Consumer Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Consumer Culture - Essay Example The Lexicon Webster dictionary defines the act of consumption as "to destroy or expend by use; to destroy as by decomposition or burning." Consumerism thus suggests a wasteful, unnecessary act that follows the use, and so spawned a culture that is based on luxury not need. The luxuries of consumer culture become more than simply goods but "appear as markers of social status or moral decay," Stearns, P. (2001) observes. What bothers social and behavioral scientists is that consumerism is animated by exactly the same objects of luxury and non-essentials. This has characterized the movement of consumer culture from its origin in the West to its worldwide spread that matched the rapid pace of globalization. Many are therefore asking: Is consumerism making the world too homogeneous From the beginning, consumerism grew in the West precisely out of the desire for luxury and vanity, not necessity. It is believed that aristocrats and noblemen in the old British empire, France and parts of Italy and Germany started it all as they sought ways to avoid the stench from markets and factories back in the18th century or earlier when public sanitation and garbage disposal systems were yet to be developed. When it was raining or the sun was ablaze, the old-world people wanted cover and comfort when they stepped outside. They then came up with the earliest specimens of consumer goods: bathroom soaps, perfumes, umbrellas, handkerchiefs. These came along with the earlier forms of consumerist leisure, notably restaurants, coffeehouses and resorts. The Americans later picked up the idea to set off what became known as the second stage of consumerism, giving birth to the department store as the new venue for consumption. As the department stores competed for the favors of the gr owing consumer market, advertising emerged as the chief apparatus of consumerism. With the advent of mass production and the free market concept in the early 20th century, consumerism really took off with the coming of new consumer goods (automobiles, bicycles, food) and consumer leisure (movies, spectator sports). Consumer culture also became an integral part of celebrations like holidays, birthdays. Stearns, P. (2001), who looks at the development of consumerism as one of the greatest changes in the human experience, puts forth the theory that the consumerist society came into being in the 18th century "through a complex web of factors, including an increase in wage earnings, a desire and opportunity to emulate the rich, and a need for goods of value to compensate for the coordinates of identity lost with the passing of a stable, rural way of life." This jibes with the modern sociological view that man is by instinct a creation that desires to be in the swim of things, to look successful and lavish. As Western culture brought consumerism along in its spread to all parts of the world, consumers everywhere behave in basically the same manner: they buy goods that they don't need for subsistence but as a means of "demonstrating modest achievement in new ways." The goods themselves come from the same mold, identical in every

Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 15

Accounting - Essay Example There is an additional expenditure of packaging cost of $.9 per bottle and promotional expenditure amounting to $25,000. After taking into consideration all the inflows accordingly and deducting the outflows, the total profit amounts to $518,120. In alternative – 3, the approach is quite dynamic of giving a $3 worth of cooler free for every Shiraz bottle. Also, the selling price would be reduced to $12.95. This would increase the sales volume by 40% for 2 months and 7% for the later six months. On the whole, the sales would be 82980 bottles per year. However, as per unit profit is quite low, the profit receivable would also be very low at $136,472. Analysis: In the first year, there is a cash outflow of $8000+$18000+$15000 for Gazebo. In the second year, the payment for reception center of $250,000 has to be paid. The resulting inflows have been recorded accordingly. After estimating the cash flows thus for the ten years, we need to calculate the two normal methods of project evaluation, namely: NPVand IRR. The IRR is arrived at by matching the total outflows and inflows to a particular rate of return. By trial and error basis, we understand that the interest rate is between 9 and 10%. By interpolation, we arrive at the 9.51% rate of interest. Analysis: In the current situation, Chenin and Dessert Wine are quite profitable with $9 and $10 contribution per unit respectively. Here, the point to be noted is that the contribution per unit for Dessert Wine is more than that of Chenin. After deducting the fixed expenses from contribution of sales, we arrive at profit figures of $30,400 and $33,600. In the May offer, even though, the volume is more, the total profit earned is less in the case of Chenin because of its low contribution per unit. Hence, the company should not look into the proposal of halting dessert wine bottles by 600 and taking up 800 bottles order for

