Planning and Enabling Learning †Pel Essay

Wilson (2008:01) asserts that – â€Å"A learner can be aged from 14 upwards and learning can occur in any suitable environment. Learners in the sector may be funded by government bodies, by their employers, by funding councils or by their own finances. Some are supported by student loans, bursaries or scholarships. In a nutshell, lifelong learning covers everything that is not compulsory education. † Theory – Initial assessment Initial assessment happens at the time of a learner’s transition into a new learning programme. It is a holistic process, during which a teacher/ trainer starts to build up a picture of an individual’s achievements, skills, interests, previous learning experiences and goals, and the learning needs associated with those goals. This information is used as a basis for negotiating a course or programme. TASK 1 – (i)b: Which services are available for learners who need extra help and support? Venue evaluation case study The College welcomes students with additional learning needs on to its courses and seeks to ensure that whenever possible those needs are met. The selection criteria and procedures are kept under review to ensure that all applicants and students are treated fairly. Students are selected and treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities. TASK 1 – (ii). Evaluate ways of planning, negotiating and recording appropriate learning goals with learners Theory – Planning and negotiating learning goals â€Å"If you don’t know where you are going, it is difficult to select a suitable means for getting there†, Mager (1955). A learning goal is what a learner wants to achieve, by attending a relevant programme of learning with his/ her teacher/ tutor. The learning programme will be determined by the qualification content, published by an Awarding or Examining Body. The teacher/ tutor need to know what he/ she is going to teach, and their learners need to know what they are going to learn. These should be formally negotiated and agreed. A supportive and respectful relationship between the learners and the teacher/ tutor will ensure realistic goals and targets are agreed, along with how the learning progress will be assessed and recorded. Recording learning goals A teacher/ tutor should encourage his/ her learners to take ownership of the process of planning their learning journey. To help promote them to be independent learners, the teacher/ tutor will need to negotiate and agree their goals and targets, and assess their progress along the way. It is important that all targets are recorded whether they are hard targets, i. e. directly based on the curriculum or soft targets, i. e. personal and social goals. If the teacher/ tutor is teaching a programme, which does not lead to a formal qualification, he/ she will still need to record learner progress. This is known as recognising and recording progress and achievement in non-accredited learning (RARPA). TASK 2 – SCHEME OF WORK TASK 2 – (i). Devise a scheme of work in your own specialist area for a minimum of 4 weeks or eight sessions, ensuring that it includes all the information indicated on the Performa on p21 Theory – Scheme of Work Every teacher/ tutor has a scheme of work, but it may exist only inside her head, and it may be incomplete. Just as the curriculum is the answer to the learner’s question, â€Å"Why do we have to learn this? † the scheme of work is the answer to the teacher’s question, â€Å"What am I going to do? †. It is the teacher’s equivalent of the builder’s plan and the engineer’s blueprint. Scheme of Work is a working document. It is not immutable, just as building plans can be changed up to a point. It is made to be messed with, to be annotated and scrawled all over. It is the most useful evaluation tool you can have, because given that most of us repeat courses year on year, reference to last year’s well-worn Scheme (and the year before’s) is the best guide to how to change things for this year (particularly if the teacher/ tutor are conscientious enough to enter in the findings from your evaluation exercises). TASK 2 – (iii)a. Justification – The selection and sequencing of topics, and, when relevant, how this met curriculum/ syllabus requirements Theory – Brief introduction to Marketing and Marketing mix Marketing is at the heart of every organisation’s activity. Its importance is also growing in the non-commercial, public and voluntary sectors. Also, at the heart of marketing is the customer. This unit will introduce learners to some of the tools and techniques all types of organisations use to achieve their objectives. â€Å"Marketing refers to the social and managerial processes by which products, services and value are exchanged in order to fulfil individuals’ or group’s needs and wants. These processes include, but are not limited to, advertising, promotion, distribution, and sales. The marketing mix is a broad concept, which includes several aspects of marketing which all, inquires to obtain a similar goal of creating awareness and customer loyalty. The marketing mix is not only an important concept, but a guideline to reference back to when implementing the price, promotion, product, and distribution†, (wikipedia. com). Justification – Selection and sequencing of topics, and, when relevant The selection and sequencing of the topics is based upon the learning aims, purpose and objectives that the unit involves. The aim and purpose of this unit is to give learners an understanding of how marketing, research and planning and the marketing mix are used by all organisations. The five units delivered in the five weekly sessions enable the tutor to cover the unit of ‘Marketing mix’, which is part of the module ‘principles of marketing’, besides covering the focused subject area, the other significant advantage is that it can also be used as a basis for further study of specialist marketing units depending on interest and availability of the unit as specialist subject area. The ‘Marketing mix’ unit is a mandatory syllabus requirement, delivered through the 5 weeks classroom sessions providing a comprehensive understanding of the practical issues involved in Marketing using 4Ps tool of marketing mix. From this unit, Firstly, learners will explore how different types of organisations use marketing principles to meet the needs of their customers and achieve their objectives. The constraints under which organisations operate are important and learners will study the legal requirements and voluntary codes that affect marketing. Secondly, Learners will examine how a marketing mix is developed to meet the needs and aspirations of a targeted group of prospective customers, before going on to develop a marketing mix for a new product or service. How the tutor’s scheme of work plan met curriculum/ syllabus requirements: †¢Selected and adapted, a range of inclusive learning activities to enthuse and motivate learners, ensuring that curriculum requirements are met. Analysed the strengths and limitations of a range of resources, including new and emerging technologies, showing how these resources can be used to promote equality, support diversity and contribute to effective learning. †¢Identified literacy, language, numeracy and ICT skills, which are integral to own specialist area, reviewing how they support learner achievement. TASK 2 – (iii)b. Justification – The use of resources and how they promoted inclusive learning Theory – Inclusive learning Inclusive teaching means re cognising, accommodating and meeting the learning needs of all the students. It means acknowledging that the students have a range of individual learning needs and are members of diverse communities: a student with a disabling medical condition may also have English as an additional language and be a single parent. Inclusive teaching avoids pigeonholing students into specific groups with predictable and fixed approaches to learning. TASK 2 – (iii)c. Justification – Differentiation Theory – Differentiation in practice in the curriculum â€Å"The key to the differentiated curriculum is the flexible use by teachers of a wide range of activities and lesson organisations†, Janet Spillman (1991). Differentiation is about teaching and learning styles and teachers should be using all three types of differentiation in order to have a variety of teaching approaches to accommodate the different learning styles in the classroom. Teachers who only organise in the ‘ability group’ way are limiting the learning of many pupils in their classes, particularly those with special educational needs. All pupils should experience all three types of differentiation in order for teachers and pupils to maximise the teaching and learning that occurs in the classroom. Accelerated Coverage of Material promote interactive methodology for learner tutor involvement, Supplementary Materials provided as the course subject material for developing understanding and highlighting key issues, Graphic diagrams provided for visual assessment and absorption by the learners of the concepts and theory, Group and independent Study held for working cooperation and discussion of diverse views from the mass participation, Recommendation of relevant Books from various expert in the field – it is important to read specialised book from a pool of books available from the same subject area which is not easy for the learners to identify. TASK 2 – (iii)d. Justification – How the minimum core (literacy, language, numeracy and ICT) supported learning Theory – Minimum Core Since September 2000 it has been expected that initial teacher education programmes should equip all trainee teachers to develop inclusive approaches to addressing the language, literacy and numeracy needs of their learners’. The requirement for all trainee teachers to meet the minimum core of literacy, language, numeracy in all post-16 teacher initial teacher education (ITE) programmes was first defined by FENTO in 2004. Coverage of the minimum core is intended to provide a teacher with the minimum level of skills in language, literacy, numeracy and ICT that are essential to teachers who work in the lifelong learning sector. Justification – Minimum core (literacy, language) supported learning Speaking and listening – Learners make a range of contributions to classroom discussions and make effective presentations in a wide range of contexts by carrying out individual and/ or group work investigating organisations and their marketing working with others in investigating businesses (employees, olleagues, teachers, class mates). Reading – Learners are able to compare, select, read and understand texts and use them to gather information, ideas, arguments and opinions reading about organis ations and their marketing reading about organisations to obtain data to compare businesses marketing activities Writing – Learners are able to write documents, including extended writing pieces, communicating information, ideas and opinions, effectively and persuasively writing materials to provide information about organisations marketing activities producing labelled charts and diagrams. Justification – Minimum core (numeracy and ICT) supported learning By introducing various ways of interaction with and using ICT and Web ICT systems independently, learners can research organisations and their marketing activities, enabling them to understand approaches to complex classroom task needs. Calculation techniques, formulas and tabulating information about organisations allow learners to use numerical methods of learning and assessment. Exploration, investigation and evaluate of the relevant marketing topics from the provided information and case studies, and data from the from websites about business organisations and their marketing activities help the learner get involved with the key issues of the subject area. TASK 3 – LESSON PLANNING TASK 3 – (i). Design and include a lesson plan on the Greenwich proforma (p 19-20), which you would use in your specialist area, completing all aspects of this proforma (150 words limit) â€Å"To fail to plan is to plan to fail†, (Petty, 2004:422, cited by Wilson, 2008). According to a definition at Wikipedia. com, a ‘lesson plan’ is a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for one class. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class instruction. Details will vary depending on the preference of the teacher, subject being covered, and the need and/or curiosity of children. TASK 3 – (v). Discuss the reasons for the inclusion of aspects of the minimum core (literacy, numeracy and ICT) in this lesson plan (150 words limit) Justification – Minimum core (literacy, language) supported learning Speaking and listening – Learners make a range of contributions to classroom discussions and make effective presentations in a wide range of contexts by carrying out individual and/ or group work investigating organisations and their marketing working with others in investigating businesses (employees, colleagues, teachers, class mates). Reading – Learners are able to compare, select, read and understand texts and use them to gather information, ideas, arguments and opinions reading about organisations and their marketing reading about organisations to obtain data to compare businesses marketing activities Writing – Learners are able to write documents, including extended writing pieces, communicating information, ideas and opinions, effectively and persuasively writing materials to provide information about organisations marketing activities producing labelled charts and diagrams.

