Category: Uncategorized

Jocelyn Lupercio

Ms. Alma Lopez

English 102-72

12 May 2022

Beauty Standard Effects on Society

With the help of celebrities and social media, society has set a beauty standard that makes a significant number of people question their looks. This standard only defines what society believes makes an attractive, desirable, perfect, and beautiful look. The ideal Western beauty standards include having light skin, being tall and skinny, with long hair, having a small nose, large eyes and big breasts, and having long legs. The Western culture of beauty is ubiquitous and rapidly circulating worldwide, with these beauty standards being promoted by the televisions, fashion industries, the internet, and social media. For instance, when the media advertises beauty is usually advertised as a person with a slim figure and flawless textured skin and not mention beautiful shiny hair. Also, influencers, celebrities, brands, and models use the set beauty standards to sell themselves by creating an image of perfection on social media. Most perfect bodies on social media and Instagram platforms are highly manipulated and edited (Bosco 1). The beauty standards set by society that are promoted by media and certain influencers have proven to affect society physically, emotionally, and in health. Therefore, a more diverse, self-loving, and accepting interpersonal beauty should be encouraged.

Advertisements, social media, and some of the television programs watched today continue pushing the expectations of the ideal Western beauty standards on young women instead of preventing the escalation of these standards. They overwhelm people who are not comfortable with their physical appearances pushing them to want to fit into the standard. This statement is supported by Bosco (1), who states that the expectations of society trigger the feeling of incompleteness. It is estimated that between 20% and 40% of women are not satisfied with their bodies, while about 10% to 30% of men display body dissatisfaction (Quittkat 2). Therefore, to avoid social exclusion, most women will do whatever it takes to adhere to society’s ideal of perfection by whatever means. Some women retort to weight loss methods such as dieting to attain their desired appearance, while the majority of women engage in different forms of body sculpting and cosmetic surgery to attain their desired appearance. Only 5% of women naturally have the ideal body type depicted by Americans in the media (Lincoln n.p). Research also reveals that cosmetic procedure trends have increased a 22% from the year 2000 to the year 2020 (Cosmetic Procedure Trends n.p).

Women’s weight loss practices and cosmetic surgeries to help them fit into the set beauty standards are associated with adverse health effects. Extreme diets result in the development of eating disorders such as Bulimia or Anorexia (Swami 706). At least 9% of the global population is affected by eating disorders, with America having about 28.8 million people suffering from an eating disorder in their lifetime. Eating disorders are reported to be among the deadliest mental sicknesses, with roughly 10,200 people suffering from mental sicknesses every year (ANAD n.p). In 2017, approximately 3.3 million lives across the world were lost to eating disorders (Van 523). Most of these deaths were from Anorexia Nervosa (AN), which is reported to be the eating disorder with the highest mortality rate (Edakubo1). On the other hand, cosmetic surgeries may result in severe health effects such as bruises and hematoma, formation of seroma, infections, excessive blood loss, nerve damage causing motor or sensory loss, scarring, and anesthesia-related problems. Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are more severe problems associated with cosmetic surgery that may lead to death (Khunger 190).

Not being the “ideal” beauty standard can also affect one mentally and emotionally. To begin with, women’s self-esteem suffers as a result of media-imposed unrealistic beauty standards, which encourage them to believe that their physical attractiveness falls short of the “perfect look.” Research also reveals that roughly 91% of women are not happy with their physical appearances (Lincoln n.p). Also, poor body image is associated with depressive symptoms and higher anxiety levels (Satghare 1). The 2019 body image report published by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) revealed that 35% of the surveyed individuals were depressed while 34% were feeling anxious due to their body image (MHF n.p). Low self-esteem is the main cause of depression. People with more depressive symptoms experience lesser social interactions facilitated by various reasons. Firstly, these people may experience rejection from others because they create a poor mood for their interaction partners. Also, the social environment is less likely to reinforce them, thus making them feel uncomfortable in social interactions and are less likely to participate in social activities (Elmer 1). Also, the sense of not looking or feeling good enough regardless of what one does may affect a person, making them close off and not want to go out because they are scared about negative comments people will have to say about them.

It is important to note that beauty is not only tailored to one specific body type, color, or height. Beauty can come in all types of shapes and sizes, and it is important that one loves themselves despite their physical appearance. Usually, the core value of people and personality play a big factor in beauty. One may be having trouble with accepting their bodies; however, there are proven practices of self-love that can make an individual more comfortable within their external and internal selves. One of these practices is engaging in physical exercise. Research reveals that physical exercise positively impacts body image and self-esteem by making people feel thinner, stronger, and happier (Gaddad 775).

Also, recognizing inner beauty assists people in accepting their bodies. Usually, people with inner beauty like and accept themselves for who they are (Yolinda 1). Instead of being obsessed with the outer appearance, these individuals understand that there is much more to a person’s beauty than the physical appearance. This helps them avoid harming themselves to fit into the beauty standards set by society. To these people, inner beauty, which is defined by someone’s personality, is what matters to them. Inner beauty is reflected in how people present themselves to the world. It includes virtues such as humility, sincerity, selflessness, positivity, and appreciativeness. People with inner beauty also do not compare themselves with others. This gives them satisfaction with their body images, and they will not want to look like others. Research reveals that an individual’s satisfaction with their physique is a vital component of self-acceptance (Rajagopalan 299). Accepting one’s body helps reduce the pressure from society’s set beauty standards. Furthermore, the formation of support groups can help in increasing people’s self-esteem and improve their body image acceptance. Research reveals that social support groups can have a good effect on improving the way one can perceive oneself. For instance, the Girls’ Circle support group assisted in increasing girls’ social support, self-efficacy, and body image (Steese et al. 55).

In conclusion, society’s beauty standards may not seem ideal and create insecurities. Such insecurities adversely affect individuals’ physical, mental, and emotional health. Most women will do whatever it takes to adhere to society’s ideal of perfection. They may end up engaging in excessive dieting, which results in eating disorders such as Bulimia and Anorexia. Eating disorders are serious sicknesses and may result in death. Also, people may be tempted to undergo cosmetic surgeries to fit into the set beauty standards. These surgeries are also associated with severe effects. Also, not being the “ideal” beauty standard can result in loss of self-esteem and depression. It is vital to note that beauty is not only tailored to one specific body type, color, or height. It can come in all types of shapes and sizes. This can be achieved by acknowledging one’s inner beauty, which creates more self-love and acceptance. Inner beauty is reflected in how people present themselves to the world and is characterized by virtues such as humility, sincerity, selflessness, positivity, and appreciativeness. People with inner beauty are not obsessed with their outer appearance but focus mainly on a person’s personality.

Works Cited

ANAD.” Eating Disorder Statistics .”National Association Of Anorexia Nervosa And Associated Disorders, 2021, https://anad.org/eating-disorders-statistics/.

Bosco, Maria Concetta Lo. “Social media, beauty standards and the discriminatory bias in body transformation practices: a commentary on why posthuman thinking matters.”  EbscoHost. Web Interface

Cosmetic Procedure Trends – Plasticsurgery.org. 2021. https://www.plasticsurgery.org/documents/News/Statistics/2020/cosmetic-procedure-trends-2020.pdf.

Edakubo, Shunsuke, and Kiyohide Fushimi. “Mortality and risk assessment for anorexia nervosa in acute-care hospitals: a nationwide administrative database analysis.” BMC Psychiatry 20.1 (2020): 1-8.

Elmer, Timon, and Christoph Stadtfeld. “Depressive symptoms are associated with social isolation in face-to-face interaction networks.” Scientific Reports 10.1 (2020): 1-12.

Gaddad, Preeti, et al. “Relationship of physical activity with body image, self-esteem sedentary lifestyle, body mass index and eating attitude in adolescents: A cross-sectional observational study.” Journal of family medicine and primary care 7.4 (2018): 775-779.

Khunger, Niti. “Complications in cosmetic surgery: A time to reflect and review and not sweep them under the carpet.” Journal of cutaneous and aesthetic surgery 8.4 (2015): 189–190.

Lincoln, Stephanie. “Promoting Positive Body Image Training With Dr. Caryn Bello .”The Junior League Of Boston, Inc., 2022, https://www.jlboston.org/promoting-positive-body-image-training-with-dr-caryn-bello/.

Mental Health Foundation, 2022. “Body Image Report – Executive Summary .”https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/body-image-report/exec-summary.

Quittkat, Hannah L., et al. “Body dissatisfaction, the importance of appearance, and body appreciation in men and women over the lifespan.” Frontiers in psychiatry 10 (2019): 1-12.

Rajagopalan, Jaya. “Body Appreciation: Through the Lens of Positive Psychology.” Indian Journal of Positive Psychology 12.4 (2021): 299-302.

Satghare, Pratika, et al. “The relative associations of body image dissatisfaction among psychiatric out-patients in Singapore.” International Journal of environmental research and Public health 16.24 (2019): 1-12.

Steese, Stephanie, et al. “Understanding GIRLS’CIRCLE as an intervention ON perceived social support, body image, self-efficacy, locus OF control, and self-esteem.” Adolescence 41.161 (2006): 55.

Swami, Viren, et al. “Associations between women’s body image and happiness: Results of the YouBeauty. com Body Image Survey (YBIS).” Journal of Happiness Studies 16.3 (2015): 705-718.

van Hoeken, Daphne, and Hans W. Hoek. “Review of the burden of eating disorders: mortality, disability, costs, quality of life, and family burden.” Current opinion in psychiatry 33.6 (2020): 521-527.

Yolinda, Regina. “The Concept of Beauty in Elsheskin’s# ImPerfectBeauty Campaign: Semiotic Analysis of Advertisement.” Available at SSRN 4070457 (2021).

