Consumer Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Consumer Behaviour Essay Since its inception in 1837, Tiffany has been renowned for its rare luxury goods, especially its magnificent diamond jewellery and its diamond engagement rings. Tiffany and Co. markets itself as an arbitrator of sophistication and elegance. (The Tiffany Story, Tiffany and Co. 2012) New product – iPhone case Tiffany has always met its customers’ needs and wants; even above and beyond expectations. It prides itself on â€Å"innovation, creativity and brand recognition†. (Tiffany and Co. 012) Due to the ever increasing popularity and success of the Apple iPhone, it is target marketing a younger, more affluent Generation X and subsequently offering its customers an exclusive and prestigious iPhone  cover – fully encrusted with its magnificent diamond jewels. This top of the range and unique phone cover is aimed and position to also satisfy its high-end clientele and upper-class elite market. Through market segmentation and consumer behaviour, this phone cover will embrace sophistication and value that is instilled in each and every Tiffany product and its brand. Target Market Tiffany’s iPhone cover will appeal to the high-end spectrum and social class of society which is predominately the prosperous and affluent; however it is priced reasonably so that it is affordable to the average female. The majority of its target customers will range from 16 and 35, with iPhones who are socially-savvy and like to be perceived as classy and elegant. Most of its consumers will be living in the affluent inner-city suburbs and earn above average medium income. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, this evel of physiological needs is concerned with the ego which may include the need for self-acceptance, self-esteem, success and independence. Externally, this directed ego needs include the want for prestige, reputation, status and recognition from others. This presumed desire to â€Å"show off† one’s achievements, success or simply this iPhone cover accessory is highlighted by the need for this exclusive phone cover. Hence, the motivation for this accessory is to satisfy a need for status, or more specifically the need to feel empowered, classy and prestige. (Schiffman, L. , OCass, A. Paladino, A. , DAlessandro, S. and Bednall, D. , 2011) 2. Issues Facing Consumers in Adopting this New Product or Service urgence Two positive consumer issues: Sociocultural factor (Facilitators) According to Castells (cited in Jiang 2012), the iPhone has become a culture surrounding young people’s adoption and consumption. The iPhone has become a symbol of high class and social status in young people’s lifestyles. In addition, Abrahamson and Rosen kopf (cited in Delre, Jager amp; Janssen 2007) conducted a study regarding sociocultural factor related to consumer behaviour. The results found that innovation focused on calculated models that look into the patterns of innovation through social networks. The result revealed that young people are easier to be influenced by sociocultural factors. Furthermore, Berg, MA (2011) conducted a research about the behaviours of teenagers, and the use of information and communication technologies outside school. Research found that teenagers tend to use social media network such as Facebook and MySpace, more then other social activities. Moreover, teenagers have the lack of satisfaction regarding their online life and the importance given to the anonymous online-communication predicts a higher disclosure on the Internet. The promotional strategy of some companies could be change, due to the changes of sociocultural of teenagers. Ansari, Koenigsberg and Stahl (2011, p713-728) also indicates the rapid growth of online social networks has brought many changes of promotion in the marketing field in studying the structure and function of social networks. Attitudes (Facilitators) A major issue facing consumers is the effect of attitudes from a group of people. Smith, De Vries, Tan and Prislin (cited in Timmor amp;Katz-Navon 2008, p. 250) claims that in this market each person belongs either to a group of people that has adopted the new products/services, or to a group of individuals that has not adopted it. In other words, an individual belongs to a group of people is called ingroup, while the others belongs to other subgroup is called outgroup. The size of each group always changes as individuals move from one subgroup to other subgroup. Asch, Deutsch, Gerard, Kruglanski, Webster, Bond and Smith (cited in Timmor amp;Katz-Navon 2008, p. 250) indicated that most subgroups always influence the attitudes and behaviours of each other through group norms, social pressure  and minority dissent. When exposed to most of the influence, some people are likely to experience substantial conformance pressure that causes it to focus on the majori ty position. This induces compliance behaviour. Moreover, Parascandola, Hurd and Augustson conducted a survey which collected information on a huge range of consumer attitudes related to technology, style, and trends. To address the differences in basic descriptive information on product use, the research assessed the level of awareness and use for several brands, they analysed interest in relation to basic demographic variables, such as smoking status, gender, and health status, and in relation to consumer attitudes related to technology and product experimentation. The research found that most people are more likely to rely on their own feeling, then their cognitive and conative factor. Two negative consumer issues: Belief (Barriers) Snyder (1974) indicated that consumers with a low need for distinctiveness and a low need for assimilation were just as likely to adopt the product even as the perceived group size increased. The term self-monitoring refers to the extent to which individuals regulate their behaviours based on external events such as the reactions of other people or based on internal factors such as their own beliefs. Consumers with a low need for distinctiveness and a low need for assimilation may be low self-monitors are indifferent to the external influence of others. Another factor facing consumers is belief about ethnocentrism. Durvasula, and Lichtenstein (1991) examined the impact of Consumer Ethnocentrism (CE) on â€Å"beliefs† about products from different countries. Nielsen and Spence (cited in Durvasula, and Lichtenstein 1991) provide an exception, but their study only assessed the impact of CE on the ownership of cars. In summary, relatively little is known about the impact of ethnocentrism on purchase behaviour. For the intention of this research, and similar to Shimp and Sharma (1987, p. 280), Shoham and Maja (2003) define consumer ethnocentrism as â€Å"a belief held by consumers about the appropriateness, indeed morality, of purchasing foreign-made products. † Tiffany amp; Co. , as an American brand in Australia, could lead to cultural misinterpretation. They may think Australian brand it better than others. Consequently, when we develop a new problem we also have to consider the lack of knowledge from consumers will also cause them a negative belief. Decision Making (Barriers) According to Truong’s academic journal: â€Å"Personal aspirations and the consumption of luxury goods†, it purports that with closely competitive markets, pricing for the iPhone cover in this luxury market and such that the wealth tend to consume goods in order to parade their â€Å"wealth and gain social status. † However, the ‘Veblen Effect’ came to pronounce that the willingness to pay a price for functionally equivalent product is perceived to be more prestigious (Bagwell. amp;. Bernheim. 996)   This inclination to pay more may serve to generate considerably more status for the users than any direct utility (Mason 2001) and subsequently a â€Å"price premium may paradoxically have negative effects on consumer’s decision-making processes† This is further enforced by Numair, AS, Malik, F, Waqas, Q, Navaveed, A 2011, which declares that â€Å"Consumers are comfortable with high price of luxury goods as lo ng as it fulfils the desire of building social status as a justification against those who cannot pay for these products (Mason, 1981). Therefore, if the luxurious product cannot fulfil the desire to gain social status, it becomes a decision making barrier for the consumer. 3. Consumer Response to these Issues In this section, I am going to interview 4 people from our target market proposed ed in part 1 in order to obtain their reaction and opinion to the consumer issues I have identified in part 2. The profiles of the interviewees are below, and the actual transcript in the interview will be shown (See Appendix A – transcript of the interview) Profile of interviewing respondents I have interviewed 4 interviewees, who are our target market regarding my consumer issues.

