The plight of the homeless in the United States Essay

The plight of the homeless in the United States - Essay Example In the United States, de-institutionalization of mentally ill population in the late 1970s and cuts in housing and social services in 1980s contributed to homelessness (Donohoe). According to National Alliance to End Homelessness, in January 2005 around 744,313 people were homeless (National Coalition for the Homeless). According to the statistics of National Law Centre, around 700,000 to 2 million people are homeless in America on a given night (Policyalmanac). The estimates of National Alliance to End Homelessness highlight that around 22 people out of every 10,000 people are homeless and on any given night in the United States, 671,859 people are homeless, in which 37 percent are families and 63 percent are individuals (National Alliance to End Homelessness). Between 2007 and 2009, family homelessness in the United States has increased by 30 percent and this percentage is expected to increase further (National Public Radio). The statistics show that homelessness in the United Stat es has actually become a serious concern for the economy. The number of homeless people in the United States is increasing rapidly and various factors are contributing to this increase. The typical reasons which may contribute to homelessness include disturbance in family support systems, natural disasters, civil wars, impact of structural adjustment activities and urbanization however, two major causes of homelessness in the United States include decline in affordable rental housing and poverty (Vickery, Williams and Lugo). The president of National Alliance to Homelessness, Nan Roman argues affordable housing crisis is the primary driver in homelessness and this problem cannot be solved unless the crisis is addressed (USA Today). In short, the problem of homelessness cannot be solved unless the root causes of the problem are addressed. Homelessness in the United States is significantly affecting the overall economy. The state incurs

Business Arrangements & Global Business Law Coursework

Business Arrangements & Global Business Law - Coursework Example The main advantage is that there would be more than one headcount to take care of the work. Since there are more than one the cost of running would get equally divided and more capital would be available. The income split will make the tax liability less for each of the partners. The business affairs would be private and there would be limited regulations from the external sources (MacIntyre, 2007). It would be easy to change the legal structures with the changing circumstances. Along with the advantages, there are disadvantages as well if they run it in the current model of operation. The liability of debts for each partner might become unlimited. Since there is no written document of the partnership past two years there might be cha ance of friction between the partners. If Barbara, Helen, and Maureen have a written document with all the valid points of their partnership it would be easy for them to avoid any kind of confusion in the future, which might lead to conflict in partners hip. As they are going to expand their business and employee, two people, it is advised to have everything in writing. Task 2 When Barbara, Helen, and Maureen are planning to make their business a limited liability company or LLC it is necessary for them to know about various types of LLCs (GCSE Business Studies, 2004).

The Effects Of Gangs In Society Criminology Essay

The Effects Of Gangs In Society Criminology Essay How to define a gang has always been a matter of controversy. The relationship of the gang to its local community and the salience of race have been at the heart of academic and popular differences on the nature of gangs., according to the Gang Research. In the current essay I would like to describe the effects of gangs in the community and the effects of community policing. These two issues are important and cause many problems in society. Nowadays, the effect of gangs in community is negative and annoys people. People are disturbed by the groups of people trying to harm the society. Modern society faces many different problems, including terrorism and gangsters. People unite and form groups of particular interests, forming the gang. Gang is a group of people engaged in banditry.  Gangsters are the people in the criminal law that have committed one of the most dangerous crimes against the foundations of public administration and society, as described in Gangs and their effect on community.  Criminal laws of various states do not always provide special offense thuggery, but many countries are close to this type of crime compounds (burglary, various kinds of violent acts, etc.).   Banditry actions. Often there are referred to banditry actions of the various armed rebel groups and wars. For example, the used phrases like Chechen bandits, gang Makhno, etc. Use of the term among the bandits against members of such groups was intended to provide them common criminals rather than political opponents. It is also necessary to  note that participants in such anti-government groups may, together with political objectives and goals pursue personal enrichment (through robberies, ransom for the hostages, etc.), as stated in Gang research. The gang often refers to organized street gangs controlling a territory or a hood (neighborhood).  Street gangs are probably the most famous Bloods, MS-13, and Crips from South Central Los Angeles.  Members of street gangs are black with large majorities, followed by Latinos and Slavs.  