Project of Consumer Perception on Branded Shirts

CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MBA DEGREE OF BANGALORE UNIVERSITY. SUBMITTED BY VIKRANT JAGANNATH Reg. No – 04XQCM6118 UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF PROFESSOR JAI RAJ NAIR M. P. BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (ASSOCIATE BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN) BANGALORE – 560001 1 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. DECLARATIONI hereby declare that the research work embodied in this dissertation entitled CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS † has been carried out by me under the guidance and supervision of Professor Jai Raj Nair, M. P. B. I. M. , Bangalore. I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted to any University or Institution for the award of any Degree or Diploma. Place: Bangalore Date: 2nd June 2006 VIKRANT JAGANN ATH (O4XQCM6118) 2 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS.CERTIFICATE I hereby certify that the research work embodied in the dissertation entitled â€Å"CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS † has been undertaken and completed by Vikrant Jagannath under my guidance and supervision. I also certify that he has fulfilled all the requirements under the covenant governing the submission of dissertation to the Bangalore University for the award of MBA degree. Place: Bangalore (Prof. Jai Raj Nair) nd Date : 2 June 2006 3CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. CERTIFICATE I hereby certify that this dissertation is an offshoot of the research work undertaken and completed by VIKRANT JAGANNATH under the guidance of, Professor Jai Raj Nair M. P. B. I. M. Bangalore. . Place: Bangalore Date : 2nd June 2006 (Dr. N. S. Malavalli) Principal, MPBIM 4 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BR ANDED SHIRTS. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am happy to express my gratitude to Dr. N. S. Malavalli, (Principal, M. P.Birla Institute of Management), for their encouragement, guidance and many valuable ideas imparted to me for my project. I extend my sincere thanks to Professor Jai Raj Nair MPBIM, Bangalore for providing me all the information required and the guidance throughout the project without which this project would not have been possible. I would also like to sincerely thank all my lecturers and my friends for their help in completing my project successfully. (VIKRANT JAGANNATH) Reg No. 04XQCM6105 5 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Consumer awareness of styling issues and the convenience afforded by the ready to wear helped the readymade garment industry make small inroads into the domestic market in 1980’s. The total sales of clothing wears this fiscal which would turn out to be about 30% of the total readymade market. The b randed wear market has shown a substantial growth about 20% every year in recent times and is expected to contribute more than Rs90 billion The research was conducted on the consumers of premium branded ready made formal shirts in the city of Bangalore.The research due to the constraints of place, Time and Financial and other resources was restricted to Bangalore City alone. The research is aimed at understanding the following aspects related to Consumer Perception and Brand Preference For Premium Branded Readymade Formal Shirts. This project deals with the customers personal aspects like occupation sex age group . It also deals with the customers personality like the newspapers magazines and various factors that influence him while making a purchase of a formal shirt. It includes comparison of ix brands namely Van – Heuisen, Louis Phillipe, Arrow, Allen Solly, Zodiac and Park Avenue. The methodology followed is questionnaire method with a total sample size of 50 respondents, The data is tabulated and graphically represented through histograms, pie-charts, line graphs etc. Findings and recommendations are listed at the end of this project. 6 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. FUTURE SCENARIO OF INDIAN TEXTILE INDUSTRY The agreement on textiles and clothing would cease to exist from DEC. 31 2004 and textiles would be integrated into the WTO.This will change the contours of the global textile trade as the key markets would be up for grabs for those supplying countries that have the competitive advantage. The textile manufactures worldwide are gearing up to face the post-2004 challenges. The Indian textile and clothing industry, undoubtedly a global textile powerhouse hither to constrain by the quotas, is expected to emerge stronger. It is expected by 2010, the Indian textile and apparel industry can achieve a potential size of $ 85 billion from the current size of $ 36 billion. With a projected increase in per capita cons umption from 19 meters to 32 meters, the domestic market potential would be $45 billion. ? On the domestic front, the fast growing economy and even faster growing middle class with higher disposable income have the potential to drive per capita consumption level increases and stimulate an 8% volume growth and an 9% value growth. ? Nearly 60% of the exports would comprise garments. ? Over 35%of India’s exports would be from textiles. ? Over 12 million new jobs would be created- 5 million jobs through direct employment in textile industry and another 7 million jobs in allied sectors. CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. India has all the key ingredients required to take advantage of the emerging opportunity. In segments like cotton textiles, India’s position is much stronger. The centre has initiated technology mission on cotton to improve productivity, Quality of cotton and to reduce cost of cultivation to make cotton cultivation remunera tive to farmers. A well-defined strategy will enable the textile industry to shift focus to value added products. The greatest value addition in the textile value chain s generated in the apparel segment. Apparel would therefore need to be the main thrust segment. The focus on value addition will also automatically ensure development and growth of upstream segments of the textile value chain. Processing is the weakest links in the entire textile value chain though it is a critical segment that determines the quality of the fabric or apparel. The government should create an enabling environment conductive to attracting large investments. It should focus and removing the system anomalies, develop infrastructure capabilities, develop port nfrastructure to handle large containerized vessels and continue to pursue reforms in the power sector at a faster pace to enable textile industry to get quality power at competitive tariffs visa vise competing countries like China and Pakistan†¦ Etc. In India, power cost is as high as 15% for spinning mills where as in neighboring competing countries it is around 7%. Unless government takes immediate measures to improve on this fronts textiles will suffer badly in years to come. The expansions are happening in keeping with the new projects coming up in weaving and processing. The spring 8CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. spinning capacity is likely to go up at least 1. 3 to 1. 4 millions spindies by next year. The cotton-spinning sector is also moving into value added yarns mercedised yarns, compact yarns, dyed yarns. The production of the value added yarns will go up to 50% of the total yarn production in the coming three to four years. There is no doubt that the textile industry is going to be a sunrise industry in post MFA (Multi Fibre Agreement) era. 9 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. THE READY-TO-WEAR REVOLUTIONTraditionally, Indian’s prefer custom made clothing and the concept of readymade is relatively recent one. the customized tailoring units were localized to the township or city that they were located in and catered exclusively to the domestic demand. Consumer awareness of styling issues and the convenience afforded by the ready to wear helped the readymade garment industry make small inroads into the domestic market in 1980’s. A growing share of younger consumerism the spending population, who are most open to converting to ready to wear, fueled the growth of the readymade garment industry in subsequent years.Increasing exposure to various media also provided an impetus in terms of greater access to fashion trends from outside the country. At the manufacturing end, improvements in the availability and quality of fabrics for apparel assisted in catering to the growing demand. 10 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. THE BRANDED WEAR MARKET The total sales of clothing wears thi s fiscal which would turn out to be about 30% of the total readymade market. The branded wear market has shown a substantial growth about 20% every year in recent times and is expected to contribute more than Rs90 billionTRENDS IN THE READY TO WEAR MARKET The overall men’s wear market is growing at 6% in the premium segment. Total men’s wear consumption in 2003-2004 is likely to be around 1405 million pieces of which 845 million (61%) will be ready-mades and 551 million (39%) will be tailor-made. 11 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING CONCEPT Marketing is a comprehensive term and it includes all resources and a set of activities necessary to direct and facilitate the flow of goods and services from the producer to the consumer in the process of distribution.Therefore marketing as a functional area of management is becoming increasingly important as compared to other fields. In management, all decisions in moder n business organization revolve around the marketing information. In modern business organization finance, personnel, production and R&D might be the door to success but marketing is the key with turns the lock. Consider any business decision, we find the critical input needed for this purpose in the marketing information. This information can be collected and utilized using marketing research techniques.MEANING AND DEFINITION OF MARKETING RESEARCH The term marketing research is a systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about problems connected with the market place i. e. , problems relating to the product, price, promotion and physical distribution of the marketing mix. Philip Kotler the marketing guru defines marketing research as â€Å"Marketing research is a systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situations facing the company†. 12CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. OBJECTIVES OF MARKETING RESEARCH ? Marketing research is used in the formulation of all marketing plans, policies, programs and procedures. ? It is employed for evaluation of these plans, policies†¦ Etc when they are brought into practice. ? It is used in reducing and minimizing all marketing costs, particularly selling, advertising, promotion and distribution costs. ? Programs of marketing research incidentally provide insurance cover for the survival and growth of the business in a dynamic economy. Marketing management through research can bring about the sale of the right product, through right channels to the right customers at the right places, at the right prices by evolving right plans, polices, and programs with the help of the right personnel. ? The main objective of marketing research is to enable the manufacturers to make goods acceptable and saleable and to see that they reach the market more easily, quickly, cheaply and profitable with out sacrificing the c onsumer interest. 13 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS.MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS EFFECTIVE MARKETING RESEARCH INVOLVES FIVE STEPS: Defining the problem and research objectives. Developing the research plan. Collecting the information. Analyzing the information. Presenting the findings. MANAGEMENT’S USE OF MARKET RESEARCH Inspite of the rapid growth of marketing research, many companies still fail to use it efficiently. Several factors that stand in the way of its greater utilization are: ? A narrow conception of marketing research. ? Uneven caliber of market research. ? Late and occasional erroneous findings by marketing research. Intellectual differences. 14 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION Madura Garments established in 1988 as a part of Coats Viyella's (U. K) garment division. In December 1999, Indian Rayon and Industries Ltd. an Aditya Birla group company acquired Madura Garments. Madura Garments is one of the fastest growing branded apparel companies with a turnover of Rs. 395 crore at a blistering growth rate of over 30% per annum. Madura Garments is the undisputed leader in high quality readymade Menswear industry in South Asia. 15CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. The chronological developments listed below weave its success story 1989: Louis Philippe launched – The first national up market men's shirt. 