The Relationships Between Law And Democracy Politics Essay

The Relationships Between Law And Democracy Politics Essay The link between law, democracy, government policy, and employee behavior. Up to date, there is still confusion on the clear understanding of law, democracy, government policy, and human rights and freedoms. When studying the concepts of law and democracy, we can not avoid looking at the rule of law. The rule of law can be defined as a situation where the state involves its citizens in the process of making laws. It also requires that the legislative arm of government be separated from the executive and the judiciary i.e. the principle of separation of powers. Lastly it requires that no one should be above the law. With this opinion, we can conclude that without the rule of law, is not possible to achieve democracy. That it is the core element of a constitutional democracy. In understanding the differences and the relationships between law and democracy requires a wider understanding of law, constitution and democracy. In this paper we study the relationship between law, democracy, g overnment policies and employee behavior. The presence of democracy also influences the nature of government policies to be implemented in consideration of the human rights and freedom. Human rights also affect the labor laws and the behavior of workers. In a democratic state, strong civil society organizations are likely to emerge including the trade Unions to advocate for the workers rights (Resenfield, 2001). The Relationship between democracy and law To establish the relationship between democracy and law, we should understand the meaning of law and democracy. Law is understood to be the means where decisions are arrived at and implemented in a community. And in any community there is a center that makes these laws. In authoritarian or totalitarian regimes, there is often one person who is the centre of power. In most cases it turns out to a dictatorial regime. In a democratic system, members of a particular community are involved in the decision making process and in issues of governance. Therefore in democratic states, we can define law as the way in which the decisions that were arrived at are implemented by the authorities as a policy that represents the interest of the public (L D, n.d). Democracy is defined to be a system where members of a particular society are given the authority to govern themselves. There is always a relationship between law of a given society and the policies governing that society. Pubic policies have to be integrated into for the law for it to be implemented. Therefore law always provides connection between the democracy and constitution making, as it helps in the conversion of a societys norms or values into a form which the government can enforce or implement. Law helps in consolidating and promoting the interest of a particular community. This is achieved by encouraging the accountability of government by advocating for good governance. Through advocating good governance, it helps in fostering of democracy. Members of a community often elect a representative to present their interest and in the law making process. This is referred to a representative democracy (LD, n.d). There has been increased pressure to governments from international bodies and civil societies on the need for democracy in the international law. This was extended to the democracy in the elections in the states that are members or signatories of these organizations. Before joining, these international bodies push countries that are willing to join to form democratic governments. They also help in monitoring of elections among member countries when requested to. Member states are compelled to the protection of human rights, through a political process (Wouters, Meester, Ryngaert, 2004). The relationship between Government policy and Law There is a connection between government polices and Law. Government policies or public policies can only be implemented after being integrated into law. In democratic governments; law is often referred to as the rule of law. In this case, the people are often in involved in the process of decision making and governance. These governments are often held accountable by its citizens. They also hold free and fair elections after a specific period of time for example four or five years. In the rule of law, there is the principle separation of powers among the three arms of government, that is, the judiciary, legislative or parliament and the executive arm of government. This ensures that there is proper checks and balances. In democratic states, government policies are often geared towards enhancing human rights, media freedom and transparency. Most democracies are moving away from secret system of policy making to a more transparent one where its citizens can access any information of t he government from budgeting to national security. This was prompted by the trend of the use of the system of classification to group the information which did not relate to national security to hide some information from the public. This led to corruption and abuse of offices. In an attempt to bring back the public confidence and restore sanity in the government system, policy makers decided to make this information accessible to the public (Aftergood, 2009). Relationship between Employees behavior and law Application of labor laws in a given state is likely to have a direct impact on the workers and employer in that state. In most democratic states, trade unions have been formed to fight for and protect the workers rights. There is also international organization of workers known as ILO under an umbrella body of the UN that fights for the rights of workers. States are often pressurized by the international community to commit themselves to formulating labor laws that meet an international standards set by ILO to protect workers rights against unscrupulous employers. Protecting the rights of workers is of great importance, it can however be a threat to economic growth. Studies have shown that strict labor laws which are protective sometimes hurt the labor market which is against its main intention of protecting its workers. This in the long run can hinder the overall growth of the economy. Firms may resort to other economical strategies of adapting to the labor market requirements like employing few workers or move to places with less restrictive labor laws (Basu, Fields, Debgupta, n.d). Relationship between Democracy and Government Policy Good governance and democracy can propel economic growth rate of a country. Good governance is promoted by accountability from the citizens. With this, states are able to achieve their development goals as it attracts investors to pump in their capital in the economy and these results in to a rise in economic growth rate. It also helps to improve the peoples welfare and widening social and economic opportunities and raising the standards of living of its citizens. Democracy and good governance brings stability in countries even during elections and transition periods (USAID, 2005). Civil society usually participates in making government or public policy through advocating for the interests of particular groups of people they represent. They also contribute a lot in the process of democracy and good governance. They can act as a channel for passing vital information and enlighten the members of the pubic. They also help in promoting effective communication between the government and the public by acting as a link between them. In most cases the keep the government accountable. Civil society always participate in promoting democracy by participating in the democratic process through voting, educating the citizens of their rights. They also help to educe the citizens on the government policies and their importance to them. Sometimes the civil societies usually advocates for rights of the marginalized members of the society. The organizations representing these groups can drum up support for some policies and present to various governments on behalf of their member s. Civil society has also help in advcating environmental conservation especially during this time when there is deep concern on the potential effects of climate change due to global warming. Civil society have helped in drawing the attention of the world on the poverty, diseases and human rights abuses by the governments across the gone(AC, n.d)The benefits that arise when involving the citizens in the process of making policies are strengthening the relationship between the government and the citizens. This results in good governance and formulation of better policies. It helps in building the trust of the public in the system of governance hence promoting democracy and building a stronger civil society that hold government accountable (OECD, 2001). Relationship between workers union and democracy Strong trade democratic unions are often necessary in fight force workers rights. Trade unions also provided checks to the executive by demanding for transparency. They have been of great benefits to the workers by agitating for better terms of contract with the employer. They have also participated in the formulation of policies in collaboration with the governments particularly in the labor sector by demanding for reforms. However democratic workers unions have not gone well with the employers. Employers have tried to interfere with these unions especially during campaigns for representation. They have used various tactics such as; threatening to fire workers or better offers if they joined or participated or quit in the unions activities, threatening business closure, and giving transfers or giving hard jobs to workers who participated in the unions activities. These activities of the employers have interfered with democracy in the trade unions. Therefore the governments and inter national organizations should come up with policies and laws to protect workers from these intimidations from their employers Trade unions have also been used to push for reforms in the government (Mehta Theodore, 2005). Conclusion This paper has show the close link between law, democracy, government policies and employee behavior. In democratic governments, members of the public are involved in the decision making process and issues of governance. Therefore law is the way in which the decisions are made and implemented by the authorities in the interest of the public. Therefore it helps in the consolidation and promotion of the interest of a society. We have also seen the relationship between the government policies and law. Government policies can only be implemented if they are put into law. In democratic governments, citizens are involved in the decision making process and therefore, the citizens are involved in the formulation of government polices. Hence the people have the right to determine the law and policies that govern them. Employees are also affected in one way or the other by law, democracy and government policies. When we have strict labor laws, it scares potential employers away. They may eithe r move to a different location where there are less strict laws or limit the number of work force they employ. This has adverse effects on the economy. Workers unions have also helped in pushing the government reforms and in policy making. Afraid of the trade unions, employers have tried to interfere with the democracy within the trade unions. Therefore we can conclude that law, democracy, government policies and employee behavior are intertwined.