Food Prices Essay

Why Did Global Food Prices Rise? For the last 25 years global food prices have been falling, driven by the increased productivity and output of the farm sector worldwide. In 2007, this came to an abrupt end as global food prices soared. By September 2007, the world price of wheat rose to over $400 a ton-the highest ever recorded and up from $200 a ton in May. The price of corn (maize) surged to $175 a ton, some 60 percent above its average for 2006. An index of food prices, adjusted for inflation, which The Economist magazine has kept since 1845, hit its highest level ever in December 2007. One explanation for rising food prices has been increased demand. The increased demand has been driven by greater food consumption in rapidly developing nations, most notably China and India. Rising consumption of meat, in particular, has driven up demand for grains; it takes eight kilograms of cereals to produce one kilogram of beef, so as demand for meat rises, consumption of grains by cattle surges. Farmers now feed 200 to250 million more tons of grain to their animals than they did 20 years ago, driving up grain prices. Then there is the issue of bio-fuel subsidies. Both the United States and the European Union have adopted policies to increase production of ethanol and bio-diesel in order to slow down global warming (both products are argued to produce fewer C02 emissions, although exactly how effective they are at doing this is actively debated). In 2000, around 15 million tons of American Corn was turned into ethanol; in 2007 the figure reached 85 million tons. To promote increased production, governments have given subsidies to farmers. In the United States subsidies amount to between $0. 29 and $0. 36 per litre of ethanol. In Europe the subsidies are as high as $1 a litre. Not surprisingly, the subsidies have created an incentive for farmers to plant more crops that can be turned into bio-fuels (primarily corn and soy beans). This has diverted land away from production of corn and soy for food, and reduced the supply of land devoted to growing crops that don’t receive bio-fuel subsidies, such as wheat. This highly subsidized source of demand seems to be having a dramatic effect on demand for corn and soy beans. In 2007, fur example, the U. S.increase in demand for corn-based ethanol accounted for more than half of the global increase in demand for corn. What is complicating the situation is that high tariffs are shutting out producers of alternative products that can be turned into bio fuels, most notably sugar cane, from the U. S. and EU markets by high tariffs. Brazil, the world’s most efficient producer of sugar cane, confronts import tariffs of at least 25 percent by value in the United States and 50 percent in the European Union, raising the price of imported sugar cane and making it uncompetitive with subsidized com and soy beans. This is unfortunate because sugar cane is widely seen as a more environmentally friendly raw material for bio-fuels than either corn or soy. Sugar cane uses less fertilizer than corn or soy and produces a higher yield per hectare in terms of its energy content. Ethanol is also produced from what used to be considered a waste produce, the fibre removed from the cane during processing. If policy makers have their way, however, the situation may get even worse. Plans in both the United States and the European Union call for an increase in the production of bio-fuels, but neither political entity has agreed to reduce tariff barriers on sugar cane or to remove the trade distorting subsidies given to those who produce corn and soy for bio-fuels. Brazil is not sitting on the sidelines; in 2007 it asked the World Trade Organization to probe U. S. subsidies to corn farmers for ethanol production. Supplementary Reading article-Rising global food prices threaten to increase poverty. 2 Rising Global Food Prices Threaten to Increase Poverty by Kata Fustos. (April 2011) Global food prices have been rising, threatening to reach record levels in the coming months if current trends continue. Growing world demand due to increasing world population and shifting consumption patterns, and lower supplies partly due to bad weather raised the World Bank’s food price index by 15 percent between October 2010 and January 2011. 1 The index increased by 29 percent overall between February 2010 and February 2011. In January, the Food Price Index of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was at its highest level since tracking began in 1990. 2 While not all countries are affected equally, the recent volatility is particularly alarming in regions where people spend more than half of their income on food. Global Food Prices Surge to Record Levels, Hurting the Poor in Low- and Middle-Income Countries A combination of unfavorable weather patterns around the world and uncertainty in the quality of wheat harvests in China has affected the global food supply. Record heat and drought in 2010 in the former Soviet Union sharply reduced wheat production and dealt a shock to global wheat supplies. Extreme dry weather in Brazil—a major food exporter—contributed greatly to worldwide deficits of sugar, soybeans, and maize. Devastating rain and floods in Australia damaged wheat crops and reduced the yields of sugar harvests. Additionally, a severe drought in China threatens the harvest of the country’s wheat crop and has prompted the FAO to issue a special alert, characterizing the current situation as â€Å"potentially a serious problem. â€Å"3 For decades, China has relied mostly on its own domestic grain production and was absent from the global grain market. However, if the drought destroys a significant portion of the harvest and China has to import grain to fulfill domestic demand, the impact can shock the world market and cause even sharper increases in global prices. As a result of China’s buying power, it can outbid others in the global market, and secure supplies for its own population. An expanding world population, greater reliance on crops as biofuels, and shifting diets continue to increase the collective demand for food, making the gap between supply and demand even wider. Since price volatility and growing demand are likely to persist, â€Å"we need global action to ensure we do a better job of feeding the hungry before we face the future challenges of feeding the expected 9 billion people in the world in 2050,† said Robert Zoellick, World Bank president. 4 According to the World Bank index, global sugar prices reached a 30-year high in the beginning of 2011, after increasing 12 percent since January 2010. Edible oil prices have risen 73 percent since June 2010. Among grains, the price of wheat has increased the most, more than doubling between June 2010 and January 2011. The price of maize has been affected by the surge in the wheat and oil markets and also jumped about 73 percent during the second half of 2010. Other food items that contribute to dietary diversity, such as vegetables and beans, have also experienced large price increases. Prices do not rise at the same rate in all countries; domestic markets are affected based on how well governments are 3 able to shield their population from global price surges through the use of subsidies, import taxes, and increased domestic production. Figure 1 Change in World Commodity Prices, January 2010 to January 2011 Source: World Bank, â€Å"Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet),† accessed at http://siteresources. worldbank. org/INTDAILYPROSPECTS/Resources/Pnk_0411. pdf, on April 1, 2011. Although food prices had been increasing for seven consecutive months by February 2011, the price of all items had not grown at the same pace (see Figure 1). According to the World Bank’s Food Price Watch, this differentiates the current situation from the price surges of 2008, when food riots broke out across the developing world. Meat prices have stayed relatively stable over the past year. Following good harvests in exporting countries, the global price of rice was actually lower at the end of 2010 than in the beginning of the year, and it remains 70 percent below its 2008 peak. Therefore, rice provides a more affordable alternative grain to the poor and its accessibility has prevented more people from sinking into poverty and undernourishment. At the same time, some Asian economies have seen sharp increases in rice prices. In Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Indonesia—all high rice consumption countries—domestic rice prices increased over 30 percent in the past year. 5 Soaring food prices disproportionately hurt the poor in developing countries. This is especially true in regions where people spend a majority of their income on food and rely on a specific food product. Although some farmers and food producers are benefitting from greater profits, the net effect of higher prices is a rise in the number of the poor. The World Bank estimates that an additional 44 million people have fallen into poverty in the developing world as a result of higher food prices. Overall, the number of chronically hungry people began to climb again after a brief decrease to 925 million in 2010 (see Figure 2). According 4 to Zoellick, â€Å"the trends towards the 1 billion are worrisome. Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world. â€Å"6 Figure 2 Distribution of Undernourished People in the World in 2010 (in Millions) Source: FAO Statistics Division, accessed at www. fao. org/economic/ess/en/, on April 7, 2011. India Especially Affected by High Prices Food prices are rising faster in India than in other large economies. As the country’s population continues to grow and middle class incomes rise, there is increasing pressure on the government to provide food for the entire country. Despite rapid economic growth over the past decade, India still struggles to feed its population: According to the 2005/2006 National Family Health Survey, 40 percent of children below the age of 3 were underweight and 45 percent were stunted. 7 Lack of investment has kept domestic agricultural productivity low as manual labor remains the dominant source of domestic food production. In 2008/2009, agriculture employed about 52 percent of the labor force, but only made up 13 percent of India’s GDP. 8 Farming and agriculture remain greatly inefficient and inadequate for feeding the country’s 1. 2 billion people. Low production and an unusually wet summer in 2010 contributed to the current domestic food inflation that reached a 16 percent annual rate in January 2011. This composite figure masks the rise in the price of some staples, such as onion and garlic, which rose by 71 percent during the past year. The sharp increase is most alarming for the 41 percent of the population in India who live on $1. 25 or less a day and spend a majority of their income on food, as even basic items are becoming unaffordable. 9 The government is responding to the current crisis by providing heavy subsidies for agricultural production and by importing increasing amounts of some staples, such as lentils and beans, to ensure their availability. It has also put export restrictions on certain products to keep them for domestic consumption. 10 These policies can only provide temporary solutions, however: Long-term investment is required in agricultural research to improve the quality of seeds, irrigation techniques, and modernize other production components. 115. References 1. World Bank, â€Å"Food Price Watch† (February 2011), accessed at www.worldbank. org/foodcrisis/food_price_watch_report_feb2011. html, on Feb. 17, 2011. 2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), â€Å"Global Food Price Monitor† (Feb. 3, 2011), accessed at www. fao. org/giews/english/gfpm/GFPM_02_2011. pdf, on Feb. 16, 2011. 3. FAO Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture, â€Å"Special Alert: A Severe Winter Drought in the North China Plain May Put Wheat Production at Risk† (Feb. 8, 2011). 4. World Bank, â€Å"Food Security Fears Rise Along With Prices† (April 2011), accessed at http://go. worldbank. org/VCXQZNWRA0, on April 7, 2011. 5. World Bank, â€Å"Food Price Watch† and FAO, â€Å"Global Food Price Monitor. † 6. â€Å"Food Price Hike Drives 44 Million People into Poverty,† World Bank Press Release No: 2011/333/PREM (Feb. 15, 2011), accessed at http://go. worldbank. org/OFGV8BZN20, on Feb. 17, 2011. 7. National Family Heath Survey, â€Å"Key Indicators for India† (2005-06), accessed at www. nfhsindia. org/pdf/India. pdf, on Feb. 16, 2011. 8. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, â€Å"Economic Survey 2010-11† (February 2011). 9. UNDP, â€Å"Multidimensional Poverty Index,† accessed at http://hdr. undp. org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Table5_reprint. pdf, on Feb. 17, 2011. 10. Corey Flintoff, â€Å"Food Price Surge Puts Strain on India’s Poor,† NPR (Jan. 6, 2011). 11. Renuka Mahadevan, â€Å"Productivity Growth in Indian Agriculture: The Role of Globalization and Economic Reform† Asia-Pacific Development Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2003. Case Discussion Questions 1. Who benefits from government policies to (a) promote production of ethanol and (b) place tariff barriers on imports of sugar cane? Who suffers as a result of these policies? 2. One estimate suggests that if food prices rise by one-third, they will reduce living standards in rich countries by about 3 percent, but in very poor ones by about 20 percent. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, unless policies change, cereal prices will rise by 10 to 20 percent by 2015 , and the expansion of bio fuel production could reduce calorie intake by 2 to 8 percent by 2020 in many of the world ‘s poorest nations. Should rich countries do anything about this potential problem? If so, what? 3. How might a policy of free trade in the United States and European Union cause food prices to drop? Should the United States eliminate the subsidies it pays to corn farmers? How might a free trade policy facilitate the efforts of the United Nations’ World Food Programme? 4. Consider the social implications of trade policy that is pro-producer. Is such a policy ethical when considered from the perspective of non-producers? What are the drawbacks of following a policy designed to protect the interests of certain groups within a country? 5. Protectionism in agriculture has been a central issue for the World Trade Organization in recent years. Given the current implications of the rising costs of food for the world’s poor, should the World Trade Organization do more?

