Ingsoc-Totalitarian Gov.

Ana Ortiz Honors English 10 Per. 5 February 27, 2013 Ingsoc – Totalitarian Government: 1984 Communism has been a part of the world for a very long time causing the harsh suffering of people in regions, such as Cuba. Rather than help a nation, Communism harms the inhabitants who live in the nation through the effect that it bring, by lending itself to becoming a communist-totalitarian government. A Communist government has a high chance of becoming totalitarian and being overruled by a group or dictator, whom will have all authority and right do to what he pleases.Socialism, being a type of government in which the government takes care of the industrialization differs from a Communist-totalitarian government. A communist-totalitarian government has total control over all, whereas a Socialist government just handles the production of goods and manufactured items, in other means: the economy. Throughout the novel, 1984, the party reveals â€Å"Ingsoc† as their form of gove rnment. Ingsoc is thought to be â€Å"English socialism† in the future but is actually quite the opposite.Underneath this â€Å"socialist government† stands a totalitarian form of government which feeds nothing but lies to its people, watches the members of the party very closely, and has gained its power through rather obvious ways. In the novel, Winston seeks the truth about Oceania’s Government and wether or not there are intelligent people out in this world, where its inhabitants have all been taught and brainwashed to do as the Government says. Oceania’s Government has lied to its people for years, telling them nothing but nonsense to keep them naive and ignorant about the horrible things that the Party does.Winston, now in the hands of a leader in the Party, O’ Brien, has been tortured for his â€Å"crime† which, in this time, can be as simple as thinking that the Party is corrupt. While being tortured, Winston reflects to himself, â⠂¬Å"A thousand times better than Winston, he knew what the world was really like, in what degradation the mass of human beings lived and by what lies and barbarities the Party kept them there† (Orwell, 216). Winston realizes that O’Brien is one of the leaders who keeps Oceania n ignorance and hides the harsh truth because he does not feel that humans are fit to govern. As shown, Oceania’s government is clearly totalitarian and communist by definition: â€Å"Communism in its broader meaning is a system in which property used for the production of goods or services is owned by a community or group rather than individuals† showing that the Party resembles to this, the Party being the group that takes hold of all property and production in Oceania.Socialism is what the Party tries to pass as, but it shows no similarity between the form of government: â€Å"Socialists believe that Capitalist society is unjust and aim to eliminate competition for profit and to attain an equal distribution of wealth through cooperative means†. This shows that Ingsoc is not like Socialism because the Party takes complete control of everything, not allowing its inhabitants to really have a say in anything that goes on in the country. Winston tries to learn and uncover the real truth behind the Communist party that has been in rule for as long as he remembers.The reality is cruel but Ingsoc is truly corrupt, the Party, meant to keep the equality in the world is truly dictatorial. The Party keeps all of the population in line at all times, watching every step its people make through telescreens and takes control of the media being exposed to Oceania making its Communist factors more visible. Winston feels trapped in his own home as well as forced to live by the Party’s rules. He does not like to do what they say but does it anyway for he knows what happens to those who commit even the simplest thoughtcrime. War is peace, Freedom is slavery, Ignora nce is strength †¦ Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed– no escape† (Orwell, 26) Winston reveals an act of dictatorship in this quote because of the fact that the government invades the privacy of everyone at all time. In this time there is no such thing as privacy, the Party is allowed to do as it pleases, displaying similar qualities as a totalitarian government.The Party makes it pretty obvious that it is communist but most of the population is brainwashed in depth making it unable for them to see that dictators much like leaders of the Party hide the truth and destroy the media that can stand against them. â€Å"Totalitarian dictators aim to transform their citizen’s thoughts and opinions and reshape expectations. To achieve these goals, the dictator must first control the flow of information going out to the public† (Fridell, 54).Being that a dictator would have to control the media is not a surprise because to take full control of a country a dictator must not allow its people to be informed of the truth, in order to prevent revolts or disputes against the dictator. . Oceania’s government, Ingsoc, is clearly a totalitarian government, keeping total control of all members of the party. Ingsoc used fairly unusual laws introduced by the inner party to keep the rest of the outer party members ignorant of everything that was truly going on.In order to keep people ignorant and naive, srict rules and prohibitions are strongly enforced in a totalitarian government ruled by a dictator. â€Å"The party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the god of others; we are interested in solely power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power† displays O' Brien’s chat with Winston and reveals the use of the Party and the efforts of Ingsoc, which is to gain complet e power over all (Orwell, 217). O’Brien explains his view on dictatorship: â€Å"Freedom is a dire threat to dictatorships.With it comes all sorts of possibilities, including thoughtfulness, which can lead to discontent, opposition, even revolution†, O’ Brien, a leader of the party, is for the Party and its hold over everyone else (Orwell, 217. ). He does not want anyone else to think otherwise and keep their faithfulness to the party. The Party was clearly a totalitarian government, hidden by a supposed â€Å"socialist government†. Lastly, Ingsoc is clearly distinguished as totalitarian rather than socialism because the factors that make up Ingsoc that are so closely related to a totalitarian government.The similarities between totalitarian government and Ingsoc are obvious. The Party in the novel prohibits anyone from thinking about anything that is not about the Party itself as we’ve seen it happen before in history: â€Å"In Europe, totalitari an states have trampled on free expression and appropriated the myths and rituals of art to serve their oppressive ends† (Holden). Another quote shows the effect of a communist government which also resembles to Ingsoc and the grip that the Party has over the people of Oceania: â€Å"The Communist Party was my Nurse Ratched, telling me what I could and could not do; what I as or was not allowed to say; where I was and was not allowed to go; even who I was and was not† (Forman). Clearly, the similarities between communism, totalitarianism, and the Ingsoc government of Oceania are shown in the quotes above. As O’ Brien admits to Winston that the only goal for Ingsoc and the Party is to have complete control over Oceania, Winston is finally able to see with complete clarity what he had known from the start – Ingsoc is truly totalitarian. Its only goal is to gain complete control, even if large amounts of torture were needed to gain control of just one being.T hroughout the novel, the Party shows its true goals: to keep everyone naive, enough to prevent revolution or disputes against the government from happening. Winston is able to see that the Party is nothing like it says it truly is, but is something completely different. Ingsoc is actually a communist and totalitarian government, which is very obvious to anyone with good perception. Works Cited Communism. Vol. 5. Chicago, Illinois: Ferguson, 2000. Print. New Standard Encyclopedia. Forman, Milos. â€Å"OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR; Obama the Socialist? Not Even Close. † The New York Times.The New York Times, 11 July 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Fridell, Ron. Dictatorship. Tarrytown, New York: Michelle Bisson, 2008. Print. Holden, Stephen. â€Å"Facing the Menace of Totalitarianism. † The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Oct. 1996. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. McDonald, Mark. â€Å"Did the U. S. ‘lose' Ho Chi Minh to Communism? † The New York Times. N. p. , 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 1 7 Feb. 2013. Orwell, George. 1984. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rineheart ; Winston, 1949. Print. Socialism. Vol. 5. Chicago, Illinois: Ferguson, 2000. Print. New Standard Encyclopedia.

The Impact of Social Media Marketing in Marketing Communication Opportunities: in Context of Dell