They come from poor neighborhoods in North America and Central America.  Bloods and Crips have been the subject of many Hollywood movies depicting the life of gangster in Los Angeles.  Colors, with Dennis Hopper and Sean Penn are one of the first of its kind.  Other fraternities such as motorcycle clubs like the Hells Angels and the criminal organizations (Sicilian Mafia, Chinese triads and Japanese yakuza) are often referred to as gangs.  The first gangs emerged in Los Angeles in the black ghettos and then in other major cities like New York and Chicago, but Toronto and Montreal in Canada, to name a few.  Community negatively perceives the existence of the gangs and tries to avoid the m. The majority think that this problem has to be more effectively controlled by the government, as stated in Gangs and their effect on community. Environment and gang activity. Quite often in environments suffering socially and economically provide gang members (mostly youth) a sense of belonging and protection against other gangs. Through this ritual, the violent practices of dress codes, a code of honor   Often where the prospects of gainful employment are low, gangs provide illegal means of earning a living.  Such as trafficking in narcotics or stolen property, extortion, assault They are very diverse and different, and sometimes become targets of choice for some ideological and extreme beliefs, which influence and motivate them, as described in Gang research. Unfortunately, innocent people can get caught in the crosshairs, so all those who live in the community where a gang is present are in greater danger as a result of the affect of the gang on their society., according to the Gang Research. Gangs in New York. In the U.S., the term gang used for a street gang, back in the 1860s formed such criminal organizations, such as the Irish Boodles in New York City.  Pushed by the waves of immigration increased the formation of ethnically based street gangs.  In these Big Five were called classic bands, the Irishmen organized in the Whyos, Hudson Dusters, or Gophers, Italians in the Five Points Gang and Eastern European Jews in the Eastman Gang.  After 1900, there were essentially only the Eastman and Five Points left, as described in Gangs in America.   Almost all of these Big Five were from politicians of the Tammany Hall secured; gangs such as the Eastman Gang and the Whyos offered illegal services for a price list.  However, the Mafia and the Camorra in New York City had come.  About the Black Hand Gang, the Unione Sicilian was undermined.  The over-controlled Italian voices were certainly of interest of Tammany Hall, as stated in Gang research.  Funded by the alcohol prohibition were formed out of the five clans today known as La Cosa Nostra American Mafia, also called the Five Families.  Accordingly, it came to the dissolution of traditional street gangs of New York City to 1920.  While this entry focuses gangs in the United States, gangs are a recognized feature of urban life in areas as diverse as Johannesburg, Rio de Janiero, Paris, and Hong Kong., according to the official data. Gangs in Los Angeles. A hotbed of banditry in the U.S., the city of Los Angeles, California.  In particular, the district South Los Angeles is the most dangerous region of town.  Here you fight the Bloods and Crips, the 38th Street Gang, the 18th Street Gang, the Mara Salvatrucha, the mutually Florencia 13 and other gangs.  In addition, there are always conflicts between African Americans and Latinos, as stated in Gangs in America.  All these gangs lay claim to a particular territory and have their own distinctive mark, such as colors, clothing, tattoos, hand signs and graffiti.  Historically, returns the current path from Los Angeles to increasing conflicts between blacks and whites in the course of the 1940s.  At that time, many blacks moved to Los Angeles, but could find no ghettos in the then appropriate accommodation.  The attempt from the break ghetto and to purchase in other parts of the city housing, put the local white residents against strong segregation efforts, ranging in some ca ses up to the inclusion of racial restrictions in the land book and much of the city for non-whites out of reach made.  Only in the south and southwest, where the residential areas of the lower middle class were white, blacks still could not find housing, but also here met with the resistance, as stated in Effects of Gangs. Mid to late 1940s was against this background, black residents from the borders of the Central Avenue-ghettos terrorized by gangs of white youths as the Spookhunters. In return, were founded the first black gangs like the businessmen, Slauson or flips, which are often offered the only protection against racist attacks, but also constitute a cultural or social home, as described in Gang research. Mark Twain on Gangs. In his 1884 classic Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain described the elaborate oath that the imaginative Tom Sawyer creates for members of his potential gang. Now well start this band of robbers and call it Tom Sawyers Gang. Everybody that wants to join has got to take an oath, and write his name in blood., as stated in the Chapter 2. In Huckleberry Finn. This shows the simple way of the creation of a gang, and the consequences can be much more complicated for both- the society and members of the gang. Todays members of the gang are criminals and they can not be distinguished in their actions from the other criminals. Community relation to Gangs. Some people believe that the gangs have become a permanent feature of the urban landscape around the world, as described in Gang Research. Community strives