The Economic Impact of Race and Gender in Relationship to differences Essay

The Economic Impact of Race and Gender in Relationship to differences Occupations - Essay Example According to the 2007 census, the blacks appeared to have invested significantly in businesses. The census marked a rise of 60.5% to close to 1.9 million black managed businesses. This shows that blacks are innovative. They do not wait for opportunities to come their way they go for the opportunity. The black business areas of concern included: health care and social assistance; repair department; maintenance department; and personal and laundry service sectors. Their involvements confirm that the black’s level of education is low. Despite the later fact, the population creates an income of 27.4 % from trade, retail and social assistance sector in the same year. The blacks prefer the residence around New York City constituting close to 8.1 % of the nation’s black owned business. The blacks’ least settled in Detroit, with 1.7% business of the total black owned businesses. Blacks also tend to be aggressive as evident a prominent figure like; in the field of service comprising, Oprah Winfrey who is a billionaire in the television industry, Kobe Bryant, who earns close to $27, 849 in the sporting industry, and the President Barrack Obama, topping the political scene. The black population tends to be distributed evenly though in small percentages to almost all sectors of the economy. The highest field of attendance is education, health care and social assistance with 291% of the total population; whilst least participative in the Agriculture forestry, hunting and mining industry comprising 0.6 % by 5ythe years 2011 (Glauber, 15). The population of the whites/ Caucasian in the market tends to be divided by gender; that is men and women in different disciplines. The male population in the management field appears as 34.8% and appears least in number, in the field of service comprising, up to 13.6%. The rest of the field occupied by

Psychology of Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psychology of Diversity - Essay Example Illinois law severely restricted African-Americans rights and liberties. This law demanded that all African-Americans settling in the state to produce a certificate of freedom. Blacks found without certificates were to be advertised in newspapers and hired out for a year. Free blacks could not testify against whites in court. Amidst of all such human right violations, some of the blacks found ways to make their marks in Illinois by acquiring land. The life of black women was doubly burdened by their race and their sex. Free blacks, who purchased their freedom from their masters, began to found new organizations and they joined hands with white abolitionists in the fight against slavery. But even those white abolitionists discriminated them from such activities. The blacks were tortured not only physically but mentally as well by publishing cruel cartoons describing the physical features of the blacks. Despite these considerable handicaps, African-Americans became the most significant Americans by the 1850s. The white American political system, that had so effectively marginalized them found itself quite unable to resolve the question of blacks political, social, and economic standing. The result was Civil War. The actions of President James Buchanan and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger Taney to establish white supremacy and were brought immense protests from the blacks, and brought leaders like Abraham Lincoln into action. Lincoln, despite his reservations about the workings of immediate black social equality and other concessions to American societys prevailing racial prejudice, boldly argued that blacks, as much as whites, deserved the Declaration of Independences fundamental freedoms of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†, which led to the Civil War and catapulted Abraham Lincoln from relative obscurity to the Presidents chair in 1861. (Drew E. VandeCre ek, Ph.D) In this article the author has concentrated more on the slavery existed

Psycho Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psycho - Essay Example Fictional plots within a movie have been included to present a manipulated cast to focus on the motive in bringing entertainment. Horror and epic plots are the movie examples that have led to unrealistic denouement within the plot development. In the horror setting, the distinction is issued on the virtues that present threatening, measures to individual sustainability. Psycho is a movie created by Alfred Hitchcock in a time that experienced a varied form movie production including strong visual implementation of horror scenes. Through Hitchcock, the manipulation of the subconscious had been developed to present reality that was unimaginable to humanity. He managed to represent that provisions that contributed to an imagination that threatened the psychological view of a sound mind. Although Psycho had been a horror based movie, the presentations that had been issued on the middle class society in influencing progress and relationships were highlighted. The production of a horror film has been linked to the provisions that are presented in arguing and developing confidence and courage for the unknown. Greenberg (118) has presented the movie to be the reflection of Hitchcock’s view on human corruption and the vulnerable form of behavioral traits. Hitchcock had been linked to create themes that evoked human emotions to presents characters that had been recognized as impairments to progress. The nature that he created the scenes had cumulated to provide an experience to the viewer and linked the plot to a horrific event. Psycho is a story created around the life of Marion Crane who is explained to meet the challenges presented within the society. Her desire to achieve progress leads her down the scandal that involved $40, 000 dollars. The movie begins on a high note when the violence is created within the first 40 minutes (Taylor 30). This provision has been the developed plot within modern horror movies that creates the incent ive to evoke the

Write a memo, Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Write a memo, - Essay Example Viral gastroenteritis, caused by norovirus, has been an epidemic in the nation, including the capital of South Caledonia, affecting communities such as schools, residential complexes, and emergency shelters for humanitarian aid, and causing illnesses such as fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, during its outbreak. There have however been limited cases of fatalities and victims are able to recover a few days after its onset. Secondary consequences such as restrain from work when the virus infects people or as people stay at home to tend to victims. A vaccine was developed for the infection and the Food and Drug Administration authorized for suitability for human use and for effectiveness in controlling the infection. The vaccine has no adverse effects and was approved for people above three years. The South Caledonia legislature then passed a law that would compel people to receive the vaccination, at the state’s cost, and fine a person who failed to receive the vaccination a sum of $ 750, unless there is a valid state exemption. Mr. Russell has been notified that he must receive the vaccine but he does not qualify for an exemption and do not wish to pursue it. He therefore seeks advice on possible suit against the state. Mr. Russell plans to sue the state for protection of his right of autonomy in order to avoid liability for not receiving vaccination against the viral gastroenteris. He relies on the provisions of the 14th amendment that provides that states shall not enact laws that infringe a citizen’s rights and liberty nor shall states deprive such rights without due process (Guminski, 2009). There are however other amendments that limit the rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Ninth Amendment provides that no right shall be interpreted to deny others their rights and the Tenth Amendment gives states powers such as legislations that are not reserved to the

The influence of social network media on consumer behaviour Essay

The influence of social network media on consumer behaviour - Essay Example Such response is said to be affected by consumers’ behavior. Thus, it is clear by this line of argument that consumers’ behaviours need to be substantially understood in order to successfully convey the message about the product. In this level of information, buyer behaviour is important consideration. According to Kotler et al (1999), buyer behaviour is in line with consumers’ ability to choose and consume. These consumers can be identified as individuals or households with the capacity to pay for something for personal consumption. Thus, in today’s marketing system, marketers are able to use different media to effectively convey the message about their products directly to the consumers. In today’s marketing activities, there are different messages imparted by the media for the prospective customers with regards to a specific line of offerings. This means that the media remain one of the most effective channels where information or messages about a certain line of products can substantially and effectively reach to prospective customers. Thus, it would make sense to essentially create information channeled through the media because in that way detailed information about an offering can reach to the consumers. Today, the existence of social networks brings forward the ability of marketers to integrate information on the different line of offerings directly to the consumers with and without the latter knowing so much about it in detail. In its general context, social network is consisting of individuals who are considered actors with sets of relations defined among them (Wasserman and Faust, 1994). These individuals may be friends or belong to a certain organisation with one common interests and dislikes. These individuals may be also looking for someone else who could be their ultimate partners in life in the future. These individuals may be those who have common and basic interest on particular subjects such as religion, tec hnology, sexual relationships and others. Knowing that a social network is concerned about all these things, it is easy for marketers to create remarkable moves in order to design strategies that fit to the needs of target buyers. The existence of social network media seems to be increasing and even users of them are increasing in number. This only proves that connecting people from all over the world is such a good strategy that will link consumers together in one particular purpose in the first place. This is to know their buying behaviour in a universal context. In particular, this paper talks about the influence of social network media on consumer behavior. In detail, this would talk about the impact of social network media on consumers’ personality, attitude, culture, perception and more and how these in particular defined their buying behaviour. Characteristics affecting consumer behaviour According to Kotler et al. (1999), there are characteristics of buyers that can i nfluence their buying behaviour and these include cultural, social, personal and psychological. Integrating these characteristics in the social network media would therefore make a sound move among marketers who always seem busy to study and influence buyers’ behaviours. This shows the importance to understand each of these characteristics in the context of social network media. This brings forward the ability to analyse up to what level are these concepts of consumer behaviour