Table of Content No. | Content| Page Number| 1. | Table of Content| 1| 2. | Abstract| 2| 3. | Introduction| 3| 4. | Literature Review | 4| 5. | Dell Business Model| 7| 6| Impact of Social Media Marketing in Dell Current Communication Process| 8| 7. | Challenges of Social Media Marketing in the Marketing Environment | 11| 8. | Benefits of Social Media Marketing in the Marketing Environment| 13| 9. | Conclusion| 15| 10. | References| 16| 2. Abstract Social media marketing is no longer a foreign to business marketer nowadays. This paper will examine the impact of social media marketing on the marketing communication opportunities in context of Dell in the United States. Basically, this assignment will be begun with the introduction which generally explains about the emergence of social media. Next, several literature reviews will be provided to explain on the marketing communication process and how social media marketing impacted on the Dell current communication process. Then, several challenges and benefits of social media marketing will be illustrated at the end of this paper. Keywords: [social media marketing, marketing communication process, media vehicle, consumers, message] 3. Introduction Undeniably, revolution of socio-technological has significantly changed the ways and means of media consumption. From super-fast digitally empower laptops to mobile eBook readers. All of these aspects have affected how business (brands) and consumers communicate and thus influence the way of marketing communications will be functioning. One of the most significant evolutions when people talk about marketing tools or strategies is the emergence of social media marketing. Fundamentally, social media marketing is a way of connecting with consumers by means of the current technology (i. e. The Internet). As of now, there are more than 800 million active users in Facebook, over 3 billion videos are viewed per day and 100 million people use Twitter every single day. Having all social media channel available for consumers, this provides consumers with plenty of choices in products and services in the market. Alongside, social media marketing has impacted on businesses marketing communication opportunities. 4. Literature Review The emergence of new communication channels via the Internet has tremendously affect businesses way of marketing strategies (Owen and Humphrey, 2009). One of the most significant developments to the marketers is the effects from the Internet evolution from the generation of Web 2. 0 or social media as a media vehicle to deliver the message to the target market (Constantinides et al. 2008). Social media marketing in this context is the opportunities provided for business to communicate with the society, with the help of the organizations’ brand, thus resulting in building a positive connection and develop brand influence through the Internet as the medium of communication (Pandey, 2010). Murphy (2010) mentioned that a good marketing strategy occurs when organization or marketer using the right communication channels or media to send the right message and reac hing the right market. Therefore, it is vital for marketer to understand the communication process when using social media as the media vehicle in the marketing communication. Kotler (n. d. , p. 546) mentioned that there are several elements that involved in the communication process in order to determine effective communication. The major two parties in the communication are the sender (marketer) and receiver (market). Another major communication tool is the media vehicle or media channel which carries the message to the receiver. Alongside the communication parties and media vehicle, there are four major communication functions; encoding, decoding, response and feedback. Finally, the element of noise also interferes in the communication process. Dargiewicz (2010) suggested that in order to communicate in an effective way, the sender must have an understanding of the point of the message, who are the target audience to be reached and how the audience will interpret and respond to the message. Schramm’s model of communication points out that the sender’s ncoding process must be coherent with the target audiences’ decoding process, whereby, the more marketer field of experience overlaps with the target markets’ field of experience, the higher is the effectiveness of process of communication (Dargiewicz, 2010; Holm, 2006). The matches of both parties’ experiences are called the Shared Frame of Reference. Figure 1: Willbur Schramm model Source: Dargiewicsz, K. (2010) Monologue vs Dialogue: How Innovative Social Media Technology Developing Effective Marketing Communication Strategies [online]. Available at http://www. slideshare. et/guywithideas/social-media-dissertation [Accessed 15th December 2011] The high level of trust associated with social media as the media vehicle makes social media is highly acceptable among the target audiences compared to traditional media vehicle such as televisions, newspapers, billboard and etc. (Inklingmedia, n. d. ). Mohr and Nevin (1990), bring up that, the absent of trust may distort the message that is being sent. According to DesignDamage (n. d. ), social media fosters a highly transactional model of communication which it allows two-way communication through the feedback mechanism that traditional media not able to offer. Traditional media vehicles were also argued to be a merely one-way process communication, whereby, the message is not clearly communicated or received by the target audience in most of the time (Dargiewicz, 2010). The Shared Frame of Reference suggested by Willbur Schramm model is integrated with social media because it offers consumers to share their experience in the communication process. Calder and Malthouse (2005) supports that everything that influence the customer’s experience is a potential marketing vehicle. Therefore, in order to illustrate the theory of social media marketing in context of organization, this paper will look at the impact of social media marketing in Dell Corporation in the United States. 5. Dell Business Model The founder of Dell Computer Incorporation is Michael Dell in 1984. Dell’s primary products are personal and office computers and business of Dell also engages in other products such as printers and software. A feature that determines PC companies such as Dell to manage their products is through standardization of PCs. The main benefit of standardization is that it helps Dell to reduce the cost of productions. However, when Dell adopted standardization strategy, it made Dell more generic with other PCs companies such as IBM, Compact and Hewlett-Packard since most of PCs companies had access to the same suppliers such as Intel and Microsoft. Therefore, Dell started a new direct business model based on customization approach that enables computers or laptops to be produced according to customers’ requirements in order to be more competitive. However, standardization approached has still remained in Dell’s business model. The customization approach varies its products from customer to another customer without changing the brand name. Having customization strategy in Dell business model, Dell has to eliminate third party as the middle-man and sell its products directly to the final customer, whether the commercial customers or private users. Such business model allows Dell to reach more clients and business units and cut cost with simplify supply chain. Unfortunately, Dell is facing even a bigger issue to balance out the standardization and customization approach as there is no one perfect method. According to The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (n. d. ), customer is the key economic driver to what Dell is doing. Therefore, Dell extended its approach to engage with their customers through the social media marketing to market their brand and communicate with their customers. 6. Impact of Social Media Marketing on Current Dell Communication Process Many companies including Dell, have realized that social media is a new platform for communication. Dell’s key policy is always being a direct and effective in terms of its communications. Dell and digital communication through the internet was never separated since it started to conduct e-commerce business which selling its customized products directly to the customer. Since Dell engaging the blogosphere in 2006, social media marketing has always been its core communication and marketing strategies. According to Dave (2011), social media efforts at Dell helps to sustain the business objectives such as aim to reduce cost, increase revenue and enhance customers’ satisfaction. According to Blythe (2000), the first key of effective communication is to identify the target audience. Social media marketing provide opportunities for dell to separate their target audiences according to social media channel. For example, Dell Community has a mixture of blogs that reflects several key channels. This includes discussion on education to business consultation. Different range of blogs that provided by Dell ensures that information and discussion would be used to cater several specification of audiences. In a same way, Dell has different kinds of Twitter channels to reflect different purposes. Correspond to Dell Cares, it provides assistance to the customer on any matter related to the Dell’s products. This portrays how Dell has separated its branding strategy and how various Twitter accounts perceived differently by the audiences. Therefore, Dell will be able to encode the right message such marketing campaign, to the specific target audience through the right social media channel. There are many other brands out there in the market today compared to in the past. Dargiewicz (2010) points out that all are trying to communicate a large number of messages to their target audience daily, which interfering the target audience to get the right message across. Thus, social media has changed the communication landscape in providing opportunities for Dell to have a two-way communication with its customers. A good communication is the role of the encoders’ and decoder’s skill and its portrayed by the medium which the encoded message is delivered. Realized the effectiveness of social media as the medium of communication, Direct2Dell was launched by Dell, its very own corporate blog through Twitter. Its social media efforts have provided a two-way asymmetric communications, whereby, target audiences able to provide feedback content such as ratings and reviews with regards to the issues of Dell’s products. Moreover, the feedback provided by the customer is in real-time, whereby, the feedback is come directly from customers and Dell able to value their products. For instance, product that has five-stars rating should stay and two-star ratings should be removed. According to Pickton and Broderick (2001, p. 182), feedback will improve the accuracy of the communication to ensure that message has been correctly received and understood, which is one of the reasons why social media is a powerful communication vehicle in Dell communication process. Plus, the CEO of Dell Computer, emphasized that company must be able to listen and connect with its customers and emergence of social media has provided Dell the opportunity to engage with its customers (Farrelly, 2009). Given the feedback mechanism that social media can offer, Dell’s has taken a major step to establish a â€Å"Social Media Listening Command Center† in order to stay connected with its customers. Channey (2009) points out that listening are no longer an option but rather a new marketing. Listening is crucial in the communication process because it allows Dell to understand what customers want and how customers perceive the brand. Not only did social media marketing allow Dell to understand their customers, , Dell are able to discover about a massive amount of issues that consumers were having with their products through their blog monitoring platform. The system could track each of these and would instantly recognize trends between products, geographic areas, or specific communications with Dell. For instance, Dell proactively approach consumers in the blogosphere and in online community about battery recall, thus allow better response and rectify customer’s problem as quickly as possible. Plus, customers were also able to check whether their battery part of the recall. Furthermore, social media marketing has fostered high Shared Frame of Reference between the sender (marketer) and the receiver (audience) that influence effective communication. Dell has created online designed studio that gives the ability for its customers to change the design of their laptops by choosing a custom switchable lid themselves. Online designed studio has given Dell’s customers the opportunities to virtually experience the outcome of their customization laptop, thus, encourage Shared Frame of Reference between Dell and its customers. In addition, not only did social media marketing fostered high Shared Frame of Reference between the marketer and the audience but also among Dell customers. Dell has launched online community for its existing and potential customers to communicate and exchange information. According to Bazaarvoice (n. d. ), 90 percent of consumers online belief the recommendations from people they know and 70 percent belief the opinions of unknown users because people tend to trust and often seek the advice from another person or group of people over brands. This characteristic enables consumer to gather as much information about Dell’s related products and services before making purchase decision. Shaw et al. (2000, p. 152) added that a positive feedback can turn into a good promotion the brand of the product. This is why social media perceived to have a higher level of trust and it is more acceptable compared to other media. 7. Challenges of Social Media Marketing in the Marketing Environment Social media marketing has certainly influence the communication process of Dell with its consumer. However, there are several challenges that social media is facing in the marketing environment. Social media allows thousands of conversation streams to be addressed per day. Merely representing a team of marketers will not be able to handle such a great amount of conversation. Definitely, the number of marketers is not sufficient and it is more likely that these marketers are not equipped with comprehensively subject matter expertise that required them to communicate and respond at the proper level of reliable conversation. The consequence of ignoring this can be overwhelming. The risks of involving untrained employees to represents on behalf of Dell could jeopardize Dell reputation. Once Dell encouraged its employees to be active on blogs, Dell is exposed to the risk of staff members writing negatively and revealing confidential information about the organization. For example, in 2007, a former employee of Dell had posted a list of tips in a blog for customers who are searching for Dell products (Farrelly, 2009). The employee had no issues with Dell and just wanted to share information for customers such as the best time to purchase and how to get the greatest deal. Therefore, it is essential for Dell to have proper employees that have the ability to monitor and respond to its consumers’ thought. Additionally, due to high transparency in social media, competitors may know the strategies of Dell and consumers are more well-informed about Dell products and pricing strategy. Essentially, the engaging process with customers has always been in charged by the Dell marketing department. However, the trend has changed since the emergence of social media. The consumers are now communicating about the organization’s product with other online users who are not the employees. In fact, 66 percent of brand opinions are generated by customers and 34 percent are by blogger (Dave, 2011). The growing popularity of online communities has allow consumers to exchange information and able to compare with competitors’ prices without any barriers. This means Dell have lost their ability to control over on how and where their products and services are being presented to existing and potential customers. Moreover, any disappointed Dell customer able to share their negative judgment on particular products. The bad feedback posted on Twitter or Facebook can easily go viral as good news. For instance, in 2005, Jeff Jarvis, blogger and famous journalist and professor created a personal blog known as Dell Hell. Jeff had a problem with his Dell computer and frustrated with Dell customer service. Therefore, he expressed his frustration with Dell’s products and customer support on the blog. Dell Hell served as a place for other consumers to express their frustration on Dell. As for Dell, the situation has attracted the attention of other media from The New York Times, Business Week, The Houston Chronicle and many others, thus, reputation of Dell as the well-known brand for PCs was at disaster. Moreover, the social media habit or consumption of the young audience may differ compared to the previous generation. It has been a challenge for the marketers to develop marketing communication strategies in order to sync with this modern language to make sure that the transmitted brand messages are received and properly encoded across different age group. The young audiences who are called â€Å"digital natives† were raised up in the modern technological era. They have been adapted to the development and respond to information in a different way with their predecessors. Different to the young audience, the previous generations are known as â€Å"digital immigrants† because they are exposed with modern technologies only in the later stage compared to the young audience. They have different ways of understanding the language of social media. Therefore, this will be probably a challenge for businesses including Dell to strategize how to get the message across different age group through social media marketing. 8. Benefits of Social Media Marketing Although social media marketing have its disadvantages, it has also brought several values in the marketing environment. Firstly, due to the fact that social media has no barrier for communication; it has encouraged companies like Dell to allow customer participation in their marketing strategies. For example, Dell has created Dell’s IdeaStorm, one of the online Community blogs to encourage conversation with its existing and potential consumers. The benefit that the IdeaStorm is able to give is it allows crowdsourcing from the consumers. This is an effective way for Dell to obtain ideas for their company and more importantly, it provides a sense of belonging from onsumers because their opinion influences the internal decision making, thus increase their loyalty, brand awareness and reaffirm their positioning. Plus, not only social media provide suggestion to Dell, it also help other fellow customers to fix their problem. The process are similar to other social media, whereby, people join the community, recommend their opinions or ideas and then, Dell will respond to the most popular ideas accord ing to the number of votes. In addition, it also provides a free market research for Dell. This is a benefit for Dell because most of surveys conducted are deemed to be ineffective because it only focus on certain groups and also incur higher cost. Finally, social media marketing has also assist Dell in their pricing strategy. Since the consumers are more active in social media, Dell able to get their opinion and forecast the demand and price of their products. Plus, Dell product customization business model through the social media marketing can reduce their sales cycle. Different from short sales cycle, long sales cycles requires people at several stages of the buying process. Ironically, when salespeople are spending their time engaging new businesses and relationship to ensure that customers receive satisfactory answers, he or she is rather unproductive because company only creates money if customers are actually buying the products. This leading up to opportunity cost because the salesperson is not making any deals. Therefore, Dell able to reduce the marketing cost through social media marketing. 9. Conclusion In conclusion, Dell has continuously evaluated its business model to search for rooms of improvement and ways to enhance their customer service. Social media marketing has certainly influenced Dell in their marketing communication process and widened their reach to its existing and potential customers. In the early years of Dell in the blogosphere, Dell has effectively incorporated social media into its marketing and communications strategy and had been awarded for its efforts. Despite of the effort to integrate social media marketing into the business, social media marketing has its drawbacks. Dell cannot afford to put their brand reputation at risk and thus, must find ways to overcome the challenges. Today, Dell US is one f the top companies that is being respected and known as the citizen of the social media. Hence, Dell had applied this new establish knowledge to really change the culture and advance the marketing strategy while constantly being focus and direct with its customers. (3078 words) References 1. Bazaarvoice (n. d. ) Social Commerce Statistics [online]. Available at http://www. bazaarvoice. com/resources/stats [Accessed 16th December 2011] 2. Blythe, J. (2000) The Communication mix. In: Marketing Communications. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited 3. Calder, B. J. and Edward C. M. 2005) Managing Media and Advertising Change with Integrated Marketing, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol 45(4), pp. 356-361 [online]. Available at http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/detail? sid=fe58d1b1-1a35-4d30-a99d-d1943e084662%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=20486625 [Accessed at 12th December 2011] 4. Channey, P. (2009) Social Media: Listening is the New Marketing [online]. Available at http://www. practicalecommerce. com/articles/976-Social-Media-Listening-is-the-New-Marketing [Accessed 15th December 2011] 5. Constantinides, E. et al. 2008) Social Media: A New Frontier for Retailer?. European Retail Research, Vol 22, pp. 1-28 [online]. Available at http://www. utwente. nl/mb/nikos/publications/ecpapers/constantinidessocialmedia. pdf [Accessed 14th December 2011] 6 . Dargiewicsz, K. (2010) Monologue vs Dialogue: How Innovative Social Media Technology Developing Effective Marketing Communication Strategies [online]. Available at http://www. slideshare. net/guywithideas/social-media-dissertation [Accessed 15th December 2011] 7. Dave, R. (2011) How to Engage in Social Media: A Dell Perspective [online]. Available at http://i. dell. om/sites/content/business/solutions/power/en/Documents/ps1q11-20110266-socialmedia. pdf [Accessed at 15th December 2011] 8. DesignDamage (n. d. ) The Secret to Social Media Communication [Online]. Available at http://www. designdamage. com/the-secret-to-social-media-communication-success/ [Accessed 12th December 2011] 9. Farelly, J. M. (2009) Digital Communication at Dell. Dartmouth College [Online]. 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Southwest Airline: on-Boarding Approach

On-Boarding Approach Southwest Airline There are a few companies out there that truly understand the importance of On-boarding. Southwest airline has taken an approach that resonates with all employees new and old. Their understanding of human culture and how people absorb information is vital to their process. Human beings are emotional creatures, thus learning from this they have produced an effective on-boarding procedure. Stimulating a positive emotion has been the Idea behind a successful organization in a fleeting industry.Southwest has established an outlook that helps the employees feel comfortable and proud of their job. â€Å"New employees must feel that they belong and are important to the organization. The supervisor, HR unit, and coworkers should be prepared for a new employee’s arrival† (Mathis & Jackson, 2010). This can only benefit the company’s goals. Southwest wants to instill these emotions during their orientation; Feeling welcomed, comfortabl e, proud, excited, inspired, and confident. (Lee) Everything matters to the employers at Southwest.Grounding these emotions into the workers has produced success in their industry. Southwest has a three year retention rate at 73% and 5 around 55%(n. d. ). Southwest topped the charts in 2010 for one of the best companies to work for. A flight attendant said, â€Å"The Company was founded on the principle that in order to succeed you need to treat your co-workers as well as your customers. †(Smith) The orientation process is pretty basic which it includes a tour of the facilities, diversity training, guest speakers, and team building exercises. This is all accomplished in one day.Southwest has applied the foundations of a successful industry through positive emotions. I personally can’t see any better way than treating others the way you would want to be treated. This comes from Matthew 7:12, â€Å"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for t his is the Law and the Prophets†(ESV). Citation: Lee, D. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. humannatureatwork. com/articles/onboarding/onboarding-that-welcomes-and-inspires. htm Mathis, R. L. , & Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human resource management. (13 ed. ). Mason:

Would Of Work Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Would Of Work - Personal Statement Example I have three main strengths that will help me shape my career aspirations. The first among the three is my high level of tolerance and patience. I think this factor is the aspect that many people lack in life, and what makes them give up on things they could otherwise attain. I am always determined to get the best out of what I do. I have a conviction that such a character will make me suit my career field because my father tells me that patience is the basic of all things. Electrical and Electronic Engineers require having patience while they carry out projects and remain optimistic that they will make it even while they face stressful situations. The second factor that defines my strength is the natural talent in operating machinery and other appliances. I have been helping my father to repair some equipment such as television and fixing the lighting since the time I was only six years. I feel that such an experience has contributed my commitment to working with machinery and electricity. I always wish I could design the electric systems of a building someday. The last of the three strengths is my family background. I get much motivation from my parents in all things that I do. I have learned to admire as my role models. They always tell me that I can be whomever I wish to if I work hard. My father, in particular, gives me much support especially when I told him about my dream being an engineer. My skills include my proficiency in mathematics and science-related subjects. I have a liking for the two because I know they contribute to better mastery of concepts that will make someone an excellent engineer. I like helping my classmates in solving problems related to the two fields, and that helps me to improve my competencies. I always feel that my mathematics skills will help me to calculate one or two things when I will finally work for a company. I have worked and developed work values of professionalism, reliability, and innovation. I feel that if anyone

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 42

Journal - Essay Example This notifies the audience that the author is in support of the fact that there are fake scientific data published in journals and ignoring such information can have a detrimental impact on people. The content of the article is detailed giving examples of numerous instances where scientists have linked vaccination to autism and where a scientist disagreed that HIV results to AIDS. It also gives an instance where John Bohannon disclosed that it was easy to put out deceitful scientific information in available publications (Wong 1). The use of these examples makes it interesting and easy for the reader to understand. The author also uses quotation marks to show emphasis on numerous words within the article such as â€Å"mental retardation†, â€Å"knowledge† and â€Å"scientific counterfeits. Wong, the author, uses a comparatively formal language. The article’s tone is resentful evidenced by the last two sentences of the article. Additionally, the author appeals to the readers by clearly emphasizing on his

Industry and Labor Relations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Industry and Labor Relations - Assignment Example Moreover in Virginia which traditionally had been dominated by agriculture and commodities had had an economy that was less likely to be dominated by unionized workers. Q#2- The challenges and opportunities that are faced when dealing with labor practice are varied between different professions and economic entities insofar as all organizations conduct different initiatives to help improve their competitiveness. In the American context one could argue that one challenge would be better integration of professionals from different fields (Metalworkers and carpenters for example) to better integrate their practices to ensure a better building project. However the challenge associated with this would be that different stakeholders have different needs tan the accommodation of these needs may be challenging for human resource professionals. Q#3- Globalization is the integration of different economies, societies, countries etc. through improved communication techniques, trade and less expe nsive transportation. The way in which globalization has had an impact on labor practices is that it has in effect made labor practices more transparent.

Recent Writing on Marriage Has Explored the Notion of Sacrament in Essay

Recent Writing on Marriage Has Explored the Notion of Sacrament in Relation to Marriage - Essay Example The sacrament of marriage depends on the graceful acts associated with it. This may be in the will of god or the will of the Holy Spirit. Marriage can be viewed as an institution or experience depending on the description given with reference to it. All the same, the church considers man and woman mutually in a relationship as per the will of God. The description of this may also vary with time and civilisation which influences legislation and action of man. The way in which the Christians viewed Christ’s perfection became applicable in cases involving marriage of baptised individuals. This brought the spirituality of these couples was kept away from any blemish acts instead of a sacrament becoming the full realisation of it as the nature of the marriage. Marriage has been viewed by Christians as a sacrament of vocation. The structure of the Christian matrimonial bed defines the identity of marriage as a sacrament. The sacrament takes place as convenient to the convent involvi ng God and revealing the salvation mysteries. The love in a woman man relationship, in accordance to the needs of the Holy Spirit defines the sacrament. Marriage was traditionally viewed to be a contract based institution contrary to the Christian view of marriage as a sacrament. In this context, it was meant to gain mutual rights and possession of partners. In the contract, and sacrament identity of a marriage, relationship became apparent as various people made descriptions of the same (Carlo 76). In the view of marriage as an institution, the husbands view their spouses and the relationship separate from the sacrament of marriage. The end of marriage becomes the end aim of marriage as it comes in the subsequent marriage generations. There was a turning point in the Vatican council that described the marriage as a structure where man and woman receiving from one another as established by the creator. Laws regulating how they carry themselves are in a manner that the partnership is rooted in agreement of both parties in the biblical terms. The sacrament of marriage can also be viewed as a consecration which reflects God's love for man the matter of sacrament was to be found in a mutual understanding made between the two in the relationship. The priest took part in qualifying the partners in the sixteenth century, which, however, was described by Cano that it recognised marriage as a contract. But the priest becomes the minister of the sacrament and gave priestly blessings. In this way, the marriage in Christianity religion get a description from the book of John that describes the spirit calling whoever feels thirsty to take the water of life. The Holy Spirit cannot be seen, and the sacred silence, therefore, should be kept by conjugal community for them to receive the language of the Holy Spirit through praying. They intern get the gift of sacrament and life as a true spiritual generation of marriage The idea of marriage has been conceptualised by the church as being natural. Those who do their marriage in the church do it before God just like he constituted the marriage between Adam and eve at the beginning of creation. Humans, however, have taken control of various events in marriage such as reproduction, which has been manipulated by science. Humans are expected to rep[reduce in the most effective manner thereby passing their genes to the subsequent generations. the mating process has been intervened by human events. biological

Outsourcing-harm to america Annotated Bibliography

Outsourcing-harm to america - Annotated Bibliography Example Outsourcing has been in practice since the early 1980s and continues to grow among large American corporations. Not only have we seen that it hurts our economy, but is affecting the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is averaging 9.3% in todays market, compared to 5.8% in 2008 and 4.6% in 2007. Since 1986 fifteen million high paying jobs have left the United States and American workers. â€Å"Some industry watchers believe as many as 200,000 service jobs could be lost each year for the next eleven years (Cook, Nyham). According to the data (1999-2009) given by the bureau of labor statistics, United States -- there has been an increase in job loss in the private sector in the last 10 years ("Bureau of labor," 2010). Corporate America is sending jobs oversees so that their companies can save money, not thinking of the impact it has on us as individuals, and our families. Outsourcing is a chain reaction; the more products we outsource, the more factories that are being shut down in American, meaning more American job loss, and the rise of the unemployment rate Jobs are disappearing, wages are falling below inflation, and it is stressful in the workplace because at any moment ones job could be moved. overseas. It is killing American workers faith in their employers and putting a toll on their psychological well-being. We as a nation need to stop buying imported goods, and stop voting on bills that deregulate outsourcing. We need to realize we are the power, and we can make a difference. That in turn will be a step in the right direction. It is well known that United States economy recovered from mild recession in 2001; however, unemployment has risen from 4 % to 6% -- almost 50 percent increase. Well, one thing that is not known widely is that jobs have also been created during this hard period not only in New York City, San Francisco or Michigan – jobs have also been

In Support of the Death Penalty Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

In Support of the Death Penalty - Term Paper Example ing the debate at the international level on whether a country should have capital punishment fall into three broad categories, the morality of the death penalty, the inhuman nature of the death penalty, and the issue of the fairness of the judicial process. Many view the debate, which has left the world evenly divided on the issue, as a waste of effort unlikely to change strongly held views. However, with a closer examination of the opinions of elites in various countries and their influence on policy, one cant help but conclude that the weight of the arguments against capital punishment are dramatically shifting the momentum towards having governments around the world abolish or severely limit the use of the death penalty. The death penalty is validating due to one of the most important traditional thoughts which is retribution. â€Å"An eye for an eye† can express the unacceptable anger of victim’s family towards the homicides. The reason why a certain group of people believe that tooth for tooth because of the differentiate culture and values. The most populous country in the world, China, executes numerous people the past of thousands year just derived from an execution can brought closure to the trial for the victims family. As a matter of fact, there were 3400 people received the capital sentence in 2005 which was 90 percent of the total number of sentenced people globally. Importantly, however, the death penalty is much economical than its closest alternative -- life imprisonment with no parole. It is hard to set money aside for governments by using long term of sentence for prisoners who will spend the rest of their lives in jail. For this, the reason is that a great punishment will occupy 1.3 million dollars per case which is less than half as a thirty-year sentence. The death penalty should continue because it does not discriminate against the poor. Supporters argue that there is no excuse for inhuman behavior; society has no choice but to protect

Describe the main duties of an Accountable Manager. How does the Coursework - 1

Describe the main duties of an Accountable Manager. How does the holder of this position relate to the financial management - Coursework Example The accountable manager is usually considered to have some position in the Board of directors or other equivalent body of the company. This allows him a more close connection with the owners of the company. So, the objectives set by the Board of Directors contain an opinion on his part. It also assists him further to understand the objectives fully and other underlying requirements of these objectives. The presence of a person in setting objectives makes such manager more accountable as the objectives are set with full collaboration of such manager. However, larger organizations usually consist of more than one units who either dependent of each other or independently work to achieve the desired results and objectives. The regulations for each of these units are also different. So, different accountable managers are appointed for all these units who supervise the work of these units. These managers are accountable to their respective Regulatory body. Usually, accountable managers are solely responsible for the accomplishment of desired objectives. However, the tasks are not carried out by them alone. A large number of subordinates are involved and it is inevitable for the accountable manager to rely upon the work of subordinate managers. However, these subordinates are responsible to report to the accountable manager about their work. The Accountable manager is after all responsible for their own work s well as the work of their subordinates. Because of such greater responsibility, the accountable managers are not given any other task which they are capable of carrying out. The reason is that the focus is not diverted to any other work which is less important than the primary job of such manager. In case of companies which carry out air operations, the accountable manager is responsible to the regulatory body, either within or outside the company, for all the operations which are

Psychology in Silence of the Lambs Essay Example for Free

Psychology in Silence of the Lambs Essay The Silence of the Lambs 1991 Director Jonathan Demme Writer Thomas Harris Cinematographer Tak Fujimoto Jodie Foster Clarice Starling Anthony Hopkins Dr. Hannibal Lecter AKA Hannibal the Cannibal Scott Glenn -Jack Crawford Ted Levine -Jame Gumb AKA Buffalo Bill Theme can be defined as a central insight. According to the authors of The Art of Watching Films, a theme in a literary work or film should be universal and should be one that challenges people (Boggs Petric, 2008). The Silence of the Lambs shows that peoples search for peace is universal. We see characters from all walks of life searching for peace. There is Clarice Starling, an FBI agent in training, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist incarcerated for murder and cannibalism, and Jame Gumb, AKA Buffalo Bill, a man driven to murder by his sexual identity crises. Each of these characters, in their own ways, search for peace throughout the film. (Demme, 1991) Clarice Starling, portrayed by Jodie Foster, is seen as the main character. She begins a sort of friendship with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, hen she is assigned to question him on the Buffalo Bill murder case. The two have much in common because they are both ostracized by society and both are searching for peace. Dr. Lecter is imprisoned and shunned by society for committing acts of cannibalism. Clarice is shunned in her own society because she is a woman in the FBI. We see her strive for peace and acceptance in this predominantly male society. We also see her struggle to find peace with her past. There are two scenes in the film that best depict Clarices search for peace. Ebert, 2001) The first scene where we see Clarice struggle to find peace in the world she wishes to inhabit is the one where she and her male boss, Crawford, go to examine the body of one of Buffalo Bills victims. Crawford suggests to a male officer that they shouldnt discuss the crime in front of a woman, Clarice. A close up of Crawford and the officer whispering and staring at Clarice is seen from her pe rspective. We as viewers see what she sees. We are brought into the film and we feel awkward Just as she does. This is an example of suture. Suture is the way a film maker draws us in. We, the viewers, become stitched into the fabric of the story (University of Wisconsin, 2013). Director Jonathan Demmes camera techniques compel us to adopt Clarices point of view above all others. We are accustomed to seeing things as she would see them. So when the direct angle changes and we are forced to look at Clarice head on in this scene, it us unnerving. As Crawtord and the officer look at ner wit n the eyes ot the audience, we feel the same anxiety she feels while being examined by the men around her. The next scene where we see Clarice search for peace, is the one in hich she discusses the films titular line. She is questioning Dr. Lecter, trying to gain some knowledge that can help her locate Buffalo Bills next victim, Catherine Martin. Hannibal agrees to answer the questions, but only if she reveals information about her childhood. Clarice recounts the story of living on a farm and being awakened by awful screaming. When she goes to investigate the noise, she sees lambs being led to slaughter. Her instinct is to free them, but they wont move. In vain, she tries to carry one away but it is too heavy for her. She cant save it. Dr. Lecter says to her; mfou still wake up sometimes, dont you? You wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of the lambs. Clarice admits this is true. He then continues; And you think if you save poor Catherine, you could make them stop, dont you? You think if Catherine lives, you wont wake up in the dark ever again to that awful screaming of the lambs(Demme, 1991). Clarice claims she doesnt know and it is possible she truly doesnt, but we can see in her face that wants it to be true. We see the pain in her ace and her desire to be released from the screaming and find peace. Director Jonathan Demme lets us connect with the characters by shattering the fourth wall. He positions the camera so Clarice is essentially talking to the audience in extreme close up shots. This technique instills her anguish into the audience. Clarice then becomes more demanding, asking for the killers name but before Hannibal can answer Dr. Frederick Chilton informs her its time to go. She is nearly dragged out of the room, but breaks free to run back to Hannibals cage and retrieve her case files. The visual style up to this point in the scene has been dark, but when Clarice rushes to the cage, there is light illuminating Hannibal. Clarice running towards this light represents her search for peace. She is hoping the clues left by Dr. Lecter in the case files will enable her to catch the killer, save the kidnapped girl, and stop the lambs from screaming. The Silence of the Lambs is traditionally considered a horror film. However, it is more than that. It is a great reference to sociology because it touches on so many topics important to people (Kim, 2010). Throughout the movie we see motifs of transformation and gender roles, but it is the theme of searching for peace that really speaks to us. This type of film serves the purpose of making us look inward. It forces us to identify our fears and what we are willing to do in order to find our own peace in the end. The theme is evident in the writing, but it is the vision, the use of dark and light, and camera techniques of director Jonathan Demme that truly bring it to focus. Reterences (2013). What is Suture? University of Wisconsin.

