Based on how technology, with particular emphasis on the internet and Essay

Based on how technology, with particular emphasis on the internet and computers, has changed world culture - Essay Example on, online education is less costly than going in another part of the country or going abroad and earning a degree (Online Education Database , par 2). This is indeed one of the major breakthroughs of the Internet age. Furthermore, doing research has never been easier than it is now. Gone are the days when one has to spend hours in the library. There is simply so much information within one’s reach. Globalization is another area which has benefitted much from the emergence of the Internet and computers. Better access to information and more efficient processing of information from Internet technology has helped businesses worldwide to improve its competitiveness and productivity (Zunairah 1). Marketing of products became less complicated with even a greater reach. Doing business and availing of products and services all over the world is less rigorous. Economic and political laws and policies of the different countries can easily be accessed, making it easier for companies to tap international markets. The Internet technology is not without its problems though. A major problem posed by the Internet is cyberbullying. The Internet and digital technologies gave birth to the social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. These networks have made it easier for some people to torment, threaten, harass, humiliate and embarrass other individuals (WiredKids, Inc. , par 1). Another major drawback of the advancement in information technology is the rise in cybercrimes. The Internet has brought about the emergence of cybercrimes such as unwanted software, fraud, identity crime, phishing, crimes against the intellectual property rights and terrorism (Chantler 249). Computers and the Internet technology is probably one of the greatest invention of mankind. One believes that its benefits more than outweigh its detrimental effects. It would be hard to imagine life without computers and access to the Internet. For the Internet generation, eliminating these

Climate Change and Its Impact Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Climate Change and Its Impact - Essay Example The drastic and unusual effect of climate change that have affected not a few countries are the following: coldest winter in UK in 2008-2009 (since 1996-1997), strong North Atlantic storm in British Isles in 2009 (disrupted power and damaged buildings), Midwest heavy rains and worst floods in June 2008 (since 1993), hurricane Omar in July 2008 with winds of 205 km/hour and ravaged a wide area for 17 days, tropical storm Fay that hit Florida four times with its 100 km/hour winds, the worst drought that hit Spain and Portugal in 2008, the worst South California wildfire that damaged an area of 8,100 hectares in April 2009, the worst Mexico drought in August 2009 that affected 3.5 million farmers, the northern Africa flooding that affected Algeria and Morocco in September to November 2008, and several others (UNEP, 2009). Due to the obvious effects of climate change that include erratic and strong weather conditions, fluctuating temperatures, or changing seasons, states and nations, int ernational organizations, concerned groups and individuals call on everyone, especially carbon emitting manufacturing and production firms, to get involved in mitigating the impact of climate change. Many governments have already passed laws that would address climate change concerns, and also mandated specific level of carbon emission for manufacturers and production companies. On the other hand, some governments and global or organizations provide carbon incentive to countries or corporations that comply with low-carbon emission.... re that damaged an area of 8,100 hectares in April 2009, the worst Mexico drought in August 2009 that affected 3.5 million farmers, the northern Africa flooding that affected Algeria and Morocco in September to November 2008, and several others (UNEP, 2009). Due to the obvious effects of climate change that include erratic and strong weather conditions, fluctuating temperatures, or changing seasons, states and nations, international organizations, concerned groups and individuals call on everyone, especially carbon emitting manufacturing and production firms, to get involved in mitigating the impact of climate change. Many governments have already passed laws that would address climate change concerns, and also mandated specific level of carbon emission for manufacturers and production companies. On the other hand, some governments and global or organizations provide carbon incentive to countries or corporations that comply with low-carbon emission in their activities. The United Nat ions has also initiated the treaty United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to enjoin compliance of member-states to the principles of UN on climate change. Fingerprint and Harbinger of Climate Change Climate change is easily identifiable with the erratic climate and weather patterns being experienced around the globe. It can be attributed to several factors that include increase in temperature due to the trapped heat from the sun, called the greenhouse effect (More on, n.d.) (see Figure 1). The trapped heat kept which is unable to escape into space kept the earth’s temperature moderate to sustain life. But in the current trend, man is adding more gases into the atmosphere that amplify the temperature level (More on, n.d.). Gases released into the atmosphere that

