An investigation on the development of car safety and the importance of airbags Essay

Chemistry experiment to simulate the inflation of an airbag in case of a car crash Aim Our aim is to create a chemical reaction to demonstrate the rapid inflation used in automobiles. The inflation of an airbag is a very fast reaction, and the typical reactants used are a mixture of Calcium carbonate (CaCO3), Potassium nitrate (KNO3) and Silicon dioxide. When a car crash occurs a sensor in the car’s airbag triggers the reaction that will save the drivers life if the speed at which he is moving is greater than 16-24 km/h-1. The nitrogen has to be produces more quickly than the driver hitting the steering wheel. The entire reaction is completed in less than 1/25 of 1 sec, because of the danger of this reaction, to demonstrate in a similar way the reaction that takes place in an airbag we have chosen to inflate a balloon using the gas obtained by the reaction of a metal acid to produce sodium carbonate. Equation Ca(s) + 2HCl(aq) = Ca(aq) + (g) + O(l) Materials -Conical Flask -Cork with delivery tube -heat mats -spatula -chemicals (baking soda) – goggles (safety glasses) Procedure à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Gather all apparatus needed for the entire experiment à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Set up all apparatus à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Pour CaCo3 into the conical flask à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Add the HCl to the solution already in the conical flask à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Cover the flask with a cork delivery tube which will then allow to blow up the balloon à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Observe the reaction Conclusion Our experiment was successful in proving the function of an airbag of a car. Our experiment aimed to demonstrate the safety of the passengers of an automobile, through the use of an airbag. For our chemistry experiment we chose to adapt the airbag inflation to our IB program syllabus, hence by doing an experiment similar to the one we had already successfully completed during the school year. was the element produced that mainly inflated the balloon, the reaction took place almost immediately. Hence, we have experimented the chemical reaction of a metal acid that produced Sodium Carbonate and inflated a balloon, the reaction was similar to the inflation of an airbag, proving the same chemistry principles. Research Question: How airbags managed to improve automobile safety. Introduction: The development of airbags began with the idea for a system that would save automobile drivers and passengers in a car accident, whether they were wearing their seat belts or not. Nowadays, airbags are compulsory in new cars and are designed to act as a supplementary safety device in addition to a seat belt. Airbags were invented in 1953. The automobile industry started in the late 1950’s to research airbags and soon discovered that there were many difficulties in the development of an airbag. Crash tests showed that for an airbag to be useful as a protective device, the bag must deploy and inflate within 40 milliseconds. The system must also be able to detect the difference between a severe crash and a minor fender-bender. These technological difficulties slowed the airbag creation process of 30 years, and in fact, it was in the mid 1980s that airbags started to be installed in all cars produced. In recent years, increased reports in the media concerning deaths or serious injuries due to airbag deployment have led to a national discussion about the usefulness and â€Å"safety† of airbags. Questions are being raised as to whether airbags should be mandatory, and whether their safety can be improved. However, as Graph 1 and 2 demonstrate, airbags have saved lives and have lowered the number of severe injuries. Graph 1 This bar graph shows that there is a significantly higher reduction in moderate to serious head injuries for people using airbags and seat belts together than for people using only seat belts. Graph 2 Deaths among drivers using both airbags and seat belts are 26% lower than among drivers using seat belts alone. An airbag must be able to deploy in a matter of milliseconds from the initial collision impact. It must also be prevented from deploying when there is no collision. Hence, the first component of the airbag system is a sensor that can detect head-on collisions and immediately trigger the airbag’s deployment. One of the simplest designs employed for the crash sensor is a steel ball that slides inside a smooth bore. The ball is held in place by a permanent magnet or by a stiff spring, which inhibit the ball’s motion when the car drives over bumps or potholes. However, when the car decelerates very quickly, as in a head-on crash, the ball suddenly moves forward and turns on an electrical circuit, initiating the process of inflating the airbag. Once the electrical circuit has been turned on by the sensor, a pellet of sodium azide (NaN3) is ignited. A rapid reaction occurs, generating nitrogen gas (N2). This gas fills a nylon or polyamide bag at a velocity of 150 to 250 miles per hour. This process, from the initial impact of the crash to full inflation of the airbags, takes only about 40 milliseconds (Movie 1). Ideally, the body of the driver (or passenger) should not hit the airbag while it is still inflating. In order for the airbag to cushion the head and torso with air for maximum protection, the airbag must begin to deflate as the body hits it. Otherwise, the high internal pressure of the airbag would create a surface as hard as stone, a device that wouldn’t result useful to the passenger or driver. Evaluation: The kinetic theory of gases assumes that gases are ideal, thus that there are no interactions between molecules, and the size of the molecules is small compared to the free space between the molecules, but molecules are as a physical body that moves continually through space in random directions. In a microscopic view, the pressure exerted on the walls of the container is the result of molecules colliding with the walls, and hence exerting force on the walls (Graph 3). When many molecules hit the wall, a large force is distributed over the surface of the wall, which gives pressure. An important fact derived from the kinetic theory of gases shows that the average kinetic energy of the gas molecules depends only on the temperature. Since average kinetic energy is related to the average speed of the molecules (EK = mu2 / 2, where m=mass and u is the average speed), the temperature of a gas sample must be related to the average speed at which the molecules are moving. Thus, we can view temperature as a measure of the random motion of the particles, defined by the molecular speeds. This implies that there must be a range (distribution) of speeds for the system. In fact, there is a typical distribution of molecular speeds for molecules of a given molecular weight at a given temperature, known as the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution (Graph 3). This distribution was first predicted using the kinetic theory of gases, and was then verified experimentally using a time-of-flight spectrometer. As shown by the Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions in Graph 3, there are very few molecules traveling at very low or at very high speeds. The maximum of the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution shows the intermediate speed at which the largest number of molecules are traveling. As the temperature increases, the number of molecules that are traveling at high speeds increases, and the speeds become more evenly distributed in the curves. Graph 3 The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution can be shown graphically as the plot of the number of molecules traveling at a given speed versus the speed. As the temperature increases, this curve broadens and extends to higher speeds. As seen in Graph 3, there is a unique distribution curve for each temperature. Temperature is defined by a system of gaseous molecules only when their speed distribution is a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Any other type of speed distribution rapidly becomes a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution by collisions of molecules, which transfer energy. Once this distribution is achieved, the system is said to be at thermal equilibrium, and hence has a temperature. When a body hits the steering wheel directly, the force of this impact is distributed over a small area of the body, resulting in injuries to this area. The area that hits the steering wheel is shown in red. When a body is restrained by an airbag, the force of the impact is distributed over a much larger area of the body, resulting in less severe injuries. The area that hits the airbag is shown in orange. Conclusion:The law of inertia, is demonstrated in a car collision and it is Newton’s first law which states that: objects moving at a constant velocity continue at the same velocity unless an external force acts upon them. When a car stops suddenly, as in a car incident, a body inside the car continues moving forward at the same velocity as the car was moving prior to the collision, because its inertial tendency is to continue moving at constant velocity. However, the body does not continue moving at the same velocity for long, but rather comes to a stop when it hits some object in the car, such as the steering wheel or dashboard. Thus, there is a force exerted on the body to change its velocity. Injuries from car accidents result when this force is very large. Airbags protect you by applying a restraining force to the body that is smaller than the force the body would experience if it hit the dashboard or steering wheel suddenly, and by spreading this force over a larger area. For simplicity, in the discussion below, we will consider only the case of a driver hitting the steering wheel. If there is a restraining device as an airbag, the force of impact decreases, hence, the airbag reduces the rate of deceleration. Therefore, the force on the body is smaller and fewer injuries result. When an airbag restrains the body, the body exerts an equal and opposite force on the airbag. Unlike the immovable steering wheel, the airbag is deflated slowly. This deflation can occur because of the presence of vents in the bag. The force exerted by the body pushes the gas through the vents and thus deflates the bag. Because the gas can only leave at a certain rate, the bag deflates slowly. Additionally, airbags help reduce injuries by spreading the force over a larger area. If the body crashes directly into the steering wheel, all the force from the steering wheel will be applied to a localized area on the body that is the size of the steering wheel, from which a serious injury can form. However, when the body hits an airbag, which is larger than a steering wheel, all the force from the airbag on the body will be spread over a larger area of the body. Therefore, the force on any particular point on the body is smaller. Hence, less serious injuries will occur, this will also help to save the driver’s and passenger’s life. This is how a simple chemical equation avoids the deaths of millions. Physic’s Experiment Investigating safety on cars Introduction As cars became increasingly powerful and fast, rate of incidents increased exponentially and, usually more violent. This meant, over the years, a constant research and development of new security measures, and even nowadays more and more new systems are introduced every day. This development gave birth to what we now consider to be the basic requirements of any safe car, such as seat belts, air bags and crumple zones. Crumple zones The structures that in cars are commonly known as crumple zones are areas placed on the front and usually on the rear of a vehicle that are designed to absorb energy during impact in a predictable and controlled way. In the late 1950s, the general population still believed that the stronger the structure of a car, the safer that car would be during an incident. Actually, however, this kind of construction criteria proved to be fatal to most passengers. This is because during a collision all the energy of the impact went directly to the vehicle and onto the passengers. In 1967, the Mercedes Heckflosse was the first mass production car in the world to feature â€Å"crumple zones† and a safety cage. In order to fit appropriate crumple zones, the truck was made almost 50% bigger. Nowadays car featuring crumple zones and rigid cabs are standard safety requirements in almost every car made throughout the world. The fact that a car that crushes more easily protects its passengers more than a car that does not crush at all, may seem strange, but, in fact, the reason for this seem obvious when considering the physics behind it. Newton’s first law states that a body will remain at rest or continue travelling at uniform motion (constant velocity) unless a force is acted on it. Therefore, in a situation in which a car is impacting with a wall, if a vehicle is travelling at 70 km/h, the passengers inside are doing the same, and when the vehicle collides with the wall and comes to a sudden stop, the passengers’ bodies will continue going in the same direction at the same speed, 70 km/h. As stated in the law, these bodies will keep on moving forward until they themselves collide with a part of the car or with another passenger. Even when the human body comes to rest in this kind of incident, its internal organs slam against each other and against bones. This will, of course cause, injuries to the passengers and sometimes even death. Newton’s second law of motion states that: The law conveys that as the time taken by the car to arrive to complete rest increases, the force transferred to the car and, therefore its passengers, will be decreased. On the other hand, if the amount of time to reach complete halt is decreased, the force experienced will be greater. Crumple zones are specifically designed in order to crush, absorbing part of the force of the collision. The force of the collision is given out during the impact in the form of heat, sound and in from of mechanical work done on the crumple zone. The front (and rear) part of the car acts as a cushion and it is able to increase the time taken to reach complete halt and, hopefully, save the passengers’ lives. However crumple zones only work provided there is no intrusion on external elements, like the engine, in the rigid cage. This concept can be easily explained thought a simply example. Take for instance two object, the first is a solid steel block, while the second is an aluminium can. When the solid steel block (or car with no crumple zones) impacts with the wall, the wall does not move and, instead, exerts an equal magnitude and opposite direction force on the block. This causes the block to bounce off the wall in an elastic manner, conserving almost all its initial kinetic energy (EK) and, therefore, experiencing a large force. On the other hand when considering the aluminium can, the situation is different. When an aluminium can (or a car with crumple zones) impacts with a wall, it does not conserve all of its initial kinetic energy (EK). This is because, instead of just bouncing off, some of the kinetic energy is transformed into mechanical work, heat and sound , during the squashing of the crumple zones. The result is a smaller force acted on the can. The action of crumple zones increases the time of collision and lessens the amount of force experienced by the aluminium can. Specific materials As seen in the previous section, the material with which different parts of the vehicle are built are of primary importance. Depending on how we want specific parts of the car to behave, specific material must be chosen. For instance, crumple zones are expected to crush easily, while the inner rigid cage is supposed to withstand higher forces without braking. Based on this information we can determine that the best material to build a crumple zone is an easily bendable metal like aluminium, instead for the rigid cage, a much harder alloy like steel. Alloys are partial or complete solid solutions of one or more elements (metallic or/and non-metallic) in a metallic lattice. Alloys usually present different properties from those of the elements composing them. Alloying one metal with one or more metals or non-metals often improves the properties of the starting elements. For instance, when considering steel we can see how this alloy is stronger than its primary element, iron (Fe). Even though physical properties, such as density, reactivity, electrical and thermal conductivity, of the alloy does not differ inn great amount from those of its constituent elements, engineering properties such as tensile strength and shear strength can differ considerably. The tensile strength of a material is the maximum amount of tensile stress (measured in Newton) that it can tolerate before it tears to parts. The shear strength, instead, is the ability of the material to resist shear stress. The increase in both tensile strength and shear strength are usually due to the sizes of the atoms in the alloy. Larger atoms in the alloy apply a compressional stress on neighbouring atoms, and smaller atoms apply a tensional stress on their neighbours. This particular composition of alloys helps to resist deformation when a strong force is applied on it. Even when the amounts of each element in an alloy are altered slightly, this presents huge differences in physical engineering properties and behaviour. For instance, very small amounts of carbon (C) (between 0.2% and 2.1%) are added to iron (Fe) and act as hardening agents preventing dislocation of the iron atoms. From the image on the left it is possible to see how the atoms of carbon (A) place in between the atoms of iron (B), preventing the sliding of the layers of iron atoms. However, in case the amount of carbon was excessive, this would have the opposite effect, causing the iron to be brittle and break easily. Some alloys are made by melting and mixing two or more metallic elements. The first alloy ever discovered was bronze, it was made of copper and tin, and was discovered during the prehistoric period known as the bronze age. It was originally used to make tools and weapons, but later it has been used for ornaments, bells, statues, and bearings. Video of crash tests Investigating the effectiveness on crumple zones during a frontal collision SUV Mass of the trolley/kg Distance from the wall /m Time taken/s Distance travelled after collision/m Detailed history of the airbag production Invented at the start of the 1950s, it only came to wide use during the 1960s. Air bag-equipped cars have demonstrated, both in controlled tests and everyday use, their effectiveness and reliability (in frontal collisions, deaths for drivers, were lowered by 28 percent in vehicles featuring air bags). In order to answer to the increased of safety concerns of the consumers, the federal government has forced all car manufacturers to upgrade the safety features installed on their cars. The Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations require that all cars sold in the US, being produced starting from year 1990, had to feature a passive restraint system. Passive restraint systems are security systems that require no activation by the driver and usually are identified to be automatic seat belts and air bags. For air bags, until year 1994 the regulations only require a driver’s air bag and must include passive protection on the passenger’s side (seatbelts). Later, in 1991, a new law required both driver and passenger air bags in all cars by year 1998 and in light trucks and vans by year 1999. Air bags are inflatable cushions designed to protect car passengers from serious or even fatal injury in case of a collision. The air bag is part of a system, also known as an air cushion restraint system (ACRS) or an air bag supplemental restraint system (SRS) (they are called supplemental because the air bag is designed to supplement the protection of seat belts). When detecting a collision, the air bags inflate instantly to provide the passenger with a big gas-filled cushion. A typical air bag system consists of an air bag module (containing an inflator or gas generator and an air bag), crash sensors, a diagnostic monitoring unit, a steering wheel connecting coil, and an indicator lamp. These components are all interconnected by a wiring harness and powered by the vehicle’s battery. Air bag sensors are specifically designed to prevent the air bag from inflating when the car travels over a bump or in case of a minor collision. In a frontal impact equivalent to hitting a solid barrier at a speed of 14.5 Km/h, the sensors located in the front of the car detect the sudden deceleration and send an electrical signal activating an initiator. The initiator is similar to a light bulb and contains a thin wire that heats up, breaking through the propellant chamber. This sudden penetration causes the solid chemical propellant, usually sodium azide, sealed up inside the inflator to undergo a very quick chemical reaction. This controlled reaction produces harmless blasts of the nitrogen gas that inflates the air bag. The resulting nitrogen gas fills the nylon bag in less than one-twenty-fifth (1/25) of a second, opening its plastic cover on the stirring wheel and inflating in front of the passenger before this hits the stirring wheel. As the occupant hits the inflated bag, the nitrogen gas is pushed out through some openings at the back of the bag. The bag remains fully inflated for no longer than one-tenth (1/10) of a second and is almost completely deflated by three-tenths (3/10) of a second after the impact with the passenger. Talcum powder or corn starch is used to line the inside of the air bag and is released from the air bag as it is opened causing the characteristic white cloud. Components of an airbag An air bag is formed by three main parts: the nylon bag, the inflator, and the propellant. The bag is made from a woven nylon fabric and can differ in shape and size depending on the specific vehicle safety requirements. Talcum powder or corn starch is used when handling the air bag, since either of the two substances prevents the woven nylon fabric from sticking together and makes assembling process easier. The inflator body is made from either stamped stainless steel or cast aluminium. Inside the inflator body there is a filter assembly formed by a stainless steel wire mesh with ceramic material held in between. When the inflator body is assembled in the factory, the filter assembly is wrapped by a metal foil to maintain the filter sealed preventing propellant contamination. The propellant, typically sodium azide ,in the form of black pellets, is combined with an oxidizer and is usually located inside the inflator body between the filter assembly and the initiator. Evaluation While analysing how I dealt with the Group Four Project, I noticed some facts that I could have improved, hence improvements that could be done in how my Group Four has worked. The members of my Group Four Project were: Jacopo Mauro, Daniel Gardin, Maria Airchinsky, Edoardo Nalon and Laure Rasscheart. I noticed that when we started to work at the project, we weren’t working as a team, as we still didn’t know what we really had to do, as time passed we got to know each other better and gained more confidence, thus, we started to work more as a team and we managed to assign tasks inside within the group, for example: Edoardo had to contact some car stores and to gather information about the crumple zones and the materials used in the car production, Jacopo and Daniel were the ones who worked on the physics experiment, since they are the two members of the group who have taken the physics course, while Laure, Maria and I did the chemistry experiment, since we had the idea of the inflation of a balloon as a representation of an airbag. The project could have been done in a more efficient way; we lost a lot of time to actually start with various ideas, set the experiments, and start working as a group, although it is possible to recognize the fact that our problems in getting organized were also due the fact that the members of the group never had study periods at the same time. Probably, something that could have really helped our report was to have a â€Å"leader† perhaps not the smartest, but the one who could have made sure that everyone who was actually proceeding with their tasks, and not wait for the last minute to do so. Perhaps he/she could have given the others some deadlines, and set up meetings to see how everyone was doing. Another thing that we could have improved in our Group 4 Project was that we didn’t have many meetings, we had also the summer to work on it, and we didn’t really do much, so we waited for September when we came back from vacations to start again to worry about finishing the project. Moreover, every member of the group was at a different level in chemistry and math, for example: Jacopo and Daniel are very good at chemistry and physics, in fact they chose the scientific course, while Laure, Edoardo, Maria and I don’t even take physics and aren’t objectively very good in chemistry. However, what emerged from our difficulties was a complex and elaborated project, a research on an important thematic such as safety in the streets, focusing on car accidents. Our project could be expanded on an international scale by suggesting other schools to perform the same research as we did, hence rising internationally the awareness in students on how chemistry and physics are important on a daily basis, how these subjects are at the base of our most important healthy issues.

