Information Technology Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Information Technology Analysis - Term Paper Example According to Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) the five major components of IM / IT governance are:strategic alignment, value delivery, resource management, risk management and performance measurement (ISACA, 2009). Strategic alignment: In a health care organization,suppose a hospital, strategic alignment is when the corporate business goals of the hospital and its departmental or functional goals are aligned with each other. More specifically to achieve strategic alignment, what the top management has to work upon is making a set of attainable goals and objectives and communicate them to all the subordinate department heads so that the narrowed down departmental operational goals are aligned with the more broader corporate ones. As a result when IT operations help to achieve the hospital’s overall desired strategic goals, whether they are providing best quality healthcare services to patients, maintaining healthy hospital environment, providing fast an d efficient healthcare services, etc., the health care quality to the end customer (patients) will be improved. Value delivery: Values are the organization’s fundamental underlying aims and goals based on which the IT strategies, policies and plans are structured so that best possible decisions can be made to guide operations. IT governance delivers maximum value and improves healthcare quality when while making an IT based decision, the alternative with higher value is chosen. For example, one decision might increase customer satisfaction; the second alternative decision might increase hospital’s revenue while the third might increase both. Logically, the third alternative should be opted for, so quality is improved with best value delivery. Value delivery is contingent to management’s decision making. Resource management: It is quite obvious that IT departments or projects require a reasonable amount of resource investment including human resources, capital, t ime, space, etc. IT governance involves managing resources and making intelligent decisions so that the quality of health care is improved with optimum resource allocation i.e. getting maximum value from resources allocated at lowest cost so that healthcare is improved (Weill & Olson, 1989). Risk management: Risk in IT governance has three levels: innovation, agile execution and cost efficiency (Mueller et al, 2008). For an IT decision to be at its least risk so that healthcare is improved the most effective level is cost efficiency because on the scale of risk versus time elapsed, cost efficiency is when the IT decision bears least risk as compared to the other two levels. Although, it is to be noted that for every new IT project in any healthcare organization the risk level is highest if the idea is supposed to bring a strikingly abrupt change initiative. For example: shiftinga hospital’s completely manual patient-file-system to an enterprise databasewill drastically improv e healthcare quality but will have high risk involved. Again, it is the management’s decision that evaluates value versus feasibility. The best decision is then, the one that maximizes value and improves healthcare quality minimizing risk to the least. Performance measurement: IT governance improves quality of healthcare when appropriate performance measures are used to evaluate whether the

The Piece of String by Guy De Maupassant Essay Example for Free

The Piece of String by Guy De Maupassant Essay In  The Piece of String a short story by Guy De Maupassant, the main character is a peasant named Maitre Hauchecome. Maitre Hauchecome was a frugal, innocent and offended man. A poor man from Breaute, Maitre Hauchecome was a thrifty Norman who believed that everything with a purpose should be picked up and saved. His outlook on life ended up costing him his reputation. An adjective that could be used to describe him would be frugal. Maitre Hauchecome was not wasteful or lavish. He spent his money sparingly, and was very economical. He proved this when he bent down to pick up the piece of string to save even though it was painful for him because he suffered of rheumatism. As well as being frugal, Maitre Hauchecome was also innocent. Maitre Hauchecome had noticed the small piece of string on the ground and picked it up believing that someday it may be of some use to him. The story of him supposedly stealing the purse was false because we know that he had bent down to only pick up the string. He stated his innocence when he was speaking to others willing to listen to his story by saying, What grieved me so much was not the thing itself, as the lying. There is nothing so shameful as to be placed under a cloud on account of a lie. There, he was convince people of his innocence and hoping that they would finally believe him. A third adjective that could be used to describe Maitre Hauchecome is offended. After being accused of stealing the purse, he became angry and hurt. He resented his accusers and former friends as his feelings became more and more wounded. He became distressed and confused on what he should do. An example of him as he was offended was when he said, How anyone tellhow anyone can tellsuch lies to take away an honest mans reputation! How can anyone Unfortunately, Maitre Hauchecome never redeemed his once good reputation. He wore himself out with useless efforts to try to win back his innocence. He began to waste away and took to bed in December. Early in January, on his dying day, he still claimed his innocence. Frugal, innocent, and offended were just a few of the many different adjectives that could be used to describe the poor peasant that  died because of something so simple as a piece of string.

Effects of Colour Packaging on Consumer Behaviour

Effects of Colour Packaging on Consumer Behaviour Abstract: When determining possible colour options for a new product, packaging professionals must keep the consumer in mind. First, they determine what type of message the product should give. Based on the message, a colour scheme that represents this message is chosen. This is why basic research is necessary, whether its from previous case studies of similar products or from focus groups. Finally, packaging professionals must create an â€Å"attention† to the product, making it easily noticeable to the consumer. By following these basic steps, the package could be considerably successful. It may also instil a certain image or message into the consumers mind that keeps them loyal for many years This paper aims at investigating the effect of packaging design of the soft drinks industry, specifically colour, on consumer behaviour. Most buyers make the decision of purchasing because of the packaging, which is often considered as the  «silent salesman ». Now that more and more businesses understand the role of packaging to act upon consumers, it is crucial for packaging to be studied as an influence on consumer behaviour. In todays consumption society, consumers are faced with a large choice of product choices and in this way, the packaging plays important roles as it is a source of information. Primary and Secondary data that has been collected for this research signals that consumers are affected by colours in their purchases From our research, we concluded that Blue and Red packaging were much more popular than the other colours. Moreover, yellow packaging was the least popular. Results show that the colours of packaging have a large impact on consumers and therefore on sales and profits. Chapter One: Introduction 1) Background The central point in todays marketing is to fully please consumers needs and prosperity. The major point in marketing planning is always consumer. The firms and markets have massively developed and the competitive environment is becoming more and more concentrated The market today is packed with so many different brands, which make it difficult for consumers to arrive at the final buying choice. At the same time companies also face complications in attracting consumers A brand visual appearance is very crucial to consumers especially in todays visual-obsessed society, where consumers have more choice and less time than ever before. This is why, it has never been more important for marketers to invest in the design and look of their product or logo. When shopping, consumers are confronted with too much choice and the packaging and colour play an important role into this choice. Colour plays a crucial part of business and marketing at both strategic and tactical level and organisations will pay colossal amounts of money to build and improve, so that colours thought of appropriate will be associated with both the company and its variety of products. It can be so successful that in some cases a colour will be immediately related to the organisation on question. Every major organisation will are developing and designing corporate colours that reproduce the values and products of the organisation in consumers minds. In this way it will be hoped that the use of colours will help the customer instantaneously recognise the organisation and perceive it as being competent, contemporary and truthful. Packaging is very important and a colossal amount of time and money is spent on consumer packaging colour design, trying to get colour combinations that exceed expectations. â€Å"Computer technology has helped a great deal in all areas of product research as 3D images can be portrayed and colours and shapes manipulated on the screen to ascertain a respondents reactions. Such is power of colour that it would be extremely hard for us to imagine such well-known products in a different colour, such as green Mars bar, a blue Kit-Kat, a yellow Coca-Cola, a pink Heinz baked bean tin and black Kelloggs cornflake packets.†(Ray Wright 2006) It has been estimated that packaging design plays a major role because it is often the only factor that can differentiate between two products (Buxton 2000; Rettie and Brewer 2000). Actually, we can even go further and say that packaging is now being seen a new form of advertising (Furness 2003, The Silent Salesman) 2) Rational for chosen topic: This study is selected to find out the factors which affect consumer decision while purchasing or selecting a certain colour packaged product. This research will explore the Technological, Cultural, Social, Personal and psychological factors have a big role in consumer buying decision and also how a packaging design and colour will affect and impact on buying decisions of consumers. 3) Statement of the nature of the problem Because Colours and shapes express about 80% of all visual communication (LaCroix 1998), consumers are getting used to employing colour as a means of amassing information. Thus, colour plays an important part in marketing and advertising and especially in packaging. Researchers have spent more than four decades studying the attitude of consumers in the marketplace (Petty, Cacioppo and Shuman 1983). This area is now called and known as consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour involves the thoughts and feelings people experience paired off with the actions performed during the shopping process (Peter and Olson 1999). When a choice has to be made, a consumer may use the information of size, texture, shape, price, or ingredients to make the decision of which product to purchase especially when setting quality. Thus, it is interesting to investigate the effect of colours used in packaging on consumer behaviour. 