to do anything possible to prevent gang crimes, to make the life safes and to create foundations that will be able to protect them. In the modern world cooperation and communication on the topic of gangs in extremely important, as today the number of crimes is very high and people feel less safe each day. Without the cooperation of the community and police it will be very difficult to protect the families and to live in safety. As a fact, an unsupervised lower-class peer group, with leadership, structure, and adherence to a local territory is formed in the society and make the living even more difficult and unforeseen, as described in Addressing Community Gang Problems. People are disturbed and nervous because of the gangs present in the cities, as these local groups are capable to do anything from the theft to murder. Scary stories about them and no clear changes of the government considering the gangs have not changes the situation for the better. The Effects of Community Policing. The concept of community police officers (called Community Policing and Neighborhood Policing) is based on the assumption that an effective fight against crime and antisocial behavior requires close cooperation between the Police and members of the community.   Community Policing is both a philosophy and an organizational strategy that allows police and community residents to work closely together in new ways to solve the problems of crime, fear of crime, physical and social disorders, and neighborhood decay., as stated in The Effects of Community Policing and Technology on Index Crime Clearance Rates. Assumptions concept. The concept of community police patrols involves increasing the number of pedestrians  Police officers (and other similar services), they should be the members of the communities in which they work.  Building mutual trust and faith in the rule of law continues in through the establishment of direct contacts with the people-police should be open to citizens by showing patience, understanding and willingness to help, even if you entrusted to the problems have no direct connection with the violation of the law.  Conceptually, the police officer has to be more a sort of friend than a civil servant and representative government.  You can then count on the active participation of community members in efforts to combat crime.   According to The Effects of Community Policing and Technology on Index Crime Clearance Rates, the man goals of the community policing are: to bring community resources together to solve problems, decrease fear of crime, to listen to and address citizen concerns, to increase public confidence in the Police Department, to impact specific crime problems, and educate the public about its Police Department. Social scientists have differed on whether or not gangs necessarily exhibit criminal and delinquent activity. Some hold that gangs are fundamentally the product of delinquent subcultures; others believe gangs are a response to social disorganization. The United States National Youth Gang Center reports there are about 25,000 gangs in the United States, with nearly three quarters of a million members., according to the Gang Research. In the past, the view prevailed that the task of the Police is merely react-in a manner provided by law-the fact of the crime (the repressive function).  There was allowed only interference with pathology.  Today, there are beliefs that the role of police is not only to ensure safety, but also to concern for the quality of community life.  The first step should be here to determine the needs (problems) given community (for example, homelessness, importunate begging, alcohol abuse), and then preparing and implementing programs tailored to these specific needs.  It is desirable here also active as organizing talks drugs or encouraging young people to play sports. Community Policing (the police public service), and neighborhood policing (neighborhood) is a strategy and philosophy of policing based on the belief that the cooperation and support of the public can contribute to the control of crime.  The public can help identify what is suspicious and police have focused on existing problems.  The community ahs to become involved in the life of humanity, as there can be presented many crimes with the help of cooperation. Strategy. When using the strategy of community policing officers and police departments, they are regarded as part of the public.  Cities and countries that have adopted this philosophy, directed more than traditional police departments to the concept of policing as a public service.  Community policing is usually more in the emphasis on walking patrol activity than that the police checked the place and also visited them in cars.  The basic idea is to build confidence and a sense of reciprocity between the police and the public.  This approach requires that the police were helpful, impartial and sensitive to the interests and concerns of others, and there is also known as a new form of police work. Although the police disagrees with the complainant (the developer), they should try to understand this problem.  The police would have to show empathy and participation, but not to be enrolled in the automatic way.  The police must also improve their planning, problem solving, organizati on, interpersonal communication, and most importantly in critical thinking, as described in Gangs, Gang membership, and comprehensive strategies.   A change in its police service to the public is how the police can identify what is truly high-quality service and how it subsequently provided to the public.  