Analysis of The Lottery Essay

The Lottery is a film based on the short story of the same name by Shirley Jackson. The story takes place in a small village, where the people held an anniversary activity of lottery. One person in the town is randomly chosen, and the person who got the lottery would be hit to death by stones for the sake of harvest of the following year. In my opinion, â€Å"The Lottery† is a surprise and horror story. The film begins under a friendly atmosphere. The people in the village are close and familiar with each other. Before the lottery, everyone seems in a peace mind and friendly to each other. For instance, Mrs. Hutchinson arrives late, just with an excuse of â€Å"forgetting what day it was†. They talk to each other as usual give me a false impression that the lottery is an event similar as the square dance that is welcomed and festive. I expect that the winner of the lottery will receive a prize, money or something. Mr. Warner who was the eldest person in the town says with pride, â€Å"Seventy-seventh year I have been in the Lottery. † I always think the lottery is a pleasant event until the very moment Tessie screams when she sees her husband pick the black dot. The conclusion surprises me that the winner’s fate is death by friends and family. With this conclusion, the film becomes a horror story. The film centers on the actions of each town people from an objective perspective to reflect the blind obedience, less of rationality and cruel coldness of human nature of the whole town people. In this mundane town, everyone knows each other. However, when Tessie receives the black spot, Mrs. Delacroix tells her, â€Å"Be a good sport Tessie. † People’s reflection to the cruel thing is quite cold-blooded. This film presents a weakness in human individuals. Lottery as such a terrible activity for so many years, with no objections or questions asked. Even someone doubts the lottery has been answered with â€Å"There has always been a lottery. † Even people may not be entirely comfortable with the event, but everyone still goes along with it. No one openly expresses fear or disgust toward the lottery. Even Tessie is friendly and pretending to be pleased to be present before she receives the black spot. I think if Tessie is not the target, she will also throw the stones to the winner. The film shows hypocrisy and human weakness in the small town. It is horrible when people always relying on the traditions, especially some brutal sacrificial ceremonies like the lottery. The holiday atmosphere and surprised conclusion of the lottery intensify the horror of the story. The horror of the lottery is not only the cruel behavior of the people, but also unconcerned reflection to the victim. They feel not guilt to the victim, and even excited when they throw the stones. The lurking evil of human kind is the most horror thing that reflected by the film.