1990: Launch Of Van Heusen – It was positioned as international corporate wear. 1993: Allen Solly Launched – Introduced the Friday Dressing concept. 1996: Launch Of Peter England – Became the largest selling shirt brand in South Asia. 1998: San Frisco Launched -Launched as the Great Trousers that last. 2000: Trouser Town – The Retail Concept store was launched as the â€Å"Readymade Trouser Expert. 2000: Elements, casuals from the House of Peter England was launched. 2001: Planet Fashion s launched -Mega store for Menswear – housing all Madura brands. MISSION To continuously enhance leadership position in the branded ready-made apparel market by marketing brands that continuously provides the Best Value to consumers in terms of fashion, design, quality, availability & image. To continue to be South Asia's leading clothing company by sustaining world-class standards of quality, customer service and design. 16 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS.VALUES Competitive Ability Quality Service & Value Taking Advantage of Change Committed People Clear Objectives Simple Organization Openness Responsibility/Empowerment Premium brands under MADURA GARMENTS Louis Philippe Van Heusen Allen Solly 17 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Madura Garments was the first to launch an International menswear brand label in South Asia when it launched Louis Philippe in 1989. Louis Philippe has the distinction of being t he first to introduce in India, a super premium segment in the readymade hirt industry. Louis Philippe's range of superbly crafted garments makes an exclusive fashion statement that is accepted as the Ultimate Status Symbol, recognized by the unique identifier, â€Å"The Upper Crest†. 18 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Van Heusen was introduced in 1990, a brand targeted at Corporate Executives. Very soon, it became the preferred corporate wear, redefining corporate attire through constant product innovations and collections. 19 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS.The Allen Solly brand has been in existence since 1744 and is currently a trademark of William Hollins & Co. Ltd. , England. Through association with Friday Dressing in India, this International brand is today the symbol of a genre that has rescued business dressing from a dip in corporate starch. For the soul that questions corporate formality, the brand provides a well-dressed way out. 20 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. A BRIEF HISTORY Incorporated in 1925, the Raymond Group is a Rs1400 crore plus conglomerate having businesses in Textiles, Readymade Garments, Engineering Files &Tools, Prophylactics and Toiletries. The group is the leader in textiles, apparel, & files & tools in India and enjoys a pronounced position in the international market. Raymond believes in Excellence, Quality and Leadership. Raymond Apparel Ltd. has three highly regarded menswear brands in its folio: Park Avenue, Parx & Manzoni. 21 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. The most respected brand in the formal menswear category in India. A trendsetter ever since its launch, Park Avenue's innovations in design, styling, colours and fashion has always been the benchmark for other brands.Park Avenue is the only brand that provides complete wardrobe solutions for men. With its unique colle ction of suits, jackets and trousers, Park Avenue has successfully addressed the needs of the corporate czar. The Park Avenue product portfolio includes: Shirts ? Trousers ? Suits ? Jackets ? 22 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Park Avenue shirts cover the widest spectrum of colours, fabrics and designs made in 100% cotton as well as cotton blends. Park Avenue shirts comes in a range of solid shades in plain and twill weaves as well as checks and stripes in white- and colour-based designs.Classically designed shirts with regular collar, button down collar and cutaway collar options complete this very exquisite range. Sub-brand Park Avenue Platinum occupies the top position in upper-crust clothing. These are 100% cotton shirts in contemporary designs available in the latest and trendiest international pattern and styles. New collections under Park Avenue The Classic Dress Shirt Fine Tech Shirts Evening Wear shirts Leisurewear shirts 100% wrinkle fr ee shirts 23 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS.A BRIEF HISTORY The company started business with export of readymade garments to Europe in the early '60s, which included mainly ties and shirts. For many decades, Zodiac has been synonymous with ties. The business of ties is a high fashion business and Zodiac has taken this to new highs in India and across the globe. In fact, one can say that in India Zodiac is generically associated with ties. Following Zodiac's huge success with ties, the company entered the arena of men's accessories with Cuff links, Belts, Wallets and Handkerchiefs.In 1973, Zodiac had a stand-alone exclusive shirt shop in Hotel Taj in Mumbai. The company then entered the domestic shirt segment in late '80s. Shirts and ties being the main areas of focus. In addition to the above products, Zodiac has today added quality trousers in its arsenal and with their new brand ZOD! Have opened up a whole new segment in the country- â€Å"Cl ub wear†. 24 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. ZODIAC SHIRTS Zodiac is one of the largest shirt companies in the world and sells quality shirts to the best stores across the globe.Zodiac has been a quality manufacturer of fashion garments for the last 47 years and is considered to be one of the finest quality shirt makers. All shirts are made from the finest fabrics sourced worldwide to give quality, value for money products. Zodiac shirts offer quality at affordable prices ranging from Rs545 to Rs2,200. Zodiac has also being awarded the Most Admired Neckwear Brand Award of the year at the prestigious ‘Images Fashion Awards 2000†². Zodiac, is today, the largest selling shirts & tie brand at Shopper's Stop according to Brand Equity (The Economic Times) 5 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. A BRIEF HISTORY The Arvind Mills Limited is the flagship company of Rs. 20 billion (US$ 550 million) of the Lalb hai Group. The Lalbhai Group, founded by three Lalbhai brothers-Kasturbhai, Narottambhai and Chimanbhai in 1908, has grown to become one of India's most diversified business houses, with a significant presence in the textiles, ready-to-wear, agrochemicals and telecom industries in India. Each company in the group, in its own way, pursues a single mission- to be the benchmark in its' industry.To achieve this, they have tied-up with a variety of companies†¦ all world leaders in their respective fields. Renovision and Technology have brought them to where they are today-one of the top ten manufacturers of Denim in the world, on their way to becoming global textile conglomerate. BRAND UNDER ARVIND MILLS 26 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION With a heritage spanning over 150 years, Arrow – the premium men’s wear brand has come to be recognised as the leader in men’s fashion. Having conquered the American mar ket, The Arrow Company, a division of Cluett Peabody & Co.Inc. , USA entered India in 1993. Since then, the brand has gained immense popularity in India and is the most sought after premium shirt for the savvy, fashion conscious Indian men. Arrow, brought to India by Arvind Brands, has been the voice of authority in formal dressing that understands the wardrobe requirements of its discerning male customers. Arrows offerings are aimed at working executives who believe in power dressing. The target customer for Arrow customers is an achiever in his respective field and wants only the best, be it a pen or the vehicle he drives.The brand has constantly worked on its product range and brought out collections that become synonymous with elegance and class. The Arrow wardrobe is available in four ranges: Americas Classic, Americas Premium, Americas Sport and Urban from Arrow. 27 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. ARROW WARDROBE Premium- This range has garm ents that are made with 100% 2-ply cotton and undergoes ETI treatment for a wrinkle-free effect. 2-ply yarn is more durable, stronger and lasts longer. This means the shirt lasts longer and looks better.This label includes international designs, a muted colour palette, twotone fabrics and stylish collars. Classic- Arrow believes that cotton is the best fabric against ones skin as it is soft, breathable and 100% natural. As a result, Arrow has taken a policy decision that even the Classic range will offer the consumer only 100% cotton. Sportswear- This range is made of 100% cotton in sporty finishes, indigo knits, soft washes, fine fabrics and a sophisticated palette. Americas Sport range offers a series of khakis, indigos and peached fabrics. The range is supported by peached tussore trousers with fashionable styling.The range includes shirts, trousers, knits and jackets. Urban- Arrow’s urban collection is created for the man with an innate sense of style and fashion. The col lection is meant to be worn at social gatherings. It uses a cotton lycra blend and the shirts are tapered with a narrow fit and an international collar. Arrow offers wardrobe solutions and not just shirts. Through its various collections it caters to the different moments in a mans life office wear, After-office wear, weekends and social events. 28 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. DESIGN OF THE STUDYThe second chapter is focused on details about how the research was conducted with information on the following aspects. ? Scope of the research ? Statement of the problem ? Objectives of the research ? Design of the research SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH The research was conducted on the consumers of premium branded ready made formal shirts in the city of Bangalore. The research due to the constraints of place, Time and Financial and other resources was restricted to Bangalore City alone. The research is aimed at understanding the following aspects related to Consumer Perception and Brand Preference For Premium Branded Readymade Formal Shirts. Impression of Branding ? Brand awareness ? Brand Loyalty ? Influencing Factors In Purchase decisions ? Advertisement effectiveness 29 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The corporate community of today’s world has come to realize the power of branding and tapping changing consumer perception as a tool for substantial Competitive advantage over other similar companies operating in the industry and the most comprehensive concept of branding is building the companies as Brands.But in the case of ready-to-wear garments industry, Branding always has and will plan an key role and thus the research tries to confirm to the statement. This is the reason why the research is trying to answer the question, ? Whether branding plays a vital role in purchase of premium branded readymade formal shirts? ? Whether companies are providing the product with changing consumer perception and needs? 30 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH ? To study the consumer perceptions towards premium branded readymade formal shirts. Brand awareness. ? Impact of brand image. ? The factors influencing the purchase behaviour. ? The satisfaction levels of consumer of premium branded readymade shirts. ? To measure the impression of advertisement. ? To know expectations of consumers from premium brands. 31 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH The research was designed to achieve the above mentioned objectives and the following tools were used to collect the required data. ? ? ? ? Sampling method sampling frame Sample Size Data collection Methods SAMPLING METHODA sample is considered during a research when the size of the population is very large and a set is chosen to represent the whole population, this set is called a sample is a repres entative of the population under study. Similarly, a sample was chosen for the research and was chosen by a simple random sampling. SAMPLING FRAME The sample frame represents the groups of respondents that were contacted during the survey it also represents the profession of the respondents that were connected for data. SAMPLE SIZE The total sample size for the data collection for the research was 50 respondents. 2 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Data Collection Methods: The sources of data collection are: 1. Primary Data: Primary Data is the first hand information collected during the research. These are the original observations collected from the targeted segment of different methods. The Primary Data is collected through structured questionnaires and Direct Interview. 