In the past, police always respond only to specific problems, and do so quite peculiar way and did not pay almost no attention to the proactive approach.  For this, the work of the police today is truly effective, and there is the need to:  take seriously the needs of the public, take into account the needs of police actions and programs, which are then focused on the public. It is in this sense that the police are becoming more receptive to public needs and can also better understand how their work has an impact on society.  It is said that this philosophy is created by Tom Potter, former police chief in Portland, Oregon, when a young policeman patrolling activities are performed.  Other legends were Sir Robert Peel, who came up with nine principles, on whom stands a modern police work. Community policing. Community policing- are the social attitudes in a system of relationships between people, the rules of mutual behavior and dormitories, the applicable laws, customs and traditions, and moral norms.  Public order is a whole set of systems of social relations, which develops as a result of social norms: law, morality, norms of public organizations, non-legal norms of customs, traditions and rituals. Public order and public safety are the main objects of protection in the work of the interior.  The socio-legal categories, covering specific sphere of social relations, are characterized by a number of features that define the content of the activities of internal affairs for the protection (security) of these relations, as described in The Effects of Community Policing and Technology on Index Crime Clearance Rates.   First, public order and safety apply to all citizens without exception, and from birth until death.  Second, public order and public security tend to focus on elementary actions, deeds and rules of human behavior.  They occur openly and publicly, and usually they are understood by others.  Third, public order and safety are governed by the law as well as other social and technical norms (morality, customs, traditions, and even fashion).  Fourth, in the sphere of public order and safety annually there are made a huge number of offenses, the tens of millions.  And all offenders, and that much of the population, one way or another can be subjected to the forced exposure of the police.  Fifth, in the field of public order and safety there is circulation of objects and subjects of high risk: the acquisition, storage, use, transportation and civil service firearms, explosive and highly toxic substances, radioactive isotopes, etc. Therefore, licensing and permitting activities o f the Interior  exercising state supervision and control in this area, allows preventing and suppressing the violation of the rules and thereby minimizing the occurrence of serious implications, as a rule, in violation of relevant rules, standards and requirements.  Sixth, with the sphere in question that is closely connected with such dangerous anti-social phenomena as drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, vagrancy and begging. That is why, in some cities there are special units, the so-called morality police.  Seventh, in the sphere of public order and public safety are regularly held various mass public events with a large concentration of people in different rooms or in a limited area, which often poses a threat to life and health, the normal functioning of organizations.  These include political (rallies, marches, demonstrations), economic (picketing, hunger strikes), cultural and entertainment (festivals, concerts, days, cities), sports (Olympics, football and hock ey competitions), religious and other public events.  Their implementation requires a great deal of organizational work of the interior, bringing order to ensure order and security of considerable forces and means of the police and interior troops. Community policing is described as the state of social relations, which enforced the law and other legal rules, one of the components of the social order.  This is the state of the actual settlement of social relationships, qualitative expression of the rule of law.  In addition to compliance with the law enforcement in society, it is ensured by the customs, norms and morals, the internal rules of organization, etc. The rule of law is characterized by a level of legality in the state and the degree of realization of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as their performance of public authorities and duties conferred by law, as stated in The Effects of Community Policing and Technology on Index Crime Clearance Rates.   Solving the crimes in the local areas has always been challenging. When community policing is practiced in conjunction with some investigation variables, it has significant mixed (positive and negative) interaction effects on murder and robbery clearance rates., as described in The Effects of Community Policing and Technology on Index Crime Clearance Rates. Nowadays, technology has positive effects in investigation and in doing the corresponding research.   Positive interaction effect with community policing on different issues is beneficial for the society. Proper management of the situation and involvement of people who care about their safety is helping a lot, when the case is connected with the gangs. There is created a framework and the detection of crimes becomes more real and much quicker, and as well, this helsp to pertain to terrorism and national security Structure of the Community policing. Structure of the Community policing are the  legal organization of society (laws and legitimize their government agencies and non-state actors and citizens);  relationship and communication in society;  and certain (normative) order of these relationships and bonds (clear definition of the status of members of their subjective rights and legal duties, powers).   