INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING - Essay Example When a company introduces a product in the market, it is very imperative that consumers should be aware of the benefits and specifications of the product, or else low sales will be confronted by the market. One of the usual steps that are taken by the companies is that the product is announced in the market, before its introduction, which results in a kind of curiosity among the consumers, which is an effective strategy during the introduction stage of the product life cycle. On the other hand, it often results in the provision of time to the competitors to prepare them. (Stark, pp. 20-22) During the introductory stage, high costs of advertising are borne by the company; however, such high costs are worth as they play the vital role in informing the consumers regarding the product. During the introduction stage, some of the significant factors of marketing mix are product, price, distribution, and promotion. In specific, one product is usually introduced by the company, and a skim pricing strategy is employed by the company, in order to acquire a high profit margin. In terms of distribution and promotion, generally specific areas are selected during the introductory stage, which helps in the development of brand awareness to the consumers. Rapid revenue growth is expected during the growth stage of the product life cycle. As more and more consumers are informed about the benefits of the product, high increment is observed in the sales of the company. Once the product is accepted by the consumers and is demanded in the market, more retailers are attracted to buy the product, which results in the increase of sales. During the growth stage of the product life cycle, the distribution plan is expanded by the marketing team, which helps in confronting the price competition with the competitors’ products. Increment in sales is the major and significant factor

Analyzing Talk Among Friends Essay Example for Free

Analyzing Talk Among Friends Essay In the preceding example, the utterance Ahma git me Ð ° gig! was interpreted differently by the participants in the interaction. So the question to be asked about Ahma git me Ð ° gig! is, what does it mean (how did the listeners arrive at their understandings), and what particular features of language and/or social situation signal that meaning? To arrive at an understanding of what the utterance meant, interpretations are not constructed solely from the speakers perspective but are also gathered from the participants who heard the utterance. Later, others may be asked to listen to Ð ° recording and share their understandings of the utterance(s). Then, the analysts task is to make an in-depth study of the selected instances of verbal interaction, observe whether or not actors understand each other, elicit participants interpretations of what goes on, and then (Ð °) deduce the social assumptions that speakers must have in order to act as they do, and (b) determine empirically how linguistic signs communicate in the interpretation process ( Gumperz 1982: 35). In the analysis of the example noted here, for instance, Gumperz was able to show that most white speakers did not seem to understand the utterance other than as Ð ° lapse into dialect or saw the switch to Black English as Ð ° rejection of whites and the speaker addressing himself only to other black students. Black students, however, explained the students remark as an attempt to justify himself by appealing to others in the group, Іm just playing the game as we blacks must do if we are to get along in Ð ° white world, while also identifying Ð ° particular rhythm in the utterance that led them to their interpretation. Thus, features of language carry social meaning that plays Ð ° significant role in interpreting what speakers mean (see Gumperz 1982: 29-37 for Ð ° detailed explanation of this example and its interpretation). While this example should make any interpreter wonder how they are interpreting meaning of speakers who differ in some way, such as region of the country, age, ethnicity, gender, my point here is about the analysis of natural language and how discourse analysts determine what speakers mean and how language conveys elements of meaning. Using these methods to analyze interpreted discourse is Ð ° way of understanding how the participants in an interpreted interaction understand each other at the time. Gumperz proposed that Ð ° theory of discourse must take into account both the linguistic and socio-cultural knowledge that an interlocutor must have to maintain involvement in an interaction, Accounting for such knowledge demonstrates two things: (1) meanings are jointly constructed between speakers as they talk, and (2) conversations contain internal evidence of their outcomes, that is, the ways in which participants share, partially share, or do not share, mutual conventions for meaning and how they succeed in achieving their communicative ends. Tannen reached Ð ° similar conclusion. She called such linguistic and social knowledge conventions by which meaning is communicated in social interaction (1984: 151). In Conversational Style: Analyzing Talk Among Friends, Tannen (1984) analyzed two and Ð ° half hours of conversation over Ð ° Thanksgiving dinner. She defined and discussed features of conversational involvement, such as topic, pacing (how relatively fast or slow one spoke), narrative strategies (in what order events are told, how speakers made their point, etc.), and expressive paralinguistic (intonation, pitch, and others), which together pattern in different ways the speech of different participants. For three of the speakers, these features combined in acceptable ways of having Ð ° conversation, but three other speakers experienced the same conversation as unusual and their participation faltered. When speakers share conventions for signaling meaning, they can be said to share Ð ° conversational style ( Tannen 1984). Tannens approach to studying discourse, modeled after Gumperz, is characterized by (1) recording naturally occurring conversations; (2) identifying segments in which communication may seem to flounder or be troublesome; (3) looking for patterned differences in signaling meaning that could account for trouble; (4) playing the recording, or segment of it, back to participants to elicit their spontaneous interpretations and reactions, and also, perhaps later, eliciting their responses to the researchers interpretations; and (5) playing segments of the interaction for other members of the cultural groups represented by the speakers to discern patterns of interpretation. Tannens study suggests that within an interpreted interaction speakers who do not share Ð ° common language also have conversational styles that they do not necessarily share with the interpreter. For example, Tannen (1994) has demonstrated that Ð ° discourse approach to gender and language, following in the tradition of Gumperz, can be understood by looking for differences in the way women and men signal meaning in conversation. This has great implications for interpreters: what happens when interpreter’s do not share Ð ° conversational style with one or both speakers? Many interpreters are women who interpret for men. Do they understand male strategies for asking questions or giving information? Do men understand female strategies? As her research demonstrates, the notion of cross-cultural encompasses more than just speakers of different languages or from different countries; it includes speakers from the same country of different class, region, age, and even gender ( Tannen 1985: 2o3). Gumperzs analysis of brief utterances located within Ð ° social scene and Tannens analysis of Ð ° single extended interaction via the same analytical and interpretive framework provide Ð ° rigorous methodology for analyzing conversational interactions, including interpreted conversations. Their emphasis on soliciting participant reactions and interpretations, along with close transcription of contextualization cues in language, provides Ð ° framework for going beyond Ð ° mere structural description of an interpreted encounter to an intense scrutiny of turn-taking as experienced by the participants, including phenomena such as simultaneous turn-taking.