Death by Chocolate Essay Example for Free

Death by Chocolate Essay How have the makers of Death by chocolate made their advertisement successful? Discuss the various techniques used and how they have been used. This is an analysis of the advertisement death by chocolate. It is an advert promoting a chocolate cake. The advertisement is rich in techniques which have been purposely included to tempt consumers to indulge themselves and give in to the temptation of the cake. Looking at both pages of the advertisement it seems that there is a concealed message which could possibly be summarized as, go on, be a devil. It is almost as if such devilish whisperings jump out at us. This message is communicated by the trident shaped fork in the hand of an ambiguous woman. Although we are given a motionless picture, there is an overwhelming sense of movement towards the cake. The makers have included this as one of the techniques of the advertisement so that the consumers feel that they are holding the fork. The visual imagery is designed to bring the devil out in you. Although the chocolate cake is brown, it is laced with a devilish crimson colour which adds to the Satan theme. It is interesting in this context that the word consumer is an old name for Satan which again is another technique used. It is clear that the makers of the advert have worked according to the principle that it is the visual impact of an advertisement that is most effective. Most of the second page is covered with a silky textured crimson colour on a white backdrop that mirrors the combination of the crimson streaked chocolate on a white plate. Red is the colour of the devil, but it is also the colour of danger, excitement and fury. White is the colour of virginity and the plentiful red suggests a loss of virginity. This technique is very effective as the contrast of the colours remind us of the naughtiness inside us which drives us to indulge ourselves in this mouth-watering cake. The producers of this advert have also relied upon visual influence and the psychological imagery conjured up by the slogan and larger writing rather than the small text. The slogan, its no angel cake is designed to reinforce the evil theme. The clever remark on the word angel causes reader to dwell on this word and think about its meaning. Puns are always mentally stimulating and enjoyable, and it is as if the enjoyment gained from it is presented to the reader as a sample of the cake itself. In fact one gets the feeling that the designers have tried to make the whole advertisement tasty. The name of the advertisement itself, Death by Chocolate is intended to be entertaining and comical. Although the word death is used, the intention is not to bring to mind fear or anxiety, but in fact, the effect is far from gloomy. The reader is invited to die and be wrapped up in the chocolate, or at least to be dying to eat the chocolate. For those who are fully tempted by the advertisement and go on to reading the small text, there is much more in store. The text starts off on the, naughty devil theme already developed by the visual imagery. The humour in the image of a vicar in The News of The World adds to the atmosphere of sheer evil. The use of brackets is another technique used which gives the reader the feeling that they are being told a secret, making them feel more involved with the text. This reinforces the effect of the use of the second person to make the reader feel personally addressed. The next part of the text tries to use words to convert the visual imagery of the pictures and colours into a sense taste. Words such as cakey-wakey, dark, bitter and sweet reinforce in the words which the readers have seen in picture, and the two together try to combine to bring the images to life. The French word, mi lange produces an exotic feeling that appeals to the average person. The combination of the words bitter and sweet, which in this contexts maybe oxymorons gives a feeling of devilish menace. The words lascivious develop the theme of being naughty and gives verbal expression to the stark crimson on a virgin white background. Immediately after this we have a reference to sensual pleasure. It seems that the makers of this advertisement are trying to sell a chocolate cake by appealing to peoples sexual desires which nowadays is a very popular technique used by producers. The sexual imagery is completed by the reference to Lolita at the end, who was a youthful twelve year old girl corrupted by an older man. In conclusion I think that the producers have been very successful in making this advertisement effective as a whole by creating strong visual imagery and reinforcing it with subtle but direct language. I feel that there is a clear and successful attempt to appeal to human weakness and carnal desire, which is arguably what makes this advertisement a successful one.

Food Choices And Meal Patterns In India Media Essay

Food Choices And Meal Patterns In India Media Essay The chapter will present the findings, in the form of themes and categories, which was seen from the analysis of the interviews with the participants. The themes are recurring instances of responses occurring across all the interviews and which are important and relevant to the research. The themes were carefully organized into over-arching relevant categories. The themes have also been separately discussed as sub-themes, which were based on the responses of the participants and listed in their own voice, so as to enable a better understanding of their thoughts, knowledge and responsiveness. Category I: Changes in Food choices and Meal patterns The themes and sub-themes talk about the changes in food choices and meal patterns that took place amongst the Indian students in Leeds Metropolitan University and understanding what it meant to them. Theme 1: Food choices and Meal patterns in India Sub-theme A: I had more different a type of Indian food earlier at home than it is here. Yes, there is quite a bit of difference in the type of food that I have here and that I am used to having in India. I donot get the traditional foods that I liked a lot but once in a while I do get Indian food here as well, which is as close to home that I can get. The consumption of food showed a great degree of variation from different regions of the country. They were also dependent on the types of sides that were eaten with the meals. Also, the fact that most of the students reported that, irrespective of where they came from in India, the choices available for them regarding traditional food, were more than they get here. I had rice for all the meals. Thats what people do there. Bread is not that common, may be occasionally, however the most common was rice, which we could have with any side. It was seen that rice was considered as not only the staple ingredient but also something that they could have with most of the side dishes. Due to certain religious beliefs that they grew up in, there was apparent absence of meat and meat products in the responses of some participants. My family had always eaten wheat for atleast one meal of the day. I guess it may be because of the fact that we lived in the North of the country and also that it was cheaper and easily available. The consumption of wheat by these participants was because it was less costly and also that it was easily available in the region. Also, wheat formed the dietary resemblance to the cultural associations of that region. Also, amongst the meat and meat products, chicken was seen as the acceptable option, even during the religious and cultural gatherings. The Indian diet consisted of heavily spiced dishes ranging from vegetables, meat or fish. Sub-theme B: We ate more regular meals and had a balanced diet All the participants said that they had a more regular meal pattern with 2-3 meals in a day and most of it was home cooked. They also brought up the idea of a proper meal, wherein they had food that was specific with that meal of the day. Before I came here, I used to have proper three meals in a day, but here I may only end up having two meals in a day. Also, here the meals are not balanced and quite irregular. The participants felt that the meals they have here were not similar to the ones they were used to having back home. The participants said they were used to having lavish and complete meals, which consisted of variety of dishes. I had a very good eating habit at home. I had a set meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with occasional snacks in between them. Eating regularly, as I used to before is the key to keeping healthy. All the participants talked about the importance of having traditional meals atleast twice or thrice a day. They felt that the breakfast was one of the important meals of the day and that it results in healthy eating habit. It was also seen that they found proper afternoon snack and a filling dinner was healthy, with long term health benefits. Sub-theme C: When we were back home, we never used to eat out often, even though it was fun to eat out. I used to eat at home for most of the times in a week. May be once or twice, I would go out with my friends for dinner bit then that was also not that frequent. The participants talked about the fact that most of the times they preferred to eat at home and did not want to spend money or get worried about the quality and hygiene related with the food. Also, they felt that eating away from would mean going against the normal home cooked food. Also, they perceived junk food as something that was not a part of the meal and not to be healthy, even though it presents itself as an important aspect if the Indian culture and religious festivities. Theme 2: Food choices and Meal patterns in United Kingdom Sub-theme A: Foods that I eat here are very different from what I am used to. The participants showed signs of change in their eating habits after moving to Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. The participants said that they found it difficult to have breakfast, as they were used to back home and even if they did, it was more of ready to eat foods like cereals. There were less consumption of traditional Indian food items and more consumption of canned food items, fruit juice, cheese, snacks like sweets and chips. The meals usually consisted of food from other ethnic origins as well like Mexican, Continental, Italian, which were eaten at local restaurants in Leeds. The participants said that they had to plan towards their meals here and they felt that it was difficult to retain their traditional food habits because of the time constraints faced by the students. I have to plan my own meals here. But at home, it was my mom. My meals here are not consistent. I donot have time to cook the things that I am used to eat back home, as most of the traditional dishes require planning, energy and time, which is difficult here. So I eat whatever is easy to cook and less time consuming. The participants also said that, though most of the time they have non-traditional food, however during the weekend or holidays, they try to stick to traditional Indian food. They felt that for them Indian food enabled them to maintain their cultural associations. Sub-theme B: My eating habit is very irregular here. Most of the participants said that their eating patterns were irregular after they came to the United Kingdom. Most of them said that they never or rarely had time to have breakfast. They could only have a proper meal for dinner, wherein they could cook traditional Indian food for themselves. My food habits have changed after coming here. I skip meals as I donot get the time and energy to cook for me. Most of the times I am at the university and I eat whatever I get at that point of time. However, for dinner, I try to cook some traditional Indian food. It makes a difference to have dinner as a complete meal. The analysis of the responses shows that the participants had an irregular food pattern, which was mainly due to the pressures of the new life here and the lack of time to plan and prepare a complete meal. Also, it was reported that they found the local food not to their liking all the time and hence it resulted in skipping entire meals. Sub-theme C: I eat out a lot here, more than I used to in India. Here, I tend to eat out with my friends most of the times. Even when I am in the university, I would go to the vending machine and pick up something to eat. I also eat many snacks here like sweets, chips. It is even more than I used to at home. The participants talked about their habit of snacking of food items like sweets, chips etc as it was easily available to them and also that they cost-low. The inability by them to invest time towards cooking for themselves and at times resulting in them completely skipping or replacing their meals with snacks or fast-food options. The participants also perceived that the snacks they had in India were low in fat content and hence better than the ones here. I donot have time to go home and cook an Indian meal for myself. I usually gout to eat or do some takeaway. It is all about convenience for me and usually I donot have an alternative. The participants said that for them eating out or at restaurants in India were considered a luxury, however here they feel it as imperative because of its convenience and easy availability as compared to the traditional meals. They felt that a healthy Indian meal is one that would have less cream, oil and cooked at home. However, even though the participants were not extremely interested in eating non-traditional food, but also felt that there were wide range of options available here, something that they did not find easily in India. Category II: Factors affecting Food habits Theme 3: Food habits and perceptions regarding Food habits Sub-theme A: I wish I cooked at home so that I knew how to cook. There were interesting perceptions that were reported by the participants towards knowledge and cooking skills. Most of the women participants said that they did most of the cooking at home however; they found the same difficult here as they had busy schedules with lectures, university. Whereas, the men were unanimous in their response; they found cooking a meal difficult without any previous knowledge. I never took interest in cooking. I did not have to worry about how much to make and if it is healthy or not. After coming here, I tried to cook but it was not easy. Most of the times I would make something that is easy like ready to eat or frozen food. The differences in responses could be due to the traditional beliefs that are related to the role that a man and a women play in the Indian society. In most cases, the Indian meals were mostly enjoyed in the local Indian restaurant. The male participants talk about their lack of skills to prepare Indian meals that makes it difficult for them to have a traditional diet. Also, the female participants, even though most of them said that they had the required skills to cook, showed preference to non-traditional food habits, due to the lack of time needed to cook Indian meals as well as the limited availability of ingredients required to make a traditional meal. My eating habits have changed a lot here. I donot eat traditional Indian food anymore and at times I donot even cook. However, I feel if I knew how to cook, it would have helped. Sub-theme B: I find the food here very different from what I am used to. All the participants said that they found the food here as convenient food due to its easy availability and ease to prepare. However, they thought that these food were not important to be considered as a complete meal, as most of them were artificially prepared with preservatives in them. Some of the participants said, contrary to the general opinion, that they found the non-traditional food healthier than the ones they used to have at home in India. Even though I have eaten Indian food throughout my life, I find the options here like the sandwiches, soups, salads as healthier than the Indian counterparts. I find them to be light and fresh. I cook Indian food at times, but they are time consuming and tend to be oily and greasy, especially if I am going to a restaurant. But the non-traditional foods tend to be more nutritious because they are prepared in ways to preserve their nutritive value, with less oil and cream. The participants also described the opportunity staying away from home as a way to be more experimental in their food habits, breaking away from the traditional diet to try something new. I have always had Indian food. The fact that now I can actually try new things and to be adventurous with my food habits is a nice feeling. At times, I will make pasta, sandwich or Mexican and they taste good too. Sub-theme C: I find it difficult to always have a traditional diet here. Many students talked about factors that affected their traditional way of eating. One such was that of financial considerations, which greatly influenced food and eating habits during their stay in the United Kingdom. They found that the local food to be more reasonable as compared to the traditional Indian food. I donot spend much on food, tend to eat whatever is cheaper. I never ate beef in India, would never think about it, however after coming here, I got to know that it is difficult to always live by traditions. I decided to accept the change rather making it a problem. The participants described their accepting the change in their food habits as a way to be accustomed and accepted by the new culture here. Also, some of the participants talked about their exposure to the Western diet in India, which had played an important role towards them accepting the change in food habits that happened here. Sub-theme D: My diet has changed considerably with time that I am here. Certain participants said that the duration that they have been in the United Kingdom have resulted in changes to their dietary habits. For them, they felt that a reason to come here was the freedom of making choices regarding their eating habits, wherein they ate out often, which they felt as an enjoyable experience. I think my diet is more or less the same here but then it is not definitely the way it was in India. I live alone and hence to eat what is easier and faster to cook.

