Obstacles in Mao’s Last Dancer Essay

In Mao’s Last Dancer we are introduced to the obstacles faced daily by a Chinese boy and his family, living in poverty. In Meltdown by Ben Elton, we are introduced to obstacles faced daily by Jimmy Corby. Obstacles we can all relate to in the modern world. This is why I think we should study Meltdown by Ben Elton as well as Mao’s Last Dancer as a core text in the Overcoming Obstacles unit. Meltdown is about City Trader Jimmy Corby. Jimmy was living the life being rich, pampered and spoilt. That is until it all comes crashing down and the Global Financial Crisis hits. He discovers that anyone can handle success, it’s how you handle failure that really matters. We can all relate to these obstacles and the themes of the story. Some themes of the story are money, loss, family and success. All of these themes are somehow incorporated in our life. We all care about money and work for it, we all experience some form of loss during our lives, we all have family who we love and care about and we all hope to be successful in the future. This makes it the perfect book for us to study as a core text. Another reason why we should study this book in the Overcoming Obstacles unit, is we join Jimmy on the journey of overcoming these obstacles. We see how he deals with loss, how he copes with family life, and how he handles failure. Elton, the author of the book, uses various techniques to convey how he overcomes all these obstacles. He uses humour to give us a funny insight on the daily problems. Humour also makes us, as the reader, enjoy the book even more. Lastly, I believe we should study this book as it opens our eyes to real life problems that we all could face in a few years. The Global Financial Crisis is real for all of us. I think that Meltdown is highly appropriate for us to study as it is based around daily struggles faced every day. The main audience of the text are teenagers and young adults making it the perfect book for us. The purpose of the book is to make us realise that there are more important things in life than money. We have to enjoy what we have and not dwell on what we don’t. This is an important message for all of us in life. In Mao’s Last Dancer we focus on the obstacles faced by a Chinese boy living in poverty who is given the chance to make life better for himself and his family. He faces struggles daily and is taught to overcome them. He deals with being alone, a long way from home and his own mental health. We don’t understand these obstacles as much as someone living in poverty would, seeing as we aren’t living in poverty. But then again, someone living in poverty wouldn’t understand the struggles we face daily. Also, by studying Meltdown by Ben Elton as well as Mao’s Last Dancer, We are given two inputs of struggles in the world. We are taught the obstacles faced by someone living in poverty who doesn’t have much money and then is given the opportunity of a lifetime which could give him everything. But then we are also taught the obstacles faced by a man who has money, a house, a healthy family and enough food, but nearly loses it all. We are given two aspects on life. Meltdown is the perfect book for us to study as the obstacles featured in the book are all known to us, we can see and learn how we could possible overcome these obstacles and by studying it along with Mao’s Last Dancer we are given two inputs on life.

Hrm-595-62172 Negotiation Skills

FIELD ANALYSIS: UNDERSTANDING THE KEY PARTIES AND THEIR ROLE IN A NEGOTIATION Instructions: For purposes of this assignment, assume that you are the negotiator who is tasked with a salary (on call time, step increases, overtime for captains and majors) and benefits (insurance while employed, insurance after retirement, accrual of leave time, retirement multipliers) dispute between a large municipal county with a strong mayor and the sheriff’s department for the county. You are negotiating the contract on behalf of the sheriff’s office.The purpose of this activity is to give you an opportunity to construct a field analysis on your relationship with a specific other negotiator. This tool should be helpful when negotiators have to consider multiple parties—on their own side and on the other side—who can affect a negotiation outcome, and whose needs and interests must be considered. YOU/YOUR TEAMOTHER/OTHER’S TEAM 1. Who is on my team on the field? (A) —Me —The Sheriff’s office 2. Who is on their team on the field? (B) —Large municipal county Mayor 3. Who is on my sidelines who can affect the play of the game? (C) —Back up players (Captains, Majors, Retirees, Insurance Company, Community Organizations, National Sheriff’s Association, Court Agents) 3. Who is on their sidelines who can affect the play of the game? (C) —Back up players (Unions, Employees, Councilmen/Freeholders, Business Owners) 4. Who is in my stands that are involved and interested, either directly or indirectly? (D) —Residents —Business Owners —Employees —Media 6.Who is in their stands that are involved and interested, either directly or indirectly? (D) —Residents —Business Owners —Employees —Media 7. What elements outside the stadium have an interest in the game, or can affect our game in positive or negative ways (E): —Depending upon how a Sheriff is a ppointed, an election can +/- affect the rules in our negotiation; —Change in climate can come from community support and national association lobbying —Concession from the mayor and municipality —The police department can be a competitor . What elements outside the stadium have an interest in the game, or can affect their game in positive or negative ways (E): —Depending upon how a Sheriff is appointed, an election can +/- affect the rules in our negotiation; —Negative media coverage highlighting the mayor when there may be a large constituency in favor of the Sheriff’s point of view, may change the climate —Other competitors may include a mayoral candidate seeking to gain support and using the negotiations as a platform to garner support