2.1The Psychology of Consumer behaviour The study of consumers help firms and organisations improve their marketing strategies by understanding their behaviour. One official definition of consumer behaviour is: â€Å"the study of individuals, groups or organisations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society†. (Hawkins, Best, and Coney, 2001, p7.) Each organisation provides some products that are used by some consumers, even though we may not always recognise the products or consumers as such. 2.2 Factors taken into account when packaging a product Packaging is used to protect the product from damage during shipping and handling, and to lessen spoilage if the protection is exposed to air or other elements. The design is used to attract customers attention as they are shopping or glancing through a catalogue or website. This is particularly important for customers who are not familiar with the product and in situations where a product must stand out among thousands of other products. Packaging designs that standout are more likely to be remembered on future shipping trips. Packaging design and structure can also add value to a product. For instance, benefits can be obtained from package structures that make the product easier to use while stylistic designs can make the product more fascinating to display in the customers home. Decisions made about packaging must not only be accepted by the final customer, they may also have to be accepted by distributors who sell the product for the supplier. For example, a retailer may not accept packages unless they conform to requirements they have for storing products on their shelves. Companies usually create a package for a lifetime. As a matter of fact , changing a products packaging too frequently can have negative effects since customers become conditioned to locate the product based on its package and may be confused if the design is modified. Marketers have long used the colour and design of their product packaging to produce brand awareness. Traditionally, changes to a products look have been undertaken as little as possible as to preserve that hard won brand recognition. Today, rather than sticking with one colour scheme, companies must constantly update their image to keep them as fresh and exciting as the competitions. Packaging decisions must also include an assessment of its environmental impact especially for products with packages that are frequently thrown away. Packages that are not easily bio-degradable could evoke customer and possibly governmental concern. Also, caution must be exercised in order to create packages that do not break on intellectual property, such as copyrights, trademarks or patents, held by others. (Richardson 1994). Recent research by the Henley Centre (Frontiers, 1996) estimates that 73 percent of purchase decisions are made in the store; the design of packaging must play a key role at point of sale. â€Å"The pack design is the salesman on the shelf (Pilditch, 1972)†, â€Å" it should ensure that a brand stands out, is recognised, and is included in the products under consideration† (Connolly and Davison, 1996). Good business is often about finding out consumer trends and forming a strategy that targets growth in key technologies and market segments to capitalize on these trends. As packagers and package printers, they need to be in tune with trends and changes in shopping habits in order to remain successful. 2.3 Role of colour in marketing Research supports the importance of a brands visual appearance to consumers. One study by the Institute for Colour Research revealed that people make a subconscious judgement about an item within 90 seconds of first viewing, and that up to 90% of that assessment is based on colour. Another of their study study reveals that colour increases brand recognition by up to 80%. Colour clearly plays an important part in catching the modern-day consumers eye. According to the Henley Centre, 73% of purchasing decisions are now made in store. Consequently, catching the shoppers eye and delivering information efficiently are critical to successful sales. In todays world of infinite choices no brand can afford to ignore the impact of colour. More importantly, why would anyone want to give that potential advantage away to competitors? Colours send a variety of signals about the person, place or thing they adorn. Using this link between human emotion and colour to sell a product is certainly nothing new. 3) Objectives The objective of this research is to investigate if the colours that are used in packaging do influence our (consumers) behaviour. Understanding the effect packaging colour has on consumer decision- making would be as an introductory mean of investigating packaging design as the new advertising. The study also examines how different colours influence consumer decision making, and ultimately, the consumers intent to purchase. It focuses on packaging design from a communication aspect, not an engineering one. We examine how packaging influences buying decisions for packaged soft drinks products. As we know, the package impacts the consumer. This is because of conflicting trends in consumer decision-making. On one hand, some consumers are paying more attracted to label information (Coulson, 2000). These consumers are more concerned in the product decision and use package information more extensively. On the other hand, modern consumers are often looking for ways to reduce time spent on soft drinks shopping. This can influence decision processes, too, as time pressure reduces detailed consideration of package elements ( Warde, 1999). While these are important issues, and becoming even more critical in the increasing competitive environment, there is little comprehensive study on how packaging elements influence brand choice under involvement and time pressure. This paper aims at forming a better understanding of the link between colours used in packaging and consumer purchase behaviour within the soft drinks industry. 4) Relevance and significance of the subject Until recently, the importance of colour as a brand identity wasnt as recognised. It is nowadays clear that colour can play a very large part of any organizations success. This pushes us into asking ourselves the following questions: Ø How does colour affect us? Ø Which colours have an impact on us? Ø Do organisations carefully choose what colours to use when packaging a product? 5) Structure and content The next chapter will be a literature review that will study: 1) A review of consumer behaviour and especially what mostly affects consumer decisions 2) The effect of packaging design and especially colour on consumer decision making and consumer purchase intent. 3) A review of the literature regarding colour, colour association and colour practices. The third chapter will examine the soft drinks industry nowadays in the UK and worldwide. The fourth chapter will be an explanation of the different methods used to practice a research. It will also outline the method used into this particular research question The fifth chapter, Research questions and methodology, outlines the research questions and the methodology of this study. This chapter presents an in-depth look at the research questions. It explains the survey questions used for qualitative data findings. It provides the results and a discussion of the results. The sixth chapter will be a conclusion which restates the goal of this research and provides a summary of the research. This chapter contains limitations of the study, suggestions for future research and reflection on the study for future replication, and how this study adds to the body of knowledge regarding the influence of packagings colour on the consumer decision making process. Chapter 2: Review of the Literature. 1) Consumer behaviour Shoppers in the United States spend about $6.5 billion on consumer goods (Peter and Olson 1999). A companys continued success is associated with a successful relationship with the consumer. Finding out as much information as possible on consumer shopping choices and behaviour provides companies the tools to produce goods and services to strengthen their relationship with the consumer. In other words, companies have discovered that information obtained from customer databases and in-store observations have proved worthy in regard to earning consumers repeat purchases or business. 1.1) What is consumer behaviour? The phrase â€Å"consumer behaviour â€Å"refers to the feelings and thoughts people experience, and the actions they take while engaging in the consumption process† (Peter and Olson 1999). Consumer behaviour also includes the things in the environment (product appearance, price information, advertisements, packaging, consumer comments, shelf positioning, etc.) that can impact the feelings and actions of the consumer. In addition, consumer behaviour includes a process of exchange between buyers and sellers: people exchange money to obtain products or services. Moreover, consumer behaviour involves the study of what influences the feelings and actions of people while shopping. 1.2) Main factors that lead to customer satisfaction 1.2.1 Price fairness Recent research efforts have isolated several factors that influence consumers price unfairness perceptions as well as potential consequences of these perceptions (Bolton et al. , 2003; Campbell, 1999; Xia et al. , 2004). Previous research has proved the distinction between distributive fairness and procedural fairness. Another concept of price fairness perceptions, the principle of dual entitlement, suggests that one party should not benefit by causing a loss to another party. When a firm uses the high consumer demand to its own advantage by increasing prices, consumers will feel being misused and in this way understand the prices as unfair. For example, a study showed that â€Å"82 percent of the respondents judged a price increase for snow shovels the morning after a snowstorm to be unfair, while only 21 percent of respondents viewed an increase in grocery prices following an increase in wholesale prices as being unfair† ( Kahneman et al. , 1986). While the dual entitlement principle arise from buyers reactions toward sellers obvious exploitation based on supply and demand changes, it is possible that consumers may create perceptions of unfairness based on their own demand situations even without explicit exploitation actions from the seller. For example, when buyers feel that they have to buy a product and must accept whatever the price is, they could be concerned that potentially they could be exploited by the seller regardless even if the seller doesnt actually performs such actions. 1.2.2 Relationship of fairness perceptions to satisfaction Recent research in marketing and psychology has shown that satisfaction is positively correlated with fairness perceptions (Bowman and Narayandas, 2001; Huffman and Cain, 2001; Kim and Mauborgne, 1996; Ordià ±ez et al. , 2000; Smith et al. , 1999). , Oliver and Swan (1989a, b) found that customers fairness perceptions depended on a suppliers commitment and the quality of the goods and services comparing to the price paid. 1.2.3 The concept of tolerance Given many different ideas within the literature, however, it is generally agreed that customer satisfaction involves the comparison of standards whether they be in the form of expectations, desires, wants, ideal or equitable performances. To explain the diverse issues surrounding expectations and standards with regarding customer satisfaction, Zeithaml et al. (1993) first proposed the notion of the â€Å"zone of tolerance†, which they describe as the extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept heterogeneity (Zeithaml et al., 1993, p. 6). It is on this basis they proved that an individuals zone of tolerance is the difference between what they desire and what they consider satisfactory, in terms of performance, and this zone can differ and contrast across situations and individuals. This may explain why some customers are consistently easy to please and others are interminably difficult (Mooradian and Olver, 1997, p.389). It can be that those customers who are easily pleased have a large zone of tolerance, in terms of their product expectations, whereas those who are quite difficult have a very narrow zone of tolerance. This would explain differences in expressed satisfaction ratings of consumers who have essentially had very similar product experiences. This notion was alluded to by Mittal and Kamakura (2001 ) with regards to satisfaction and repurchase intentions. They suggested that consumers may have different thresholds or tolerance levels towards repurchase (p. 132) and that consumers with the same satisfaction rating may have different levels of repurchase behaviour because of these differences. On this basis, it could be concluded that some individuals are simply inclined to product satisfaction and repeat purchases, whereas others are not (Grace, 2005). 