Community policing can be classified according to the territorial coverage (the rule of law in the state, city, etc.), as well as branches of law and legal coverage (constitutional, administrative, financial, etc.), according to U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented policing Services.   Classifications of the community policing: Symptoms: to allocate the following signs of enforcement:  Certainty.  Community policing is based on specific formal-legal regulations.  System: community policing is a system of relations based on a single essence of law, the prevailing form of ownership, the system of economic relations and provides a unified force of state power.  Organization: community policing occurs when there are organizing activities of the state, its bodies. State warranty: the existing rule of law is guaranteed by the state, protects them from violations.  Stability: arising under state law and ensures the rule of law is quite stable. Unity: based on common political and legal principles that will ensure the unity of the state and the rule of law, order for the whole country.  All these components are equally guaranteed by the state, any of the violations are considered violations and repressed by state coercion. It is obvious that the gangs affect the community in different ways, as it depends on where a person lives. According to the survey done by the  National Criminal Justice Reference Service, the specific results of a 2008 show that the gangs in the community cause: rise in violent crime and  drug  related arrests and rise in robbery and  homicide  cases, as described in Effects of Gangs. Considering these facts, there is a considering influence from the gangs on community, especially there is a negative effect, which leads to the increased crime and also to the higher risk for the people to get hurt. The gangs make people feel danger and insecurity in the community, as no one can protect people from the gangs if the measures are not taken. Conclusion All in all, it can be said that there are many issues that disturb the society and there is a considerable influence from the gangs. The effects of gangs in the community and the effects of community policing take place in the society, but there have to be taken more proper measures to ensure safety and living in comfort for the people. As a fact, the best way is to eliminate the groups of people who harm the society. Consequently, there has to be tighter cooperation between the community and police, there has to be developed the new of communication, etc. There have to be present the newest technologies that will allow police to take proper actions and to know everything in advance. Nowadays, the importance of the national security has become one of the main issues, as different circumstances lead people to committing different crimes, either in groups or individually. This problem has to be revised at the state level and its importance does not have to be underestimated under any c ircumstances.

Civil War Sectionalism :: essays research papers

North and South The United States of America, the great democratic experiment, was just that. Not since the great Greek culture had a government of, for, and by the people existed. The entire world felt, that on a large scale, democracy would inevitably lead to anarchy; our founding fathers were determined to prove them wrong. But as the political stand off with the British became a secession issue, a great issue split the future nation. Slavery, a southern necessity, both social and economic, threatened the unity of our nation. A nation that would one day be the greatest the world had ever known. During the development of the thirteen colonies, diversity set in early. In the south the temperate climate made the growth of tobacco a suitable and very profitable business. Cultivation of this crop required a lot of land, and therefore settlers lived far apart. Northern Colonies, though, were much more dependent on small farms, with closely knit communities. These differences were the se ed of a sectional division that would plague the nation for a century. During the late seventeenth century, this fissure in the ideals of the colonies became apparent. Following the constant political irreverence from Britain, a majority of colonial representatives felt the need for independence. The Declaration of Independence was the document written to do this. It called for an abolition of slavery as well as freedom from British rule. Unfortunately, the South would hear nothing of it. Being strong defenders of states rights, most of the Southern states adhered to their believe in a government less like a supreme authority and more like a dominion of independent states. They would rather stay loyal to their oppressive government than participate in one that shunned their way of life. In order to keep their dreams of independence, they North was forced to make the one cession they did not wish to make. In order to keep a unified nation, the slavery issue was deliberately absent fr om the Declaration. Some of the Northern delegates were outraged, but none more than John Adams. A renowned proponent of equal rights, he was one of few that saw the irony in establishing a free society without freeing those in bondage. John Adams seems now more like Nostrodamus when he voiced his concern about the slavery issue for future generations. He did not know it, but the couldn’t have been more right.