Feminist or Gender Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Feminist or Gender Discrimination Essay Yes, of course feminist thinking is a facilitator in the field of woman and development because feminism is a movement a set of beliefs , that problematize gender inequality . feminist believe that women have been subordinated through men’s greater power variously expressed in different areas. They value women’s lives and concerns and work to improve women’s status and development. Feminism that means feminist thinking is a facilitator as it begins with an acknowledgement of women’s inequality oppression , subordination and need to change the situation and improve the quality of women’s life . It is also a movement against hieranchy , which goes the liberation of a sex , it contains the possibility of equal relations not only between women and men , but between men and men , women and women ,and even between adults and children ,(rowbotham,1985:214) To the widen implication of feminist thought is that it would eradicated domination and transform society . as it marks a commitment to recognizing society so that self-development of people can take place . Feminism entails an ethical and political commitment provides a social theory through which to understand and explain women’s lives and experiences . Feminism is useful in the field of women and development if we take into account feminist perspectives . According to feminist view that it aims to change a male dominated against society furthen see women’s subordination as resulting to from gender norms ,rather than biological sex and aim to change these narms , they focus on equal opportunities for women and men . women’s inequality is resulting from their inferior education . Marxist feminist asserts that capitalism , the current form of class society ,perpetuates the subordination of women by enforcing their economical dependence on men . there for main tool of Marxist feminist is class straggle and revolution which will bring about new production relation and emancipation of women . Radical feminist insist that women’s subordination primarily depends on partriarchy subordination is rooted in their biology ,that is their reproductive physiology hithout changing basic biological features emancipation was not possible . his implied that only a revolution in bio –technology would change women’s condition . Eco-feminism is the social movement that regard the oppression of women and nature as interconnected . it focused on that the women are the victim of environment desaradation .feminist theorist have extended their analysis to consider the interconnections between sexism the domination of nature , and also racism and social inequality . consequently it is now better understand as a movement working against the interconnected oppression of gender, race , class, and nature. If we go further extention of whether feminist thinking is a fecilitation or roadblock to woman and development . then can take emphasize on feminist methodology too. feminist methodology 1 feminist seek a methodology that will do the work of â€Å"excavation â€Å" that is shifting the focus of standard practice from men’s concerns in order to reveal the location and perspective of all women . the aim of much feminist research has been to bring women in that is to find what has been ignored ,censored and suppressed and to reveal both the diversity of actual women’s lives . Feminist methodology have searched for practices that will minimize harm to women and limit negative consequences . this focuses not onl on women , welfare bt also practical research strategis drawing on the work of grass roots and professional women’s organization . 3 feminists seek a methodology that will supported research of value to women , leading to social change or action beneficial to women. At last , after above all discussion we have come to the point that feminist thinking is ethical as well as useful in the development of women as modifying women’s problem is the process of development.

Analysis of SIF Intrinsic Dynamics