2) Packaging 2.1) What is packaging? What is packaging? In general terms, packaging is the container that is in direct contact with a product, which â€Å"holds, protects, preserves and identifies the product as well as facilitating handling and commercialisation† (Vidales Giovannetti, 1995). More specifically, and following Vidales Giovannetti (1995), there are three types of packaging: Primary packaging which is in direct contact with the product, such as soft drinks bottles, Secondary packaging which contains one or more primary packages and serves to protect and identify them and to communicate the qualities of the product ( it is normally disposed of when the product is used or consumed). Finally, tertiary packaging which contains the two previous ones and its function is usually to distribute, integrate and protect products throughout the commercial chain. This could be the cardboard box that contains several bottles. Packaging is also considered to form part of the product and the brand. For Evans and Berman (1992) packaging is a product image or characteristic. For Olson and Jacoby (1972) packaging is an important element of the product, that is to say, it is attribute that is related to the product but that does not form part of the physical product itself. Price and brand are also crucial elements of the brand and according to Underwood et al. (2001); these are the most important values when it comes to deciding what products to buy. Keller (1998) also considers packaging to be an attribute that is not associated to the product. For him it is one of the five elements of the brand which include the name, the logo and/or graphic symbol, the personality and the slogans. Packaging is presented as part of the buying and consuming process, but often it is not as important as to the ingredients that are essential for the product to function (Underwood, 2003). 2.2) Packaging functions and elements Different people respond to different packages in different ways, depending on their personnality ( Vakratsas and Ambler, 1999). Since an evaluation of attributes is less important in low involvement decision making, a highly noticeable factor such as graphics and colour becomes more important in choice of a low involvement product (Grossman and Wisenblit, 1999). On the other hand, the behaviour of consumers towards high involvement products is less influenced by image issues. For low involvement, there is a strong impact on consumer decision making from the development of the market through marketing communications, including image building (Kupiec and Revell, 2001). The significance of graphics is explained by the images created on the package, whether these images are purposely developed by the marketer, or unintended and unanticipated. Graphics includes image layout, colour combinations, typography, and product photography, and the total presentation communicates an image. For consumers, the package is the product, particularly for low involvement products where initial impressions formed during initial contact can have lasting impact. According to Nancarrow et al. , 1998, the design characteristics of the package need to stand out in a display as it is one of the most important attribute in order to target consumers Many consumers today shop under higher levels of perceived time pressure, and tend to purchase fewer products than intended (Herrington and Capella, 1995; Silayoi and Speece, 2004). Products purchased during shopping excursions often appear to be chosen without prior planning and represent an impulse buying event (Hausman, 2000). A package that attracts consumers at the point of sale will help them decide quickly on what to buy in-store. As the customers eye movement tracks across a display of packages, different new packages can be noticed against the competitors. When scanning packages in the supermarket, the differential perception and the positioning of the graphics elements on a package may make the difference between identifying and missing the item (Herrington and Capella, 1995). 2.3 The marketing side of packaging Packaging seems to be one of the most important factors in purchase decisions made at the point of sale (Prendergast and Pitt, 1996), where it becomes an essential part of the selling process (Rettie and Brewer, 2000).Packaging is now recognised as the salesman† of the shelf at the point of sale. The importance of packaging design is increasing in such competitive market conditions, as package becomes an important vehicle for communication and branding (Rettie and Brewer, 2000). Prendergast and Pitt (1996) review the basic operations of packaging, and delimitate them by their role in either logistics or marketing. The main function of packaging is primarily to protect the product when moving through distribution channels. In marketing, packaging provides a successful method of communication about product attributes to consumers at the point of sale. The package sells the product by drawing in attention and communicating, and also allows the product to be contained, portioned and protected. Packaging is one key product attribute perceived by consumers. It is always fulfilling the marketing function, even if a company does not openly recognize the marketing aspects of packaging. The package is an important factor in the decision-making process because it transmits a specific message to consumers. Intention to purchase depends on the degree to which consumers expect the product to satisfy them when they consume it (Kupiec and Reveil, 2001). How they comprehend it depends on communication elements and this is the key to success for many marketing strategies. The packages overall features can emphasise the uniqueness and originality of the product. In addition, product characteristics influence the perception of quality transmitted by packaging. If it conveys high quality, consumers assume that the product is of high quality. If the package communicates low quality, consumers transfer this low quality perception to the product itself. The package communications can be favourable or unfavourable. Underwood et al. (2001) suggest that consumers are more likely to imagine aspects of how a product looks tastes, feels, smells, or sounds while they are watching a product picture on the package. 2.4 Packaging: biggest medium of communication Behaeghel (1991) and Peters (1994) consider that packaging could be the most important communication medium for the following reasons: It reaches almost all buyers in the category; It is present at the crucial moment when the decision to buy is made; and Buyers are actively involved with packaging as they examine it to obtain the information they need. This is why it is essential to communicate the right brand and product values present on packaging and to achieve a suitable esthetical and visual level ( Nancarrow et al. , 1998). Similarly, McNeal and Ji (2003) underline that the belonging of packaging as a marketing element resides in the fact that it often accompanies the use or consumption of products and, therefore, the possibility of conveying brand values and product characteristics increases. Wit Deasy (2000) points out that the characteristics of a product its positioning are permanently transmitted over seven stages: 1) Point of sale; 2) Transporting the product home; 3) Home storage; 4) Opening; 5) Serving the product for consumption; 6) Reclosing or putting away; and 7) Disposal. Underwood (2003) points out that, unlike the transmission of positioning through advertising, packaging allows positioning to be transferred live. As it accompanies products, packaging lives in the home and potentially becomes an intimate part of the consumers life constituting a type of life experience between the consumer and the brand (Lindsay, 1997). 2.5 ) Packaging: the silent salesman From the consumer perspective, packaging also plays a major role when products are purchased: packaging is crucial, given that it is the first thing that the public sees before making the final decision to buy (Vidales Giovannetti, 1995). This has increased with the popularisation of self-service sales systems which have caused packaging to move to the task of attracting attention and causing a purchase. In the past, it had remained behind the counter and only the sales attendant were the link between the consumer and the product (Cervera Fantoni, 2003). According to Sonsino (1990), self-service has taken the role of communicating and selling to the customer from the sales assistant to advertising and to packaging. This is why packaging has been called the silent salesman, as it communicates us of the qualities and benefits that we are going to obtain if we were to consume certain products (Vidales Giovannetti, 1995). Nowadays, packaging provides manufacturers with the last opportuni ty to influence possible buyers before brand selection (McDaniel and Baker, 1977). In this way we can say that all the packaging elements, including texts, colours, structure, images and people/personalities have to be combined to provide the consumer with visual sales negotiation when purchasing the product (McNeal and Ji, 2003). According toClive Nancarrow et al. (1998) : nine out of ten purchasers, at least occasionally, buy on impulse and unplanned shopping articles can account for up to 51 per cent of purchases ( Phillips and Bradshaw, 1993). 2.6 Packaging as an advertising tool Consumers are bombarded with about 3600 selling messages a day (Rumbo 2002). Yet, because of technology allowing TV watchers to omit commercials and declining advertising budgets, there has been an emphasis on influencing the consumer at the store shelf (Furness 2003). For many products, such as seasonal items, packaging design has acquired the responsibility of advertising ( often being the only advertising the product will receive) and has evolved into the â€Å" silent salesman† (Furness 2003; Rettie and Brewer 2000) It is estimated that between 73% and 85%of purchase decisions are made at this point and the packaging design must play a key role because it is often the only factor that differentiates two products on a shelf ( Sutton and Whelan 2004; Wallace 2001; Buxton 2000; Rettie and Brewer 2000). With a new reliance on packaging design to persuade consumers at the shelf, it is important for packaging design to be studied academically as an influence on consumer behaviour. Research in this area of consumer response to packaging design is being encouraged to assist with increased product sales and increased benefits to the integrated marketing communications (IMC) mix (Tobolski 1994). IMC refers to the channels (advertising, packaging, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing) used by companies/manufacturers to communicate product information to the target audience or intended users of the product ( BNET 2004). Packaging is expected to protect and preserve its contents, differentiate from its competitors, grab the attention of the consumer, and persuade the consumer to purchase (Packaging: good shelf image 2003; Product packaging: empty promises 2000). The vast consumer packaged goods industry continually relies upon colour as a method of differentiation. Research has shown colour (especially non-traditional colour) attracts the attention of the consumer. 3) Colour in packaging This research investigates the use of surface graphics colour as a cue by consumers for finding out 1) Perceived product quality 2) Perceived product performance 3) Which colours influence consumer-decision making, on the consumers intent to purchase? 3.1) What is colour? Colour in its basic nature refers to what the human eye sees when light passes through a prism and produces what is commonly referred to as violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red and is collectively referred to as the spectrum ( Cheskin 1954). In actuality, when people characterised colour, it is perceived colour or reflected colour. Because colour memory changes some individuals perceive colours differently ( Sharpe 1974). For example one person may see a pure red and another person may see that same red as having a hint of blue or yellow. 