American Literature and Society :: essays research papers fc

Literature is a very powerful tool that is used to make a huge impact on society or in someone’s perspective. Literature comes in different forms and each literature form fits in a certain category or role to help understand the true meaning of it. From playwrights to short stories, each one has moral lesson, a message or a reflection of the author. I have witnessed the power of literature several times. Literature has moved teens to better being; it has motivated unfortunate people to fame, used as an educational process of teaching and most of all, entertainment. Back in the day, plays were on of the most famous forms of entertainment. Without television and radio present, plays served as a substitute to entertain certain groups of people like the royal family or just for the whole public. This was one way of making money by the actors and the authors that wrote the play. Also present during those times were the poem recitals. This is similar to a play but fewer people are present in the stage or sometimes solo performance. Today, Literature is still being used as a form of entertainment and educational intentions. Hollywood made a lot of money by revising the great masterpieces of famous authors such as â€Å"Rome and Juliet† by William Shakespeare. Also, they made movies out of hundreds of literary works for educational purposes and better understanding of the literature piece. Each form of literature has its own style. The style determines how it influences the audience to absorb the true meaning and moral of the story or poem. William Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin were truly persuasive while Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe mixed mystery and adventure to their works. The style touches the readers which really makes a good relationship from the reader to the author’s literary masterpieces. Being a foreigner to this country, I have viewed American Society in a different way. There are a lot of factors that changed my perspective to the American society and of them is the literature I have studied during the process of having English as on of my major subjects. I can strongly say that American society is very much different than the environment I used to live. There may be similarities but there are few. American society tends to change a lot of times, its culture slowly evolves the American society to a whole different level.