Analysis of SIF Intrinsic Dynamics Abstract. It was recently found that spectral solar incident flux (SIF) as a function of the ultraviolet wavelengths exhibit 1/fà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­type power-law correlations. In this study, an attempt was made to explore the SIF intrinsic dynamics versus a wider range of wavelengths, from 115.5nm to 629.5nm. It seemed that the intermittency of SIF data set was very high and the revealed DFA-n exponents were very close to unity. Moreover, the power spectral density was better fitted algebraically than exponentially with exponent very close to unity. Eliminating the fitting of three different types of Planck formula from SIF data set, scaling exponents very close to unity were derived, indicating that the 1/f scaling dynamics concern not the Planck’s law but its variations. 1. Introduction As it is well known, electromagnetic radiation is continuously emitted by every physical body. This emitted radiation is adequately described by Plancks law near thermodynamic equilibrium at a definite temperature. There is a positive correlation between the temperature of an emitting body and the Planck radiation at every wavelength. As the temperature of an emitting surface increases, the maximum wavelength of the emitted radiation increases too. Smith and Gottlieb (1974) re-examined the subject of photon solar flux and its variations versus wavelength and showed that variations in the extreme ultraviolet (UV) spectrum and in the X-ray of solar flux may reach at high orders of magnitude causing significant changes in the Earth’s ionosphere, especially during major solar flares (Kondratyev et al. 1995; Kondratyev and Varotsos 1996; Alexandris et al. 1999; Melnikova 2009; Xue et al. 2011). Simon (1978) examined the solar irradiance fluxes from 120 to 400 nm and suggested that the internal scaling properties of solar radiation during the eleven-year cycle is still unknown, as the cause of the available solar data discrepancies can not be attributed to solar activity. Solanki and Unruh (1998) proposed simple models of the total solar irradiance variations versus wavelength showing that variations on solar flux are mainly caused by magnetic fields at the solar surface. Solar observations may be reproduced by a model of three parameters: the quiet Sun, a facular component and the temperature stratification of sunspots. Tobiska et al. (2000) developed a forecasting solar irradiance model, called SOLAR2000, covering the spectral range of 1–1,000,000 nm. Using this tool, the authors attempted to describe solar variation versus wavelength and through time from X-ray through infrared wavelengths, in order to predict the solar radiation component of the space environment. Very recently, Varotsos et al. (2013a,b) suggested the existence of strong persistent long-range correlations in the solar flux fluctuations versus UV wavelengths. More precisely, by applying the detrending fluctuation analysis (DFA) to the initial SIF versus UV wavelengths data set power-law correlations of the type 1/f, which is omnipresent in nature, was found. In the present study, we examine whether the scaling feature of 1/f noise is apparent in a wider spectrum of SIF, namely for wavelengths (WL) between 115.5 and 629.5nm. 2. Data and analysis As mentioned just above solar incident flux data for WL ranging from 115.5nm to 629.5nm with a step of 1nm were employed. The spectrophotometric data of spectral extraterrestrial solar flux have been taken from the book by Makarova et al. (1991) (see also Makarova et al. 1994; Melnikova and Vasilyev 2005). Fig. 1a depicts SIF values for the wavelength range of 115.5-629.5nm. The principal feature shown in this figure is the existence of non-stationarities into the solar spectral distribution and the strong upward trend. The detrending of this data set was accomplished by applying linear as well as polynomial best fit. To eliminate the non-stationarities of this data set and to detect the intrinsic self-similarity, we applied the well-known DFA method (Peng et al. 1994; Weber and Talkner 2001; Varotsos 2005; Skordas et al. 2010). Furthermore, we calculated the power spectrum for the initial SIF-WL data set, using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm as well as the maximum entropy method (MEM) of the TISEAN package (http://www.mpipks-dresden.mpg.de/~tisean/TISEAN_2.1/index.html). For comparison reasons, we used the Planck formula taking into account the effective temperature obtained from NASA (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/sunfact.html). A brief description of DFA-tool may be given as follows: Consider the SIF data set x(i) of length N which is integrated over WL. In more detail, to integrate the data, we calculate the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuations of the N observations x(i) from their mean value xave, notably: x(i) xave. Therefore, the integrated data set, y(i), is consisting of the following points: y(1) = [x(1) − xave], y(2) = [x(1) − xave] + [x(2) − xave], . . . , y(i) = (1) We split the integrated data set into non-overlapping boxes of equal length, Ï„. In each box, a best polynomial local trend (of order n) is à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ tted in order to detrend the integrated profile (by subtracting the locally fitted trend). The root-mean-square fluctuations Fd (Ï„) of this integrated and detrended profile is calculated over all scales (box sizes). The detrended fluctuation function F is defined by: k = 0, 1, 2,†¦, , (2) where z(i) is a linear least-square fit to the Ï„ data contained within a box (Kantelhardt et al. 2002). In case the signals involve scaling, a