Research Project

Research Proposal Investigating the challenges and opportunities of Ben Trounce Candy and suggesting applicable strategies for future development of Dong A Company-owner of Ben Tree brand August 2012 1. Introduction This research is conducted in a short time, so obviously it will have limitations. The research actually focus on evaluating, collecting data and information about how prices of coconut influence on Ben Tree Coconut Candy and also on Ben Tree people. Besides, the elements such as source of materials, quality of coconuts, quantity will also be considered.The researcher is particularly interested in how company can transfer challenges to opportunities. In business, company needs to maximize profit, but it also must make sure the development can be maintained sustainable. Using analysis techniques the researcher wants to point out what company needs to do and what strategies can help company. The researcher chose to study this topic because he is aware of the importance of s ustainable development when Ben Tree province wants to maintain and develop this traditional products. 1. 1 Research background 0 General information a bout product/service linked to RESEARCH According to theOfficial Site of Ben Tree province (2012), it currently has over one hundred coconut candy enterprises, making up thirty percent of local enterprises. Altogether, they churn out (produce much more and not focus on quality) about 1 5,000 tons of products a year and dominate the local market compared to other provinces. Research Proposal-prepared by DON page 10 0 General Introduction about Market of designated products/service In domestic market, coconut candy of Ben Tree is sold in provinces and cities all over the country and it is also exported to other countries includes Asian countries, China, Australia,Europe and North America. 0 Market of the designated organization in research Ben Tree Coconut Candy is a well-known brand which is a specialty of Ben Tree. This brand was nam ed by DONG A General Production and Trading Company. The company, established in 1980, has gone through decades of development to become one of the leaders in the business of coconut candy. Starting from a staff of only 50 employees, Dong A now has over 1000 people. Ben Tree Coconut Candy is distributed to over 200 retail outlets in Vietnam and many export markets. General information about the challenges that the market and organization are acing Ben Tree is currently facing with a wave of cutting coconut. This threatens to a lot of coconut manufactures. However, there is not much study to evaluate effects of these problems. So, studying on this research is quite useful and important. It will provide fundamental assessment of current situation in Ben Tree province, some theories related to strategy for Dong A Company can apply, awareness of people in Ho Chi Mini city to assess the brand name of Ben Tree Coconut Candy. 1. Statement of problem Ben Tree, currently, has to deal with so me knotty problems. The price of dry coconut, n Ben Tree province is now VEND 12,000 – 14,000 a dozen, meaning a coconut is worth only VEND 1,200. It is only 10 per cent of the price last year and early this year, each dozen of coconuts have lost VEND 120,000 – 125,000 (Saigon Time, 2012). This leads to a result that many palms is losing as farmers cut them down to grow other trees. If company does not consider carefully, it is Research Proposal-prepared by DON Page 1 1 easy to conclude that Ben Tree Coconut Candy will have a big advantage.This is not completely right. It might also be problem because business can be lack of material n near future or even the price of coconut will be high later on. Coconut trees are not like orange, mango or panama, it cannot Just be cut down and then planted for a short time. It will take from 7 to 8 years before providing coconut fruits. So, it is like to be a threat for business, as it might increase the cost of production where is a shortage of raw materials. The second point is the threat of copyright. Recently, Ben Tree Coconut Candy must compare with other products which breach the copyright of Ben Tree.A lot of fake products are named as Ben Tree Coconut Candy. This makes customers to be infused on quality of candy from Ben Tree. Moreover, the company is also lost revenue. The threat of substitute products is now increasing. There are a lot of international companies investing into Vietnam and they bring high quality candy with famous brand. Ben Tree Coconut Candy needs to ensure the quality will always be remained at high level. 1. 3 Research objectives 1. Investigating and evaluating how price of coconut in Ben Tree province at the present effect to the Dong A Company as well as Ben Tree Coconut Candy. . Evaluate factors which will effect to the source of materials of company in the present and future. . Define purpose of customer when buying coconut candy: teenager and adult, from this apply applicable strategies to attract more customers. Page 12 4. Conduct a survey in Ho Chi Mini City to evaluate the awareness of customer as well as evaluate the brand name of Ben Tree Coconut Candy in this market. 1. 4 Research questions The following are questions which are used to define and evaluate the effect of main factors to Dong A Company as well as its product – Ben Tree Coconut Candy. . How does price of coconuts effect to price of Ben Tree Coconut Candy? What should company do to remain the price of raw materials? . What do coconut farmers act with current situation in Ben Tree province? 3. What do competitors react when the sources of material change? How do compassionateness tong A company? 4. What is main purpose of customariness buying coconut candy? 5. How many percent do customers know Ben Tree Coconut Candy brand? How do they know? 6. What are main expectations of customer toward coconut candy? 1. 5 Research methodology 1. . 1 Research approach In this research, the res earcher considers the deductive approach to analysis data. The researcher uses existed theories which will be described in â€Å"intended literature† section in order to analyses the data. Page 13 1. 5. 2 Research strategies The research focuses much on using survey. The aim of a survey is to obtain information that can be analyses in order to extract patterns and make comparisons (Bell, 1999). Describe (1998) states that the use of a survey is a research strategy rather than a research method.The strategy can include methods such as 0 questionnaires, 0 interviews, 0 documents and 0 observation. These methods will be described detail in data collection method. Source: BP Professional Education, 2010, page 39 Page 14 1. 5. 3 Research design QUANTITATIVE DATA In this research, quantitative analysis of data will be strongly focused. This design can help the researcher to be easy to evaluate, compare and present results in tables, charts or diagrams. The questions in the question naire survey will be designed as quantitative questions so that the researcher can use quantitative analysis.There are three important techniques which can be applied in the analysis: 0 Personalization: there will be a measurement scale. For example, the answer of one question will be ranked an attribute between 1 and 5 with 1 for poor and 5 for good. 0 Measurement: For example, the respondents might be asked to assess the quality of Ben Tree Coconut Candy. 0 The collected data can be broken into parts to analysis. QUALITATIVE DATA However, to make the research more accurate and effective, qualitative research is also used. Qualitative analysis is the analysis of data in a non-numerical way (BP Professional Education, 2010).The qualitative analysis is based on information from interviews. It is an unlimited number of non-standard responses. O QUANTITATIVE / QUALITATIVE DATA page 15 The follow diagram shows a brief of how problems can be analyses: Qualitative analysis Identify proble m (from survey) Suggesting solutions & making decisions Quantitative Data collection methods There are many methods to collect data. Data can be collected in a variety of way, in different settings and from different sources (Seeker, 2000). However, there are two mains categories of data: primary and secondary.Primary data The researcher uses method to collect primary data through 0 interviews and 0 questionnaires Interviews As the limitation of time, the researcher cannot conduct many interviews. There are two objects of people: coconut farmers and owner of coconut shops 0 Group 1: For coconut farmers: 0 The researcher is going to interview about 5 people. 0 They are in Bin Dad District. The interview is prepared as fully structured. It means all five people are asking the same questions. 0 The wording of the questions and their order are set.Page 16 0 Responses from coconut farmers are recoded on a standardize schedule. 0 Before going to interviews, the researcher will prepare a l ist of questions. These questions are focused on the awareness of farmer about current coconut price, what they expect and what they would like to do with their coconut palms. Group 2: For owner of coconut shops: 0 The researcher is going to interview 4 owners: 2 owners of Than Long Coconut Candy shop and 2 owners of Ben Tree Coconut Candy shop in Chaw Than District, near Reach Mime Bridge. 0 The type of interview being used is semi-structured.Questions are prepared in advance, but depending on the situation of the conversation, the researcher can adopt the schedule from interviewee such as asking explanations, omit particular questions which seem inappropriate with interviewee. Questionnaires Questionnaires have two categories are self-administered and interviewer administered. However, as the limitation of time, the researcher uses interviewer administered. Following with that, the type of questionnaire being used is face to face questionnaire. 0 1 . Face to face questionnaire 0 T he researcher comes to meet respondents.During asking, the researcher can explain what respondent might confuse and might also obtain in-depth answers. This method makes the response rates to be obtained. It is easy for researcher can summaries the survey and evaluate results. 0 2. Sample size page 17 The researcher is going to survey the idea of 45 respondents who are of age from 16 to 45 in Ho Chi Mini City. The researcher comes to three main supper market: Maxima Congo Ho, Big C (Hang Van HTH Street) and Coop Mart – Unguent Kim. In each supper market, the researcher chooses 15 people to do the survey.Designing the questionnaire 0 There are two main parts in the questionnaire. They are the questions included and the overall appearance. The questionnaire includes 20 questions. 0 With the appearance, the researcher writes an introduction which shows information about the survey, the introduction points out that the research will not harm respondents such as personal informati on, ideas, and honor. Besides, the questionnaire also has a clear instruction. 0 Types of questions: There are main types of question being used in the questionnaires: 0 closed question, 0 list question, 0 category question and 0 open-ended question.Secondary data The researcher also uses second data which was collected by someone else for their own purpose or for general use. The main sub-group of secondary data being used in this research is documentary data. Documentary include: written materials and non-written materials. With written documentary data, there are sources which will be used: 0 Books: there re books related to research project such as: HON./HAND Business course books which are published by BP Learning Media Ltd. Research Proposal-prepared by DON page 18 0 Newspapers: for example SAA Goon Times. Journal and magazine articles: for example Donna Nan SAA Goon – Entrepreneur With Non-written sources of documentary data: 0 pictures; 0 television programmed, for ex ample, Ben Tree channel, VIVID, VT. 0 Source of second data from internet is important for researcher to conduct the study. Name Internet address Tool Tree http://territories. Van/ News Dona h Nan SAA Goon Online Ben Tree Official Vietnam The Saigon Times http://paper. Admonishingly. Van/ http://English. Bent. Gob. Van/ Comment Up-to-date resource. The website is very famous.It includes several areas such as Business, Politics, Society and etc. Up-to-date resource. Main area is business and financial information The official site of Ben Tree province. Http://Vietnamese. Vengeance. Com. Van/ The national English language daily http:// English. Testimonies. Van/ The business newspaper. It updatability information in business, banking, and finance. Page 19 2. Intended literature This research focuses on how to help Ben Tree Coconut Candy to be developed sustainable by analyzing challenges and opportunities.Following with Porter's five forces, Dong A Company can analyses the business to take advantages as well as reduce threats. 1 . Five forces are: Supplier power: for example, this can impact to inputs on cost. If Dong A has little suppliers, they supply almost input for company, so if they do no supply, company might face problem. Threat of substitutes: challenge from substitute products such as banana candy, chocolate, or marshmallow. Business needs to evaluate this factors as it increase the competition as well as threatens the sales of product.Buyer power: wholesales who are major customers of Dong A Company can have high power of bargaining as they buy a large amount product from company. Threat of new entrants: new coconut manufactures might impact to revenue as well as market share of Ben Tree Coconut Candy. Competitive rivalry: Dong A can know what advantages that company has so that it can against the strength of competition in the candy industry. 2. The interrelation between building the success branding of product and brand loyalty of customer Moreover , to build a strong brand in business, a business needs to satisfy customers.Meghan (1995) states that there is an interrelation between page 20 building the success branding of product and brand loyalty of customer in consumer purchasing patterns. This requires company needs to always remain and develop its quality to meet customer expectation and then to make the brand of product to be stronger. 3. Four As in marketing E. Jerome McCarthy (1960) proposed a four As in marketing which has since been used until today. This theory focused on how to analyses a strategy when business does marketing. Four As includes: product, price, promotion and place.The term â€Å"product† is related to features of product such as brand name, packaging, warranty, quality and support. 0 The term â€Å"price† is likely to be a main factor which attracts customers. It refers to the process of setting price for product, pricing strategy or price discount. 0 Promotion includes advertising, sa les promotion and refers to various methods of promoting product. 0 The term â€Å"place† or distribution refers to how product is sold to customer such as distribution channels. It is clearly that, if Ben Tree Coconut Candy wants to develop and attract more customers, it must build up suitable strategies.Hawkins and Motherboards (2007) states that: â€Å"all marketing decisions are based on assumptions and knowledge of consumer behavior. † One â€Å"official† definition of consumer behavior is â€Å"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 (Lars Peeper, 2011) Research Project Research Methodology Analysis of factors affecting Online Shopping Submitted by -: Pranav Sood 400907018 Amity Anand 400907031 Mehul Shukla 400907034 Research Methodology Introduction Indian consumers as a whole spend about 55% of the total consumption expenditure on food items. According to a survey conducted by ORG , the expenditure on non-food items has recorded large growth that the expenditure on food items. Consumers decide whether , what, when, from whom, where and How much to buy. They can avail various mediums to buy the products.But currently we are living in the age of internet. According to a study , â€Å"About 44 percent students use Internet in India and overall 72% of young people access Internet on regular basis. Due to the vast usage of Internet, the buying patterns have been changed. It has changed the way goods are purchased and sold, resulting to the exponential growth in the number of online shoppers. However , a lot of differences concerning online buying have been discovered due to the various consumers’ characteristics and the types of provided products and services.Attitude toward online shopping and goal to shop online are not only affected by ease of use, usefulness, and enjoyment, but also by other factors like consumer individuality, situational factors, product distinctiveness, previous online shopping understanding and faith in online shopping. Therefore, understanding who are the ones consuming and why they choose to use or keep away from the Internet as a distribution channel, is a critical matter for both e-marketing managers and consumer thinkers.There are lots of companies which are providing the platform to consumers to buy the products through online. Online consumers tend to be better educated. Higher computer literacy makes internet shopping smarter. Their awareness about the internet also makes them better positioned to identify and take decision for products and services. By the internet, consumers find that th ey no longer have to accept fixed prices for the products and services and through the click of a few buttons the lowest priced, highest quality product can be found.The concept of online shopping developed gradually, after the launch of the World Wide Web. Charles Stack was the first person to create an online book store in 1992. Even Pizza Hut opened an online pizza shop, whereas eBay and Amazon took the concept of online shopping to an entirely new level. Online shopping began in full swing since the year 1996. 1 Research Methodology Overall, 71 million users accessed Internet in year 2009, with 52 Million â€Å"active† users who accessed it atleast once in a month.The first benefit that a customer derives from e-retailing is convenience as it saves time and efforts for today’s time starved customer at the same time providing a plethora of choices for wide category of items and also the luxury of comparing the offerings from different vendors – all at the cli ck of his mouse. Another most obvious benefit of online shopping is the significant discounts that most of these e-retailers provide to attract the customers. Also online stores are usually available 24 hours a day and not limited by global time differences.Searching or browsing an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of a physical store. Along with information about a company and its products, buyers can also have better access to product review and rating systems. However, many people still locate information on the internet and purchase products offline at traditional stores, conversion rate being very low. Research shows that between 65% and 75% of consumers that initiate an online tran saction fail to complete the transaction. Online shopping is the process consumers go through when they decided to shop on the Internet.The Internet has developed into a â€Å"new distribution channel (Hollensen. 2004) and the evolution of this channel has been identified by Smi th and Rupp (2003) to be the most significant contribution of the information revolution. Using the Internet to shop online has become one of the primary reasons to utilize the Internet. Combined with searching for products and finding information about them (Jomes 2003). Smith and Rupp (2003) also state that the consumers have never had access to so many suppliers and productiservice opinions. 2 Research Methodology ProblemAt any given time there are millions of people online and each of them is a potential customer for a company providing online sales. Due to the rapid development of the technologies surrounding the Internet, A company that is interested in selling products from its web site will constantly have to search for an edge in the fierce competition. Since there are so many potential consumers, it is of the out most importance to be able to understand what the consumer wants and needs. The importance of analyzing and identifying factors that influence the consumer when h e or she decides to purchase on the Internet is vital.Since the Internet is a new medium for there have been new demands set by the consumer. That is why it is crucial for the online retailers to know what influences the online consumer. Objectives of the research ? To determine the factors affecting consumer behaviour towards E- Shopping. ? Of the determined factors identify that have major impact on consumer purchase intent. ? To study the product segments preferred during online purchase. Research Approach There are two most commonly used research approaches, the inductive and the deductive method.The inductive research method attempts to set up a theory by using collected data, while the deductive research approach attempts to find the theory first and then test it to the observed data. We chose a deductive research approach for our study as we would move from the more general to the specific. 3 Research Methodology Methodology Initial Phase ? The first step towards our research was to decide on the factors which we will consider for our study. With the resources and the time available we decided to go ahead with the following factors: ? Experience on computers Comparison with Offline channel ? Security of Information ? Money Savings ? Convenience ? Variety ? Previous Experience ? Service of Website ? Product Availability The above factors are made the independent variables and the purchase intent is the dependent variable which would be explained by: ? Online shopping intent. ? Overall perception of online shopping. Hypothesis Formulation ? After determining the factors we made the hypothesis for our research which would be mentioned in the later section. 4 Research Methodology Data Collection Phase ?The next step was to develop a Questionnaire (Annexure-1) that asks questions to the respondents on the above mentioned parameters and also on the products they prefer for online shopping. ? The Questionnaire was designed on the Google docs and the survey was started. Analysis Phase ? After the collection of data (Annexure-2), each factor was tested for normal distribution. ? The process of testing the hypothesis was based on the regression model. Interpretation Phase ? The results from analysis were interpreted and relevant factors were drawn out. ?The research is concluded with the findings. 5 Research Methodology Hypothesis The following are the hypothesis made by us for our research, the model would be based on the assumption that independent variable has a linear relationship with the dependent variable : Null Hypothesis for all tests: H0: Variable has no relation with online shopping intent. Alternate Hypothesis: H1: Security of Information will affect the online purchase intent. H2: Variety of Products affects the online purchase intent. H3: Web Site Quality affects the online purchase intent.H4: Money Savings affects the online purchase intent. H5: Convenience affects the online purchase intent. H6: Discounts Available affects t he online purchase intent. H7: Time Savings affects the online purchase intent. 6 Research Methodology Analysis The first task is to prepare a questionnaire that asks questions to the respondents and on the basis of their responses we can accept or the hypothesis. The detailed questionnaire is given in Anexxure-1. At the last of our questionnaire, we have a question measuring the online shopping intent.The responses would be used to measure dependent variable. Reliability: Since the Cronbach’s Alpha is >0. 7 the data is reliable. Normality: The output sheet (Normality. spv) attached with this report contains the histogram and the normal distribution curve One Sample T-test: One sample T test was conducted to know the significance of these factors and results are shown in the table . And it is evident that p value (0. 000) is less than significance level of 0. 05 for all the factors. 7 Research Methodology Hypothesis Testing:H0: Variable has no relation with online shopping in tent. H1: Security of Information will affect the online purchase intent. Since sig. value < 0. 05, as confirmed by above tables. The null hypothesis is rejected, hence online security has a significant relationship with online shopping intent. 8 Research Methodology H2: Variety of Products affects the online purchase intent. Since sig. value > 0. 05, as confirmed by above tables. We fail to reject null hypothesis , hence product variety has no significant relationship with online shopping intent.H3: Web Site Quality affects the online purchase intent. Since sig. value < 0. 05, as confirmed by above tables. The null hypothesis is rejected, hence web site quality has a significant relationship with online shopping intent. 9 Research Methodology H4: Money Savings affects the online purchase intent Since sig. value < 0. 05, as confirmed by above tables. The null hypothesis is rejected, hence web Money saving has a significant relationship with online shopping intent. H5: Convenience af fects the online purchase intent Since sig. value > 0. 05, as confirmed by above tables.We fail to reject null hypothesis , hence Convienence has no significant relationship with online shopping intent. H6: Discounts Available affects the online purchase intent 10 Research Methodology Since sig. value > 0. 05, as confirmed by above tables. We fail to reject null hypothesis , hence Discounts and offers has no significant relationship with online shopping intent. H7: Time Savings affects the online purchase intent Since sig. value < 0. 05, as confirmed by above tables. We reject null hypothesis , hence Time saving has no significant relationship with online shopping intent. 1 Research Methodology Demographics Analysis What are the category of products most preferred by consumers during online purchase ? This shows that majority of consumers purchase Electronics goods followed by Books and Apparels. How often do consumers go for online shopping (Frequency) ? This concludes that majorit y of consumers shop once in a month followed by once in six months. How much consumers spend in online shopping ? 12 Research Methodology 13 Research Methodology Annexure-1 14 Research Methodology 15 Research Methodology 16 Research Methodology 17