A Hegelian Religion

In the excerpt from his book Hegel’s Philosophy of Religion, Bernard M. G. Reardon allows the reader to become more familiar with religion and its role in the world, according to Hegel. In describing Hegel’s views, Reardon expresses a number of points of interest concerning the general place of religion in Hegel’s philosophy, as well as its importance for human beings. One of the most striking aspects of Hegel’s views of religion involve its contrast with those of his predecessors. Unlike Kant and Descartes, Hegel believes that “to the genuinely religious man talk about proving divine existence is an irrelevance” (p. 28). He does believe that emotion is an integral part of religion, as Schleiermacher does, but unlike Schleiermacher, he insists that religion is more than feeling: “…but when I say ‘I have God in my heart’ the feeling is here expressly represented as the continuous, permanent manner of any existence. The heart is what I am; not merely what I am at this moment, but what I am in general; it is my character.” (p. 32) For Hegel, the Vorstellungen of feeling are limited by the senses, but when coupled with thought that “‘lifts up the sensuous qualities of the content to the realm of universal thought-determinations'” (p. 33), one can truly understand the concept of religion. Hegel uses the term Begriff, to describe the “gripping together” of the different aspects of the perception of religion. His view seems to offer a more complete depiction of religion, as opposed to the partial and one-sided depictions offered by Kant and Schleiermacher. This is wholly in agreement with his overall philosophy, in which only the whole is true. The place of religion in Hegel’s depiction of reality lies between art and philosophy. It becomes clear that, while art presents truth in a sensual manner and philosophy serves as the mental dwelling upon the metaphysical, religion acts as the bridge between the two sides. Granted, neither art nor metaphysics can truly be described in the simplicity above, but it seems that religion offers aspects of both.

In Hegel’s view, “religion and philosophy share, as I [Reardon] have stated, one supreme object: God and the Absolute” (p. 31). Hegel argues that religion cannot possibly be wholly or essentially emotional in its character because “feeling belongs to man’s animal nature and is confined to the individual and subjective” (p. 31). This would eliminate the existence of an Absolute Truth, objectively perceptible by the intellect: an idea completely opposed to Hegel’s beliefs. Another important aspect and goal of religion is its self-reflective nature. Not merely self-reflective on an individual level, but on a universal level, as well. For Hegel, religion is “the knowledge which the Spirit has of itself as spirit” (p. 60). In Hegel’s system of philosophy, mankind’s consciousness is a result of the Spirit’s drive to know itself. Religion is a manifestation of this drive.

The discussion develops further, as Reardon describes Hegel’s interpretation of evil as “the drive of the finite things to be simply what they are as finite” (p. 69). Hegel maintains that there must exist a reconciliation between the infinite and the finite: “Reconciliation is a correction of this, a reorientation of the finite away from its own finitude to the infinite, its source and true home” (p. 69). This reconciliation occurs in art, and now in religion. Like art, religion helps mankind to reorient itself towards the infinite, but on a higher, more intellectual level. A Hegelian Religion In the excerpt from his book Hegel’s Philosophy of Religion, Bernard M. G. Reardon allows the reader to become more familiar with religion and its role in the world, according to Hegel. In describing Hegel’s views, Reardon expresses a number of points of interest concerning the general place of religion in Hegel’s philosophy, as well as its importance for human beings. One of the most striking aspects of Hegel’s views of religion involve its contrast with those of his predecessors. Unlike Kant and Descartes, Hegel believes that “to the genuinely religious man talk about proving divine existence is an irrelevance” (p. 28). He does believe that emotion is an integral part of religion, as Schleiermacher does, but unlike Schleiermacher, he insists that religion is more than feeling: “…but when I say ‘I have God in my heart’ the feeling is here expressly represented as the continuous, permanent manner of any existence.

The heart is what I am; not merely what I am at this moment, but what I am in general; it is my character.” (p. 32) For Hegel, the Vorstellungen of feeling are limited by the senses, but when coupled with thought that “‘lifts up the sensuous qualities of the content to the realm of universal thought-determinations'” (p. 33), one can truly understand the concept of religion. Hegel uses the term Begriff, to describe the “gripping together” of the different aspects of the perception of religion. His view seems to offer a more complete depiction of religion, as opposed to the partial and one-sided depictions offered by Kant and Schleiermacher. This is wholly in agreement with his overall philosophy, in which only the whole is true. The place of religion in Hegel’s depiction of reality lies between art and philosophy. It becomes clear that, while art presents truth in a sensual manner and philosophy serves as the mental dwelling upon the metaphysical, religion acts as the bridge between the two sides. Granted, neither art nor metaphysics can truly be described in the simplicity above, but it seems that religion offers aspects of both.

In Hegel’s view, “religion and philosophy share, as I [Reardon] have stated, one supreme object: God and the Absolute” (p. 31). Hegel argues that religion cannot possibly be wholly or essentially emotional in its character because “feeling belongs to man’s animal nature and is confined to the individual and subjective” (p. 31). This would eliminate the existence of an Absolute Truth, objectively perceptible by the intellect: an idea completely opposed to Hegel’s beliefs. Another important aspect and goal of religion is its self-reflective nature. Not merely self-reflective on an individual level, but on a universal level, as well. For Hegel, religion is “the knowledge which the Spirit has of itself as spirit” (p. 60). In Hegel’s system of philosophy, mankind’s consciousness is a result of the Spirit’s drive to know itself. Religion is a manifestation of this drive. The discussion develops further, as Reardon describes Hegel’s interpretation of evil as “the drive of the finite things to be simply what they are as finite” (p. 69). Hegel maintains that there must exist a reconciliation between the infinite and the finite: “Reconciliation is a correction of this, a reorientation of the finite away from its own finitude to the infinite, its source and true home” (p. 69). This reconciliation occurs in art, and now in religion. Like art, religion helps mankind to reorient itself towards the infinite, but on a higher, more intellectual level.

A Hegelian Religion In the excerpt from his book Hegel’s Philosophy of Religion, Bernard M. G. Reardon allows the reader to become more familiar with religion and its role in the world, according to Hegel. In describing Hegel’s views, Reardon expresses a number of points of interest concerning the general place of religion in Hegel’s philosophy, as well as its importance for human beings. One of the most striking aspects of Hegel’s views of religion involve its contrast with those of his predecessors. Unlike Kant and Descartes, Hegel believes that “to the genuinely religious man talk about proving divine existence is an irrelevance” (p. 28). He does believe that emotion is an integral part of religion, as Schleiermacher does, but unlike Schleiermacher, he insists that religion is more than feeling: “…but when I say ‘I have God in my heart’ the feeling is here expressly represented as the continuous, permanent manner of any existence. The heart is what I am; not merely what I am at this moment, but what I am in general; it is my character.” (p. 32) For Hegel, the Vorstellungen of feeling are limited by the senses, but when coupled with thought that “‘lifts up the sensuous qualities of the content to the realm of universal thought-determinations'” (p. 33), one can truly understand the concept of religion. Hegel uses the term Begriff, to describe the “gripping together” of the different aspects of the perception of religion. His view seems to offer a more complete depiction of religion, as opposed to the partial and one-sided depictions offered by Kant and Schleiermacher.

This is wholly in agreement with his overall philosophy, in which only the whole is true. The place of religion in Hegel’s depiction of reality lies between art and philosophy. It becomes clear that, while art presents truth in a sensual manner and philosophy serves as the mental dwelling upon the metaphysical, religion acts as the bridge between the two sides. Granted, neither art nor metaphysics can truly be described in the simplicity above, but it seems that religion offers aspects of both. In Hegel’s view, “religion and philosophy share, as I [Reardon] have stated, one supreme object: God and the Absolute” (p. 31). Hegel argues that religion cannot possibly be wholly or essentially emotional in its character because “feeling belongs to man’s animal nature and is confined to the individual and subjective” (p. 31). This would eliminate the existence of an Absolute Truth, objectively perceptible by the intellect: an idea completely opposed to Hegel’s beliefs. Another important aspect and goal of religion is its self-reflective nature.

Not merely self-reflective on an individual level, but on a universal level, as well. For Hegel, religion is “the knowledge which the Spirit has of itself as spirit” (p. 60). In Hegel’s system of philosophy, mankind’s consciousness is a result of the Spirit’s drive to know itself. Religion is a manifestation of this drive. The discussion develops further, as Reardon describes Hegel’s interpretation of evil as “the drive of the finite things to be simply what they are as finite” (p. 69). Hegel maintains that there must exist a reconciliation between the infinite and the finite: “Reconciliation is a correction of this, a reorientation of the finite away from its own finitude to the infinite, its source and true home” (p. 69). This reconciliation occurs in art, and now in religion. Like art, religion helps mankind to reorient itself towards the infinite, but on a higher, more intellectual level.

Beck Depression Inventory

Student’s name

Institution of affiliation

Instructor

Course

Date

Title: Beck Depression Inventory

Authors: Aaron T. Beck

Edition: 1961

Instructions

Beck Depression Inventory also known as BDI is a measurement for depression as well as its degree among people and it also looks into the dynamics of how the depression changes and its effects as it changes. The test is available online unlike before when a person had to answer questions either in person or on a paper. Therefore a person goes to the relevant website for example (Beck`s Depression Inventory – Take Beck`s Depression Test Online (psycho-tests.com) and they enroll themselves to the test and immediately take it by answering the questions asked. The most important directive for answering and scoring this test is the honesty with which a person is supposed to answer the questions. This is because the results are solely based on the answers given and if a person wants to get true results, they also have to give true answers to the questions asked. There is also an important part of the information which states that even though the test is important it is mainly for educational and information purposes only and that the help or a real specialist is needed in case there is a concern which needs to be addressed. After answering the questions, the system automatically brings about the results which include, severity od depression (out of 63), cognitive-affective depression symptoms (out of 24) and somatic depression symptoms (out of 39).

