. In addition, low wages and lack of jobs, experts say, are pushing young people to commit crimes in order to get rich quickly. It is, therefore, among criminals, increases the number of adolescents, aged 18 to 25 years. Poverty is a consequence of diverse and interrelated reasons, which combine into the following groups: economic (unemployment, low wages, low productivity, lack of competitiveness of the industry); socio-medical (disability, old age, high levels of morbidity); Demographic (parent families, a large number of dependents in the family); socio-economic (low level of social guarantees); educational qualifications (a low level of education, lack of training); political (military conflict, forced migration); regional-geographic (uneven development of regions). As well, current crisis makes people react and do something, even if it is illegal, they start committing a crime. Poverty causes many crimes, as if a person was not poor and had faith in himself, he would not face the thought that he should search another ways to get money. According to Crime Causes Poverty (2010), being poor, which could be caused by different reasons, makes a person unhappy, incapable to earn enough money, to buy anything he wants or at least something necessary. Poverty determines a certain stereotype in a persons thoughts, and he does not see any constructive solving of the problem, as he wants to choose the easiest way of getting money, even harming other people. According to Borade (2007), poverty has a huge psychological influence on people, who become depressed, desperate and then they decide to commit a crime, as they have not found anything that can legally get them out of such situation. Too many problems that a person faces in the modern society makes him get angrier on the whole situation and forces to look for the new ways of solving his problem. The desperate economical situation in the country and consequently the lack of the work places, especially for young people, creates the thoughts and actions of crime. No guarantees from the government and no proper help to people who are poor leads to the chaos and misunderstanding, where the only way out they find, is to commit a crime. Poverty as a social phenomenon in a historical sense is of lasting value. The extent and depth of immersion of the people in the country reflects two important aspects of society the level of development of productive forces and the corresponding character of their operation principle of social justice. Most often, poverty is treated as financial insecurity of people, when income of a person or family does not allow maintaining socially necessary consumption for life, interfering with normal living and personal development. According to Mac Donald 2010), poverty serves as guidelines for shaping social policy. This phenomenon is assessed by using indicators of absolute and relative poverty, its depth and severity, as well as by the subjective perception of their individual well-being and quality of life. To determine the effect of poverty on crime, there may be also another way: by studying the living conditions of the poor and convicted before they commit crimes. As a consequence of the fact that poverty causes crime, criminally distorted psychology of society, values and personality, as a direct cause of crime are expressed by more than just greed, aggression, irresponsibility and neglect of criminal law prohibitions, as stated by Charen (2007). It has several forms: greed, the cause component of the Organized Crime and Entrepreneurship, parasitism, irresponsibility, situational robbery, when crimes are committed to meet the immediate material needs, poverty is an incentive for the physical survival. At a gain now there is 80% of the totality of the causes of crime at this time. The main source of crime in any society is the aggravation of his social contradictions. It is also defined as meaningful and with the quantifiable features of the formation, which are within the specific time parameters. It is known, that the technologically advanced capitalist countries do not have the same level of crimes. As a fact, crimes begin from the childhood. As a rule, if a child was born in a poor family, there are more chances that he will start committing crimes. All over the world there is propaganda of a luxurious way of life, of successful people, of expensive mansions, cars, of beautiful journeys, etc. When children and adolescents see that and understand that parents will not provide them with all these things, they start looking for the opportunity to get money fast in order to buy at least something. And consequently, they decide to commit a crime. According to Barr (1992), the crimes committed by adolescents are considered the cruelest. The majority of cases of all crimes show that a driving force of the crimes is the money. The values of the society are built the way that those people with the problems in their minds decide to bring closer all these luxurious things. One of the main aspects that can prevent poverty is education. If children are educated properly, then they will perceive the reality as it is and they will try to succeed in legal ways by studying and then getting a job. Sometimes, crimes are the symptom of the culture, and education can cure the cultural poverty, and only then the financial poverty will be cured itself as a consequence. As a fact, not only poor people commit crimes, as there are also rich people who have no boundaries in their actions and also power and they also commit crimes to get more money and power, according to McGrath (2009). Considering the statistics, the total number of the seven index crimes is reported to police per 100,000 inhabitants in the United States. The research states that if to reduce poverty, crime will be reduced, although with the crisis that has begun in 2008, there have been registered less crimes, although there are more poor people because of the crisis. As an example of it, in the first decade of the XXI century crime in the United States has tended to decline. By the end of the decade, crime rates, according to many indicators, have fallen dramatically, despite the economic crisis of 2008-2010. In some cities such as New York, the crime rate has dropped to the record lows. With the onset of recession in the U.S., many media outlets have expressed fears that the crisis (for example, increased unemployment and reduced real incomes of people) will lead to a rapid increase in crime. FBI report shows that these fears have not yet been met. Published in the 2008, the study of the Heritage Foundation has shown that the relationship between economic perturbations and the crime exists, but it is not so clear. Thus, in the United States there is a nation-wide crime statistics since 1934. During all this time only for 16 years the crime rate has declined. The crime rate has steadily increased from 1955 to 1972, although this time the U.S. economy has experienced a rapid period of development, and then a recession occurred only in mid-1960. In turn, during the Great Depression statistics was only for the period from 1934 to 1938 criminals have shown less activity. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a preliminary report on crime rates in the U.S. in 2009. This statistics is based on data provided by about 17 thousand law enforcement agencies of different jurisdictions. The main conclusions of the report, compared to 2008, is that the number of property crimes in the U.S. decreased by 6.1%, violent crimes by 4,4%. According to the report, this year the number of murders in the U.S. fell by 10%, robberies on 6,5%, rape by 3,3%. Among property crimes, the most significantly decreased the number of thefts of cars (by 18.7%), theft (by 5.3%) and burglary (2.5%). The greatest reductions in crime were noted in cities with populations exceeding one million. In addition to FBI statistics, the crime rate measures the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics by the Census Bureau (study called National Crime Victimization Survey). Since 1973, there have been annually polled 70-80 thousand of households (family or group of people living together and h aving a total budget), to identify about how many actually committed crimes Americans have not informed the police. The last time similar research was conducted in 2008. It has shown that the victims of the criminals Americans do not always turn to law enforcement agencies: becoming the victims of violent crimes, they shall notify the police in 51.2% of the property in 39.6% of cases. Another important indicator for gauging the level of crime in the U.S. is a traditional study conducted the service Gallup Rating the perception of crime. Every year Gallup asks Americans to estimate whether increased or decreased the number of crimes in their area and across the country. In the recent years, such survey was conducted in September 2009. Then 74% of Americans said that compared with last year the crime rate in the U.S. grew, and 15% reported that the situation has improved. The rise in crime in their area was 51%, decrease 29%. As a fact, 12% of respondents said that the situation with crime in their place of residence was very serious; the crime rate across the United States similarly estimated 55% of respondents. It is curious that in the last decade, both of these indicators remain fairly stable, fluctuating slightly. As a rule, those countries where there is no proper economic regulations, there are more chances that people will react negatively and commit more crimes, as the consequence of unhappy life and no perspective in such countries. Although there is no proof of the direct connection of the fact that poverty is the main motive to commit a crime, as there are many factors present in the minds of people who in different situations can act differently. According to Francis (2008), it is not quite explicable, that the fact that while there is a depression and economical crisis all over the world, people do not commit more crimes, as the statistics shows that people do not intend to commit more crimes. The consequences and the logic of this fact are not fully understandable. In the modern world everything changes so quickly that people get accustomed to the situation, they learn the rules of the game and probably they try to find a better way to earn money and succeed than to commit a crime. T here can be also hope that the more people get more education, the more they get the proper knowledge, the better they understand life and the rules to survive. The more people know, the better they understand the situations, the values, the perspective, the more ideas they have, the more creative they are and the more they feel capable to find a job and to succeed in life. In poor countries such as Brazil and the countries of the former Soviet Union, there are millions of poor people who do not have a way out because of the lack of any perspectives to find a job, as the level of corruption is extremely high. According to Langeneckert (2010), in such countries is especially visible the difference and the gap between the extremely rich and very poor people. There are almost no middle class people who have a job, a house and other benefits. According to Crime (2009), there are almost no chances to combat it, as poor and desperate people in these countries do not see any other opportunity except committing a crime. The obvious injustice and no social guarantees make people feel as losers, who see the luxurious life and who cannot touch it. As a fact, there is a lot of envy because of such a big gap and so much poverty. Each country has its problems and level of poverty, but there is one main point- the lack of money. According to Brill (1993), if people had money at least for the basic needs, there would be no such level of poverty. And as Aristotle said: Poverty is a source of disturbance and crime, which means that little problem becomes a huge problem if there is nothing useful done to prevent it. That is why the right policy of the country will be able to eliminate poverty and along with that there will be no crime in the future. What factors specifically lead to poverty in the countries? This is the high level of unemployment, a significant number of jobs that do not provide a living wage, as well as reducing the number of social service costs. It can be emphasized that poverty reduction should not be a charity event. It must go against strong social inequalities. The only way to do this is to foster a society of equal opportunities. If we deal only with short-term problems in order to achieve short term objectives rather than to focus on strategic issues of economic and social development, we may miss the last chance to make the country the basis for a viable, long-term development based on economic and social modernization. So, the agenda should include the following vital issues: Reducing inequality and providing our citizens with the opportunity to realize their constitutional rights; Restoration of a common economic space; Infrastructure development through the joint efforts of government and the private sector (roads, railways, ports, airports, bridges, power lines, electricity, etc.); The solution of demographic problems of the countries; The rise of living standards (including environmental problems); Eliminating unevenness in the level of regional development; Harmonization of interethnic relations in the country and the creation of normal living conditions for the communities; National security and territorial integrity; The safety of citizens; As a fact, it is easier to prevent poverty than to deal with its consequences. The fact that people commit crimes when they are poor does not justify them. But the government has to take measures to prevent the poverty, there should be created more opportunities for people to work, as keeping people busy can prevent crimes and even the thoughts of it. Proper economical policy, positive changes in the social sphere, economical issues and employment can guarantee the higher level of education and understanding the principles, which will help to avoid the crime in the future. There should be also organized the certain campaigns aimed at the reduction of poverty, as it in some cases causes crime. Anyway, if the importance of money was not so crucial these days, probably, the majority of people would not commit crimes. As it is very difficult to be different from everyone in the society that values the materialistic ideas, the goods and products, it becomes a real challenge not to have goals to buy the things or to own something. It happens because the