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On Cheating - Research Paper Example Academic cheating involves a student representing someone’s work as their own. Academic cheating involves several aspects such as sharing another student’s work, purchasing a test questions or term paper in advance or paying a colleague or another person to do the work on one’s behalf. Academic cheating is an institutional, as well as societal vice that is unethical, therefore, requiring being discouraged vehemently, until it has been wholly eradicated society. Studies done on cheating among college students have found numerous factors associated as to why students cheat in tests and exams. They include, cheating being considered as a college norm, colleges lacking an honor code, penalties for cheating that are not severe, low faculty policies supporting academic integrity, minute chance of being caught; incidence is advanced at larger, less selective institutions. Furthermore, influencers such students cheating because others are doing it, faculty administration tend not to care, no acknowledged rules or rules are vague and heavy workloads instigate cheating in institutions (Fleming, 1). Previously, in colleges it was the students who were struggling in class that were notorious in cheating. However in recent times even the above average students as well as some exemplary students have been caught in the webs of cheating. This is facilitated by, poor concentration during lectures, or skiving classes, which entails that most students miss content that will be  helpful, in their examinations or tests. The struggling students cheat to at least gate grades that will allow them advance to the nest levels. They do not trust themselves enough to tackle the examination questions on their own brains thus depend on cheating as a means of elevating their grades. Such students often do not put any effort in grasping concepts as they are over dependent on cheating. This affects their normal lives, as they become cheeky, and lie as often as they can, to get themselves out of situations they always end up being untrustworthy members of society. Currently most college students are exposed to life full of freedom that they were not exposed to while in high school and other levels of education. In college, most students are independent and caretakers of themselves. They did not have their parents looking after them as when they were young. Some students are exposed to the joys and delights of college life that they easily overlook their main reason of being at college. Such students engage in college fun ignoring their studies, thus, when examination time reaches they are caught unprepared resorting to cheating so as pass their exam (Carey, 1). In the contemporary college life, cheating no longer has the stigmas it used to have previously. It has become a norm and accepted as part of way of doing examinations. Less disapproval coupled with increased lenience from some college departments has necessitated the rise of college cheating . Students in contemporary colleges are secretive as they are not open to report their fellow students, who cheat in exams. They have accepted those who cheat as part of their faction thus making it difficult to do away with the calamity of cheating. Since the cheating, students form a community, and bond with their colleagues; they are able to get away with cheating. Their fellow student

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A Modest Proposal - Essay Example Patrick’s Cathedral as Dean. He is known for his marvelous works such as Gulliver’s Travels, A journey to Stella and The Battle of Books etc. In this essay he proposes a method to mitigate the tense and misery in the life of the poverty stricken Irish people. While describing the family conditions of the beggars and the woeful economic situation of the Irish laborers who couldn’t feed their family and their infants, Swift points out a â€Å"surplus† of those infants who could not be fed. By considering the possibility of selling the children into slavery once they reach at the age of twelve, he objects that scheme, not because of the brutality in that scheme but because of its impracticality. Swift said that twelve years is a long time in which a child cannot be fed because of the fragile conditions of his parents, and that he came to know from his acquaintance in America that a one year old child in good healthis : â€Å"a most delicious, nourishing and wholesome Food, whether Stewed, Roasted, Baked or Boiled†(Swift, n.p.). From this point onwards, Swift supports his idea of subjecting the children into cannibalism at earlier age than to nurse the child for twelve years. Following this scheme the mother of the child has only one year to milk him/her so as to make him/her a perfect food for the upper class. After selling her child she would get enough time to work until she is pregnant again. He also showed that this idea if implied would help in reducing the Catholics too, as a Catholic child breeds rapidly as compared to a Protestant child. People could make use of their skin as well. Next he discusses the recipe for older children but refutes it because the meat of an older child would never be as fresh as the infant’s meat. He concludes with six advantages of this scheme and says that nobody should object his proposal until and unless somebody comes with a genuine counter argument and that this entire proposal is in the favor of the Irish prosperity. Critical Analysis Jonathan Swift is known for his satirical writings about the political situation prevailing at that time in his country and the snide comments about the unjust policies of his time. In this article he talked about the somber and murky situation of the poor people of Ireland and the condition of the streets and public places full of beggars followed by a team of their ill conditioned children. The mother of such children instead of earning are forced to beg their infants. All this strive for those children who would either turn themselves into thieves (because of the deprivation of basic necessities), or sell themselves to Barbados or fight for Spain, provide no actual benefit to the country. This fragile and solemn condition of these helpless infants adds more to the already present country grieves. Having explained this weird condition in a melancholic tone he suddenly shocked the audience by his own seemingly a very ruthless an d brutal solution of the problem. He calculates and shows the result that a 12 year breeding of children and then selling them is an impractical scheme and that it costs too much to the parents. However by using a very shrewd stance and highlighting all the negative aspects of the aforesaid scheme he puts forward his own idea of subjecting the infants to cannibalism at the age of one year. The audience had not yet recovered from the shock his seemingly hysteric and madding ideaand he started giving the calculations regarding the saving of a family who follows this proposal. He continued to explain the need of such an idea which if implemented save a thousands of currency per annum. At this point one reading all this juxtaposition of problem and solution would think that the author of this essay could be a serial killer or a

Azhar Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Azhar - Research Paper Example n.The poem that I am considering is daddy by Sylvia Plath, this poem highlights the male dominating society through the character of a father, who is excessively dominating and neglects his daughter by being emotionally absent when she needs her ( Plath). This poem depicts the narcissistic attitude of a man towards women. Hence, through this poem one can realize how a man easily dominates over women in the society without feeling guilty. The short story that I am considering is â€Å"Hills like white elephant† by Ernest Hemingway, the writer explains how a woman is under immense pressure during pregnancy that she is fearful as to how she would raise this child. Her partner who is mentioned as American is shown to be very indifferent towards her, that he convinces her to have an abortion. The â€Å"white elephant† (Hemingway) is referred to the unborn child, who only the women can see. This story is also about the relationship of a man and women that is ending. The modern song that I am considering is â€Å"Modern Women† by Billy Joel, although the lyricist is a male but he beautifully portrays by using words like â€Å"Intellectual† and â€Å"confident.† The writer does not look down the women; instead, he sends a powerful message to the readers that a women today is no longer vulnerable so, men should not take her for granted because she is a â€Å"modern women† (Joel). The first academic article that I am considering is â€Å"men women and murder: gender-specific differences in rates of fatal violence and victimization.† shows the difference in the incidents of homicides involving men and women. Although, the male victims were 77% and females victims were found to be just 23 %,( Kellermann & Mercy), but the research shows that the incidents of murders of women by their husbands were much higher. Hence, after reading the article one comes to the conclusion that women in our society are still treated badly and a clear discrimination exists. Connecting Gender