Consumer Buying Behavior Essay

Abstract: ‘Consumer is king’ –the statement carries profound truth in it. Today the success of any firm depends upon the satisfaction of consumers. For satisfying the consumers the firm should know about the behavior of the consumers. In these circumstances understanding consumer is a very difficult task because of the changing technology, innovation, and changes in life style. Researchers conducted many research in this area, and they given only few suggestion, but there is no final conclusion. As per the ideas given by the researchers, there are two factors influencing the consumers such as intrinsic and extrinsic factors. It is difficult to classify consumers by conventional demographic factors and unless their thought process and buying behavior are fully understood, decisions on product designs and packaging, branding and distribution channels are likely to be misplaced. With the inevitability of change looming large over the horizon, Indian companies must le arn from their western counterparts; not only to identify the sources, timing and direction of the changes likely to affect India, but also the new competencies and perspective that will enable them to respond to these changes, comprehensively and effectively. Look more:  the consumer buying process begins when essay This study mainly focus on understanding the external factors like demographic, social, cultural ,price, quality ,product attributes etc for buying toothpaste. The market share of any product is highly determined by the purchasing behavior of the consumers. Following study is conducted by the researcher to find out the behavior of the consumers, to analyze the preference of consumers, & consumer awareness. Descriptive research design was adopted and the data is collected through primary and secondary sources. The method adopted for conducting survey is questionnaire; Simple random sampling technique was adopted for selecting the consumers. Key words: Consumer behavior, Toothpaste buying pattern, Toothpaste awareness, Promotion impact, Attribute impact. 1. Introduction Consumer behavior is stated as the behavior that consumer display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products, services and ideas that they expect will satisfy their needs. The study of consumer behavior is concerned not only with what consumers buy, but also with why they buy it, when and how they buy it, and how often they buy it. It is concerned with learning the specific meanings that products hold for consumers. Consumer research takes places at every phase of consumption process, before the purchase, during the purchase and after the purchase. According to Philip Kotler defined consumer behavior as â€Å"all psychological, social and physical behavior of potential customers as they become aware of evaluate, purchase, consume and tell other about products and services†. The scope of consumer behavior includes not only the actual buyer and his act of buying but also various roles played by different individuals and the influence they exert on the final purchase decision . Individual consumer behavior is influenced by economic, social, cultural, psychological, and personal factors. 1.1 Consumer purchase decision A decision is the selection of an action from two or more alternative choices. Consumer decision to purchase the goods from the available alternative choice is known as â€Å"consumer purchase decision†. The various options of the consumer may be classified into five main types of decisions. They are what to buy, how much to buy, where to buy, when to buy, how to buy. The participants in the buying decisions may be classified as the initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and users. The marketing people should initiate the participants in the purchase decision to make the purchases of the product at different marketing strategies. There are number of reasons why the study of consumer behavior developed as separate discipline. Marketers had long noted that consumer did not always act or react, as marketing theory would suggest. The size of the consumer market in the country was vast and constantly expanding: millions of dollars were being spent on goods and services by millions of people. Consumer preferences were changing and becoming highly diversified. 1.2 Indian Oral Care Industry Many people in India still clean their teeth with traditional products like Neem twigs, salt, ash, tobacco or other herbal ingredients. Average all India per capita consumption of toothpaste is a dismal 82gms.The dentist to population ratio is a critically low 1:35000 in the country. This results in low oral hygiene consciousness and widespread dental diseases. Less than 15% of the Indian toothpaste users brush twice a day. Colgate and Hindustan Lever together account for over 85% of the organized toothpaste market. Red and Black toothpowder still accounts for 35% of the toothpowder market. In toothpowders, Colgate and Dabur are the leading players sharing between them 75% of the market 2. Review of literature 2.1 Consumer behavior Consumer behavior has been always of great interest to marketers. The knowledge of consumer behavior helps the marketer to understand how consumers think, feel and select from alternatives like products, brands and the like and how the consumers are influenced by their environment, the reference groups, family, and salespersons and so on. A consumer’s buying behavior is influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. Most of these factors are uncontrollable and beyond the hands of marketers but they have to be considered while trying to understand the complex behavior of the consumers. In this study, the researcher emphasizes the importance of lifestyle and its impact on the buyer behavior. 