Construct

The questionnaire restricts itself to a single construct in that, every question of the 21 questions is the same. They all ask about a person’s health situation now for the last one week. However the answers and different and they are also multiple choice answers whereby a person chooses what they will is the best thing to describe themselves. Therefore, the general issue being measured is degree of depression. However, this comes combined with other constructs like severity of depression, somatic expressive symptoms and cognitive affective depression symptoms. Even though all these are related they measure differently and they are the ones that are combined and interpreted to come up with the rate of depression of a person.

Target population

The major target population of the BDI are the people who go to counsellors with issues of depression management and these people are in need of assistance. This test can help a psychologist to determine the problem with a person and they immediately suggest ways forward and how they are going to help the patient recover from whatever is making them angry. There is no age specification for this kind of test however adolescents and adults are the one mainly involved.

Content

The content of the questionnaire is that the person is supposed to answer one correct answer for all the 4 possible answers given in question. The question remains the same but the answers remain different. All the questions ask a person to “Choose the statement that best describes your health during the past week, including today: “under this question there are many different types of possible answers and therefore a person is supposed to answer one of them.

Psychometric Information

Eun-Ho et al, (2017), standardized or ran a study through which he stated that the tool was good for use since after testing very few abnormalities came around and which are normal. Therefore, from the tests of Eun Ho et al, the tool and the test is totally good and okay to be used by the public.

Ease Of Access

This is one of the best things when it comes to BDI. The time required to answer the questions is around 3 minutes or 5 minutes. This is because the questions are very easy and they can be obtained from the internet whereby there is a clear and simple interpretation of the data in from of bar tables. The tool is also free for a lot of websites and therefore this also makes is easy for the tool to be used as it is available online for free. There is no Manual towards its use as well because it is used to measure the level of depression and very few instructions are available and are needed. Even though it provides information freely the tool requires a person to have a health officer around to help them interpret the results in a more accurate way and look towards a solution.

Summary

The outline is an important part of making changes to out daily lives and it has many strengths as well as weaknesses. One of the strengths is that it helps a person understand themselves better and through this they are likely to look for help if they feel at risk. The other strength is that it can be done multiple times for a person to check if the results they got he first time are true and find help or even refer friends tot eh site for assistance in dealing and managing depression issues.

One of the weaknesses of the tool is that a person might look on their own in private and fail to take the tool serious. This might lead to a person ignoring the results and going on with their life with depression and pretense. Therefore, in this case whereby it cannot help a person it becomes useless since the tool is readily available but not of any use to them. Another weakness of the tool is that it uses repetitive questions in the questionnaire and in fact a person can get bored answering the same questions even though the answers are different.

References

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Carbin, M. G. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical psychology review, 8(1), 77-100.

Jackson-Koku, G. (2016). Beck depression inventory. Occupational Medicine, 66(2), 174-175.

Teri, L. (1982). The use of the Beck Depression Inventory with adolescents. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 10(2), 277-284.

Journal

A Good Man is Hard to Find is a story that explores people’s reactions to imminent death. As Misfit arrives in town, the story explores how death and violence can change an individual’s character. One of the major characters in this story is the grandmother, and the author is quick to reveal her hypocritical and self-righteous behavior. For instance, while the grandmother is frustrated that her family does not listen to her, instead of finding the correct manner to approach her family, the grandmother opts to use manipulation and guilt to get her way. The grandmother’s hypocrisy is also evident in the way she dresses. Instead of focusing on her comfort, she opts to dress in a way that identifies her as a lady. This obsession with following social expectations reveals the grandmother’s narrow-mindedness and inability to understand that death is permanent. As such, should she die, her efforts to conform to the image of a respectable lady are pointless. Apart from the grandmother, the grandchildren are also hypocritical. For instance, while they are quick to point out that their grandmother is hypocritical, John Wesley and June Star’s behavior of disrespecting their elders and mocking their home regardless of knowing that they should act in a better manner is a form of hypocrisy. In the end, the family is forced to rethink their priorities when faced with violence and death. For instance, the grandmother’s moment of grace in reaching out to Misfit shows her love for her family and her ability to extend forgiveness to the individual threatening her family. Misfit is equally impacted by the grandmother’s moment of grace as he realizes that there is no pleasure in murder.

Mathew Lumaban

Professor Underwood

RWS 330

Date

A hero embodies an individual blessed with the ability to change a sudden outcome by venturing forward to a self-discovery kind of journey with the eventual hope of creating something worthwhile in the life. Although most heroes’ journey is seen to be uniquely independent of each other Joseph Campbell buts forth the narrative that this is apparently not the case but rather all heroes’ stories follow the same pattern of how exactly a hero behaves. Thus this pattern of continuity begs a question about destiny and fate. The main question being are we in control of our own destiny or does fate alone subjugate us. Taking into account that such a philosophical question is beyond doubt a philosophical conundrum Joseph Campbell takes it upon himself to try and answer it the best way possible by comparing various accounts from well key know individuals. Joseph Campbell outlines up to 17 stages that makes up a hero’s journey in his book ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’ also well known as the hero’s journey. Borrowing from the works of James Joyce and Finnegan Wake, Campbell eventually fully illustrates his theory of monomyth. His work not only explores 21st century fiction but it also takes into account old folklores and mythological works of past authors. Although his main work is to sum up most stories into a single common factor among all of them he does come up with a main concluding factor a common conclusion he agrees upon. Campbell’s eventual conclusion is that hard work is the only determinant to success and thus the ability to see or determine an individual’s future is not at all possible or even highly likely to be done.

To fundamentally prove this logical conclusion of this he takes several examples in order to prove this phenomenon and none is more prevalent than ‘The Goodfellas’ that was made only possible by Martin Scorsese. Elements of Campbell’s history and past can be explained as he tries to adequately explain all the common factors that make up every single story he had learned about in the course of his life. Taking into account that his introduction to stories and folklores began at a young age he eventually comes up with a common theory of how all various stories are structured. Although his final conclusion contains 12 parts each explaining the eventual hurdles a hero has to undergo they are further categorized into 3 acts so as to ensure they are fully condensed into a format that is easily understandable (Bronzite,2018). The first act is termed as the ordinary world which acts as our beginning area before the hero begins his journey. This act contains five fundamental parts for a hero which are a) the ordinary world, b) Call to adventure, c) Refusal, d) Meeting with the mentor, e) crossing the threshold. The second act is the special part which contains parts such as a) Tests, allies and enemies, b) Approach to Inmost Cave, c) Ordeal, d) Reward, e) the road back. The third act returns us to the ordinary world but with different parts such as a) Resurrection, b) Return with Elixir,

Henry hill acts our protagonist into the ‘The Goodfellas’ in which we follow his life journey simply to explore how it adversely affects his eventual growth into a hero especially in such a mafia like life setting. Its seems that from the offset of his childhood at the tender age of 11 his criminal life was an all too assured eventuality that was going to happen (Viano, 1991). His introduction into the mafia life as a ‘go-fer’ gives us our first look at the hero in the ordinary world before his eventual cross-over of the threshold in an incident of him being caught selling cigarettes that were stolen and his refusal to tattle tale on his friends which later on leads to his entire gang going to the court house to celebrate thus showing clearly that Henry has become one of them. The second act which contains our twists and turns of the stories with instances of obstacles which affect out protagonist profoundly such as instances of robbery and burying bodies with minor ones as trying to keep both his wife and girlfriend happy (Viano, 1991). As the story progresses further other tests occur for Henry such as lying to Paulie about the drugs and his conclusive inability to stop this behavior.

Campbell excluded a lot of information from this story so as to focus centrally on the hero in order to show the specific description of the protagonist that he saw necessary. By including key specific description Campbell made sure that the book in one way or another is a reflection of the movie. His eventual way of turning the three villains of the movies into the heroes is and adequate description of genius that he continuously describes throughout his book.

Work Cited

Bronzite, Dan. “The hero’s journey–Mythic structure of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth.” Retrieved on February 1 (2018).

Viano, Maurizio. “GoodFellas.” (1991): 43-50.

Lifelong Learning Process

Section 1: Introduction

The magnitude of current social and economic change, the demographic pressures stemming from an ageing population, and the rapid transition of a knowledge-based society are all challenges that demand a new perspective to training and education under the realm of lifelong learning. The advent of high-functional systems, rapid technological changes, and information overload has created new challenges and problems for training and education. More advanced knowledge is acquired after the age of formal schooling has passed (10: 43). In a number of institutions, it is attained via educational processes, which do not focus on the traditional schooling.

Learning must be examined throughout the life because prior notions of a divided lifetime education accompanied by work are no longer tenable. Professional activities have become fluid in content and knowledge intensive to the extent that learning has become an integral part of adult work activities. Learning has become a new version of labor, and working tends to be a collaborative effort among peers and colleagues (7:56).

In the modern knowledge society, an educated individual is someone who is willing to embrace learning as a lifelong process. Learning has become part of living and a natural outcome of being alive and in contact with the world. Therefore, learners need not only instructions but also access to the world to have an opportunity to play a reasonable part in it. Therefore, workplace learning and school learning ought to be integrated.

Section two: Concepts of Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning is an all-purpose learning activity, which is undertaken on a progressive basis with the goal of improving skills, knowledge, and competence. Higher education helps prepare students to be learners by developing specific skills and dispositions described by lifelong learning. Literature on lifelong learning conveys common themes that articulate characteristics that transform training and education into the concept of lifelong learning (1:24).