2. Secondary Data: The Secondary Data is collected through the materials given by the organization, books, journals, Business magazines and Internet.Tools for Data Collection: S tructured Questionnaires were the tools for data collection. The Questionnaire was neatly designed and constructed for the purpose inline with the objective of the study. 33 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 1 Table indicating the number of respondents with respect to their age group. Age Group (years) No. of Respondents Percentage (%) 18-25 25-35 35-45 > 45 Total 30 13 03 04 50 60 26 06 08 100 Graph No. 1 Graph indicating the number of respondents with respect to their age group.No. of Respondents 3 4 18-25 Years 25-35 Years 13 35-45 Years 30 >45 Years Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that 30 (60%) respondents are in the age group of 18-25 years, 13 (26%) respondents are in the age group of 25-35 years, 3 (6%) respondents are in the age group of 35-45 years, 4 (8%) respondents are in the age group of above 45 years. 34 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 2 Table indicating the gender of the respondents. Gender No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Male FemaleTotal 45 05 50 90 10 100 Graph No. 2 Graph indicating the Gender of the respondents. No of respondents 5 Male Female 45 Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that 45 (90%) of respondents are Male and 5 (10%) respondents are Female. 35 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 3 Table indicating the number of respondents with respect to their educational qualification. Educational Qualification No. of Respondents Percentage (%) S SL C PUC Under Graduate Graduate Post Graduate Total 00 00 17 25 8 50 00 00 34 50 16 100 Graph No. 3 Graph indicating the number of respondents with respect to their educational qualification. No of respondents 8 Post Graduate SSLC 25 PUC 17 Under Graduate UG 0 Graduate SSLC 0 0 Post Graduate 10 20 30 40 50 Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph the educational qualification of the respondents. 17 (34%) resp ondents are Under-Graduates, 25 (50%) respondents are Graduates, 8 (16%) respondents are Post Graduates. 36 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 4Table indicating the number of respondents with respect to their Occupation. Occupation No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Self Employed Salaried Student Others Total 10 17 13 10 50 20 34 26 20 100 Graph No. 4 Graph indicating the number of respondents with respect to their occupation. No of respondents 10 10 Self Em ployed Salaried Student 13 17 Others Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph with reference to their occupation. 10 (20%) respondents are Self-Employed, 17 (34%) respondents are salaried, 13 (26%) respondents are Students and 10 (20%) respondents are in other occupation. 7 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 5 Table indicating the number of respondents with respect to their Annual income. Annual income (Rs) No. of Respondents Per centage (%) < Rs50,000 Rs50,000-1,00,000 Rs1,00,000-3,00,000 >Rs3,00,000 Total 11 14 09 16 50 22 28 18 32 100 Graph No. 5 Graph indicating the number of respondents with respect to their Annual income. No. of Respondents 22% 32% Rs 3,00,000 Inference:It can be inferred from the table and graph with reference to their Annual Income, 11 (22%) respondents Income is Below Rs50,000 14 (28%) respondents income is between Rs50,000-1,00,000, 9 (18%) respondents income is Rs1,00,000-2,00,000, 16 (32%) respondents income is above Rs3,00,000. 38 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 6 Table indicating the different News Paper read by the respondents. News Paper No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Times Of India Deccan Herald Vijay Times Economic Times Others 39 21 19 13 16 78 42 38 26 32 Graph No. 6Graph indicating the different News Paper read by the respondents. No. of respondents 50 45 40 39 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Times Of India Deccan Herald 21 Vijay T imes 19 13 16 Economic Times Others Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that, 39 (78%) respondents read Times Of India, 21 (42%) respondents read Deccan Herald, 19 (38%) read Vijay Times, 13 (26%) read Economic Times and 16 (32%) respondents read other News papers like Indian Express, Business Times†¦etc. 39 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 7 Table indicating the different Magazines read by the respondents.Magazines No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Business Today Business World India Today Sports Star Others 28 22 39 13 16 56 44 78 26 32 Graph No. 7 Graph indicating the different Magazines read by the respondents. No. of re sponde nts 50 45 40 35 30 28 25 20 15 10 5 0 Bus ine s s toda y 39 Bus ine s s W orld India Toda y 22 13 16 Sports Star Othe rs Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that, 28 (56%) respondents read Business Today, 22 (44%) read Business World, 39 (78%) read India Today, 13 (26 %) respondents read Sports Star and 16 (32%) read other Magazines such as Inside Cricket†¦etc. 0 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 8 Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to the awareness of Premium Branded Formal Shirts. Premium Brands Van Heusen Louis Philippe Park Avenue Allen Solly Zodiac Arrow Others No. of Respondents 24 36 26 31 20 23 12 Percentage (%) 48 72 52 62 40 46 24 Graph No. 8 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to the awareness of Premium Branded Formal Shirts. No. of respondents 50 45 40 35 30 25 24 20 15 10 5 0 Van Heusen Louis Phillipe 36Park Avenue 31 26 20 Allen Solly 23 12 Zodiac Arrow Others Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that, 24 (48%) respondents are aware of Van Heusen, 36(72%) respondents are aware of Louis Philippe, 26 (52%) are aware of Park Avenue, 31 (62%) respondents are aware of Allen Solly, 20 (40%) respondents are aware of Zodiac, 23 (46%) respondents are aware of Arrow and 12 (24%) respondents are aware of other brands like John Players, Dockers, Indigo Nation†¦etc. 41 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 9Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to the awareness of Premium Branded Formal Shirts through different media . Media No. of Respondents Percentage (%) TV News Paper Magazines Hoardings Friends/Relatives Retail Outlet 36 32 22 14 23 12 72 64 44 28 46 24 Graph No. 9 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to the awareness of Premium Branded Formal Shirts through different media. No. of respondents 50 45 40 35 36 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 TV News Paper 32 Magazines 23 22 14 Hoardings 12 Friends/Relatives Retail Outlet Inference:It can be inferred from the table and graph that, 36 (72%) respondents came to know the brands through TV, 32 (64%) respondents through News Papers, 22 (44%) respondents through Magazines, 14 (28%) respondent s through Hoarding, 23 (46%) respondents through word of mouth [Friends/Relatives] and 12 (24%) respondents through retail Outlets. 42 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 10 Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to the media impressed them to purchase Premium Branded Formal Shirt. Media No. of Respondents Percentage (%) TVNews Paper Magazines Hoardings Others Total 12 08 11 07 12 50 24 16 22 14 24 100 Graph No. 10 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to the media impressed them to purchase Premium Branded Formal Shirt. No. of respondents 24 24 TV News Paper Magazines 14 16 Hoardings Others 22 Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that, 12 (24%) respondents are impressed through TV ads. 8 (16%) respondents through News Papers, 11 (22%) respondents through Magazines, 7 (14%) respondents through Hoardings and 12 (24%) respondents are impressed by others like word of mouth†¦. Etc. 4 3CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 11 Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to the advertisement recalled by them of various brands. Premium Brands Van Heusen Louis Philippe Park Avenue Allen Solly Zodiac Arrow Others No. of Respondents 12 28 22 16 14 26 08 Percentage (%) 48 72 52 62 40 46 24 Graph No. 11 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to the advertisement recalled by them of various brands. No. of re sponde nts 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 12 5 0 Va n He us en Louis Phillipe Pa rk Ave nue 28 26 22 16 Allen Solly Zodia c 14 8 Arr owOthe rs Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that, 12 (24%) respondents recall the ads. of Van Heusen, 28 (56%) respondents of Louis Philippe, 22 (44%) respondents of Park Avenue, 16 (32%) respondents of Allen Solly, 14 (28%) respondents of Zodiac, 26 (52%) respondents of Arrow and 8 (16%) respondents recall the Ads. Of other brands like John Player s, Indigo Nation †¦etc. 44 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 12 Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to the appeal of advertisement of various brands. Appeal No. of Respondents Percentage (%)Brand Name Style Durability Comfort Others Total 21 06 08 12 03 50 42 12 16 24 06 100 Graph No. 12 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to the appeal of advertisement of various brands. No. of respondents 3 Brand Name 12 21 Style Durability Comfortness Others 8 6 Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that, 21 (42%) respondents feel the ads. are appealing to Brand Name, 6 (12%) of respondents as Style, 8 (16%) of respondents as Durability, 12 (24%) of respondents as Comfort, 3 (6%) of respondents as others. 45 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 3 Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to the extent of ads. played role in purcha se of Premium Branded Formal Shirts. Extent No. of Respondents Percentage (%) High Medium Low Total 22 24 04 50 44 48 08 100 Graph No. 13 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to the extent of ads. played role in purchase of Premium Branded Formal Shirts. No. of respondents 8 44 High Medium 48 Low Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that advertisement had played a high role in purchase for 22 (44%) respondents, Medium role for 24 (48%) respondents and less role for 4 (8%) respondents. 6 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 14 Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to the Brands they purchased. Premium Brands No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Van Heusen Louis Philippe Park Avenue Allen Solly Zodiac Arrow Others 12 14 06 13 08 16 14 24 28 12 26 16 32 28 Graph No. 14 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to the Brands they purchased. No. of re sponde nts 50 45 40 35 3 0 25 20 15 10 12 5 0 Va n He us en Louis Phillipe Pa rk Ave nue Allen Solly 14 16 13 6 8 14 Zodia c Arr ow Othe rs Inference:It can be inferred from the table and graph that 12 (24%) respondents purchased Van Heusen. 14 (28%) purchased Louis Philippe. 6 (12%) respondents had purchased Park Avenue. 13 (26%) respondents purchased Allen Solly. 8 (16%) respondents purchased Zodiac. 16 (32%) respondents purchased Arrow. 14 (28%) respondents purchased other brands. 47 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 15 Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to the factors influenced them while purchasing of Premium Branded Shirts. Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Brand Name PriceQuality Style Colour Others 34 22 42 18 16 08 68 44 84 36 32 16 Graph No. 15 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to the factors influenced them while purchasing of Premium Branded Shirts. No. of re sponde nts 50 45 40 35 34 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Br and Nam e 42 Pr ic e Qua lity 22 18 Style 16 Colour 8 Othe rs Inference: It can be inferred from the table and graph that factors influenced respondents while purchasing. 34 (68%) respondents influenced by Brand Name. 22 (44%) respondents influenced by Price. 42 (84%) respondents influenced by Quality. 18 (36%) respondents are influenced by Style. (12%) respondents are influenced by Colours and 8 (16%) respondents are influenced by other factors. 48 CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND BRAND PREFERENCE FOR PREMIUM BRANDED SHIRTS. Table No. 16 Table indicating the number of respondents with reference to what made them to think the particular shirt belongs to Premium class. Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Brand Quality Durability Price Total 19 16 07 08 50 38 32 14 16 100 Graph No. 16 Graph indicating the number of respondents with reference to what made them to think the particular shirt belongs to Premium class. No. of re sponde nts