power-law behavior for the root-mean-square à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuation function Fd (Ï„) is observed: Fd (Ï„) ∠¼ Ï„a (3) where ÃŽ ± is the scaling exponent, a self-afà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ nity parameter that represents the long-range power-law correlation (Ausloos and Ivanova 2001). It is worthy of note that a is a generalized Hurst exponent (H) being equal between them for the case of a fractional Gaussian noise (FGN) data set, where 0 1. For a fractional Brownian motion (FBM) data set (1 2) the relation between these exponents is H = a − 1 (Ausloos and Ivanova, 2001). For uncorrelated data, the scaling exponent is ÃŽ ± = 0.5. An exponent ÃŽ ± ≠  0.5 in a certain range of Ï„ values implies the existence of long-range correlations in that time interval. If 0ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ± ≠¤1.0 (and if again the data set is nonintermittent), then persistent long-range power-law correlations prevail (the case ÃŽ ± = 1 corresponds to the so-called 1/f noise) (Weber and Talkner 2001). Finally, the scaling properties of SIF-WL data set were also studied using Haar analysis (Lovejoy and Schertzer, 2012a,b). According to Haar analysis the variation of X parameter fluctuations ΔX with scale Δt can be defined using the â€Å"generalized† qth order structure function Sq(Δt) = ÃŽ §(Δt)q >, where the symbol stands for ensemble averaging. In a scaling regime, Sq(Δt) ≈ ΔtÃŽ ¾(q), where the exponent ÃŽ ¾(q)= qH K(q) and K(q) indicates the scaling intermittency (satisfying K(1) = 0). 3. Discussion and results Varotsos et al. (2013a) studying the high-resolution observations of SIF reaching the ground and the top of the atmosphere, suggested that SIF versus ultraviolet WL exhibit 1/fà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­type power-law correlations. This result was derived by applying the DFA method on the SIF dataset obtained from the Villard St. Pancrace station of the Lille University of Sciences and Technology and was based on the slope (i.e., 1.02 ±0.02) of the log – log plot of the root mean square fluctuation function of SIF versus the WL segment size Ï„. In order to further establish the power-law scaling mentioned before, Varotsos et al. (2013b) employed the two criteria suggested by Maraun et al. (2004), notably the rejection of the exponential decay of the autocorrelation function and the constancy of â€Å"local slopes† in a certain range towards the low frequencies. The results showed that the power-law fit on the power spectral density (of the detrended SIF-WL versus logÏ„) was much better than exponential one, for scales higher than Ï„ ≈ 1.4 nm, while the method of local slopes exhibited â€Å"constancy† with constant threshold (a ≈ 0.92) at the same range, Ï„ > 1.4 nm. Therefore, the two criteria of Maraum et al. (2004) were satisfied ensuring the 1/fà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­type power-law correlations in SIF versus WL suggested by Varotsos et al. (2013a). In the present study, the scaling dynamics of a wider spectrum of SIF-WL data set was studied, for wavelengths between 115.5 and 629.5nm. Firstly, DFA-n seemed to can take care of the trends revealing a DFA-exponent close to unity (after DFA-2), as shown in Fig. 1b. In the following we plotted the power spectral density (using FFT) of the linearly detrended SIF data set. The derived power spectral density showed that the power-law fitting gives coefficient of determination, R2, higher than the exponential one (see Fig. 2a). This was confirmed by F-test, at 95% confidence level. From the other hand, the DFA-1 exponent was 1.24, while by applying the multiple DFA on the linearly detrended SIF data, the derived exponents ranged from 0.94 to 1. Similar results were derived when we repeated the above mentioned analysis for the polynomially (of 6th degree) detrended SIF data set. The derived power spectral density was, once more, better fitted algebraically than exponentially (a result which was confirmed by F-test, at 95% confidence level), while the linearly DFA-exponent was 1.01 (see Fig.2b). In other words, it seemed that no detrending is needed for the studied data set. Next, to resume our results we analysed the initial SIF-WL data set by using Haar analysis (Lovejoy and Schertzer, 2012a,b). According to Haar analysis, as also mentioned in the Section 2, the variation of SIF fluctuations versus wavelength Ï„ can be defined using the â€Å"generalized† qth order structure function Sq(Ï„) = RF(Ï„)q >, for which it holds that in a scaling regime Sq(Ï„) ≈ Ï„Î ¾(q), where the exponent ÃŽ ¾(q)= qH K(q) and K(q) illustrates the scaling intermittency (satisfying K(1) = 0 and ÃŽ ¾(1) = H). Fig. 3b shows that the intermittency of SIF data set is very high (C1=0.20), hence the RMS exponent = ÃŽ ¾(2)/2=0.60 is quite different from the q=1 exponent (H) and the data are far from Gaussian. In the classical quasi-Gaussian case, K(q) = 0 so that ÃŽ ¾(q) is linear. More generally, if the field is intermittent – for example if it is the result of a multifractal process – then the exponent K(q) is generally