society judges those who are different, who have different vision, goals, principles and ideas. That is why people are almost forced to do everything the right way to be as everyone else is, to work and to succeed. And if there are no possibilities for that in the country, people start looking for other wrong ways to reach it anyway. They start looking for the easiest, quickest and lowest ways to reach their goal, and that is why robberies, different violent crimes and thefts occur. Some people, after committing them, feel innocent, as they think that if the government did not give certain things and possibilities to them, then they have the right to take things or money from the richer people. Deceiving themselves, people live in their own world that is so narrow, that allows them to commit a crime and to presume that no one will ever know. As a fact, it is sad that a reality is that money takes a very important place in peoples lives. Everything people do to earn money sometimes in not enough, that is why arise different problems which lead to the thoughts to commit a crime as that last opportunity. Everyone wants to live worthily and this desire determines unexpected behavior. Often people want to prove something to their friends, family, loved ones, but they do not manage to achieve it in a legal way, choosing instead the lowest possible way to commit a crime, thinking that from that moment on everything would change for the better. It is obvious that money rules the world, which is why almost every crime is based on the desire to get more money at any cost. Those who commit crime do not usually think about consequences and they pay for everything they have done later. Sometimes people just lack the patience and they want to have everything too soon without any considerable long time efforts. Consequently, this practice does not work and people are forced to pay for everything they have done. According to McIlheran (2010), psychological help and support in difficult situations can help and benefit people to overcome difficulties, challenging times and other problems. Being open to discussions, to new ideas, to new opportunities and options, people can stop thinking about committing a crime because they are poor. The capacity to believe in yourself, in the future possibilities and in the brighter future lacks in the minds of the people. It is surprising that people commit crimes, as it is obvious that sooner or l ater they will pay for what they have done and it is important to take control of the life. According to Short (1997), the mistake is that people sometimes consider themselves cleverer than the others are, and think they are capable of changing their life easily by harming someone else. This method, fortunately, does not work. Being realistic and optimistic at the same time can save situation and turn life to the better. All in all, only the right policies of the countries can solve this problem and make people understand and see other right ways to earn money and to get out of poverty. People are instruments in the hands of the government and they play by its rules. If there will be more opportunities and proper social conditions for people to live and work, the crimes that are caused by poverty will not take place anymore. A lot depends on the country that people live in, and on the fact how they see their future, which possibilities and advantages they can find and want to implement in their lives. Anyway, everything depends on a choice a person makes, wherever he lives and whatever he has.

Syndicated Data And Standardized Services And Their Differences Marketing Essay

Syndicated Data And Standardized Services And Their Differences Marketing Essay At work, I am involved in the selection process of research suppliers for the sake of annual staff surveys, benefits surveys and for mystery shopper program and analysis, I realize the services offered by the research industry has grown greatly in the past decade. So I am interested to find out the kind of services research agencies offer, and about the marketing research industry worldwide. This paper is therefore relatively informational, in which I have included a lot of named research suppliers who were listed and found from the various book references, library and internet sources in order to support the different categories of the services. There will be little emphasis on opinionated discussion, as the objective of this paper aims to explain the syndicated data and standardized services offered by research agencies, distinguish their differences, various applications and sources of data. Both services are common nowadays in Asia, especially the SMEs (Small to medium sized ente rprise) that are using such research data for nurturing the success of their organizations, however the difficulties to operate a nation-wide approach in Asia is discussed. I have also included a sample of a standardized service in Hong Kong, WorkHKà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ by Towers Watson, in the area of job satisfaction survey and its process is shared here. Introduction What is Syndicated data and Standardized services Today, over $20 billion a year is spent on marketing/advertising/public opinion research services around the world. Spending on marketing research is $6.9 billion in the United States alone. During the past two decades, the research market has become highly concentrated, with about 54 percent of the market being held by the 50 largest worldwide organizations. The other half of the market is shared by a thousand or more small research firms. The concentration is even more pronounced in the United States, where the 10 largest firms account for 64 percent of total U.S. spending for marketing research (Wileys Marketing Research Industry and Research Ethics article, p.26). In the highly competitive retail market, understanding the customer is paramount. In order to fill in the gaps of consumers buying motive and actual buying, companies have to understand the customers, and of course, marketing research is the tool for gaining knowledge about the customers. Marketing research is a systematic gathering of information and such analysis of data gathered connects the consumers and the public to the marketer so as to identify the marketing problems and opportunities, assess marketing actions, manage the marketing performance, and improve the overall marketing process. Marketing research information is provided by research suppliers which can be either an internal supplier or an external supplier. Most manufacturers, retailers, and service businesses, such as McDonalds, Kraft Foods or American Airlines, have small internal marketing research departments, and Procter and Gamble (PG) has a large internal research department. External suppliers are outside marketing research companies hired to supply marketing research data; and they can be classified as full service supplier firms and limited service supplier firms; full service suppliers are companies that offer full range of marketing research activities, they provide standardized information which involves two broad classes, namely the syndicated data services and standardized services which this paper focuses to discuss. Figure 1.0 indicates the overall services provided by an information supplier. What it means by