3.2) The psychology of colour One marketing cue that global managers can use regardless of location is colour (Kirmani 1997; Schmitt and Pan 1994). Colour is one of t Effects of Colour Packaging on Consumer Behaviour Effects of Colour Packaging on Consumer Behaviour Abstract: When determining possible colour options for a new product, packaging professionals must keep the consumer in mind. First, they determine what type of message the product should give. Based on the message, a colour scheme that represents this message is chosen. This is why basic research is necessary, whether its from previous case studies of similar products or from focus groups. Finally, packaging professionals must create an â€Å"attention† to the product, making it easily noticeable to the consumer. By following these basic steps, the package could be considerably successful. It may also instil a certain image or message into the consumers mind that keeps them loyal for many years This paper aims at investigating the effect of packaging design of the soft drinks industry, specifically colour, on consumer behaviour. Most buyers make the decision of purchasing because of the packaging, which is often considered as the  «silent salesman ». Now that more and more businesses understand the role of packaging to act upon consumers, it is crucial for packaging to be studied as an influence on consumer behaviour. In todays consumption society, consumers are faced with a large choice of product choices and in this way, the packaging plays important roles as it is a source of information. Primary and Secondary data that has been collected for this research signals that consumers are affected by colours in their purchases From our research, we concluded that Blue and Red packaging were much more popular than the other colours. Moreover, yellow packaging was the least popular. Results show that the colours of packaging have a large impact on consumers and therefore on sales and profits. Chapter One: Introduction 1) Background The central point in todays marketing is to fully please consumers needs and prosperity. The major point in marketing planning is always consumer. The firms and markets have massively developed and the competitive environment is becoming more and more concentrated The market today is packed with so many different brands, which make it difficult for consumers to arrive at the final buying choice. At the same time companies also face complications in attracting consumers A brand visual appearance is very crucial to consumers especially in todays visual-obsessed society, where consumers have more choice and less time than ever before. This is why, it has never been more important for marketers to invest in the design and look of their product or logo. When shopping, consumers are confronted with too much choice and the packaging and colour play an important role into this choice. Colour plays a crucial part of business and marketing at both strategic and tactical level and organisations will pay colossal amounts of money to build and improve, so that colours thought of appropriate will be associated with both the company and its variety of products. It can be so successful that in some cases a colour will be immediately related to the organisation on question. Every major organisation will are developing and designing corporate colours that reproduce the values and products of the organisation in consumers minds. In this way it will be hoped that the use of colours will help the customer instantaneously recognise the organisation and perceive it as being competent, contemporary and truthful. Packaging is very important and a colossal amount of time and money is spent on consumer packaging colour design, trying to get colour combinations that exceed expectations. â€Å"Computer technology has helped a great deal in all areas of product research as 3D images can be portrayed and colours and shapes manipulated on the screen to ascertain a respondents reactions. Such is power of colour that it would be extremely hard for us to imagine such well-known products in a different colour, such as green Mars bar, a blue Kit-Kat, a yellow Coca-Cola, a pink Heinz baked bean tin and black Kelloggs cornflake packets.†(Ray Wright 2006) It has been estimated that packaging design plays a major role because it is often the only factor that can differentiate between two products (Buxton 2000; Rettie and Brewer 2000). Actually, we can even go further and say that packaging is now being seen a new form of advertising (Furness 2003, The Silent Salesman) 2) Rational for chosen topic: This study is selected to find out the factors which affect consumer decision while purchasing or selecting a certain colour packaged product. This research will explore the Technological, Cultural, Social, Personal and psychological factors have a big role in consumer buying decision and also how a packaging design and colour will affect and impact on buying decisions of consumers. 3) Statement of the nature of the problem Because Colours and shapes express about 80% of all visual communication (LaCroix 1998), consumers are getting used to employing colour as a means of amassing information. Thus, colour plays an important part in marketing and advertising and especially in packaging. Researchers have spent more than four decades studying the attitude of consumers in the marketplace (Petty, Cacioppo and Shuman 1983). This area is now called and known as consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour involves the thoughts and feelings people experience paired off with the actions performed during the shopping process (Peter and Olson 1999). When a choice has to be made, a consumer may use the information of size, texture, shape, price, or ingredients to make the decision of which product to purchase especially when setting quality. Thus, it is interesting to investigate the effect of colours used in packaging on consumer behaviour. 2.1The Psychology of Consumer behaviour The study of consumers help firms and organisations improve their marketing strategies by understanding their behaviour. One official definition of consumer behaviour is: â€Å"the study of individuals, groups or organisations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society†. (Hawkins, Best, and Coney, 2001, p7.) Each organisation provides some products that are used by some consumers, even though we may not always recognise the products or consumers as such. 2.2 Factors taken into account when packaging a product Packaging is used to protect the product from damage during shipping and handling, and to lessen spoilage if the protection is exposed to air or other elements. The design is used to attract customers attention as they are shopping or glancing through a catalogue or website. This is particularly important for customers who are not familiar with the product and in situations where a product must stand out among thousands of other products. Packaging designs that standout are more likely to be remembered on future shipping trips. Packaging design and structure can also add value to a product. For instance, benefits can be obtained from package structures that make the product easier to use while stylistic designs can make the product more fascinating to display in the customers home. Decisions made about packaging must not only be accepted by the final customer, they may also have to be accepted by distributors who sell the product for the supplier. For example, a retailer may not accept packages unless they conform to requirements they have for storing products on their shelves. Companies usually create a package for a lifetime. As a matter of fact , changing a products packaging too frequently can have negative effects since customers become conditioned to locate the product based on its package and may be confused if the design is modified. Marketers have long used the colour and design of their product packaging to produce brand awareness. Traditionally, changes to a products look have been undertaken as little as possible as to preserve that hard won brand recognition. Today, rather than sticking with one colour scheme, companies must constantly update their image to keep them as fresh and exciting as the competitions. Packaging decisions must also include an assessment of its environmental impact especially for products with packages that are frequently thrown away. Packages that are not easily bio-degradable could evoke customer and possibly governmental concern. Also, caution must be exercised in order to create packages that do not break on intellectual property, such as copyrights, trademarks or patents, held by others. (Richardson 1994). Recent research by the Henley Centre (Frontiers, 1996) estimates that 73 percent of purchase decisions are made in the store; the design of packaging must play a key role at point of sale. â€Å"The pack design is the salesman on the shelf (Pilditch, 1972)†, â€Å" it should ensure that a brand stands out, is recognised, and is included in the products under consideration† (Connolly and Davison, 1996). Good business is often about finding out consumer trends and forming a strategy that targets growth in key technologies and market segments to capitalize on these trends. As packagers and package printers, they need to be in tune with trends and changes in shopping habits in order to remain successful. 2.3 Role of colour in marketing Research supports the importance of a brands visual appearance to consumers. One study by the Institute for Colour Research revealed that people make a subconscious judgement about an item within 90 seconds of first viewing, and that up to 90% of that assessment is based on colour. Another of their study study reveals that colour increases brand recognition by up to 80%. Colour clearly plays an important part in catching the modern-day consumers eye. According to the Henley Centre, 73% of purchasing decisions are now made in store. Consequently, catching the shoppers eye and delivering information efficiently are critical to successful sales. In todays world of infinite choices no brand can afford to ignore the impact of colour. More importantly, why would anyone want to give that potential advantage away to competitors? Colours send a variety of signals about the person, place or thing they adorn. Using this link between human emotion and colour to sell a product is certainly nothing new. 3) Objectives The objective of this research is to investigate if the colours that are used in packaging do influence our (consumers) behaviour. Understanding the effect packaging colour has on consumer decision- making would be as an introductory mean of investigating packaging design as the new advertising. The study also examines how different colours influence consumer decision making, and ultimately, the consumers intent to purchase. It focuses on packaging design from a communication aspect, not an engineering one. We examine how packaging influences buying decisions for packaged soft drinks products. As we know, the package impacts the consumer. This is because of conflicting trends in consumer decision-making. On one hand, some consumers are paying more attracted to label information (Coulson, 2000). These consumers are more concerned in the product decision and use package information more extensively. On the other hand, modern consumers are often looking for ways to reduce time spent on soft drinks shopping. This can influence decision processes, too, as time pressure reduces detailed consideration of package elements ( Warde, 1999). While these are important issues, and becoming even more critical in the increasing competitive environment, there is little comprehensive study on how packaging elements influence brand choice under involvement and time pressure. This paper aims at forming a better understanding of the link between colours used in packaging and consumer purchase behaviour within the soft drinks industry. 4) Relevance and significance of the subject Until recently, the importance of colour as a brand identity wasnt as recognised. It is nowadays clear that colour can play a very large part of any organizations success. This pushes us into asking ourselves the following questions: Ø How does colour affect us? Ø Which colours have an impact on us? Ø Do organisations carefully choose what colours to use when packaging a product? 5) Structure and content The next chapter will be a literature review that will study: 1) A review of consumer behaviour and especially what mostly affects consumer decisions 2) The effect of packaging design and especially colour on consumer decision making and consumer purchase intent. 