Leadership Accross Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership Accross Cultures - Essay Example The importance of understanding culture in a workplace drew the attention of Hofstede; he decided to analyze the cultures across the world by means of large and quantitative research (Bing, 2004). Most hospitality and travel companies have realized the significance of international business. Despite this realization still, very few can offer training programs to prevent misunderstandings that occur as a result of intercultural interaction. Customer satisfaction for services offered depends on management and supervision of individual service encounter. Service providers that provide their employees with effective training achieve better results. Organizational culture needs to be managed through effective leadership. For this reason, it is important to properly define organizational culture. It is not an easy task to arrive to a definite description, but some basic questions need to be answered. These include: In a wider sense, culture serves to describe varied groups of people based on the extent to which each group is perceived and how a specific group relates to worldly features, which could be living or nonliving including spiritual divines. Historically, culture is said to develop slowly by slowly as each group creates certain patterns of behaviors and beliefs that tend to help them in a way, to effectively solve their day to day problems. As a community lives together, new behaviors crop up and are associated with certain values and beliefs. Furthermore, this is reinforced by rituals, myths and beliefs. It then forms a formidable culture. Apart from the fact that culture enables people to have a sense of belonging, it further provides a means of distinguishing between different groups with different behaviors (Willcoxson and Millett, 2000). Cultures can be dynamic; any changed circumstance leads to incorporation of new patterns or ideologies. As new systems are introduced into the environment, new patterns of behavior are adopted. When such times

How would you describe your views on sex and sexuality Essay

How would you describe your views on sex and sexuality - Essay Example The essay "How would you describe your views on sex and sexuality" focuses on the view on sexuality and sex. In American culture, sex is not necessarily to be showed to a loved one, but can be merely a way to satisfy one's physical desires. However, I do not believe that sex can merely be used to fulfill a physical desire, like scratching an itch. The practice of sex outside the realms of marriage is considered to be a sin. Sex should be an emotional experience between loving, married couples and not between two compatible physical partners to show lust. Even if one grows up and experiences a want to be sexually content, the individual should wait for the right time to get married to fulfill his needs. Here I would like to state that when it comes to such activities the most important role is played by the society. If one is raised up in a conservative environment where such activities are considered a taboo before marriage then there are good chances that an individual will wait unt il marriage. Some societies, or basically the environment, in which people are raised do not allow any individual to stay with the opposite gender alone after they’ve reached puberty in order to keep distance and to maintain purity. This is a part of my culture and hence my belief. Hence, there is no way to explore the opposite gender and safe distance was maintained. These values are majorly uprooting from the religious and culture benchmarks one belongs to. Some sects believe that sexuality is only feasible after marriage.... At times being involved in sexual activities is considered to be a source of pride and manhood for the family and tribe. Moreover, Islam promotes sexuality after marriage and I side up with this view as a sexual relationship before marriage can lead to pregnancy and hence the birth of an illegitimate child. These days a fairly different concept has emerged with the increase in gays, lesbians and homosexuals. Today where freedom is given to each and every individual hence their sexual preference is also accepted. I personally would put forward that this act is going against nature and would never help to build up a normal life with normal children. One thing that needs to be highlighted here is that one cannot force another person to involve in sexuality without their consent. Strict laws are formulated throughout the world that deals with people who force, violate the dignity of another or involve in sexual activities with minors. In American culture Sex initially was considered to b e a sin and nobody on the front foot had the courage to be involved in such an activity but nowadays values have virtually died and one feels proud to call himself a 'non virgin'. Furthermore there is immense social pressure that has resulted in the widespread of sex related activities as those who do not follow the trend of exploitation are considered to be inhuman or incapable. (Teens and sex 2013) On the other hand the Middle Eastern culture still promotes chastity as they believe that a normal life cannot be lead without purity. Initially sex within marriage is to the process of reproduction and the purpose to initiate a family and enjoy the life, but sex outside the circle of marriage has become a trend and

International Differences in Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Differences in Accounting - Essay Example IFRS 8 which replaced IAS14 (Deloitte & Touche, 2007), is the standard that deals with similar issues under IAS. Some of the major differences observed between SFAS 131 and IFRS 8 include the following: (Deloitte & Touche, 2007): While IFRS requires that measures of segment liabilities be disclosed if those measures are provided regularly to the chief operating decision maker, under SFAS No. 131 such disclosures are not required. Under IFRS 8, the core principle is used as the basis for determining the operating segments of an entity while under IFRS the products or services are used as the basis for determining the operating segments. Differences may also arise as a result of different interpretation of rules by companies in different countries despite the similarities that may exist between the rules. (Roberts et al, 2005). For example because many areas of accounting require the use of estimates, forecasts or judgments companies may differ in the way they estimate, forecast or judge in different situations. (Roberts et al, 2005). A distinction must be made between accounting r... (Roberts et al, 2005). For example because many areas of accounting require the use of estimates, forecasts or judgments companies may differ in the way they estimate, forecast or judge in different situations. (Roberts et al, 2005). iii. Differences in Preferred Accounting Practice. A distinction must be made between accounting regulations or de jure issues, and actual practices, or de facto issues. (Weetman et al, 1998; Roberts et al, 2005). A number of options are contained in accounting regulations as well as there may also be a large number of issues which are not covered by accounting regulations at all, giving companies even more choice. (Roberts et al, 2005). While it is relatively straightforward (although not necessarily easy) to compare the accounting practices of two countries, this may tell us relatively little about how similar the accounting practices of two companies actually are in areas were discretion exists. (Roberts et al, 2005). De facto practices may differ considerably across countries, even if there are few de jure differences. Alternatively, all companies, irrespective of country domicile, choose wherever possible to use similar methods, de facto differences may be less than de jure differences. (Roberts et al, 2005). b). Having identified the ways accounting practices may differ, the study will now take a look at the importance of the differences to preparers of financial reports and user groups. The main preparers identified by Roberts et al (2005), include companies while users include companies, investors and other user groups. Companies that carry out trade in different carries such as multinational companies are

A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration Essay Example for Free

A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration Essay A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, written by Mary Rowlandson, is about King Philip’s War. The war started on June 20 in 1675 and was between English colonists and Native Americans. During the war, the Indians attacked English colonists’ territory. They burned the colonists’ houses, killed the resisters and captured some of the colonists. The living of captives was very tough. They had to move from place to place with the Indians. The Indians treated them very badly. If they didn’t listen to the Indians, they would be beaten or even be killed. Besides, the weather was cold and sometimes the food supply was short. As a result, lots of captives died during the captivity. As a victim of the Indian attacks, Mary Rowlandson wrote a vivid description of the eleven weeks and five days she spent living with Native Americans which owns very high value in American Literature. First of all, the work owns high historical value in American Literature. In her description, she vividly shows her experience as a captive which makes people easily understand the situation at this period and the relationship between English colonist and the Indians. In her description, we can find that all the English captives didn’t be ruled by the same Indian master. There were different Indian masters. Each Indian master owned English captives and located in different places. According to the masters, the captives could be transferred from one tribe to another. Also, in the description, sometimes Mary Rowlandson communicated with the Indians. From this point, we can find that some of the Indians could speak English. Besides, in the work, we can also know how English colonists deal with Native Americans. They trade by money, clothes, tobacco, liquors, seed corn hemlock, ground ivy and etc. This point shows that the living of the Indians was tough then. They lacked food and some daily necessaries, so it was effective to trade with them by something they really needed in their lives instead of money. Secondly, this work also shows the high value of Christian point of view. As a Christian, Mary Rowlandson uses lots of quotes and passages from the Bible in the description. No matter how hard the captivity was, she always  showed her piety to God. Instead of blaming the Indians, she used the stories in the Bible to console her sorrow and suffering. The Bible was the center of her life during the captivity. Even though her experience was so painful, she thanked God for everything. In the work, she strongly showed the positive side of Christianity which make readers offer high value to the Christians. A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is one of the important works in American Literature. It offers readers high values of history and Christian point of view. By reading the story of Mary Rowlandson, we can clearly understand this period of American history. and also realize the virtue of Christianity.