non linear and co nvex and characterizes the intermittency. The physical significance of H is thus that it determines the rate at which mean fluctuations grow (H > 0) or decrease (H Ï„. According to Fig. 3a,b, the exponent ÃŽ ¾(2) of the structure function equals to zero (at scales below 10 nm), a fact which means that the power spectrum exponent ÃŽ ²=1+ÃŽ ¾(2) equals to 1 (1/f structure). On the other hand, at larger scales, the exponents ÃŽ ¾(2) and ÃŽ ² seem to equal to 1.2 and 2.2, respectively. To clarify this aspect, we calculated the power spectrum for the initial SIF-WL data set, using the MEM. Then, we plotted in Fig. 4a the power spectral density versus frequency and we compared these results with 1/f and 1/f2.2 structure, following the exponent ÃŽ ¾(2)= 1.2 shown in Fig. 3. Interestingly, the results lied in between these two lines. Furthermore, we calculated the power spectrum for the initial as well as for the polynomially (of 6th and 7th degree) detrended SIF data set, using again the MEM. We plotted in Fig. 4b the power spectral density versus WL and the corresponding algebraically fitting in the range from 10 to 100 nm. In the latter fitting we found exponent very close to unity. However, Varotsos et al. (2013a) tried to formulate the above-shown finding, i.e., that the solar spectral irradiance obeys 1/f power-law as a function of UV wavelength, using the well-known Plancks law: which, in the limit of small wavelengths tends to the Wien approximation: , where I(Ï„,ÃŽ ¤) is the amount of energy emitted at a wavelength Ï„ per unit surface area per unit time per unit solid angle per unit wavelength, T is the temperature of the black body, h is Plancks constant, c is the speed of light, and k is Boltzmanns constant. By applying the DFA method on the various values of I(Ï„,ÃŽ ¤) Varotsos et al. (2013a) showed that the calculated I(Ï„,ÃŽ ¤) values do not obey the 1/fà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­type scaling. In an effort to clarify this aspect, we firstly applied on the initial SIF data set a fitting that was based on the Planck formula: Planck(Ï„)= and the derived exponents were a1 = 6799.86 ± 45.39(0.6674%) and b1= 2754.38  ± 15.85 (0.5755%) (see Fig. 5). Next, we applied the formula: p(Ï„)= which releases the exponent in front of the Bose-Einstein distribution giving a possible explanation for the different distribution of photons. The derived exponents were a= 3250.17  ± 90.65 (2.79%), b= 4456.26  ± 121.3 (2.72%) and c= 8.81914  ± 0.2589 (2.94%). Our last step was to use the Planck formula taking into account the effective temperature obtained from NASA. However, since hc = 1.986à ¯Ã†â€™-10-25 Jm and k = 1.38à ¯Ã†â€™-10-23 J/K, the Planck formula gives ÃŽ ¤sun = 5224.3 K while the p(Ï„) formula gives ÃŽ ¤sun = 3229.5 K. Furthermore, the Wien displacement law: Ï„max à ¯Ã†â€™-T = b, where Ï„max = 450 nm is the peak wavelength and b = 2.898à ¯Ã†â€™-10−3mK is a constant of proportionality called Wiens displacement constant, gives ÃŽ ¤sun = 6440K. The analysis based on Planck and Wien laws gives ÃŽ ¤sun = (5224 + 6440) / 2 K = 5832 K which is less than 1% from the effective temperature obtained from NASA. Finally, the application of DFA method on the detrended SIF data, eliminating the fitting of Planck, p(Ï„) and Plank(Ï„, Tef) formula, gave again DFA-exponents very close to 1 (ranging from 1.01 to 1.08) as shown in Fig. 6. All the previous discussion indicates that the 1/f scaling dynamics observed in solar flux concerns not the Planck’s law but its variations. 4. Conclusions The main conclusions of the present survey were: DFA-n applied on the initial SIF data set revealed DFA-exponents very close to unity (after DFA-2). Power spectral density for the linearly detrended SIF data set showed that the power-law fitting gives coefficient of determination, R2, higher than the exponential one, while DFA-1 exponent was 1.24 and DFA-n exponents ranged from 0.94 to 1. Similar results were extracted when we repeated the above mentioned analysis for the polynomially (of 6th degree) detrended SIF data set and it seemed that no detrending is needed for the studied data set. To resume our results we analysed the initial SIF-WL data set by using Haar analysis. As ÃŽ ¹t was derived, the intermittency of SIF data set was very high and the data were far from Gaussian. At scales below 10 nm, the power spectrum exponent ÃŽ ² was almost 1 (1/f structure), while at larger scales, the exponents ÃŽ ¾(2) and ÃŽ ² seemed to equal to 1.2 and 2.2, respectively. The results of the power spectral density for the initial SIF-WL data set (using the MEM) versus frequency seemed to lie in between 1/f and 1/f2.2 structure. The power spectral density versus WL for the initial as well as for the polynomially (of 6th and 7th degree) detrended SIF data set (using again the MEM) revealed also exponent very close to unity. Eliminating the fitting of three different types of Planck formula from SIF data set, scaling exponents very close to unity were derived Finally, the 1/f scaling dynamics observed in solar flux concerns not the Planck’s law but its variations.