3) A review of the literature regarding colour, colour association and colour practices. The third chapter will examine the soft drinks industry nowadays in the UK and worldwide. The fourth chapter will be an explanation of the different methods used to practice a research. It will also outline the method used into this particular research question The fifth chapter, Research questions and methodology, outlines the research questions and the methodology of this study. This chapter presents an in-depth look at the research questions. It explains the survey questions used for qualitative data findings. It provides the results and a discussion of the results. The sixth chapter will be a conclusion which restates the goal of this research and provides a summary of the research. This chapter contains limitations of the study, suggestions for future research and reflection on the study for future replication, and how this study adds to the body of knowledge regarding the influence of packagings colour on the consumer decision making process. Chapter 2: Review of the Literature. 1) Consumer behaviour Shoppers in the United States spend about $6.5 billion on consumer goods (Peter and Olson 1999). A companys continued success is associated with a successful relationship with the consumer. Finding out as much information as possible on consumer shopping choices and behaviour provides companies the tools to produce goods and services to strengthen their relationship with the consumer. In other words, companies have discovered that information obtained from customer databases and in-store observations have proved worthy in regard to earning consumers repeat purchases or business. 1.1) What is consumer behaviour? The phrase â€Å"consumer behaviour â€Å"refers to the feelings and thoughts people experience, and the actions they take while engaging in the consumption process† (Peter and Olson 1999). Consumer behaviour also includes the things in the environment (product appearance, price information, advertisements, packaging, consumer comments, shelf positioning, etc.) that can impact the feelings and actions of the consumer. In addition, consumer behaviour includes a process of exchange between buyers and sellers: people exchange money to obtain products or services. Moreover, consumer behaviour involves the study of what influences the feelings and actions of people while shopping. 1.2) Main factors that lead to customer satisfaction 1.2.1 Price fairness Recent research efforts have isolated several factors that influence consumers price unfairness perceptions as well as potential consequences of these perceptions (Bolton et al. , 2003; Campbell, 1999; Xia et al. , 2004). Previous research has proved the distinction between distributive fairness and procedural fairness. Another concept of price fairness perceptions, the principle of dual entitlement, suggests that one party should not benefit by causing a loss to another party. When a firm uses the high consumer demand to its own advantage by increasing prices, consumers will feel being misused and in this way understand the prices as unfair. For example, a study showed that â€Å"82 percent of the respondents judged a price increase for snow shovels the morning after a snowstorm to be unfair, while only 21 percent of respondents viewed an increase in grocery prices following an increase in wholesale prices as being unfair† ( Kahneman et al. , 1986). While the dual entitlement principle arise from buyers reactions toward sellers obvious exploitation based on supply and demand changes, it is possible that consumers may create perceptions of unfairness based on their own demand situations even without explicit exploitation actions from the seller. For example, when buyers feel that they have to buy a product and must accept whatever the price is, they could be concerned that potentially they could be exploited by the seller regardless even if the seller doesnt actually performs such actions. 1.2.2 Relationship of fairness perceptions to satisfaction Recent research in marketing and psychology has shown that satisfaction is positively correlated with fairness perceptions (Bowman and Narayandas, 2001; Huffman and Cain, 2001; Kim and Mauborgne, 1996; Ordià ±ez et al. , 2000; Smith et al. , 1999). , Oliver and Swan (1989a, b) found that customers fairness perceptions depended on a suppliers commitment and the quality of the goods and services comparing to the price paid. 1.2.3 The concept of tolerance Given many different ideas within the literature, however, it is generally agreed that customer satisfaction involves the comparison of standards whether they be in the form of expectations, desires, wants, ideal or equitable performances. To explain the diverse issues surrounding expectations and standards with regarding customer satisfaction, Zeithaml et al. (1993) first proposed the notion of the â€Å"zone of tolerance†, which they describe as the extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept heterogeneity (Zeithaml et al., 1993, p. 6). It is on this basis they proved that an individuals zone of tolerance is the difference between what they desire and what they consider satisfactory, in terms of performance, and this zone can differ and contrast across situations and individuals. This may explain why some customers are consistently easy to please and others are interminably difficult (Mooradian and Olver, 1997, p.389). It can be that those customers who are easily pleased have a large zone of tolerance, in terms of their product expectations, whereas those who are quite difficult have a very narrow zone of tolerance. This would explain differences in expressed satisfaction ratings of consumers who have essentially had very similar product experiences. This notion was alluded to by Mittal and Kamakura (2001 ) with regards to satisfaction and repurchase intentions. They suggested that consumers may have different thresholds or tolerance levels towards repurchase (p. 132) and that consumers with the same satisfaction rating may have different levels of repurchase behaviour because of these differences. On this basis, it could be concluded that some individuals are simply inclined to product satisfaction and repeat purchases, whereas others are not (Grace, 2005). 2) Packaging 2.1) What is packaging? What is packaging? In general terms, packaging is the container that is in direct contact with a product, which â€Å"holds, protects, preserves and identifies the product as well as facilitating handling and commercialisation† (Vidales Giovannetti, 1995). More specifically, and following Vidales Giovannetti (1995), there are three types of packaging: Primary packaging which is in direct contact with the product, such as soft drinks bottles, Secondary packaging which contains one or more primary packages and serves to protect and identify them and to communicate the qualities of the product ( it is normally disposed of when the product is used or consumed). Finally, tertiary packaging which contains the two previous ones and its function is usually to distribute, integrate and protect products throughout the commercial chain. This could be the cardboard box that contains several bottles. Packaging is also considered to form part of the product and the brand. For Evans and Berman (1992) packaging is a product image or characteristic. For Olson and Jacoby (1972) packaging is an important element of the product, that is to say, it is attribute that is related to the product but that does not form part of the physical product itself. Price and brand are also crucial elements of the brand and according to Underwood et al. (2001); these are the most important values when it comes to deciding what products to buy. Keller (1998) also considers packaging to be an attribute that is not associated to the product. For him it is one of the five elements of the brand which include the name, the logo and/or graphic symbol, the personality and the slogans. Packaging is presented as part of the buying and consuming process, but often it is not as important as to the ingredients that are essential for the product to function (Underwood, 2003). 2.2) Packaging functions and elements Different people respond to different packages in different ways, depending on their personnality ( Vakratsas and Ambler, 1999). Since an evaluation of attributes is less important in low involvement decision making, a highly noticeable factor such as graphics and colour becomes more important in choice of a low involvement product (Grossman and Wisenblit, 1999). On the other hand, the behaviour of consumers towards high involvement products is less influenced by image issues. For low involvement, there is a strong impact on consumer decision making from the development of the market through marketing communications, including image building (Kupiec and Revell, 2001). The significance of graphics is explained by the images created on the package, whether these images are purposely developed by the marketer, or unintended and unanticipated. Graphics includes image layout, colour combinations, typography, and product photography, and the total presentation communicates an image. For consumers, the package is the product, particularly for low involvement products where initial impressions formed during initial contact can have lasting impact. According to Nancarrow et al. , 1998, the design characteristics of the package need to stand out in a display as it is one of the most important attribute in order to target consumers Many consumers today shop under higher levels of perceived time pressure, and tend to purchase fewer products than intended (Herrington and Capella, 1995; Silayoi and Speece, 2004). Products purchased during shopping excursions often appear to be chosen without prior planning and represent an impulse buying event (Hausman, 2000). A package that attracts consumers at the point of sale will help them decide quickly on what to buy in-store. As the customers eye movement tracks across a display of packages, different new packages can be noticed against the competitors. When scanning packages in the supermarket, the differential perception and the positioning of the graphics elements on a package may make the difference between identifying and missing the item (Herrington and Capella, 1995). 2.3 The marketing side of packaging Packaging seems to be one of the most important factors in purchase decisions made at the point of sale (Prendergast and Pitt, 1996), where it becomes an essential part of the selling process (Rettie and Brewer, 2000).Packaging is now recognised as the salesman† of the shelf at the point of sale. The importance of packaging design is increasing in such competitive market conditions, as package becomes an important vehicle for communication and branding (Rettie and Brewer, 2000). Prendergast and Pitt (1996) review the basic operations of packaging, and delimitate them by their role in either logistics or marketing. The main function of packaging is primarily to protect the product when moving through distribution channels. In marketing, packaging provides a successful method of communication about product attributes to consumers at the point of sale. The package sells the product by drawing in attention and communicating, and also allows the product to be contained, portioned and protected. Packaging is one key product attribute perceived by consumers. It is always fulfilling the marketing function, even if a company does not openly recognize the marketing aspects of packaging. The package is an important factor in the decision-making process because it transmits a specific message to consumers. Intention to purchase depends on the degree to which consumers expect the product to satisfy them when they consume it (Kupiec and Reveil, 2001). How they comprehend it depends on communication elements and this is the key to success for many marketing strategies. The packages overall features can emphasise the uniqueness and originality of the product. In addition, product characteristics influence the perception of quality transmitted by packaging. If it conveys high quality, consumers assume that the product is of high quality. If the package communicates low quality, consumers transfer this low quality perception to the product itself. The package communications can be favourable or unfavourable. Underwood et al. (2001) suggest that consumers are more likely to imagine aspects of how a product looks tastes, feels, smells, or sounds while they are watching a product picture on the package. 