Syndicated Data and Standardized Services According to Curry (1993) and Kolb (2008), syndicated data is a form of external and secondary data supplied in a standardized format and ready-to-use routine information made available to multiple subscribers known as a syndicate in a common database, which means the information is not tailor made to meet the needs of any particular company or designed to solve client-specific problems, the data format is designed to provide a standard, ongoing vehicle to facilitate the collection of data. Syndicated data is provided in a common data base for a service fee charged to subscribers and these research firms which provide the data are known as syndicated data service firms. These suppliers offer syndicated data on a subscription basis to all subscribing members of the syndicate, such detailed information can be of value to companies in a specific trade but may not be available in libraries. Syndicated data suppliers collect data on a continuing basis regarding the consumption of a specif ic product or products or the purchasing behavior of a specific target market segment. These data are then sold to companies, which specify how much data they want and the analysis they require; the more data and analysis that are required, the higher the price and what they do not do is conducting research specifically for any single client company. With syndicated data, both the process of collecting and analyzing the data and the data itself are standardized, firms supplying syndicated data follow standard research formats and uniform reports that enable them to collect the same standardized data over time at periodic intervals. Common types of syndicated data measure retail sales, wholesale product shipments, consumer panels, advertising media audiences, advertising effectiveness, and consumer attitudes. ACNielsen TV Ratings and IRI are examples of two large syndicated data services firms, ACNielson collects information on TV and media viewing and also on ad recognition on the i nternet, anyone, including the public, can buy the products they sell by visiting their website. On the other hand, standardized services rarely provide clients with standardized data, rather, they provide the research process. Zikmund (2003, p.74) explained that standardized services refer to a marketing research process that is standardized and used to generate information for a particular user and the application of that standardized process will result in different data for each client, even though the standardized process is the same in gathering the data. For example, a client will use a standardized service firm to measure customer satisfaction, instead of developing its own process. Several other marketing research services, such as test marketing, naming new brands, pricing a new product, or using mystery shoppers, can be provided or purchased from standardized service firms. Synovates ProductQuest service assists in developing new products and improving existing products. Baltimore Research offers a Mock Trials service to clients involved in litigation, to listen to di fferent attorney presentations so that the litigants attorneys can have better presentation ways to impact the jurors. Advantages and Disadvantages of Syndicated Data and Standardized Services Advantages of Syndicated Data A key advantage of syndicated data is on the shared costs of the data among users as many clients may subscribe to the same information, thus making the cost of the service greatly reduced. Burns Bush (2010, p.205) made it clear that due to the quality of the data collected is typically very high and requiring a huge amount of cost, so the share of affordable cost with several users maintains the validity and reliability quality of the data. Another advantage is that the data are normally disseminated very quickly because of the routinized systems, standard procedures and methods used to collect and process the data over and over again on a periodic basis. Besides, the information is current, the more current the data, the greater is the use. Syndicated data services can at least aid in the formulation of the clients decision problem, suggest types of data for meeting the information needs, and service as a source of comparative data by which internal data from within the organizati on cannot achieve. Advantages of Standardized Services The advantage of using standardized service suppliers is mainly buying the experience of the research firm, especially when the buyer company does not have enough the experienced personnel to carry out a particular research process. Besides, using standardized services helps to reduce cost of the buyer when the trial and error process and potential errors can be minimized. Since the standardized service suppliers has been conducting the service for many clients regularly, their procedure is therefore efficient in delivering the result as compared to having the research processed by the buying company themselves. Most importantly is the time saved for buying company in collecting similar data by themselves, because several weeks or months may be required to design, pretest a survey or questionnaire, train the interviewers, devise a sampling plan, collect and process the data. In addition, such cost of the project could be tremendous but it can be much reduced by employing the services from external standardized suppliers. Due to the always availability of standardized services, it is therefore important in the marketing research application. Disadvantages of Syndicated Data Since the format is standardized, buyers have little control over what information is collected and must be satisfied with the standardized information received. Buyers may feel helpless if the units of measurement or definition of classes, recency of data, publication currencies and the units of geographical data are not appropriate which are summarized as the data fit problem. Burns Bush (2010, pp.205-6) gave a second disadvantage, that buyers must often commit to a long-term contract which only serves to secure the expenses required by the syndicated data supplier on the quality and vast scope of research. The last and most crucial disadvantage is that the same data is available to competitors, that is, what the client firm buy and see from the report, the competitors also see the same analysis and picture. Disadvantages of Standardized Services Naturally, the word standardized automatically implies the service is not customized, standard service suppliers do not design a service specifically for the clients project. Besides, Zikmund (2003, p.113) stated that the standardized service supplier may not know a particular industry well so it becomes the responsibility of the buying company to ensure the standardized service really fits their intention. This accuracy problem poses a limitation and can only be minimized if the buying company has a comprehensive knowledge of the research process so as to evaluate the accuracy of the data and assess the evidences regarding the quality of the data as well. Applications of Standardized Information Standardized information is a type of secondary data which can be either syndicated or standardized, in which the data collected and/or the process of collecting the data are standardized for all users. Standardized