2.2 Consumer Personality Factors There are two factors mainly influencing the consumers for decision making: Risk aversion and innovativeness. Risk aversion is a measure of how much consumers need to be certain and sure of what they are purchasing (Donthu and Gilliland, 1996).Highly risk adverse consumers need to be very certain about what they are buying. Whereas less risk adverse consumers can tolerate some risk and uncertainty in their purchases. The second variable, innovativeness, is a global measure which captures the degree to which consumers are willing to take chances and experiment with new ways of doing things (Donthu and Gilliand, 1996).The shopping motivation literature is abound with various measures of individual characteristics (e.g., innovative, venturesome, cosmopolitan, variety seeking), therefore, innovativeness and risk aversion were included in this study to capture several of these traits. Measures by Donthu and Gilliland (1996) were used to measure innovativen ess and risk aversion. 2.3 Perception: Perception is a mental process, whereby an individual selects data or information from the environment, organizes it and then draws significance or meaning from it. 2.4 Perceived fit Perceived fit is an attitudinal measure of how appropriate a certain channel of distribution is for a specific product .Morrison and Roberts (1998) found that consumer’s perception of the fit between a service/product and a channel is very influential in determining whether they will consider using that channel for a specific service. In fact, perceived fit was found to be more important than consumer’s preferences for the distribution method or service. 2.5 Product Class knowledge Product class knowledge is a measure of consumers perceptions of how much they know about a specific class of products (eg.,cars)This type of measure is consistent with what Brucks(1985) called subjective knowledge, that is, consumers self-perceptions of knowledge levels. This is often contrasted with objective knowledge, which is what consumers actually know. Park and Lessing (1981) proposed that subjective knowledge provides a better understanding of consumers decision making processes because consumers level of confidence in their search and decision making behavior, independent of their objective knowledge. 2.6 Product type Past research indicates that consumers purchase and channel decisions might be influenced by the type of product being investigated (Cox and Rich 1964:Lumpkin and Hawes 1985;Morrison and Roberts 1998:Papadopoulos 1980:Prasad 1975:Sheth 1983: Thompson 1971). In particular ,these authors state that certain products might be more appropriate for one channel or another, which ultimately influences consumers channel preference and choice. 2.7 Quality It is our aim to provide the best product for the consumer and we believe that if the products have quality the consumer will pay the price, says Amal pramanic, regional business director .Oral-B 2.8 Packaging Packaging establishes a direct link with the consumers at the point of purchase as it can very well change the perceptions they have for a particular brand. A product has to draw the attention of the consumers through an outstanding packaging design. Earlier packaging was considered only a container to put a product in, but today, research in to the right packaging is beginning at the product development stage itself. Packaging innovation has been at the heart of Dabur’s attempt to rap with the urban consumers. It spends large sums annually on packaging research.-â€Å"We have been laying emphasis on aesthetics, shelf appeal and convenience for consumer’† says Deepak Manchandra, manager packaging development 2.9 Promotion The greatest challenge faced by companies today is holding and increasing their market share and value. This is always a strenuous exercise and one of the tools for the same is marketing. There is no specific game rule available for using these marketing tools .The reason is: each promotional tool has its own characteristics. 2.10 Familiarity with a channel Consumer’s familiarity with a channel is a measure of the general experience they have with purchasing products through specific channels (i.e.. catalog, internet, and bricks-and-mortar retailer). Through frequent use consumers should become accustomed to using the channel, which reduces their apprehension and anxiety in purchasing products through the channel. 2.11 Brand Awareness According to Rossiter and Prey (1987), brand awareness precedes all other steps in the buying process. A brand attitude cannot be performed, unless a consumer is aware of the brand. In memory theory, brand awareness is positioned as a vital first step in building the bundle of associations which are attached to the brand in memory (Stokes, 1985). 2.12 Family influence A family exerts a complex influence on the behaviors of its members. Prior family influence research has focused on intergenerational rather than intergenerational influence in consumer generationalisation. As has been compellingly demonstrated, parents influence children (Moore, Wilkie, and Lutz2002; Moschis 1987).Yet, consumption domains clearly exist where sibling efforts may also be exerted 2.13 Shopping motives Shopping motives are defined as consumer’s wants and needs as they relate to outlets at which to shop. Two groups of motives, functional and nonfunctional, have been proposed by Sheth (1983). Functional motives are associated with time, place, and possession needs and refer to rational aspects of channel choice. Whereas nonfunctional motives relate to social and emotional reasons for patronage. The functional motives included: convenience, price comparison, merchandise assortment. The nonfunctional motives entail: recreation.

