Saturday, March 21, 2020

The 7 UChicago Essay Prompts How to Write Stellar Responses

The 7 UChicago Essay Prompts How to Write Stellar Responses SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The University of Chicago is famous for its unique essay topics. They’re some of the most creative and off-the-wall essay prompts you’ll see when applying to colleges, and it can sometimes be confusing to know how to tackle them. What should you write about in your UChicago essays? How can you show that you’re intelligent, creative, and worthy of a place at their school?Read on to learn all about the UChicago essays, what the admissions team expects to see in your responses, what topics you should write about, and which topics you should avoid.In this guide we also suggest sample essay ideas for each of the 2018/2019 UChicago supplement essay prompts and analyze past University of Chicago essay samples so you can see what a great UChicago essay looks like. What Are the UChicago Essays? Before you can begin figuring out how you’ll write your UChicago essays, you should know which prompts you’ll be seeing and the rules for each one. You’ll need to write two essays, and the UChicago essay prompts you must answer are commonly referred to as Question 1 and Question 2. Question 1: Why UChicago? The Question 1 prompt is the only UChicago supplement essay that stays the same each year, and it’s also the only prompt that all applicants must answer (for Question 2 you’ll have multiple prompts to choose from). For this question, you’ll need to write an essay that explains why you want to attend the University of Chicago and why you think the school is a good fit for you and your goals.UChicago doesn’t have strict word limits for essays, but they suggest a response of around 250-500 words. The prompt: â€Å"How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.† Want to get into UChicago or your personal top choice college? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Question 2: Extended Essay For Question 2, you have a choice of six essay prompts, and you’ll choose the one you want to respond to. The essay prompts for this question change every year, and while there are always around six prompts, some years there may be one more or one less to choose from. These are the more unique and offbeat essay prompts that UChicago is known for. Many of them were created by UChicago alumni and current students.UChicago recommends this essay be around 650 words. Below are the essay prompts for the 2018/2019 school year. Essay Option 1: In 2015, the city of Melbourne, Australia created a "tree-mail" service, in which all of the trees in the city received an email address so that residents could report any tree-related issues. As an unexpected result, people began to email their favorite trees sweet and occasionally humorous letters. Imagine this has been expanded to any object (tree or otherwise) in the world, and share with us the letter you’d send to your favorite. Essay Option 2: You’re on a voyage in the thirteenth century, sailing across the tempestuous seas. What if, suddenly, you fell off the edge of the Earth? Essay Option 3: The word floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant or of having no value. It originated in the mid-18th century from the Latin words "floccus," "naucum," "nihilum," and "pilus"- all words meaning â€Å"of little use.† Coin your own word using parts from any language you choose, tell us its meaning, and describe the plausible (if only to you) scenarios in which it would be most appropriately used. Essay Option 4: Lost your keys? Alohomora. Noisy roommate? Quietus. Feel the need to shatter windows for some reason? Finestra. Create your own spell, charm, jinx, or other means for magical mayhem. How is it enacted? Is there an incantation? Does it involve a potion or other magical object? If so, what's in it or what is it? What does it do? Essay Option 5: Imagine you’ve struck a deal with the Dean of Admissions himself, Dean Nondorf. It goes as follows: you’re guaranteed admission to the University of Chicago regardless of any circumstances that arise. This bond is grounded on the condition that you’ll obtain a blank, 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, and draw, write, sketch, shade, stencil, paint etc., anything and everything you want on it; your only limitations will be the boundaries of both sides on the single page. Now the catch†¦ your submission, for the rest of your life, will always be the first thing anyone you meet for the first time will see. Whether it’s at a job interview, a blind date, arrival at your first Humanities class, before you even say, â€Å"hey,† they’ll already have seen your page, and formulated that first impression. Show us your page. What’s on it, and why? If your piece is largely or exclusively visual, please make sure to share a creator's acco mpanying statement of at least 300 words, which we will happily allow to be on its own, separate page. PS: This is a creative thought experiment, and selecting this essay prompt does not guarantee your admission to UChicago. Essay Option 6: In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose your own question or choose one of our past prompts. Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun. The world is your oyster when it comes to answering UChicago essay prompts. How to Answer the University of Chicago Essay Prompts In this section, we explain what UChicago wants to see in your essays, give ideas for topics to write about for each of the essays, and discuss topics you are better off avoiding. Question 1: Why UChicago? For this University of Chicago supplement essay, UChicago wants to know why you want to attend their school, what you hope to get out of attending, and how University of Chicago will help you achieve their goals. Basically, they want to know why you think their school is a better fit for you than all the other schools out there. For more analysis of this essay, check out our in-depth guide to the Why UChicago essay. What Do They Want to See in Your Response? The â€Å"why our school?† is probably the most common essay prompt you’ll see on college applications. Why do schools, including UChicago, ask this question? UChicago wants to first see that you really want to go to their school. Students who love a school are more likely to accept an offer of admission and attend it, and they are more likely to be committed to their studies, participate in extracurriculars, and give back after they graduate. Your passion for UChicago should be shining through in this essay. Next, UChicago wants to see that you’ve done your research on their school and have an idea of what opportunities you want to take advantage of while there. You can do this by mentioning specific things you like about UChicago or that you plan to take advantage of as a student there. Potential things to discuss include professors you admire or are interested in working with, specific classes you want to take, and extracurriculars you want to participate in. Finally, UChicago wants to see that you are a good match for your school. Your essay should explain how you’ll take make the best use of what UChicago offers, how your strengths match the opportunities they provide, and how UChicago will help you reach your goals for the future. Potential Topics to Write About There are many ways you could approach this essay prompt; although since UChicago is best known for its academics (as opposed to killer sports teams, for example), most people will discuss the academic side for at least part of their response. Below is a list of possible topics; most people will discuss one to three topics in their essay. Majors or classes you’re especially interested in UChicago’s core curriculum Professors whose work you admire and whom you’d like to study with or conduct research with Unique events like Scav and Kuviasungnerk/Kangeiko Research opportunities you’d like to have University of Chicago students you’ve met who you admire Volunteer opportunities Financial aid opportunities UChicago offers that make it possible for you to attend Topics to Avoid The key here is to avoid generic topics that could apply to practically any school or any student. You want it to be clear in your response what opportunities the University of Chicago offers you that no other school does and how you’re going to make use of them. Topics that won’t show this include discussing: How pretty the campus is Chicago weather The food on campus Where UChicago places on college ranking lists Discussing your future major and career path without connecting it back to what UChicago offers Bashing other schools Question 2: Extended Essay The extended essay is when you can get especially creative. This question requires you to move outside your comfort zone of typical essay topics and answer one of the prompts in a way that gives readers insight into who you are and what you care about. What Do They