information can have many applications, in general, it includes measuring the consumer attitudes, clarifying market segments, conducting market tracking and monitoring the usage of media and effectiveness of promotional activities. Measuring consumer attitudes and opinion polls Burns Bush (2010, pp.206-207) gives plenty of examples for this kind of suppliers: The Maritz Poll uses a standardized process to ensure that consumer attitudes and opinions are properly measured, and these polls are examples of a standardized service. ESRIs Tapestryà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ Segmentation is a standardized service that uses a process to profile residential neighborhoods. This information is purchased by clients desiring to better understand who their customers are, where they are located and how to reach them. The Yankelovich Monitor measures changing social values and their impact on consumers. It specializes in generating studies on mature populations, baby boomers and Generation Xers. These data are syndicated which is available to anyone who wishes to buy, and the information can be used for a variety of marketing decisions. Ipsos Public Affairs ® produces Ipsos Global @dvisor ® to study the companys proprietary audiences so that company can better understand how consumers and key stakeholders view its reputation as a brand. Coca-Cola is its subscribers. The Harris Poll measures consumer attitudes and opinions on government and economy, and other topics include politics, world affairs and legal issues. Harris poll is a source for identifying trend lines and is standardized information offering syndicated data. The Gallup Poll (http://poll.gallup.com/) measures public opinion polling on a wide variety of topics, such as domestic issues, private issues or world affairs, military and defense, stem cell research, smoking population percentage over time, etc. Gallup poll is syndicated data, as the information is available to all who wish to buy. Client firms can track attitudes of consumers toward buying private brands or their attitudes. Defining market segments This research method requires placing customers to share certain attributes, such as age, income, into homogeneous groups or market segments. The Stanford Research Institute, for example, conducts an annual survey of consumers and classifies them into homogeneous groups for market segmentation purposes. Some standardized information sources focus on members of the industrial market, two sources being the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system allow marketers to define industry types more specifically. Dun Bradstreet (DB) credit bureau collects vast amount of information on business firms, private and public. While SIC uses 4 digits codes and NAICS uses 6, DBs Duns Market Identifiers (DMI) uses 8 digits classification system to identify firms into very specific types of businesses. Since DB originated as a credit reporting firm and companies already supplied DB with detailed information about their operations, allow DB create databases containing a wide spectrum of business information. This is important if a marketer is trying to target specific business firms, however narrow their classification. Other standardized information sources provide information on members of the consumer market. SRI Consulting Business Intelligences (SRIC-BIs) VALSà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ program (www.sric-bi.com/VALS/) segments consumers by psychological and demographic measures, placed them in each of eight personality segments. This knowledge of consumers behaviors helps the client firm develop a deeper understanding of its target market consumer. Birn (2000, p.74) brought in the term, geodemographics, which describes the classification of usually small geographical areas and related to the characteristics of the inhabitants. Research firms specializing in geodemographics combine census data with survey data. Boyd, Walker Larrà ©chà © (1998, pp. 171-179) further substantiated this service by referring it as PRIZM, (Potential Ratings Index for ZIP Markets) which defines every neighborhood in the US based upon 66 household market segments. ESRIs Tapestryà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ also divides US residential ZIP cod es into 65 segments based upon selected demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Nielsen Claritas (http://www.claritas.com) and Acorn help sending promotion messages to targeted consumers and they have created desktop products that assist marketing managers to conduct regional and national segmentation studies. Knowing which market segments helps to make up a client firms potential customers. Conducting market tracking Tracking studies are those that monitor, or track a variable such as market share or sales over time. Tracking studies can tell a firm how well the products are being sold in retail outlets globally and also the sales status on competitors products. Nielsen SCANTRACK Services is based on syndicated retail scanning data, tracks thousands of products as they move through retail stores, allowing brand managers to monitor sales and market share and to evaluate marketing strategies. As for market tracking at the household level, it is gathered in homes using scanning devices or through the use of diaries and sending auditors to households. Nielsen Homescan ® Panel, uses scanning device to scan all bar-coded products brought home from all outlets. IRI ScanKey Consumer Network Household Panel, an example given by Malhotra Birks (2000), maintains a panel of consumer households that record purchases at outlets by using a handheld ScanKey wand. Todays technology is so advanced that a user o f information can easily be overloaded with information, various companies have therefore created decision support systems, data mining systems, expert systems and the like by using analytical tools to attach meaning to data, allowing marketers to make decisions in response to the quickly changing market conditions. Monitoring media usage and promotion effectiveness In order to measure the promotional effectiveness in media, readership, listenership effectiveness, some syndicated data service companies conduct studies on several forms of media. To track television, Nielsen Television Index (NTI) records television ratings data which are reported by DMAs (designed market areas). Naturally higher viewership of certain programs allow the television company to charge higher fee for advertisements. NTI also provides subscribers with audience characteristic information that allows potential advertisers to select audiences that most closely match their target markets characteristics. To track radio, Arbitron Panel provides syndicated data on radio station listening through selected samples who record their radio listening in diaries and Arbitrons Portale People Meter (PPMSM), a hand-held electronic device in the size of a mobile phone, automatically records the stations listened to. The procedures for measuring advertising effectiveness are standardized for comparing the results across studies. To track print, MRIs Starch Readership Survey is widely used for measuring the actual exposure of magazine ads to readers; Gallup and Robinson Magazine Impact Studies are another well-known syndicated service firms, aim