Ethical Issues of Advertising to Children

Ethical Issues of Advertising to Children Ethical Dilemma, Practices and Implications of Children Advertising Creating outstanding products and programs to win marketplace is not an easy job. Specialists in marketing have to develop comprehensive research plans, carry out market researches, analyse the data collected and finally come up with marketing plans that target specific consumer segments. Finding out about human psychology, their preferences, choices and appeals are not only difficult but at times disappointingly inaccurate. Yet marketers today consider themselves experts in such endeavours, and are capable of achieving the almost impossible marketing objectives.   As if these aspects of marketing are not difficult enough, in modern-day marketing field there is a niche in which the marketers have to deal with children. The most difficult task is perhaps the determination of the choices and preferences of these fickle individuals who are still developing, absorbing the environment and learning to become like their adult counterparts. The task of marketing to children is not only daunting but also critical for many businesses such as Nike, Microsoft, Johnson Johnson, Disney, Pepsi, Sega,Kellogs and Mattel to name a few. These companies go through extensive research and consultancy to get to the untapped market of child consumers. One such example is evident in Dan S. Cuff and Robert H. Reiner’s (1998) Youth Market Systems.  According to the authors the development of outstanding products and programs to win childrens marketplace is entirely different from the rest of the market segments. For this purpose they invent a marketing process called Youth Market Systems. The System ensures marketers consider all aspects of marketing to children or teens for any category of goods or services that companies want to sell. There Isa great need for a system of analysis and interpretation as the authors feel that information pertaining to cognitive, emotional and social needs of age groups could transform the programs or product features that target them. Cuff and Reiner’s (1998) strategy merely opens window to the world of advertising to children. As one investigates the categories of products and services that are available to young children, one also tend to develop the consistent belief that children are a separate kind of consumer group and must be treated differently, from advertising to the designing of products. All these efforts no doubt are valid and justified in their own place and position, however a niggling thought crosses the mind when one observes the various approaches and efforts that marketers adopt to reach out to the vulnerable youth consumer segment. There are reasons for these tactics. Cuff and Rehire record approximately $1 billion annual gross revenue for Mattel Incorporated that sells Barbie’s. There are others such as Garfield, He-Man, Cabbage Patch Kids, Power Rangers, LEGO, GI Joes and a myriad of upcoming products invading the market with the sole purpose to tap on these young consumers who are bound by childish emotions and penchant for toys and games. Schemes and strategies are being devised to win over these young consumers for high stakes amounting to billions of pounds. What is more, advertising and marketing to children does not only involve the youngsters but their parents also. For example the Youth Market System identifies parents, grandparents and other close family members as the most influential on children’s purchasing decision. Exploring this group is critical because they are the ones who have control over the wallet and it is on them that children are dependent. The complexity in children marketing therefore lies in attracting both the youngsters and appealing to the parents. A winning formula must be developed to attract both the parents and children. The complexity of this formula makes success rate low which induces marketers to resort to all kinds of schemes and strategies to achieve their desired target, including crossing the line of ethics especially in the field of advertising of children related products (Cuff and Rehire 1998). Scholars and parents alike feel that there are no avenues that advertisers and businesses will not exploit to reach to the young consumers. Exploitations through mental, moral and physical developments of children are common. The strategies to target children involve creation of wants to satisfy the impulse rather than actual needs. For example consoles such as Mattels Hot Wheels, and Barbie’s fashion collections are not really required by children but wants created by advertisers and marketing campaigns. Long term needs satisfaction has been replaced by short term needs. They are not the only ones exploited. Their parents are also plagued with different kinds of created needs for their children such as the wellbeing; status symbol; and their selfish need to have their child preoccupied with the multitude of products and free them from child responsibilities. Statement of the Problem These aspects portray not only the ugly but also the unethical sides of the world of advertising. How true are these aspects and to what extent do advertisers reach to capture their target consumers? Do they cross the borders of ethics or not to maximise gains from vulnerable consumer market? And what, if anything, should be done to control and ultimately restrict the freedom of advertising aimed at children are some of the areas that the following research will endeavour to enumerate. Literature Review Children have become the key target for many advertisers. Children are vulnerable, easy to exploit consumers and they perceive things as advertisers want them to perceive, or so many of us believe. Despite the fact that children are nowadays smart and knowledgeable of the marketplace nevertheless for many marketers they are relatively easy to target due to the sheer size of the childrens consumer market. Advertisers thrive by earning billions of pounds with the backing and funding of the profit seeking organizations that hire them. These companies are not only producing goods that appeal to the children but they are also exploiting their parents. The dual targeting approach makes this market segment attractive as well as representative of high yield for investment. For example in many regions of the world including the US, Europe and Japan, companies are investing billions so that they can capture and tap the youth market segment but at the same time they are also reaping billions in return. Advertisers and marketers are entrusted with the task to achieve sales targets by generating desired actions from the segment. The wide appeal has motivated many professionals to enter and adopt whatever means and measures to achieve their targets. Ethical implications surpasses but few in the field of advertising that target children. For these reasons the authority, lobbyists and parents are demonstrating their concerns regarding the impact of media and advertising on children. The following literature review will first outline why and how children are targeted, followed by a review of the kind of ethical implications advertising and the media has on children. This will be followed by an exploration of the measures that are being taken to counteract the problem, if any. Children Advertising Advertising to children has not been an issue until recently with the boom of the media. More and more parents are concerned about the legal controls that the authority levy on advertising criteria as most are concerned about the kind of tactics advertisers are using to influence children for the sake of maximizing their profits. For example Begot and Dottie (2004) note that pornography, cigarette and tobacco related, alcohol and other products prohibited for children are being promoted on television freely without restriction. Advertisement messages for these adult related products are tailored for adult consumption but due to the appeal of mass viewership and the higher profits, the advertisements are aired during children television primetime. As a result the advertisements expose children to contents that are not meant for them. Had that been the only case then the issue of advertisement would not have been so controversial. Research suggest that children between the ages of 6 and 14 years old watch about 25 hours of television per week in the US and they are exposed to 20,000 commercials in a  year (Moore and Lutz 2000).Children at this age are vulnerable because they are developing a sense to comprehend and evaluate messages in the environment. Stimulated messages on television not only have a harmful impact but they are also detrimental in persuading children to develop wants for products that are not meant for them. According to Moore and Lutz (2000) Beyond advertisements, children gain marketplace information from the products they encounter, advice from friends and relatives, and their own consumption experiences. Through consumption, children learn what products are good and bad, whether advertising claims are truthful, what brands they prefer, and even products that convey social meanings apart from their functional properties. For children the experiences that heighten their importance in their social circle and the adult world have the most meaning. They do not have the ability to counteract or check on the viability or the authenticity of the message initially when they are young as they are dependent on adults for explanatory information accessible only through print media. By the time children grow to the teenage level the functionality of literacy diminishes tube replaced by their desire and need to fit in their social life. Without consideration for product usefulness or content, children develop wants for products beyond their pockets and reach. Similarly, children are also exposed to advertisements for fashion products that are actually designed for adult consumers but they are often condensed to tailor to the younger audience with the purpose to include the young consumers in the marketing campaigns. For this reason children develop receptivity for fashion products without the required information for decision making.  Moore and Lutz (2000) recognize the importance of childrens advertising and its impact on young audience by revealing that children are receptive to advertising demonstrated in experiments of relation between ads and products. They write: Research investigating childrens receptivity to television advertising has studied what children understand, under what circumstances they are persuaded, and how their responses evolve as they mature (e.g. Macklin 1987; Redder 1981). Drawing extensively on information processing and stage models, researchers have gained substantial insight into the development of childrens cognitive skills and their deployment during ad processing. (Moore and Lutz 2000) Their research indicates that children are at a stage where they are developing cognitive abilities. Advertisers vie on this susceptible developmental stage by targeting the limited processors of children that have not yet acquired efficient information processing strategies, a fact that may be reflected in their inability to distinguish between central and peripheral content in message learning. (Moore and Lutz2000). They further this idea by writing that at the stage of ages 8and 12 children are susceptible to information that are stimulated and that target the vulnerability of the strategic processors.   Because at this age group children tend to spontaneously employ efficient information storage and retrieval strategies. They organize and retrieve information based on available information and stimulus. Unless their knowledge of advertising is expressly activated by such acute, these children tend not to think critically or generate counterarguments spontaneously. They may also neglect to differentiate between central and peripheral content when learning new information. When there is an appropriate cue in their environment, however, they are likely to retrieve and use relevant information. (Moore and Lutz2000). Therefore children may develop recognition mechanism on how advertising should be viewed but that is dependent on external factors like parental guide, government policies or other mediating channels. Evidence suggests that there is substantial amount of influence on this age group when they are not guided in the preliminary stages in understanding the intent of advertisements. Research reveals that significant guidelines must be levied before children rationale and deliberate on the content of advertisements shown on television. â€Å"Advertising is thus implicitly accorded substantial power to shape children’s thinking until they acquire sufficient cognitive and attitudinal defences. (Moore and Lutz 2000). Other than the cognitive development impressions on children, advertising also influence them to take actions. In a study by Smithland Wynyard (1982) on consumer behaviour and response towards product trials offer through advertisements suggests that because consumers know that advertisers wish to present their brands in a favourable light, they react to ads by partially discounting claims and forming tentatively held brand beliefs and attitudes. In contrast when consumers have direct usage experience, they form stronger, more confidently held brand beliefs and attitudes. This phenomenon has been observed in a number of studies with adults and may be consistent with the case of children. The same expectations is held with regard to children advertising as researchers are of the opinion that with age, the capacity to form brand opinions tend to be more among older children. For example children of age groups 10 and 12, and 12 and 14year olds tend to tell the truth and more likely to be sceptical towards the institution of advertising rather than blindly accept advertisement claims. According to Michel Begot and Barbara Dottie (2004) children advertising are dynamic and highly appealing. The authors are of the opinion that children are the key target for advertisers because brand preferences in this age group remain unchanged for a long time. Children remain loyal to the brands they are used to yet at the same time they have growing pockets to afford more expensive items as they grow older. The above aspects indicate that children though are smart and knowledgeable to sceptically evaluate and experiment with products through advertisement claims they are also aware of the fact that these advertisers claim may not be true. At this point it is arguable to note that some school of thoughts separate the vulnerable youngsters from the smart young consumers who have the cognitive ability to critically examine the advertisement claims and disregard them if not proven true. According to Robertson and Resister (1974) if ads present information different from a childs actual experience, confusion may result and trust in advertising may be determined. Conversely, others suggest that until children actually experience discrepancies between products as advertised and as consumed, they are unable to fully comprehend advertisings persuasive intent. For this reason Moore and Lutz (2000) claim that advertising use frames for product trials known as transformational advertising in which adult consumers are drawn towards the products prior to advertising exposures by asking them to participate in the process of experimenting and interacting with the product with the view to interpret, evaluate and subsequently form their experience impressions. The expectancy or discrepancy frame sets are formed for comparison of later product trials which help in determining discrepancies or consistencies of product qualities. Mooreland Lutz (2000) present the testing paradigm to show that rational consumers are clever in testing advertising claims of product performances. Testing paradigm enable them the opportunity