Section 3: Self-motivated learning

There is a strong emphasis on the need for people to take responsibility for their own learning. Therefore, lifelong learners are defined not by the form of training or education in which they are involved but their personal characteristics leading to that involvement. Experts have emphasized the value of locus of successful academic performance and control (8:82). Personal characteristics of people who are expected to engage in learning either formally or informally in their entire lives tend to acquire:

The necessary attitudes and skills for learning, particularly numeracy and literacy skills,

The confidence to learn and a feeling of engagement with the training and education system.

Motivation and willingness to learn.

Although training and education might have economic benefits for people, it is acknowledged that economic motivators are not primarily adequate to incentivize individuals to participate in training and education. Some motivational obstacles must be identified and addressed so that some individuals could participate in training and education. Although some of these factors are economic and can be tackled with financial aid, most people are deterred from participating in training and education by social and personal factors. While recognizing the factors acting as barriers and motivators to participate in training and education, lifelong learning tends to promote the engagement in learning for its sake and not for the purpose of employment. Therefore, the goal of engaging in learning seems to be more significant than the reason itself. This is viewed as recognition of the range of factors motivating people to engage in formal and informal learning and instrumental goals (4:20).

Section 4: A mechanical engineering concept

Drafting is a technical concept by which mechanical engineers design products and create instructions for manufacturing parts. Traditionally, the technical drawing was a hand-drawn schema illustrating all the necessary dimensions to produce a part, assemble the notes, a set of required materials and pertinent information. However, with the advent of technology, this concept has been modified and a computer model has replaced the hand-drawn schematic. Mechanical engineers creating technical drawings are often referred to as drafters. Historically, drafting has had two-dimensional process, but currently, computer aided programs enable the designers to create in three dimensions.

Section 5: Importance of lifelong learning

The past several years have witnessed an increase in interest to lifelong learning mostly because societal changes are triggered by information technology. Technologies are becoming increasingly complex, while knowledge is being produced and transformed at a rapid rate. Fixing a human heart or a car is considerably less complicated currently than it was generations ago. In some instances, employees tend to offer the training required and want employees to participate in the training.

Nevertheless, the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) staff cannot count on abandoning an organization that gave them their first job and training. Career enhancement and job mobility are contingent on progressing upgrade of skills for ASME staff. Therefore, individuals in work-involving skills such as ASME employees recognize that their future relies on their continuing expansion of skills even when their organizations are not offering the training for them (6:39).

In capitalist countries, former communist countries, and present communist ones, economics is the driving force of education in all levels and lifelong education. This applies to global competitiveness in business whereby the names of competing firms are shifting. However, besides economics, other factors that form the rationale for lifelong learning include enriching of human life. Humanity requires the ability to enrich and adopt the human culture broadly and deeply. Others may have passed with good grades but have minimal interest in widening their knowledge. A vast majority has taken music appreciation classes but has never attended a symbolic concert even when it is readily accessible. Often, schooling has been seen as a key factor in curtailing instead of stimulating people continuing interest in the sciences and the arts of the culture. This issue has attracted diverse views of politicians and philosophers who argue that the community must desire for each child what the better parent would desire for their children (3:28).

The other rationale for lifelong learning focuses on sustainability in the most profound sense: the ability to sustain life in the world. Until recently, the world was immersed in bloodshed because of wars. Currently, people are peacefully assembled in the same world. The current century cannot lull anyone that the world is ending. Instead, the human race has had to choose between catastrophe and education. The problems of the world are complex. This is because substantial historical lessons can be easily misunderstood, while the cultural and national contexts that encapsulate people can sow the bad seeds of discontent and mistrust among people (9: 36). This justifies the need for continuous learning in a world where ubiquitous information technology has replaced obstacles to global competition. However, it is even more vital for continuous learning to take place so that people could increase their collective level of intelligence and understanding about the issues they face as a human race. This is their best opportunity to get out of the current century alive and successful.

Section 6: Challenges in lifelong learning

There is an assurance that people developing applications and hardware will continue to make progress. The extension of these resources will promote lifelong learning as determined by the ability to overcome various challenges like:

Access – A big number of populations lacks access to Internet resources. This has fallen sharply among people in rural areas, especially impoverished rural zones.

Disposition – The fact that there is greater opportunity for lifelong learning through the Internet should not lead people to presume that the opportunities will be embraced. This demands a major radical change in the instructional programs of schools to affect the student’s continuous learning (2:26).

Capability: For years, people who have thought carefully about education have realized that everyone needs to become his/her own teacher. The disposition of desire to learn must match the capability. Formal learning programs must incorporate explicit focus on the involvement of self-directed learning. The best success indicator is the recognition that students no longer need teachers. The issue of capability is broadened by the use of the Internet. The Internet is a huge resource filled with the best and the worst information that human beings can acquired. It contains errors, truths, the worthless, and the valuable (5:37).

Section 7: Conclusion

Lifelong learning and training are essential problems for the current and future information worlds. Unfortunately, these issues require complex answers and facts to enumerate successes and failures. To recognize the complexity of the problems associated with lifelong learning requires that individuals reinvent, rethink, and pool resources in the future. The viewpoint of lifelong learning is more than continuing education and training because it forces people to reinvent their schools and universities. People ought to understand the co-evolutionary processes between basic human activities and their interdependencies and relationships with the new media (10: 44).

They need progress and an in-depth understanding of innovative systems, new theories, assessment, and practices. People must also create new physical aspects, intellectual spaces, new reward structures, and new organizational forms to make lifelong learning a vital component of human life. This requires organizations, groups, and individuals to partake and experience these new forms. For the risk takers, using their imagination and creativity to explore alternative ways of learning is an inevitable practice.

Section 8: References

Andain, Ian, and Murphy Gerard. Creating lifelong learners: Challenges for education in the 21st century. Cardiff: International Baccalaureate. 2008

Chapman, Judith. School, Community and Lifelong Learning. London: Continuum International Pub. Group. 2008

Evans, Karen. Learning, work, and social responsibility: Challenges for lifelong learning in a global age. Dordrecht: Springer. 2009

Field, John. Lifelong learning and the new educational order. Stoke-on-Trent [u.a.: Trentham. 2006

Field, John. Social capital and lifelong learning. Bristol: Policy Press. 2010

Naimpally, Ashok, and Ramachandran Hema. Lifelong learning for engineers and scientists in the information age. London: Elsevier. 2012

Scales, Peter. Teaching in the lifelong learning sector. Maidenhead: Open University Press. 2013

Sharma, Tara C. Meaning of lifelong learning. New Delhi, India: Sarup & Sons. 2011

Wankel, Charles. University and corporate innovations in lifelong learning. Charlotte, N.C: IAP – Information Age Pub. 2008

Williams, Michael. Citizenship education and lifelong learning: Power and place. Hauppauge, N.Y: Nova Science Publishers. 2013

Light rail (I-5 Interstate Bridge)

I-5 Interstate Bridge 

Introduction

The Interstate Bridge is also known as I-5 Bridge, Vancouver-Portland Bridge, Portland-Vancouver Interstate Bridge or Columbia River Interstate Bridge. It is made of a pair of almost identical steel vertical lift. The truss bridges carry Interstate 5 traffic across the HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River” o “Columbia River”Columbia River between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, in the United States. It was first opened to traffic in the year 1917. It carries traffic across three lanes which are northbound and three other lanes which are southbound.

Replacement Of The Bridge And Integrating Max Light Rail.

The Columbia River Crossing Project addresses very important issues affecting almost everybody in the Pacific Northwest in regarding safety at the dangerous stretch of freeway in state of Oregon, the hindrance of freight mobility through along the interstate and the Port of Portland, and other issues in Oregon and Washington (Electric railway journal 2001).The solution proposed is replacement of both spans of the Interstate Bridge. A replacement is complicated by a railroad drawbridge which crosses the Columbia a short distance downriver, and which constrains the location of the shipping channel. It also constrains by approach paths to Portland International Airport in Portland and to HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_Field” o “Pearson Field”Pearson Field in Vancouver, limiting the height of any new structure (The Street railway journal 2002).

Other concerns over the 12-lane “Columbia River Crossing” (CRC) proposal are the failure to look at the environmental impacts, such as endangered fish habitat in the Columbia and air pollution in North Portland. The magnitude of the project alone has obviously brought to bring opposition but its advantages in on view outweigh other perception on bad effects on the environment and the cost that will be incurred on the project. The condition of the bride is fair but this perceptions disintegrates when the true cost of the bridges comes into play. Currently, the astronomical $8.4 million is spent annually on operations, maintenance and repair of the two bridges. When it comes to repair, the cost continues to go up with as the bridges age until no longer can their replacement is investable and has to be done. $50 million for urgent repair needs is not included here. Under the option of supplementing, which makes a third span of the bridge, the projected initial investment is $350 million and operations repair and maintenance costs are estimated $7.7 million annually. After pain from an initial investment of $350 million dies, there is abundance savings on operations repair and a maintenance costs which $0.7 million annually. These projected savings are there despite the fact that specific bridge is yet to be selected because 24-hour on-site operators will no longer be necessary, there will be minimal maintenance on a structure which is brand new , and repairs will be all eliminated. (Electric railway journal 2001)

Also an attempt to extended the life span of any structure beyond its functional span has dire consequences. This was the case at Minnesota when the I-35W Bridge collapsed, seven people died as a result. Another example is in the city of Tacoma, when the obvious warning signs, that its’ Tacoma Narrows Bridge was not stable was ignored. The structure collapsed when winds of only 44 MPH were blowing.  The collapse of both of the above bridges resulted in the closing of freeways until there was a quick and cheap a replacement original structure. The I-5 Bridge is aging, and it has less number of years left to survive. The Interstate Bridge’s eastern span remains one of the few existing bridges in use in America that are supported by obsolete wooden piers. It was completed in 1917 and its life expectancy was estimated eighty years and it plans the plans catered for a moderate rising in use. A supplemental bridge in the 1950’s was built to cater for the high rise in vehicular traffic, a rise that continues to swell as the growth of the region expands. As in the case of the old Interstate Bridge, the new one will contain. Many grumble about this, but fortunately the region has not paid toll in over fifty years. The toll would be used to the new bridge and Glen Jackson Bridge, as to reduce the about of interest which is incurred by quickly paying the debt. For those who commute frequently, the electronic will be there. This technology makes it possible for the commuters to fly by the toll plaza which is minimized without even slowing ( Municipal journal & public works2006).