to help marketers make decisions about what comprises a good ad. To track downloaded music, videos and recorded books, Nielsens SoundScan, VideoScan and BookScan separately provides information on the downloaded music, sales of VHS and DVD and sales of books. To track Multimedia, Simmons National Consumer Study gathers information on media usage linked to product usage, this information allows companies to determine the viewing/listening media habits of users. Nowadays, on-line consumer word of mouth or on-line consumer business have been shared through the internet world, via websites, blogs, facebook, discussion forums, companies can keep track of what is being said about them and their products by subscribing to BussMetrics from the Nielsen Company (Hester, 1996, pp. 169-170 and Burns Bush, 2010, pp. 219-222). Monitoring health related facilities and pharmaceutical products IMS Health Incorporated, as mentioned by Burn Bush (2010, p.76), is the worlds second largest research firm, providing services in over 100 countries. IMS services include pharmacy and hospital audits plus the measurement of disease and treatment patterns. Westat, Americas third largest research firm, conducts research and long-term follow-up surveys for agencies of the US government and businesses foundations. Major areas include health, education, social programs, environment and transportation. Sources and Suppliers of Data Primary and external syndicated Secondary Data Primary and secondary data are two main sources of data. Primary research starts from raw scratch, collected specifically for the research needs to solve the problem at hand. Secondary data already exists and are already published as they were collected for purposes other than the specific research needs at hand and usually used by someone else. Secondary data are therefore more economical than primary research which is a quick source of background information, but the format seldom meets the needs of the researcher. In a marketing problem definition process, analysis of available secondary data is an essential step and primary data should not be collected until the available secondary data have been fully analyzed. Scott (2009) alerted marketers with international marketing research that few problems may arise because customers may vary due to different cultures, traditions, beliefs and expectations. If this happens, separate country should collect individual countrys secondary info rmation and then compare the data difference, which means international marketing research better counts more on original primary data instead of secondary information. Primary data sources Primary data is original and normally organizations commission external researcher to establish the techniques, measurement and analysis for them. The technical aspects of conducting various types of primary marketing research relies on qualitative research methods, which means working with focus groups, conducting surveys, questionnaires, interviews and experiments. Wilson (2006, pp. 37) said this is a skilled task that requires careful thought and planning whereby a poorly designed questionnaire can jeopardize the response rates and provide incomplete or inaccurate data. Besides, determining the sample involves clearly specifying the types of respondent to be included, the number of respondents required and the method by which individual respondents will be selected. To conduct focus groups and interviewing, the researchers need to be well trained to ensure unbiased judgment and uphold the ethics to respect the rights of the respondents. Most companies will outsource the data colle ction process and rarely have it conducted by the companys internal personnel. Syndicated sources and Suppliers of Secondary Data Secondary data can be classified as coming from internal sources or external sources. Boyd et. al. (1998, p.80) specified clearly that internal sources can be available within the organization when every organization has at its disposal valuable internal secondary data, such as sales invoices, estimates of total annual usage of a product, advertising and promotion activities recorded, research and development and manufacturing reports or service by location, etc. that can be an important starting point for any marketing research project. External data can be available from various sources, such as government statistical publications, trade association data, books, bulletins, annual reports and business periodicals which can be free from library resources. Otherwise, external data sources not available in libraries are usually standardized data which are comparatively expensive. These secondary data are supplied by syndicated services suppliers to many client firms, anyone willing to pay the price can buy the data. One method of obtaining secondary data is frequently through surveys, which could be periodic surveys on the same set of variables conducted at regular intervals; or panel surveys to measure the same panel respondents over time but not necessarily on the same variable; or shared surveys are developed and executed for multiple clients when each of them share the cost. A number of firms maintain panels of respondents who are matched to the general population in terms of age, income and who agree in advance to participate in surveys, typically by mail or phone and response rates within the panels tend to be high and the demographic and lifestyle information are already available . Curry (1993) classified syndicated data sources as a) consumer data, b) retail data, c) wholesale data, d) industrial data, e) advertising evaluation data, and f) media and audience data. Consumer data normally relates to purchases and the circumstances surrounding the purchases. Kinnear Taylor (1991, pp.151-155, 164) provided examples of these suppliers: The National Purchase Diary (NPD, http://www.npd.com/) maintains over 30,000 households who keep diaries of purchases. The Marketing Research Corporation of America (MRCA) maintains a diary panel that records details on purchase of groceries and personal care items. Mediamark Inc. has annual survey that includes overall breakdown of usage by demographic category. The Roper Reports monitor public opinion and consumer behavior and interests on a broad range of social and political topics and on opinions of various consumer products and services. Yankelovich Clancy Shulmans Monitor Service conducts annual survey of households on social trends. Regarding consumers attitudes and buying behavior, Burgoyne Consumer Surveys provides in-store consumer on-the-spot reactions to marketing and product innovations, DDB Needham an d Gallup Omnibus conducts long term tracking of attitudes and opinions. PRIZM serves to explain, predict target consumer behavior while the Survey Research Center at University of Michigan monitors consumer consumption patterns, attitudes and intentions on financial issues. Retail Data collected focus on the products or services sold through the outlets and/or the characteristics of the outlets themselves. Hair, Bush Ortinau (2006, pp. 12-13) mentioned ACNielens Retail Index and Audits Surveys National Total-Market Audit provide data on total sales by product class, sales by brand and of competing brands in supermarkets, drugstores. IRI (http://www.infores.com/) and ACNielsen (http://www.acnielsen.com/) basically dominate the retail scanner business. Scanner data are collected in two separate forms (household level and store level) and for two distinct sets of clients (manufacturers and retailers). In addition, three other sets of data are also maintained, they are (a) prices, features and displays at the retail level; (b) coupons and other promotions (c) advertising on TV, print, radio. Audits Survey also provides National Restaurant Market index on the commercial restaurant market annually. Ehrhart-Babic Group provides syndicated in-store distribut ion data and new-product-introduction performance data through their National Retail Tracking Index. BehaviorScan and InfoScan by IRI assist in multiple market testing and tracking services while DBs National Scan Track provides projection to monitor displays in supermarkets. Wholesale data are warehouse shipment data used to estimate sales at retail. Birn (1999) told us that SAMI (Selling Areas-Marketing, Inc.) is the best known syndicated service of this type, especially for retail food stores. SAMIs data allow the client to analyze trends in sales or package size and the impact of promotions and competitive actions. These data also serve as an intermediary audit purpose in the distribution chain, wholesalers and formal examination of product movement by analyzing inventory. Pipeline Research Inc. provides audit service on warehouse inventories of drug products monthly. Then P-O-S Research audits the national warehouse movement and trend line of products sold through food store distribution, including grocery, frozen, dairy, household, health and beauty aids. Industrial data are more syndicated data services available to consumer goods manufacturers rather than to industrial goods suppliers. Birn (1999) shared that DBs Market Identifiers provides data on companies rated by DB, which can be used to construct sales prospect lists, identify sales territories, sales potentials, and so forth. McGraw-Hills Dodge Reports collects data from building material manufacturers and distributors so the data can be used in marketing building products while Polk Companys Motor Statistics provides vehicles registration data. Advertising Evaluation data help advertisers in measuring the effectiveness of their ad expenditures in broadcast and print media. AdTel, ARS (Advertising Research Service), CATS (Comprehensive Advertising Tracking System) offer comprehensive and continuous tracking of weight and quality of commercial ads in terms of GRPs (Gross Rating Points). Starch Message Reports, Gallup and Robinson Magazine Impact Studies are most widely used syndicated services on readership. Burns Bush (2010, p.150) cited Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) is a standardized, independent third party audit bureau, aims to confirm methodology, verification of lists and credibility of the content of magazines which are very helpful to the magazine industry providing advertisers with richer data on magazine readership. Media and audience data Media companies include advertising agencies, sales promotion companies, public relations agencies, and direct marketing firms which are all concerned with getting the right message to the right target market, the advertising effects of competitors, how much they are spending and the media mix, hence marketing research information is often required to accomplish this goal. For example, companies that advertise on network television want to select shows that reach their target customers most efficiently so they need information on the size, demographic and psychographics composition of the audiences for various TV programs. Firms like NMR and American Research Bureau provide standardized TV audience ratings to a syndicate group of clients. The Simmons Market Research Bureau compares audience characteristics. Kolb (2008, p.64) mentioned it would be greatly inefficient for company to collect these data by themselves, only ad agencies have internal research depar tment as they need to find the correct marketing message and the best image to represent a client company and also the best media to use. Marketing Evaluations, Inc., for example, offers several Q Scores ® services, one of its services measures the familiarity and appeal of performers, such as actors/ actresses, authors, athletes, sportscasters, and so forth. Such information helps companies to choose the most appropriate spokesperson or help a movie producer select a performer for an upcoming movie. Scott (2009) gave an interesting fact that Tom Hanks and Bill Cosby, for example, are performers who have high Q scores. Nielsen Media Researchs Nielsen Television Index (NTI), is another example of a syndicated data provider, supplying subscribers with data on TV viewing, available to anyone wishing to buy it. Arbitron and ACB (Advertising Checking Bureau) offer syndicated data on the number and types of listeners to the various radio stations. This standardized information helps advertising firms reach their target markets; and also helps radio stations define audience size and characteristics. One must not undermine the service by the research giant, VNU Inc. (VNU), founded in 1964, is a major international media and information company and the largest company owned by VNU is ACNielsen. Hair et.al. (2006) gave a thorough introduction of ACNielsen, that it is broken down into several companies: a) Nielsen Media Research (NMR) provides television audience measurement information; b) NetRatings Inc. (NR) reports on internet and digital media syndicated research; c) Entertainment Information Division (NE) serves the entertainment industry, including movies, music and home entertainment; d) Media Solutions Division includes PERQ/HCI providing healthcare audience measurement, Scarborough Research (SR) measures local and regional shopping patterns of American consumers, Standard Rate Data Services (SRDS) offers the worlds largest database on media rates, Interactive Market Systems (IMS) offers audience profiling. Single Source Data Single source data means continuously monitor a panel of respondents on media exposure, promotional material exposure, and buying behavior to measure their exposure to promotional material

Glitches :: essays research papers