Dove: Evolution of a Brand

Dove should employ a strategy that takes full advantage of building an emotional connection with its target customers. Dove’s target customers are women. Women are 50% of the world’s population, and they are the key decision-makers for soap purchases in most households. Dove has already made clear that its target is women through it Campaign for Real Beauty. Dove needs to expand on its brand image through use of the internet, including social media. Dove needs to continue to differentiate itself from competitors. Dove is not just a soap, not just a moisturizer, not just a set of products.Dove has a very important socio-political constituency it seeks to represent as a brand. That constituency is all people, especially women, who want to change the standard image of beauty portrayed in the media and develop a new and far more diverse standard. Dover isn’t about making women feel more beautiful; Dove is about making more women feel beautiful. It positions itself as the brand that celebrates women and their diversity of beauty while helping them achieve their personal ideal of self-beauty through use of its high quality products. Dove needs to continue with its bold strategy which goes completely against the grain.The strategy of portraying the messages/point of view of the consumers as opposed to the message of the brand/company. Allow the brand to become what the target consumer says it is. In other words, allow the brand to represent the unified voice of women as much as possible around the idea of beauty. This bold strategy brought Dove a lot of attention worldwide and kept it in the media, including heavy attention on the worldwide web. Regarding the internet, it is thanks to the internet that Dove’s brand image and message(s) can spread like wildfire very rapidly around the globe.The internet presents an amazing opportunity for brand managers to promote their brand to their target consumers almost instantaneously through a number of different media formats and outlets. And, it allows the customer to interact with the brand in ways that did not exist before the internet. This customer interaction is very key to Dove’s ongoing brand strategy†¦when people feel involved, they develop a greater sense of ownership of or commitment to a brand. The brand identity can really begin to represent personal identity. And, I think that is what Dove wants.Dove wants women to see Dove products as part of their personal identity because they are proud to use Dove products due to its brand identity standing for what they personally stand for. Brand strategy is the how, what, when, and to whom you plan on communicating your product or service. Having a clear and concise brand strategy leads to stronger overall brand equity — how people feel about or perceive your product, and how much they are willing to pay for it. A company or product’s brand is what customers perceive about the company/product.And, the brand message needs to be consistent whether it is sent out through traditional media or over the internet. As a tactic using the internet, Dove can use the power of audiovisual imagery to paint Dove’s brand image and share it with millions of people instantly. YouTube, Google Video, Facebook, etc are all powerful tools where people consume media, comment on it and share it. Dove should use its consumers in its videos†¦ ordinary women. And, it should use compelling stories and messages to support its brand message of Real Beauty.And, it should encourage â€Å"word-of-mouth† spreading of these images and message. In other words, Dove can tap into the power of viral marketing to boost its brand awareness and solidify its consistent brand image. Its basic message is that 1) Dove products are high quality beauty care products for women who are all beautiful in their own way, 2) Dove products supports all women in realizing and achieving their ideal personal image of beauty, 3) Dove rejects the current singular standard of beauty portrayed in mass media as too narrow and destructive to women as a whole.Dove should have contests as well as rewards for its loyal customers who engage with the brand through social media and on official Dove websites. Everyone likes gratitude. And, companies should show gratitude towards their supporters. This will lead to greater brand loyalty. And, the online involvement can be so effectively but inoffensively intrusive into customer’s lives. For example, Lay’s Potato Chips ran an incredible contest over Facebook for customers who were challenged to create the next Lay’s flavor.It was a huge success by all accounts. Everyone I knew had heard of the contest and had participated by submitting ideas or sampling the top 3 flavors once they arrived in stores. The winner received $1million. The idea and execution were brilliant. And, Facebook was the platform. Dove can do this sort of thing as wel l or Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc. I believe video contests would be most effective for Dove because of the power of that medium to share the voice and image of women in their natural state.Dove can also even engage celebrities in this effort to boost the attention and appeal†¦ celebrity women in their natural state without airbrushing and heavy makeup. Dove already has positioned itself very well to differentiate itself from its competitors and to target a large key customer segment. It now needs to take advantage of that position and further engage the emotional connections of its customers to build great brand loyalty.

Business Man and Economics Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Man and Economics - Case Study Example Apple develops and sells personal computers, portable media players, mobile phones and computer software and hardware. As of September 2007, the company operates 200 retail stores in five continents. "Niche marketers presumably understand their customers' needs so well that the customers willingly pay a premium" 11 is a strategy that has worked for Harley Davidson and the financials of its custom bikes market segment, the leader in grossing high sales volume at premium prices substantiates the fact. The following strategies must be implemented by Harley to maximize its profitability by bringing in more specialization in its core competency and niche markets. Since Harley's high end custom bikes command as much as 50% of the market share, this denotes that competitive forces are not a threat and thus Harley must concentrate more on being a customer centered company. "By monitoring customer needs, it can decide which customer groups and emerging needs are the most important to serve, given its resources and objectives" 12. The USP that differentiates Harley from all its competitors is it's much sought after brand personality and a very high degree of brand awareness that commands a premium even in the resale market. The Custom Vehicle Operation (CVO) can be further be strengthened by increasing vertical shaped markets to the current price and engine range simply by re-directing the focus from being a single segment concentration whereby "through concentrated marketing, the firm gains a strong knowledge of the segment's needs and achieves a strong market presence" 13, Harley can upgrade the program to be a selective specialization where "a firm selects a number of segments, each objectively attractive and appropriate. There may be little or no synergy between the segments, but each promises to be a money maker" 14, there can be many segments vying for the same product rather than multiple players within a single segment and also by introducing differentiated marketing based on product attributes. Harley's 2005 model-year-line-up includes 32 models of touring and custom heavy weight motorcycles, a strategy that focuses mainly on increased prices based on increased demand created by limited

Energy Resource Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Energy Resource Plan - Essay Example This fact makes public discourse on the subject all the more important. As a rule, renewable energy sources have many advantages over non-renewable ones. For example, a very widely used energy resources is petroleum. Given the scarcity of this resource, not only is it economically unviable in the long term, but highly malefic to environmental health. The carbon monoxide emissions from automobiles that run on refined petroleum pose serious health consequents to life on earth. On the other hand, tapping energy inherent in natural phenomena is a more prudent way of energy consumption. For example, hydro-electric power generation, wind-mill based energy creation, energy derived from bio-mass, etc. are not only less harsh on the environment, but are sustainable in the long term too. There are many ways in which each of us can help conserve energy. A simple example would be car-pooling and using public transportation for most commuting purposes. This would cut down on the amount of energy consumed by the community. Secondly, significant reduction in energy consumption could be achieved by adopting scientific approaches to building houses, especially in regard to heating and cooling systems. Also, all energy run appliances in the house like the air-conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, etc., can all be made more energy efficient by applying a few basic conservation principles. In light of growing concerns regarding depletion of energy resources and their negative impact on environment and health, the government’s role has become a very important one. Unless strict regulations are imposed on industries and other commercial enterprises, this trend cannot be stopped let alone reversed. Governments can set up dedicated agencies to study industry trends so that regulations can be imposed at an early stage. Government can fund independent/industry research units to come

International Refugee Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Refugee Law - Essay Example Many of these states have been reluctant to offer asylum due to their own political and economic considerations. However, these asylum seekers have often displayed vulnerable qualities in terms of physical, psychological, as well as political support. For which reason, international governing bodies and host states have often ended up granting asylum to these refugees. However, recently, issues on the impact that these refugees have had on host states have been evaluated. Their economic impact has been a major consideration because these refugees have been considered as a significant drain to the resources of host states. The issue of their vulnerability has also been raised. In a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, specifically, in the case of M.S.S v Belgium, the court speaks of the applicant as a member of a ‘vulnerable group’. The case deals with the expulsion of an Afghan asylum-seeker to Greece by Belgium in accordance with the EU Dublin Regulation. The Court issued a standard-setting landmark judgement for the protection of asylum-seekers and it also held that asylum-seekers were a â€Å"particularly underprivileged and vulnerable population group in need of special protection†... He declared that they are not a group ‘historically subject to prejudice with lasting consequences, resulting in their social exclusion†2. This paper aims to critically discuss the judgement delivered in M.S.S v Belgium and Greece. Moreover, it will examine the current position of asylum-seekers who seek ‘international protection’ and the applicability of the legal framework under the 1951 Convention or under the International Human Rights. This paper will also attempt to evaluate the treatment of asylum-seekers in Europe, more specifically, in Greece. It shall also draw some comparisons with the recommended treatment as implemented by the Common European Asylum System. Finally, this paper shall also discuss the concept of vulnerability. This paper is being carried out in order to establish an improved understanding of the refugee laws, including the individuals who may or may not be considered refugees. It is also being carried out in order to assist legal a nalysts in making better judgments on the status of refugees. Background The ‘right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution’ is indeed a key provision in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights3. However, sometimes this right is not fully observed in parts of Europe today. Instead, asylum-seekers are met with hardship and suspicion and too often are treated inhumanely; some are even placed under detention. Asylum-seekers entering Europe have well founded fears of persecution. Most of their fears stem from their ethnicity, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group; all of these qualities are very much different or opposed