Want to See in Your Response? Your response Question 1 is meant to show what about UChicago you liked and how you were going to make the most of the opportunities it offered. Question 2 is less about UChicago and more about you. The admissions team wants to see who you are and what’s important to you. Three main things they’d like to see in your response to this essay are: Your story Your personality Your thirst for knowledge Who are you? What have been the important events in your life? What kind of person are you? What do you love learning about? These are the questions UChicago wants you to answer. They want to know what’s important to you, what events from your past helped shaped you, what kind of person you are now, and what you want to accomplish in the future. UChicago is particularly interested in students who love learning and have a lot of interests in different fields and topics. A mathematician who also does ballet? A creative writing major who started her own business? Bring it on! Make sure to show your love for learning in your essay. Your passions and goals don’t always need to be lofty though; in the second example essay below you can see how the writer took a quirky interest and managed to connect it to larger ideas. If you can connect one of your pet passions to an essay, do so! Potential Topics to Write About The great thing about these UChicago essay prompts is you can write about almost anything you want to since they’re so different from each other and give you lots of chances to be creative. Just remember, you want this essay to give UChicago a good idea of the type of person you are and what’s important to you. Topic 1 This is a pretty broad topic,and as long as you can connect an object to your interests and/or future goals, you can answer this prompt. You could write a letter thanking your business suit for getting you a dream job/internship, a letter to your favorite book and explain how it made you decide you wanted to become an author, or a letter to your piano, which you hated practicing on when you were a kid, but eventually helped you develop your passion for music. For this prompt, make sure to explain why the object is so important to you, and give details and specific instances of when you used it to make your response more unique. Topic 2 This is perhaps the most out there of the topics, and you could really go anywhere with it. Maybe you discover a new world that’s better or worse than ours in a certain way and you use that topic to discuss particular values of yours. Perhaps you have a fear of heights, and falling off the edge of the Earth causes you to remember another instance when you had to face and conquer a fear. Go anywhere this takes you, just remember to connect it back to you and what you find important. Topic 3 Another one of the creative UChicago prompts, a good way to brainstorm for this one is to think of a thing/feeling/situation that you wished a word existed for. The feeling when you’ve checked everything off your to-do list and can now relax? A new word to describe a dream you had that you can’t quite remember but made you feel a certain way when you woke up? Get as specific and creative as you can here. As to which language to use, any one that you have a connection to will work. It could be a language you’re studying, one that’s spoken in a place you want to travel to, the language your ancestors spoke, etc. Topic 4 A good way to tackle this one is to invent a spell to solve a problem you have. It could be a problem that affects primarily you (such as a spell to keep your little siblings from distracting you, or a spell that eliminates the need to sleep for a night so you have time for both your football practices and watercolor painting hobby) or a bigger problem (a spell to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to reduce the effects of climate change). Think of problems you want to fix, and use your essay to come up with a spell to solve one of them. Remember to explain why this problem affects you and how eliminating it would help you/others. Topic 5 This is a great option for more visual people who feel writing isn’t always the best way to get their personality across. For this prompt, you have the chance to explain an important aspect of your personality or history, something you care about, or a way you think you're misunderstood. For example, you’re religious but feel people often misunderstand your religion, your page could be an FAQ where you answer common misconceptions about your religion. If you’re an artist, you can use the paper to show your favorite piece of art you’ve created, then explain what the art means and why it’s important to you. If you’re a ballerina, on one side of your page could be a ballet award you won, and the other side could be a picture of your bruised and bandaged feet to show the hard work you went through to accomplish your goals. Topic 6 If none of the other prompts speak to you, you can always come up with your own and answer it. This is a good option if you have something specific in mind you want to write about but the topic doesn’t fit any of the prompts. When I applied to UChicago, I really wanted to write about a summer I spent on an archaeological team since it was important to me and I felt it showcased my strengths. None of the prompts that year fit, so I made up my own. Topics to Avoid UChicago wants you to be creative here, so there aren’t many topics that are off limits. However, you’re trying to convince them that you’d be a great an interesting student to add to their school, so make sure you use your essay to show who you are and why UChicago would want to admit you. This means you should avoid responses that don’t give readers a good idea of who you are. (For example, if you choose essay option 5, don’t just state that you’d create a spell that blocked out all nearby sound. You’d want to tie it back to yourself and your life by explaining the reasoning. For example, maybe you have a grandparent living with you, and you want them to be able to relax in peace.) Because these prompts are creative, it can be easy to run away with them, but always remember to answer the prompt completely and give UChicago better insight into who you are. Additionally, don’t feel that certain University of Chicago essay prompts are â€Å"better† or more impressive than others. UChicago wouldn’t have chosen these essay topics if they didn’t think applicants could write outstanding responses to them, so please choose the prompt that you can feel you can write the best essay for. University of Chicago Essay Examples In this section are two University of Chicago essay examples, each written by an accepted applicant. Below each UChicago supplement essay we discuss what makes the essay work so well. Question 1 Dear University of Chicago, It fills me up with that gooey sap you feel late at night when I think about things that are really special to me about you. Sometimes I just hunger for more, but I keep that a secret. The mail you send is such a tease; I like to imagine additional words on the page. Words like "you're accepted" or "you're awesome!" or "don't worry, she still loves you!" but I know they're all lies. You never called after that one time, I visited you thrice, but you never come around anymore. Tell me, was I just one in a line of many? Was I just another supple "applicant" to you, looking for a place to live, looking for someone to teach me the ways of the world? The closeness between us was beautiful, it couldn't have been just me that felt it, I know you felt it too. The intimacy was akin to that of scholar and original text, your depth as a person is astounding! To be honest, I must confess I had already dreamt of a rosy future together, one filled with late nights and long discussions over the Got hic era and the ethical stage of Kierkegaard, we would watch the sunset together and spend every Christmas snuggled in blankets. Eventually we would get older, I would become a well-educated corporate lawyer and you would enrich yourself within the domain of human knowledge. Your cup overfloweth with academic genius, pour a little on me. You're legendary for it, they all told me it would never work out between us, but I had hope. I had so much hope; I replied to your adorable letters and put up with your puns. I knew going into it that you would be an expensive one to keep around, I accounted for all that; I understand someone of your caliber and taste. And now you inquire as to my wishes? They're simple, accept me for who I am! Why can't you just love and not ask why? Not ask about my assets or my past? I'm living in the now, I'm waiting for you to catch up, but you're too caught up in my past, I offer us a future together, not a past to dwell upon. Whenever I'm around you, I just get that tingle deep inside me that tells me you're the one; you have that air of brilliance and ingenuity that I crave in a person, you're so mature and