Race and the Death Penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Race and the Death Penalty - Research Paper Example In every modern society, there are authorities to impose punishments on wrongdoers and the nature of authorities varies with the kind of offenses. For example, a child who breaks the rules of a family at home is punished by his parents or the other elderly members. But, in the society when someone gets involved in illegal activities is punished by the criminal judicial system. There are two major reasons for inflicting punishment on criminals: one belief is that it is fair that people who break the law be punished according to the level of his offence, and the second belief is that punishments will discourage offenders from repeating their wrongdoings in the future and will also put fear in the minds of others from doing wrong. These two beliefs are universal in every human society. The debate surrounding the necessity of punishments including capital punishment, therefore, does not focus on the â€Å"basic principles but on the fairness, appropriateness, and effectiveness of specif ic punishments for specific offenses.†1 Because of the irrevocable nature of the death penalty, it is the most criticized form of punishment. In the United States, racial prejudices were pervasive and played an important role in the decision of the jury in regard to death penalties as â€Å"the color of a defendant and victim’s skin plays a crucial and unacceptable role in deciding who receives the death penalty in America.†2 It has been seen that an offender is more likely to get the death penalty if the murdered victim is a white man. This paper focuses on the racial prejudices surrounding death penalty in the United States. Before studying the death penalty from the angle of racial prejudices it is important to note that racism is a major part of the American society.

A one page summary of a lawsuit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A one page summary of a lawsuit - Essay Example SAP vowed to install the required changes in their current system which to them, was operation was as a result of negligence in the operational insight of TomorrowNow. The defense in this case was that the fault had nothing to do with SAP employees. SAP is quoted as saying they consider illegal downloading as illegal and unacceptable and would never condone such actions. Two years later, a judge ruled that SAP must pay Oracle 1.3 billion in damages. The crime was copyright infringement. SAP went back to court to appeal over the ruling. SAP argued that the amount they were liable to pay was the money lost by Oracle due to the customers that moved to TommorowNow and not the amount suggested by Oracle. Several motions were filed with the judge in a bid to ensure that a fairer and just sum was charged. Over a year later, a judge overruled the judgment terming it as â€Å"grossly excessive†. SAP had previously argued that the damages paid were in excess and they should have paid only 40 million dollars in damages to Oracle to cover lost profits (Niccolai, p.1). The verdict was read in Oakland, California in a U.S District Court. The case, which has taken place over four years, will now open even more court cases as Oracle will definitely fight this overruling. This will, however, take place only if Oracle rejects the 217 million that the judge ruled should have been the original damages received by the company. My opinion is that the original ruling was too much as the damages imposed on Oracle could not have amounted to 1.3 billion. The case would have opened additional cases and set the pace for more court cases of the same nature to be developed, costing a lot of companies a lot of

Market Failures & Professional Dilemmas Essay Example for Free

Market Failures Professional Dilemmas Essay Based on the Edwards article which market failures or imperfections are present in the â€Å"Lobster Thermidor† case? And can you identify any in your professional life? Based on the Halbert Ingulli reading (â€Å"Making An Ethical Decision†) apply the methods of ethical reasoning to these situations. Two market failures can be observed in the â€Å"Lobster Thermidor† case, a tragedy of public goods and informational deficiencies. First of all, the divers have to dive deeper, to the limit of diving safety, since overfishing has made the lobsters rare and to catch the lobster less than 30 meter down is getting harder and harder. This is the very typical case of public goods, where the public resources such as the lobsters under the sea are usually over-consumed by the individuals who try to maximize one’s interest. Deforestation, which has destroyed the entire farming industry and forced Miskitos out to entirely rely on diving, was another tragedy caused by the overconsumption of the public goods, forest. Secondly, both the divers and the end-consumers make wrong, irrational decisions cause of the lack of information. Divers, who do not recognize the true market price of lobsters as well as the true price of potential risks, bargain away their goods with little danger pay allowances. Also, the consumers, who have no idea about the severe fishing environment in Honduras, are reluctant to pay more than current prices, formed lower than it should be at the cost of human lives. The company where I worked prior to school has always tried its best to remove any little elements of competition in its area. If there were a small but promising start-up with innovative idea and technology, that company used every means –most were legal or grey while a few were nearly illegal- to get rid of the potential threats. For instance, it quickly imitates the new technology of the start-up, take out the similar patent, scout the core human resources, block off the critical suppliers and seed funds, cut the price of competitive goods to the minimum level, and do hostile MA. This case also showed the issues related to public goods and informational deficiencies. The company attempted to minimize the production/dissemination of new technologies, which can be considered as public goods, and the newborn ventures could not protect themselves cause of the limited access to the information. From the utilitarianism perspective, these are reasonable and desirable attempts because the larger number of stakeholders can be satisfied. My company had more than 20,000 employees while the average start-ups have no more than 100 employees. Considering the families of employees, shareholders, subcontractors, and the related industries, maximizing profit of my company could bring higher utilities than the success of small ventures. Even in long-term, my company’s decision would not be wrong since the possibility of success of start-ups are extremely low compared to the global conglomerates. My company, which has the global network, huge infrastructure, and accumulated knowhow can exploit the new technology better and thereby encourage the social progress. In contrast, from the deontological view, it was absolutely wrong. My company not only hindered the fair competition but also committed illegal acts. Whether the result proved positive or negative is not important for the deontologists. Finally, it was not proper when applying the concept of virtue ethics since the motives of the actions of the company was not correct and contributes nearly nothing to the harmonious relationship with the community it belonged.