Psychology Book Report :: essays research papers

The Boy who couldn’t stop Washing written by DR. Judith Rapoport, published by Penguin books in 1989, containing 292 pages, deals with obsessive compulsive disorder. Dr. Rapoport is a psychiatrist who specializes in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In this, book she reveals new drug treatments, new methods in diagnosis and behaviorist therapies. This is done through the study of her patients and their disorders. Rapoport has revealed this secret disease and hopes to bring and understanding about it to all that may suffer from it and to anyone who may want to be informed. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about OCD. It may help those who face this disease everyday of their lives, and make them realize they are not alone. Also will aid in those who do not know much about this disease and give them and understanding and be aware that it surrounds us. There are many interesting quotes and advice given in this book; five statements stood out that I felt are worthwhile. “Most Psychiatrists don’t use the word “crazy'; but that’s exactly how to talk about it with an obsessive-compulsives. Since they are so sane in every other way, you must agree with and understand how upset they are by how crazy it all is'; (pg. 6). This stood out to me and made me realize many things. Many who would look at people with OCD would think they are crazy, but in fact they are as normal in a sense as anyone of us is but they suffer from a problem. We all suffer from some kind of problem but not to this degree, so when people label them as crazy it is wrong as yet they are saner than many of us. “Whether you know it or not you know someone with this disease';(pg. 115) After finishing this book I realized that this is somewhat true. This is a disease that has been kept a secret, and those that suffer from it keep it a hidden. It is embarrassing and those that suffer from this wish not to be identified. It has become a ritual to the person; they feel if they admit that they suffer from this that they will be labeled as “crazy'; when if fact they are not. One of our family members may have it or friends, we never know, and that’s the amazing thing because we might be able to help them but they are not willing to be open about it.