A Resort with a difference

This will be a resort that is customized for Christians though will be open to all as far as they maintain the culture of the place. Different services will be offered including foods and drinks, conference facilities, sports facilities, accommodation, entertainment and spiritual nourishment facilities for Christians.Services will be offered in a serene environment and no alcoholic drinks or other unchristian behaviour will be allowed in the place. Spiritual nourishment facilities will include Christian literature, music and teaching sessions.The Resort will be unique in that besides offering essential services it will maintain an environment that will encourage socialization and at the same time provide spiritual nourishment. All facilities will be provided with great consideration on nurturing good morals and personal developments.The Resort will be a substitute for the local pub or club only that services and facilities will all be geared not only on socialization and entertainmen t but both on spiritual and physical development. There are many people who would like to benefit from facilities offered in pubs, resorts and clubs but their moral values, faiths or public standing prevent them from going to such places due to the nature of provision of services in such places.However, a Resort for Christians will be unique and will provide the modest environment that such people require; they will be able to watch football, popular TV programs or a movie in a place they are comfortable in and with the company of people they would prefer to be with. The churches and other Christian organisations have numerous meetings and visitors and will be easily lured into using this kind of resort because of the perception that it is a Christian place.In the next five weeks the Resort will be in the incubation period. In this period we will be preparing a grand opening of the Resort. We will do in-depth publicity of the up-coming Resort and the grand opening event. Publicity w ill be done through print and electronic media, billboards and direct mail to prominent people.In this period the Resort facilities will be prepared thoroughly and decorated in order to be   The incubation period will end with a grand opening of the Resort which will also mark the entry into the introduction stage. According to NetMBA Business Knowledge Center website (http://www.netmba.com/marketing/productlifecycle) â€Å"during the introduction stage, the primary goals is to establish a market and build primary demand for the product class.†We would do this through intense publishing the resort by the grand opening and continued advertisement. We would invite prominent people in the society, especially those who have a reputation of modesty, to grace the occasion. We will then also adopt a penetration pricing strategy by offering favourable pricing for our products for the first month of our operation.As the business grows we will continually evaluate the service provisi on systems in the facilities and ensure we offer quality services. This is because, as cited in NetMBA Business Knowledge Center website (http://www.netmba.com/marketing/productlifecycle), as a product moves through the different stages of its life cycle, it necessitates change of the marketing strategy thus calling for continuous evaluation and re-adjustment.We will establish a modest and unique culture in order to ensure that our services are different from others. This product differentiation together with continued promotion will ensure that our services are preferred. We will also invest in technology so as to increase efficiency and effectiveness in provision of services.We will maintain a well detailed website and establish links with travel agencies. We would evaluate our business continually and increase or reduce the services we offer and how are they are offered. This will be geared toward maintaining our services as different from those of our competitors and ensuring co st effectiveness. We would also keep on exploring new ways of promoting our services so as to maintain our market share and to compete effectively.ReferencesNetMBA Business Knowledge Center. The Product Life Cycle. Retrieved January 07, 2008 from http://www.netmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle

How does Charles Dickens create an atmosphere of crime and death in ‘Great Expectations’?

In this essay, I will talk about how Charles Dickens creates an atmosphere of crime and death in ‘Great Expectations'. Charles Dickens was an English novelist of the Victorian era and was considered to be one of English language's greatest writers; he was acclaimed for his rich storytelling and memorable characters and achieved massive worldwide popularity in his lifetime. ‘Great Expectations' is a novel written and serially published from 1860 to 1861 in a magazine called ‘All Year Round'. Shortly after that, it was published as a complete novel. It was set during the Industrial Revolution in Britain. The Industrial Revolution brought in a major change in the economy and society resulting from the use of machines and the efficient production of goods. Charles Dickens begins the story in a graveyard. Immediately, we are introduced to the theme of death. The weather matches with the creepy setting. It links to death by using words like â€Å"raw afternoon†; the word â€Å"raw† suggests that it is painful. â€Å"Dark† suggests evil and death; and â€Å"flat† suggests something bleak. These words all enhance the gloomy setting. The main character Pip tells us about his parents and brothers who are buried in the graveyard. He lists the names of his brothers in a matter of fact way and this shocks us. â€Å"†¦and that Alexander, Barthlomew, Abraham, Tobias and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried†¦.† In the 1830s when the novel is set, half the babies died in infancy due to poor medical care and killer diseases which thrived in the appalling conditions within the society. Pip lists the names of his five dead brothers. This makes us think that the list is never-ending and highlights the presence of death. We are introduced to the theme of crime when an escaped convict by the name of Magwitch, jumps out from behind a gravestone at Pip. â€Å"Hold your noise!† At this point, he makes the reader feel frightened, as he starts to threaten Pip. Pip also sees a gibbet. â€Å"†¦a gibbet, with some chains hanging to it which once held a pirate.† A gibbet was where executed criminals were placed as a warning to others. It stands out on the horizon and looks particularly eerie in the gloomy night sky. Dickens personifies the sky to make it â€Å"angry†; the use of personification here alarms the reader because the sky feels extremely threatening. The sea is described as a â€Å"lair†; the use of the word â€Å"lair† suggests that the sea is a wild animal in a den. The wind comes rushing from the lair to get Pip. Pip becomes â€Å"a bundle of shivers†. The word â€Å"shivers† suggests fear and extreme cold, both of which and to an atmosphere of crime and death. In Chapter Three, Dickens describes the weather as a â€Å"rimy morning† and has Pip imagine a goblin that had been crying all night. This links to the guilt that Pip feels about the crime he has committed because he is upset and he feels like crying. â€Å"Rimy morning†, â€Å"very damp†, â€Å"damp lying on the bare hedges and sparegrass, like a coarser sort of spider's webs†, â€Å"the marsh-mist was so thick†, â€Å"the mist was heavier†¦.†, all these words tell us of darkness and crimes. Dickens uses a simile to compare about the â€Å"damp lying on the bare hedges†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Dickens uses personification to enhance Pip's guilty conscience by using the weather, â€Å"the marsh-mist was thick† and â€Å"the marsh-mist was heavier†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The mist is clearly a metaphor for Pip's state of mind. He is literally finding it hard to find his way to the convict but also feels morally lost because of his crime. Dickens writes about a â€Å"wooden finger on the post†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Dickens also uses personification to enhance Pip's guilty conscience at this point because he has committed a crime and he thinks that this signpost is telling him the only way he should go. â€Å"Like a phantom devoting me to the Hulks†, â€Å"that the wooden finger on the post†¦invisible to me†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Dickens uses personification by heightening Pip's mind as he is confused about the whole situation. The signpost has turned into a ghastly accuser. As the confusion in Pip's mind races on, he sees an Ox which was black â€Å"with a white cravat†. This Ox of Pip's mind notices him with the pork pie and recognises that the pie is not his. â€Å"A boy with Somebody-else's pork pie! Stop him!†, â€Å"Holloa, young thief!† With its clerical air, the ox seems like a vicar, accusing him of sin. In the beginning of Chapter Eight, Dickens described the Satis House like a prison. It â€Å"was of old brick, and dismal, and had a great many iron bars to it. Some of the windows had been walled up; of those that remained, all the lower were rustily barred.† Iron bars are like prison bars and it is one of the places where you can't escape from. â€Å"There was also a large brewery† at the side of Satis House. This place was very idle. â€Å"There was also a large brewery. No brewing was going on in it, and none seemed to have gone on for a long long time†. Nothing growing in it signifies death and in this case, the large brewery consists of nothing but waiting death. At one point, Pip was beginning to feel cold as he went through the house. â€Å"The cold wind seemed to blow colder there, than outside the gate†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This links to Pip's fear of going into the house. The more he has the feeling of becoming colder, the more he fears going into the house. He isn't really used to visiting anyone else's places except the graveyard and that's why he feels frightened of going in to the house. When Pip was about to meet Miss Havisham, Estella walked away from him and took the candle away with her. â€Å"This was very uncomfortable, and I was half afraid.† From Pip's point of view, he's afraid of the dark. He's always used to having light around him as he goes around but in this case, there was darkness; â€Å"No glimpse of daylight was to be seen in it†. This stresses the presence of evil and death. Pip is alone when he sees a woman in the dressing room in Satis House. â€Å"In an armchair, with an elbow resting on the table and her head leaning on that hand, sat the strangest lady I have ever seen, or shall ever see†, â€Å"†¦ â€Å"†¦she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . White is related to ghosts and ghosts come from death. She is rich with faded dresses and her house is very old. Miss Havisham is compared by Pip to a â€Å"skeleton† and a â€Å"waxwork†; the word â€Å"skeleton†, suggests that Miss Havisham could represent the presence of death. The â€Å"waxwork† suggests something that there is something about Miss Havisham which appears real but is not substantial. The â€Å"bridal flowers in her hair† compares with her white hair and obvious age suggests something eerie and bizarre. In Chapter Twenty, Pip travels to London to see Mr Jaggers in his office. â€Å"I was scared by the immensity of London; I think I might have had some faint doubts whether it was not rather ugly, crooked, narrow and dirty.† Pip has never been to London before and he was so used to living in the Marshes, he had no idea what London might look like, as in that time, London was the busiest, most crowded towns of England. Pip goes into Mr Jaggers' room and was fascinated by what he sees in it. â€Å"Mr Jaggers' room was lighted by a skylight only, and was a most dismal place†. When the novel was set, electricity wasn't really invented at that time and the only light rooms receive is the daylight. â€Å"The skylight, eccentrically patched like a broken head, and the distorted adjoining houses looked as if they had twisted themselves to peep down at me through it.† Pip is intimidated by what he sees as he has never been to an office before. Pip also sees â€Å"some odd objects about†. The skylight is personified as a victim of an assault. â€Å"Old rusty pistol†; this suggests that Mr Jaggers is a criminal and has done many crimes with the â€Å"pistol† in the past. â€Å"A sword in a scabbard†; this suggests that he is very protective of his special possessions. â€Å"Several strange-looking boxes and packages†; this suggests that there might be a few hidden surprises that Mr Jaggers doesn't want people to know yet. â€Å"Two dreadful casts on a shelf, of faces peculiarly swollen and twitchy about the nose†; this also suggests that he is very interested in dice as to see in how it was created. Pip has also never seen these kinds of objects before in his life and he too, gets fascinated as he looks into them. Pip says that Jaggers' chair is like a â€Å"coffin†. We have a mental image of Jaggers emerging like a vampire from the coffin. Pip's experiences of the law are linked to Dickens's life: his father had been imprisoned for debt and he had been a court journalist and law clerk. The choice of settings such as the frightening graveyard and the introduction of dark characters such as the sinister convict, Magwitch create the atmosphere of crime and death. Dark weather creates a sense of crime and death in a lot of scenes. Charles Dickens sums up this novel as a crime and death genre. It is also a mixture of crime and horror as well as crime and death. A drunken court official offers to show Pip a public hanging place. This sickened Pip just as it did Dickens who campaigned against such humiliating events and wanted them to be banned. Dickens spent his life campaigning against poverty, crime and death. There was crime and death everywhere all around his time and he chose this genre to make his readers aware of these and to the fact that poverty played an important part which caused high crime rate resulting in unfortunate deaths.