sophisticated, originality is really your strongest and most admirable trait. I wish we could be together, I still think in my heart of hearts we were meant to be, but you have to meet me halfway, dear. I'm on one knee here with tears welling up in my eyes, the fireworks are timed and ready to light up the night sky for you, just say 'I accept...you.' Always, Rohan Why Does This Essay Work? Creative take on a standard prompt: The writer chose a very unique angle for this essay: comparing the University of Chicago to a lover. He’s probably the first applicant to answer the essay prompt this way, which definitely makes this a memorable essay. In fact, UChicago loved this essay so much that they mailed it out to thousands of potential applicants (which actually got them a bit of backlash). You absolutely don’t have to take as unique an approach to this essay as the above writer did, but doing so can definitely help your essay stand out. It answers the entire prompt: Even though this is an unusual essay, the writer still manages to answer everything the prompts asks for. He mentions his goal for the future (to become a lawyer), mentions varied interests he has (the Gothic era, the philosopher Kierkegaard), and explains what he likes about UChicago (the brilliance, ingenuity, and originality the school offers). He even manages to mention that he visited campus three times, which shows a serious interest in the school. If you choose to write an especially offbeat essay, it’s key to do what this essay did and still answer the prompt while being creative. Question 2 This essay is from several years ago, so it doesn't use a current prompt, but it's still helpful to read and analyze. Here 's the prompt:Share with us a few of your favorite books, poems, authors, films, plays, pieces of music, musicians, performers, paintings, artists, blogs, magazines, or newspapers. Feel free to touch on one, some, or all of the categories listed, or add a category of your own. The Illuminati changed my life. Three years ago, I found my first ambigram in one of my favorite novels, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I turned the page, and there it was: the word â€Å"Illuminati† printed into the exact center of the book. It was styled like a newspaper masthead, exquisite and complex, yet oddly symmetric. Curious, I rotated the book upside-down. Impossibly, the inverted word was still â€Å"Illuminati.† Gazing closer, I realized that the letters, I-L-L-U-M, actually shaped into a flipped I-N-A-T-I. Suddenly, I was reading it in both directions. My eyes waltzed along the broad curves and sharp twists of the calligraphy, striking poses in a glamorous font against a sheet of creamy whiteness, sliding between the dense vertical strokes, peering at the edge of the defined serif as it angled away, then bent boldly toward me. Every line was deliberate, every flourish smiling with purpose, and the whole word balanced on the delicate cord that joined two letters into one. It was unforgettable. Ambigrams are words that can be read from different directions. Actually, â€Å"ambigram† is an umbrella term that encompasses dozens of distinct types of visual wordplay. The most popular ones are rotational, mirror image, and-my personal favorites-symbiotic ambigrams, which can spell two different things when viewed normally and upside-down. Compelled by the striking art, I could not help but try my own hand at designing ambigrams, and slowly I felt the pitiful stick-figure artist inside me shrink away as my inner energetic graphic designer sprang up. Before early volleyball tournaments, I work myself up by filling up pages and pages of experimental letter combinations, gleefully satisfied at the way that a rounded lowercase â€Å"a† was a perfect upside-down lowercase â€Å"e.† In my AP Literature class, I drew â€Å"She’s a witch!† which revealed, when flipped, â€Å"Communist† to reflect Arthur Miller’s contemporary motives for writing The Crucible. On a challenge from a friend, I even drew an ambigram of â€Å"Jay-Z† and â€Å"Beyonce† on a bumpy bus ride back from a leadership retreat. In the last few months, I have also practiced drawing ambigrams as fast as I can. I dream about the day when I can effortlessly write out a message saying â€Å"Hi, how are you today?† normally and â€Å"The password is cherry268† upside-down, without pausing or rotating the paper. I imagine a world in which everyone had this ability, and could literally write two things at once. How would that change communication? Encryption? Trust? My legs swing comfortably from this innovative edge, excited to take a stab at the answers. The best part about the ambigram is that it refuses to define itself as just one thing. It is a linguistic passion, a cryptographic endeavor, an artistic design, and an ironic illusion. I relish the fact that ambigrams force both the artist and the audience to reject first glances and embrace secret identities. This may just be a nerdy obsession, but ambigrams have taught me far more than how to sketch fancy words. Their multidimensional truth implies that my hobbies of both writing Italian sonnets and solving logical riddles are not opposing functions of my left and right brains, but rather, a perfect conglomeration of my passion for creating and solving puzzles. The beauty of the most surprising combinations reminds me to take bold risks in both my life and my designs. Above all else, ambigrams have taught me that I can create the impossible. I can make true and false the same word depending on something as simple as a 180-degree head turn. Victory can be defeat. Open can be closed. Am amateur piano player with an obsession for cryptology can learn how to program iPhone apps and get the game-winning kill at the varsity volleyball championship. A girl with divorced parents can make time for both families, and an inspired teenager from California can write her name into world historyboth normally and upside-down. -Samantha M. Why This Essay Works Shows passion: This essay focuses a pretty unusual and specific topic: ambigrams. While many people may not even know what an ambigram is, the writer is clearly passionate about them. She discusses how much time she spends trying to create different ambigrams, what her goals for ambigram creating are, and some of her favorite ambigrams she’s created. UChicago loves people who are passionate about something, even it’s an unusual or offbeat interest. It makes UChicago believe those students will bring that passion with them onto campus. Gives insight into the writer’s personality: The majority of this essay is about the author’s interest in ambigrams, but she also manages to cleverly slip in multiple other references to her personality and interests. From her essay, we learn that she’s a volleyball player, writes Italian sonnets, and loves solving puzzles. Adding these details gives UChicago a fuller look at what makes her tick. Connects it to a bigger picture: The writer chose to write about a very specific topic: ambigrams, but was still able to connect that to bigger concepts, such communication, truth, and how she’s able to balance her different interests. She’s able to take a quirky topic and show how it influences her worldview. Final Advice: UChicago Essays When answering the University of Chicago essay prompts, keep in mind that the main reason UChicago is reading these essays is to find out who you are as a person and if you’d be a good fit at their school. The University of Chicago wants students who are passionate about learning, creative, are excited to make the most of their time on campus, and have big dreams for themselves, and the UChicago supplement questions are designed to help you show these sides of yourself to the school. For the â€Å"Why UChicago?† prompt, you’ll want to show the school why you want to go there, why you think you’re a good fit for the school, and how UChicago will help you achieve your goals during college and beyond. For the Extended Essay, you can (and should) be more creative. These UChicago essays are more â€Å"out there,† and in your response, you should show your personality and passion for learning. For both University of Chicago essays , remember to show who you are and what you’re passionate about, include details about yourself and the school to help you stand out from other essays, and mention your plans and goals for the future. What's Next? If you want a more in-depth look how to write about Question 1, check out our guide to the Why UChicago Essay, which includes an additional sample essay along with analysis of how to answer this prompt. Are youworking on the Common App essay? Read our breakdown of the Common App prompts and our guide to picking the best prompt for you. If you're planning to take the SAT or ACT one last time, try out some of our famous test prep guides, like "How to Get a Perfect Score on the SAT" and "15 Key ACT Test Day Tips." Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now:

Thursday, March 5, 2020

10 Fascinating Facts About Titanium

10 Fascinating Facts About Titanium Titanium is found in surgical implants, sunscreen, aircraft, and eyeglass frames. Here are 10 titanium facts you may find interesting and helpful. Titanium is named for the Titans in mythology. In Greek mythology, the Titans were the gods of Earth. The ruler of the Titans, Cronus, was overthrown by the younger gods, led by  his son, Zeus (ruler of the Olympian gods).The original name for titanium was  manaccanite. The metal was discovered in 1791 by  William Gregor, who  was a pastor in a village in South Cornwall of the United Kingdom called  Manaccan. Gregor reported his finding to the  Royal Geological Society of Cornwall  and published it in the German science journal  Crells Annalen. Usually, the discoverer of an element names it, so what happened? In 1795,  German  chemist  Martin Heinrich Klaproth independently discovered the metal and named it titanium, for the Greek Titans. Klaproth found out about Gregors earlier discovery and confirmed the two elements were one and the same. He credited Gregor with the elements discovery. However, the metal  was not isolated in pure form until 1910, by  meta llurgist Matthew Hunter of  Schenectady, New York, who went with the name titanium for the element. Titanium is an abundant element. It is the 9th most abundant element in the Earths crust. It occurs naturally in the human body, in plants, in seawater, on the Moon, in meteors, and in the Sun and other stars. The element is only found bonded with other elements, not free in nature in its pure state. Most titanium on Earth is found in igneous (volcanic) rocks. Nearly every igneous rock contains titanium.Although titanium is used in many products, nearly 95% of the metal that is purified is used to make titanium dioxide, TiO2. Titanium dioxide is a white pigment used in paint, sunscreen, cosmetics, paper, toothpaste, and many other products.One of titaniums characteristics is extremely high strength to weight ratio. Although it is 60% more dense than aluminum, it is more than twice as strong. Its strength is comparable to that of steel, but titanium is 45% lighter.Another notable characteristic of titanium is its high corrosion resistance. The resistance is so high, it is estimated ti tanium would only corrode to the thickness of a sheet of paper after 4,000 years in seawater! Titanium is used in medical implants and for jewelry because it is considered non-toxic and non-reactive. However, titanium actually is reactive and fine titanium shavings or dust are a fire hazard. The non-reactivity is associated with the passivation of titanium, which is where the metal forms an oxide layer on its outer surface, so the titanium  does not continue to react or degrade. Titanium can ossointegrate, meaning bone can grow into an implant. This makes the implant much stronger than it would be otherwise.Titanium containers may have application for the long term storage of nuclear waste. Because of high corrosion resistance, titanium containers may last up to 100,000 years.Some 24k gold isnt actually pure gold, but rather, an alloy of gold and titanium. The 1% titanium is not enough to change the karat of the gold, yet produces a metal that is much more durable than pure gold.Titanium is a transition metal. It has some properties commonly seen in other metals, such as hi gh strength and melting point (3,034  °F or  1,668  °C). Unlike most other metals it is not a particularly good conductor of heat or electricity and is not very dense. Titanium is non-magnetic.

Monday, February 17, 2020

Evaluation of Long-Term Finance Alternatives Article

Evaluation of Long-Term Finance Alternatives - Article Example A firm can opt in for any kind of long-term financing like issue of securities, term loans, internal accruals, suppliers' credit scheme and equipment financing. There are also some additional options of funding like deferred credit, unsecured loans and deposits and venture capital financing. Types of Capital: Three types of capital can be issued by firms namely equity capital, preference capital and Debenture capital. All three of them vary in terms of risk, return and the pattern of ownership. Equity Capital - Equity share holders are the actual owners of the business. They enjoy all the profits of the company that are residual in nature and this is after paying the preference shareholders and all the other creditors, if any. The liability restriction of equity share holders is limited to the amount of share capital contributed by them. The cost of equity capital is higher than all other forms of capital. It is to be noted that equity dividends are not tax-deductible expenses and also the costs of issue is very high. Long term financing is essential for any operating firm. Long term finance are necessary for investments such as modernization or expansion of existing firms and also for working capital management. The funding process should be a trade-off between the cost of funding, the risk factor involved and the expected returns. This is in order to maintain a reasonable spread is maintained for the firm. References: 1. Financial Management for Managers, published by ICFAI center for Management Research, Ref no: FMM - 04200405. Preference Capital - Though similar to equity capital, preference capital has no obligatory payment to the preference shareholders. Even the preference dividend is not tax deductible. An advantage that the preference shareholders have is that they earn a fixed rate of return for their dividend payment. Debenture Capital - Debenture is nothing but a marketable legal contract whereby the company promises to pay its owner, a specified rate of interest for a defined period of time and to repay the principal at the specific date of maturity. These are usually secured b y a charge on the immovable properties of the company. A firm can also raise capital from the primary market by way of issuing securities. Different ways of issuing securities exist. Public Issue: Companies issue securities to the general public in the primary market and thereby get them listed in the stock exchange. These securities are then traded in the secondary market. Rights Issue: When a firm issues additional equity capital. It has to first offer such securities to the existing shareholders on a pro rata basis. Such a method of issuing securities is called as Rights Issue. Private Placement: This method of financing involves direct selling of securities to a limited number of institutional or high net worth investors. The delay in going public and also the expenses involved can be avoided in this case. The major advantages here are the easy access to any company, fewer formalities and lower issue cost.

Monday, February 3, 2020

Educational Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Educational Systems - Essay Example This paper stresses that various citizens in the UK have lost their trust in the educational system of the UK and have criticized the learning system incorporated by the academic institutes as well as the government. Strong evidence has emerged which raises doubts over the quality of the educational as well as learning system in the UK and highlights the need for improvement from the government. The author approves that lack of consistent learning and development has lead citizens to complain over the downgraded academic standards of the UK. Even employers have found difficulty in being able to find people who don’t possess basic skills which can be beneficial for employment which include problem solving, numeracy, time management etc. Due to this reason, employers either have to invest on the improvement of their employees or have to hire candidates from abroad. This report makes a conclusion that learning styles may also depend on various factors such as age, demography, gender etc and there is a sudden change in learning style when one gets old and gains relatively more experience. Learning styles do play a critical role in the educational system of a region and due to this reason, intervention and constant intervention of the government authorities is highly critical in this regard. The state regulations of UK do depict the fact that learning styles and education system are related to each other. For this reason, it is extremely crucial to incorporate different learning styles into the educational system of a region.