Many residents of the region have never waited as the bridge is raised to allow boats to pass. There are selected off-peak hours which vessels may request passage, as there already are six hours in a day when traffic moves even slower than 30 MPH in each direction.  The bridge is raised on an average of one time everyday, with a time wait of about ten minutes. Many truckers and tourists are startled as the traffic comes to a sudden halt along Interstate-5, looking for a o construction until sight of one of the eight drawbridges out of the 55,000 bridges on the entire interstate system. (Consequences of the interstate highway system for transit 1998)

Not many people realize but automobiles are not the only ones which have been affected by the outdated infrastructure. The river traffic also faces a problem navigating around the alignment of the piers of the Burlington Northern Santa-Fe rail bridge and the piers of the I-5 Bridges which are a mile apart downstream. The Vessels must align in the middle of the river to pass through the interstate, and then align on the northern side of the river in order to traverse safely the widest span of the rail bridge. At times this may be easier for recreational kayaks and speedboats, commercial barges face an increasingly difficult time as the level of water rises in winter. This calls for decisions concerning which west coast port to bring inter-continental freight bound for any place in the United States continental. There is untold amount of commerce that is lost to the San Francisco and Seattle as a result of the tough navigates pilings and piers.

Vancouver has been tying for long time to rid off its reputation as Portland’s “red-headed step-brother.”  This was their reason for voting for the extension of the MAX yellow line to Vancouver in the year 2005 (It is understood that residents would want to live in their city and not to be known as a suburb from a city in which is in anther state another state. It was their grandfathers of Vancouver, who were so passionate about a bridge between Portland and Vancouver that they held a demonstration through Portland carrying placards with which said that they wanted a bridge. Their desire was so much such that when Governor Lister banned the bill for the bonds and held the bill until his bar could not be overturned, that Clark County sold its bonds all the same. The Clark County got bridge, without any financial support from the state of Washington (Electric railway journal 2001).

Sprawl is of concern by the residents of the suburb in any metropolis. Portland’s inventive Urban Growth Boundary has done a good job with a promise of limiting of its sprawl. It has encouraged re-growth in the areas that have severely collapsed. The border in the north of this imaginative line is the Columbia River. Vancouver doesn’t a have identical policy in practice, because it has received a share of sprawl of Portland. Though it is weak, it is against a new Columbia River bridge. Another area of concern which is contrasting Oregon’s aim to make a ten percent decrease of vehicle miles which are traveled per capita. Governor Kulongoski said that the way to achieve this decrease is to reduce the miles traveled. This is only true in theory because six hours in a day I-5 from the SR-500 to the I-84 is made of running engines (The Street railway journal 2002).

Opponents also say that the CRC Task Force’s own analysis display that a new and wider bridge will result to increase the number of vehicles that crossing the river. There is partial truth in this and, the CRC Task Force anticipates the number of motor vehicle crossing to increase in the years to come, but for them this number will increase, whether or not a new bridge is built, to cater for the million people expected to move here rapidly. To expect all these immigrants to use bicycles or walk is very unrealistic. A new bridge, with a MAX light rail which crosses the cross the river on another separate bridge, will alleviate some of the pressure from the main span. This is because it provides a chance for the people to get out of their cars and enjoy the view. 

River City is a perfect Portland’s nickname. When it comes to the Oregon on the interstate there are the options of coming across the Interstate Bridge or the giant slab of concrete which known as Glen Jackson Bridge or, neither of which gives any hint of the pride the city takes in the bridges. Over the Willamette, the Ross Island, the St. Johns, the Sell wood and the Fremont all span without having to interrupt the traffic (Consequences of the interstate highway system for transit 1998).

As the replacement becomes the better option, we have a chance to correct the past mistakes. While getting rid of the issues of traffic, we can also build a regional symbol worthy to cover the Columbia River. with their Golden Gate Bridge, In San Francisco it was found that a bridge could be beneficial for its economy, which generates more money that its planners could ever have foreseen.  Thousand and thousands of people of people from around the globe flock to view it, shopping, paying for hotels and eating. Portland will not encounter problems in replacing I-5 bridges, as the historic Ridgefield Airport and Portland International Airport flock the riverbanks, demanding height restrictions on height because the river City knows bridges, and can provide a aesthetical front door this time around.

In the past twenty years the Port of Portland has a number of attempts to improve its 826 acres of land on the western side of Hayden Island, which is direct to the Oregon side of the Interstate Bridge. They are aiming to place terminals for marine shipping, but the savage opposition by environmentalists and residents, time and again forced them to stop their efforts in 2000. Though unaffiliated but almost in tandem with the CRCP the Port has went back to their efforts to develop their land. If the port was to develop the whole Hayden Island, Portland would still be a leading in the United States for its per-capita parks which are mostly in the vastness Forest Park.  Portland’s marine industrial terminals in the port are already over capacity. Trade volumes are expected to double in the region and the proximity to BNSF, I-5, Union Pacific, and the Port’s land on the Columbia River Navigation is best for the development ( Railroad gazette2006).

There is also a debate as to whether or not a new bridge would include a MAX Light Rail line, express buses or bus rapid transit. There are arguments for and against integrating max- light rail in the new bridge. Whereas some people are in favor of the new bridge integrating the max light rail line other are in favor of express buses and others bus rapid transit. Arguments for max light rail line are mostly because it is believed that light trains don’t make any stop and that they cause no traffic jam. However it is argued against that they consume time and this is drawing back in the economy since it delays people building the economy. It is also argue as uneconomical as compared to building tracks for the buses. Those for the bus tracks argue that express busses spend the a lot of their time on Interstate 5 and don stop anywhere other than the Portland transit mall and a few other transit centers in Vancouver thus cause no traffic jam (Municipal journal & public works 2006)

CONCLUSION.

The structures age, as people do with time. Upgrades surgeries and repairs, can extend life span but all these later come to an end. The Interstate Bridge too has come to the end of its life span, time has come when it is important to honor its many years of service by a worthy replacement. Failure to do this might have catastrophic consequences which affect the whole nation.  A replacement is the way sustainability and the residents should accept that they cannot save everything within its borders. Most of the reasons here are very important and show that a replacement bridge alone warrants a project of this magnitude.  All of them call upon the citizens to offer a safe way for travelling over the Columbia River.

 

References

(2001) Electric railway journal, Princeton University, McGraw Hill publishers.

(2006) Railroad gazette edt 43, Princeton University, Railroad gazette.

HYPERLINK “http://www.google.co.ke/search?tbs=bks:1&tbo=p&q=+inauthor:%22Parsons,+Brinckerhoff,+Quade+%26+Douglas%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=7″Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, HYPERLINK “http://www.google.co.ke/search?tbs=bks:1&tbo=p&q=+inauthor:%22John+R.+Pucher%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=7″Pucher. R (1998) Consequences of the interstate highway system for transit. Washington. Transportation Research Board

(2006) Municipal journal & public works vl 50. Newyork. Municipal Journal & Engineer publishers.

(2002)The Street railway journal. united states. Railway University publishers.

Marketing Report

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary 3

1. Background to the Company 3

1.1 Situational Analysis

1.11 Macro-Environmental Analysis 3

1.12 Micro-Environmental Analysis 5

1.2 SWOT Analysis5

1.21 Strengths5

1.22 Weaknesses 6

1.23 Opportunities6

1.24 Threats 6

1.3 Target Market and Positioning6

1.4 Marketing Mix Analysis 8

1.5 Recommendations9

Marketing Report for Arnott’s Biscuit Company

Executive Summary

This report provides the marketing strategies for Arnott’s Biscuit Company, which manufactures fruit tasty biscuits to compete effectively in the sweet biscuit industry as an alternative product for a healthy choice. The report shows that the biscuit company is not performing well in the use of effective promotional techniques, poor positioning of the product and inability to incorporate the needs of the existing target group identified as modern households.

Background to the Company

Arnott’s Biscuit Company is a private and foreign-owned company considered as one of the largest biscuit manufacturers in Australia and also the second-leading supplier of snacks. The company began as a mini-bakery in New South Wales in 1865, where the company engaged in the supply of bread, biscuits, and pies to the local community. It also supplied the snacks to the crews operating the coal ship docking in the neighboring port. Currently, the company is becoming an Australian national icon and exists as more than a food manufacturer. The report covers the company’s Snack Right Fruit Slices fruit pillows, a fruit-made biscuit whose production began from 1882. The snacks are packed with wholesome greatness of real fruits and using locally grown wheat.