Social Reference Groups Family Roles And Status Media Essay

Social Reference Groups Family Roles And Status Media Essay Nowadays, there are more and more products available in the market, often supported by advertising and strong communication. The objective of the study of consumer behaviour or more precisely the customer, is to understand how people buy and consume. This analysis is very complex because each individual is unique and versatile, so not always faithful. In addition, there are many factors you have to take into consideration and there are often uncontrollable. So the actions of buyers are quite difficult to predict. For that you have to understand: What they are What they do What they think How they decide and act According to Schiffman Kanuk, consumer behaviour is principally about the search, the purchase, the use, the evaluation and the disposal of the product and service that they assume will please they needs. Moreover they are some buyer characteristics and psychology, which influence their buyer behaviour. They are four important categories: Cultural: culture, subculture, social class Social: reference groups, family, roles and status Personal: age, life cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, personality and self concept Psychological: motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes Here we will analyse in which way people are influenced by their psychological need, with their personal and social self-concept. But we will also see the possible influence of the symbolic consumption, the reference group influence and also the cultural group influences. First we have to understand the meaning of these words. Self concept: totality of the individuals thoughts and feelings having reference to himself as an object (Rosenberg 1979) According to Burns and Rosenberg, real self is associated with how a person apprehends herself; ideal self is associated with how a person desire to apprehend herself and finally social self is associated with how a person introduces herself to the others. There are at least two reasons: the self-esteem and self consistency (Epstein 1980) The first is associated with the penchant for the search of experiences that reinforce the self-concept. The second is the penchant for someone to act constantly with her view of herself. These two notions could be rival. Symbolic consumption: According to Levy, it is associated with the penchant of the consumer to concentrate on the meanings, apart from the real physical aspect of tangible objects. This is more a social tool who to communicate between the individual and his references (Grubb and Grathwohl, 1967). If you want that your product or brand act as an emblem it has to be culturally spread and shared (Dittmar, 1992). Reference group: A reference group is the group, which forms a comparison or a reference in their attitudes or behaviour. You can be a member or not, but anyway it has an influence, great or no on your opinions, values or attitudes. According to Hebert Hyman, it also means that you use your group as a point of reference in deciding your preferences and believes. The size can be variable, small to very large like political party or religious institution. Cultural group: Culture is what a person of a society learns from family and other important institutions. It could be some: beliefs, values or customs. (Kotler, 1996). By culture you mean societys personality as the language, laws, religions, food customs, music, artà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Culture is something you acquire. So cultural group is people who shared a same culture, and you can have three levels of subjective culture: Supranational National Group (e.g.: families, friends, shopping group) IN WHICH WAY PEOPLE ARE INFLUENCED? As we have seen before, a consumer can be influence by some factors like personal, psychological or social characteristics. First, the personal characteristics are particular to one person: Age and life cycle (according to the Royal Bank of Scotland it exists 5 life cycle stage segments: youth, getting started, builders, accumulators and preservers) Occupation, which influence the goods and services who are buying by a consumer. Economic situation (personal income, interest rates, savings) Lifestyle: activities (work, hobbies), interests (food, fashion), opinions (business, products) Personality: multi-trait approach (five-factor model), single-trait approach (consumer ethnocentrism, need for cognition, consumers need for uniqueness) Self-concept: self-image The self-concept is a multidimensional assembly (Hamm and Cunfiff, 1969; Hughes and Guerrero, 1971; Guttman, 1973) that allows people to judge them in many circumstances of social situations. :aspects_of_self_concept_002-17.gif (Hunter 2012) Broad aspects of self-concept PERSONAL SELF-CONCEPT Self-concept is often linked to the brand personality (Levy 1959, Sirgy 1982), because people usually buy a brand they think they are matching with (Dent-Read Szokolsky, 1993; Zalthman, 1997). The aim is for the consumer to fraternize with the brand. Landon (1974) thinks that people are interested in brands that fit their self-concept and personality. E.g.: Body Shop: justice and equity Brand personality, according to Jennifer Aaker is the characteristics, which are accompanied with a brand. E.g.: Pepsi is seen as young while Coca-Cola is seen as real and honest According to Kardes et al (2011), if the main goal of the marketers is to do brand awareness, then they have to cultivate a communication with real self-concept. We can take LOreal with is slogan Because Im worth it or Apple with Im a Mac or Im a PC. To the contrary if they want to change beliefs about the brand, they have to focus on ideal self-concepts. For example: US Armys slogan Be all you can be; Pateck Philippe Who will you be in the next 24 hours?) But does the brand personality really count? According to Freling, Crosno and Henard (2011) they have demonstrate in one test the effectiveness of their system based on three constituents: favourability, originality and clarity. These are directly related to the purchase decision. Attributes of products can lead to a characteristic identity for a person. For example, a teenager his with fashion jacket, which is making him self-confident, and permit to feel like a cool guy. Most of the people are carrying about some of their objects that make them what they are. And sometimes if you loose them you feel like you have lost a piece of you. We can take the example of someone who would have been robbed; very often he will have the impression of being raped. It is the same with the natural catastrophes where the people feel very depressed or are experiencing a decrease of their sense of self. Another example is in Ireland nowadays, a tradition wants that people are buried with some of their very important values objects. So we can say that the products can