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Brand Perception And Customer Buying Behaviour

Brand Perception And Customer Buying Behaviour In this chapter, concepts, theories and relevant models about branding, brand perception and customer buying behaviour will be discussed in detail. An individual who buys products for personal use and not for manufacture or resale is said to be a consumer. A consumer is someone who can make the decision whether or not to purchase an item at the store, which can be influenced by marketing and advertisements. Each and every consumer is influenced by their own brand perception and buying decisions which depends on various number of factors. 2.2 Branding Brand is the image that consumers have in mind (Aaker, 1991). It is also the unique characteristics that have been developed all the time in order to differentiate actual products from the competitors (Murphy, 1990). In addition, The American Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. A brand is thus a product or service that adds dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products or services designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be functional, rational, or emotional or intangible related to what the brand represents. Brand concepts must address customer interests and lifestyles. Factors that affect its brand image and brand perception among marketing communication program that implementing to the public to create brand perception, brand characteristic, brand image and bran d equity. De Chernatony and McDonald (1992) define a brand as an identifiable product, service, person or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique added values which match their needs most closely. There have been two basic values identified by de Chernatony (1999) that contribute towards the brand premium. One is the functional value such as the price, technology, design and store layout. This functional value is a distinct attribute that a customer adds to the brand and distinguishes the brand from the rest. The second form of added value comes from emotional value. This value is derived from notions like advertising, internal branding, translating the retail brand into consumer taste, and even the shopping experience itself at the retail outlet. 2.3 Brand Perception Perception is how we see ourselves and the world we live in. However, what ends up being stored inside us doesnt always get there in a direct manner. Often our mental makeup results from information that has been consciously or subconsciously filtered as we experience it, a process we refer to as a perceptual filter. To us this is our reality, though it does not mean it is an accurate reflection on what is real. Thus, perception is the way we filter stimuli (e.g., someone talking to us, reading a newspaper story) and then make sense out of it. Perception has several steps. Exposure sensing a stimuli (e.g. seeing an ad) Attention an effort to recognize the nature of a stimuli (e.g. recognizing it is an ad) Awareness assigning meaning to a stimuli (e.g., humorous ad for particular product) Retention adding the meaning to ones internal makeup (i.e., product has fun ads) Brand perception is consumers ability to identify the brand under different conditions, as reflected by their brand recognition or recall performance (Kotler Lane, 2006). Brand recall refers to consumers ability to retrieve the brand from the memory (Keller, 1993). According to the improvement of measurement for brand equity, consumer-based brand equity was described for four dimensions; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty (Pappu, et al, 2005). Brand awareness was defined as the consumers ability to identify or recognize the brand (Rossiter and Percy, 1987). It refers to the strength of a brand presence in consumers minds. Brand awareness has several levels starting from the less recognition of the brand to dominance (Aaker, 1991). Perceived quality was evaluated and decided by consumers. Perceived quality is another valuation of brand to push the customer to buy products. Brand building has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. The earliest signs of branding in Europe were the medieval guilds requirement that craftspeople put trademarks on their products to protect themselves and consumers against inferior quality. In the fine arts, branding began with artists signing their works. Brands today play a number of important roles that improve consumers lives and enhance the financial value of firms (Kotler Lane, 2006). Brand awareness and brand perceived quality as the significant factors to create and maintain brand equity. There are positive relationship among brand awareness, perceive quality and brand equity (Aker, 1996, Buzzell Gate, 1987). The marketing program has effect to improve the perceive quality of brand for different customers. Brand perception is consumers ability to identify the brand under different conditions, as reflected by their brand recognition or recall performance (Kotler Lane, 2006). Brand recall refers to consumers ability to retrieve the brand from the memory (Keller, 1993). According to the improvement of measurement for brand equity, consumer-based brand equity was described for four dimensions; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty (Pappu, et al, 2005). Brand awareness was defined as the consumers ability to identify or recognize the brand (Rossiter and Percy, 1987). It refers to the strength of a brand presence in consumers minds. Brand awareness has several levels starting from the less recognition of the brand to dominance (Aaker, 1991). Perceived quality was evaluated and decided by consumers. Perceived quality is another valuation of brand to push the customer to buy products. Brand building has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. The earliest signs of branding in Europe were the medieval guilds requirement that craftspeople put trademarks on their products to protect themselves and consumers against inferior quality. In the fine arts, branding began with artists signing their works. Brands today play a number of important roles that improve consumers lives and enhance the financial value of firms (Kotler Lane, 2006). Brand awareness and brand perceived quality as the significant factors to create and maintain brand equity. There are positive relationship among brand awareness, perceive quality and brand equity (Aker, 1996, Buzzell Gate,1987). The marketing program has effect to improve the perceive quality of brand for different customers. 2.4 Brand Equity Source: Aaker, 1991 Brand equity is the added value endowed to products and services. Aaker (1991) defined the brand equity as a set of brand assts and liabilities linked to brand that adds or detracts the product or service value based on the customers perspectives. This value may be reflected in how consumers think, feel and act with respect to the brand that consumers had perceive from marketing programs. Brand equity is an important intangible asset that has psychological and financial value to the firm. The value of brand equity depends on the number of same people who buy regularly (Aaker, 1996). The brand loyalty, brand awareness, and brand perceived quality are necessary to maintain the brand equity (Motameni Shahrokhi, 1998). There are two different perspectives of brand equity; financial and customer based. The first perspective evaluates the asset value of a brand name that creates to the business (Farquhar et al, 1991). Brand equity increased the discounted future cash flows and revenue com paring to the same product did not have the brand name (Motameni Shahrkhi, 1998). According to the second perspective, the premise of customer-based brand equity models is that the power of brand lies in what customers have responded, seen, read, heard, learned, thought and felt about the brand over time. In other words, the power of brand lies in the minds of existing or potential customers and what they have experienced directly and indirectly about the brand. The customer-based brand equity finally drives the financial return to the company (Lassar et al, 1995). The valuation of brand has been studied for different approaches, for example, marketing, premium pricing market value, customer factors, replacement cost perspective. According to the valuation based on consumer factors, the measurement of customers preference and attitude can be used to evaluate the brand equity (Aaker, 1991 and Kapferer, 1992). 2.5 Marketing Communication The marketing communication is considered as the strategic activities for brand managers to build and maintain the brand image of targeted customers (Duncan Mulhern, 2004). It is a significant driver of competitive advantage to create the ability of companies to attract, retain, and leverage customers (Kitchen, Joanne, Tao, 2004). Duncan (2002) explained that marketing communication is a process for managing the customer relationship that affects brand value lastly. Marketing communication programs are not only above the line activities such as advertising and sales promotions but also below the line activities such as public relations. Regarding recent concept of marketing communication, two-way communication as well as one way communication is a key determinant of brand strategies to stimulus the brand orientation process (Aaker, 1996 and Urde, 1994). 