How to glitch Halo 2   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is a glitch? What is Halo 2? Halo 2 is a video game that is played on the XBOX gaming console. It is a first-person shooter with beautiful landscapes and environments. In every environment there are limits and boundaries as to what you can do and where you can go. A glitch is when you find a way around these limits and boundaries. There are many glitches in Halo 2, but the one we will learn is how to get out of the environment called â€Å"Burial Mounds.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Halo 2 there are walls around every environment. To build these walls, programmers make a boundary that you cannot pass through and then they assign it a color and/or texture to make it look like a real wall. The obvious solution to getting out of an environment would be to simply find a way over these walls. That was the case in the prequel to Halo 2 called Halo, but in Halo 2 the programmers did not want gamers to get out of the environments so they built invisible walls above the visible ones so that it looks like there is just one wall, but really there are two walls stacked on top of each other. To make these invisible walls they simply make a boundary and do not assign a color to it. These invisible walls worked very well, but there was one problem with them; they did not make a complete circle around the environment. The invisible walls have two ends that meet together somewhere in the environment and leave a small â€Å"hole† between each end. Fi nding this hole and getting through it is how we will glitch Burial Mounds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Step one is to setup the proper game. Turn your XBOX on with Halo 2 inside. When the main menu appears select the â€Å"Settings† option. A submenu will appear and you will need to select the â€Å"Game Variants† option. Once you have done this a list of game options will appear and you will scroll down the list and change these options as such: Level – Burial Mounds Game Type – Juggernaut Over shields – On Once you have done this press the back button until you are at the main menu again. Now choose the option â€Å"Multiplayer.† When you get to the multiplayer submenu you will need a partner to join the game with you because this glitch requires two players. Glitches :: essays research papers How to glitch Halo 2   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is a glitch? What is Halo 2? Halo 2 is a video game that is played on the XBOX gaming console. It is a first-person shooter with beautiful landscapes and environments. In every environment there are limits and boundaries as to what you can do and where you can go. A glitch is when you find a way around these limits and boundaries. There are many glitches in Halo 2, but the one we will learn is how to get out of the environment called â€Å"Burial Mounds.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Halo 2 there are walls around every environment. To build these walls, programmers make a boundary that you cannot pass through and then they assign it a color and/or texture to make it look like a real wall. The obvious solution to getting out of an environment would be to simply find a way over these walls. That was the case in the prequel to Halo 2 called Halo, but in Halo 2 the programmers did not want gamers to get out of the environments so they built invisible walls above the visible ones so that it looks like there is just one wall, but really there are two walls stacked on top of each other. To make these invisible walls they simply make a boundary and do not assign a color to it. These invisible walls worked very well, but there was one problem with them; they did not make a complete circle around the environment. The invisible walls have two ends that meet together somewhere in the environment and leave a small â€Å"hole† between each end. Fi nding this hole and getting through it is how we will glitch Burial Mounds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Step one is to setup the proper game. Turn your XBOX on with Halo 2 inside. When the main menu appears select the â€Å"Settings† option. A submenu will appear and you will need to select the â€Å"Game Variants† option. Once you have done this a list of game options will appear and you will scroll down the list and change these options as such: Level – Burial Mounds Game Type – Juggernaut Over shields – On Once you have done this press the back button until you are at the main menu again. Now choose the option â€Å"Multiplayer.† When you get to the multiplayer submenu you will need a partner to join the game with you because this glitch requires two players.

Mental Training-sports Essay -- essays research papers fc

Motivate Yourself! Metal preparedness is almost as important as physical training. To be mentally trained most closely means to be psychologically ready for the physical act of. Mental training includes several steps which include aquainting ones self with the event, setting a goal, finding out secret techniques or discovering the â€Å"trade secrets†, harnessing your inner psyche (Id) by having time set aside to discover it, monitor performance, visualize ones self in competition correcting all errors, and then combining all steps to make one the best athlete possible. Why is it that those of us who are out of a sport, and on our own to train can sometimes motivate ourselves to find the time to train and maintain a training schedule, and other times not? Sometimes we can get into the exercise habit and other times not? How can we make training part of our schedule? To be motivated to do something means to be persuaded that there is something to gain in it for one. Presumably, one should convince ones self that there is something to gain for one in pole-vaulting. Motivating one self is, however, somewhat paradoxical — a â€Å"catch 22†. What if you have to motivate ones self to motivate ones self? So, it is worth talking it over with another person. A person who does not find physical pleasure in pole-vaulting will not continue pole-vaulting for long. What motivates a pole-vaulter? Money? No. Love of their sport, maybe? Feeling good about being good at what they are doing? Pure enjoyment, exhilaration? Being on a team? Gaining position and power and influence? Being admired and appreciated by others? Yes! Is this enough to get you out on the mats regularly? Think over what you have to sacrifice to have the time to train. A movie, dinner with friends, late night TV, time with your family? One author suggested â€Å"mainly give up work. It’s impossible to keep up†. Visualize ones-self accomplishing the goal and feel that satisfaction that comes from success. Now how will a person remember that state of motivation that the person will want to have the next time they are deciding whether or not to row?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the person gets on the runway, it is important to make the experience pleasurable so one will want to come back. For most people, this means a few drills as they push off the dock to remind their nervous system of what is expected. Vaulti... ...ple Press. Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. The Hague: Mouton. 2. Erickson, M. H., & Rossi, E. L. (1979). Hypnotherapy: An exploratory casebook. New York: Irvington. 3. Gallwey, Timothy. (1974). The inner game of tennis. New York: Random House. Grinder, J. & Bandler, R. (1976). The structure of magic. II. Palo Alto: Science and Behavior. 4. Ingalls, J. S. (1988). Cognition and athletic behavior: An investigation of the NLP theory of congruence. (Doctoral dissertation, Teachers College Columbia University, 1987). Dissertation Abstracts International, 48, (7). p. 2090-8. DA 8721125. 5. Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (Eds.). (1980). Autopoiesis and cognition: The realization of the living. Boston: Reidel. 6. Miller, G., Galanter, E., & Pribram, K. H. (1960). Plans and the structure of behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 7. Varela, F. J., Thompson, E. & Rosch, E. (1993). The embodied mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. von Bertalanffy, L. (1968). General systems theory: Foundations, development, applications. New York: George Braziller. 8. Watzlawick, P., Bavelas, J., & Jackson, D. (1967). Pragmatics of human communication. New York: Norton.