Production and Operation Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Production and Operation Management - Essay Example Although the food you eat from Baja Fresh costs you double as you pay in McDonalds, but it is worth it. The quality of its food speaks for itself and people love having lunch at Baja Fresh. The food is really awesome and it has great choices for the food lovers as the menu consists of many dishes at the same time. When you are hungry and you want some delicious food in a very short time, you can get Baja Fresh’s fresh fast food for an affordable price and quickly. Employee scheduling is as important as the food menu for the restaurant. Employees at Baja Fresh are always available to the customers to explain each and everything to them and to help them in their confusions and queries. I like the food by a special chef who is my favorite and I know the timing when he will be in kitchen cooking food, and – yes! – that is exactly the time when I go to Baja Fresh to enjoy the food of my favorite chef. Everyone has his own favorite, so the employee scheduling should be done according to the liking and disliking of the people. Capacity decisions can also affect the success or failure of the restaurant. Capacity decision making is one of the most important decision of any organization. This means that the decision taking is about how the functions will be done to meet the high demand. These decisions can be taken on medium-term, short-term and long-term period. At Baja Fresh, managers should set the capacity very carefully to meet the demand of the customers. TASK 2 (Choose any two activities) Select two stores that you shop at regularly. What competitive advantages do those stores have over their competitors that cause you to shop there rather than at the competitors’? Develop your personal mission statement, with supporting goals. Interview a manager or the chief operating officer of a company about the company’s main strategy. Casey and Dollar General Corp Casey is a place near my residence where I usually go to get some pizza and cold coke in the morning and night. It is a part of my daily routine and I like its pizza. Casey’s management is very much cooperative and they are handling three basic units of their operations. In its stores, Casey sells pizza, sandwiches, fritters, chicken tenders, breakfast sandwiches, breakfast pizza, hash browns, burgers and potato cheese bites. Take your time to think about this. Casey is, in a sense, a restaurant disguised as a gas station.  Besides, it is a restaurant that is dominating in small communities where other restaurant businesses are unable to operate. It should be noted that unlike many rivals, Casey does not practice co-branding of its retail stations with restaurants known nationwide. The biggest risk to Casey’s investors is the lack of a margin of safety at current prices. On the other hand, Dollar General Corp. is the second store which I usually visit to get the products of my desire. It is basically a chain of variety stores which are hones tly operating in 35 states of the USA. Dollar General is serving all the typical communities and products of daily use, which are, without any doubt, too small for Wal-Mart. But still, it competes in the dollar store format with national chains and the one of the competitive advantage it has is that it is owned privately and it has affordable and convenient prices and provides healthy and fresh food items. Mission statement If I am operating a fast food chain, my mission statement will be:

Semiotic examination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Semiotic examination - Essay Example The TV show is a host talk show where there are some audiences. Those involved in the talk show are three significant individuals; they include the talk show host, the invited guest, and another person participating through a video link on the show. The show is taking place in an auditorium where the host and the guest are on the stage the audience is upfront, and the host is taking the guest to task through questions (Dreyfus, 2011). The effect of the video can be drawn from the reaction of the audience present. Applauds are heard as the guests authoritatively responds to these questions. The significant components of the video clip include some introductory graphics introducing the title show. The appealing colors used catch the attention of the viewer at the initial start. As the clip progresses the trademark logo of the show is evident background instrumentals soundtrack is being played this goes inline of demonstrating the whole thing as captivating, which creates a perception o n the viewer that what waits is exciting. Through the use of fading effects, the talk show is ushered where the hosts instantly is captured on the introductory remarks. First introducing the person participating through a video link seen on a screen on the backdrop of the page, Which is made up of various screens and graphics which are symbolic appearance; the video shows an up-close view of the host and guests; the guests irregularly engage the audience who respond with applauds, the video is motivational from the context of what is being discussed, and it is likely to have an inspirational effect on the viewers. The video clip is made of a high resolution which may be highly appealing to the viewer, in addition to the bright silver, colors. That suits the entire event and also an active audience. The stated components have various effects on to the viewer this include their reactions perceptions and conclusions. The introductory graphics and soundtrack and the graphics try to move the viewers’ attention to continue watching the rest of the clip. Research has proved, that 80% of those who watched any visual contents decide to do it depending on the impression made in the first few seconds of the video clip. The soundtrack creates an ambience that is inspiring, and in line with the content of the video. The backdrop consists of several screens and colorful graphics with colors which offer a high appeal not only to the viewer but also the participating audience. The most important part is the fact that the viewers can identify with the topic of discussion due to its motivational nature this creates a feeling of relativity, which encompasses the viewer to the line of thinking making the video more and more appealing to him. The video conferencing link on the start of the video makes the whole context real coupled up with the occasional laughter from the participants and the guests present. The setting of the participants is unique to other talk shows, and this gives an edge to the clip. The setting in which the video is done also adds to its appeal the body language and posture assumed when paying attention to the video link participant shows the different angles it portrays, it makes the video to be exhaustive in regards to all the participants involved. The presence of a life audience in the video adds to the personal touch and relates to how they express their emotions and convey their feelings to the subject

The importance of customer loyalty Literature review

The importance of customer loyalty - Literature review Example The study presents that every consumer desires to purchase a product from a brand that she/he perceives to have the best product features, images and of the best quality. It is these perceptions that bring about the products consumer loyalty. Brand loyalty begins with the purchase of the product for trials, and if the products quality is satisfactory, they become consistent in purchasing the product. Brand loyalty is the consumers repeated intention or behavior to continually repurchase the commodity. Brand loyalty is defined as the strength of preference towards a brand than other available options. Brand loyalty is determined through repeat buying and the sensitivity of the price. There are six conditions, which define brand loyalty. These conditions can be summarized as follows; the biased product purchase behavior expressed for a long duration, and the purchase has had influence in consumer’s decision making over other alternative product. True brand loyalty only exists wh en a customer have a high preference towards the brand and is only confirmed by the repetitive purchase of the product. This loyalty is said to be of considerable significance to the company. With brand loyalty, consumers are not affected by the increase of prices. There are two approaches used in defining the loyalty construct; first is the behavioral one which suggested that the loyalty of a brand is only expressed when there is repeat purchase of commodity overtime. The other approach is the attitudinal perspective, which assumes that loyalty of a brand is not necessarily determined by the consistency of its purchase, and that repetitive product purchase must be accompanied by positive attitude towards the behavior. Therefore, brand behavior is a function of both attitudes and the consumer behavior. Established consumers or those who are loyal to a brand are likely to continue buying from the company regardless of price fluctuations of the product (Wang and Sidek, 2008). Therefor e, it is indispensable for a company to establish a strong relationship with the consumer through marketing strategies such as packaging, advertising their products and producing commodities of the right quantity and quality whish are of satisfactory to the consumer (Chi, Yeh and Yang 2009). Factors influencing the customer loyalty To start with is the product quality judgment. Product quality judgment is categorized in to two sub groups namely a) perceived quality and b) objective quality. Perceived product quality is considered as the consumer’s consistency purchase of the product or the benefit of a product after evaluation. It has also been defined as the recognition of a product by the user. Objective quality has been defined as the orientation of the product (Akbar and Parves, 2009). The difference between these two types of quality is that objective quality standard is predesigned by a product whilst perceived quality standard is the influence by internal and external attributes of a product, which in turn affect the consumer’s products evaluation. It has also been pointed out that in objective quality; the consumers utilize their experience and knowledge to grade the products advantages, durability and satisfaction (Armstrong and Kotler, 2009). Perceived quality is also defined as a consumer judgment on the overall cumulative and advantages. It is argued that perceived quality

How will basic business skills play a role in your professional life Assignment

How will basic business skills play a role in your professional life - Assignment Example For every input, that loop completes itself while generating an output against every input. In Python, we have for loops, while loops, and nested loops. For loop sets a loop variable and repeats the set of instructions for a set limit. While loop repeats the set of instructions while a certain condition is true. Nested loops contain loops within loops. An example of loops in real world is the expiration of session after a certain period of time. There are some websites that expire the user’s sessions after a set period of time. Hence, for example, the loop is: Answer: Basic business skills enhance a person’s decision-making and problem-solving skills. Without basic business skills, it takes much time and effort for an entrepreneur to come at par with the competitive business world. For example, effective communication is a very basic business skill. It is the key to success as you can better communicate and negotiate with your partners, stakeholders and clients. Other helpful basic business skills include time management, goal setting, relationship building and desire to learn (CBS Interactive, n,d). CBS Interactive. (n.d.). 12 business skills that will never, ever go out of style. The Bulletin. Retrieved February 8, 2015, from

Effects the Media has on Child development Research Paper

Effects the Media has on Child development - Research Paper Example From the first appearance of television sets in living rooms in the 20th Century, there has been a concern on their impact on the viewers, particularly the children. Recent years has seen this concern extended to electronic media including computers. The fact that children spend seven hours per day on average in media such as televisions, computers and other electronic devices, as noted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP indicates the important role that the media plays in shaping development in children. Kirkorian et al. (39) observe content as the most crucial determining factor in evaluating how media affects development in children. Therefore, depending on the content in the media under focus, the effect on child development could either be positive or negative. Media play an important role in language acquisition. As observed by Kirkorian (40), children who watched Sesame Street, a preschooler educational program, learnt vocabulary, identification of numbers and letters and concepts including shapes and colors. Television viewing has in particular been noted to impart language learning especially if the programs include on-screen characters talking to children. Children to whom English is not their first language could take advantage of this opportunity to learn the language as they watch English programs. Media has been credited with designing programs that aim at communicating social or academic skills which help children in learning the intended lessons. Programs dealing with diverse literacy in children including science, mathematics and social skills promote learning in children. Kirkorian et al. (46) observe that Blue Clues, a television program focused on cognitive and social problem-solving skills among preschoolers, caused children to be more systematic and successful in problem solutions. The Canadian Pediatric Society (303) also sites Sesame Street as an example of a television program that teaches children important social aspects such as cooperation, kindness, racial harmony and the alphabet. Such programs stimulate children to visit libraries, museums and bookstores among other active recreational places that impart positive learning. This could also be said of Internet websites that have curricula to prepare preschoolers for schooling. In fact, various software programs have been produced to this effect and the impact has been positive. Therefore, educational media improve on educational achievement of children. Critics argue against media as negatively impacting on the development of cognitive skills in children. This argument mainly revolves around attention development. According to Sigman (102), the frequent switch in content and scenes disrupt the ability of children to sustain attention. Additionally, early exposure to non-educational entertainment and violent media programs has been positively associated with attention problems. Kirkorian et al. (45) give an example of a study that compared the effect of a pro-social program, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and violent cartoon, Batman. The findings support the correlation between the content of media programs and attention skills in the children being studied. The children exposed to violent cartoons showed decreased self-regulation whereas those exposed to the pro-social program exhibited tolerance of delay, rule obedience and task persistence. It would be important to appreciate that the two programs not only