Situational Analysis

Macro-Environmental Analysis

The key external elements that influence the operations of Arnott’s Biscuit Company include political, economic, and cultural factors. Political factors comprise of governmental efforts to reduce food wastage resulting from manufacturing processes. The Australian government is directing efforts towards the establishment of cold rooms to aid in food preservation. Therefore, it implies that the cost resulting from wastage will reduce and hence improving production efficiency for Arnott’s company. In terms of economic factors, the Australian government is focusing on raising the value-added tax levied on biscuits. It implies that the prices of biscuits will increase therefore chasing away potential customers. Additionally, the disposable income of the consumers is on the increase which is crucial for an increase in the amount of snack purchase. However, the cost of inputs which is sugar and wheat has been unpredictable due to currency fluctuation and the anticipated increase in the coming years (Rogers, 2016). It, therefore, poses a danger to the snacks as it implies a rise in total production costs. The situation is further worsened by the challenge of climate change and fluctuating weather conditions that threaten the growth of wheat and sugar. With the competitive nature of sweet biscuits sectors, the passing of extra costs to final consumers is not viable. Cultural factors also influence the company’s activities.

The Australian working mothers are characterized by the observance of a healthy lifestyle. It means that if the company does not produce fruit filled biscuits as a healthy alternative, then the likelihood of a reduction in the customer base will be high. Similarly, changing consumer tastes and preferences is an emerging trend with limited alternatives due to the expansion of the food industry. Currently, there is a common trend where consumers are demanding food products that cater to various allergies such as dairy, eggs, and gluten (Crowe, 2014). Based on traditional biscuit recipes that focus essentially on the three ingredients, it has resulted in increased pressure on biscuit products to modify their ingredients or adjust their product lines to better satisfy the needs of the consumer.

Micro-Environmental Analysis

The Micro-environment for Arnott’s Company is significantly based on different features that the internal factors demonstrate. The company owns several marketing intermediaries throughout the country which allows it to conduct effective marketing around the country. It also makes it possible for the company to supply the fruit-filled and fruit pillows in all parts of the country. The marketing intermediaries enable the company to supply its products at a lower price, therefore, making the products more affordable to the target group of customers. Customers are also part of the micro-environment as they are highly valued by the company. Most of the company’s resources have been channeled towards ensuring the highest level of customer satisfaction (IBISWorld, 2016). The objective of achieving customer satisfaction is made possible by the use of well-developed customer services and prompt response to customer suggestions and complaints. Additionally, Arnott’s Company has developed good relationships with the suppliers hence ensuring the efficiency of the production process. The suppliers are also known to comply with the contracts and supply the production materials within the required timeframe, hence reducing the challenges caused by the delay of materials. Because of the suppliers’ efficiency, the company produces on a just in time model where they react quickly to orders placed by customers.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

One of the strengths of the Arnott’s Biscuit Company is the reputable brand name, which has been recognized in the entire Australian snack market and trusted by most customers. The second large scale supplier base which enhances the efficiency in the production process and reducing the production lead time (Armstrong et al., 2015). The third strength is the company’s high bargaining power with both the buyers and the suppliers as compared with the competitors because of its large scale operations. Finally, the real fruit ingredient of the product satisfies the consumers’ needs and meets the required health standards.

Weaknesses

A major weakness faced by the company is the lack of an effective promotional strategy which reduces the rate of expansion in the market. The second is poor evaluation of the consumer needs which results in the production of inferior snacks in comparison to those provided by the competitors. Lastly, Arnott’s products are limited in their availability as they are only sold in Woolworths supermarkets.

Opportunities

The change in consumer tastes and preferences as well as the rise in the demand for healthy snacks and biscuits has paved the way for more opportunities for developing new products to meet the changing needs. Additionally, the functional health benefits associated with sweet biscuits are comparatively niche and a new line of product establishment and less competition.

Threats

The major threat faced by the company is the decline in the biscuit industry, which makes it highly saturated and limits further penetration into the market. There is also a common perception among consumers that biscuits have negative effects on human health. Finally, the limited barriers of entry into the biscuit market contribute to increased competition.

Target Market and Positioning

Target marketing is an essential factor in ensuring that a product succeeds upon entering the market. The key target market comprises of women due to the general perception that women are the leading consumers of confectionery food products. Similarly, it is largely considered that women play a crucial role in making decisions related to buying food products in almost all households (Armstrong et al., 2015). In Australia, there is an increasing trend where the proportion of women being employed is on the rise and hence their purchasing power is on the increase (Richardson, 2016). It implies that there is a high possibility of the women shifting their purchase preference by increasing their consumption of confectionery products, which forms a good market opportunity for Arnotts.

The snack positioning applied by Arnotts is built on the preferred food features of the target market. The product features are chosen to better demonstrate how the company’s current snack offering differs from those of the competitors. The positioning of the Snack Right biscuits is based on the following product features

Use of natural ingredients: The modern household target is characterized by the consumption of sweet biscuits made only from natural ingredients. It means the ingredients are easily recognized on the product label and any artificial ingredients are avoided.

Production of allergy-sensitive biscuits: Modern generations express higher levels of allergies and intolerances. Therefore, it is concluded that parents of children from the modern household segment will prefer food products that are allergy-friendly.

Production of biscuits with low sugar content: As stated previously, consumers are becoming more health-conscious and hence many are avoiding the consumption of products with high sugar content or even those with sugar as an ingredient.

Non-use of preservatives: Arnott’s biscuits do not have preservatives which are meant for colorings and additives. It is because of modern household’s demand for products without preservatives as this is part of their healthy lifestyle.

Market Mix Analysis

Product: Snack Right provides two kinds of fruit biscuit, which is the Sultana fruit slice and fruit pillows. Based on this comparative analysis, the Snack Right has the highest amount of sugar levels in their biscuit per 100g relative to the sugar level applied by its competitors. Whereas the high sugar content is associated with large amounts of natural fruit component contained in the biscuit, there are extra amounts of added sugars in form of condensed milk and processed sugar as part of their ingredients. It is detrimental to Arnott’s marketing strategy as the consumers are shifting to the consumption of healthy and sugarless products (Butschli, 2016). Additionally, the company offers Snack Right packaging in high volumes of 250g for Fruit Slice and 200g for fruit pillows. It, therefore, limits the company’s desire to meet the needs of the target segment especially in terms of providing a convenient snack package.

Price: The retail prices of Snack Right is considered reasonable as each snack sells at $4.19. Since the brand is targeting households with children, and particularly parents and the product is a little engagement product, this pricing range is convenient. Additionally, this pricing is similar to that of the product’s competitors such as Naturally Good Muesli pies that retail for $ 4.96 and Leda’s biscuits whose retail price range from $3.95 to $4.95(Arnott’s, 2017). Similarly, it is essential to mention that Snack Right provides consumers a higher quantity of biscuits for every dollar spent as compared to the existing competitors. It is also evident that disposable income is expected to rise and consumers, particularly young adults, and parents are willing to spend a certain amount of income on foods that are considered healthy. It gives the Snack Right a chance to potentially charge a higher price if it is in a position to provide biscuits that satisfy the needs of their customers and even supersede their expectations.

Place: In terms of distribution, Snack right is supplied directly to the retailers. Produced by Arnott’s the biscuits are then distributed to supermarkets for easy access by the customers. Arnott is one of the food-production companies that does sell directly to consumers. Snack Rights are only available in Woolworths supermarkets. It is not available in general and other health stores available in Australia. In Coles supermarket, Arnotts has selected to place a different fruit biscuit type named the Full O’ Fruit (Arnott’s, 2017). The product is sold in both Coles and Woolworths supermarket because of the possibility of sales to reduce and the popularity of the Snack Right which prompts the company to strategically curtail distribution. In terms of product placement, the Snack Right is given little shelf space as compared to other products offered by Arnott. Snack Right is given a small space on the topmost part of the shelf with just one shelf spacing provided to the unit brand. Therefore, it makes the product difficult to be noticed and accessed by customers. Additionally, the product is placed on the aisle with sweet biscuits, unlike the Snack Right competitors’ products which are placed on the health food aisle. It reduces the Snack rights likelihood to fall in the category of products desired by the health-sensitive group of customers.

Promotion: It entails the evaluation of the strategy used by the company to develop and maintain awareness of the Snack Right product and to relate with customers. The analysis entails monitor5ing of the social posts and the level of engagement that the company conducts on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram within the last three years (Arnott’s, 2017). However, the analysis shows that Snack Right does not even own a single website or social media page, unlike other product lines such as Tim Tam, another famous product from Arnott. Besides, it appears that most of the promotional activities carried out by Arnott have been channeled to promoting profitable products such as Tim Tam and the new product line “Twisted Favourite.” Snack right has been ignored in terms of promotion (Alex’s, 2010). The analysis also entailed the evaluation of the Snack Right’s availability in the general promotional media and interestingly, no availability of the product is established since 2009 when the product was first brought to the concern of the public negatively. The claim was that Arnott’s provided misleading information to consumers concerning the type and amount of fruit ingredients within the Snack Right. The claim resulted in a negative perception of the product among the existing and potential consumers which led to a significant reduction in the total amount of sales.

Physical Evidence: Arnott’s Company is centrally managed from George Street 24, in North Strathfield, Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The environment is free from adverse weather conditions with a highly decorated physical layout and store design that sets it apart from other companies within the proximity. The physical location of the company is also considered strategic as it is located next to a port in the South Wales region.

Process: Most of the delivery process of Snack Right is done through a retail outlet, which is the Woolworths supermarket which is the only retail outlet for Snack Right products. However, some of the deliveries are conducted through online sales where customers place their orders and deliveries made to the door-step, timely, and efficiently.

Staff: The company consists of more than 4,300 employees. The company is focused on employee motivation which is a crucial factor in enhancing performance and improving profitability. The company values employee contribution to the development of the company and motivates them through the provision of performance-related rewards (Arnott’s, 2017). It gives the employees a sense of worth hence impacting positively on performance. Arnott’s employees possess a high level of accountability in executing different organizational activities and upholds the organization values which are essential for building organizational culture.