influence the self-concept we use and have. Russel Belk has widely contributed to the development of the extended self-notion, but William James is at the origin of the conviction that the objects we have can help the construction of our identity and that people are thanks to what they have. His physical and psychological aspect does not only define the person but also his wife and his children or the house and clothes he owns. Another example could be the automobile, according to Banning (1996), for a lot of Americans it is a valuable piece of they self. They are spending a lot of time taking care of their car. Other people are decorating their office with personal items or pictures. They also like according to Tian and Belk (2005) people like to express their personality through objects they have on their desk as mobile phone or notebook. Some people think that they could not live without these technologies. They are like a part of their brains. Moreover, the choices of the aspects you decide to affirm in the workplace demonstrate the way you are arbitrating between home and work borders. Most of the products you have are independent from your physical aspect (except from the haircut, tattooà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦we can also talk about diet and plastic surgery). By buying a certain product you can show your singularity. According to Tian et al, the research of the singularity shows the need that people have to develop and improve their social and self-personality thanks to the purchase and use of products. It allows them to make a distinction from those who are buying other products. Due to this need marketers have developed the personalized purchases (e.g. Converse, Nike or some shop where you can do your own tee-shirt). Some objects have become indispensable, like mobile phone that are permitting people to be connected with the others, but also for the adolescent to feel more adult. SOCIAL SELF-CONCEPT According to Whyte, the possession of an innovative property demonstrates the model of the interpersonal communication. With his example about the air conditioner, he says that social conformity is very high in America. So when people are exchanging with their neighbours about their new purchase it animates them to do the same purchase. Nowadays, there are the same things in residential sphere with swimming pools, trampolines, and television satelliteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Whyte also talk about the corporate norms, which stimulate conventionality in offices. Moreover, the word of mouth (viral marketing can be associated with it) is one of the most relevant things in influencing people, in a bad or a good way. People are widely influences by their relatives and people they are seeing like friends, work partners and journalists for example. As they are submerging by advertising the informal power is even stronger and often decisive. According to Charles Cooley, self-concept is directly related to the intercommunication with other people. :The_looking_glass_self.png Consumers are influenced by their culture. It could be seen as the personality of a certain society. As a human being, culture is made by some proper characteristics like demography, norms, art or traditions. It is not easy for a person of a society to certainly define how his culture is. According to Michael Solomon, as we dont face another type of culture or environment, it is difficult to realize what are the differences about the clothes, foods and way of interacting with each other. According to McCracken, a lot of significations in our everyday life products are developed by our culture. They are giving symbolic qualities to products consistent to our culture through advertising. E.g. Calvin Klein with is ads about thinness. It exists some different rituals according to the country: Wedding ceremony for the Jewish New years celebration in France Senior high school prom in America Moreover, people can also be influenced by subcultures. They possess the same value systems established on shared life experiences. There are some characteristics as race and origins. It exists 4 important subcultures in America: Hispanic African American Asian Mature consumers For example they have common characteristics like for American Hispanics (Mexican, Cubans, Costa Ricans): Shopping is something they do in family, they are willing to buy some goods of good quality (generics are not preferred), they are brand loyal and like companies who are interested in them. We can also talk about another subculture: age, with for example the Generation Y (born 1982-2000) who are willing to use more internet than newspapers, use a lot text messaging and spend time on online social networks. :3690640303001.png Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) The reference groups are groups that can form a comparison or a reference in forming attitudes of behaviour. It can be also aspirational, informal, primary and secondary or symbolic. With the reference groups we face new way of behaviours and lifestyles, but it also inspire our attitudes and self-concept. Moreover it can develop ways of pressure to conform to our group, it could influence our products and brand choices. It can be some rock stars, professional athletes, opinion leaders or group like for example Vocalpoint, a community for moms. Celebrities endorsement is usually use in advertising to convince the consumer to choose this brand. Very often, the consumer is not even aware of the behavioural influence of the group. This is especially true is the development of social networks like Facebook, Twitter or forum where consumers talk about their experiences. You are influenced, as this is a relevant aspect of your social life. But for that you have to share the same interests. (Michener Wasserman, 1995). Kathryn Mercurio and Mark Forehand (2011) have shown that when you are watching a television ad that makes you think about your reference group, it is easier for you to remember it. It exists different types of groups like shopping, work, consumer-action, friendship or virtual groups. Shopping group could decrease the risk of your purchase thanks to the opinion of the others. Consumer-action group is for example who are fighting for a cause like Greenpeace. Concerning the friendship group, we could say that its one of those who have the most important influence on purchases with the family one. They are often more trustful with their friends than the marketers. According to Emmanuel Rosen(2002), more than 43% of the people who are travelling have made their choices of planes and hotels thanks to the advice of their friends and family. So people are very attentive to their advices, also for clothes, for the brands their purchase but also for the magazines and the films they will choose. According to Tobi Elkin (2011), the influence of the peer is the first motive in the shopping behaviour