Athena Research Essay Example for Free

Athena Research Essay Athena is the goddess of wisdom and warfare. She is the favorite daughter of Zeus. There are many different versions of how Athena came to be. The most accepted version is that Athena was born a child of Zeus by his first wife, Metis, a goddess of wisdom. Zeus feared that Metis might bear him a son who was mightier than himself, so he swallowed her. According to some stories, Zeus had every right to fear this because Mother Earth had prophesied that Metis first child would be a girl, but her second child would be a boy that would overthrow Zeus as had happened to is father and his grandfather. Zeus took this warning to heart. This is why he swallowed Metis. It is believed that this is where Zeus gained his wisdom. Before swallowing his wife he was said to have had no brains. Little did Zeus know that Metis was already with child. While trapped inside Zeus, Metis began to make a helmet and robe for her unborn daughter. All that clanging and pounding caused Zeus to suffer terrible headaches, so he called for his son Hephaestus. Hephaestus split his fathers skull open to relieve the pain, and out popped Athena, fully grown and dressed in her new robe and helmet. The great Athena was the first to teach the science of numbers and all ancient womens arts, such as cooking, weaving and spinning. She was the goddess of wisdom and war, but, unlike the god of war Ares, she took no pleasure from battle, preferring instead to settle conflict through mediation. When Athena was moved to engage in battle she never lost, even against Ares himself, for she was a far superior negotiator than he was. She bears no arms in times of peace and will usually borrow weapons from Zeus when needed. Since she was his favorite daughter and such a mighty warrior, he allowed her to borrow is fearsome Aegis, and his devastating thunderbolts. Indeed Athena was a brave warrior and she was the lone deity to stand her ground when Typhon attacked Olympus. Typhon was the largest, most dangerous, and most grotesque of all creatures. He was so frightening and that when he attacked Mount Olympus all of the gods ran off to Egypt and hid themselves by taking the forms of various animals. Only Athena stood firm, and she shamed and motivated Zeus into action. Zeus struck Typhon with a thunderbolt and used Uranus castrating sickle to wound the enormous creature. Typhon retreated to Mount Casius, where he and Zeus resumed heir struggle, hurling mountains at one another, which resulted in Typhon being crushed beneath what is now known as Mount Aetna. Mount Olympus and the reign of Zeus were saved thanks to Athena. Even though she was as modest as Artemis and Hestia, the other virgin goddesses, Athena was far more generous. A man called Tiresias chanced upon Athena while she was taking a bath and she was startled to realize that he had entered the room and seen her. Not wanting to kill Tiresias for his foolishness, she laid her hands over his eyes and blinded him, but gave him inward sight so that Tiresias became one of the most well-known oracles in Greece. One of the few times that Athena showed irritability was in her weaving contest against the mortal named Arachne. Arachne thought she was the best weaver there Athena felt very disrespected and took on the appearance of an old woman and showed up at Arachnes house to give her some friendly advice to respect the gods. Arachne was too vain to listen and told the old woman to be gone. Let the great Athena try her skill against mine, and if I lose she can do whatever she pleases with me, she boasted. Thats when Athena dropped her disguise and revealed her true identity. All the bystanders fell to their knees in reverence except for Arachne, who was unmoved. The two began their weaving contest, and for a while Arachne held her own against Athena, even poking fun at the gods through the tapestry she crafted, but finally Athena had enough and touched the presumptuous mortal on the forehead, making her feel her shame. Horrified at the realization of her vanity, Arachne ran off and hung herself from a tree. Feeling sorry for the hanging of Arachne, Athena brought her back to life, but so that mortals learn that it doesnt pay to compare themselves to the gods, she changed Arachne into a spider. There she its, her and her descendents, forever weaving their web, testament to the folly of vanity. Athens was named after Athena and she became its protector after a dispute with her uncle, Poseideon, the god of the sea. Both Athena and Poseidon really liked a certain city on the coast of Greece, and both of them claimed ownership. Finally, to solve the dispute, it was agreed that whoever could present the city with the best gift would forever be patron. Athena and Poseidon went to the Acropolis, where Poseidon struck the cliff side with his mighty trident. A spring welled up, which amazed and impressed the citizens. However, the spring was salt ater, so it wasnt really of much use to anyone. Athena then presented the people with a simple olive tree. Although it wasnt as impressive as a spring, it was far more useful, because it presented the people with oil, food, and even wood. In thanks, they named the city Athens. Some people in Greece still worship Athena and pay homage to her at the Acropolis. Athena was the virgin goddess. She was also called Athena Parthenos. Parthenos meant virgin. This is where the Parthenon came from. The Parthenon temple was built to honor the virgin goddess. Although she was a virgin there are stories about her son, Erichthonius. Erichthonius was born of the sperm of Hephaestus, Athenas brother.