2.6 Consumer Behaviour Schiffinan and Kanuk (2004) define Consumer Behaviour as the behaviour that customers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. Consumer buying behaviour incorporates the acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining, using and disposing of economic goods and services including the decision process that precede and determine these acts (Huctings 1995). Lamb, Hair and McDartiel (1992) note that consumer behaviour is a study of the processes the consumer uses to make purchase decisions as well as the use and disposal of the purchased goods and services. It also includes the analysis of factors that influences purchase decisions and goods usage. Further more consumer behaviour is a process and purchase is only one step in that process. Santon,Etzel and Walker (1994) states that consumers are complex in nature and keep changing constantly. So it is a must for the marketers to constantly improve their understanding of consumers and understand what influences the needs of the consumers. In short, the understanding of the buying behavior of existing and potential customers is imperative for marketers (Lancaster 1998). It is also needed for the competitive survival. When the consumer is viewed in the proper perspective, the outcomes could be quite positive for the manufacturer. Lamb,Hair and McDaniel (1992),claim that the knowledge of consumer behavior reduces uncertainty when creating the marketing mix. The field of customer behavior covers a lot of ground: It is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Michael, 2003). Earlier, the field was referred to as buyer behavior, which emphasized o n interaction between consumers and producers at the time of purchase. Now marketers feel that consumer behavior is not merely a consumer handing over money in return for a service or good, but it is an ongoing process. The exchange of a transaction in which two or more organizations or people give and receive something of value is an integral part of marketing. 2.7 Consumer Decision Making Mahatoo (1985) defines Consumer Behavior decision making process consisting of a number of steps that begin before the purchase and reaches beyond the buying act. He suggests that marketers have to go beyond the various influences on buyers and develop an understanding of how consumers actually make their buying decisions .The ability to create a good service and to persuade the market to buy this offering instead of its competitors offering depends upon the insight into the consumer purchase decision on the understanding of how the target customers arrive at their purchase decisions. Price is one of the dominating factors when it comes to making a purchase decision. It generally plays a vital role in determining consumers brand choice while selecting a product. Consumers look into the price while taking a buying decision and check whether it is within their affordable limits. This helps them to maximize their immediate utility that they gain from the purchase. The consumers give relative importance to both price and quality, so while choosing a brand they make a choice consistent with the relative importance attached to both attributes (Nor Khasimah Alimana and Md Nor Othman, 2007). It is also known that consumers look upon the additional services and freebies which come along with the product rather than looking on the price factor. Customers were believed to put different weights on every factor when it comes to the evaluation process. Analysis shows that customers who had experienced bad customer service tend to consider more thoroughly all aspects of the serv ice when it comes to choice of product (Tor W. Andreassen and Line L. Olsen, 2008). According to Kotler (2003), there are five roles people play during a purchase. They are Initiator: It is the person who gives the idea of buying the product or service. Influencer: It is the person who reviews or influences the decision. Decider: It is the person who makes the buying decision: what to buy, how to buy, when to buy and where to buy. Buyer: It is the person who actually makes the purchase. User: It is the person who consumes or uses the product or service. 2.8 Buying Behavior Buying behavior is a process in which consumers decide and act accordingly to buy certain products for their use. There are certain aspects which we need to understand. Why do consumers buy what they buy? What are the key factors for influencing consumers to buy the products? What are the changing trends in the society? Consumer buying behavior refers to what consumers buy at a certain point of time which involves their decision making. So it is important for any firm to keenly analyze on consumer buying behaviors as it has a great impact on the firms marketing strategy. It also plays a key role in the success of the firm. It is important for any firm to create a marketing mix that satisfies the customers. 2.9 Types of Consumer Buying Behavior There are few types of buying behaviors based on the type of products which needs to be purchased. Complex buying behavior is where an individual seeks lot of information about a high value branded product before purchasing it. Habitual buying behavior is where the individual buys the product out of habit. Variety seeking buying behavior is where the individual likes to shop around and experiment different products. Consumer buying behavior is determined by level of involvement in the purchase decision (Renjith, June 2004). According to Mahatoo (1985), the nature of the decision process varies depending upon the product and the consumer. The marketers need to determine the kind of decision making behavior that is involved with the particular product in order to understand the behavior of the consumer. Howard (1989) classifies consumer buying decision into three broad categories: Routine Response Programmed Behavior- A consumer generally uses a routine response behavior while frequently buying the low cost goods or services. These goods and services can be called low involvement products as the consumer spends little time on decision making and purchases easily. The consumer is familiar with different brands in this product category, but usually sticks on to one brand. The consumer usually skips many steps in the decision process as he buys the product out of habit. Limited Decision Making Buying product occasionally. When you need to obtain information about an unfamiliar brand in a product category. Requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering as it is compared with various brands. Acquiring information about an unfamiliar product category is called as limited decision making. Examples: books, clothes and cosmetics. Extensive Decision Making Consumers usually spend much time on extensive decision making with high involvement when they purchase an unfamiliar expensive product. This is the most complex type of consumer decision making as the consumers need a great deal of information to compare it with its alternate brands. Examples: cars, computers. Complex buying behavior involves three steps: The consumer develops belief about the product. The consumer develops attitude about the product. The consumer makes a thoughtful choice. Consumers usually engage in complex buying behavior when they are highly involved in a purchase, which usually happens when the product is expensive, risky, and highly self expressive. Many products do not carry features unless the buyer does some research. The marketer of a high involvement product must understand consumers information- gathering and evaluation process. According to this the marketer needs to develop strategies which will assess the buyer in learning about the products attributes and their importance. The marketer also needs to differentiate the brand features, motivate store keepers, and use proper print media to describe the brand and the buyers interaction to influence the brand choice. Dissonance-Reducing buyer behaviour According to Herbert (1965), the consumer sometimes gets highly involved in a purchase but see little differences in brands. The high involvement is due to the fact that the purchase is expensive, infrequent and risky. For this type of purchase the consumer will shop around to learn more about the product but purchase it quickly responding to the primary factors like price or convenience. After the purchase, the consumer might experience dissonance by hearing favourable things about other brands or noticing certain disquieting features. Now the consumer will alert the informants who support his or her decisions. For example, here, the consumer acted first then acquired new beliefs and ended up with a set of attitudes. Marketing communication should supply beliefs and evaluations that help the customer feel good about the brand of his choice. Variety-Seeking Buying Behaviour Henry (1987) states that some buying situations are characterised by low involvement but significant brand differences. Usually consumers do lot of brand switching. Take for example, cookies. The consumer has some knowledge about cookies, chooses them without much evaluation and evaluates the product during consumption. But next time the consumer may reach for another brand according to his taste. Brand switching occurs for the sake of variety rather than dissatisfaction. 3.10 Buying Decision Process The consumers engage in a decision process to deal with the marketing environment and make purchases. The consumer goes through a series of logical stages to arrive at the decision when he faces a problem which could be resolved through a purchase. A typical buying process consists of five stages. (Micheal and Elnora, 2000). 2.10.1 Problem Recognition The purchase process starts where the buyer recognises a problem or need. The need maybe triggered by internal or external stimuli. Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need (Micheal, 2003). People have unsatisfied needs and wants that create tension or discomfort, which can be satisfied by acquiring and consuming goods and services. Hence, the process of deciding what to buy begins when there is a need and it can be satisfied through consumption. Mahatoo (1985), states that when the consumer becomes aware of a discrepancy between the existing state and a desired state, a need is aroused. The existing state is the total situation of a consumer, the current needs, attitudes, motives. The desired state is the situation after the kinds of changes the consumer wishes. Both these states are the functions of consumers motivation, personality and past experience of cultural and social influences. Evans and Burman (1984), defines a stimulus as a cure intended to motivate a person to act. It can be social, commercial or non commercial. Need recognition shows a persons readiness to act by becoming aware of a need but does not guarantee that the decision making process will continue. Kotler (2003), suggests that by gathering information from a number of consumers marketers can identify the most frequent stimuli that triggers an interest in a product category, thereby developing marketing strategies that would create a spark in consumers interest. 