2.4 Packaging: biggest medium of communication Behaeghel (1991) and Peters (1994) consider that packaging could be the most important communication medium for the following reasons: It reaches almost all buyers in the category; It is present at the crucial moment when the decision to buy is made; and Buyers are actively involved with packaging as they examine it to obtain the information they need. This is why it is essential to communicate the right brand and product values present on packaging and to achieve a suitable esthetical and visual level ( Nancarrow et al. , 1998). Similarly, McNeal and Ji (2003) underline that the belonging of packaging as a marketing element resides in the fact that it often accompanies the use or consumption of products and, therefore, the possibility of conveying brand values and product characteristics increases. Wit Deasy (2000) points out that the characteristics of a product its positioning are permanently transmitted over seven stages: 1) Point of sale; 2) Transporting the product home; 3) Home storage; 4) Opening; 5) Serving the product for consumption; 6) Reclosing or putting away; and 7) Disposal. Underwood (2003) points out that, unlike the transmission of positioning through advertising, packaging allows positioning to be transferred live. As it accompanies products, packaging lives in the home and potentially becomes an intimate part of the consumers life constituting a type of life experience between the consumer and the brand (Lindsay, 1997). 2.5 ) Packaging: the silent salesman From the consumer perspective, packaging also plays a major role when products are purchased: packaging is crucial, given that it is the first thing that the public sees before making the final decision to buy (Vidales Giovannetti, 1995). This has increased with the popularisation of self-service sales systems which have caused packaging to move to the task of attracting attention and causing a purchase. In the past, it had remained behind the counter and only the sales attendant were the link between the consumer and the product (Cervera Fantoni, 2003). According to Sonsino (1990), self-service has taken the role of communicating and selling to the customer from the sales assistant to advertising and to packaging. This is why packaging has been called the silent salesman, as it communicates us of the qualities and benefits that we are going to obtain if we were to consume certain products (Vidales Giovannetti, 1995). Nowadays, packaging provides manufacturers with the last opportuni ty to influence possible buyers before brand selection (McDaniel and Baker, 1977). In this way we can say that all the packaging elements, including texts, colours, structure, images and people/personalities have to be combined to provide the consumer with visual sales negotiation when purchasing the product (McNeal and Ji, 2003). According toClive Nancarrow et al. (1998) : nine out of ten purchasers, at least occasionally, buy on impulse and unplanned shopping articles can account for up to 51 per cent of purchases ( Phillips and Bradshaw, 1993). 2.6 Packaging as an advertising tool Consumers are bombarded with about 3600 selling messages a day (Rumbo 2002). Yet, because of technology allowing TV watchers to omit commercials and declining advertising budgets, there has been an emphasis on influencing the consumer at the store shelf (Furness 2003). For many products, such as seasonal items, packaging design has acquired the responsibility of advertising ( often being the only advertising the product will receive) and has evolved into the â€Å" silent salesman† (Furness 2003; Rettie and Brewer 2000) It is estimated that between 73% and 85%of purchase decisions are made at this point and the packaging design must play a key role because it is often the only factor that differentiates two products on a shelf ( Sutton and Whelan 2004; Wallace 2001; Buxton 2000; Rettie and Brewer 2000). With a new reliance on packaging design to persuade consumers at the shelf, it is important for packaging design to be studied academically as an influence on consumer behaviour. Research in this area of consumer response to packaging design is being encouraged to assist with increased product sales and increased benefits to the integrated marketing communications (IMC) mix (Tobolski 1994). IMC refers to the channels (advertising, packaging, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing) used by companies/manufacturers to communicate product information to the target audience or intended users of the product ( BNET 2004). Packaging is expected to protect and preserve its contents, differentiate from its competitors, grab the attention of the consumer, and persuade the consumer to purchase (Packaging: good shelf image 2003; Product packaging: empty promises 2000). The vast consumer packaged goods industry continually relies upon colour as a method of differentiation. Research has shown colour (especially non-traditional colour) attracts the attention of the consumer. 3) Colour in packaging This research investigates the use of surface graphics colour as a cue by consumers for finding out 1) Perceived product quality 2) Perceived product performance 3) Which colours influence consumer-decision making, on the consumers intent to purchase? 3.1) What is colour? Colour in its basic nature refers to what the human eye sees when light passes through a prism and produces what is commonly referred to as violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red and is collectively referred to as the spectrum ( Cheskin 1954). In actuality, when people characterised colour, it is perceived colour or reflected colour. Because colour memory changes some individuals perceive colours differently ( Sharpe 1974). For example one person may see a pure red and another person may see that same red as having a hint of blue or yellow. 3.2) The psychology of colour One marketing cue that global managers can use regardless of location is colour (Kirmani 1997; Schmitt and Pan 1994). Colour is one of t

Critical Analysis of Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird Essay -- To Kil

Critical Analysis of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird I will present a critical analysis on the film 'To kill a Mockingbird' which is based on the award winning novel by Harper Lee. To kill a Mockingbird is a film where a courageous, warm hearted and distinguished lawyer takes a case on board to defend a black mans human rights. His compassionate defence against the civil liberties of an exceedingly marginalised black man, Tom Robinson and their human rights and individual liberties in general, cost's him friendships and the town's respect. On the other hand, he earns the love and admiration of his two children; they in particular need that awe as they have lost a mother. Even though the case had such a foregone conclusion, Academy award winning actor Gregory Peck stepped forward to defend Tom Robinson because of his passion towards the human rights and marginalising of coloured citizens. The film was set in a deprived southern town during the great depression, where so many innocent, underprivileged coloured men were wrongly accused and lynched to sinister deaths. There were many things that would have influenced Harper Lee to write the book 'To kill a mockingbird', however; there are a couple of essential factors that I think would have influenced him greatly. Firstly, the book was written during the period of the great depression, where paranoia swept the land and marginalisation was a common site. Many people like Harper lee would have mourned at the frequent sites of discrimination of the poor, religion, blacks and even the rich. However, the constant marginalisation of blacks would have driven some people crazy. T... ...oesn't get along with some of the characters in the film and loves to show her immense movements by fighting, which she does in several cases. I think the film was excellent. It was played by realistic characters and had a very sad, but truthful plot, which went together perfectly. It was a naturalistic plot with naturalistic acting styles and the actors played their parts with clarity. They made the whole film more believable and I enjoyed it. It also sent out lots of messages to the audience. For instance, we shouldn't repress and marginalise people because of appearances. We shouldn't judge anybody or anything by appearances; it's what inside what really counts. In conclusion, I think the acting styles went along with the naturalistic performance excellently and they deserve credit for it, I applaud their efforts.

Reasons for the failure of Germany in World War II Essay

Backing to the year 1933, National Socialist Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany and began a massive rearming campaign. This worried France and the United Kingdom, who had lost much in the previous war, as well as Italy, which saw its territorial ambitions threatened by those of Germany. Hitler was convinced that fate had chosen him to rescue a humiliated nation from the shackles of the Versailles Treaty, from Bolsheviks and Jews. Thus he wanted to wage war in order to recover Germany. Eventually, in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland, the World War II’s European battleground began. On September 1st 1939, German armies invaded Poland and henceforth Hitler’s main energies were devoted to the conduct of a war he had unleashed to dominate Europe and secure Germany’s â€Å"living space†. The first phase of World War II was dominated by German Blitzkrieg tactics: sudden shock attacks against airfields, communications, military installations, using fa st mobile armor and infantry to follow up on the first wave of bomber and fighter aircraft. Poland was overrun in less than one month, Denmark and Norway in two months, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg and France in six weeks. After the fall of France in June 1940 only Great Britain stood firm. Just as what he had prophesied at the end of January 1939, that â€Å"if the international financial Jewry within and outside Europe should succeed once more in dragging the nations into a war, the result will be, not the Bolshevization of the world and thereby the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe†.