Publishing Controversial Photographs

Publishing Controversial Photographs Ephron argued that since death is part of life, readers should not be sheltered from it. She asked why photos from fatal car accidents show the wrecked vehicles and not the victims. Mangled steel is worthless; a human life is priceless. Why not capture on film the loss of that which is truly precious? (Ephron, www.haverford.edu/) The so-named Boston Photographs were taken in 1975 by photojournalist Stanley Forman.. I made all kinds of pictures because I thought it would be a good rescue shot over the ladder, (Ephron, 433) Forman said in explaining why he took the pictures. In the first frame, there is a fireman with his arm around a woman he is attempting to rescue from a burning apartment building. The woman clings to her child. The fireman is reaching for the rescue ladder an arm s length away. It appears that everything will be all right, that the woman and her child will be saved. This picture, by itself, does not foreshadow the tragedy to come. It is a dramatic photograph, to be certain, but one that would assure the viewer that confidence in the bravery and skills of firefighters is not misplaced. The second photograph shows the fire escape pulling away from the building. Whereas the first photo makes the reader want to cheer, the second one reminds us that something can go wrong. The rescue is not successful until everyone is on the ground and safely away from the burning building. The photo shows, too, that the firefighter did everything he was supposed to do. His training prepared him for a moment such as this. More than anything else, this photo shows that courage and skill are not always enough. No one could have anticipated that the fire escape would pull away from the building. It is a picture that at once captures the good fortune of the woman in being rescued and the horrific moment when her luck turned. The third photograph is the most dramatic because it shows the woman and her child falling through the air. The child, naturally, looks frightened. Her arms and legs are splayed and we see the speed of her descent with her shirt, which the air has pushed up to expose her round, babyish tummy. Her eyes are open and her mouth is distorted by a grimace. The mother s fall is even more dramatic because she propels through the air headfirst. The viewer cannot see her face but can only imagine the horror reflected in her expression. It is impossible to know what the woman was thinking. Did she know that she was moments from death? Did she think about her child? Did she ask for God s help, or curse His failure to protect them? The woman is barefoot and she is wearing shorts. On a summer s day, it would be expected that someone be so attired at home. Yet the woman seems particularly vulnerable when dressed this way. She seems so exposed although, of course, long pants and shoes would not have made any difference to her survival. Who was this woman? We cannot really know anything about her from the picture. We can see that she is young, with the long, gangling limbs of a teenager. She looks like a child and yet she also has a child of her own. The picture causes us to reflect on death made more tragic by the fact that, for this mother and child, they come too soon. The falling flowerpots add to the poignancy of the photos. The apartment building, obviously older, represents urban life as experienced by someone who is young and poor. The flowers represent an attempt to add a little beauty to the surroundings. What sort of person is it who puts a flowerpot on a window ledge high above the city streets? The flowerpots give us a tiny glimpse into the character of the young woman. We feel we know a little more about her and that makes her death more tragic. To plant a flower is to feel hopeful about the future, and when we see the photograph, we know that the woman s hope in the future, unbeknownst to her, was misplaced. We feel a greater sense of loss. But do we know her? Of course not. The shocking photo arouses emotion within us and, whether we realize it or not, causes us to ascribe thoughts and characteristics to the victim that we can never verify, even when reading the accompanying news story. Perhaps the young woman did not care at all about the plants. It is even possible that they were left there by a previous tenant of the apartment and went unnoticed by the young mother. Perhaps she did not notice beauty and felt no hope at all for the future she and her child would share. There is no way the viewer of the photograph can ever know any of this for certain. The newsworthiness of the tragic fire is the photos themselves. Unfortunately, people die in fires in the United States all the time. The accounts of the fires are tragic, but as news stories they are usually only relevant to families and friends of the victims and the people who live in the community where the tragedy took place. Photographer Forman, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the photos, expected to record an event with a far different outcome. He was taking advantage of a relatively new technology, a motor-driven camera that allowed a photographer to take a series of pictures in rapid succession. He expected to capture, in still photographs, the sequence of events leading up to a dramatic rescue. Instead, he captured the moments before death. The third photograph as the last that he took of the rescue attempt. I realized what was going on, he said afterwards. I completely turned around because I didn t want to see her hit. (Ephron, www.haverford.edu/) The pictures are much more powerful than words in telling this story. It is not that words cannot sufficiently describe a scene or convey emotions. Author Stephen King is famous and wealthy because of his ability to construct tales that frighten us. John Grisham has used the power of words to make us feel outrage on the behalf of the underdogs whose stories he tells. Nicholas Sparks writes romances that bring some of his readers to tears. Forman s pictures tell a story for which each individual viewer provides his own words. More than that, however, the pictures evoke an emotional response that is instantaneous, even quicker than words can form. The pictures certainly drew attention to the event in a way that words alone would not. Newspaper editors know this and it can be argued that it was for the purpose of selling newspapers, not the imperative to show readers that death is part of life, which motivated them to print the pictures. Charges of sensationalism, voyeurism, and exploitation constituted many of the angry responses from readers. The reality is, though, that graphic images do capture people s attention. A news story, without photographs, would have dehumanized the tragedy. When we read that a woman fell to her death, our reaction is not nearly as strong as seeing the picture. We may soon forget that a woman died, particularly in reading the story and learning that the child survived. The picture, on the other hand, makes us confront the notion of death head-on. We may experience, even for a fraction of a second, that shiver of fear of falling. We think about what it must have felt like to fall, and what it must have felt like to watch the horror unfold. The fact that the woman and child were African-American also plays a part in judging the impact of the photo versus a story in words. A written story might not mention race; in a photo, it is there to see. To some viewers, race might matter. People assumed, because the young woman was black, that the burning apartment building was in a ghetto, when in fact it was not. African-Americans might identify more strongly with the photo than they would with just a story; white readers might identify less. For some readers, and it is hoped that it means more of them, not less, race is a non-issue and what they see is not the color of the victims skin but the horror expressed in their faces and body language. It is this horror that writer Ephron believes readers should see, but not because horror itself has value even though it does, in a way, in its ability to sell newspapers. As Ephron pointed out, though, these were great photographs. They captured something real and evoke strong emotion in people who look at them. That they disturb readers, she wrote, is exactly as it should be: that s why photojournalism is often more powerful than written journalism. (Ephron, 438) The Boston Photographs are by no means the only pictures to evoke strong emotions and cause controversy among newspaper editors and their readership. This essay will discuss two other pictures that were considered controversial at the time they were published. Seven years before Stanley Forman won the Pulitzer for his photo, war photographer Eddie Adams earned the prize for his now-iconic photo showing the execution of a man by a military officer on the streets of Saigon. As was the case with Forman, Adams never expected that the situation would take such a dramatic and horrific turn. As Adams told the story in a video entitled An Unlikely Weapon: The Eddie Adams Story, he was in the Chinese section of Saigon on the second day of the Tet Offensive. He saw a man in a plaid shirt being led out of a building and into the street. He followed to see what would happen. He was not surprised or shocked when a man in uniform, a military officer, held a gun to the head of the man in the plaid. Adams interpreted the action as a means of intimidation, a threat used as part of an act of interrogation. ? Retrieved from PulitzerPrize.org [http://pulitzerprize.org/photography/vietnam/] In retrospect, it seems like an incredibly bold and even foolhardy move, to stand with a camera so close to someone with a loaded gun. Adams was an experienced war photographer, however, and danger was part of the job. He did not anticipate what happened next. Adams snapped a photograph; he moved his finger on the camera s shutter in the same instant that the officer pulled the trigger of his gun. The shocking photograph that resulted captured the moment in time when the bullet entered the man s head. The photograph is shocking for several reasons. The most obvious is the expression on the face of the man in the plaid shirt. It reflects both pain and terror. The lines around the right side of the mouth suggest the rapid and violent movement of the head as an involuntary response to the impact of the bullet. The man doing the shooting has a matter-of-fact expression. He does not take any pleasure in killing the man, but he does what he feels he must without flinching. He is very certain about what he is doing. Over the left shoulder of the shooter, we see a helmeted soldier wincing at the horrible spectacle before him. There is a military vehicle at the end of the street. There are other people in the street, but there response to the shooting cannot be discerned from the photo. The photograph is shocking because the shooting appeared to take place in broad daylight, in the middle of a city street. The shooter does not appear to be concerned about concealing his identity or his action. The photo is shocking in its close-up look at violence, and it is violence that is made very personal because we see it from a unique perspective. As with Forman s photo, we do not see death in its aftermath but in the moments before it occurs. Both photos are shocking and frightening. Both photos appear to show people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffer fatal consequences as a result. Unlike Forman s photo, though, a news story accompanying Adams photo has the power to change one s perception of the brutal act caught on film. Looking at the picture, one might assume that it showed a military man killing a civilian execution-style. There was more to the story. The man in plaid was a Viet Cong Army officer; he was the prime suspect in the murder of an entire family that day. The family belonged to the aide of Brig. General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, South Vietnamese National Police Chief and the shooter in the photograph. Did it make a difference that the man being shot was on the side of the United States enemy? Perhaps it did to some who looked at the picture and read about it. It may be easier to explain the violence if one can justify it as necessary to bring about justice. The woman in Forman s picture was a random victim of a very unfortunate accident; the man in Adams photo was a suspected criminal, thought to be responsible for the killing of innocent civilians. Some people, reading about the circumstances under which he was shot, may believe that he deserved to die. Some might believe he deserved to die by virtue of the fact that he was a Viet Cong officer. Killing is part of war. We are not at all surprised that there is death on the streets of Saigon, but we are shocked when an image of it is captured so vividly. There was no justice to be served to the woman who plunged to her death in Forman s photo. We are shocked by her death and surprised by it. Forman s final photo is prefaced by one in which it looks as though the woman and her child will be rescued. There is no doubt, in looking at Adams photo, the man in plaid will die. It is the more shocking photo of the two because it makes us look right into the face of death. We can hold out hope for a miracle when we look at Forman s photo, and it is only upon reading the accompanying story that one learns the woman died and her child survived. At least there is some good news in that story. There is no miracle in Adams photo and no good news waiting for the reader of the story behind it. Adams photo, much to his dismay, became an iconic antiwar image. That was never his intent. Forty years later, the image endures. The story behind the photograph matters little. The photo has come to symbolize the horror and brutality of a war to which many Americans were, and still remained, opposed. Even more evocative in its antiwar sentiment is the 1972 photograph by Nick Ut, showing a young Vietnamese girl, naked, screaming, and horribly burned by napalm. ? Retrieved from BBC News [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4517597.stm] The photo needs no accompanying words to explain it or make it any more powerful. It is a heart-breaking photograph of a child in abject terror. There are other children in the picture but it is the nakedness and total vulnerability of the little girl that shocks and saddens us. There is nothing one can write about the horrors of war that exemplify it more than the perils of this child. As with Forman s photo of the mother and child, we can look at the little girl and hope that somehow she will survive this terrible event. Forman s photo showed the terrible circumstances of two people. Ut s photo, on the other hand, showed the terrible circumstances in which millions of people found themselves as a result of the war. The photo is a painful reminder that there are many victims of war, not just the soldiers who fight. It is difficult to look at the photo and not feel outrage, at the same time wishing there were a way to gather up the children and transport them to safety. We know now t hat the little girl survived; even knowing that, however, does not make the photograph any less shocking. The final photo to be discussed in this essay was taken September 11, 2001, by photographer Richard Drew. Often referred to as The Falling Man, it depicts one of the many people who leaped from the inferno of the Twin Towers, making the horrible choice to die by suicide than in the smoke and flames. ? Retrieved from Esquire Magazine online [http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN] The photo is shocking because, as one first looks at it, it seems to be some sort of optical trick. The vertical lines of the tower do not look like a building. The man does not look as though he is falling. In Forman s photograph, the woman and child fall from the building with arms and legs distended, desperate to seek purchase on anything that would break their fall. By contrast, the falling man appears to be holding a pose and is elegant in the way he does so. He is falling straight downward, his arms at his sides, one leg bent at the knee in a manner that resembles a casual stance. It is difficult to look at the picture and not be immediately transported back to the horrible events of the day. Much has been written about 9/11 and there were many pictures taken. The falling man was only one of many people who jumped that day, yet it is his picture which touches us the most. Words could not adequately describe the falling man s descent and the emotions the picture evokes. After an initial look at the picture, one realizes exactly what it depicts: a man hurtling towards his death. Junod (2009) wrote that the body fell at an estimated speed of one hundred fifty miles per hour. The fall would have taken approximately ten seconds. One cannot even imagine the crushing agony the jumpers experienced in the final moments of their lives. What must it feel like to know you have only seconds left to live? Looking at Forman s photo, one can hope that there was a good outcome. Looking at Adams photo, we see death. The bullet has entered the man s head but, because the camera can capture a fraction of a second, the man has not yet dropped. Looking at Drew s photo, we wee impending death and a man literally falling toward it with grace. It is incredibly sad, both the circumstances of his death and the calm dignity with which he goes to meet it. Newspapers and television news programs showed photographs of jumpers until there were too many complaints from the public about their indecency. Drew was able to identify, almost with certainty, the Falling Man, yet the family would not provide confirmation, becoming angry when asked to do so. They felt, as did many of the people viewing pictures of jumpers, that showing anyone in the last moments of life robbed those people of their dignity. Photojournalism can be much more powerful than written journalism. In describing the four photos discussed in this essay, writers would bring their biases to the work. The use of the word bias is not pejorative; it simply means that a writer s knowledge and experience contribute to the interpretation of the photograph. The four pictures shown are shocking and evoke strong emotion. The depth and range of emotion, however, depends on the person who is looking at the pictures. Each of us notices different elements; each of us is touched in a different way. When reading a newspaper account of a tragedy, we think about the story as we make our way through the printed words. Reaction to a picture is instantaneous and much more powerful. A picture puts us at the scene in a way that words do not. Ephron illustrated this by including the Boston Photographs in her essay. She discussed the impact of the photos and the controversy they caused. Without seeing the photos, it might be too easy to ask what all the fuss was about. By seeing the photos, one can understand why the inspired strong feelings. Ephron does not argue that newspapers should print photographs of death. She argues that they should print great pictures that tell a story and evoke strong emotional response from readers. Work Cited: BBC News. (2005). Picture power: Vietnam napalm attack. http://news.bbc.co .uk/2/hi/4517597.stm. Ephron, N. (2005). The Boston Photographs, reprinted in Chris Anderson and Lex Runciman, eds., Open Questions; Readings for Critical Thinking and Writing (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, 2005). Print via Retrieved from http://www.haverford.edu/writingprogram /development/Ephron.pdf Junod, T. The falling man. Esquire 9/8/09. Retrieved from http://www.esquire.com/features /ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN PulitzerPrize.org. (2010). Photography: Pulitzer Eddie Adams Vietnam. http://pulitzerprize.org /photography/vietnam/