Using Real World examples, illustrate both some of the potential :: Economics

Using Real World examples, illustrate both some of the potential benefits of monopolies and explain how monopoly firms may be able to engage in price discrimination practices. A monopolistic market or company is one where there is non existent competition. There is one leading market domineer that is producing and supplying the entire market. In a monopolistic market the company in question can determine prices or the amount of products sold to work in their advantage. The power of a monopoly company is that it can completely dominate a particular market subject to whether or not there are existing or up and coming substitutes. By this what is meant is that there could well be a substitute for the monopolist’s product. An example of this would be old public sector companies like British Rail. They controlled the entire rail travel market; however there were always alternative forms of travel like coach or air travel. This proves that there is no real possibility of a pure monopoly as there are always alternatives. There is another variant that decides to classification of a monopoly. This is the barriers of entry into that particular industry or sector of the market. If there are low barriers of entry, this will stimulate competition between firms competing for consumers of that market sector, however if the barriers are of high entry, then it is easy to say that the company dominating the market is that of a monopolistic nature. This echoes the fact that a monopolistic firm can indeed decide on price or quantity sold to influence demand. They can only influence demand to a certain extent because of other alternatives to their own product e.g. travel and different forms of transport. By doing this, a monopolist company can make non-standard profits in the long term future. A major advantage of a monopolistic firm is that it can use price discrimination as a tool in gaining more money. This is where a firm can make the consumer pay for a different price for the exact same service. A good example of this is through British telecom and how it is cheaper to ring during off peak tariffs rather that during the day when the cost of a phone call is substantially higher than that of a phone call during the evening. However, for price discrimination to happen there must be a number of factors occurring to make price discrimination work for the company. First, the company must know its customers and know that they have different demands to that of other people. This may be the travel of commuters into the city for work.

Nation of Islam and Taking Advantage of People :: Religion

Taking Advantage Throughout history, religions have been created and still today continue to be created. Most people have a common faith that they have inherited from their ancestors; they have and always will practice their religion as long as it seems to be in their favor. Some people go to church to cleanse their conscious of the naughty things they’ve been doing and fear the wrath of their god. Others may have a lot of things going their way and they want to thank their faith in religion for these blessings. Other people might be in a situation where life has handed them hardly a morsel of luck or faith; they may also blame a god for their misfortune or stop believing in religion altogether. These people would be in a prime condition to find faith. Finding faith is a reason why religious studies and practices are so intricately different. People take what they have been told and they mix these views with their own personal life experiences to create an ideal trust in som eone or something. Sometimes people can believe in someone and take their words as the words of god. To do this they have to trust and hold such a person in the highest respect. In return the person who is in supposed contact with God must value this trust and use it to spread their beliefs. This relationship usually works out quite nicely for the people in such a bond. They find a trust in each other and each gain the ability to use one another. In the 1930’s a relationship like this spawned in Detroit, Michigan. Wallace Fard, the leader of a new psuedo-Islamic religion, became acquainted with Robert Poole, a southern migrant with an already growing discontent of self status. Robert Poole saw a rope of faith hanging from Wallace Fard. He became his best friend and in time Fard taught Poole every detail of his Nation of Islam. Fard even declared himself Allah, or God, and disappeared, leaving Robert Poole with a new name and title that would make him the leader of the religious group. Poole’s new name became Elijah Muhammad, meaning the prophet messenger of Allah.

Horror of War in Dulce et Decorum Est :: Dulce et Decorum Est Essays

Horror of War in Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a magnificent, and terrible, description of a gas attack suffered by a group of soldiers in World War 1. One of this group is unable to get on his helmet, and suffers horribly. Through his shifting rhythms, dramatic description, and rich, raw images, Owen seeks to convince us that the horror of war far outweighs the patriotic cliches of those who glamorize war. In the first of four stanzas, Owen presents the death-like calm before the storm of the gas attack. Alliteration and onomatopoeia join with powerful figurative and literal images of war to produce a pitiful sense of despair. "Bent beggars", "knock-kneed", cough and "curse" like "hags" through "sludge." All of this compressed into just two lines! The third line places the speaker of the poem with this trudging group. In the simple "Men marched asleep" sentence, the three beats imitate the falling rhythm of these exhausted men. The pun "blood-shod" makes its grim effect on us slowly. We guess, too, that "blind" and "lame" suggest several levels of debilitation. The stanza ends with the ironic-quiet sounds of the "shells" dropping "softly behind." In contrast to the first stanza, the second stanza is full of action. The oxymoron,"ecstasy of fumbling", seems at first odd, but then perfect, as a way to describe the controlled panic -instantly awakened with heightened sensibility- of men with just seconds to find a gas mask. "But..." tells all. One man is too late and is seen only through the "green sea" of mustard gas, "yelling... stumbling...drowning...guttering...choking." The third stanza's brief two lines emphasize the nightmare these events continue to be for our speaker. In the last stanza, Owen becomes more insistent as he drives atus with the steady rhythmic beat of iambic pentameter. We feel the "jolt" of the wagon, see the "white eyes writhing" in this "hanging face," and, most horribly, hear the "gargling "of the blood choked lungs. The amazing sound-filled simile, "like a devil's sick of sin," testifies, along with all the rest, to the overwhelming truth of this experience. It is not "if" we could see the horror of this scene.

Disaster Preparedness Essay

A disaster is generally defined as an event in which illness or injuries surpass resource capabilities of a community or medical facility (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010). Disaster preparedness is a process of ensuring that an organization has complied with the preventive measures and is in a state of readiness to contain the effects of a predicted disastrous event to minimize loss of life, injury, and damage to property. see more:essay on disaster management in english Disaster preparedness can also provide rescue, relief, rehabilitation, and other services in the aftermath of the disaster, as well as have the capability and resources to continue to sustain its essential functions without being overwhelmed by the demand placed on them. The American Nursing Association is helping to ensure that disaster preparedness and response is robust in this country to be personally and professionally prepared for a disaster. Being in a prepared profession can help cope and help the communities recover from disaster better, faster and stronger (Brewer, 2010). According to the Maricopa Integrated Health System (MIHS) at Maricopa Medical Center, they have a specialized disaster preparedness plan to fit their current top three hazards. Maricopa Medical Center conducts a Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) annually. The current top three hazards K. F. , Manager of Fire Safety and Disaster Preparedness, at Maricopa Medical Center has identified include: Mass Causality Incidents (trauma, burns, pandemic, etc. ), Small Casualty Hazardous Materials Response (less than five patients), and Severe Weather Incidents (monsoonal action, thunderstorms, and haboobs). This organization has a comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan that addresses the top three current hazards in the organization’s region. Maricopa Medical Center is also further developing their business continuity and recovery plans into stand-alone plans (K. F. , personal interview, February 13, 2012). In order to evaluate and determine the effectiveness of the disaster preparedness plan, Maricopa Medical Center annually conducts a minimum of two operational exercises, in addition to various discussion based exercises. The organization’s exercises follow the Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP), which includes an after action report process with an improvement plan and corrective action plan sections. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, many studies have showed that disaster drills have been an effective way to improve staffs knowledge of hospital disaster procedures (Catlett, 2004). Additionally, exercise objectives are developed in such a way to exercise pieces of the plan that have been identified as opportunities for continual improvement and/or grant deliverables. Once opportunities for improvement of the disaster plan are identified, these improvements are remedied by being given corrective actions with specific time frames and the status is reported to senior management. Some recent corrective actions that have occurred within recent years include the development of position-specific training to further build comfort for those that are activated in the Hospital Command Center, plan changes regarding Casualty Care Areas during a response to a Mass Casualty Incident, and Standard Operating Procedure enhancement for the Hospital Emergency Response Team (K. F. personal interview, February 13, 2012). The representation that is present on the disaster preparedness committee for Maricopa Medical Center does not include nursing management. The emergency management committee includes a cross-sectional representation from the entire health system. This includes Acute Care, Behavioral Health, Ancillary Services, and Outpatient Services. K. F. , stated, â€Å"Bedside nursing has been extremely instrumental within the various task groups that focus on plan changes. In fact, the task groups associated with Casualty Care, Fatality Management, and HERT development are chaired by bedside nursing staff. There is also a Steering Committee for guidance that includes the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and the Vice President of Hospital Operations (K. F. , personal interview, February 13, 2012). † The established relationships that are within the community to help implement the organization’s disaster preparedness plan are that K. F. is currently the Chair-Elect for the Az Coalition for Healthcare Emergency Response (AzCHER-Central), which brings hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing acilities, fire & Emergency Medical Services (EMS), public health, emergency management, and other community stakeholders together for planning. Maricopa Medical Center currently has three to four members on the general body of this group, including bedside nursing representatives. There are a number of governmental agencies that are involved in the organization’s disaster preparedness planning. K. F. is an active member with Coyote Crisis Collaborative, which includes some of those from AzCHER, but also universities and community colleges, utilities, private business, faith-based and other volunteer groups, etc. The Chief Information Officer is currently the Chairman of the Board for Coyote Crisis Collaborative. Additionally, they participate in the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) Grant which is administered by Arizona Department of Health Services. All of these opportunities provide environments for collaboration, plan sharing, and developing solutions to issues that face all of those included (K. F. , personal interview, February 13, 2012). In order to implement this plan, staff has received adequate training. The National Incident Management System and Incident Command System training is required for all identified Hospital Command Center staff. They have a â€Å"3-Deep† list for all identified positions. Required training includes Incident System-100, Incident System-200, Incident System-700, and Incident System-800 as a minimum. Incident System-300 and Incident System-400 are required for section chiefs and incident commanders. An overview of the Hospital Incident Command System is shared with all employees at New Employee Orientation. The Hospital Emergency Response Team (HERT) members receive additional Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) training within the HERT course and must take Incident System-100, Incident System-200, and Incident System-800 as pre-requisites for HERT. At Maricopa Medical Center, HERT training is now the standard for the Emergency Department first-year residents during their orientation process. K. Fehr stated, â€Å"Additionally, position-specific training has been identified in a recent exercise as an opportunity for improvement. That training has been developed and is scheduled to be administered over the next 90 days (K. F. personal interview, February 13, 2012). † Maricopa Medical Center has an automated system for the Hospital Command Center that is based upon Hospital Incident Command System IV. This system allows for â€Å"virtual† command and has the ability to send status updates, as well as provide real-time status to the HCC Team. They have also just been given access to a Mass Notification program from Arizona Department of Health Services that can be used internally to ensure that communication during incidents is sent to every employee. HICS IV is the current model that is used, which is National Incident Management System compliant (K.  F. , personal interview, February 13, 2012). The standards that nurses are held to concerning their ethical obligations to their organization and community would be handled by the Incident Commander with guidance of wither a Legal Specialist or Medical Ethicist. Any issues that are specific to standards of care would be approved by the Incident Commander and forwarded to the staff during the event based upon available resources, etc. If the question is specific as to the nurses’ duty to respond to work during a disaster, they do not require them to respond. They hope that they would stay or be willing to come in. The planning includes the set-up of child/elder care areas and sleeping areas for the staff to remove barriers that would take them away from their station. Planning does include the idea that at least 40 % of the staff will not remain or come in during an incident. Maricopa Medical Center has a Memorandum of Understanding and a Memorandum of Agreement with other regional hospitals and formal request processes at the county and state levels for additional staff. When asked whether staff buy-in was a coveted aspect in Maricopa Medical Center’s disaster plan, K. F. tates, â€Å"Staff is absolutely buy-in coveted for this organization’s disaster preparedness plan. The best method that we have found for involvement includes the expansion of the HERT Program, covering the program during Health Fairs and Nursing Skills Fairs, and involving staff in exercises as mock patients (K. F. , personal interview, February 13, 2012). † After my interview with K. F. , I was really intrigued into what all goes on with a disaster preparedness plan. I knew that disaster plans were in effect for many organizations, but I did not realize the actual extent of what goes n with the planning of it. I learned a lot through the interview and was very pleased with the information that I received about Maricopa Medical Center and their disaster preparedness plan. I feel that what is involved in their plan is very relevant to the location of the organization, as well as how they every year they have two operational exercises, as well as discussion based exercises, to help test their plan and determine its effectiveness. I think this is a very important aspect to any organization because without testing the plan, it is unclear how effective it really it. After these annual exercises, I think it is great that the organization has an after report with ideas for improvement to help make their disaster plan stronger and more effective. All in all, I believe that Maricopa Medical Center has a very effective and sufficient disaster preparedness plan for their organization and that they are consistently looking for areas of where they can improve and better their plan to help the community recover from disaster as it occurs (K. F. , personal interview, February 13, 2012).