Introduction to Social Networking and the Impact on College Life Research Paper

Introduction to Social Networking and the Impact on College Life - Research Paper Example The social network is a wonderful place to be for every individual in the world today because it provides updates from near and dear ones, assists in communicating with people living far away in remote areas of the world and also helps people to entertain themselves and keep busy. However, the social network has begun to have an adverse effect on the lives of students as well as professionals at the workplace because it has been eating into their work time. Many teachers argue that their students fail to finish their work on time because of being hooked onto the internet and on social network sites like Face book and Twitter. Social media websites have been thus affecting school and college students’ grades because students end up spending more time on websites rather than studying. Most students, when asked how they spend their day, reply by stating that they spend their hours after school or college in front of the computer, on websites like Twitter and Face book. These websites take up all their time because the new generation is obsessed with documenting their every thought on the internet. Moreover, they like checking into places on their Face book, updating their status and spend hours on a single photograph that someone would have tagged them on, commenting. All these activities eat up into their study time and they fail to get good grades or concentrate in the classroom due to being so hooked on to these websites all the time. The focus of this paper is on college students because school children can still be controlled by their parents and are under the regulation of their parent’s watchful eye. Once in college, a student is on his own, leading his own life and seldom listens to what the parents say, especially if he lives away from home. Such fr eedom tends to override the child’s life, leading him into spending his time in the most non productive and enjoyable manner possible. The internet may be very productive however using social networking websites may hinder productivity. By this I mean to say that the internet can be a very productive place to be as it has so many websites full of information and learning; one can enrich himself by reading the news as well, however college students seldom tend to do that, unless the news presents itself in the form of a Face book update. Almost 96% of college students are on Face book all the time and even if they study, they tend to keep checking their Face book page for updates every half an hour, if not lesser. This hinders work because it reduced the concentration span of the student. (Akhtar, Shabbir) â€Å"As social media websites, such as Face book, YouTube and Twitter gain popularity, they are also are becoming increasingly dangerous as they create modes to procrastin ate while trying to complete homework. Hence, in a survey of 102 students, 57% stated that social media has made them less productive.† Moreover, the student always has something else on his or her mind, or he keeps waiting for a particular notification to come, which makes him lose his attention from his college assignment completely. Obviously, being on the internet can exhaust a person because of all the browsing and the mental work that is being done, without even knowing it. So after browsing the Face book for even two hours, students tend to tire out easily, and thus delay doing their college work at all, again leading to bad grades in class the next day. Another aspect that hinders their work and brings them bad grades is that their smart phones are synchronized to their

Law (International Business) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Law (International Business) - Essay Example To answer the legal questions at hand, let us look into the different principles of law involved in this case. b. Legal Principles Before we can determine as to whether or not there was a passing of property between the seller and the buyer, we need to establish first the existence of the contract. According to Section 3 of the Sale of Goods Act 1895, a contract of sale can be â€Å"made in writing†¦. or by word of mount, or partly in writing and partly by word of mouth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There are three important elements needed to make a valid contract, namely, a valid cause or object offered, acceptance of the offer and consider. According to the court in the case of Grainger & Sons v Gough1, an offer must be made with the intention of entering into contract with the buyer and not merely an invitation to treat. When it comes to acceptance of the offer, the court ruled in the case of Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corporation2 the acceptance must be communicated to the seller in ord er for the acceptance to be bidding upon the seller. The acceptance of the offer may be made in writing or through word of mouth. According to Denning LJ in this case, the acceptance must be made unequivocally and such unequivocal acceptance must be communicated clearly to the seller. For instance, if the acceptance was made through telephone, the buyer should see to it that the seller heard the acceptance. Acceptance and counter offer are two different things so it is important to determine as to whether or not what was communicated to the seller is an acceptance of the offer or merely a counter-offer. Note that acceptance give rise to a contract while a counter-offer does not. Also, in acceptance, the buyer accedes to the terms of the seller while in counter-offer; the buyer proposes different terms to the seller. When a counter-offer is accepted by the seller, such acceptance will be binding upon the parties. In international transactions, the place of acceptance is very importan t as this will determine the law applicable to the contract. In the case of Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corporation3, the court ruled that the place of acceptance is the place where such acceptance is communicated. This means that if the offer was made in UK and the acceptance was made in Australia, the laws of Australia shall govern the transaction since the acceptance of the offer was made in Australia. Acceptance is not absolute in the sense that the parties can revoke the acceptance when the terms agreed upon are not met. According to the court in the case of Grainger & Sons v Gough4, the buyer may withdraw his or her acceptance anytime before or after the contract has been perfected. If the buyer withdraws his or her acceptance before the contract has been perfected, there contract is deemed inexistent. An accepted offer needs to be accompanied by valuable consideration in order for a valid contract to materialize. According to the court in the case of Currie v Misa5, consider ation is not limited to money but also include rights, interest, profits and the like. As stated by the court in the case of Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co v Selfridge & Co Ltd6, the valuable consideration can be a â€Å"benefit to the promisor or a detriment to the promisee†. The intentions of the parties

Sand and gravel operators in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Essay