(Evans, R. J., 2005 ). For many points to the reparation payments that Germans had to pay after the first world war as the cause of this downturn. Both through envy and despise, he and many other Germans began to scapegoat the Jews as the cause of all their suffering. Jews were slaughtered during the World War II by German armies. Exactly as the film â€Å"Schindler’s List† (1993) directed by Steven Spielberg showed that the figure for the number of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust is about 5.7 million to 6.0 million. However, it was still the same country which was always be regarded as the strong during the whole process of World War II, Germany was one of the vanquished countries of WWII. It was concluded from the army strength and the historical evidence of the condition of the WWII that although Germany was powerful during the World War II, Germany was defeated by its vanity, without people’s support and Hitler’s dictatorship. According to Lowe, K (2012), by Ian Locke’s examining the British attainment of German industry. Although German economic was better than any other European countries at that time, German was still not enough powerful to wage the war. The advanced science and technology might help Germany equip its army well. Which leads to most of the German tanks and other weapons were way ahead of anything their opponents had to offer. Their tanks were faster, better armored and had a longer range than anything the allies had available. However, after America joined the war and supplied the British and Russians with armaments, the flood gates were opened and the battlefields were swamped by technically inferior but numerically superior weapons. Once overview the domestic ground condition of Germany in 1945. It was obviously that Germany made too many enemies. Germany during World War II, focusing particularly on the evidence gathered from archival sources at the Russian Federation’s Foreign Ministry Historical Documents Department. On April 27, 1945, the Soviet 70th Army of the 2nd Byelorussian Front under the management of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky held the town of Prenzlau as part of the Soviet process to take Berlin, Germany. The reason to this tragic historical event is that Germany had not been fully focused on the defense for the camp. Meanwhile, Germany was also fighting against Great Britain. (Zaleeva, A. A., 2010) During the World War II, it was the period that airpower was the element of crucial importance. Losing airpower usually means losing the victory. Based on the record of the history by Harvey, A. D(2012). German Luftwaffe battled against the British Royal Air Force during the Air Battle of Britain in 1940. The Luftwaffe failed to properly identify their numerical advantages over the RAF within their missions. Including Nazi military leader Hermann Gà ¶ring, German Messerschmitt Bf109 military fighter planes, and U.S. Army Air Force Lieutenant James Doolittle. After the losses of the Air Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe never fully recovered. By 1944, they had lost control of the skies over most of Europe and were subject to 24hour bombing. It was because lack of airpower meant lack of photo reconnaissance, so the German high commands were making decisions without proper intelligence. Since losing the resource gates in the previous battle and having blind confidence about the airpower itself. The air warfare strategies used for bomber and fighter aircraft during both events. It was because German looked down upon the Royal Air Force, leading to the lack of airpower so that lacking of photo reconnaissance. Eventually it resulted in German failure of WWII. Moving to the reason why Nazi government could not gain people’s support. From the career of Albert Speer, principal architect of the Nazi regime, who played the role in the atrocities committed by Germany in World War II. Among his major responsibilities was the procurement of manpower to keep the Nazi factories in operation which played an important role in the organization of the Nazi forced-labor programs. Since labors were forced to work, they were not willi ng to do it, so German domestic residents were not support the war. They were working without their own willingness. In this case, not even to mention to gain any support from allies. Only the country who had the same objective by waging the war made friendship with Germany, most of other countries were standing against Germany, it also indicate that only through following people’s heart, can they lead a strong army. And Germany made too many enemies all over the world was another reason for its failure. (Forsgren, R. 2012) Last but seems to be the most general one is the system of organization. Looking back to Adolf Hitler’s biography, Strategy used by him to strengthen the violence on the roads; Purpose of the government for not legally banning communists; Connection between social democrats and communists; Reason behind the firing of judges, state prosecutors and judicial officials in Germany. Diplomatically, his style of leadership involved him personally taking all the major decisions, with little delegation. Under the circumstances, his dictatorship dominated Germany. Leading to a dictatorial government in which one person has absolute power, often backed by the military, over the entire country and its people. What is more, he removed certain rights from people, most of the time trespassed certain human rights.(Zaleeva, A. A. 2010) The mental state of general Germans at that time was blind and lack of personal thinking. The way they followed was the responsibility which was given by their nation, no matter it was right or not. Under this situation, the wrong war was waged. It could be concluded from the personal diary of August Tà ¶pperwien, a German Protestant, who was not a Nazi and however maintained a loyal nationalism to the end. In so doing, it probes the troubled morality of someone whose conflicting senses of personal duty and political obligation found their vent in pages of silent self-reflection, and so reveal with an unusual simplicity of the underlying frames of moral refe rence, which so often remain implicit and argued in the short-hand and rational of other diaries and family letters, let alone macro-level surveys of widely held attitude. From his personal feeling, the responsibility that led to Germany’s failure is that German’s soldiers wrongly regarded the support for the Nazi regime and for the war were the same thing then overrated their power to against the rest of the world. (Stargardt, N. 2010). World War II is the largest war in human’s history, which causes the most losses, either the number of casualties or economic losses, and brings human being disasters. It lasted for 6 years, more than 60 countries or regions took part in the war. The immediate cause of the outbreak of World War II is fascist regime, the rapid rise. Fascist rulers head of Germany, Italy, Japan in order to achieve the re-divide the world and expand their areas attempted to cause the War. With Germany was defeated in North Africa and Stalingrad. In 1943, with a series of German defeats in Eastern Europe, the Allied invasion of Fascist Italy, and American victories in the Pacific, the Axis lost the initiative and under took strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. In April 1945, the Soviet Union occupied Berlin as Hitler committed suicide. Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7th, 1945. The war in Europe ended. Later 1945, World War II was completely ended with Japan’s unconditional surrender. Fortunately, this costed more than six years’ war eventually ended with the victory of the world anti-fascist alliance. Looking back to the history, by summing up the reasons why the result was occurred, it is reasonable that Germany would fail in this war obviously. Under Hitler’s dictatorial domination and the excitation with their early victory, Germany became more and more arrogant. Regarding they could achieve whatever they wanted to come true. Dreaming to dominate the other nations all over the world even without their domestic support. History was correct, it chose the victory deserved to win. Peaceful Americans, grieved British, tough and tensile Soviet and Chinese made great contribution to international public. No matter how it was negative at the beginning of the war, they never gave up. By taking up the vital point of Germany, international public finally made the gorgeous reversal come true. How foolish that German looked down upon such opponents! Although Germany was powerful during the World War II, Germany was defeated by its vanity, without people’s support and Hitler’s dictatorship eventually. References 1. Evans, R. J. (2005). Hitler’s Dictatorship. (Cover story). History Review, (51), 20-25. 2. Forsgren, R. (2012). The Architecture of Evil. New Atlantis: A Journal Of Technology & Society, 3644-62. 3. Harvey, A. D. (2012). The Battle of Britain, in 1940 and â€Å"Big Week,† in 1944: A Comparative Perspective. Air Power History, 59(1), 34-45. 4. Lowe, K. (2012). From the Archive. History Today, 62(2), 72. 5. Steven, S. (1993). Schindler’s List 6. Stargardt, N. (2010). The Troubled Patriot: German Innerlichkeit in World War II*. German History, 28(3), 326-342. 7. Zaleeva, A. A. (2010). Freeing Belgian Generals from the Prenzlau Nazi POW Camp. International Affairs: A Russian Journal Of World Politics, Diplomacy & International Relations, 56(4), 242-246.

Database Design Paper Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Database Design Paper Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Database Design Paper ?A database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. In order for a database to be truly functional, it must not only store large amounts of records well, but be accessed easily. In addition, new information and changes should also be fairly easy to input.? (tech-faq.com); to ensure usefulness over the long-term, databases should be built with high data integrity and the ability to recover data if the hardware fails. Information that has been corrupted or destroyed serves no purpose within a business structure. Being the Armed Forces is like being a field value in one giant database. Everything from the gear we are issued to how we are identified as an ?individual? (ssn#) is a scannable number to be coded, referenced, and utilized by anyone with proper clearance. ?The database architecture is the set of specifications, rule, and processes that dictate how data is stored in a database and how data is accessed by components of the system.? (wingenious.com) Database architecture type s can be broken down into three broad categories, each of which can have several subcategories: One Tier, Two Tier- client/server, and ?N? Tier- client/server. The One Tier architecture is best suited to the single user and relatively small amounts of data. It runs on the user?s local machine and references a file that is stored on that machine?s hard drive, thus using a single physical resource to access and process information. For multiple users and small scale applications Two Tier client/server architecture would be better suited than One Tier architecture. Users interact through a GUI (graphical user interface) to communicate with the database server across a network via SQL (structured query language. For the large scale applications, ?N? Tier client/server architecture must be adopted. The client/server model expands to include a middle (or business) tier, which is an application server that houses the business logic. The middle tier translates client calls into database queries as well as translating data from the database into client data in return. The client and server never actually talk to one another directly. (windowsecurity.com) The database architecture I use at work, I would qualify as ?N? Tier client/server architecture. When entering or leaving base, all military personal must have their IDs scanned. This information is checked against a central database by going through a middle tier to prevent direct contact with the military mainframe, both for security and volume reasons. In a relational database, the data in different tables is mapped with relations. ?Information can be accessed or added without reorganizing the tables. A table can have many records and each record can have many fields? (tech-faq.com). Unlike flat databases, data integrity is built into the model at various levels to ensure the accuracy of the data, that the records are not duplicated, and that the relationship between a pair of tables is valid. (dewey.library.nd.edu) Microsoft Access does a great job of reinforcing referential integrity with a strong normalization protocols that ensure table definitions and informational relationships. References Chapter 16. What are Relational Databases, and Why Should I Care? . (n.d.). Index of /. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mylibrary/manual/ch/ch16.html What is a Database?. (n.d.). The Tech-FAQ. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from tech-faq.com/what-is-a-database.html Wingenious. (n.d.). Wingenious. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://wingenious.com with., s. w. (n.d.). An Overview of Common Database Architectures. Network Security Articles for Windows Server 2003, 2008 & Vista. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from windowsecurity.com/whitepapers/An-Overview-of-Common-Database-Architectures.html

Profile of Serial Killer Rodney Alcala