Applications of Developmental Psychology to Practice

Applications of Developmental Psychology to Practice Title: Within your chosen topic area, Health Psychology In Action: Children and the development, (chapter 3 by Tony Cassidy) discuss the ways in which developmental psychology can inform practice. Psychology is a cumulative scientific study of the mind based on empirically driven theories that link experience, behaviour and the brain. Health psychology, despite being a relatively new branch of applied psychology, is following that exact path. It is the study of the psychological processes of health, illness and healthcare systems (Cassidy 2006). While the breadth of the discipline is far reaching, its core goal is the use psychological theories and interventions to prevent damaging behaviour. Perhaps the mind begins as a blank slate and we start of as perfect idiots. At the other extreme, it could be like a Swiss-army knife, a collection of innately structured neural modules or perhaps it starts off undifferentiated and becomes modular. Is it our cultural learning or meta-representation that shapes our behaviour? (Wexler 2006) There is no shortage of one-line theories of human nature. However, when it comes to children there is very little room for error. There is overwhelming evidence documenting the effect of early childhood experiences with their long term health and associated behaviours. For example, stress in early life can inhibit neurogenesis in later adulthood (Tucker 2002; Karten et al 2005), but to what extent does such developmental theory actually inform real life practice? Or in other words, are the current initiatives used by health psychologists working in the way theories predict? There isnt room for an exhaustive search here and so this piece will focus on a few practical examples. More than 400 million adults worldwide are obese according to the World Health Organization (2004) and children from many difference socio-cultural backgrounds are at risk (Cassidy 2006). There are a barrage of studies contemplating how our surroundings are responsible for the growing obesity problem (Brownell 2004). These papers all point towards two key issues: (a) The easy availability of foods that are high in fat. (b) Poor opportunities for exercise. While it is intuitively obvious why people become obese, the relationship between weight and behaviour is still highly complex and health psychology has attempted to identify some of the reasons behind the obesity epidemic. For example, a large body of evidence suggests that the family environment is the major source of influence over childhood eating behaviour (Rivett 2008). Psychologists have attempted to influence childrens food choices through the application of social learning theory in programmes such as The Food Dudes Program (Tucker 2002). The researchers developed a video of four older children who appeared to gain super powers for eating fruit and vegetables. The basic premiss being that a child is more likely to imitate the behaviour of a person they admire and is consistent with a behaviouralist approach because there are rewards for behaviours which are desirable. Similar programs have borrowed from Gratton et al (2007) and have used the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a framework to promote childrens fruit and vegetable consumption. TPB posits that behavioural intentions are the proximal determinants of actual behaviour, with the perception of control being an important co-determinant of behaviour (Gratton et al 2007). The programme simply took two groups of children and showed one group ways in which they could make time in the day to eat five-a-day and another group on how they could overcome motivational barriers to achieving this goal. Both interventions were found to be successful. Similar programmes encouraging children to take exercise also exist (Cassidy 2006). Despite some success stories, the effects have been disappointing in the long-term with such programmes (Brownell 2004). Surrounded by a social construct implying that being overweight is normal and acceptable, psychologists are presented with a constant struggle. However, by improving childrens own understanding of illness, this can promote healthy actions by groups and in tandem with a new TPB framework, help improve future lifestyle choices (Williams Binnie 2002). The focus of preventive intervention is also a key area of theoretical implementation in health psychology. This fits with a biopsychosocial model where biological, psychological and social factors are implicated in both health and illness. Prevention cannot focus on only a single factor. For example, drug misuse in adolescence, both legal and illegal, is an issue across the developed world which can be tied into other more serious health concerns (Cassidy 2006). Three aspects of family background have been found to predict risk of drug use: parental involvement in crime, poor relationships with parents and unsupportive child-parent interactions (Mazanov Byrne 2008). Interventions have sought to use social inoculation theory developed by McGuire in the 1960s the basic ideology being that decisions are made in the context of social pressure. More recent work has attempted to model what makes an adolescent successfully quit smoking