to evaluate and form opinions. Children, on the other hand do not have the same reaction or taste for distinguishing discrepancy in the same manner. On the other hand Ziegler (1996) believes that advertising and product trials have different effects on childrens capacity to integrate multiple sources of information for consideration. Young children tend to engage in one-dimensional thinking pattern and rely on multiple dimensions for a given task. Integration is imperative for children because they are dependent on this integration processing of information for forming perceptual domains and consumer behaviour. When younger children are presented with information it is encoded and stored in the recesses of the mind, and whenever needed retrieve it for evaluation. Information integration is basically combining new information presented in the media with the old information, and comparing the two. Disparate media information result in discrepancy inexperience. This in turn results in loss of trust in advertisement messages. Not all children however are wise enough to discriminate information. Moore and Lutz (2000) believe that age differences differentiate expectations and credibility of advertising. They write Younger children have been found to hold more positive attitudes about advertising, to be more likely to believe its claims, and to be less likely to understand its essential purpose. Thus, among younger children advertisings credibility is not likely to arise as a concern, and they are likely to perceive both advertising and a product trial experience as believable sources of information. (Moore and Lutz2000). Clearly, this statement identifies with the fact that younger children are more susceptible to advertising and they are prone to take actions without critical evaluation. For older children advertisers may not integrate strong expectations about a brand and instead focus on the stronger results to generate confidence in product usage (Fazio1986). Alternatively there are groups of advertisers who vie on the physical habits of children. For example one of the most invidious techniques is to use junk food in advertising for children. The use of celebrities to endorse these foods without any consideration for balanced diet or fitness is common in the industry. In the UK the BBC which is funded by licence and tax payers, received around 32 million pounds in 2001for franchising its Tweenies’ characters to McDonalds the Food Commission found that the Tweenies’ products were high in junk elements. Despite this fact the UK government continues to allow brands such as Cadburys to market its products and launch campaigns that have negative effects on the physical health of children. These efforts are designed to generate more profits and not the public interest. They are aware of the fact that the lack of exercise coupled with high calorie food result in obesity and other related diseases in children. The rate of obesity has doubled in the past 10 years from 8.5percent to 15 present among children under 16 years (The Lancet 2003).Yet advertisements continue to infiltrate the media and other channels with the objective to vie on children. Advertising Strategies Children have long been recognized as the target market for many companies due to its economic potential. Recent estimates by Moore(2004) indicate that children and associated markets account for 24billion dollars of direct spending and it has an additional 500 billion dollars influence over family purchases. Children are considered to be potential gold mines for campaigners and advertisers alike. Television channels and the print media as well as companies are constantly engaged in complex product placements, sales promotions, packaging design, public relations, and in-school marketing activities with the view to reach out to children and their parents. Given the time children spend in front of the television, on the Internet and media gadgets, marketers realize that children form a huge consumer base for â€Å"toys, breakfast cereals, candy and snacks etc. For this purpose there are more and more commercials on television to induce buying preference and action. TV commercials especially are being developed to induce children to purchase and participate in programs promoting cars, fashion, cell phones and other such adult related products. According to Moore (2004) At the root of the childrens advertising debate is the question of childrens unique vulnerabilities. Concerns about young children range from their inability to resist specific selling efforts to a fear that without benefit of well-developed critical thinking skills they may learn undesirable social values such as materialism†(Macklin, 1986 qt. Moore 2004). Her view is also affirmed by Cuff Andrei her (1998) who indicate through their study that children are susceptible to advertisements because of the extensive measures and strategies adopted by the advertisers. Their study reveals that marketers devise winning formulas to gain the confidence of children by sending out messages that winning children are those who are associated with certain brands. These may be Barbie, He-Man, Teletubbies or Spider-Man. Identification and association are the keys to the winning formula. The success rate of the winning formula depends on how deep an impact the product or brand has through the advertisements. These are developed based on the knowledge of the development of the mind of the growing consumers. The product leverage mix is formed based on qualities that are demanded by children such as characteristics of aero, power of a character and/or qualities of the product. The product leverage matrix is a comprehensive model formed for analysing the needs and wants of the young consumers and a guide to allow marketers to have look at the bigger picture. Once the matrix is determined the medium, concept, content, context, process, characters or personality, and attitude or style are established. Elements to be noted include: What is the psychological point of view of the target audience? What are the visual and verbal contents that will be used for the product? How marketers will form the context of the advertisements for the target audience and the kind of processes that will be involved to create an interface for interaction with the potential consumers? Character association or the use of personality to denote product quality is also common in the designing of the matrix etc. (Cuff and Rehire 1998). The marketers are also aware that young children are intelligent individuals who exercise their developing cognitive abilities by associating qualities with certain images. For example Bugs Bunny is clever rabbit or Kellogg’s Pop Tarts are fruity flavoured etc. They are able to associate as well as distinguish between products and characteristics of the products. Identifying the points of difference from the children’s perspectives is critical but not impossible. Acuffand Rehire (1998) also note that these are assumptions that adults make regarding the preferences of children such as teens wanting more energy; identifying with hero athletes; wanting great taste or new product names. Yet at the same time they also warn the marketers that: more often than not these assumptions are left unexamined as to veracity and strength. Its an important practice to check assumptions: check what the leverage actually is, and its relative power versus what has been assumed. More often than not, adults make erroneous assumptions about what kids perceive to be important and powerful because adults are looking at their product or program through adult eyes. It is critical to get at the actual leverage rather than the assumed leverage. With the above hypothetical Enerjuice example in mind, adults may be surprised when testing directly with kids focus groups reveals that the new products blue colour is its most powerful point of leverage and that the majority of kids tested dislike the new name. (Cuff and Rehire 1998). The basic premise in such a condition is that marketers need to ensure they give promises and fulfil them too thereby gaining competitive advantage. This kind of positioning helps them to organize and categorize products in the mind of the targeted consumers. In the end however, the marketers must realize that it is the bigger picture that needs to be satisfied that is product leverage matrix. At the centre of the matrix are the crucial elements that should not be neglected such as gender, stage, age, structure, dimension, style and past experience. The consumers are at the end of this list and are the most powerful deciding factor that can make or break their products. They conclude that Successful products and programs are those that satisfy their needs and wants in the short term (impulse) or in the long term. While a colourful and involving Tricks cereal package with a maze on the back provides for short-term needs satisfaction, Mattels Hot Wheel scars year after year continue to provide young boys with something they need and want small, easily manipulability, colourful minibars that are fun and involving to play cars with (Vroom! Vroom!) And to accumulate and collect. (Cuff and Rehire 1998). Ethical Implications Children advertising have attracted legal, scholars and parental attention. Proponents of the children targeted marketing and advertising argue that the financial backing that children programs are getting derive from sponsors who make programs on television possible. Advertising to children are therefore motivated by profitability. Furthermore they also argue that these sponsors target a separate niche market of children of age group 12 and 14. Advertising provides them with product information and does not really provide stimulus as children in this age group are more like adults with their specific ideologies, attitudes and behaviours where preferences of products and services are concerned. They have been exposed to persuasive messages for a long time and can distinguish persuasive messages from empowering ones. Thus they are product and advertising savvy. On the other hand opponents such as parents and consumer protection groups argue that advertising directed at children are not only unethical but they are also manipulative stimulants that promote consumerism in children from a very young age. Advertisements create wants and poor nutritional habits that induce children to pester parents for products that are harmful for them (Berger 1999). Their opinions have been affirmed by Cuff and Rehire (1997) who suggest that preschool children at two and three years old tend to identify with frequently seen images and therefore would be attracted towards spokes-character in advertising and marketing. The desire to see these characters and related products they see on television, packaging and promotions induce demand for the same among children. According to DelVecchio (1998, p. 225), The objective is to select an effective piece of advertising that will break through clutter, communicate the name of the brand, its key feature and benefit, and do so in a cool way that will elicit a childs request. Those advertisers are successful who successfully use innovation, meticulous marketing, planning and massive exposures in their key characters according to Schneider (1989). The ethical dilemma enters the scenario when one refers to the degree and extent of the use of stimuli. Research indicates that spokes-characters use role play and features that would relate animated with human characters and thereby influence childrens attitudes(Cheat et al 1992). The issues surrounding the use of advertising characters to children stem from the fact that the characters are commoditized without consideration for its impact on the children. Without regulations, advertisers tend to deviate from the conventional use of these characters. They treat children and adult related products alike. That is perhaps the reason why Cross (2002) indicates that there has been a rise in restrictions on tobacco advertising during the 1990sto curb tobacco companies from targeting children by the use of spokes-characters in their advertising and marketing campaigns. In this context advertisements have a deep ethical impact on the cognitive and development of growing children and the authority needs to recognize this fact. According to Redder (1981) children are vulnerable and fail to utilize cognitive plans for storing and retrieving information. The categorization of processing deficiencies stem from the childs inability to use the actual strategies and aids for storing information in the memory. Limited processing capabilities in young age group especially induce children to learn through memorization and are not capable of using tools for separating, segregating and processing information according to utility. Instead they use information incidentally. Television uses fast pace visual graphics and audio-visual medium to influence pre-schoolers and around that age group. The effects become consistent when children are regularly exposed to these audio-visual images so that they become imprinted on the minds of the young children (Alit et al 1980).Animation and other stimulus have double impact on the information processors of children. As children become receptive to advertisements or images that are regularly shown they come to recognize it in their daily experiences. Once the images are imprinted in the targeted group’s mind it is easy to generate brand recognition through triggering keys which may be in the form of visual or audio effects. Spokes-characters such cartoon characters have this essential effects on the children. Studies have found that young children often discriminate between products on simple heuristic of whether one particular quality (which may include brand name or character) is present or not (Rust and Hyatt 1991 qt.Neeley and Schumann 2004). Another aspect of advertisements is that children tend to associate with the characters and brand that they prefer. Instilling a brand in children’s minds is easy when spokes-characters are used to define the qualities of the products. For example in Ban’s (1996) study four and five year olds proved to be receptive to product characteristics by inferring spokes-characters. Bah gives the example of cereal boxes. Boxes with cartoons are associated with sugary and sweet cereal meant â€Å"for kids while those that do not have cartoons are bland and not sweet, and are meant for adults. This logic for cereal preferences and choices indicate that advertisements with their logos, characters and cartoons all have a great impact on the minds of young children in this age group. While Ban’s example seem harmless whereby advertisers are merely using the characteristics and qualities of products to appeal to the young consumers, Fischer et all’s (1991) example raises ethical dilemma. In their study the researchers asked children ages three to six to identify logo brands with the appropriate product. They observe that children tend to associate the Old Joe character with cigarettes. This association has been developed through the inference of the Camel advertisements that uses Old Joe a cartoon character for brand personalization. Hence, the researchers conclude that regardless of the intentions of advertisers and marketers, the effects of advertising on children are inevitable. Yet there are arguments against this view by psychologists such sapient (1929). This group of individuals are of the view that preoperational children between ages two and seven do not really process information logically or abstractly. They rely on processing strategies such as â€Å"transductive† to connect between thoughts and reasoning and therefore not susceptible to the underlying qualities. They may understand simple expressions of but have difficulty in associating it with product differentiation. Consequently Neely and Schumann (2004) write: While research findings show that young childr Ethical Issues of Advertising to Children Ethical Issues of Advertising to Children Ethical Dilemma, Practices and Implications of Children Advertising Creating outstanding products and programs to win marketplace is not an easy job. Specialists in marketing have to develop comprehensive research plans, carry out market researches, analyse the data collected and finally come up with marketing plans that target specific consumer segments. Finding out about human psychology, their preferences, choices and appeals are not only difficult but at times disappointingly inaccurate. Yet marketers today consider themselves experts in such endeavours, and are capable of achieving the almost impossible marketing objectives.   