Development of a New Zealand Identity Essay

My report’s focus is to see how the New Zealand identity is portrayed in New Zealand art and literature. The texts I chose come from the early nineteenth century – The Piano – to the 1940s in Frank Sargeson’s short stories. Even though these texts may not be very modern, you can still see that there are a number of different factors that are in them which link to my theme. New Zealand Society In the short story ‘The Hole that Jack Dug’ and in the song ‘Whaling’, the male belongs to the working class. In â€Å"The Hole that Jack Dug†, Jack is a married man who a worker at a quarry. His wife doesn’t like that he does not get a better job, such as one in an office. Even though Jack has the ability to get a better job, he prefers labouring than anything else. In ‘Whaling’ this man is stuck as a whaler for a job, possibly because he lacks proper education. â€Å"But I’m whaling†¦ Not where I want to be. † This lack of education forced him into a job he didn’t want, which might have been what men had to do at the time. This brings up another issue of women being better educated than men. This can be seen in ‘The Hole that Jack Dug’ where Jack’s wife is educated in England. â€Å"†¦ she’d been a governess †¦ read more than ten books by an author called Hugh Walpole. † Because she is interested in literature and Jack isn’t, their marriage isn’t a very good one. Jack shows rebellion against her and her interests, because of her resentment towards him. This can be seen as New Zealand not valuing education during the time which led to people like Jack having working class jobs. These working class jobs can be seen as a New Zealand tradition. Jack and the Whaler were both labourers, a line of work which has continued its way into our modern times. This is evident by the fact the New Zealand has a successful farming industry which requires a large amount of labour. It can also be linked to today’s New Zealand men, who are do it yourself type people who like to fix things themselves. Men and women have not always got along well, as seen in Jane Campion’s film The Piano. The Piano follows a widow and her daughter. The widow has been married by her father to a New Zealand settler. Because Ada is mute and the act that she wasn’t very willing to be married creates problems with her new husband. Ada enjoys playing the piano, an issue that her husband doesn’t care too much about. Ada also has an affair with one of her husband’s workers which makes him so angry that he cuts off her finger. This conflict between men and women can be seen today in the form of sexism and increasing divorce rates. Th is is also shown in ‘ The Hole that Jack Dug’ where Jack’s wife convinces him that the hole was a bad idea and gets him to refill it. This is seen today as women overcome sexism. People like Helen Clark are elected in high positions in our society instead of men. Stereotypes In all of the short stories that I studied, one issue became clear: men don’t say much. This is shown in the ‘They Gave her a Rise’ and ‘The Making of a New Zealander’, both by Frank Sargeson. In ‘They Gave her a Rise’ the male in the story doesn’t say much. In ‘The Making of a New Zealander’, there is a young farmhand. Even though the story is centered around him, the narrator says very little â€Å"Maybe there’s nothing in it and maybe there is. This is often hard to understand, which is maybe why they didn’t say much. It is clear that there are many different sides to the New Zealand identity and they are shown in great depth and detail in NZ literature, and that there are indeed many different viewpoints of it. In the majority of my texts the issue of working class was dealt with more than the other issue s. The importance of working class is still seen in modern NZ society. I think it is a good thing that these issues have had the effect they have because if society keeps advancing, then so will our sense of identity.