A Comparative Study of Consumer Behaviour

A Comparative Study of Consumer Behaviour ABSTRACT: Consumer Behavior is an aspect that is given a lot of importance in the globe of marketing. A lot of products have been a sensation or a breakdown due to inappropriate analysis of consumer behaviour and motivation. Food is a basic requirement for all livelihoods and everybody who earns spends money on food without any second thought. To live we need to eat and therefore food is tremendously important in all our lives. Todays consumers are becoming increasingly displeased with GM (Genetically Modified) and conventional fruits and vegetables and therefore are stirring towards organic fruits and vegetables. Many consumers are going organic not only in the case of fruits and vegetables but also regarding skincare, beauty products, paper and also clothing! Organic fruits and vegetables are not only said to be healthier due to ethical ways of production which do not use man-made chemicals and unnecessary preservatives as opposed to conventional food. It is also said to be eco-friendly beca use of environment cognizant methods which are used for the production of organic food. The advantages of organic fruits and vegetables are more whereas the disadvantages (such as price premium) are negligible when compared to its better side. Regular buyers of organic fruits and vegetables are willing to overlook these minor disadvantages which are negligible when compared to its disadvantages. In this research work, the consumer behaviour in the United Kingdom regarding organic fruits and vegetables is studied and compared with that in India. The factors (such as consumer expectations, beliefs, criteria, concerns, quality, awareness etc) that affect marketing of organic fruits and vegetables in UK and India are also studied with relevance to consumer behaviour. INTRODUCTION: Background This research work revolves around the consumer behaviour and attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables in the United Kingdom and in India. A brief introduction will be given on consumer behavior and how important it is in the field of marketing. Secondly, a deeper understanding of the term organic will be given. Many theories and aspects related to organic fruits and vegetables will be discussed and reviewed as well in this dissertation. A number of consumers of organic and conventional food are consulted to get their views and opinions about organic fruits and vegetables. Not everyones attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables seem to be the same, therefore the application of certain statistics methods help us in further understanding the relation and patterns in the consumer behavior patterns and trends in organic fruits and vegetables in the two countries. This study helps understand how the consumers in UK and in India differ from each other and also help understand the ways they are similar in. On the whole, the differences and similarities between the consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in the two countries are studied. To get this information, many respondents were asked to answer questionnaires regarding this topic and these answers were analysed using statistics. In the end these are discussed and limitations and conclusions are given and suggested. Research Questions: How does the consumer behavior towards organic fruits and vegetables vary between India and UK? In what ways do consumers in the two countries expect the food to be different from convenience foods? What are the popular beliefs among consumers about organic fruits and vegetables? When will India accept organic fruits and vegetables widely, the way UK has? What makes organic fruits and vegetables to be preferred more than convenience fruits and vegetables? Why is there a variance between the preference rate and sales of organic fruits and vegetables in both India and UK? What are the factors owing to this? General Aim The aim of this study is to find the consumer behavior and attitudes towards consumption of organic fruits and vegetables in the UK and India. The elements and factors (health factors, eco-friendliness, ethics, taste, quality, safety standards etc) influencing the consumers decision making are also studied. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Introduction This section talks about the methodology used for this piece of research work. Methodologies vary from research work to work due to the difference in subjects, areas and study view. What methodology is used for one research purpose may not be suitable or applicable to another. Sometimes it might not be possible for a researcher to sit and observe all that he is researching. To collect primary data for this research study, survey research approach has been used. The non probability convenience sampling method has been used for this research primary data collection method. Therefore, the method of preparing a set of questions and selecting a group of people to get to answer them and studying these answers based on an already set theory or patterns, is common and a lot many researchers today are using this form of methodology. Application of statistics to these answers helps analyze and understand the trends, patterns and fashion that the study has proved using this method. â€Å"Potte r (1996, 2002) has roundly criticized researchers who use his own approach (discourse analysis) for depending too much on interview data and has argued for a greater use of naturally occurring data.† http://asksage.typepad.com/methods/. This section deals with the methodology used for this study and the course of action taken to complete the research study for the purpose of this dissertation. Purpose of this Research The obvious purpose of this research is to study the consumer behavior towards organic fruits and vegetables in India and in United Kingdom and to compare the two. While conducting the study, the marketing flaws and strengths of it, customers attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables in the two countries will be studied. The attitudes of customers towards organic fruits and vegetables will be studied and explored. It is important to identify the determinants of the success and failure of organic fruits and vegetables industry in India and the United Kingdom. The consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in India and the United Kingdom might differ a lot in their way of behavior as considered in the marketing field and their attitudes towards it might not be the same or might be the same. This research will help in understanding the consumer behavior towards organic fruits and vegetables in the two countries by conducting a comparative study of the consumer behaviors from the t wo countries. Research Questions How do the attitudes of Indian consumers differ from that of the British with respect to organic fruits and vegetables? The above given question is the main aim and the biggest question for this study and research work. There are of course many sub questions as well which will also be researched in the course of this study. The question speaks about finding out the attitude differences in the two countrys consumer behaviour but the study might also prove the similarities in the two countrys consumer behaviour patterns towards organic fruits and vegetables. Instrument This research work is conducted on a survey of consumers and non-consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in India and in the United Kingdom. The study (survey) questionnaire was distributed to customers of local supermarkets which sell both organic and conventional fruits and vegetables in India (Chennai and Delhi) and in the United Kingdom (London and Birmingham). The questionnaire included a brief note about the study being conducted and a variety of questions regarding the area of research. The questionnaire included a brief note about the study being conducted and a variety of questions regarding the area of research. The questionnaires were handed out in person by the student conducting the study and her friends outside supermarkets selling organic fruits and vegetables in India and in the United Kingdom. The questionnaire had 15 questions which took not more than 5 minutes to answer. Most respondents were happy to help out and were interested in the subject of organic food. Population The questionnaires were distributed in person to organic food consumers and non-consumers. It took a period of over (18 days in India to get respondents to answer the questionnaires and 22 days in the United Kingdom to get the respondents to answer the questionnaires related to organic fruits and vegetables). Sample While conducting a research study, it is not possible to take into consideration the whole population. For example when studying Indias consumers, it is not possible to take into consideration one billion plus consumers in India, therefore we take a selected sample to represent this entire population which is 100 from Chennai, 100 from Delhi (i.e 200 from India on the whole), and 100 from Birmingham and 100 from London (i.e 200 from the United Kingdom). These 400 respondents are taken as sample population and their answers are expected to correspond to all the consumers of the two countries (United Kingdom and India) respectively. The sample population consisted of 200 respondents from India and 200 respondents from the United Kingdom. Out of the 200 respondents from India, 76 were male and 124 were female and out of the 200 respondents from the United Kingdom, 84 were male and 116 were female. The other data about age, monthly earnings, occupation etc are given under the section of empirical findings and data analysis. Data Collection Every research study needs primary and secondary data. Secondary data is collected from already established and published information which has been studied, researched and verified by someone else. The use of such data for research purpose gives certified information provided it has been taken from reliable and referenced sources. Secondary data is collected from already published studies, papers, theories, articles etc. This data might not be valid in todays times and circumstances due to the fact that it must have been published or verified during the time when circumstances and states were different in simple terms, the data might be outdated. Therefore, it is important to verify if the secondary data collected is valid. It is advisable to use secondary data collected is valid. It is advisable to use secondary data for research which is well referenced and uses valid and checkable data. For this research study, books, journals, magazines and electronic databases have been used which are verifiable and authentic. Primary data was collected through the usage of questionnaire as explained under the sampling section. The primary data collected was statistically analyzed using statistical formulae and methods. The data used in this study from other studies, papers, theories, articles etc are referenced well so that the question of plagiarism does not arise. These data are used under the literature review section and they are reviewed and explained and discussed. Sampling Methods The non-probability convenience sample method was used for the purpose of this research study. The short-comings of time and resources are not a problem in the case of this method of sampling. Non probability sampling does not involve random sampling and therefore it might not represent the population well. But this does not have to be true in all cases though it depends upon the study area also. Convenience sampling is also referred to as haphazard sampling or accidental sampling and is named so because it is convenient for the researcher and easy to use. It might not be a good representative of the population but it is a good representative in case of a homogeneous sample population. Only a selective number of consumers are considered in this study who are taken and considered as representatives of the entire population (consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in this case) for the study and research purpose. The probability sampling method proves to be more expensive and time c onsuming, which are only two of the many short comings in that case. For primary data collection, the questionnaires prepared for the purpose of this research are e-mailed to 200 people in United Kingdom and 200 in India. Another 400 were distributed in supermarkets (200 in India and 200 in UK). More number of questionnaires were sent through e-mail but due to software and document problems, they were not considered for the study. Many people who wanted to participate in this questionnaire session were unfortunately not able to do so due to time constraints. Finally 400 respondents answered the questionnaires which were used for the purpose of this research work. Questionnaire Design The questionnaire consisted of 15 questions which had multiple choice of answers each. Each respondent had to select one out of the given answers with respect to each question. The four answers for each question were related to the same aspect but there might not be any relation to the other questions answers. This is because a variety of questions regarding the consumer behavior and attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables were considered. The first few questions were about personal details and background such as occupation, monthly earning, educational qualification etc which were followed by questions regarding organic fruits and vegetables and their opinions towards it. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A theoretical framework basically lays down the guidelines for the research work. The concepts, theories, cases, models etc used for the presentation of the research are basically explained for understanding the study being carried out. In this dissertation, a few theories and models will be reviewed and discussed. Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is a very widely studied subject in the field of marketing. Without consumers, it is very difficult for businesses of any sort to function normally. Consumers are the raison-d-etre for a business mere existence. The business may be based on profit or it might also be a non-profit organization. The field of consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations 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. Consumer behaviour mainly sheds light on how consumers decide to spend their various resources like time, money etc on various products so as to meet their needs and requirements. Consumer behaviour encompasses study of what, when, why and where the consumers will buy their products. It also focuses on how often the consumers use the products. Furthermore, it also sheds light on how the consumers evaluate the products after the purchase and the effect of evaluations on their future purchases. From the marketing point of view, it is very important to understand the consumer well and to attend to their needs, wants and demands to be successful. A consumer is the centre of attention in case of most marketing techniques; after all, it is the consumers a business needs to run. In the case of organic fruits and vegetables, a consumer might decide to buy it for its benefits on health or the environment or maybe because of the advertising for it is good. There are various factors that affect the consumer decision making process which is also discussed further. Models of Consumer Choice: The Cognitive model: When consumers make an important purchase for the first time, they may reflect on alternatives and discuss pros and cons with others with the intention of securing benefits and avoiding costs. This model is sometimes called the extended-problem solving model. (East, Wright and Vanhuele, 2008) The Reinforcement Model: Choice is controlled by factors in the environment that reward and facilitate some alternatives more than others. Managerial control is achieved by changing the consumers situation. However, what is rewarding to some persons may not be so to others and this limits influence. (East, Wright and Vanhuele , 2008) The habit model: Choice is controlled by managing stimuli (brand name, logo, pack features, etc) that have become associated with a product as a result of past purchases. Sometimes this is called stimulus control. (East, Wright and Vanhuele, 2008) Consumer Behaviour models: The purpose of consumer behaviour models is to provide description, explanation and prediction of purchase behaviour. At the same time the models provide a conceptual framework and so help researchers to set up and test new ideas so as to give even better explanations and predictions of behaviour. On the positive side, these models do help to organize research results and to demonstrate the complexity of decision processes involved in even a simple purchase, such as a can of soup in the local supermarket. On the negative side most of the models can be criticized as providing no more than a description of a range of influencing variables. There are four main clusters of factors that have an effect on purchase behaviour. They are political, economic and technical; cultural and social; psychological; and marketing influences. (Bareham, 1995) Theories make it easier to understand a concept as they outline causes and effects that are possible and what to anticipate provided the input (the happening circumstance) is given. In most cases, it is easy to analyze whether practical situations are normal and acceptable with the help of proven time tested theories. Marketing segmentation The market is divided into different groups or segments based on their needs, tastes, income, and a lot of other criteria. Marketing segmentation is based on a lot of research and important factors to suit the needs and purposes. Some of the marketing segmentation is as follows: Geographic segmentation: This involves segmenting the market by location on the assumption that people living in one location will have similar needs, wants and preferences and these will differ significantly from people living in other locations. There are some obvious limits to this assumption. People all over the world drink Coca-cola and buy Japanese electronic goods for instance. When you think about it from the viewpoint of the consumer, most buying behaviour is actually local. Localized consumer behaviour is often expressed through the presence of a significantly large cultural or sub cultural group that is different from the main stream. There are also geographically based differences between consumers for reasons that are more complex or obscure. It is not immediately obvious why some sections of consumers have different behaviour than the other sections. But knowing that, they will do, can be important to the marketing strategy. Demographic segmentation: Demographic segmentation deals with the many ways if statistically categorizing all the people in a national population. For example, a national population can be divided into subgroups based on age, sex, income, education, occupation, social class, family size, race and religion. In a sense, there are also different ways of looking at the same individual consumer, because of course we belong to each of these groups. Different aspects of our identity will be relevant to different products at different times. Baby foods can only be marketed to parents of young children, for example and a middle-class, middle aged, middle income, middle manager is more likely to be in the market for an exercise bike than a motor bike. Some of the important specifics of demographic segmentation are Age: Age is perhaps the most frequently used demographic variable in marketing segmentation. One reason for this is that the lifecycle has been divided up by society into what seem to be easily recognizable groups that are clearly differentiated from one another- infants, children, teenagers, young adults and so on. Sex: Dividing the market into male and female segments is another frequently used strategy. But even here, the old marketing certainties are breaking down. It used to be a safe bet for marketers to target do-it-yourself products exclusively at men and supermarket shopping at women. But with the larger increase in single occupant hose-holds and one parent families (most of them female), many more women are buying things that men would do if they were in a family. In addition, more women than men buy for other consumers. Socio-economic status: A persons socio economic status is determined by education, income and occupation. Though there are many exceptions of course, these are three factors often in alignment. More highly educated people tend to do managerial and professional jobs that bring a relatively high income, and vice-versa. For obvious reasons most marketers are more interested in people with high socio economic status rather than low. Income is often considered the most important variable in this case because it is so easy to quantify and because it dictates entry to certain markets. But income by itself can be very misleading. Psychological segmentation: The attempt to come up with a practical form of consumer profile has concentrated on three areas of behaviour: activities, interests, and opinions. Segmentation by usage: This form of segmentation is based on information about volume and frequency of purchase for a given product. It is a popular way of segmentation of markets because there is a lot of readily available information about patterns of usage for most goods and services. In fact, with so many transactions now electronically recorded, a great deal more of data is available than is actually used. Perhaps the most familiar usage data is provided by the electronic point of sale (EPOS) used by supermarket checkouts. Not only are all the purchased items listed, together with their prices, but so is the date and exact time of purchase and the method of payment used. Segmentation by benefit: This form of market segmentation is based on knowledge of the benefits that consumers seek from that particular product. The task of the marketer is to include the appropriate characteristics- or the impression of them in the design of particular goods or services. In a sense this kind of segmentation is at the entire marketing concept find out what people want and provide it for them. Segmentation is very important for a firm or an industry to market its products strategically and for it to be a success. In the case of organic fuits and vegetables, it comes under the category of food which is a basic necessity and therefore would appeal to and include a lot many segments in the markets. In this research study we are considering only the United Kingdom and India. So geographically these two countries are covered. Demographically the middle aged and the older people will be targeted age wise, both sexes, and the middle class and upper class levels will be targeted according to the socio economic status segmentation. Since the middle aged and older people usually are the ones who go shopping for fruits and vegetables, they are targeted age wise, both men and women shop for it, and when it comes to socio economic status, the middle and the upper income groups are targeted as organic fruits and vegetables are more expensive than conventional fruits and vegetables. Many shoppers especially in India will give up the idea of buying food when it comes to the price factor that is not acceptable for them. That is the reason why the middle and upper income groups are aimed at here. Most people both in India and United Kingdom consume fruits and vegetables everyday. In India, no meal is complete without fruits or vegetables and in the United Kingdom, people are encouraged to consume fruits and vegetables everyday with the healthy 5 a day concept though it is already a staple portion of a healthy meal. These segments are most suitable for being aimed at for marketing of organic fruits and vegetables and therefore they are the target segments. Decision making process There exist a number of factors which affect the consumer decision making process. Each of the factors has many sub-factors. Communication Situation The situation in which the consumer receives information about a product or service influences the buying decision of the consumer. For example, in the case of organic fruits and vegetables, an advertisement speaking about the bad impacts of the chemicals used in conventional foods right when the buyer is suffering from food poisoning might influence the consumer to buy food that is healthier and does not involve the usage of chemicals responsible for food poisoning and therefore influence the consumer to go in for purchase of organic fruits and vegetables in future. Purchase situation: The situation involved while a consumer is out to purchase will influence the buying process of the consumer. For example, a very health conscious friend is out with a consumer shopping for food, the friends suggestions of low cholesterol, high fiber food items will influence the consumer to buy healthier food products. Situations like when the consumer is very hungry and shopping for food might make the consumer end up purchasing food items that the consumer might have a craving for right then. Usage situation: Marketers need to understand the usage situations for which the products are meant. Using this knowledge, marketers can communicate how their products create consumer satisfaction in each relevant usage situation. For example, a recent study found that consuming 1.5 cup servings of oat based cereal a day could lower cholesterol. To increase sales, a Cheerios ad depicted the advantages of it. Disposition Situation Some consumers consider the case of disposition an important attribute towards the buying decision process. For example, if there was a rule stating that all the particular products from a household should only be disposed off at a particular point for a locality which is open only for a fixed time in the weekends, or they would be fined heavily, there would be a large decrease in the sales of that product. Situational characteristics Physical surroundings such as dà ©cor, sounds, aromas, lighting, weather and configurations of merchandise or other materials surrounding the stimulus object influences the buyer. Also, social surroundings, temporal perspectives, task definition And antecedent states influence the buyer decision making process. The marketer should influence these factors as largely as possible to influence the buyer in a favorable way to appeal to the customers. How decisions are made by people: The obvious point about decisions worth spelling out is that we are constantly making them. Form the moment we get up in the morning we are faced with deciding what to wear and what to have for breakfast and we make decisions throughout the rest of the day. Indeed we normally make so many decisions in the course of the day, every day, that only rarely do we realize that in fact we are making a decision. Decisions are just part of the business of living our lives, and are taken for granted. Rationality: Rationality is what you and I would like to think we use when making a decision. Moreover, we like to believe we are rational in both the psychological and the economic senses of the world. Psychologically, we make objective, dispassionate choices that are not influenced by prejudice or other irrational influences. Economically, we find out all the information there is on each of the alternatives, assess the advantages and disadvantages of each, and then choose the best one on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis. Most decisions are made in a state of incomplete information. Heuristics: A heuristic is simply a procedure or method or strategy for solving a problem or making a decision. It is similar to an algorithm, a procedure widely used in science, except that and algorithm is guaranteed to find the solution, or the best solution, whereas a heuristic is not. Perhaps, then it would be better for us to think of a heuristic as a rule-of-thumb. That is, a heuristic may be a good place to start if faced with a decision and it may provide a reasonable guide in the search for a solution, but no more than that. A heuristic may therefore be helpful, but it might also lead us totally astray. The reason we need heuristics when making decisions is simply that the world we live in turns us into misers-cognitive misers. Three forms of heuristic that psychologists have identified in the way people make decision: the representative heuristic, the attitude heuristic and the availability heuristic. Every step taken by anyone would require a decision to be made be it whether to put your right foot forward or your left, to eat spinach or a burger and so on. Some are taken with our conscious effort and some with our sub-conscious mind. When it comes to purchasing organic fruits and vegetables, a number of decisions need to be taken. For that matter the purchase making decision of any product is made based on several factors. For example, in the case of buying organic food, a consumer might think if he really needs to shell out 10% extra for a kg of organic onions or whether he is really doing himself any good by consuming organic potatoes. Questions such as these are answered in a heuristic pattern which leads to the purchase of organic fruits and vegetables or otherwise. Attitudes: The study of attitudes is one of the most intensively researched areas of psychology. Although there are over 100 different definitions of the term, a widely accepted definition of attitude would be: A stable, long lasting, learned predisposition to respond to certain things in a certain way. The concept has a cognitive (belief) aspect, an affective (feeling) aspect, and a conative (action) aspect. Characteristics and components of attitudes: Like a proprietary pain killer, attitudes contain not one, not two, but three active ingredients which are the cognitive component, the affective component, and the conative component. The cognitive component is mainly concerned with a consumers opinions about the products properties, for example whether it is crunchy, chewy, whether the price is reasonable, or whether the packaging is informative. The affective component deals with the consumers feelings about the products properties, for example if it is appealing or if it is un-appealing, is it liked or disliked? The conative component relates to the consumers likely behaviour in relation to the product. Sources of attitudes: The three main sources of attitudes are family, peers, and direct experience. Attitudes and behaviour: The commonsense notion that knowing someones attitudes towards a product will inform you of the likelihood of their buying it is quite a useful rule-of-thumbfor practical purposes. It is