Key factors influencing online shopping

Key factors influencing online shopping This study is done as it is to fulfill the MKT662, Industrial Training Report for final year student of Bachelor in Business Administration (Hons) Marketing from University Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Kota Kinabalu Campus. This study aims to establish preliminary assessment, evaluation and understanding of the key factors that driving or influencing consumers in Kota Kinabalu to shop through online. This study also will also differentiate the characteristics between public and private servants in the context of online shopping besides will reveal the correlation between demographic characteristics towards the key factors identified. This study will be a very useful for local businesses to get more information about the virtual marketplace trend in Kota Kinabalu before engaging into online businesses. 1.2 BACKGROUND OF STUDY The importance of the Internet as an advertising medium has generated a lot of attention in recent years where there are a lot of businesses have been using the internet in their marketing activities and somehow driving consumers all the way through the process and eventually persuading them to shop online (Goodwin, 1999) . Study on the adoption of internet activities by consumers has been done by many researchers. For example study done by E-revolution (2000) ; Haque A. et al., (2006) and Zhou et al., (2007), these study reported generally that internet activities are increasing over the year and expected to continue growing globally. Besides these study also reveals that businesses nowadays are ready enough to bring their businesses operation online. Moreover, Zhou et al., (2007) also summarized that the ability of internet users to shop online has also significantly improved from 16% to 32% since March 2001. As in Malaysia, according to Lee (2000), the internet become a virtual places where people share their ideas, build communities, shape the future democratically, and promote a new way of doing business. Moreover, the study stated that the web has become the worlds biggest shopping mall that allows local businesses to do their business with low cost involved, but yet covering global market. By looking back at the early stage of online activity in Malaysia, the year 1995 was considered as the beginning of Internet age. Back to the year 2000, it is reported that only 7% of the population was registered as Internet subscribers and only 701,000 units of total number of computer sold (Lee, 2000). As the competition in e-commerce is increasing nowadays (Haque A., et al., 2006), it becomes more important for online retailers to understand consumer acceptance of online shopping activities and what makes them to do so (Zhou, et al, 2007). Supported by Goodwin, (1999), Wu., (2003); Kolsaker, et al., (2004) ; Khatibi, et al., (2006), examining these factors are crucial as it has been suggested that they play an important part in determining the success or failure of online shopping business. Despite a host of studies on online shopping, there is no specific research done on the subject matter in Kota Kinabalu which contributes to lack understanding on the keys factors that influence customer to shopping online in the area. In short, this study will investigate the keys factors that facilitate customer from Kota Kinabalu willingness to purchase online and for the purpose of this study, few factors will be identify from the literature review and however, only the most dominant factors will be examine. 1.3 SCOPE OF STUDY This study will specifically examine and indentify the factors that directly and indirectly influence consumer the most specifically in Kota Kinabalu on purchasing decision through online. Researcher will also look into the demographic characteristic such as age, income level, profession, ethnic etc- of online users to be related to the identified keys factors influencing customer to shopping online. The research will be using data gather from selected samples which will include both career individual which includes both public and private servant in order to avoid of having bias data and maintain quality of the data besides to cooperates with time constrains. 1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT At its core, the mission of marketing is to attract and retain customers. To accomplish this goal, a traditional brick and mortar marketer uses variety of marketing variables to satisfy current and new customers. As for online retailers, it is important for them to have a good understanding of the marketplace for their products and their target customers before engaging themselves in online retailing. Previous researchers found out that there is a rapid rise in the number of PCs as well as growth in the proportion of PCs hooked up to the internet each year which contribute to the growth in e-commerce in Malaysia (Legard, 1998). Despite the high potential of online shopping in Malaysia, however, there is no specific research done on the subject matter and its potential impact on local businesses (Kota Kinabalu area). Knowing the concept of bringing stores to shoppers instead of shoppers to stores is not enough to be success in online businesses. Precise and deep understanding of key f actors is critical to help online retailers and entrepreneurs to develop more effective and targeted online retail operations that will meet the requirements and expectations of their new online shopping customers. Therefore, this study aims to examine the key factors that influence current users of online shopping in Kota Kinabalu to shop online and in the same time assessing, evaluating and understand the characteristics of online shoppers in Kota Kinabalu. 1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objective of conducting this study includes; To identify the critical factors that would influencing customer to shop through online. To investigate the differences on the between public and private sector shopping online adoption. 1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS In order to reach the objectives of this study, there are three (3) critical issues encountered. These issues are formed into questions that need to be answered. These issues including; What would the factors influence customers in Kota Kinabalu to shop online? What are the main characteristics of the customers who shop online? Are there any differences between public and private sectors employees in shopping online context? By having for the answer of these questions will help the local businesses to have better understanding on characteristic of the online customer especially factors benefits that make them buy products or services through online shopping, as well as their products or services preferences bought from online stores. In general, by having these question answered, this study will reveal the trend of online shopping in Kota Kinabalu. 1.7 IMPORTANCE OF STUDY 1.6.1 Local Businesses Planning on expanding businesses is not an easy job to be done. There are a lot of parts and divisions a business have to take into account especially when a business considering to go online. Therefore, this study will help local businesses to have a better understanding on the customers attitudes, characteristics and preferences shopping online besides guiding the local businesses to utilize the existing advanced technologies in operating their business and go global. 1.6.2 The Consumers This study can help consumers to have a better understanding on the advantages and disadvantages to shop online besides identifying a new way of shopping channel. This study also will provide information on products and services preferred to be purchased through online store which eventually will help consumer to make online purchases. 1.6.3 The Academicians This study will help to enhance researchers to conduct more study regarding the subject matter as it is more focus on the factors that influencing customers to shop online instead of traditional way of shopping. This study will provide the academicians with new information of online shopping trend in Kota Kinabalu specifically besides helping to enhance other researcher to do in depth review pertaining on the consumers attitudes towards adopting this new shopping channel. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, relevant literature and research related to the scope of study will be reviewed and analysed to structure this study to present research findings in subsequent chapters. The current literature on consumer online purchasing decisions has mainly concentrated on identifying the factors which influence customer to engage in online shopping in order to truly ascertain what factors influence the online shopping activity adoption in Kota Kinabalu. Study done by Margherio (1998) mentioned about E-commerce which cover any commercial transaction that is effected via electronic means, including such means as facsimile, telex, electronic data interchange (EDI), the Internet, and the telephone. Inter Agency Task Force on Electronic Commerce, IATFEC (1997) on the other hand define E-Commerce as All form of business transactions conducted over public and private computer networks. It is based on electronic processing and transmission of data, text, sound and video. E-Commerce includes transactions within a global Information Economy such as electronic trading of goods and services, online delivery of digital content, electronic funds transfer, electronic share trading, electronic bills of lading, commercial auctions, collaborative designs, engineering and manufacturing, online sourcing, public procurement, direct consumer marketing and after sales service. It includes both products (consumer goods, specialised medical equipment) and s ervices (information services, financial and legal services, traditional services) and new activities (virtual malls). It involves the application of multimedia technologies in the automation and redesign of transactions and workflow, aimed at increasing businesses competitiveness In adopting the above definitions, it is involvement of face to face communication between consumers (Internet users) and companies (Internet sellers) via computer networks to facilitate any kind of commerce transaction (browsing or purchasing products or services) easier, faster and cheaper electronically beyond traditional geographical boundary (Norazah M. S, et al., 1997) while the term online shopping according to Ton˜ ita Perea y Monsuwe, et al., (2004) defined as the use of online stores by consumers up until the transactional stage of purchasing and logistics. Study by Shwu-Ing Wu (2003) reported that a persons buying choices are influenced by four major psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning and beliefs and attitude and through motivation, perception, and learning, attitudes are formed and consumers make decisions. Some researchers categorized influence factors into internal and external factors (Kaufman-Scarborough K, 2002 and Shwu-Ing Wu, 2003). Based on the idea, consumer purchase behavior is influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics (Bellman, et al., 1999). The internal factors are including beliefs and attitudes, learning, motives and needs, personality, perception, and values and the external influences upon consumer behavior includes demographic, economic, social, situational and technological factors (Shwu-Ing Wu, 2003). In Malaysia context, study on Internet users are in abundance (Ramayah and Jantan, 2003; Ismawati and Ainin, 2004). However, there have been few studies carried out to understand their online purchasing behavior for example Haque A., et al., (2006); Ainin S., et al., (2005) and Razinah H. et al., (2009). Thus, the main objective of this study is to examine the key factors that influencing online shopping in Kota Kinabalu specifically. Study done by Taylor Nelson Sofres, (2001) found that the penetration of Malaysians shopping online, i.e. people who bought or ordered goods and services online in 2000, 1% of the total adult population in Malaysia which according to the study is corresponded to 4% of the Internet users in the country at that time. There is high demand among Malaysians Internet users conducting online shopping due to Ecommerce provide enormous of consumers worldwide potential benefits (Ainin S., et al., 2005) and study have shown that many consumers have started to shop their desired products online (Sefton, 2000). This shows that online shopping is highly accepted by the consumers (Swaminathan, et al., 1999 ; Rowley J., 2000 ; Ainin S., et al., 2005 ; Zhou, et al., 2007 ). Interestingly, in Malaysia context, Ainin S., et al., (2005) found that females were the dominant Internet shopper than males which contradict to the study done by Adeline Chua, et al., (2006). While according to study done in different market by Gupta et al., (1995) ; Haque et al., (2007) and Zhou et al., (2007) on the basis of Stafford, et al., (2004) and Susskind (2004), these researchers found that man tend to make more purchases online compare to women. Zhou, et al., (2007) reported that consumer involved in online shopping are mostly university graduates, aged 35 years old and below, have full-time job, earning monthly personal income of between RM2000 RM5000 and mostly single. This supports the study done by Shwu-Ing Wu, (2003) and Ainin S., et al., (2005) on the demographic profiles of online shopper. Another issue on online shopping from the previous literature is the characteristic of products and services can be marketed online (Peterson, et al., 1997 ; Legard, 1998 ; Klein, 1998) which according to these researchers, there are two types of product and services marketed online and it is highly depends on the characteristics of the products and services to be able marketed online. We are now seeing the emergence of an important new medium for commerce (Ainin S., et al., 2005 ; Adeline Chua, et al., 2006 and Zhou, et al., 2007). However, in Malaysia especially, even though sales growth rate suggests that the number of online consumers is growing however most research findings do not conclusively determine which key factors that influence consumer the most to shop online ( Ramayah and Jantan, 2003; Ismawati and Ainin, 2004). Examining these factors is important as it has been suggested that they play an important part in determining the success or failure of online shopping business (Goodwin, 1999 ; Wu, 2003; Kolsaker, et al., 2004; Khatibi, et al., 2006). Studies have been done to investigate consumer acceptance of online shopping from the perspectives of technology acceptance whereby the perspective prescribes that beliefs about ease of use and usefulness of a technology predict attitudes towards the technology and subsequent acceptance and use, for example by Sejin Ha and Leslie S., (2008). Bruner and Kumar, (2005) however, suggests that beliefs on trust and enjoyment are among the key factors that influencing consumer acceptance of online shopping. While Hoffman and Novak, (1996) developed more abstract concept on the relevant context for example shopping values, quality of information, system quality, enjoyment, perceived usefulness and ease of use- in order to improve predictions about purchase behavior. Factors that also influenced customer to shop online is product variety (Wolfinbarger, M. and Mary Gilly, 2001 ; Ainin Sulaiman, et al., 2005 ; Adeline Chua, et al., 2006) which categorized into good selection and wider availability of product choices offered by online stores. Online retailers are able to provide a wide range and assortments of products as compared to traditional channels simply because there is no