As if these aspects of marketing are not difficult enough, in modern-day marketing field there is a niche in which the marketers have to deal with children. The most difficult task is perhaps the determination of the choices and preferences of these fickle individuals who are still developing, absorbing the environment and learning to become like their adult counterparts. The task of marketing to children is not only daunting but also critical for many businesses such as Nike, Microsoft, Johnson Johnson, Disney, Pepsi, Sega,Kellogs and Mattel to name a few. These companies go through extensive research and consultancy to get to the untapped market of child consumers. One such example is evident in Dan S. Cuff and Robert H. Reiner’s (1998) Youth Market Systems.  According to the authors the development of outstanding products and programs to win childrens marketplace is entirely different from the rest of the market segments. For this purpose they invent a marketing process called Youth Market Systems. The System ensures marketers consider all aspects of marketing to children or teens for any category of goods or services that companies want to sell. There Isa great need for a system of analysis and interpretation as the authors feel that information pertaining to cognitive, emotional and social needs of age groups could transform the programs or product features that target them. Cuff and Reiner’s (1998) strategy merely opens window to the world of advertising to children. As one investigates the categories of products and services that are available to young children, one also tend to develop the consistent belief that children are a separate kind of consumer group and must be treated differently, from advertising to the designing of products. All these efforts no doubt are valid and justified in their own place and position, however a niggling thought crosses the mind when one observes the various approaches and efforts that marketers adopt to reach out to the vulnerable youth consumer segment. There are reasons for these tactics. Cuff and Rehire record approximately $1 billion annual gross revenue for Mattel Incorporated that sells Barbie’s. There are others such as Garfield, He-Man, Cabbage Patch Kids, Power Rangers, LEGO, GI Joes and a myriad of upcoming products invading the market with the sole purpose to tap on these young consumers who are bound by childish emotions and penchant for toys and games. Schemes and strategies are being devised to win over these young consumers for high stakes amounting to billions of pounds. What is more, advertising and marketing to children does not only involve the youngsters but their parents also. For example the Youth Market System identifies parents, grandparents and other close family members as the most influential on children’s purchasing decision. Exploring this group is critical because they are the ones who have control over the wallet and it is on them that children are dependent. The complexity in children marketing therefore lies in attracting both the youngsters and appealing to the parents. A winning formula must be developed to attract both the parents and children. The complexity of this formula makes success rate low which induces marketers to resort to all kinds of schemes and strategies to achieve their desired target, including crossing the line of ethics especially in the field of advertising of children related products (Cuff and Rehire 1998). Scholars and parents alike feel that there are no avenues that advertisers and businesses will not exploit to reach to the young consumers. Exploitations through mental, moral and physical developments of children are common. The strategies to target children involve creation of wants to satisfy the impulse rather than actual needs. For example consoles such as Mattels Hot Wheels, and Barbie’s fashion collections are not really required by children but wants created by advertisers and marketing campaigns. Long term needs satisfaction has been replaced by short term needs. They are not the only ones exploited. Their parents are also plagued with different kinds of created needs for their children such as the wellbeing; status symbol; and their selfish need to have their child preoccupied with the multitude of products and free them from child responsibilities. Statement of the Problem These aspects portray not only the ugly but also the unethical sides of the world of advertising. How true are these aspects and to what extent do advertisers reach to capture their target consumers? Do they cross the borders of ethics or not to maximise gains from vulnerable consumer market? And what, if anything, should be done to control and ultimately restrict the freedom of advertising aimed at children are some of the areas that the following research will endeavour to enumerate. Literature Review Children have become the key target for many advertisers. Children are vulnerable, easy to exploit consumers and they perceive things as advertisers want them to perceive, or so many of us believe. Despite the fact that children are nowadays smart and knowledgeable of the marketplace nevertheless for many marketers they are relatively easy to target due to the sheer size of the childrens consumer market. Advertisers thrive by earning billions of pounds with the backing and funding of the profit seeking organizations that hire them. These companies are not only producing goods that appeal to the children but they are also exploiting their parents. The dual targeting approach makes this market segment attractive as well as representative of high yield for investment. For example in many regions of the world including the US, Europe and Japan, companies are investing billions so that they can capture and tap the youth market segment but at the same time they are also reaping billions in return. Advertisers and marketers are entrusted with the task to achieve sales targets by generating desired actions from the segment. The wide appeal has motivated many professionals to enter and adopt whatever means and measures to achieve their targets. Ethical implications surpasses but few in the field of advertising that target children. For these reasons the authority, lobbyists and parents are demonstrating their concerns regarding the impact of media and advertising on children. The following literature review will first outline why and how children are targeted, followed by a review of the kind of ethical implications advertising and the media has on children. This will be followed by an exploration of the measures that are being taken to counteract the problem, if any. Children Advertising Advertising to children has not been an issue until recently with the boom of the media. More and more parents are concerned about the legal controls that the authority levy on advertising criteria as most are concerned about the kind of tactics advertisers are using to influence children for the sake of maximizing their profits. For example Begot and Dottie (2004) note that pornography, cigarette and tobacco related, alcohol and other products prohibited for children are being promoted on television freely without restriction. Advertisement messages for these adult related products are tailored for adult consumption but due to the appeal of mass viewership and the higher profits, the advertisements are aired during children television primetime. As a result the advertisements expose children to contents that are not meant for them. Had that been the only case then the issue of advertisement would not have been so controversial. Research suggest that children between the ages of 6 and 14 years old watch about 25 hours of television per week in the US and they are exposed to 20,000 commercials in a  year (Moore and Lutz 2000).Children at this age are vulnerable because they are developing a sense to comprehend and evaluate messages in the environment. Stimulated messages on television not only have a harmful impact but they are also detrimental in persuading children to develop wants for products that are not meant for them. According to Moore and Lutz (2000) Beyond advertisements, children gain marketplace information from the products they encounter, advice from friends and relatives, and their own consumption experiences. Through consumption, children learn what products are good and bad, whether advertising claims are truthful, what brands they prefer, and even products that convey social meanings apart from their functional properties. For children the experiences that heighten their importance in their social circle and the adult world have the most meaning. They do not have the ability to counteract or check on the viability or the authenticity of the message initially when they are young as they are dependent on adults for explanatory information accessible only through print media. By the time children grow to the teenage level the functionality of literacy diminishes tube replaced by their desire and need to fit in their social life. Without consideration for product usefulness or content, children develop wants for products beyond their pockets and reach. Similarly, children are also exposed to advertisements for fashion products that are actually designed for adult consumers but they are often condensed to tailor to the younger audience with the purpose to include the young consumers in the marketing campaigns. For this reason children develop receptivity for fashion products without the required information for decision making.  Moore and Lutz (2000) recognize the importance of childrens advertising and its impact on young audience by revealing that children are receptive to advertising demonstrated in experiments of relation between ads and products. They write: Research investigating childrens receptivity to television advertising has studied what children understand, under what circumstances they are persuaded, and how their responses evolve as they mature (e.g. Macklin 1987; Redder 1981). Drawing extensively on information processing and stage models, researchers have gained substantial insight into the development of childrens cognitive skills and their deployment during ad processing. (Moore and Lutz 2000) Their research indicates that children are at a stage where they are developing cognitive abilities. Advertisers vie on this susceptible developmental stage by targeting the limited processors of children that have not yet acquired efficient information processing strategies, a fact that may be reflected in their inability to distinguish between central and peripheral content in message learning. (Moore and Lutz2000). They further this idea by writing that at the stage of ages 8and 12 children are susceptible to information that are stimulated and that target the vulnerability of the strategic processors.   Because at this age group children tend to spontaneously employ efficient information storage and retrieval strategies. They organize and retrieve information based on available information and stimulus. Unless their knowledge of advertising is expressly activated by such acute, these children tend not to think critically or generate counterarguments spontaneously. They may also neglect to differentiate between central and peripheral content when learning new information. When there is an appropriate cue in their environment, however, they are likely to retrieve and use relevant information. (Moore and Lutz2000). Therefore children may develop recognition mechanism on how advertising should be viewed but that is dependent on external factors like parental guide, government policies or other mediating channels. Evidence suggests that there is substantial amount of influence on this age group when they are not guided in the preliminary stages in understanding the intent of advertisements. Research reveals that significant guidelines must be levied before children rationale and deliberate on the content of advertisements shown on television. â€Å"Advertising is thus implicitly accorded substantial power to shape children’s thinking until they acquire sufficient cognitive and attitudinal defences. (Moore and Lutz 2000). Other than the cognitive development impressions on children, advertising also influence them to take actions. In a study by Smithland Wynyard (1982) on consumer behaviour and response towards product trials offer through advertisements suggests that because consumers know that advertisers wish to present their brands in a favourable light, they react to ads by partially discounting claims and forming tentatively held brand beliefs and attitudes. In contrast when consumers have direct usage experience, they form stronger, more confidently held brand beliefs and attitudes. This phenomenon has been observed in a number of studies with adults and may be consistent with the case of children. The same expectations is held with regard to children advertising as researchers are of the opinion that with age, the capacity to form brand opinions tend to be more among older children. For example children of age groups 10 and 12, and 12 and 14year olds tend to tell the truth and more likely to be sceptical towards the institution of advertising rather than blindly accept advertisement claims. According to Michel Begot and Barbara Dottie (2004) children advertising are dynamic and highly appealing. The authors are of the opinion that children are the key target for advertisers because brand preferences in this age group remain unchanged for a long time. Children remain loyal to the brands they are used to yet at the same time they have growing pockets to afford more expensive items as they grow older. The above aspects indicate that children though are smart and knowledgeable to sceptically evaluate and experiment with products through advertisement claims they are also aware of the fact that these advertisers claim may not be true. At this point it is arguable to note that some school of thoughts separate the vulnerable youngsters from the smart young consumers who have the cognitive ability to critically examine the advertisement claims and disregard them if not proven true. According to Robertson and Resister (1974) if ads present information different from a childs actual experience, confusion may result and trust in advertising may be determined. Conversely, others suggest that until children actually experience discrepancies between products as advertised and as consumed, they are unable to fully comprehend advertisings persuasive intent. For this reason Moore and Lutz (2000) claim that advertising use frames for product trials known as transformational advertising in which adult consumers are drawn towards the products prior to advertising exposures by asking them to participate in the process of experimenting and interacting with the product with the view to interpret, evaluate and subsequently form their experience impressions. The expectancy or discrepancy frame sets are formed for comparison of later product trials which help in determining discrepancies or consistencies of product qualities. Mooreland Lutz (2000) present the testing paradigm to show that rational consumers are clever in testing advertising claims of product performances. Testing paradigm enable them the opportunity