A Fortune by Joy Monica

A Fortune by Joy Monica T. Sakaguchi Maybe you are a thief and living by stealing wallets, emptying them from money and put them back. Or perhaps you are a rich man with a son; you maybe love but never show. And maybe you are the son of a man, who never noticed or loves you. Love and money are big things in life, and they are very important in everyday life. In the short story â€Å"A fortune† by Joy Monica T. Sakaguchi from 2000, is the relationship between a teenager and his dad illustrated. The short story ‘’A fortune’’ is about a young man who is a pickpocket.He crooked teeth, oily hair and bony knees. When he was only five years old, he started to steal. There is maybe a good reason why he had become a pickpocket. It all started in his childhood, with his mother, father and his uncle. It was his father who taught him to steal; he said that it was easy for a little boy to pickpocket, because when you are little, you are not always noticed. The fa ther was also that ma would find out, because the narrator used to save the wallets, and once a month his father found them and yelled at him. ’Hey, stupid, how many times I gotta tell you not to keep the wallets? Whatca gonna tell your ma if she finds them? That you old man’s got you stealing from him? ’’. His mother was an ugly lady with a curly black wig and cried all the time. But some credit he had to give her, because she tried to raise him well. She was always worried that he would end up like his â€Å"Stinking, rotting, lout-of-a-father†. His uncle was drunk all the time, and the only job he ever had, was to dress up as Santa Claus on every Christmas Eve.He always hid a bottle of Whisky in a pillow under his Santa Claus jacket. Sometimes he pulled the white bead to the side and asked for a stiff drink. The narrator is in many ways a bad person. Because steeling and actually taking a total stranger with him home, is illegal. But when he ste els, he doesn’t see that it is wrong and forbidden. He grew up with it. But even though his father left the town, he continued on steeling. But in another way he is a good man, because he tries to help a kid which father is a yuppie, and have a lot of money.The kid’s father is ignoring his son, and he always yells at him. And when the narrator sees them in the fish market, he follows them and listens to their conversation. He decides to steal the Yuppies wallet, because his does not deserve money. The meaning of the title â€Å"A fortune† is that the teenager isn’t his father’s fortune, but the money is. And when the narrator where a kid, he wasn’t his father’s fortune. He needed love and contact with his parents.So he created his own fortune of money, he believed that money could replace the missing love. But when he met the boy, he saw the meaning of love. Love is a need, and every kid should be loved by its parents or guardians. Th at is why he takes the kid at home, and takes care of him for the night. The main themes in this story are love and money. There are different meanings about what is most important. If you have all the money you want, you can buy everything but love. And when you have love, you can take care of your friends and family.

Twilight commentary

I have written a film review on the movie; Twilight. The reason for this was due to enjoying writing a piece that had this particular genre. This piece is aimed at mature young women from the age of 16, due to the language I have used, they would find this interesting. The primary purpose of my writing is to inform and the secondary purpose is to Entertain. Grammar in comparison for my model text to my film review is very significant. Word classes were frequent throughout. Abstract nouns were used such as ‘love'. Prepositions ‘the award winning' and determiners are also used, ‘her new life in forks'. The sentence structure mainly used complex sentences throughout; due to having a mature audience. The film review also affects lexis; the text is very high in formality and is in the third person. The semantic field of my film review is love and vampires. There are similarities in the model text and differences, due to the audience being more interested in my film review. I have changed the discourse by having a different genre, mine is a romantic fantasy and my model text is a horror-fantasy. I also spoke about the director, as well as going into detail about the two main characters instead of just about the movie. Things alike to my model text ‘Watchmen' were, starting the text with alliteration, ‘the time' the model text had ‘travelling towards'. Both talk about the genre of the movie. The atmosphere is described in both as well. Paragraphs are all fairly concise and both talk about the movie and novel adaptations. Graphology is very important. It was very alike to the model text. There was a main picture. This was very large; it gave readers information about the movie. Symbolism was used to show who owned the review. This was colourful and attractive. Typography was placed upon the picture to give the readers' information about the rating. Bold writing was included, making sure that the readers knew what the picture showed, it was also used for showing important information. A graph on the predictions expected for the audiences' reactions was used, as well as small adverts for other movies. There is a semantic field of romance within the review. Collocation is used, as is synonyms ‘from beneath' instead of under; this is to show the texts formality. Antonyms ‘popular, successful', figurative language aswell ‘almost as if time has stopped' and connotations ‘untouchable' (vampires) are all used. Pragmatics affects a few aspects, such as the sub-text, ‘introduces mythological creatures into our lives' which means there are more than one way a reader could take this and they will feel more intrigued. Shared understanding-I am using words that suggest that the reader would know what I am talking about. There is alliteration within my text. A serious tone with some humour is used; the text is reflective to my theme of romance. There is a great depth of the characters and of the film itself.

The Motivational Reasons behind Consumer Choice in Branded Coffee Shops Abstract Essay