Sand and gravel operators in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario - Essay Example The availability of sand and gravel facilitated trade for the operators since this era. In this case, the operators’ trade took a unique course within the locality. There was a vivid observation that the operators would sell most of the products within Sault Ste. Marie vicinity. This trend has prevailed for a long duration since the onset of the sand and gravel trade within the locality. Definitely it was attributable to specific facts that involved city policies and regulations. Ontario had been subject to a rugged terrain since history. The city authorities had the zeal to reform the land and propagate agriculture (Mackintosh, 16). In this case, agriculture required a fine terrain with ideal edaphic factors. Agriculture was to become a complement of the pit business and mining in this region. The interests of the authorities were to enhance both sectors in Ontario. In this plan, southern Ontario was engaged in agricultural activities as the northern part was to retain aggreg ate resources (Mackintosh, 16). This led to the production of a policy that credited Sault Ste. Marie to retain the aggregate resources. This was an ideal decision from the authorities. However, it surfaced intricate issues and hardships amongst inhabitants who practiced the different economic initiatives. Conflict arose in places where the agrarian and aggregate land would coincide. After the implementation of the dual economy, agriculture took a rampant growth. This is evident in the production of fruits like cherries, grapes as well as peaches (Mackintosh, 16). As denoted previously, Sault Ste. Marie was dominant in aggregate resources. During its aggregate activities, Sault Ste. Marie was responsible of the blockage and deposits in Root River. It was also responsible for depositing materials in Cannon Creek. These were paramount resources towards the enhancement of agriculture. Therefore, the aggregate deposits were significantly detrimental to the thriving of agriculture. Conse quently, the authorities charged Sault Ste. Marie due to the blockages it had brought. According to the policy, any individual that would make deposits in rivers or at the banks would be charged. A five or ten thousand dollars fine would be imposed to the offender (Laskin, 10). The crime could also lead to both a fine and one year imprisonment. This policy has been existent from the 1970s to date. This is a key reason towards the dismal trade to Ontario for the aggregate resources. Any form of deposit that would deprive the quality of water in this municipality would attribute to legal charges. Evidently, this policy was a key factor towards the decreased trade of aggregate materials to Ontario. The traders of aggregate materials would prefer not to incur a risk in the transportation process. In this case, they preferred to trade with the local buyers of aggregate materials. Their preference of trade remained intact inspire of the low profit margins in Sault Ste. Marie. Therefore, t he Ontario policy was a key factor towards the local preference by aggregate traders in Sault Ste. Marie. Southern Ontario is entirely vulnerable to aggregate pollution (Laskin, 9). Poverty has been a sensitive issue in the confines of Sault Ste. Marie. There has been a major concern to eradicate poverty in this locality (Coulter, 9). Poverty eradication would bring a new phase in diverse sectors of this vicinity. For example, it would enhance education attainment, healthcare amongst others. The eradication would also bring a positive economic impact on the vicinity. In this locality, poverty is in a rampant state to a large populace. Due to this fact, majority of the individuals do not hold professional qualifications for ideal careers. This is a trend in the sand

Reviews Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reviews - Essay Example lery showed the detailed design of the building, which helped display the artwork strategically, with lighting illuminating the artwork from their walls. The gallery also provided dim lights for bright artwork, therefore enhancing its appearance (Artrepublic.com, n.d., n.p.). Some of the most interesting pieces of art from the exhibition were works by Maria Rivans and Bonnie and Clyde. These two artistes have specialized in color, composition and collage. The artists revolve their artwork around television, pop culture and film, forming an interesting line of thought that intrigues the observer. These two artists are among the most promising artists in England (Artrepublic.com, n.d., n.p.). Maria Rivan exhibited artwork that captured a woman with many flowers appearing like a flower garden on her hair, which attracted considerable attention from the audience. Maria cut out a picture from an old magazine and stuck attractive flowers around the woman’s head, indicating beauty. However, she did not use flowers only. The image had some green leaves around the flowers. Her choice of flowers and leaves coupled with the facial expression on the face of the woman brought out the concept of beauty and focus, as she had desired. Maria added more color to the artwork by including a birdcage and a blue bird flying around the woman’s head. Bonnie and Clyde designed a hotel room from images cut out from different sources in their most attractive piece. The piece shows a cut out hotel, with stickers of valet parking and another with the words ‘salute’. However, instead of vehicles, Bonnie and Clyde uses birds at the parking lot. Apart from evoking humor, this collage artwork is ironical, since it depicts the fact that nature is important even in commerce. The pieces of artwork highlight the use of artwork in design to pass messages to observers. For example, the artwork by Bonnie and Clyde described above can be placed in a setting where people encourage environmental

Article Precis 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Article Precis 1 - Essay Example This report summarizes the research conducted on 233 employers who were investigated for their perceptions regarding the employees’ skills, and their level of satisfaction with the skills of their workforce. Skills studied in this research included generic skills like communication and teamwork. The business sectors assume the responsibility of making the students and universities aware of their expectations so that the skills incorporated in the students through the educational programmes may be made consistent with the requirements of the market. The top ten skills of employees considered important by the employers included in the study in the order from most important to least important were found to be communication skills, team-working skills, integrity, intellectual ability, confidence, character/personality, planning and organization skills, literacy i.e. good writing sills, numeracy i.e. the employees should be good with numbers, and analysis and decision-making skills . At least 60 per cent of the employers considered the social skills of the employees and their personalities more important than their academic qualifications. 85 per cent of the employers considered the communication and team-working abilities of the employees to be of immense importance. The traditional hard skills of literacy and numeracy were found to be ranked 8th and 9th in terms of importance as ranked by the employers. One reason for this could be the fact that employers generally expect the employees to have these hard skills, and these skills are thus taken for granted. According to the employers included in the research, personality of an employee matters more in small companies as compared to large companies because the effect of individuals’ personalities is more influential in small teams as compared to large teams. This research also investigated the top 10 skills that the employers are satisfied with. These skills when ranked from the most important to least important were found to be IT skills, postgraduate qualification, good degree classification, qualification of the employee from a reputable institution, employee’s intellectual ability, character/personality, team-working skills, relevant course of study, integrity, and cultural fit with the company. This research found the importance-satisfaction gaps with respect to the skills of employees in view of the employers. The largest importance-satisfaction gaps in the skills of new graduates ranging from the maximum gap to the minimum gap were found to be in commercial awareness, analysis and decision-making skills, communication skills, literacy i.e. good writing skills, passion, relevant work experience, planning and organizational skills, confidence, and personal development skills. The top ten most important skills in new graduates with respect to the degree of internationalization of the employing firms ranging from the most important to least important were found to be com munication skills, team-working skills, integrity, intellectual ability, confidence, character/personality, planning and organizational skills, literacy, numeracy, and analysis and decision-making skills. The online recruitment media was found to be both the most frequently used recruitment medium and the most effective medium in view of the employers whereas student magazines were found to be both the least frequently used and the least effective medium

History of Islamic Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of Islamic Art - Essay Example In this area they formed the Caliphate of Cà ³rdoba, which remained until 1031 before falling due to the Fitna of al-à ndalus. The Islamic art entails the visual arts that were produced by the people from 7th century and onwards. Thus, this art is tough to define since it covers various lands and diverse people for the time period of more than 1400 years. The vast capacity of Islamic architecture pertains to a distinctive article, belonging to various fields such as painting, textiles, calligraphy, ceramics, and glass among others. Some of the fields of art in the Umayyad dynasty are described below: Architecture: The building of the Umayyad dynasty is constructed with the local materials, generally of ashlars stone, which is usually combined with brick. The mosques and monuments with their austere exteriors provide the buildings a lavish interior decoration which is made of geometrically-patterned marble mosaics and revetment depict vegetal forms architecture, and objects with royal connotations such as vases and crowns. Carvings: The primary decoration components of the Umayyads art had derived from the late-classical customs of wall- and floor-mosaic, stone-carving and wall-painting. It also uses the plaster decoration, which was adopted from the Hellenised East. These designs are found across the complete range of mediums just like the geometrical deigns and vary from book illustration to plasterwork; in woodwork, ceramics, ivory-carving and metalwork, even in textiles and carpets. Metalwork: The art patronage has been a symbol of authority and kingship and has emerged as a theme from the creative appropriations from past and abroad (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History). Numerous luxurious objects including the boxes of bronze animal statuary, gilt silver and carved ivory, and luxuriously figured silks had been commissioned for

Software Development, QA, Anti-Piracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Software Development, QA, Anti-Piracy - Essay Example al havoc upon corporate entities, the strategies which companies employ for both the design and implementation of their corporate policies are of singular importance. Referring to both theory and practice, this essay will investigate the strategies companies utilize for the design and implementation of their security policies. Todorov (2007) highlights the imperatives of implementing physical security policies. Even while conceding to the importance of automated, computer-mediated security systems, Todorov (2007) contends that the importance of physically securing sensitive sites within a company cannot be overlooked. Concurring, Fernandez and Sinibaldi (2003) explain that the securitization of sensitive physical sites within a corporate structure is comprised of four principle components. First is the management of physical locations, whereby the access control system policy should be designed and implemented with the purpose of controlling access to locations/sites. Second is the control of who may access a restricted room. As different types of employees may have access to different areas/sites within the company, it is necessary to implement an authentication and authorization role-based access control system. The said role-based access control system does not simply identify who may and may not acces s particular sites but keeps logs with appropriate auditing facilities of the employees who entered each room at any particular time and date. Thirdly is the design and implementation of application interfaces which allow administrators to create new permissions, users and locations which, in turn, would allow supervisors to generate audit reports to survey access to rooms and to allow users to change passwords, among others (Fernandez and Sinibaldi, 2003). The often technology mediated securitization of access to physical sites is dictated by the imperatives of ensuring that no unauthorized persons are able to gain access to sensitive data or, indeed,