Recommendations

Based on this marketing report, it is evident that Arnott’s company needs to consider certain issues to harness the success of the Snack Right brand in the biscuit industry. One essential recommendation is that Snack Right should adopt an effective repositioning strategy to change the prevailing perception of the consumers on the Snack Right product and all the fruit-filled biscuits in general. There is a need to move the customers’ beyond the perception that sweet biscuits are part of unhealthy food which one should avoid leading a healthy lifestyle. Thus, the Snack Right must be positioned as a healthy snack that offers the consumers biscuits that are nutritionally balanced with functional advantages on the consumers’ health. The second recommendation is that the company should actively invest in effectively promotional strategies that are being employed by the competitors. The company should invest in conducting promotions through the use of modern platforms such as social media and websites. Conducting promotion provides a means through which the existence of the product in the market is recognized. It also increases the customer case as more potential customers become aware of the availability of the Snack Right product in the sweet biscuit market.

References

About Arnott’s. (2017). http://www.arnotts.com.au/about-arnotts/Alex’s, H. (2010). Australian biscuit industry report. Retrieved from https://alexdsn.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/australian-biscuit-industry-report/

Armstrong, G, Adam, S, Denize, S & Kotler, P (2015). Principles of marketing. Vol. 6th, Pearson, French’s Forest, N.S.W.

Arnott’s Fruit Biscuits. (2017). http://www.arnotts.com.au/products/fruitbiscuits/

Butschli, J. (2016). Package Sustainability Now an Expectation. Healthcare Packaging, Retrieved from https://www.healthcarepackaging.com/sustainability/strategy/package-sustainabilitynow-expectation

Crowe, T. (2014). What Australians are really eating? Retrieved from https://www.medibank.com.au/bemagazine/post/food/what-australians-are-really-eating/

IBISWorld. (2016). Arnotts Biscuits Holdings Pty Limited (Premium Report). Retrieved from http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/reports/au/enterprisepremium/ default.aspx?entid=9959

Richardson, A. (2016). Biscuit Manufacturing in Australia [Industry Report]. Retrieved from IBISWorld Database.

Rogers, E. (2016). Sugar values set to rise as global production goes into deficit for the first time in five years. ABC News, Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2016-02-01/global-sugar-deficit/7130168

Marketing Strategies

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The four Ps of marketing is used to define the basic framework that a marketing plan should follow. Its goal is to simplify marketing features to focus on the essential topics so that individuals who use them. The four Ps are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Marketing is all about providing value to the customer. The concept of the four P’s has been around since the late 1800s when David Ogilvy, a famous advertising man, coined the phrase in The Man with the Yellow Hat. Through the years, this theory has become a significant marketing theory that is still used today (Kareh, 2018). According to Porter’s five forces model, the market is primarily influenced by industry competition, consumer buying behavior, and overall economic conditions.

A product’s value equals the customer’s willingness to pay for it. The product component of the 4 Ps addresses the company’s product or service. This involves packaging, knowing your product’s life cycle, product development, product bundles (particularly for services), and so on. This section also impacts how much the firm may and should charge for their product or service, based on manufacturing costs and other expenditures associated with the product or service. When it comes to goods, competing with other firms might entail various things. When it comes to a product, there are several components that you can adjust or tweak to provide you an advantage over the competition, such as product size, technical assistance availability, warranties, package discounts, and many more.

The product/service subscription is a variant of the product model in retail. It can also be useful in marketing services. For instance, if your business offers a service such as landscaping or housekeeping, you can likely develop a subscription model to provide additional service at discounted rates for those who opt for it (Kareh, 2018). In the case of some products, there are some regulations and laws the firm must follow. For instance, pharmaceutical companies are commonly required to adhere to drug testing and licensing standards from their country’s medicine authority (such as the United States Food and Drug Administration), which may need to meet for them to conduct business in that country.

The price (cost) is how much money the customer has to pay for the product. Price refers to the cost of the goods or service and the amount that the firm should charge for it. When it comes to determining the price, several aspects or expenses must be considered. If you buy goods online, you must pay shipping fees, commission to third-party websites such as Amazon and eBay, card processing fees from banks, and other expenses. The cost of your goods involves a lot more than most people realize. While you must give competitive pricing to the other firms in the market for your product or service, you must also stay profitable. To increase the price, you must find a way to increase profits. Cost considerations include all of the following: The cost of goods, freight charges, commission/handling fees, royalties, taxes, and other expenses (Rajath & Santhoshkumar, 2020).

Another cost consideration is how much the customer is willing to pay. Not everyone that walks in your front door will be willing to buy your product or service. Some may think they are too expensive, while others are not adequately educated about why they should buy them. A firm must determine how much the consumer is willing and able to pay for their product or service. A firm’s ability to set a price low enough for consumers requires that the firm has some control over its costs as well as a good understanding of its competitors’ costs and pricing strategies. Porter’s five forces model, a market structure model, helps determine how much industry will be affected by market changes. These include the power of customer, suppliers, power of substitutes, threat from new entrants, and bargaining power of buyers.

Place is represented by the third P. The place refers to where the product will be sold; an example would be a market or store. Many businesses are now using the internet to contact clients they would not have been able to reach in the past. While some businesses do not sell online, others operate completely online and nowhere else. Using both in-store and online availability may be beneficial to your business. Place also refers to where your product is in relation to the shop or internet. If your product is hidden away in a corner of the shop that no one ever visits, it is evident that it will not be noticed by as many eyes as it would if it was positioned among the other popular things (Rajath, & Santhoshkumar, 2020). The same outcomes apply if your product or service is posted on a website in a difficult-to-find location.

For instance, if you have a discount on your product, it will be much more effective if you put it at the end of the brochure. If you want to sell a service online or on a website, then ensure that the service is presented in an attractive manner so that customers will want to buy it. As much as it is important to be able to track sales, the marketer must not forget that customers are the ones doing these actions. It is vital to start tracking customer information and where they come from, as this can give you a lot of information about what you are doing right and wrong in your marketing strategy.

The place component is how the company will market their product. This includes how it will be presented and transported to the customer. The location of the firm’s production facilities may be a significant factor in this component. If your firm uses a manufacturing-based strategy—a typical business model production system—then your firms’ place would be at your factories or plants overseas (Rajath, & Santhoshkumar, 2020). However, if you use a marketing strategy to sell your products or services, then you would want to set yourself up as close to your customers as possible.

Finally, promotion determines how the product is presented and advertised in order to reach

customers who may be ready and willing to purchase that particular product. It also can refer to the amount of marketing that should be spent on a given item or service in a given time period. Promotion involves all of the communication from a firm to its market. Promotional activities should be connected with all aspects of the marketing plan. The goal of promotional activities is twofold (Rajath, & Santhoshkumar, 2020).

The first part of promotion refers to non-personal means such as TV, Radio commercials and newspapers. These types of advertisements are usually known as mass media or ‘push’ strategy. The advantage of this type of advertising is that you can reach a large market, however, the disadvantage is that you cannot directly target your targeted customer group. The other type of promotion is the ‘pull’ strategies. These strategies are usually done by contacting customers directly, such as a salesperson speaking to a customer face-to-face or through phone calls. This can allow businesses to more effectively reach target customers and help them more efficiently by putting direct emphasis on individual requirements and needs.

Aspects of promotion also include ways to combine personal and mass communication methods to ensure your advertising reaches not only your target audience but also those who are likely to spread word-of-mouth about the goods or services for which you are marketing. Any marketer should have an awareness of the external environment and its impact on their business. The external environment is made up of all the social, economic, legal and political factors that affect a firm’s operations. Some of the more important factors include:

On the other hand, some of these factors are beyond your control and you may or may not be able to do something about them. For example, if there is an economic crisis, your decisions may be affected because customers will not have money to spend on your products or services, which means that you will make a loss. An example of this would be during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) which took place in 2008 when banks lost billions of dollars (Akpa, Awode, Okwu, & Oseni, 2021). The purpose of product promotion is to show customers why they need it and why they should pay a given price for it. It’s pointless to bring your goods in front of your target audience if they’re not going to purchase it. The aim of marketing is to make the value of the product more appealing to its target audience. There are a variety of strategies used to promote a business’s products or services.

The four Ps of marketing are critical components of a successful marketing plan. These four marketing strategies are very beneficial to HITT Contracting Inc and the HITT Contracting group of companies and will help them continue to prosper in all aspects, including the clients they serve. There are several benefits to marketing a business: As these four principles apply to all businesses, one might wonder why companies have success using only one principle, instead of all four (Rust, 2020). Some companies do not use all four aspects as the primary marketing strategies, but this does not mean that they are not doing good marketing.

The core principles of marketing can be broken down into two aspects: Product and Paid media. When a company chooses a product or service to sell, the company attempts to present an appealing product through various forms of advertising, such as television commercials and internet advertisements. Social media has proved to be of great importance in the current digital world. HITT Contracting company will be able to advertise its law firms, corporate interiors, hospitality, financial institutions, healthcare construction, and government construction projects through social media. The above services can be provided on the following platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The advertising can take place in printed media (pamphlets and interviews) and online (advertising on websites), such as: internet, radio, TV or press publicity. This service is also possible. For example, if HITT Contracting company is the contractor of a construction project in a foreign country where advertising is allowed, then they may need to provide advertising materials to their customers so that they may have their own websites which will be linked to HITT Contracting company’s website. Paid media involves paying a sponsor money in exchange for advertising their product on a specific channel.