Athenian audience Essay

Athenian audience with the references made to Athenian hypocrisy and the challenges and questions he raised on some of the moral issues of the time and the questions that he asked in his plays were sometimes ill received such as the role of women etc. Despite this, Euripides did win the tragedy prize with ‘Hippolytus’ and is revered as a great playwright in present day drama. From some of the female characters that Euripides develops in his plays, one could assume that Euripides was a misogynist. However, it is wrong to say that all of his female characters are wicked and evil; Euripides has created some wonderful and interesting female characters as well as the wicked ones. Perhaps ‘The Assembly Women’ actually had wrong motive for their revolt! In ‘Alcestis’, the title character, the wife of Admetus (the King of Pherae) sacrifices herself for her husband’s life. A most noble act and Euripides portrays her character, as the model of what a Greek wife should be: completely and utterly devoted to their husband to the extent of dieing for the man that supports them. The Greek audience and modern alike will like Alcestis, as she is a sweet natured and noble woman. She most certainly would have won the hearts of the Greek audience. As she is such a noble character and the measure of her kindness toward her husband is so great, Euripides had to bring her back. So the heroic Heracles wends his way to Hades’ kingdom and brings her back. In ‘Electra’, again the title role, at the beginning of the play, comes across as a very sorrowful young woman. She has cut her hair out of mourning for her murdered father, Agamemnon. He was murdered by her mother, Clytemnestra, as he had to sacrifice their daughter and then brought home a concubine (Cassandra). When Agamemnon did get home, Clytemnestra had fallen in love with Aegisthus. Therefore, so far in the play, Electra comes across as a woman very much devoted to her father and hates her mother for murdering him. So far so justified. However, when she happens to meet her brother, Orestes, she convinces him to kill their mother. At this point she comes across as a very wicked conniving young lady. It seems as though she had been waiting for Orestes return to make him do this. When Orestes has doubts over killing Clytemnestra, she bullies him into doing it. She knew the result she wanted to get and she got it. Clytemnestra, if you haven’t read or seen Aeschylus’ ‘Agamemnon’, comes across as a less conniving woman than her daughter. She comes across as a very powerful and domineering woman. She arrives in the play in a chariot and commands the slaves to help her down. She is very aware of her class and position and will not back down from her decision to murder Agamemnon and regards it as the right thing to do. In this sense we must respect her for sticking by her decision and understand that Agamemnon did kill their daughter and come back with a concubine. In a very slight way, she is justified. Therefore, Euripides has created in Electra a very complicated character. We as the audience or readers assume that she had been planning her revenge on her mother for some time and was just waiting for Orestes return to enact it. Before this point however, we can sympathise with her loss of a father and the pain that she must be going thorough to have the knowledge that it was her mother who murdered him. Clytemnestra, from this play, comes across a woman who sticks by her decision and who in speech ha the capacity to justify and handle herself well. Euripides has created two complicated female characters and in his portrayal of them has shown no signs of his rumoured misogyny. Euripides creates one of the greatest roles for any actress to play in ‘Hecabe’. The title role is not the aforementioned feet of extraordinary characterisation. However, Hecabe as a character is very interesting. The audience comes away not knowing what to think of her. She begins the play as a woman who has endured such a lot of pain as the former Queen of the now sacked citadel of Troy. She has reached the limit of endurance and collapses in sorrow. She has lost her entire family to a war over one woman, the infamous Helen. At the end of the play, however, she literally snaps from a grief stricken widow to a raving savage. She has Polymestor blinded and enjoys the gruesome description of the event and the sounds. According to legend, Hecabe turns into a dog due to her extreme torment that results into madness. This is what Polymestor tells her at the end of the play when his blind by her decision. The character this section opened with by praising is Polyxena. She is Hecabe’s daughter and Euripides develops her character beautifully. Odysseus informs Hecabe that her daughter must be sacrificed to the deceased Achilles. Without shedding a tear, Polyxena, heroically goes with Odysseus to accept her fate. As she is taken to the tomb of Peleus (Achilles father), Greek soldiers hold her and Achilles’ son gets ready with his sword to kill or to sacrifice her. She asks not to be held and the soldiers are taken away. She then tears her clothes off to the wait and bravely speaks and awaits the sword to be thrust into her chest. Euripides in this play has created two memorable female characters. The brave and heroic Polyxena and the complicated Hecabe. Again, no sign of any misogyny on Euripides part here, in fact the opposite in Polyxena’s case. Creating a heroic woman is no mean feet in Ancient Greece and her character must have been received well as she is incredibly strong of character and of heart. Another great female character in Euripidean literature is Heracles wife Megara in the play ‘Heracles’. The play tells of how Hera (Queen of the gods, married to Zeus, who’s father to Heracles) turned Heracles mad and in his madness killed his three sons and his wife Megara. This then lead him to go to the Delphic Oracle that told him to be a slave to Eurytheus thus leading to his infamous twelve labours. Anyhow, Megara, at the beginning of the play, thinks that she is a widow and is a vulnerable woman who has to be strong for her three young sons. However, Heracles actually is not dead and comes home to them in Thebes. He is then turned mad by Hera and shoots two of his sons with arrows in his madness. Megara takes the last son and locks herself in room but Heracles breaks in and shoots them both with one arrow.