The coffee-shop industry has been undergoing substantial change during the latter part of the twentieth and early part of the twenty-first century, reflected by continuous changes in consumer behaviour. The aim of this study is to improve the understanding of the motivational reasons behind customer choice in branded coffee shops, both international and local. A quantitative data collection of 300 questionnaires was used in the UK to assess consumer behaviour to branded coffee shops. The findings concluded that most respondents visit coffee shops with friends, with locally branded coffee shops the preferred choice. Consumer motivations to branded coffee shops are most influenced by three factors: past experience/ familiarity; convenience of location/travel; and friends and family. With friendly staff, high quality of coffee and food, good atmosphere and good reputation the most important aspects for branded coffee shops. Recent exposure of tax avoidance from companies such as Starbucks have had negative influence on consumer choice of branded coffee shops. Introduction Rapid developments and a monumental boom, the popularity of the contemporary coffee shop continues to grow in the twenty-first century. Starbucks entered the UK market in the 1990s (Bishop, 2012), which awakened a new era for branded coffee shops. Key Note (2012: 29) verifies that three major players exist; Costa, Starbucks and Caffà © Nero, representing over 80% of branded coffee shops in the UK, confirming the power of international coffee brands. This major market penetration has been to the detriment of smaller, locally branded coffee shops, which struggle to compete (Bishop, 2012). However, some news articles suggest that locally branded coffee shops, e.g. Cadwaladers, can survive, using the power and competitive advantage of the local market. Recent exposure of tax avoidance (see ‘Starbucks’ paid just  £8.6m UK tax in 14 years’, BBC News 2012) questions the future influence of international coffee brands. From analysis of the above it may be inferred that local and international branded coffee shops divide opinion. Reviewing literature of brand concepts, it is evident branding has been widely addressed (Butcher, 2005; Caruana, 2002; Schuiling and Kapferer, 2004; Young and Rubicam, 2000), and more especially, branding in the hospitality industry, (Allegra Strategies Report, 2012; Bashaw, Brumm and Davis, 2008; Bell, 2008; Chathoth and Olsen, 2003; George and Stefanos, 1999; Hanson et al., 2009; Hyun and Kim, 2011; Kim et al., 2003; Kim and Kim, 2004, 2005; Kim, Ma and Kim, 2005; Kwun and Oh, 2004; O’Neill and Mattila, 2010; Ruddick, 2012; Ryu et al., 2008; Wanke, Hermann and Schaffner, 2007), though it finds little research specifically concerning branded coffee shops. Against the above background, the aim of this research is to improve understanding by providing an in-depth analysis of the motivational reasons behind customer choice in branded coffee shops, both local and international. This addresses the gap that exists within literature concerning branded coffee shops, especially regarding what factors influence customer behavior, perceptions and motivations to both local and international branded coffee shops in the UK. Literature review This review considers visitor motivation, theories of motivation in general, hospitality-specific and influential factors such as social influence, socio- demographics and branding, with particular focus on brand perceptions. Visitor Motivation Sharpley (2008) refers to motivation as a logical process that results from deep, psychological needs and motives or external forces and pressures; social relationships and lifestyle. Often unrecognised by an individual, it can kick-start the consumer decision-making process, to ‘reflect an individual’s private needs and wants’ (Pearce, 2005: 51). However, Witt and Wright (1992) argue that needs and desires may arouse motivated behaviour, meaning behaviour is not necessarily predicted, whereas Fodness (1994) claims motivation is the driving force in interpreting an individual’s behaviour. A range of research is related to tourism motivation or visitor motivation (Cooper et al., 2005; Dann, 1977, 1981; Eagles, 1992; Fodness, 1994; Iso- Ahola, 1982; Krippendorf, 1986; MacCannell, 1989; Mathieson and Wall, 1982; McIntosh and Goeldner, 1990; Mill and Morrison, 1985; Moutinho, 1987; Pearce and Caltabiana, 1983; Pearce, 2005; Sharpley, 2008; Sims, 2009; Urry, 1990; Witt and Wright, 1992; Wolf, 2002). However, very little research is related to coffee shop visitor motivations. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943), a theory of human motivation, provides a strong concept for consumer decision choice of branded coffee shops. Two constructs of this theory, i.e. ‘love and belonging’ support the desire to create a sense of connection. Witt and Bruce (1972) and Bearden and Etzel (1982), suggest individuals seek social approval, wanting to be ‘liked’ or ‘be like’ other individuals in society. The desire to achieve social security motivates individuals to choose the same brand as others, by external public observation or internal, social group attitudes. The power of the international brand as the ‘place to be seen’ creates a motivated behaviour choice. Lewis (2012) argues that superficial desires and behaviours are less influential factors and basic needs are more common-human. Maslow’s concept of ‘psychological needs,’ the need for life basics, supports this alternative motivator, therefore the drive to satisfy thirst alone is another determinant for visiting a coffee shop. The study of needs provides a ‘partial explanation of motivated behaviour’ (Witt and Wright, 1992: 44), but according to Mill and Morrison (1985: 2) individuals are often unaware of the real reason for doing certain things, suggesting true motivations lie hidden in the subconscious. So other influential factors must be examined as reasons why people visit an international brand over a local branded coffee shop and vice-versa. Influential Factors Wolf (2006: 19) notes that ‘nearly 100% of tourists dine out while travelling, and food and beverage consistently rank first in visitor spending’, supported by Shenoy (2005). These findings suggest one explanation for the major growth of coffee shops in high-footfall leisure areas, with an increase in number of branded coffee shops to 3041 in the UK by 2009-10 (Bishop, 2012: 1). Tourist typologies provide tourist/visitor behaviour differences, e.g. Brand Seekers, Convenience Tourists, Culinary Tourists, etc. Hall and Mitchell’s (2005) Taxonomy of Consumers can be used to classify the importance of food within their decision-making processes. Hall and Mitchell (2006: 147; Wolf, 2002) suggest a tourist may want to ‘taste’ the region they are visiting, with the culinary tourist (Shenoy, 2005), supporting motivated behaviour to a locally branded coffee shop. However, with many local coffee shops disappearing, this typology is questioned. Other influences like the power of a brand may alter ones attitudes and consequently change behaviour, research into brand power highlights this. Perceptions are influenced by motivational push factors, e.g. socio-demographics, familiarity, security, social norms, prestige and peer pressure (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behaviour examined how initial intentions and attitudes are affected by perceptions and account ‘for considerable variance in actual behaviour’ (Ajzen, 1991: 179). Social Influence Moutinho (1987) suggests 4 sources of social influence; family, social class, culture and reference groups. He argued these internal and external pressures were detrimental to behaviour when exerted on individuals. Thornton (2001) supports family as a powerful influence in tourist motivation. Merton (1957) and Rossi’s (1949) reference groups, describes the process when people adjust their attitudes and values to that of the reference group, e.g. product preferences (Burnkrant and Cousineau, 1975) and brand choice (Bourne, 1957; Stafford, 1966; Witt, 1969). Bruce (1970,1972) finds reference group influence can spread to other consumers explaining behaviour of visitors to a new area, seeking information when uncertain (Bearden and Etzel, 1982). Another example derives from the need to seek social status and social approval (Witt and Bruce, 1972). The term value- expressive, is the need for psychological association with a person or group, to the liking of the reference group (Bearden and Etzel, 1982) and ‘need’ to be identified as using the same brand ‘publically consumed luxury’ (Bourne, 1957: 219). French and Raven’s (1959) propose 5 bases that explore how a social group derives power to exert influence. Socio-demographics also determine behavior (Bishop, 2012: 55), e.g. major coffee chains were more popular among men (29.4%) than women (20.6%) compared to independents in the UK. Additionally 54.6% of 20- to 24-year-olds were most likely to choose a branded chain compared to 17.7% of those aged 65 years and over (Key Note, 2012). Consumer research by NEMS UK Market Research on behalf of Key Note (2012: 1) claim during the recession 30.7% of people cut back on visiting coffee/sandwich shops, with, consumers more attracted by outlets offering discounts (Allegra Strategies, 2012). Mattila (2001) claims that social variables from the business perspective are critical for generating customer loyalty, e.g. social regard influenced new customers and perceived core service quality influenced existing customers (Butcher, 2005). Caruana (2002) recognises service qualities like customer satisfaction, results in service loyalty, while friendly behaviours in service interactions enhance business success (Bitner et al., 1990; Driver and Johnston, 2001; Hall, 1993; Iacobucci and Ostrom, 1993; Price and Arnould, 1999). Servicescape is also regarded as a critical factor. Wight (1996) argues the avoidance of crowds is important in explaining customer behaviour. Branding For this research a brand differentiates the international service/product from a local service/product. The brand is a powerful tool that attracts positive consumer behaviour, influencing perceptions and choice, i.e. purchase intention. Wanke, Herrmann and Schaffner (2007) found that a brand name evokes specific associations, creating a brand perception e.g. ‘Starbucks’ – where ‘star’ may be interpreted as star quality and excellence, influencing consumers’ link with quality (Ginden, 1993). Berry et al. (1988) suggests a well-chosen name creates a marketing advantage and should include key characteristics i.e. simple, flexible, memorable, distinctive and relevant – e.g. ‘Costa’. Rooney (1995) suggests a brand name is a major asset, enhancing company success, generating consumer confidence (Assael, 1995) and active consumer behaviour (Assael, 1995; Meadows, 1983), as consumers perceive one brand as more desirable than its competitors (Rooney, 1995). Chernatony and Dall’Olmo Riley (1998: 426) identified twelve themes associated with defining a brand, e.g. shorthand, risk reducer, identity system and image, influencing the consumers mind. Memory shortcuts (Jacoby et al., 1977) help speedier decision-making, advantageous for the time pressed consumer. The recognisable brand becomes the favoured choice (Chevan, 1992), as a distinguishable international brand satisfies demand expectations (Chernatony and Dall’Olmo Riley, 2010; Montgomery and Wernerfelt, 1992), so a brand relationship is established that may explain international brand market dominance. Sweeney and Soutar (2001) suggest branded products have four consumption values that drive consumer purchase behaviour i.e. emotional, social, quality/performance and price/value for money. Explaining how one brand can differ from the next; international branded coffee shops may be perceived the best at delivering these values. The Customer-Based Brand Equity Model (Keller, 1993), conceptualises the idea that brand knowledge affects the consumer response, leading to a positive effect on consumer reactions, generating brand attitude (Tuominen, 1999; Yoo and Donthu, 2001). Research has explored how past experience has the ability to influence and change buyer behaviour (Busch, 1980; Gaski, 1984a; MacKenzie and Zaichkowsky, 1981). Research found that power can influence aspects such as satisfaction (Bachman, 1968; Bachman, Smith, and Slesinger, 1966), attraction (French and Raven, 1959), conformity (Warren, 1968, 1969), and social influence (Lippitt, Polansky, and Rosen, 1952). Crosno et al.’s (2009) 5 Base Social Power Theory adapted from French and Raven’s (1959) original framework (appendix 1), found a brand wielding these concepts had a greater overall brand social power. These findings provide significant explanation to brand difference between international and local coffee shops. An investigation by Tsai (2011) strengthened the Strategic Management of Service Brand Relationships Model, finding service brand commitment and love, influence relationship e.g. satisfaction, self-concept connection and finally trust. Research on the importance of building and achieving brand equity, loyalty and awareness exist, yet little investigation into consumer decision of branded coffee shops. Literature suggests quality perception was most important for determining brand purchase (Bao et al., 2011; Grewal et al., 1998; Richardson, 1994, 1996). This provides support for research into customer perceptions of coffee brands and how they influence our behaviours. Local Brands vs. International Brands Schuiling and Kapferer (2004) argue with local brands’ adaptability and better response to local needs, e.g. flexibility of pricing strategy for specific local markets highlighting a significant difference to international brands, which lack intimate relationships with local markets (Schuiling and Kapferer, 2004). Their research on the differences found that local brands have a higher level of awareness (85%) than international brands (73%) linked by the number of years local brands have been in the market (Schuiling and Kapferer, 2004: 105). Their database revealed other variables suggesting local brand advantages, for example, as being trustworthy, reliable, good value, high quality and traditional (Table 3 in Schuiling and Kapferer, 2004: 105). Local brands have the ability to create a brand value system (Chernatony and Dall’olmo Riley, 1998) by endorsing personal and cultural values (Engel, 1993; Reynolds and Gutman, 1988). Chernatony and Dall’olmo Riley (1998) argued that Brand Relationship and Brand Personality (Blackston, 1992) were important for repeat custom and strong bonding, e.g. Cadwaladers, a local Welsh example, provide ‘distinct character’ and ‘culture’ of its destination (Jones and Jenkins, 2002: 116) and help establish a more unique selling proposition (Haven-Tang and Jones, 2006). Evidence exists of community support for local brands to support, stimulate and revitalise local economy (Boyne, Hall and Williams, 2003), creating regional development (Hall, Kirkpatrick and Mitchell, 2005; Steinmetz, 2010) and preventing ‘cloning’ (Kelly, 2012). A case study by Patterson et al. (2010) highlights local brand power in Australia. Closing three quarters of Australian Starbucks, Australians continued to remain loyal the their own coffee brand Gloria Jeans. Schuiling and Kapferer (2004) support local brands as the leading competitor, arguing the qualities and traits of local business have proven superior. They conclude that cost is responsible for local disadvantage, with inability to generate economies of scale. Schuiling and Kapferer (2004) argue that international brand development benefits from global marketing, e.g. portfolio enhancement, compared to local brands who lack global status (see Daily Mail, 2009). Schuiling and Kapferer (2004) suggest a balanced mix of local and international brand development is key to entire industry success. The aim of this article is to improve our understanding by addressing the gap that exists within research and literature concerning branded coffee shops. Little research explores what factors influence customer behavior, perceptions and motivations to local and international branded coffee shops in the UK. Methodology Given the nature of the research, formal quantitative data collection using questionnaires was deployed. Target market analysis highlighted the most prominent influential factors, internal and external motives (Gnoth, 1997) and push and pull factors (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). This establishes what factors influence consumer perceptions, behaviour and purchase intention, similar to the survey conducted by Boa et al. (2011). Providing explanation as to why branded coffee shops (local/international) maintain their position within their industry, this research addresses the lack of research in this field, benefiting coffee shop businesses seeking competitive advantage or improvement. Providing insight to customer attitudes and perceptions, it proposes realistic prospects for brands, like the Y&R Brand Asset Valuator (Young and Rubicam, 2010). ‘Surveys are, arguably, the most important source of information for tourism analysis, planning and decision making’ (Smith, 1995: 42). Questionnaires are components of survey work (Finn et al., 2000), its purpose here is to obtain reliable and valid data on the research subject (Finn et al., 2000). A street survey of 300 questionnaires was undertaken, covering a cross- section of the community (Veal, 1992). Allowing generalisation of similar socio-demographic areas, this survey size gives representative data of the population (Seale, 2004), compensating lack of sufficient response data and weakness of randomness (Prentice et al., 1998), e.g. population and ecological validity (Finn et al., 2000). Clearly there is likely to be differences in demographics in the Southern cities/areas covered for this research compared to larger, major cities/areas across the UK such as London. Measures for the questionnaire are conceptualised from the secondary literature research, as discussed consultation of research literature like this facilitates internal validity (Finn et al., 2000). This identified deficiencies concerning consumer choice and behaviour to the branded coffee shop, reflecting research objectives for appropriate instrumentation and statistical treatment of data (Cohen et al., 2007). The questionnaire (appendix 2) included a standardised set of questions, allowing all respondents to interpret them in the same way, establishing standardisation and control (Finn et al., 2000). A pilot study identified improvements to the questionnaire before being confirmed as reliable, removing ambiguity or bias (Finn et al., 2000). Similarly to methodology by Bramwell (1998) and Prentice et al. (1998) this research was a non-probability sample of 300 shoppers, no sampling frame therefore is administered. Critics of this sampling argue that this method is weak, lacking randomness, approaching shoppers on an ad hoc basis (bias selection) inevitably means not everyone has an equal chance of being selected (Finn et al., 2000). To help overcome questionnaire distributer bias, a ‘first to pass’ system was used (Tourism and Recreation Research Unit, 1993). Shopping centres, high streets and small town centres in various locations in the South West (e.g. Plymouth, Taunton) and South Wales (e.g. Cardiff, Penarth and Chepstow) were identified as valid target areas, where street surveys are natural settings (Bogdan and Biklen, 1992; Cohen et al., 2007; Lincoln and Guba, 1985). The aim was to target up to 50% of shoppers within these fields (according to capacity