physical space limit on the number of products that online retailers can display on their online storefronts (Delafrooz et al., 2009). Furthermore, the number of online stores that consumers are able to visit online compared to far physical stores, thus, exceeds the number of providing them with a wider selection of products to choose from (Harn et al., 2006). A survey by Ernst and Young (2000) also reported that one of the reasons why consumers use the internet is because of good product selection. Hyo-Joo Han, et al., (2006) found that product variety and quality of product pictures were observed to more important. Indeed, easy access to an abundance of current and detailed information on products and services facilitates comparison shopping, aid in product selection and enables consumers to make more informed decisions (Adeline Chua, et al., 2006). Furthermore, the Internet users could receive more attractive sales promotional offers from Internet sellers and also through individual e- mail accounts (Norazah M. S. et al., 2002) Consumer willingness to spend online also influence by privacy factor whereby online consumers are unwilling to reveal personal information over the web, despite assurances given by online merchants (Wolfinbarger, Mary and Mary Gilly, 2001; Ainin Sulaiman, et al., 2005). To most of the consumers, the issue of security and privacy over the internet is the most overwhelming barrier facing the online shopping adoption process that caused them not to make any purchase on the Internet (Norazah et al., 2002 ; Janice Tsai et al., 2007). Smith, et al., (1996) outlined four dimensions of privacy concerns for organizational practices which include collection of personal information, unauthorized secondary use of personal information, errors in personal information, and improper access to personal information. According to Malhotra, et al., (2004), the dimensions of concern refer to the collection of personal information, the control over the use of personal data, and the awareness of privacy practices and uses of personal information. Janes et al., 1997 reported that consumers tend to be more comfortable providing sensitive information in a realm where they can see with whom they are dealing, revisit the physical location of the business if necessary, and thus, exert a perceived amount of control over the situation besides want to be assured that their communication and transactions will remain secured and private (Hoffman et al., 1999; Ainin Sulaiman, et al., 2005). Janice Tsai et al., (2007) in their study found that, people will tend to purchase from merchants that offer more privacy protection and people even willing to pay for a premium to purchase from such merchants. Kargaonkar and Smith (1986) ; Swaminathan, et al., (1999) ; Bellman, et al., (1999) ; Elliot and Fowell (2001) ; Eastin (2002), found that consumers who are primarily motivated by convenience are more likely to make purchases online. These authors proposed those consumers who have interface with the net and who are more time-constrained tend to buy online more frequently. According to Bellman, et al., (1999), wired lifestyle consumers are consumers that use the internet as a routine tool to receive and send emails, to do their work, to read news, to search for information or for recreational purposes. Their routine use of the Internet for other purposes leads them to naturally use it as a shopping channels as well (Bellman, et al., 1999). Similarly, McGann (2004) also reported that the main reason why consumers shop online is because it is convenience. It is said to be the major factors that motivates consumers to shop online. Charles D., et al., (2002) also found that Internet shopp ing is convenient however it is never replace actual shops. For years, information search has been one of the main marketing research topics (Kulviwat et al., 2004). Information is an important resource for consumers shop online especially for goal-directed fashion type of consumer (Wolfinbarger, M. and Mary Gilly, 2001). According to the study, the availability of information is one of the reasons that many buyers view search and purchase online as a utilitarian activity and it is consistent with the finding by Ainin Sulaiman et al., (2005). As noted by Bakos (1997) Internet search enables consumers to reduce imperfect information about products. The study also supported by Rha (2002) where it were stated that consumers can easily find information about other consumers experiences of products through internet. The internet is a medium to search for product specification and product prices as well. In addition to product information, price was a piece of information that was usually sought by consumers (Wolfinbarger, Mary and Mary Gilly, 2001). Brynjolfsson and Smith (1999) found that prices online are 8 to 15 percent lower than the prices for comparable products in traditional retail outlets. According to McGann (2004), Ainin Sulaiman et al. (2005), Adeline Chua et al., (2006), competitive prices and deals offered by online retailers are one of the dominant factors that influence consumers to shop online. Rowley (2000) reported that the Internet is the most powerful search medium for products, services, and most other types of information because it lowers both search cost and search time. Therefore, by referring to the available literature, factors that might influence customer to shop online can be conclude as widespread of product choices or product variety (Delhagen, 1997 ; Wolfinbarger, Mary and Mary Gilly, 2001 ; Ainin Sulaiman, et al., 2005 ; Adeline Chua, et al., 2006); enjoyment factors (Wolfinbarger, Mary and Mary Gilly, 2001 ; Bruner and Kumar, 2005); privacy factor (Wolfinbarger, M. and Mary Gilly, 2001; Norazah et al., 2002 ; Ainin Sulaiman, et al., 2005 ; Janice Tsai et al., 2007) which become one of the main concern to shop online; convenience factors (Kargaonkar and Smith, 1986 ; Swaminathan, et al., 1999 ; Bellman, et al., 1999 ; Elliot and Fowell 2001; Eastin, 2002 ; Chen and Chang, 2003 ; McKinney, 2004); product information factor (Wolfinbarger, M. and Mary Gilly, 2001 ; Rha, 2002 ; Ainin Sulaiman et al., 2005 ) and prices factor (Margherio, 1998 ; Strauss and Frost, 1999 ; Rowley, 2000 ; McGann, 2004 ; Ainin Sulaiman et al., 2005). As stated in Delafrooz et al., (2009), consumers who value the convenience, prices and wider selection of Internet shopping tend to purchase more online and more often. Even though wider selection or product variety also mentioned as one of the major factors, for the purpose of this study, as regards to the time constraint, researcher will only focus on two most dominant factors from all the factors identified which are the convenience factor and price factors. Thus, these two (2) factors are further discussed below; CONVENIENCE By referring to the studies done before, the main factors customer shop online is that it is more convenient than to shop in-store which also supported in current study by Delafrooz et al., (2009). Convenience reflects ease access of information about product, provision of in-depth information, ease of ordering product, potential for money saving, and timely delivery. (Mathieson 1991 ; Bruner Hensel, 1996 ; Turban et al., 2002 ; Gurvinder and Zhaobin, 2005 ; Hui et al., 2006). Convenience is the most prominent factor that motivates consumers to shop through the internet. In this study, convenience which refer to 24-hour availability of online storefront (time saving) and accessibility from almost any location (less moving) have been found to be significant explanatory factors for Internet shopping adoption (Karayanni, 2003) and also provides consumers with a powerful alternative channel for making purchases (Delafrooz et al., 2009). These factors (time saving and less moving) will be taken into account as part of convenience factor. As contradict to the studies saying that convenience is the most prominent factor that motivates consumers to shop through the internet, study done by Razinah H. et al., (2009) reported that although the net offer convenience in shopping, online shopping, assurance in payment and lots of information, some group of online users are still reluctant to shop online even though these group of online users have limited time allocated for shopping due to their hectic daily life. PRICE Price in this study refers to the market value, or agreed exchange value, that will purchase a definite quantity, weight, or other measure of a good or service. Price of product offered online is one of the major factor that influencing customer to engage in online shopping and this supported by the finding in McGann, 2004. The idea is the simplest reason for consumers to buy through the internet is to save money from the cheaper prices offered by online retailers compared to traditional retailers. Contradict to the study by Brynjolfsson and Smith (1999), study by Lee (1997) and Bailey (1998) found that products are sold at higher prices in the Internet channel compared to physical channels. Clay, K. et al., (2001) reported it may be due to unobserved quality variation. Rowley (2000) stated in his study that, online retailers usually are able to offer cheaper prices because of the shrinking cost of information processing, lower operating cost and global reach provided by Internet. In addition, Strauss and Frost (1999) also identified the ease of comparing price as one of the most important factors to online shopping. To some extent, according to Clay, K., et al., (2001) price of online product has positive relationship with the availability and widespread of information. Conventionally, shoppers will make comparisons and always go for the best value for price products (Ainin Sulaiman et al., 2005). Hanson (1999) reported the main reason that cheaper prices are offered to online shoppers is because of competitive pressure, especially from new online retailers. Study by John P. and Jackie L. (2001) found that even though more than half respondents mentioned price of the product or service as the primary factor when they consider buying on the Internet, however to some extend it would cost more to buy from online store than purchasing it from physical retail store. Customer expressed concern associated with high shipping cost, high pricing, lack of opportunity to examine the product prior to purchase, confidentiality of credit card and purchased information also mentioned in the study by Razina H. et al., (2009) on the basis of study done by Goldstein and Oconner, (2000). 2.2 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK Based on the existing literature connected directly to the scope of this study, there are few factors identified to have significant effect towards online shopping namely convenience, price, product variety, widespread of product information and etc. However, only two the most dominant factors will be the ultimate key that will used to aid and examine the key factors that influencing consumers to engage in online shopping. CONVENIENCE ONLINE SHOPPING PRICE 2.3 SUMMARY Based on the review on the related literature review, researcher found few dominant factors why consumer do engage in shopping online is generally influence by the factors of feeling of convenience, product prices sold online is relatively lower than existing retail stores, the widespread of information availability and also variety of product offered online. Moreover, this study will also look into the characteristic of customer especially in terms of profession, as regard to meet the objective to investigate the differences on the between public and private sector shopping online adoption. In summary, consumer purchasing behaviour through online can be examine in different model and generally, the factors that influence them to engage in online activities may be vary. However, for the purpose of this study, researcher will only look into the most significant factors convenience factors which include the time saving and less moving, and also the price factor on the basis of key factors that influencing customer to shop online in Kota Kinabalu. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 METHODOLOGY A structured questionnaire will be used to collect the necessary data. It will be designed to specific information of the respondents. It serves as primary data to answer the research questions and objectives pertaining to online shopping in Kota Kinabalu. The survey questionnaire consists of few distinct sections, each of which contains questions which lead to answer the research question of the study. In view of time and cost constraints as well as the large population of Internet users in the country, random sampling was used to collect data from the consumer from Kota Kinabalu area. Even though the sampling method adopted might have limitations in terms of generalisibility compared to other sampling methods; it is assumed that the sample represents the whole population of consumer in Kota Kinabalu. 3.2 SOURCES OF DATA This study will be based on both primary and secondary data. The primary data will be from the structured questionnaires which will be distributed to the appropriate sample to collect necessary information regarding the subject matter. The secondary data will be gathered by reviewing web sites, business magazines, journals, publications and other relevant document related to the subject matter. 3.3 INSTRUMENT Sample data The sample in this study will be selected from different groups of people including non-executive, executive, students, and housewife in order to avoid collecting bias data. Mode of administration of survey Face to face and video call interview may be used in this study to gather appropriate information. This study will also be conducted by a constructed questionnaires with consumer selected as sample and all participants will be voluntarily. Nature of Questionnaires The questionnaires consist of 20 questions. Both open ended and fixed-response-alternative question will be used. Fixed-response-alternative question include multiple choice and also dichotomous. The questionnaire was self-administered, where it contains simple question with detailed instructions. The questionnaires were collected back after the respondents completed them. A copy of the questionnaire is provided in the appendices. Scope of the Study 300 questionnaires will be distributes by hand to the random sample of consumer in Kota Kinabalu area which will include both female and male from all groups plan. 3.4 RESEARCH APPROACH A descriptive research is being proposed to perform this study. Prior literature provides with a rich foundation on which to build a research framework for the study. As suggested by previous researcher, strong theoretical and conceptual framework can be developed through an integration of constructs from different research traditions and disciplines. In this study, the literature search was based on the keywords such as Internet Shopping, Internet Marketing and Online Shopping. Each article was reviewed and screened to eliminate the articles that were not pertinent to the study. 3.5 LIMITATION OF RESEARCH In order to conduct the research, the researcher is confronted this problem: time constrain Basically, research need to be done in longer period of time, unfortunately this study might only have few months given to complete be completed. Ample of time is needed to complete this study properly. Thus researcher only focus on two factors to be examined in this study. lack of expertise As beginner in the marketing research, the researcher level of competency and sophistication not is compared with experienced researcher. Researcher will have to refer on several books and seek guidance