Systematic review critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Systematic review critique - Essay Example There are statements that also include recommendations which are aimed at optimizing the care of patients which are called clinical practice guidelines. These guidelines are supposed to be guided by systematically reviewed evidence and an assessment of harms and benefits of all the alternative options for the care of patients. Rather than offering a one –size-fits-all kind of approach for the care of patient practice guidelines should in theory give an evaluation in terms of quality and precise scientific literature arrived at through extensive research and assessment of the possible harms and benefits of any particular treatment. This kind of information is supposed to enable the providers of health care to continue correctly in the selection the optimum care for each individual patient while taking into consideration their personal preferences. This is highly doubtable due to a large number of reasons in theory and on paper these guidelines should be easy to arrive at and fo llow but that is definitely not the case. The United States congress by the â€Å"Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008† requested the institute of medicine or IOM to conduct an extensive study of the most suitable methods as used in the development of clinical practice guidelines. Aiming to ensure that organization undertaking the development of these guidelines the suitable approach which would ideally be objective, valid scientifically, reliable and consistent, the IOM put together a committee of experts. This committee came up with eight very ambitious standards for developing the best clinical practices which can be trusted. Whether they succeeded, however is questionable. In as much as their intentions were in the right place it next to impossible to imagine that they would be followed to the letter some of these standards are bound to be sidelined or overlooked in some

Business Survival in a Recession Essay Example for Free

Business Survival in a Recession Essay

The Methodology of Female Slavery: Jezebel and Mammy

The Methodology of Female Slavery: Jezebel and Mammy Talking about blacks slavery we have to admit, that female slaves had to cope with and face both: the myth of a woman and the myth of the Negro. It was a difficult situation for women as they were standing at the crossroads of two ideologies, which affected them. Whereas men could escape only the stereotype of the Negro, woman had to escape both stereotype of the Negro and stereotype of the woman at all. As a result both blacks and women were characterized as infantile, irresponsible, submissive and promiscuous. Moreover, in political and economical aspect they were dependent on white men. What more they have in common is that both groups were subservient, powerless in relations with white males. They were also considered to be a kind of outsiders and inferiors. Looking at the era of slavery we can point out two types of African-American women: Jezebel and Mammy. As far as the Mammys is concerned, we can think about Hattie McDaniel, the Mammy in â€Å"Gone with the Wind†. What we see is overweight black woman dressed in a long robe, a head kerchief and a big smile which follows her all the time. In the American history, Mammy was a woman who took care of whites family, especially looking for their children. She was in charge of domestic management and a house servant. She has a strength, experience and willing to do her duties. She was the main house servant and other people were subordinated to her. Mammy was a woman who could do almost everything, and did it even better than anyone else could do. She was often indispensable. What is also important about Mammy, is that she was also a in-home psychologist who often had to serve as a friend and advisor. She was where white women could not be, including playing with children, cooking and cleaning. Most of us think of a Mammy as a maid, who had to work because of her slave status, but the truth is that she was more than that. Of course, she was doing all the things which maid usually does, but also she was like a family member, taking care of white familys personal issues. She was very protective, giving her care and love towards the white children. She was totally devoted to the family because she often did not have her own family and children. Also her interactions were limited due to her obligations. What is more Mammy normally was on the call at all hours, she almost did not have private time, she was often tired and exhausted, being under the scrutiny of the white family. There were some advantages for Mammy like leaving the plantation as waiting maid for their traveling mistresses, or learning to read and write by family members. Nowadays we can see the stereotype of Mammy in the movies or in the pictures, which show us fat, middle-aged, nonsexual and smiling black woman, but it is not how we should imagine and perceive Mammy. According to historical facts, they were not fat, because they did not eat a lot. They were rather young, they rarely passed the 50 limit. Furthermore, not always they were totally black, because they were very often daughters of women raped by white men. The sexual exploitation of black women by white men was unfortunately frequent situation during the antebellum period. In other words, black women were sexually exploited by rich whites, middle class whites, and poor whites. Sexual relations between blacks and whites whether consensual or rapes were taboo. However they occurred often. All black women and girls, regardless of their physical appearances, were vulnerable to being sexually assaulted by white men. Summing up, Mammy was really taking care of the children she was raising them and she was very important member of family. But we still have to point out that she was a slave and did not have much choice, so somehow she had to accept her fate. However if we compare Mammys duties with these of the field worker, we can admit that her situation was far way better. It was also less physically demanding. Comparing to the field worker Mammy could expect better treatment in terms of providing her with food, clothing, medical treatment and sometimes education. The Second type of black woman in times of slavery was Jezebel, who stood in the opposition of the Mammys image. Talking about Jezebel we should imagine young beautiful, sexual free, promiscuous woman, who was often governed by her libido. The perfect example of Jezebel was shown by actress Nina Mae McKinney in a movie â€Å"Hallelujah!†. In those days Jezebel completely stood in opposition not only to Mammy, but also to all white women who were portrayed as self respected with sexual purity. Jezebel was a woman who knew what she wanted, very seductive with lots of emotions and not ashamed of her sexuality. Black men after raping white women were castrated or hanged, whereas white men had no problems with law after raping black slave. Legally they could not do it so easily, because slave women were properties. White men often encouraged the slave women to have a sexual relation by giving them gifts. But also Jezabel made agreements with white men. Sometimes they had a choice to work on the field or to be a sexual attraction for a white male, what made her more independent than her hard working friends. Also black women agreed voluntarily for having sex with white men, because they knew that if they refused they could be forced to it and raped, beaten or even sold. By giving themselves to white masters they gained the chance for some advantages. If they were liked by them they were often awarded. This is one of the reasons why black women were called lust and promiscuous. Jezebel was the object of disdain, hate and envy from the side of white women. During those times white women were co vering all of they bodies with lots of clothes, because nudity was perceived as a lack of civility, morality and sexual restrain. They considered them to be immodest and sexually aberrant. As I have mentioned before, being Jezebel had many disadvantages, one of them was possibility of rape. As a result she often got pregnant. The owner benefited from this situation, because he had supply of next slaves. Sometimes slaves even got a prize for being pregnant, for example they were given a pig. Then according to those facts, we could call a Jezebel as a 18th and 19th century prostitute. Actually the truth is that this image continues till today. The half naked, pretty and hot image now looks good and contemporary African-American women very often want to be a Jezebel. However this image shows us not a slave and prostitute but an independent woman who is confident about her sexuality, her race and look. I think that nowadays the Jezebels image has replaced Mammys as the dominant image of black woman in pop culture. We can observe it in movies, video clips, even on the streets. Black women want to be Jezebel nowadays. They like to show sexual purity, talking about womens needs and sexual abilities. However some of them may even do not know about the origins of the Jezebel image. On the other hand I think that we can also find lots of Mammys images among black women. Except of what had been said above, Mammys were also presented in commercials. Mammy image was very often used to sell household items, food, detergents or beverages. She was presented as the overweight black woman, cooking or doing house-works and of course smiling. To sum up, there is no denying that the images and stereotypes of the slave women during the times of slavery definitely had an impact of the look and behavior of the contemporary African- American woman.