certainly A Comparative Study of Consumer Behaviour A Comparative Study of Consumer Behaviour ABSTRACT: Consumer Behavior is an aspect that is given a lot of importance in the globe of marketing. A lot of products have been a sensation or a breakdown due to inappropriate analysis of consumer behaviour and motivation. Food is a basic requirement for all livelihoods and everybody who earns spends money on food without any second thought. To live we need to eat and therefore food is tremendously important in all our lives. Todays consumers are becoming increasingly displeased with GM (Genetically Modified) and conventional fruits and vegetables and therefore are stirring towards organic fruits and vegetables. Many consumers are going organic not only in the case of fruits and vegetables but also regarding skincare, beauty products, paper and also clothing! Organic fruits and vegetables are not only said to be healthier due to ethical ways of production which do not use man-made chemicals and unnecessary preservatives as opposed to conventional food. It is also said to be eco-friendly beca use of environment cognizant methods which are used for the production of organic food. The advantages of organic fruits and vegetables are more whereas the disadvantages (such as price premium) are negligible when compared to its better side. Regular buyers of organic fruits and vegetables are willing to overlook these minor disadvantages which are negligible when compared to its disadvantages. In this research work, the consumer behaviour in the United Kingdom regarding organic fruits and vegetables is studied and compared with that in India. The factors (such as consumer expectations, beliefs, criteria, concerns, quality, awareness etc) that affect marketing of organic fruits and vegetables in UK and India are also studied with relevance to consumer behaviour. INTRODUCTION: Background This research work revolves around the consumer behaviour and attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables in the United Kingdom and in India. A brief introduction will be given on consumer behavior and how important it is in the field of marketing. Secondly, a deeper understanding of the term organic will be given. Many theories and aspects related to organic fruits and vegetables will be discussed and reviewed as well in this dissertation. A number of consumers of organic and conventional food are consulted to get their views and opinions about organic fruits and vegetables. Not everyones attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables seem to be the same, therefore the application of certain statistics methods help us in further understanding the relation and patterns in the consumer behavior patterns and trends in organic fruits and vegetables in the two countries. This study helps understand how the consumers in UK and in India differ from each other and also help understand the ways they are similar in. On the whole, the differences and similarities between the consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in the two countries are studied. To get this information, many respondents were asked to answer questionnaires regarding this topic and these answers were analysed using statistics. In the end these are discussed and limitations and conclusions are given and suggested. Research Questions: How does the consumer behavior towards organic fruits and vegetables vary between India and UK? In what ways do consumers in the two countries expect the food to be different from convenience foods? What are the popular beliefs among consumers about organic fruits and vegetables? When will India accept organic fruits and vegetables widely, the way UK has? What makes organic fruits and vegetables to be preferred more than convenience fruits and vegetables? Why is there a variance between the preference rate and sales of organic fruits and vegetables in both India and UK? What are the factors owing to this? General Aim The aim of this study is to find the consumer behavior and attitudes towards consumption of organic fruits and vegetables in the UK and India. The elements and factors (health factors, eco-friendliness, ethics, taste, quality, safety standards etc) influencing the consumers decision making are also studied. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Introduction This section talks about the methodology used for this piece of research work. Methodologies vary from research work to work due to the difference in subjects, areas and study view. What methodology is used for one research purpose may not be suitable or applicable to another. Sometimes it might not be possible for a researcher to sit and observe all that he is researching. To collect primary data for this research study, survey research approach has been used. The non probability convenience sampling method has been used for this research primary data collection method. Therefore, the method of preparing a set of questions and selecting a group of people to get to answer them and studying these answers based on an already set theory or patterns, is common and a lot many researchers today are using this form of methodology. Application of statistics to these answers helps analyze and understand the trends, patterns and fashion that the study has proved using this method. â€Å"Potte r (1996, 2002) has roundly criticized researchers who use his own approach (discourse analysis) for depending too much on interview data and has argued for a greater use of naturally occurring data.† http://asksage.typepad.com/methods/. This section deals with the methodology used for this study and the course of action taken to complete the research study for the purpose of this dissertation. Purpose of this Research The obvious purpose of this research is to study the consumer behavior towards organic fruits and vegetables in India and in United Kingdom and to compare the two. While conducting the study, the marketing flaws and strengths of it, customers attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables in the two countries will be studied. The attitudes of customers towards organic fruits and vegetables will be studied and explored. It is important to identify the determinants of the success and failure of organic fruits and vegetables industry in India and the United Kingdom. The consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in India and the United Kingdom might differ a lot in their way of behavior as considered in the marketing field and their attitudes towards it might not be the same or might be the same. This research will help in understanding the consumer behavior towards organic fruits and vegetables in the two countries by conducting a comparative study of the consumer behaviors from the t wo countries. Research Questions How do the attitudes of Indian consumers differ from that of the British with respect to organic fruits and vegetables? The above given question is the main aim and the biggest question for this study and research work. There are of course many sub questions as well which will also be researched in the course of this study. The question speaks about finding out the attitude differences in the two countrys consumer behaviour but the study might also prove the similarities in the two countrys consumer behaviour patterns towards organic fruits and vegetables. Instrument This research work is conducted on a survey of consumers and non-consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in India and in the United Kingdom. The study (survey) questionnaire was distributed to customers of local supermarkets which sell both organic and conventional fruits and vegetables in India (Chennai and Delhi) and in the United Kingdom (London and Birmingham). The questionnaire included a brief note about the study being conducted and a variety of questions regarding the area of research. The questionnaire included a brief note about the study being conducted and a variety of questions regarding the area of research. The questionnaires were handed out in person by the student conducting the study and her friends outside supermarkets selling organic fruits and vegetables in India and in the United Kingdom. The questionnaire had 15 questions which took not more than 5 minutes to answer. Most respondents were happy to help out and were interested in the subject of organic food. Population The questionnaires were distributed in person to organic food consumers and non-consumers. It took a period of over (18 days in India to get respondents to answer the questionnaires and 22 days in the United Kingdom to get the respondents to answer the questionnaires related to organic fruits and vegetables). Sample While conducting a research study, it is not possible to take into consideration the whole population. For example when studying Indias consumers, it is not possible to take into consideration one billion plus consumers in India, therefore we take a selected sample to represent this entire population which is 100 from Chennai, 100 from Delhi (i.e 200 from India on the whole), and 100 from Birmingham and 100 from London (i.e 200 from the United Kingdom). These 400 respondents are taken as sample population and their answers are expected to correspond to all the consumers of the two countries (United Kingdom and India) respectively. The sample population consisted of 200 respondents from India and 200 respondents from the United Kingdom. Out of the 200 respondents from India, 76 were male and 124 were female and out of the 200 respondents from the United Kingdom, 84 were male and 116 were female. The other data about age, monthly earnings, occupation etc are given under the section of empirical findings and data analysis. Data Collection Every research study needs primary and secondary data. Secondary data is collected from already established and published information which has been studied, researched and verified by someone else. The use of such data for research purpose gives certified information provided it has been taken from reliable and referenced sources. Secondary data is collected from already published studies, papers, theories, articles etc. This data might not be valid in todays times and circumstances due to the fact that it must have been published or verified during the time when circumstances and states were different in simple terms, the data might be outdated. Therefore, it is important to verify if the secondary data collected is valid. It is advisable to use secondary data collected is valid. It is advisable to use secondary data for research which is well referenced and uses valid and checkable data. For this research study, books, journals, magazines and electronic databases have been used which are verifiable and authentic. Primary data was collected through the usage of questionnaire as explained under the sampling section. The primary data collected was statistically analyzed using statistical formulae and methods. The data used in this study from other studies, papers, theories, articles etc are referenced well so that the question of plagiarism does not arise. These data are used under the literature review section and they are reviewed and explained and discussed. Sampling Methods The non-probability convenience sample method was used for the purpose of this research study. The short-comings of time and resources are not a problem in the case of this method of sampling. Non probability sampling does not involve random sampling and therefore it might not represent the population well. But this does not have to be true in all cases though it depends upon the study area also. Convenience sampling is also referred to as haphazard sampling or accidental sampling and is named so because it is convenient for the researcher and easy to use. It might not be a good representative of the population but it is a good representative in case of a homogeneous sample population. Only a selective number of consumers are considered in this study who are taken and considered as representatives of the entire population (consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in this case) for the study and research purpose. The probability sampling method proves to be more expensive and time c onsuming, which are only two of the many short comings in that case. For primary data collection, the questionnaires prepared for the purpose of this research are e-mailed to 200 people in United Kingdom and 200 in India. Another 400 were distributed in supermarkets (200 in India and 200 in UK). More number of questionnaires were sent through e-mail but due to software and document problems, they were not considered for the study. Many people who wanted to participate in this questionnaire session were unfortunately not able to do so due to time constraints. Finally 400 respondents answered the questionnaires which were used for the purpose of this research work. Questionnaire Design The questionnaire consisted of 15 questions which had multiple choice of answers each. Each respondent had to select one out of the given answers with respect to each question. The four answers for each question were related to the same aspect but there might not be any relation to the other questions answers. This is because a variety of questions regarding the consumer behavior and attitudes towards organic fruits and vegetables were considered. The first few questions were about personal details and background such as occupation, monthly earning, educational qualification etc which were followed by questions regarding organic fruits and vegetables and their opinions towards it. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A theoretical framework basically lays down the guidelines for the research work. The concepts, theories, cases, models etc used for the presentation of the research are basically explained for understanding the study being carried out. In this dissertation, a few theories and models will be reviewed and discussed. Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is a very widely studied subject in the field of marketing. Without consumers, it is very difficult for businesses of any sort to function normally. Consumers are the raison-d-etre for a business mere existence. The business may be based on profit or it might also be a non-profit organization. The field of consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations 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. Consumer behaviour mainly sheds light on how consumers decide to spend their various resources like time, money etc on various products so as to meet their needs and requirements. Consumer behaviour encompasses study of what, when, why and where the consumers will buy their products. It also focuses on how often the consumers use the products. Furthermore, it also sheds light on how the consumers evaluate the products after the purchase and the effect of evaluations on their future purchases. From the marketing point of view, it is very important to understand the consumer well and to attend to their needs, wants and demands to be successful. A consumer is the centre of attention in case of most marketing techniques; after all, it is the consumers a business needs to run. In the case of organic fruits and vegetables, a consumer might decide to buy it for its benefits on health or the environment or maybe because of the advertising for it is good. There are various factors that affect the consumer decision making process which is also discussed further. Models of Consumer Choice: The Cognitive model: When consumers make an important purchase for the first time, they may reflect on alternatives and discuss pros and cons with others with the intention of securing benefits and avoiding costs. This model is sometimes called the extended-problem solving model. (East, Wright and Vanhuele, 2008) The Reinforcement Model: Choice is controlled by factors in the environment that reward and facilitate some alternatives more than others. Managerial control is achieved by changing the consumers situation. However, what is rewarding to some persons may not be so to others and this limits influence. (East, Wright and Vanhuele , 2008) The habit model: Choice is controlled by managing stimuli (brand name, logo, pack features, etc) that have become associated with a product as a result of past purchases. Sometimes this is called stimulus control. (East, Wright and Vanhuele, 2008) Consumer Behaviour models: The purpose of consumer behaviour models is to provide description, explanation and prediction of purchase behaviour. At the same time the models provide a conceptual framework and so help researchers to set up and test new ideas so as to give even better explanations and predictions of behaviour. On the positive side, these models do help to organize research results and to demonstrate the complexity of decision processes involved in even a simple purchase, such as a can of soup in the local supermarket. On the negative side most of the models can be criticized as providing no more than a description of a range of influencing variables. There are four main clusters of factors that have an effect on purchase behaviour. They are political, economic and technical; cultural and social; psychological; and marketing influences. (Bareham, 1995) Theories make it easier to understand a concept as they outline causes and effects that are possible and what to anticipate provided the input (the happening circumstance) is given. In most cases, it is easy to analyze whether practical situations are normal and acceptable with the help of proven time tested theories. Marketing segmentation The market is divided into different groups or segments based on their needs, tastes, income, and a lot of other criteria. Marketing segmentation is based on a lot of research and important factors to suit the needs and purposes. Some of the marketing segmentation is as follows: Geographic segmentation: This involves segmenting the market by location on the assumption that people living in one location will have similar needs, wants and preferences and these will differ significantly from people living in other locations. There are some obvious limits to this assumption. People all over the world drink Coca-cola and buy Japanese electronic goods for instance. When you think about it from the viewpoint of the consumer, most buying behaviour is actually local. Localized consumer behaviour is often expressed through the presence of a significantly large cultural or sub cultural group that is different from the main stream. There are also geographically based differences between consumers for reasons that are more complex or obscure. It is not immediately obvious why some sections of consumers have different behaviour than the other sections. But knowing that, they will do, can be important to the marketing strategy. Demographic segmentation: Demographic segmentation deals with the many ways if statistically categorizing all the people in a national population. For example, a national population can be divided into subgroups based on age, sex, income, education, occupation, social class, family size, race and religion. In a sense, there are also different ways of looking at the same individual consumer, because of course we belong to each of these groups. Different aspects of our identity will be relevant to different products at different times. Baby foods can only be marketed to parents of young children, for example and a middle-class, middle aged, middle income, middle manager is more likely to be in the market for an exercise bike than a motor bike. Some of the important specifics of demographic segmentation are Age: Age is perhaps the most frequently used demographic variable in marketing segmentation. One reason for this is that the lifecycle has been divided up by society into what seem to be easily recognizable groups that are clearly differentiated from one another- infants, children, teenagers, young adults and so on. Sex: Dividing the market into male and female segments is another frequently used strategy. But even here, the old marketing certainties are breaking down. It used to be a safe bet for marketers to target do-it-yourself products exclusively at men and supermarket shopping at women. But with the larger increase in single occupant hose-holds and one parent families (most of them female), many more women are buying things that men would do if they were in a family. In addition, more women than men buy for other consumers. Socio-economic status: A persons socio economic status is determined by education, income and occupation. Though there are many exceptions of course, these are three factors often in alignment. More highly educated people tend to do managerial and professional jobs that bring a relatively high income, and vice-versa. For obvious reasons most marketers are more interested in people with high socio economic status rather than low. Income is often considered the most important variable in this case because it is so easy to quantify and because it dictates entry to certain markets. But income by itself can be very misleading. Psychological segmentation: The attempt to come up with a practical form of consumer profile has concentrated on three areas of behaviour: activities, interests, and opinions. Segmentation by usage: This form of segmentation is based on information about volume and frequency of purchase for a given product. It is a popular way of segmentation of markets because there is a lot of readily available information about patterns of usage for most goods and services. In fact, with so many transactions now electronically recorded, a great deal more of data is available than is actually used. Perhaps the most familiar usage data is provided by the electronic point of sale (EPOS) used by supermarket checkouts. Not only are all the purchased items listed, together with their prices, but so is the date and exact time of purchase and the method of payment used. Segmentation by benefit: This form of market segmentation is based on knowledge of the benefits that consumers seek from that particular product. The task of the marketer is to include the appropriate characteristics- or the impression of them in the design of particular goods or services. In a sense this kind of segmentation is at the entire marketing concept find out what people want and provide it for them. Segmentation is very important for a firm or an industry to market its products strategically and for it to be a success. In the case of organic fuits and vegetables, it comes under the category of food which is a basic necessity and therefore would appeal to and include a lot many segments in the markets. In this research study we are considering only the United Kingdom and India. So geographically these two countries are covered. Demographically the middle aged and the older people will be targeted age wise, both sexes, and the middle class and upper class levels will be targeted according to the socio economic status segmentation. Since the middle aged and older people usually are the ones who go shopping for fruits and vegetables, they are targeted age wise, both men and women shop for it, and when it comes to socio economic status, the middle and the upper income groups are targeted as organic fruits and vegetables are more expensive than conventional fruits and vegetables. Many shoppers especially in India will give up the idea of buying food when it comes to the price factor that is not acceptable for them. That is the reason why the middle and upper income groups are aimed at here. Most people both in India and United Kingdom consume fruits and vegetables everyday. In India, no meal is complete without fruits or vegetables and in the United Kingdom, people are encouraged to consume fruits and vegetables everyday with the healthy 5 a day concept though it is already a staple portion of a healthy meal. These segments are most suitable for being aimed at for marketing of organic fruits and vegetables and therefore they are the target segments. Decision making process There exist a number of factors which affect the consumer decision making process. Each of the factors has many sub-factors. Communication Situation The situation in which the consumer receives information about a product or service influences the buying decision of the consumer. For example, in the case of organic fruits and vegetables, an advertisement speaking about the bad impacts of the chemicals used in conventional foods right when the buyer is suffering from food poisoning might influence the consumer to buy food that is healthier and does not involve the usage of chemicals responsible for food poisoning and therefore influence the consumer to go in for purchase of organic fruits and vegetables in future. Purchase situation: The situation involved while a consumer is out to purchase will influence the buying process of the consumer. For example, a very health conscious friend is out with a consumer shopping for food, the friends suggestions of low cholesterol, high fiber food items will influence the consumer to buy healthier food products. Situations like when the consumer is very hungry and shopping for food might make the consumer end up purchasing food items that the consumer might have a craving for right then. Usage situation: Marketers need to understand the usage situations for which the products are meant. Using this knowledge, marketers can communicate how their products create consumer satisfaction in each relevant usage situation. For example, a recent study found that consuming 1.5 cup servings of oat based cereal a day could lower cholesterol. To increase sales, a Cheerios ad depicted the advantages of it. Disposition Situation Some consumers consider the case of disposition an important attribute towards the buying decision process. For example, if there was a rule stating that all the particular products from a household should only be disposed off at a particular point for a locality which is open only for a fixed time in the weekends, or they would be fined heavily, there would be a large decrease in the sales of that product. Situational characteristics Physical surroundings such as dà ©cor, sounds, aromas, lighting, weather and configurations of merchandise or other materials surrounding the stimulus object influences the buyer. Also, social surroundings, temporal perspectives, task definition And antecedent states influence the buyer decision making process. The marketer should influence these factors as largely as possible to influence the buyer in a favorable way to appeal to the customers. How decisions are made by people: The obvious point about decisions worth spelling out is that we are constantly making them. Form the moment we get up in the morning we are faced with deciding what to wear and what to have for breakfast and we make decisions throughout the rest of the day. Indeed we normally make so many decisions in the course of the day, every day, that only rarely do we realize that in fact we are making a decision. Decisions are just part of the business of living our lives, and are taken for granted. Rationality: Rationality is what you and I would like to think we use when making a decision. Moreover, we like to believe we are rational in both the psychological and the economic senses of the world. Psychologically, we make objective, dispassionate choices that are not influenced by prejudice or other irrational influences. Economically, we find out all the information there is on each of the alternatives, assess the advantages and disadvantages of each, and then choose the best one on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis. Most decisions are made in a state of incomplete information. Heuristics: A heuristic is simply a procedure or method or strategy for solving a problem or making a decision. It is similar to an algorithm, a procedure widely used in science, except that and algorithm is guaranteed to find the solution, or the best solution, whereas a heuristic is not. Perhaps, then it would be better for us to think of a heuristic as a rule-of-thumb. That is, a heuristic may be a good place to start if faced with a decision and it may provide a reasonable guide in the search for a solution, but no more than that. A heuristic may therefore be helpful, but it might also lead us totally astray. The reason we need heuristics when making decisions is simply that the world we live in turns us into misers-cognitive misers. Three forms of heuristic that psychologists have identified in the way people make decision: the representative heuristic, the attitude heuristic and the availability heuristic. Every step taken by anyone would require a decision to be made be it whether to put your right foot forward or your left, to eat spinach or a burger and so on. Some are taken with our conscious effort and some with our sub-conscious mind. When it comes to purchasing organic fruits and vegetables, a number of decisions need to be taken. For that matter the purchase making decision of any product is made based on several factors. For example, in the case of buying organic food, a consumer might think if he really needs to shell out 10% extra for a kg of organic onions or whether he is really doing himself any good by consuming organic potatoes. Questions such as these are answered in a heuristic pattern which leads to the purchase of organic fruits and vegetables or otherwise. Attitudes: The study of attitudes is one of the most intensively researched areas of psychology. Although there are over 100 different definitions of the term, a widely accepted definition of attitude would be: A stable, long lasting, learned predisposition to respond to certain things in a certain way. The concept has a cognitive (belief) aspect, an affective (feeling) aspect, and a conative (action) aspect. Characteristics and components of attitudes: Like a proprietary pain killer, attitudes contain not one, not two, but three active ingredients which are the cognitive component, the affective component, and the conative component. The cognitive component is mainly concerned with a consumers opinions about the products properties, for example whether it is crunchy, chewy, whether the price is reasonable, or whether the packaging is informative. The affective component deals with the consumers feelings about the products properties, for example if it is appealing or if it is un-appealing, is it liked or disliked? The conative component relates to the consumers likely behaviour in relation to the product. Sources of attitudes: The three main sources of attitudes are family, peers, and direct experience. Attitudes and behaviour: The commonsense notion that knowing someones attitudes towards a product will inform you of the likelihood of their buying it is quite a useful rule-of-thumbfor practical purposes. It is certainly