2.10.2 Information Search When a consumer needs to gain knowledge about a product or service, he or she would be aroused to search for more information in the product category. Consumer information sources fall under four groups: Personal sources: Family, friends, neighbours Commercial sources: Advertising, sales person, dealers, display boards Public sources: Mass media, consumer-rating organizations Experimental sources: Handling, examining, using the product. The relative amount and influences of these information sources vary with product category and consumer characteristics (Peter, Daniel and Nancy, 1986). Customer decisions are based on a combination of past experiences and marketing information. Past experience is considered as an internal source of information. Greater the past experience, lesser the external information the consumer is likely to seek to make a decision. Baker (2000), states that if there is a sufficiently high level of involvement with the problem, the consumers are likely to engage in a complex and extensive information search. If the involvement level is low, they are likely to use a very simple information search. Kotler (2003), states that by gathering information the consumer learns about competing brands and their features. There will be lot of brands available to the consumer in a product category, in which only a few brands the consumer would be aware of (awareness set). Among these brands, few brands will meet consumers initial buying criteria (consideration set). As the consumer gathers more information only a few brands would remain (choice set). All the brands in the choice set might be acceptable. 2.10.3 Evaluation of Alternatives There is no single evaluation process used by all customers or by one customer in all buying situations. The consumers view each product as a bundle of attributes with varying abilities of delivering the benefits needed to satisfy them. The attributes of interest to buyers vary by product. Consumers will pay most attention to attributes that deliver benefits (Mary, James and John, 1997). Once a choice set has been identified, the consumer evaluates them before making a decision. The evaluation involves establishing some criteria against which each alternative is compared. The criteria that consumers use in the evaluation results from their past experience and feelings towards various brands as well as the opinions of family, friends, etc. (Stanton, Etzel and Walker, 1994). The product related attributes such as quality, durability, price, design, etc. Influence the buying decision of a consumer. A way to narrow down the products in the choice set is to pick an attribute and then excl ude all products in the set that does not possess that attribute (Lamb and McDaniel, 1992). Thus the choice which possesses all the required product related attributes can be selected. 2.10.4 Purchase Decision From the evaluation process discussed about, consumer will reach their final purchase decision which is made up of five purchase sub decisions: Brand decision, Vendor decision, Quantity decision, Timing decision and Payment method decision (Joseph and Howard, 1987). After evaluation, the first thing in mind would be to purchase the product or not. If the decision is to buy, a series of related decisions must be made regarding the features, where and when to make the actual transaction, how to take delivery, a mode of payment and other issues. So a decision to purchase starts an entirely new series of decisions that may be time consuming and difficult. Selecting a source from which a purchase can be made is also a buying decision (Stanton, Etzel and Walker, 1994). A consumers decision to modify, postpone or avoid a purchase decision is heavily influenced by risk. The amount of risk varies with the extent of money at stake, the amount of attribute uncertainty and amount of self confide nce. Marketers must understand the factors that create a feeling of risk in the consumer, thereby providing information and support to reduce the risk (Kotler, 2003). 2.10.5 Post Purchase Behaviour Every customer after buying a product will experience either satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Hence the marketers job does not end when the product is bought; it must be monitored for post purchase satisfaction and post purchase actions. A very important stage of the consumers decision is the impact of current decisions on the future purchasing behaviour. Mahatoo (1985) says that three general outcomes are possible. They are: 2.10.5.1 Satisfaction Satisfaction occurs when a product performs according to expectations. The brand chosen has served to fulfil the customers needs and thus reinforces the response of purchasing the brand, which also means that beliefs and attributes about the brand are positively influenced and the likelihood of repurchase is increased. 2.10.5.2 Dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction occurs in the reverse situation, when the products performance is not up to the expectation it leads to negative belief and attributes about the brand. A dissatisfied customer is not likely to recommend the product to others. The results of satisfaction and dissatisfaction are recorded in long term memory and become inputs to the internal search of the firm. So the marketers must be careful in satisfying the needs and expectations of the customers. 2.10.5.3 Cognitive Dissonance: Cognitive dissonance occurs when the consumer experiences a feeling of doubt or psychological discomfort about the choice made. It is often felt right after the purchase when the consumer begins to have second thoughts about the product chosen. Dissonance is more likely to occur in complex decision making with high involvement purchases. Dissonance can come from a personal source from advertisement or from experience with the product. Post purchase evaluation is important to marketers because positive evaluation increases the probability of repeat purchases and brand loyalty. Negative or doubtful thoughts increase the probability that different alternatives will be considered next time when the need arises (Husted, Varble and Lowry, 1989). 2.11 Factors influencing the behaviour of buyers http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~market/380dir/cbinfluence.jpg Source: (http://blog.oneshotmarketing.com/2010/08/consumer-buying-behavior-the-laws-of-attraction/ accessed on 20/10/10 at 9.15pm) Consumer behaviour is affected by many uncontrollable factors. Culture is one of the factors that influence behaviour. Culture can be defined as our attitudes and beliefs. It is developed along with age in the society. For an individual growing up, a child is influenced by their parents, brothers and sisters. They learn about their religion and culture which helps them to develop opinions, attitudes and beliefs (Richard, 1976). These factors will influence a buying behaviour of the consumer, other factors like friends or people they look up may also influence their choices of purchasing a particular product. Culture is the most basic cause of a persons wants and behaviour. Culture is learned from family, church, school, peers, colleagues. It reflects basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviours. Cultural shifts create opportunities for new products or may otherwise influence consumer behaviour. Peoples social status plays an important role in the consumer buying behaviour. Social class distinctions allow companies to position their products to appeal to certain social classes. The easiest example is automobiles. Marketing for Mercedes Benz is completely different from the marketing campaign from Honda or Toyota because they target individuals from the upper class. Another powerful and easy factor that companies manipulate in their marketing efforts is the social factor. To be part of a group, or represent a certain lifestyle, you must have certain possessions. Personal and Psychological factors are very specific realms and the target market segment becomes even smaller. That means even less amount of people can use these products. This reflects in higher prices to account for the decrease in volume 2.12 Models of Consumer Behaviour The various models of consumer behaviour as per (Ramasamy and Namakumari, 1990) are stated as follows 2.12.1 The Economic Model According to the economic model of buyer behaviour, the buyer is a rational man and his buying decisions are totally governed by the concept of utility. If the customer has certain amount of purchasing power, a set of needs to be met and a set of products in a very rational manner with the intentions of maximising the utility or benefits. 2.12.2 The Learning Model According to the learning model, buying behaviour can be influenced by manipulating the drivers, stimuli and responses of the buyers. The model rests on mans ability at learning, forgetting and discriminating. 2.12.3 The Psychoanalytical Model According to this model the individual consumer has a complex set of deep stated motives that drive him towards certain buying decisions. The buyer has a private world with all his hidden fears, suppressed desires and totally subjective longings. His buying action can be influenced by appealing to these desires and longings. 2.12.4 The Sociological Model According to the sociological model, the individual buyer is influenced by society, by inmate groups as well as social classes. His buying decisions are not totally governed by utility, he has a desire to emulate, follow, and fit in with his immediate environment. Several of his buying decisions may be governed by societal compulsions. 2.12.5 The Nicosia Model Efforts have been made by marketing scholars to build buyer behaviour models from the marketing mans point of view. The Nicosia model and the Howard and Sheth model are two important models. Both of them belong to the category called the systems model where the human being is analysed as the system with stimuli as the input to the system and behaviour as the output of the system. The Nicosia model tries to establish the link between a firm and its customers, how the activities of the firm influences the consumer and results in the buying decision. The information from the firm influences the consumer towards the product, thereby he develops a certain attitude towards the product causing him to search or