of the teenage girls. Even if they are price-conscious and attentive to interesting deal, the most important thing is that their friends and family agree with their purchase decision. With the appearance and development of Internet, virtual groups are borne. Hoegg et al (2006) recognized five types: Blogs Wikis Podcasts Social networks Social bookmarking This kind of online activity has totally changes the ways people are influenced; it has a relevant role with brand connections. Because people can easily learn about the brand they like and people are sharing recommendations for brand through these sites. Finally they are a lot of ways whereby the consumer is influenced. It could be by discussing the product, or by the pressure of the peer, by imitation or by the influence of social media. We have seen that a reference group can have a wide influence on people, principally by playing an informational role. They could also have an utilitarian influence, because people are looking for acceptance and approval. Reference groups can also be value-expressive, because they are ready to conform to the group due to the psychological need to be part of the group. They can compare their selves to the others. (Schiffman et al., 2008). According to Saul Kassin, Steven Fein and Hazel Markus (2010), we all are animate by the actions of other people. (E.g.: when someone is laughing you are often tempted to laugh too or for the musicians who are putting some of their money to encourage people to donate). Consumer conformity is when people change their behaviour to adapt to the other consumers (e.g.: compliance or private acceptance). According to Solomon Asch(1951), during a study when the judgement of a person is in conflict with the opinion of most of the other participants, he generally changes is mind even if they are wrong. There is also the anti-conformist who is willing to stop buying a brand when it is too popular (e.g.: Apple) CONCLUSION To conclude, we can say that self-concept is not just about our essential values or interests but it is also about people who are around us like family, friends, intimate relationship and group of interest. (William James, 1980). Self-concept can be related to social connections with our peers, our families or even with our reference groups. They are often using the reaction of other people to construct their opinion and themselves but also by using social comparisons. So the personal and social concept is closely related to the symbolic consumption, reference groups and social groups. Relationships are something very relevant for the construction of themselves. We have also seen that we are more willing to process the information that is consistent with our self-concept and that our self-image could be multiple (family self, friend self, student self).

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck :: Papers

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck The title of the book i am writing about is 'of mice and men' and is written by John Steinbeck. This book is set in western America in the sub urban areas. The book is set in 1937. The job of farm labouring is a boring one because the men who work there usually travel by themselves, this is different in George and Lenny's case because they travel together everywhere they go. They both have each other for company, although Lenny has the capabilities of a child. In the time the book is written America is in depression, many businesses failed and many men worked for low pay contracts at different ranches across America. The American dream is to live in small town or in a suburban area where grass and trees simulate the country. This dream home is a permanent seat, not rented but owned. This dream is bound to fail because everyone wants that dream and it cost a lot of money, most of the men working in America with this dream are on low salary so can never afford the American dream. George is one of the main characters in the book, he travels from ranch to ranch with Lennie. George gets Lennie out of trouble when he does bad things. The dream George has is to live in a small house and have a few acres of land and live off of the fatter of the land and not to go to work on the land when they don't feel like it or the weather is horrible. This dream usual for the time he is living in. This is the type of dream that people have in them days. Georges dream is that 'were gonna get the jack together and were gonna have a little house and a couple of acres and some cows and some pigs and we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin to work'.

American Fashion returns to the classics :: essays research papers

American fashion returns to the classics 4th March 2005 Preppy, the classic American fashion that defined the 1980s, has become the look for spring 2005. Trend-right dressing will include turned-up collars, argyle socks, layered polos...and, of course, penny loafers. Bass introduced the first penny loafer in 1936, naming it the "Weejun" after its Norwegian origin. The style quickly became an American classic. Penny loafers evolved into a symbol of "cool" in the 1950's and 60's, and celebrities like James Dean and Steve McQueen were spotted wearing them. They were again elevated to a must-have in the 1980s, worn with white socks, during a resurgence of the preppy trend. Now that classic American style is again at the forefront of fashion, Bass has reintroduced its iconic Weejuns, with a modern twist. Instead of classic brown, the women's version now comes in a choice of pink, white or lime green! For men, Bass squared the toe for a dressier approach. The trend, sometimes called "preppy," is driven by a general agreement that people are tired of "grunge" looks. Instead, they are turning to the clean, crisp fashion of Polo shirts, slacks and pleated skirts - all of which are loafer-friendly. Spring's updated color palette of pink mixed with green and turquoise paired with white gives this classic style a fresh, modern appeal. Many high-end designers are capitalizing on this trend with their own versions of the penny loafer. Consistent with its heritage, authentic Bass penny loafers come with a realistic price tag - about $60 for women's and about $90 for men's. Bass penny loafers for both men and women are available at BassShoes.com and Famous Footwear. While they come in an array of pastels for women, the classic browns, burgundy and black remain the colors for men. Brown Shoe is a $1.9 billion footwear company with worldwide operations. The Company operates the 900-store Famous Footwear chain, which sells brand name shoes for the family. It also operates 400 Naturalizer stores in the U.S. and Canada that sell the Naturalizer brand of shoes and accessories. Brown Shoe, through its Wholesale divisions, owns and markets leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Connie and Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Dr.