Four Traditions of Geography Essay

Four Tradition of Geography The Four Traditions of Geography has many different assumptions and aspects of geography; aspects ranging from basic mapping and geometry, to the impact on nature of humans and the processes of the earth itself. Geographers can study and explain their research by selecting a certain tradition that leads to many different fields of geography. â€Å"There are four traditions whose identification provides an alternative to the competing monistic definitions that have been a geographer’s lot† (Pattison 1964). The following discussion treats the traditions in this order: (1) a spatial tradition, (2) an area studies tradition, (3) a man-land tradition and (4) an earth science tradition† (Pattison 1964). Pattison is exploring all the categories of geography and he is explaining how these different traditions can uncover the meanings of different studies of geography. â€Å"Going further one can uncover the meanings of â€Å"systematic geogra phy,† â€Å"regional geography,† â€Å"urban geography,† â€Å"industrial geography,† etc. † (Pattison 1964). Spatial tradition is an area of concentration that relies on geometry and movement. It also is the study of mapping as seen in the ancient Greece recordings of such, and it also deals with the GIS system. GIS is any system that captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that are linked to a location. It explores the central place theory and how it is used in geography. Central place theory is the geography theory that seeks to explain the number, size and location of human settlements in an urban system. Area Studies, just like the spatial tradition it has roots from many, many years ago. The Greek philosopher, Strabo, wrote an encyclopedia about geographical knowledge. â€Å"He is Strabo, celebrated for his Geography which is a massive production addressed to the statesmen of Augustan Rome and intended to sum up and regularize knowledge not of the location of places and associated cartographic facts, as in the somewhat later case of Ptolemy, but of the nature of places, their character and their differentiation† (Pattison 1964). The area-studies tradition was tended to be excluded from early American professional geography. Today, it is beset by certain champions of the spatial tradition who would have one believe that somehow the area studies way of organizing knowledge is only a subdepartment of spatialism† (Pattison 1964). It concentrates on the descriptions of regions in order to differentiate them from other regions and areas. Being able to understand geography in these terms can reveal the deepest knowledge of the world’s environment. The Man-Land tradition describes the human impact in nature and also the impact of nature on humans, and it also defines the nature disasters our world takes on. Social Darwinism simply grabbed a theory from the biosciences and applied it to social happenings without the lengthy process of trial and error for social data which led to environmentalism. Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the environment. Man-Land gives us the basic perception on the environment and what is happening to it. The earth science tradition, embraces the study of the earth, the waters of the earth, and the atmosphere surrounding the earth and the association between the earth and the sun† (Pattison 1964). On two different hands of the topic, it is being used and then it is not being used. â€Å"On one hand, it is not always elected as the best tradition as it has been decreasing in use from past decades, while on the other one knows that college departments rely substantially, for justification of their role in general education, upon curricular content springing directly from this tradition† (Pattison 1964). It also acknowledges the human impact on the planet but mainly focuses on the planet itself and its physical processes. Geology, mineralogy, paleontology, glaciology, and meteorology all have rooted out of these studies. From reading â€Å"Four Traditions of Geography† and â€Å"In Search of Synthesis,† Area Studies tradition is my personal preference on this matter. Gober talks about the many different specialties that lie in between human and physical geography, and I grasped that I am more of a physical, on-hands doing person. With human geography you study societies as a whole and I am more interested in urbanization of the earth and how we can use the land we have in a fashion that is basically perfect. I am interested in the different regions because I am really fascinated in real estate and I figure I would learn a whole lot about the physical aspect of geography. I feel that I could really excel in real estate with this kind of learning. The Four Traditions of Geography has different definitions and aspects of geography. With the information given, people are given the opportunity to understand what geography is all about and be able to break geography down and select a certain practice from the very selective topic. â€Å"It is hoped that through a widened willingness to conceive of and discuss the field in terms of these traditions, geography will be better able to secure the inner unity and outer intelligibility† (Pattison 1964). William D. Pattison, The Four Traditions of Geography, (1964).

A Developmental Worker Analysis - 1366 Words

A Developmental Worker Analysis: (337)Question 1: The first value that I would bring to a developmental worker for a government agency would be to provide solidarity within a neo-liberal culture. The current examples of this form of managerial form of cooperation between corporate suppliers of resources and the governmental collectivization process. Solidarity amongst all parties is crucial for maintain a cooperative organization that can adjust through complex community actions and the managerial aspects of producing goods and services through the organization. This can include crating a managerial environment in which workers find common bonds that drive them to achieve success in community work. More so, an extension of this type of†¦show more content†¦The third value of â€Å"participatory approaches† is well founded as a means in which I could bring together various government, private sector, and community arrangement as development worker. For instance, Munater et al (year?) defines the Venezuelan approach t o health care, which has provided this type of interactive participation in the management process: â€Å"Organized community action, genuine-community partnerships, solidarity between two low-income to middle-income countries (Venezuela and Cuba), and no involvement fro the main players in the global arena† (p.225). These aspects of self-reliance are important within a neo-liberal context, since they rely on a highly cooperative and interactive system that does not rely on global organizations. Question 2: I chose many of these localized values due to the importance of achieving organizational success without the overarching pressures of financial debt and resources allocation within the global free market system. For instance, many countries under the WTO, UN, or the World Bank have o abide certain rules that govern the funding, allocation of resources, and the first world policies that can inhibit third world developmental workers trying to help the local community. However, this is not to say that I cannot create alliances and cooperatives with these organizations, but that they do not have complete control over the