and found that past behaviour explained more than four times the variance of other factors (Mazanov Byrne 2008). On the other hand, family environment is evidently a key area of theoretical and subsequent practical intervention. Recent research has proposed that family therapy is currently undergoing radical change, but this change seems to be driven by more contextual factors as opposed to new theoretical advances. (Rivett 2008) However, any interventions are often clouded by the prevalence of problematic behaviour patterns including impulsivity and rebelliousness making behaviour difficult to predict: The 14 year old has a very simple decision to make. When he sees a light out of the corner of his eye, he is supposed to ignore it. (Powell 2006, p. 865) This is an extremely easy task and even 8 year olds can do it correctly half of the time, but it requires suppressing a natural impulse not the strong point of most teenagers. In this simple test the teenager performs as well as adults do, but inside his head, a lot more cognitive effort is required, as shown by recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies (Powell 2006). Are outdated theories keeping up with new physiological knowledge or should health care be expanded amongst the young moving away from traditional approaches and into the community? (Williams et al 2002) Health psychology is a new and exciting discipline and is constantly surprising both the academics and applied psychological communities. From enhanced wound healing after an emotional disclosure intervention (Weinman et al 2008) to simply using a distraction intervention to ease the pain of pre-school children undergoing injections (Dahlquist et al 2002), there is a constant stream of new theories and interventions. However, no one theory is going to answer and treat all our health problems and there is always an inherent danger when generalizing to large populations. There is a tendency for fragmentation within modern applied psychology that inevitably results from the growth and development of individual areas. References Brownell, D. K. (2004) Food Fight, London: McGraw-Hill Cassidy, T. (2006). Health Psychology: children and development. In Wood et al. (eds) Developmental Psychology in Action. Blackwell Publishing. p. 101-135 Dahlquist, M. L., Pendley, S. J., Landthrip, S. D., Jones, L. C., Steuber, P. C. (2002) Distraction intervention for preschoolers undergoing intramuscular injections and subcutaneous port access. Health Psychology, 21 (1), 94-99 Gratton, L., Povey, R., Carter, D. (2007). Promoting childrens fruit and vegetable consumption: Interventions using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework. British Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 639-650 Karten, J. G. Y., Olariu, A., Cameron, A. (2005). Stress in early life inhibits neurogenesis in adulthood. Trends in Neuroscience, 28 (4), 171-172 Powell, K. (2006). How does the teenage brain work? Nature, 442 (24), 865-867 Rivett, M. (2008). Towards a metamorphosis: current developments in the theory and practice of family therapy. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 13 (3), 102-106 Tucker, M. C. (2002). Expanding pediatric psychology beyond hospital walls to meet the health care needs of ethnic minority children. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27 (4), 315-323 Weinman, J., Ebrecht, M., Suzanne, S., Walburn, J., Dyson, M. (2008). Enhanced wound healing after emotional disclosure intervention. British Journal of Health Psychology, 13, 95-102 Williams, M. J., Binnie, M. L. (2002). Childrens concepts of illness: An intervention to improve knowledge. British Journal of Health Psychology, 7, 129-147

Body Shop :: essays research papers

Written Case – Body Shop, pp. 72-73 1) Is Anita Roddick correct when she claims that it is possible to run a business in a very ethical and socially responsible manner and still â€Å"give shareholders a wondrous return on their investment†? Answer: I think her statement is probably correct and I appreciate it too. However, I would noted that the natures of environmental concerns and considerations for the people in third world countries are somehow contrary to the stockholders’ satisfaction. If people have no more interest on how Body Shop concern humanity or if there are any news that dishonored Body Shop contributions (just like what happened in the case), it would be a crisis for its stock price. 2) Is the percentages of ingredients that come from Trade not Aid project an irrelevant statistic, as Gordon Roddick claims? Answer: I think it is not an irrelevant statistic for the public to evaluate Body Shop contributions. However, I would say that it is inadequate information that might mislead the public. I agree that we should also look at those courses that Body Shop had taken to solve difficulties to reach the goal to help people. But the general public would not realize them easier, that is why we need statistic. I would suggest Body Shop to issue quarterly report on the journey of help people in order to support the statisic. 3) In light of the ethicvs audit report, evaluate Body Shop’s claim to be ethically responsible. Answer: I would say that, as a commercial company, Body Shop is being one of the most ethically responsible companies. It takes