to evaluate and form opinions. Children, on the other hand do not have the same reaction or taste for distinguishing discrepancy in the same manner. On the other hand Ziegler (1996) believes that advertising and product trials have different effects on childrens capacity to integrate multiple sources of information for consideration. Young children tend to engage in one-dimensional thinking pattern and rely on multiple dimensions for a given task. Integration is imperative for children because they are dependent on this integration processing of information for forming perceptual domains and consumer behaviour. When younger children are presented with information it is encoded and stored in the recesses of the mind, and whenever needed retrieve it for evaluation. Information integration is basically combining new information presented in the media with the old information, and comparing the two. Disparate media information result in discrepancy inexperience. This in turn results in loss of trust in advertisement messages. Not all children however are wise enough to discriminate information. Moore and Lutz (2000) believe that age differences differentiate expectations and credibility of advertising. They write Younger children have been found to hold more positive attitudes about advertising, to be more likely to believe its claims, and to be less likely to understand its essential purpose. Thus, among younger children advertisings credibility is not likely to arise as a concern, and they are likely to perceive both advertising and a product trial experience as believable sources of information. (Moore and Lutz2000). Clearly, this statement identifies with the fact that younger children are more susceptible to advertising and they are prone to take actions without critical evaluation. For older children advertisers may not integrate strong expectations about a brand and instead focus on the stronger results to generate confidence in product usage (Fazio1986). Alternatively there are groups of advertisers who vie on the physical habits of children. For example one of the most invidious techniques is to use junk food in advertising for children. The use of celebrities to endorse these foods without any consideration for balanced diet or fitness is common in the industry. In the UK the BBC which is funded by licence and tax payers, received around 32 million pounds in 2001for franchising its Tweenies’ characters to McDonalds the Food Commission found that the Tweenies’ products were high in junk elements. Despite this fact the UK government continues to allow brands such as Cadburys to market its products and launch campaigns that have negative effects on the physical health of children. These efforts are designed to generate more profits and not the public interest. They are aware of the fact that the lack of exercise coupled with high calorie food result in obesity and other related diseases in children. The rate of obesity has doubled in the past 10 years from 8.5percent to 15 present among children under 16 years (The Lancet 2003).Yet advertisements continue to infiltrate the media and other channels with the objective to vie on children. Advertising Strategies Children have long been recognized as the target market for many companies due to its economic potential. Recent estimates by Moore(2004) indicate that children and associated markets account for 24billion dollars of direct spending and it has an additional 500 billion dollars influence over family purchases. Children are considered to be potential gold mines for campaigners and advertisers alike. Television channels and the print media as well as companies are constantly engaged in complex product placements, sales promotions, packaging design, public relations, and in-school marketing activities with the view to reach out to children and their parents. Given the time children spend in front of the television, on the Internet and media gadgets, marketers realize that children form a huge consumer base for â€Å"toys, breakfast cereals, candy and snacks etc. For this purpose there are more and more commercials on television to induce buying preference and action. TV commercials especially are being developed to induce children to purchase and participate in programs promoting cars, fashion, cell phones and other such adult related products. According to Moore (2004) At the root of the childrens advertising debate is the question of childrens unique vulnerabilities. Concerns about young children range from their inability to resist specific selling efforts to a fear that without benefit of well-developed critical thinking skills they may learn undesirable social values such as materialism†(Macklin, 1986 qt. Moore 2004). Her view is also affirmed by Cuff Andrei her (1998) who indicate through their study that children are susceptible to advertisements because of the extensive measures and strategies adopted by the advertisers. Their study reveals that marketers devise winning formulas to gain the confidence of children by sending out messages that winning children are those who are associated with certain brands. These may be Barbie, He-Man, Teletubbies or Spider-Man. Identification and association are the keys to the winning formula. The success rate of the winning formula depends on how deep an impact the product or brand has through the advertisements. These are developed based on the knowledge of the development of the mind of the growing consumers. The product leverage mix is formed based on qualities that are demanded by children such as characteristics of aero, power of a character and/or qualities of the product. The product leverage matrix is a comprehensive model formed for analysing the needs and wants of the young consumers and a guide to allow marketers to have look at the bigger picture. Once the matrix is determined the medium, concept, content, context, process, characters or personality, and attitude or style are established. Elements to be noted include: What is the psychological point of view of the target audience? What are the visual and verbal contents that will be used for the product? How marketers will form the context of the advertisements for the target audience and the kind of processes that will be involved to create an interface for interaction with the potential consumers? Character association or the use of personality to denote product quality is also common in the designing of the matrix etc. (Cuff and Rehire 1998). The marketers are also aware that young children are intelligent individuals who exercise their developing cognitive abilities by associating qualities with certain images. For example Bugs Bunny is clever rabbit or Kellogg’s Pop Tarts are fruity flavoured etc. They are able to associate as well as distinguish between products and characteristics of the products. Identifying the points of difference from the children’s perspectives is critical but not impossible. Acuffand Rehire (1998) also note that these are assumptions that adults make regarding the preferences of children such as teens wanting more energy; identifying with hero athletes; wanting great taste or new product names. Yet at the same time they also warn the marketers that: more often than not these assumptions are left unexamined as to veracity and strength. Its an important practice to check assumptions: check what the leverage actually is, and its relative power versus what has been assumed. More often than not, adults make erroneous assumptions about what kids perceive to be important and powerful because adults are looking at their product or program through adult eyes. It is critical to get at the actual leverage rather than the assumed leverage. With the above hypothetical Enerjuice example in mind, adults may be surprised when testing directly with kids focus groups reveals that the new products blue colour is its most powerful point of leverage and that the majority of kids tested dislike the new name. (Cuff and Rehire 1998). The basic premise in such a condition is that marketers need to ensure they give promises and fulfil them too thereby gaining competitive advantage. This kind of positioning helps them to organize and categorize products in the mind of the targeted consumers. In the end however, the marketers must realize that it is the bigger picture that needs to be satisfied that is product leverage matrix. At the centre of the matrix are the crucial elements that should not be neglected such as gender, stage, age, structure, dimension, style and past experience. The consumers are at the end of this list and are the most powerful deciding factor that can make or break their products. They conclude that Successful products and programs are those that satisfy their needs and wants in the short term (impulse) or in the long term. While a colourful and involving Tricks cereal package with a maze on the back provides for short-term needs satisfaction, Mattels Hot Wheel scars year after year continue to provide young boys with something they need and want small, easily manipulability, colourful minibars that are fun and involving to play cars with (Vroom! Vroom!) And to accumulate and collect. (Cuff and Rehire 1998). Ethical Implications Children advertising have attracted legal, scholars and parental attention. Proponents of the children targeted marketing and advertising argue that the financial backing that children programs are getting derive from sponsors who make programs on television possible. Advertising to children are therefore motivated by profitability. Furthermore they also argue that these sponsors target a separate niche market of children of age group 12 and 14. Advertising provides them with product information and does not really provide stimulus as children in this age group are more like adults with their specific ideologies, attitudes and behaviours where preferences of products and services are concerned. They have been exposed to persuasive messages for a long time and can distinguish persuasive messages from empowering ones. Thus they are product and advertising savvy. On the other hand opponents such as parents and consumer protection groups argue that advertising directed at children are not only unethical but they are also manipulative stimulants that promote consumerism in children from a very young age. Advertisements create wants and poor nutritional habits that induce children to pester parents for products that are harmful for them (Berger 1999). Their opinions have been affirmed by Cuff and Rehire (1997) who suggest that preschool children at two and three years old tend to identify with frequently seen images and therefore would be attracted towards spokes-character in advertising and marketing. The desire to see these characters and related products they see on television, packaging and promotions induce demand for the same among children. According to DelVecchio (1998, p. 225), The objective is to select an effective piece of advertising that will break through clutter, communicate the name of the brand, its key feature and benefit, and do so in a cool way that will elicit a childs request. Those advertisers are successful who successfully use innovation, meticulous marketing, planning and massive exposures in their key characters according to Schneider (1989). The ethical dilemma enters the scenario when one refers to the degree and extent of the use of stimuli. Research indicates that spokes-characters use role play and features that would relate animated with human characters and thereby influence childrens attitudes(Cheat et al 1992). The issues surrounding the use of advertising characters to children stem from the fact that the characters are commoditized without consideration for its impact on the children. Without regulations, advertisers tend to deviate from the conventional use of these characters. They treat children and adult related products alike. That is perhaps the reason why Cross (2002) indicates that there has been a rise in restrictions on tobacco advertising during the 1990sto curb tobacco companies from targeting children by the use of spokes-characters in their advertising and marketing campaigns. In this context advertisements have a deep ethical impact on the cognitive and development of growing children and the authority needs to recognize this fact. According to Redder (1981) children are vulnerable and fail to utilize cognitive plans for storing and retrieving information. The categorization of processing deficiencies stem from the childs inability to use the actual strategies and aids for storing information in the memory. Limited processing capabilities in young age group especially induce children to learn through memorization and are not capable of using tools for separating, segregating and processing information according to utility. Instead they use information incidentally. Television uses fast pace visual graphics and audio-visual medium to influence pre-schoolers and around that age group. The effects become consistent when children are regularly exposed to these audio-visual images so that they become imprinted on the minds of the young children (Alit et al 1980).Animation and other stimulus have double impact on the information processors of children. As children become receptive to advertisements or images that are regularly shown they come to recognize it in their daily experiences. Once the images are imprinted in the targeted group’s mind it is easy to generate brand recognition through triggering keys which may be in the form of visual or audio effects. Spokes-characters such cartoon characters have this essential effects on the children. Studies have found that young children often discriminate between products on simple heuristic of whether one particular quality (which may include brand name or character) is present or not (Rust and Hyatt 1991 qt.Neeley and Schumann 2004). Another aspect of advertisements is that children tend to associate with the characters and brand that they prefer. Instilling a brand in children’s minds is easy when spokes-characters are used to define the qualities of the products. For example in Ban’s (1996) study four and five year olds proved to be receptive to product characteristics by inferring spokes-characters. Bah gives the example of cereal boxes. Boxes with cartoons are associated with sugary and sweet cereal meant â€Å"for kids while those that do not have cartoons are bland and not sweet, and are meant for adults. This logic for cereal preferences and choices indicate that advertisements with their logos, characters and cartoons all have a great impact on the minds of young children in this age group. While Ban’s example seem harmless whereby advertisers are merely using the characteristics and qualities of products to appeal to the young consumers, Fischer et all’s (1991) example raises ethical dilemma. In their study the researchers asked children ages three to six to identify logo brands with the appropriate product. They observe that children tend to associate the Old Joe character with cigarettes. This association has been developed through the inference of the Camel advertisements that uses Old Joe a cartoon character for brand personalization. Hence, the researchers conclude that regardless of the intentions of advertisers and marketers, the effects of advertising on children are inevitable. Yet there are arguments against this view by psychologists such sapient (1929). This group of individuals are of the view that preoperational children between ages two and seven do not really process information logically or abstractly. They rely on processing strategies such as â€Å"transductive† to connect between thoughts and reasoning and therefore not susceptible to the underlying qualities. They may understand simple expressions of but have difficulty in associating it with product differentiation. Consequently Neely and Schumann (2004) write: While research findings show that young childr