of area). A total of 10 days was allocated for research collection, to reach a total of 300 responses. The procedure was validated and controlled by replicating each data-gathering activity, with the interviewer remaining neutral throughout the study, avoiding interviewer bias or the Halo Effect. Consent ensures content validity and reduces ethical implications (Cohen et al., 2007) while consequential validity was also confirmed; briefing participants their responses will not exceed the ‘capability of the research’ (Cohen et al., 2007: 140). This maximises interest and elicits a positive response rate (Brunt, 2012; Finn et al., 2000). The research method allows for completed questionnaires suitable for coding and analysis by SPSS, enabling the study to be easily replicated. Cross-tabulation examined results and chi-square tests ‘measured how well the data fits the hypothesis’ (Gravetter and Wallnau, 2009: 611) i.e. testing for goodness of fit, measuring what it is supposed to measure confirms validity (Finn et al, 2000: 28), creating a descriptive statistical account to interpret and generalise reality. Findings and discussion This section presents the results of the questionnaire, analysing the descriptive statistics to establish the independent variables and dependent variables: Experience of coffee shops; Coffee-drinking behaviour; Motivation; International vs local coffee shops; Effects of tax avoidance. Discussion reviews their linkages to the existing literature to determine if this new data supports or contradicts existing information. Profile of the respondents A large count for each gender was recorded, finding a higher degree of female respondents (55.7%). Their ages varied, with a large segment of the sample aged between 15 and 24 (42.3%). The population of England is larger than Wales. Results from the 2011 census (Office for National Statistics, 2011) reveal that England has 53.0 million residents, compared to 3.1 million in Wales. Further reporting that ‘there were 27.6 million men and 28.5 million women in the two countries’ (Office for National Statistics, 2011: 4). Looking more specifically at the UK regions used for this research, the South West and Wales, a marginal population difference exits between these two regions (see table 6). However closer examination of the gender populations of these two regions are fairly similar (see tables 7 and 8), both regions see more females than males for people living to an older age. These statistics support findings regarding the higher female count found in this research. Local coffee brands were the preferred type by respondents (53.7%) compared to international coffee brands (46.3%). Correlating with recent actions in Totnes (Kelly, 2012 – BBC News Magazine), this supports Schuiling and Kapferers’ (2004) assessment that local brands are the leading competitor. It also suggests that local brands may endorse stronger consumption values posit by Sweeney and Soutar (2001) to explain consumer purchase behaviour. Dismissing assumptions made within the literature review that international branded coffee shops could be perceived best at delivering these values. Respondents reported they visit coffee shops predominately with friends (50.3%). Only 4.7% of respondents visited with work colleagues, suggesting escapism from daily routine by Iso-Ahola (1987) may explain why coffee shops are less likely to be visited with work colleagues, avoiding an association with work related activities. This sustains popular belief that coffee shops are a social activity, with behaviour socially influenced by friends or family (French and Raven, 1959). Motivations to coffee shop Table 3 presents motivations of the respondents to Coffee shop using a 1-5 Likert Scale Analysis found that past experience/familiarity was the main reason why respondents were motivated to their chosen coffee shop (4.09). Confirming the influence of motivational push factors like familiarity and security (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999), to satisfy expectations, meet private needs and wants (Pearce, 2005; Witt and Wright, 1992) and influence behaviour (Brand Social Power Theory, 2009; Busch, 1980; Crosno et al., 2009; French and Raven, 1958; Gaski, 1984a; Lippit et al., 1952; MacKenzie and Zaichkowsky, 1981; Warren, 1968, 1969). Confirming Brand Values are endorsed from personal experience with the brand subject (Bradley, 1995; Chernatony and McDonald, 1992; Clark, 1987; Doyle 1998; Jones, 1986; Tuominen, 1999), e.g. ‘Attachment of place’ (Phillips, 2013: 202), a principle Rowles (1978) and Smith (2009) claim is associated with exposure to a place. The second highest motivation was convenience of location/ or travel (3.99), which supports convenience is an important consideration (Kim et al., 2005) and convenient location is more important than the brand (3.61) (Allegra Strategies, 2012). Friends and Family rated third strongest motivator (3.75), confirming friends and family are powerful motivators influencing behavior (Bearden and Etzel, 1982; Bourne, 1957; Burnkrant and Cousineau, 1975; Moutinho, 1987; Stafford, 1966; Thornton, 2001; Witt and Bruce, 1972 and Witt, 1969). This reinforces Merton and Rossi (1949) and Moutinho’s (1987) significance of ‘reference groups.’ That Strong local identity rated the weakest (3.31) may suggest that local identity does not have the same impact as that of the brand itself, e.g. marketing advantage (Berry et al., 1988), enhanced success (Rooney, 1995) or active consumer behaviour (Assael, 1995; Meadows, 1983). This suggests that promoting local identity in coffee shops may not significantly affect customer behavioural intentions. International branded coffee shops vs local branded coffee shops A 1-5 Likert Scale was also used to identify what aspects were most important for both international coffee brands and local coffee brands, summarised in table 4 below. High quality of coffee/food was found the most important aspect (4.36) concerning international brands. Reinforcing perceived core service quality influenced existing customers (Butcher, 2005), similarly confirming Bao et al. (2011); Grewal et al. (1998) and Richardson (1994, 1996) that quality perception was most important for determining purchase. Rated second most important for an international brand was good reputation (4.08), confirming that social regard is a critical influencer (Butcher, 2005; Mattila, 2001). Friendly staff was rated most important for local brands (4.37). These findings are consistent with Bitner et al., (1990); Driver and Johnston (2001); Hall, (1993); Iacobucci and Ostrom, (1993) and Price and Arnould, (1999); who found friendly behaviours between service and customer enhance business success. High quality of coffee/food rated second most important, as mentioned above consistent with Butcher (2005) and Mattila (2001). Good atmosphere was also considered important for local coffee shops (4.13), supporting Kotler (1973) that atmosphere is often the primary product to effect purchase decision, physical surroundings and environment are also influential (Gardner, 1985; Obermiller and Bitner, 1984 and Donovan and Rossiter, 1982). Table 5 shows respondents’ attitude towards recent news claims regarding tax avoidance (centered around Starbucks). The results below confirm that a significant number of respondents were affected by the story (34%), claiming they would avoid using international chains in the future. Though 53.3% of respondents said it would have no effect, an additional 12.7% stated they were unsure of their future intentions. This provides a case which represents how important brand equity (Aaker, 1991) is for building the product’s image (Clearly, 1981), value promotion to attract and keep customers (Rooney, 1995), positive image (Ginden, 1993), consumer generated image (Chernatony and Dall’olmo Riley, 1998), brand value (Park et al., 1994) and likings and perceptions (Moore, 1993). Damage to the brand can be critical; the findings demonstrate how negative brand exposure against Starbucks now evokes a negative association and brand perception (Wanke, Herrmann and Schaffner, 2007). This confirms the power of Keller’s Brand Equity Model (1993); brand knowledge can affect consumer response, suggesting it had hindered brand attitude (Tuominen, 1999; Yoo and Donthu, 2001). Brand reputation (Romeo, Weinberger, and Antes 1994; Siomkos and Malliaris 1992) is a feature affected by consumer response to company crisis (Jorgensen, 1996). Jorgensen (1996) and Weiner’s model (1986) found the higher degree of responsibility and controllability a company was for said event the higher it elicit feelings of anger, effecting judgment, purchase and behaviour intentions (Jorgensen, 1994). The high number of respondents not affected could be explained using attitude strength, brand commitment and brand loyalty (Ahluwalia et al., 2000; Keller, 2003; Tuominen, 1999; Yoo and Donthu, 2001) i.e. brand equity (Aaker, 1991; 1992), confirming the importance of the Service Brand Relationship Model (Tsai, 2011). Cross Tabulation and Chi-Square Tests studied the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables to determine whether a significant association between two variables existed (Brunt, 2012). This research revealed a number of significant associations existed, providing insight of consumer behaviour to coffee shops, discussed below. A chi-square test between gender and 12 motivational items was carried out, which found one positive cross tabulation between women and ‘Popular and Thriving Atmosphere.’ This shows a significant association; women are more positively affected by servicescape (Gardener, 1985; Kotler, 1973; Obermiller and Bitner, 1984) and environment than men (Raajpoot et al., 2008). Popular and thriving maybe associated as busy, men are more negatively affected by waiting time than women (Grewal et al, 2003) which explains this gender association, suggesting Wight’s (1997) avoidance of crowds to explain behaviour is more prevalent in men than in women. A chi-square test between age and 12 motivational items was carried out; 4 positive cross tabulations were found: ‘Age’ and ‘Support Local Brand’ The cross tab indicated that more people aged 65+ rated ‘support local brand’ as the strongest reason to coffee shop. Age groups ’15-24†² and ’25-44†² rated ‘possible’ highly. Most ages rate ‘support local brand’ highly as a motivator to chosen coffee shop, though the older you are the stronger this motivates you. Approving Boyne, Hall and Williams (2003) that community support to stimulate and revitalise the local economy exits. ‘Age’ and ‘Avoids Crowds and Noise’ Age group ’65+’ rated avoiding crowds and noise strongly as a motivating factor. This test reveals the older you are the more avoiding crowds and noise motivates you when choosing a coffee shop. Supporting Day et al. ‘s (2000) Minimizing Sensory Overstimulation Theory, as suggested by Phillips’ (2013) study, older participants were startled by sudden, heavy or loud noises. ‘Age’ and ‘The Brand and Reputation’ This cross tab suggests that for ages ’25-44†², ’65+’ and ’15-24, Brand and Reputation was a strong motivator, confirming this does affect and influence a large majority of consumer motivations. These findings are consistent with those of Wanke, Herrmann and Schaffner (2007) that brands evoke perceptions, which can link with quality (Ginden, 1993) influencing consumer decisions. Findings support brands make memory shortcuts (Jacoby et al., 1977), which create consumer confidence (Assael, 1995) and active consumer behaviour (Assael, 1995; Crosno et al., 2009; Meadows, 1983). ‘Age’ and ‘Somewhere New/Different’ The cross tab indicated that somewhere new/different rated a high motivator among respondent, thus an influential factor in consumer coffee shop decisions. This is consistent to the framework created by Pearce and Caltabiano (1983) and Sharpley (2008) whom signify biological and social motives change over time. Social changes influence behaviour, i.e. consumer taste and style changes (Moutinho, 1987; Rooney, 1995) and social influences are motivators found by Dann (1977); Iso-Ahola (1987) and McIntosh and Goeldner (1990). The findings agree with Bearden and Etzel (1982) and Witt and Bruce (1972) that social security and social approval motivates human behaviour. A further test found a significant association existed between age and preferred coffee shop. The two youngest ages groups 15-24 and 25-44 were found to prefer international branded coffee shops more than local branded coffee shops, supporting Key Note (2012), compared to the two oldest age groups 45-64 and 65+, which found a higher preference for local brands. Conclusion and implications Reviewing this exploratory study, we suggest that consumer motivations to branded coffee shops are influenced by the following three factors: past experience/familiarity, convenience of location, and friends and family. This research reveals that social influence is a strong motivator in consumer choice and purchasing behaviours to branded coffee shops. This research also identified some similarities between factors perceived most important from the consumer perspective for local and international coffee brands. The most important factors for a local coffee brand were, in order, friendly staff, high quality of coffee and food and good atmosphere. Whereas the most important factors for an international coffee brand were, in order, high quality of coffee and food, good reputation and friendly staff. Respondents indicated high quality coffee and food and friendly staff were important for both branded coffee shops. The results of this research exposes that a difference between coffee brand preference and influential factors exists. The following section presents practical implications for businesses or individuals within the branded coffee shop industry. This research identified that a strong liking for coffee shops exists, with local brands the preferred coffee brand choice. The difference between important factors suggests it contributes and influences consumer coffee brand preference, motivations and behaviours. So to understand the motivational reasons behind consumer choices in branded coffee shops the consideration of these factors is necessary. Differentiating the local brand from the international brand, the results suggest local brands endorse a more personal relationship compared to the professional, quality relationship found from international brands. These findings provide additional theory on the power of social influence from the consumer and business perspective as a motivator to branded coffee shops, i.e. perceptions and social brand power. In addition, this research reveals that significant associations did exist between motivation and social demographics such as age and gender; e.g. women were more motivated by the popular and thriving atmosphere of the branded coffee shop than men. Whereas age presented larger differences between motivations e.g. ‘support local brand’, ‘avoid crowds/noise’, ‘somewhere new/different’ and ‘brand and reputation’. This research could be used for coffee shop businesses seeking to target a specific audience. Regarding tax avoidance, results from a specific question (see appendix 2, Question 7 and table 5) illustrated that consumer attitude was affected and that it negatively influenced future decisions, motivations and behaviours towards all internationally branded coffee shops, especially Starbucks itself. Detrimental to the brand reputation, this draws attention to the importance of maintaining a good reputation for successful coffee shop businesses. The findings suggest theories and literature on brands, motivation and influential factors is applicable to branded coffee shops, e.g. theory concerning local brands as leading competitors endorsing qualities and traits superior to those of international brands. Quality perception is important for determining brand purchase and can explain consumer behaviour to branded coffee shops. This research addresses the gap that exists within literature concerning branded coffee shops, especially regarding local brands and their ability to influence consumer perceptions. Little research explores what factors influence customer behaviour, perceptions and motivations to local and international branded coffee shops in the UK, therefore this research creates a foundation for others to explore and develop further. Given the rise in interest and boom of the coffee shop industry in recent times, this provides market research consideration for new start ups in the tourism and beverage industry in the future. A multi methods approach using an in-depth interview could improve understanding and explore customer attitudes further. A comparison of consumer preferences across different countries could also reveal whether cultural differences influence decisions. Limitations to this study exist, e.g. the sample selection was taken from the South West and South Wales and other UK regions were not explored, meaning a holistic mix of social demographic across the UK is not confirmed. Likewise, an equal count for each age group and gender was not achieved. A larger study may discover a difference between gender and preference of branded coffee shop, or whether significant associations exist between age and importance of aspects, which chi-square tests in this study could not validate due an insufficient sample size. Clearly the results demonstrate coffee shops are an integral part of popular British culture and this research presents findings to support this theory. Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to my guide, Professor Rong Huang, for her exemplary guidance, monitoring, constant encouragement and kindness. Her support and time has been invaluable and inspiring throughout the development of this article. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Graham Busby for the valuable information provided by him in his respective field. I am grateful for his support. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents, brother and friends for their constant encouragement, support, care and kindness throughout this entire process. Appendices Appendix 1: French and Raven’s (1959) power typology Legitimate power is based on the perception of an individual that another person has the legitimate right to influence him or her, and that he or she is obligated to accept the influence. Reward power is based on the perception of an individual that another person has the ability to reward him or her. Coercive power is based on the perception of an individual that another person has the ability to punish him or her. Expert power is based on the perception of an individual that another person has some specialized knowledge or expertise. Referent power is based on an individual’s identification with, and desire to be similar to, another person. Crosno et al. (2009:93) Appendix 2: Questionnaire Appendix 4: Questionnaire Appendix 3: Table 6: 2011 Census – The populations for English Regions and Wales Table 6: 2011 Census – The populations for English Regions and Wales (Office for National Statistics, 2011:22). Table 7: The Population of Wales 1999-2009 by age and gender Table 7: The Population of Wales 1999-2009 by age and gender (Office for National Statistics – Statistics for Wales, 2010:3) Table 8: The Population of the South West by age and gender Table 8: The Population of the South West by age and gender (Smith, 2010:47) Notes [1] Sophie Burge has recently been awarded a First Class BSc Honours Degree in Business and Tourism at the University of Plymouth. 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