Profile of Serial Killer Rodney Alcala Rodney Alcala is a convicted rapist, torturer, and serial killer who evaded justice for 40 years. Dubbed the Dating Game Killer Alcala was once a contestant on the show, The Dating Game, where he won a date with another contestant. However, the date never happened because the woman found him to be too creepy. Alcalas Childhood Years Rodney Alcala was born on August 23, 1943, in San Antonio, Texas to Raoul Alcala Buquor and Anna Maria Gutierrez. His father left, leaving Anna Maria to raise Alcala and his sisters alone. At around the age of 12, Anna Maria moved the family to Los Angeles. At the age of 17, Alcala joined the Army and remained there until 1964 when he received a medical discharge after being diagnosed with a severe anti-social personality. Alcala, now out of the Army, enrolled in UCLA School of Fine Arts where is earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1968. This is the same year that he kidnapped, raped, beat, and tried to kill his first known victim. Tali Shapiro Tali Shapiro was an 8-year-old on her way to school when she was lured into Alcalas car, an act that did not go unnoticed by a nearby motorist who followed the two and contacted police. Alcala took Tali into his apartment where he raped, beat, and attempted to strangle her with a 10-pound metal bar. When police arrived, they kicked in the door and found Tali laying on the kitchen floor in a large puddle of blood and not breathing. Because of the brutality of the beating, they thought she was dead and begin to search for Alcala in the apartment. A police officer, returning to the kitchen, saw Tali struggling to breathe. All attention went to trying to keep her alive, and at some point, Alcala managed to slip out the back door. When searching Alcalas apartment, the police found several pictures, many of young girls. They also found out his name and that he had attended UCLA. But it took several months before they would find Alcala. On the Run but Not Hiding Alcala, now using the name John Berger, fled to New York and enrolled in NYU film school. From 1968 to 1971, even though he was listed on the FBIs most wanted list, he lived undetected and in full view. Playing the role of a groovy film student, amateur photographer, single hot shot, Alcala moved around New Yorks single clubs. During the summer months, he worked at an all girls summer drama camp in New Hampshire. In 1971, two girls attending the camp recognized Alcala on a wanted poster at the post office. The police were notified, and Alcala was arrested. Indeterminate Sentencing In August 1971, Alcala was returned to Los Angeles, but the prosecutors case had a major flaw - Tali Shapiros family had returned to Mexico soon after Tali recovered from the attack. Without their main witness, the decision was made to offer Alcala a plea deal. Alcala, charged with rape, kidnapping, assault, and attempted murder, accepted a deal to plead guilty to child molestation. The other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to one year to life and was paroled after 34 months under the indeterminate sentencing program. The program allowed a parole board, not a judge, to decide on when offenders could be released based on if they appeared rehabilitated. With Alcalas ability to charm, he was back out on the streets in less than three years. Within eight weeks he returned to prison for violating his parole for providing marijuana to a 13-year-old girl. She told police that Alcala kidnapped her, but he was not charged. Alcala spent another two years behind bars and was released in 1977, again under the indeterminate sentencing program. He returned to Los Angeles and got a job as a typesetter for the Los Angeles Times. More Victims It did not take long for Alcala to get back into his murderous rampage. The Murder of Jill Barcomb, Los Angeles County In November 1977, Alcala raped, sodomized, and murdered 18-year-old Jill Barcomb, a New York native who had recently moved to California. Alcala used a large rock to smash in her face and strangle her to death by tying her belt and pant leg around her neck.Alcala then left her body in a mountainous area in the foothills near Hollywood, where she was discovered Nov. 10, 1977, posed on her knees with her face in the dirt.Murder of Georgia Wixted, Los Angeles County In December 1977, Alcala raped, sodomized, and murdered 27-year-old nurse Georgia Wixted. Alcala used a hammer to sexually abuse Georgia, then used the claw end of the hammer to beat and smash in her head. He strangled her to death using a nylon stocking and left her body posed in her Malibu apartment. Her body was discovered Dec. 16, 1977.Murder of Charlotte Lamb, Los Angeles County In June 1979, Alcala raped, beat, and murdered 33-year-old legal secretary Charlotte Lamb. Alcal a strangled Charlotte to death using a shoelace from her shoe and left her body posed in a laundry room of an El Segundo apartment complex where it was discovered on June 24, 1979. Murder of Jill Parenteau, Los Angeles County In June 1979, Alcala raped and murdered 21-year-old Jill Parenteau in her Burbank apartment. He strangled Jill to death using a cord or nylon. Alcalas blood was collected from the scene after he cut himself crawling through a window. Based on a semi-rare blood match, Alcala was linked to the murder. He was charged with murdering Parenteau, but the case was later dismissed.Murder of Robin Samsoe, Orange County On June 20, 1979, Alcala approached 12-year-old Robin Samsoe and her friend Bridget Wilvert at Huntington Beach and asked them to pose for pictures. After posing for a series of photographs, a neighbor intervened and asked if everything was alright and Samsoe took off. Later Robin got on a bike and headed to an afternoon dance class. Alcala kidnapped and murdered Samsoe and dumped her body near the Sierra Madre in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Her body was scavenged by animals, and her skeletal remains were discovered on July 2, 1979. Her front teeth had been knocked out by Alcala. Arrested After the Samsoe murder, Alcala rented a storage locker in Seattle, where police found hundreds of photos of young women and girls and a bag of personal items that they suspected belonged to Alcalas victims. A pair of earrings found in the bag were identified by Samsoes mother as being a pair she owned. Alcala was also identified by several people as the photographer from the beach on the day Samsoe was kidnapped. Following an investigation, Alcala was charged, tried, and convicted for Samsoes murder in 1980. He was sentenced to receive the death penalty. The conviction was later overturned by the California Supreme Court. Alcala was again tried and convicted of the murder of Samsoe in 1986 and was again sentenced to the death penalty. The second conviction was overturned by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Three Times a Charm While awaiting his third trial for the murder of Samsoe, DNA collected from the murder scenes of Barcomb, Wixted, and Lamb was linked to Alcala. He was charged with the four Los Angeles murders, including Parenteau. At the third trial, Alcala represented himself as his defense attorney and argued that he was at Knotts Berry Farm on the afternoon that Samsoe was murdered. Alcala did not contest the charges that he committed the murders of the four Los Angeles victims but rather focused on the Samsoe charges. At one point he took the stand and questioned himself in third-person, changing his tone depending on if he was acting as his lawyer or as himself. On Feb. 25, 2010, the jury found Alcala guilty of all five counts of capital murder, one count of kidnapping and four counts of rape. During the penalty phase, Alcala attempted to sway the jury away from the death penalty by playing the song Alices Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie, which includes the lyrics, I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, KILL, KILL. His strategy did not work, and the jury quickly recommended the death penalty to which the judge agreed. More Victims? Immediately after Alcalas conviction, the Huntington Police released 120 of Alcalas photos to the public. Suspecting that Alcala had more victims, the police asked for the publics help in identifying the women and children in the photos. Since then several of the unknown faces have been identified. New York Murders Two murder cases in New York have also been linked through DNA to Alcala. TWA flight attendant Cornelia Michael Crilley, was murdered in 1971 while Alcala was enrolled at NYU. Ciros Nightclub heiress Ellen Jane Hover was murdered in 1977 during the time that Alcala had received permission from his parole officer to go to New York to visit family. Currently, Alcala is on death row at San Quentin State Prison. Sources Orange County District Attorney48 Hours Mystery: Rodney Alcalas Killing Game

Free Essays on Rachel Carson

Rachel Louise Carson was born on May 7, 1907 in the rural river town of Springdale, PA. She graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women, which is now known as Chatham College, in 1929 with a major of Marine Biology. She then studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory and later received her MA in Zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932. Carson was hired by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to write radio scripts during the Depression and supplemented her income writing feature articles on natural history for the Baltimore Sun. She then began a fifteen-year career in the federal services as a scientist and editor in 1936. Working for the government, she then became Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Lear). Carson wrote pamphlets on conservation and natural resources. She also edited scientific articles, but on free time, turned her government research into lyric prose, first as an article â€Å"Undersea† in 1937, and then a book, Under the Sea-Wind in 1941. She published her prize-winning study of the ocean, The Sea Around Us in 1952, which was followed in 1955 by The Edge of the Sea. She was devoted to writing, so she resigned from the government. During World War II, Rachel Carson changed her focuses. She wanted to warn the public about the long term misuse of chemical pesticides. She wrote a book in 1962 called Silent Spring in which she challenged the practices of agricultural scientists and government. It called for a change in the way humankind viewed the world. Because of this book, she was attacked by the chemical industry and some government and considered an alarmist. Through all this, she spoke out to remind the public that we are a vulnerable part of the natural world, and we are subject to the same damage as the rest of the ecosystem. Her testimony before Congress in 1963 called for new policies to protect human health and the environment. Rachel Lou... Free Essays on Rachel Carson Free Essays on Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson was born on May 7, 1907 in the rural river town of Springdale, PA. She graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women, which is now known as Chatham College, in 1929 with a major of Marine Biology. She then studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory and later received her MA in Zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932. Carson was hired by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to write radio scripts during the Depression and supplemented her income writing feature articles on natural history for the Baltimore Sun. She then began a fifteen-year career in the federal services as a scientist and editor in 1936. Working for the government, she then became Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Lear). Carson wrote pamphlets on conservation and natural resources. She also edited scientific articles, but on free time, turned her government research into lyric prose, first as an article â€Å"Undersea† in 1937, and then a book, Under the Sea-Wind in 1941. She published her prize-winning study of the ocean, The Sea Around Us in 1952, which was followed in 1955 by The Edge of the Sea. She was devoted to writing, so she resigned from the government. During World War II, Rachel Carson changed her focuses. She wanted to warn the public about the long term misuse of chemical pesticides. She wrote a book in 1962 called Silent Spring in which she challenged the practices of agricultural scientists and government. It called for a change in the way humankind viewed the world. Because of this book, she was attacked by the chemical industry and some government and considered an alarmist. Through all this, she spoke out to remind the public that we are a vulnerable part of the natural world, and we are subject to the same damage as the rest of the ecosystem. Her testimony before Congress in 1963 called for new policies to protect human health and the environment. Rachel Lou...