Financials are directly related to marketing. Marketing requires funds to undertake. HITT Contracting Company will have to set aside funds for marketing expenditures. Marketing and financials are very much related. Marketing is an important aspect to any company and money should be set aside for marketing in the budgeting process. Marketing is the act of making the customer aware of what a product or service can offer them without physically telling them how it’s going to bring them satisfaction and fulfillment. Financials are not just numbers, they relate to all aspects of running a business, including personnel, supplies, expenses, assets, liabilities, income, and balance sheet items. The amount of financials in the company will determine the channels used to advertise their services.

References

Akpa, E. O., Awode, S. S., Okwu, A. T., & Oseni, I. O. (2021). The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and remittances received in Africa: any lessons for COVID-19? South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, 18(2).

Kareh, A. (2018). Evolution of the four Ps: Revisiting the marketing mix.

Rajath, K., & Santhoshkumar, N. (2020). Effectiveness of marketing strategy of ‘neera health drink with reference to the 4P’s of marketing. IJ360MR, 7(4), 2320-7132.

Rust, R. T. (2020). The future of marketing and the four p’s. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 37(1), 15-26.

Question 1

Background

Blackpink is a South Korea all-girl group formed and managed by the YG Entertainment group. It is currently among the highest rated and most popular all-girl group in the world. For the pop music genre, their popularity has risen globally to include performances in the US for famous platforms such as Coachella and on YouTube where they have the largest following in their category. The group is doing well as influencers and brand ambassadors. Each of the group’s four members has a product they are currently endorsing. As individuals, they have pushed popular luxurious brands such as Moonshot, Dior cosmetics, and Louis Vuitton. A majority of their following comes from younger female audiences aged below 25 years. The said consumer group is referred to as Blinks. Reports indicate that the consumer group spends money and time collecting souvenirs that represent their favorite pop stars. The case study indicates that a report by Korean Bizwire found that the consumer group has a new fascination that incudes desire to “smell” like their favorite pop star. Blackpink has an official online store that helps in the distribution of their merchandise including t-shirts, hair accessories, bags, and jewelry. However, the store does not stock perfume. With their large following on social media and the new interest from UK fans, it is important for the group to consider expansion abroad in order to expand their reach and diversify their consumers.

Marketing Research Objectives and Rationale

The following marketing research objectives are geared towards showing whether Blackpink, through YG Entertainment Inc., can benefit from the UK Blinks. The popularity and success that the group has enjoyed over the last four years has been primarily because of the domestic South Korean market. Therefore, the research objectives include the following:

To find out the type of merchandise that the UK Blinks would be interested in buying

To identify the reasoning behind the UK Blinks in terms of preferences regarding the K-Pop stars

To establish whether the merchandise should be branded for each of the Group’s members or for the group itself or indeed for Blinks

These objectives are directly related to the reason behind the expansion of the group into the UK music scene. The latest statistics have shown that the UK market has shown a lot of interest for Blackpink, creating a gap that needs to be filled. In terms of marketing and branding, the marketing objectives above are meant to dive into the UK’s under 25 female consumers as a possible target market for the group’s merchandise.

Methodology

The research will use an online survey to collect data. In this approach, a set of survey questions will be sent to a target sample for responses to be sent via different internet platforms. Specifically, the methodology will use various media including social media and email to send and receive survey questions and responses respectively. YG Entertainment will implement an online survey via the internet to gain insight and feedback on the objectives mentioned above. An online survey is chosen for its appropriateness as a qualitative research tool. The intention is to have the respondents provide rich potential of qualitative information. The proposed methodology will utilize open-ended questions to yield long-form typed answers from respondents. The questions are purposed to reveal experiences, accounts, narratives, opinions, and other personal reflections of the study theme and objectives. The online survey will identify issues and themes that will then be explored further for the purpose of answering the study questions. In the qualitative questions provided, some quantitative questions will be added for purposes of establishing research parameters such as gender, nationality, and age.

For the online survey, open-ended questions will be presented to the research participants in a written format via social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and via Instagram. The reason behind choosing social media as a proposed avenue is because of how it has gained popularity among young females below the age of 25. The group is comprised of heavy social media usage and activity on the three main platforms mentioned. Email will also be used for purposes of communication and clarification of issues as the study continues. Alongside the qualitative online survey questions, close-ended quantitative survey questions will be sent on the same topic for purposes of establishing context. In the proposed study, the research will provide contextualizing information and key definitions to assist in framing how participants perceive the qualitative survey questions. The format will also include a section asking participants to respond to questions in detail so as to explain the perspective presented or to further explain their experience in the context of the research questions. The advantage of this is that it will lead to diversity in responses. Another important consideration made before choosing the online survey method is that the researcher will not be in a position to clarify or probe the responses provided which may lead to cryptic and vague data. Such information is likely to yield inaccuracies in interpretation and analysis. Therefore, the researcher will insist on the information provided being brief and detailed to reduce room for error. Another advantage includes an ability of online surveys to collect more responses in a given period of time compared to any other approach. Therefore, even with the less detailed data, there is more of it as a compensation. Additionally, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic requires less interaction and social distancing. This makes the online survey approach the most suitable for collecting data. It will also reduce the need to travel long distances to collect information because online platforms are able to target people anywhere and at any time.

The strengths of a qualitative survey include the fact that it will help the study in identifying issues, needs, and experiences that will be explored in the analysis section. It is also worth noting that online surveys have the advantage of being easy to amend or re-run based on the responses. This will provide an evolving or responsive methodology of research. Also, online surveys will get typed responses decreasing translation needs by the researcher. Lastly, online surveys will be delivered broadly on a wide population on social media with asynchronous responses and delivery.

Sampling

For the current study, a probability-based sampling (also called random sampling) is preferred. In this method, the respondents are selected using some sort of probabilistic approach. The likelihood with which a member of the frame population is selected into the sample is known. In this survey, the cluster sampling approach will be used. In this methodology, a natural sampling unit is used in a group or cluster of individual units. Specifically, in the online survey proposed, it will be both useful and convenient to sample by discussion groups on a given platform like Facebook or Instagram, and then to sample users in the said groups and domains. The advantage of using this approach is that it requires fewer resources, is more feasible, and will achieve the research objectives. Because cluster sampling select only certain groups from the entire population, the method requires fewer resources for the sampling process. It becomes cheaper as the approach requires fewer administrative or travel expenses. Additionally, the division of an entire population into a homogenous group will increase the feasibility of the sampling. 

Data Analysis

In the proposed qualitative study, the data will be subjective, will be rich, and will also consist of in-depth information because it will be presented in word form. Analyzing qualitative data will entail reading the large amounts of transcripts and then looking for themes by way of establishing similarities and differences. Subsequently, the report will find themes and develop categories for purposes of answering the research questions. Qualitative research will yield unstructured text-based information. The textual data will include the interview transcripts from the online surveys and responses. For the special categories of people living with disabilities, qualitative data will include audio responses to the survey questions.

Data analysis in the proposed qualitative research will be defined as a process of systematically arranging and searching the interview responses and other non-textual material accumulated by the researcher to increase an understanding of the issue under study. In the study, YG Entertainment will aim to look for patterns that show a trend among the blinks group of consumers. The process of analyzing qualitative data will involve categorizing the data. Basically it will involve making sense of the huge data amounts by reducing their volume in raw format, then followed by an identification of significant patterns, and lastly drawing meanings from the data and ultimately building logical chains of evidence.

Reporting

The research will employ a descriptive research approach. The goal of the descriptive research used in this report is to describe the different phenomena and their characteristics. The research will be more concerned with the what rather than the how and why. The intention is to know what is happening in the UK market and what the Blinks market is looking to consume in terms of its affiliation with K-pop stars. Therefore, the online survey tool will be utilized to gather data and then a descriptive approach taken to report the findings. In the descriptive approach, the research will use qualitative means to gather data but employ quantitative approaches to analyze. For example, frequencies, patterns, percentages, trends, averages, and other statistical analyses will be used to show and interpret relationships. All factors considered, qualitative research is more holistic and will involve a rich collection of information from various social media sources to gather a deeper understanding of the individual participants/respondents, including the opinions, different perspectives, and/or attitudes. Qualitative research is preferred because it collects information or data qualitatively, thus gaining more information and the method of analysis will be quantitative to show relationships. The reporting will involve an inductive exploration of data in an effort to identify recurrent themes, pattern, or concept and then describe and interpret these different categories. In the qualitative research approach, the data collected using qualitative means will then be analyzed quantitatively and statistically. This is preferred in the research because the researcher will first examine the qualitative data in a thorough manner to establish relevant themes and concepts and then convert them into statistical or numerical data for comparison and evaluation.

Timing and General Costing

It is estimated that the research will be conducted in three months. a budget of $5,000 will be needed to facilitate the online surveys and to hire a statistical tool for data analysis as presented above.

Question 2

What is the first item you would consider buying from your favorite celebrity? Explain

How often do you shop online and do you enjoy the experience? Explain

Would you consider shopping only from your favorite online store or do you look for the best offers?

What type of merchandise would you be interested in buying online?

Do you know any pop stars local and international? What are some of your favorites?

How interested would you be in using foreign products from South Korea?

Do you have a favorite perfume brand and how often do you change it?

Explain the story behind your favorite perfume or the lack thereof?

How would you describe your need for a new perfume brand?

Do you think celebrity-endorsed products are genuine? Why or why not?

Would you want a product specially branded for you?

Do you buy products that are trending or are you a believer in having an individual taste?

Based on information that you will have a product signed by your favorite pop star, what price are you willing to pay for a perfume brand?

Would you prefer your merchandise to be branded you or should it retain the original branding?

Would you view a perfume brand differently if you found out it is your favorite star’s choice? Explain