Motivation and Broadbent’s Filter Model of Attention

Motivation and Broadbent’s Filter Model of Attention Foundations in Sport Psychology XingChi Shen Term Paper for the Course Foundations in Sport Psychology Abstract: in this paper, two most impressive topics, the motivation and Broadbent’s filter model of attention respectively, are chosen from various interesting topics as the focus of this essay. First their concepts are analyzed and then their applications in the cheerleading phenomenon are discussed. Cheerleaders can raise spirits, strengthen confidence, and set up the players a motivation and strengthen psychological pressure on the rivals and achieve deterrent effects on the rivals. But on the other hand, cheerleaders can generate some negativeeffects. Therefore, in practice people should appropriately design and organize the activities of the cheerleaders to let the cheerleaders affect the audiences, and strengthen the athletes confidence, and enhance the audiences passions. At last, my personal reflection for this course is addressed. 1. Topics Chosen During the process of studying the course of Foundations in Sport Psychology, we learned many principles of sport psychology, including the concepts of collaboration and competition, the process of the cognitive psychology, the concepts of social loafing, and the motivation of sport (Martin, Carlson, and Buskist, 2000; Weinberg Gould 2011). We also knew the experimental method and biological fundaments of psychology. Although the course emphasizes psychological factors in sport, but the course provides us many general theories of psychology. This course has opened our minds and shown us a colorful world in our inside world, which we never noted before. However, among various interesting topics, two are most impressive for us: the motivation and Broadbent’s filter model for peoples cognitive process. In this paper we will choose these two topics as the focus of this essay and discuss their applications in the sport. 2. Theoretical and Conceptual Principles of Sport Psychology In the first place, motivation is one of the most important concepts in sport psychology because people participating any sport have various motivations. For example, some people play tennis with friends because they mainly want to improve skills and have fun with friends, while other may want to develop fitness by playing tennis. For some professional athletes, their motivation is to achieve a success in their sport career. From this class we learn the interactional view of motivation: motivated behavior is primarily determined by situational factors, but motivated behavior results from the interaction of participant personal factors and situational factors (Martin, Carlson, and Buskist, 2000; Weinberg Gould 2011). Shown in Fig.1, personal factors contain athletes personalities, needs, interests, and goals, while situational factors includes lead-coach style, team win loss record, and facilities attractiveness, etc (Martin, Carlson, and Buskist, 2000; Weinberg Gould 2011). Here si tuational factors also include audience response in the competition. Athletes apparently can be affected by audience response, while cheerleading is a very important method to stimulate the audiences response in matches. Fig.1 interaction of participant personal factors and situational factors In the second place, psychological research shows when people engage in certain activities, their psychological status will be affected by the environment. Consequently, their actions and actions results will be further affected by these factors accordingly. In the field of sports, a lot of practices have shown that athlete’s cheerleaders will impose certain psychological effects, thereby affecting the athletes sport results or performance. Even the American diver Michelle Davison says, â€Å"Everyone is pretty much at the same level physically, [The difference comes down to] who can hold it together mentally. (Using Psychology to Improve Sports Performance 2014). Moreover, Dr. Magulubur published a paper in Olympic scientific congress in 1984 that the impact of psychological factors for the athletes in low, mid-level skills is 20%, bio-mechanical factors account for 80%. For elite athletes these numbers are just the opposite. i.e., psychological factors may account for 80% a nd biological mechanical actors are 20% (Using Psychology to Improve Sports Performance 2014). American track and file athlete Carl Lewis has said 90% of preparation is the pre-match psychological. So the psychological factors play a decisive role in the match. Moreover, many researchers have investigated the influence of the mental factors for the performance of the athletes and injure of athletes in details. For example, they investigated the psychological factors such as the competitive anxiety and coach may lead to injure of the athletes in matches (Junge 2000). Among many explanations about the connection between psychological status and the performance of athletes, we just concern the psychological theory of attention, since in the competition of athletes. The problem of attention is very important for an athlete to achieve success. In basis of Broadbent filters model shown as Fig.2, people have a process to use a message they receive (Broadbent, 1958). First, all messages from outside are input into the sensor store of human, but selectively transferred into our brains, in basis of their physical properties such as color, pitch, and loudness. After going through a bottleneck, the information is transmitted into high level processing and finally into short term memory and then into long term memory. This theory emphasizes that the world comprises of many more sensations than we can handle by the perceptual and cognitive capabilities of humans. To cope with the information, we have to selectively keep to some information. Attention, therefo re, is the result of a limited-capacity information-processing system. Fig.2 Broadbent’s filter model of attention We noted that the cheerleading becomes a very common activities in the match, especially in the NFL (National Football League) and NBA (National Basketball Association) basket ball companions. And even the cheerleading becomes one necessary part of match in the US. We see often them from the TV and newspaper. Therefore, we are interested in what the functions of the cheerleading in the match, and how the applications of the aforementioned principles of sport psychology into the cheerleaders phenomenon. We will explain these details in the next section. 3.Application to Cheerleaders Phenomenon 3.1 The introduction of cheerleader Even though currently most cheerleads team consists of females, the cheerleading began as all-male activity. The first cheerleader team dates back to in 1987, when cheerleaders yelled at the stadium of the Princeton University for their baseball and football athletes. After that, many universities and high schools have established such of cheerleaders and they often play performances in the NFL and NBA matches. Table 1. Top 10 cheerleading organizations in the US (Campo-Flores 2007 ) However, until 1980 in the United States, cheerleading has developed into the athletics competition, gradually developed into International All Star Cheerleading Association (the IASCA) competition (Smith 2007). In 1998, International Cheerleading Union (International Cheerleading Federation), a world cheerleading organization supported by the United States was established as an important turning point in the history of cheerleading. The International Cheerleading Union successfully hosted the first Cheerleading World Championship in 2001. Eight countries (Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and China Taiwan) around the world participated, and the Japanese team won the championship (Campo-Flores 2007). Newsday, cheerleading itself has developed into an independent sport. Today it is estimated that over 1.5 million participants are active in the all star cheerleading in the US. In addition, about 1000,000 cheerleaders are scattered around the world, including Canada, China, German, Japan, and United Kingdom. To date, more than 60 countries around the world to carry out this campaign (Campo-Flores 2007). Fig.3 the Cheerleader of NFL and NBA Boston Celtics (Cheerleaders of NFL and NBA Boston Celtics 2014) Today modern cheerleaders movement blends many elements of hand gymnastics, dancing, gymnastics, sports skills, coupled with a strong sense of rhythm music. They demonstrate the athletes spirit and collective spirit of solidarity in the competition. In addition to athletes, referees, and spectators, cheerleaders are active in sports venues of the fourth character. At least cheerleading has a function of spectators. But unlike simple spectators, cheerleading has more obvious and deliberate purpose on the athletes. With respect to the athletes themselves, cheerleading is an external factor capable of acting on the inner psychological athletes. In this section we will apply the theory of the motivation and the cognitive psychology in analyzing the cheerleading phenomenon. 3.2 Format of cheerleader According to its organization format, cheerleading can mainly be divided into the following two categories: (1) Simple cheerleaders: They are also known as yelling cheerleaders. They mainly consist of the athletes families, friends and fans. They just yell, clap, or shake hands at the stadium in order to encourage athletes. It is a common way of cheering athletes. For individual athletes or entire team, the cheerleaders can raise spirits, strengthen confidence, and set up the players a motivation that it is not only a win for themselves, they win for more. It allows individuals competitive spirit more adequate and help them access to get out of the ego. Meanwhile, it can strengthen psychological pressure on the rivals and achieve deterrent effects on the rivals. A good cheerleader can even produce artificial home field advantage. Athletes are not in home field, but if the cheerleaders can control the visiting fields audiences, so players can feel they are at home field, thereby enhancing their confidence and strengthen the winning mentality. In fact, friends group and fans group of athlete stars also can organize cheerleaders to support one athlete or group, and generate the psychological offensive for the rivals. (2) Show cheerleader: This cheerleading includes 1-3 minutes long aerobics performance show at opening, midfield transition, or closing. Athletes groups (individual members or groups of members compete with each other) create and improve the environment and atmosphere of the competition. The athletes groups and audience can be affected which let them have feelings of joy and excitement. Often these cheerleaders will show many movements of gymnastics and dances. From a business standpoint, these cheerleaders market has become the mainstream in the current competition matches. Through purposeful selection members, after careful preparation, show cheerleaders can design their movement and adjust the competitive atmosphere of the scene, and inspire athletes to fight attracted the audiences attention. Many cheerleaders we saw from the TV and newspaper belong to this type. However, on the other hand, cheerleading may generate some negativeeffects. In a sport context an attention is a vital aspect of athletic performance. As we mentioned from the Broadbent model, to cope with the messages, we have to selectively attend to some information. However, in the competition, inappropriate cheerleading activities can use loudly yelling, or some special color to distribute the athletes attention and dampen their enthusiasm. Recently, many experts concluded that cheerleaders may hinder the game In games such as gymnastics, aerobics, fraught with difficult moves, such as juggling, tumbling, athletes need to concentrate their attentions, otherwise they will be extremely vulnerable to generate adverse consequences. But sometimes the cheerleaders are hard to realize this point and may generate some negative effects. Therefore, in practice people should appropriately design and organize the activities of the cheerleaders to let the cheerleaders affect the audiences, and strengthen the athletes confidence, and enhance the audiences passions, not to interrupt the athletes concentration. In details, based on the schedule of the match, the type of the competition, and the audiences, cheerleading should choose the music, performance actions, and location of performance. On the other hand, the athletes should strength the psychological training to avoid the interference by the cheerleading and audiences. 4. Personal Reflection In this semester, we first learned many psychological concepts from this course. We took many tests and assignments in the classes. However, only by through writing this essay, we have an opportunity to further understand the concepts that we learned in this course. In the first place, this course gives me many new ideals about the psychology and widens my horizons. I feel the psychological concepts are useful in our life. For example, people have different personality and mood, which can be determined by their inner world, but can be adjusted by the environment. However, when I write this reflection paper, I reviewed many concepts and chose the most important points which I learned in this paper. To write this paper, I search all kinds of knowledge of the sport psychology. For example, I find some topics as the research of the experiment of sport psychology. Even though the result is very interested, it is not fitful for this paper. When we saw the pictures of cheerleaders from internet, we think it is a good topics to connect the sport psychology to our life, since everyone know what is cheerleader and cheerleading has some psychological principles. We thought this topic and finally choose motivation and cognitive psychology in this paper and consider their applications in sport. In the second place, from this course we know how important of psychology in the sport. For instance, I am also a player of badminton and I have my personal experience. I understand how important of the mental status in playing badminton. Moreover, understanding some psychological principles can help me improve our performance in the match. Especially when we continuously lose several points in the competition, we should not blame our partner. On the country, we encourage each other with my team players and make ourselves relaxed. In addition, we can ask for my friends to organize one cheerleader for us and encourage us in the match. That is very useful in practice. Thirdly, I read many papers talking about the connection between the sport injure and the mental issue of athletes. Even this course concentrates on the sport psychology; the principles are still useful for any person. For example, I was very nervous before taking the exam. By from this course, we know that the self-confidence is very important for achieving better performance not only for athletes, but also for students. So this course helps me tread correctly the anxiety and pressure at exams. It helps me understand the mechanism of the anxiety, and teach me how to resolve the anxiety. Therefore, as for this aspect, the course is very useful in practice. In the near future, we would like to apply these principles we learned in this course into practice. References Broadbent, D (1958). Perception and Communication. London: Pergamon Press. Campo-Flores, Arian (2007). A World of Cheer!. Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/cheerleading-gains-popularity-worldwide-101645. Cheerleaders of NFL and NBA Boston Celtics (2014), Pics from http://www.spox.com/de/sport/diashows/cheearleader-nba-nfl/cheerleader-nfl-nba,seite=23.html Junge, Astrid (2000), The Influence of Psychological Factors on Sports Injuries, Review of the Literature. Am J Sports Med.2000;28(5 Suppl):S10-5. Martin, G.N. Carlson, N.R. and Buskist, W. (2010) Psychology. Pearson Educational Press: Harlow, Essex. Smith, Jennifer Renà ¨e (February 2007). The All-Star Chronicles, American Cheerleader13(1): 40–42. Schmidt, R. A. and Wrisberg, C.A. (2008). Motor learning and performance: A Situation-Based Learning Approach. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Using Psychology to Improve Sports Performance (2014). Retrieved from www.spicewoodgroup.com/sports_psych.asp. Weinberg, R. S., Gould, D. (2011). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. (5th Ed.) Word count 2524