Fear

Fear is one of the leading reasons that influence people’s decision making in life. The dictionary defines fear as, â€Å"A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger†. This feeling, present in everyone’s life at some point, is more influential than one might think. Everywhere in the world today people live in fear, whether it is terrorism, robbery or something as simple as criticism, this feeling of fear causes people to do unusual things.In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, fear changes people’s reaction to events, affects a group of people differently from an individual, and controls the rumor â€Å"bin† that goes around their society. In The Crucible, fear was a weapon that was used by people to control and manipulate the citizen’s minds. People in this play had only one thing that they were afraid of: shame brought to their family’s name and punishment from a ruling authority, in this c ase court. For example, Reverend Parris, father of Betty, was holding back of telling the town citizens what was going on with his sick daughter.Parris feared how the citizens would react and take him down from the pedestal he stood on since witchcraft was still a possibility for his daughter’s obscure sickness. He could of told the people what was going on but, with fear, chose to change his reaction and not report it which came back to bite him in the rear. Fear, weather you disagree or not, affect a group of people differently from an individual. By doing so it makes people say things that are not true. When someone is told to confess or they will get hang or whipped to death, their fear of death pushes them to do whatever they can to avoid this consequence.As Elizabeth, Tituba, and Betty were into trouble from their superiors, they started lying by blurting out, â€Å"I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil! †, â€Å"I saw Goody Bibber with the Devil! †, and â₠¬Å"I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil†, and putting those people’s lives in danger without them committing a sin. When a society’s heart and mind is filled with fear, gossip and rumors start flying through about one another and cause people to turn upon each other. In The Crucible, reverend Hale goes visits the Proctor family and informs them about the rumors and how Elizabeth Proctor’s name came up about witchcraft.Both reverend Hale and John Proctor were afraid to tell the courts people that all the gossip and rumors they heard was a hoax. They feared that for Elizabeth’s sake, they were going to get in trouble for letting out the thoughts on their minds and in the case the truth. Agree or disagree, fear is in everyday life and people can agree it’s happened to them one point in their lives. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, it happened to everybody and it gave citizens fear and changed people’s reaction to events, affected grou ps of people differently from an individual, and controlled the rumor â€Å"bin† that went around their society

General Rules for Having a Pet in College

General Rules for Having a Pet in College For some students, daily life involves being around a pet or pets. At college, however, animals usually arent allowed. So is it possible to have a pet in college? You Have a Few Options Those college students interested in having a pet in college have a few options. Mostly, however, pets are not allowed in places like residence halls - or even on campus - for a variety of reasons. Your campus is likely not trying to be cruel; they simply have to worry about issues of safety and regulations about hygiene that they are required to comply with. First and foremost, there are in fact some schools that allow pets on campus. These are the exceptions to the rule, however, and picking a school based on their pet policy may not be the  best choice. Additionally, even if your school of choice doesnt allow pets on campus, you can always rent a house with some friends or find an off-campus apartment that permits pets. Service Animals If youre a student who needs an animal with you for medical reasons (such as a service dog, for example), however, you should contact your school right away. Letting your college know that you need assistance - both from them and your service animal - as soon as possible is definitely of high importance. They should work with you to figure out a way to support you and your service animal during your time in school. Incorporating Animals Into Your College Life If, however, you would strongly just prefer to have a pet as part of your experience, there are some ways you can incorporate animals into your new college life: See whats allowed in your living space. Alright, so you cant bring along a dog or cat. But can you bring a fish or other small animal? Are there certain animals that are allowed, and if so, what are the regulations? Are there certain theme houses that allow their residents to bring pets with them?Can your family bring up your family pet for a visit? Lets say your family comes up the first Sunday of the month to take you out to brunch. Can they bring your family dog in the car for a quick visit? Are dogs allowed to walk on campus if theyre leashed? Will a monthly or occasional visit from your pet suffice?Consider volunteering at a shelter. If you just love - and even need - to be around animals but cant have one with you on campus, consider volunteering at a local animal shelter. You have a lot of love and patience to give and there are always animals in need. Check with your campus volunteer center, do some quick searching online, or even start your own campus group to help make re gular volunteer sessions at a shelter a reality. Keep in mind, too, that when you go to college, it will be nearly impossible to recreate the life you had back at home. And thats part of the fun, right? If, deep down, you wanted things to be the same, you wouldnt have decided to go off to college in the first place. Be flexible in understanding that there sometimes is only so much your school can do. They might very well be limited about having pets in the residence halls, for example, because of city and county health regulations. Check in with your pet(s) during a Skype session with your parents and know that your pet(s) will be just as excited to see you as you will be to see them when you next return home.