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Freemark Abbey Winery Essay

1. Construct the decision tree for William Jaeger. 2. What should he do? Jaeger should choose to harvest later and wait for the storm. If the storm does come but destroys the grapes, he can decide whether to bottle wine or not to protect winery’s reputation. In either way, he will gain higher revenues from harvesting later than harvesting immediately: EV of â€Å"Do not harvest & Bottling†: $39240 EV of â€Å"Do not harvest & Not bottling†: $39240-$12000*0.6*0.5=$35640 EV of â€Å"Harvest†: $34200 If the winery’s reputation is of great importance for long term profitability, he should choose to sell the wine in bulk, or sell the grapes directly to avoid impairing reputation. Besides, Riesling wines contribute only about 1,000 cases of wine, and the whole winery produced about 25,000 cases of wine bottled each year. Since the Riesling takes only about 4% of winery’s total production and the decision analysis only affects a small proportion of winery revenues, an expected value approach is used (not expected utility approach). However, if Jaeger is extremely risk average or the winery could not afford any risks at that time, he could choose to harvest immediately to reduce uncertainty. 3. Incorporate the option that Jaeger can obtain perfect weather information on the path of the storm into your decision tree. Note that the type of storm remains uncertain. 4. What should he do now? And at most how much he is willing to pay for this piece of information? With perfect information of whether storm strikes or not, Jaeger should still choose to harvest later and wait for the storm. EV of â€Å"Harvest† stream: $34200 EV of â€Å"Do not harvest† stream: $39240 (no matter Jaeger decides to bottle  not-up-to-standard wine or not) When Jaeger decides to â€Å"bottling† not up-to-standard wine, EV of â€Å"Information† stream: $39240 When Jaeger decides to â€Å"not bottling† not-up-to-standard wine, EV of â€Å"Information† stream: $34200*0.5+$37200*0.5=$35700 (â€Å"Information, Storm strike, Do not harvest & Not bottling†: this option will not be chosen as its EV is $34080, smaller than EV of â€Å"Information, Storm strike & Harvest† $34200) As the option â€Å"harvest later and wait for the storm† will bring the highest revenues no matter Jaeger decides to bottle not-up-to-standard wine or not to protect reputation, he should stick to the strategy of harvesting later. Even if the perfect information is free-of-charge, and he decides to bottle not-up-to-standard wine to get more monetary returns, the expected value is the same as â€Å"do not harvest and do not gain perfect information†. If he chooses to get perfect information, and decides to not bottle not-up-to-standard wine, the expected value will be lower. Because the perfect information cannot affect his choice from an ex ante position, it is worthless and he is willing to pay for zero. In this case, the information cannot predict the storm type, so the perfect information is worthless for Jaeger. If the perfect information can predict the storm type, it is valuable and Jaeger will be willing to pay.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

The Recently Leaked Secrets to Advertising Essay Samples Disclosed

The Recently Leaked Secrets to Advertising Essay Samples Disclosed Advertising Essay Samples - What Is It? Advertisement are made to promote the specific interest of a definite individual, caused, or the selling of product. The measurement of the efficacy of an advertisement is the way it can strike a demand from a customer and present a viable remedy to it. The use of advertisements is to learn what the consumers purchase. The advert also gives the appropriate information regarding the location of the showroom. It is of three women in the trunk of a car. So even if it does not influence the consumer, as long as the ad can influence the investors, salespeople and retailers, the company will be prosperous. To summarize, many facets of advertising do appear to be morally wrong and aren't acceptable in the modern society. Many people think that advertising has negative results on consumers. Just as social media have transformed the manner in which individuals communicate with one another, in addition it has transformed the way by which businesses communicate and interact with one another. Advertising affects society in such a manner that no matter who you are, you are going to want the item or feel the need to have the product. Advertising Essay Samples Features In reality, companies support our entertainment by making use of their ads, while receiving little benefit in the slightest. Advertisements for most electronic devices utilized by the young adults could include the picture or voice of a youthful woman, whose main intention is to attract the youthful man's interest. If you don't sleep well, you're interrupting the process to keep up your overall well-being. Despite how some individuals think that access to modern technologies and the internet can be exceedingly bad for children, the principal danger lies in what children see online, and not the technology itself. People today utilize internet to find idea about various beneficial things in daily life. Public service advertisements are often the first things considered when they discuss the positives of advertisements. A lot of people think of it as the finest and the most economical sort of advertising media. Some folks say that advertising is a good portion of our lives while some say it's a negative one. Once message in advertisement comprises contents from company's house country then it is more inclined to be misunderstood across cultures. McDonalds has ever chosen an audience for in which they would like to devote their time advertising. There are different ways of putting up an advertisement in accordance with the audience to be addressed. As times changed, the method of advertisement needed adjustments because it wouldn't make sense for a company with a well-defined philosophy and doesn't incorporate its advertisement criterion (Johnson 2011). 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Should you need some extra support, have a look at our essay help section to discover more about the best way to structure and write essays. Now you are aware of how to compose an essay on advertisements and make an outstanding advertisement undertaking. With advertisement analysis essay examples, you get to learn more regarding the area of advertisement. Global advertisement holds immense value in the time of globalization. It is possible to also check an advertisement analysis essay sample online if you become stuck. It's important to select debatable argumentative essay topics as you need opposing points that you are able to counter to your own points. Therefore, many students and employees decide to acquire cheap essay rather than writing it themselves. The Downside Risk of Advertising Essay Samples Thirdly, social media plays a substantial part in advertising since it allows for relationships with different brands across other social networking platforms to be developed. One particular important and popular advertising media around the globe is internet. According to the International Advertising Association, it can encourage companies to compete and provide new products. Advertising and the media are now nearly inseparable from society for a whole. It's easier for the businesses to sell their goods through advertisements, as it will become hard to resist the advert. Companies have to make several kinds of advertisement to draw target audience towards them. The companies chosen slogan for this character.