Pizza Hut Marketing Research Report Essay

Executive summary This marketing research report is about the strategy of Pizza Hut for entering a new market. This research includes the preferences of the customers for going to any fast-food restaurant and particularly to our. We collected primary data from people for our research. While we were making our questionnaire we focused mainly on questions that showed the preference of the fast-food customers. Especially when we talk about food quality, price, services, interior, etc†¦ We got the questionnaires filled by 28 people from our population. They found the questionnaire nice and easy and we really could analyze their answers. The population for our research consists of students of The IUC College and people from all over the country. We made the connection through some websites. This analysis helped us to come out with new ideas about the future sales and profitability and  what our brand needs to maintain its image. Introduction Pizza hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza including pasta, salad, breadsticks, garlic bread and buffalo wings. Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of the world’s largest restaurant company Yum! Brands.Inc. As of 2012, there were more than 6,000 Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States, and more than 5,139 store locations in 94 other countries and territories around the world. Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by brothers Dan and Frank Carney in their hometown of Wichita, Kansas. They borrowed $600 from their mother to start a business with partner John Bender. They chose the name â€Å"Pizza Hut† since the sign they purchased only had enough space for nine characters and spaces. In the early 1960s Pizza Hut grew on the strength of aggressive marketing of the pizza restaurant idea. The first Pizza Hut franchise was opened in Canada. This was followed by the establishment of the International Pizza Hut Franchise Holders Association. In 1977 Pizza Hut merged with PepsiCo, becoming a division of the global soft drink and food conglomerate. Sales that year reached $436 million, and a new $10 million dollar headquarters office opened in Wichita. The brand has been rewarded as the best restaurant chain internationally. In 1986, Pizza Huts started its Home Delivery service. In 2007, Pizza Hut offered online ordering at all of their 65,000 locations. In 2008, Pizza Hut introduced Total Mobile Access- the ability for customers to order by text messaging or using their web enabled cell phones. Research Our major marketing strategy has always been to satisfy the customer by offering the best, including cleanliness, hospitality, accuracy, maintenance, product quality and speed. Our brand has always been friendly and familiar. We have always done our positioning by keeping in view two basic factors: Quality and frequency. Our brand uses low price meal and expensive for high end. We collected primary data from people for our research. While we were making our questionnaire we focused mainly on  questions that showed the preference of the fast-food customers. Especially when we talk about food quality, price, services, interior, etc†¦ We got the questionnaires filled by 28 people from our population. They found the questionnaire nice and easy and we really could analyze their answers. The population for our research were students of The IUC College and people from all over the country. We made the connection through some websites. We found out that most of the people are really aware of our brand and they have even visited our restaurants. 10 out of 28 people have never heard of our brand and products. We asked all the people who have visited our restaurant, are they satisfied with the service and the ingredients in the food. All of them were undoubtedly agree that the service in the restaurant is extremely good and all of the ingredients are high quality. We became aware of the information that the majority of the fast-food restaurant customers are the people between the ages of 18 and 30. Nowadays the majority of young people can’t cook and they are really impatient for food. Some of them don’t have resources.desire and time for cooking. So the fast food restaurants are really the best choice for people between these ages. Furthermore, we found out that our potential customers are incredibly price sensitive. 16 out of 28 people preferred to give 5 to 10 leva for our services than 3 to 5 leva. This helped us to understand that our customers are willing to pay more if the service responds to their money but not too much. After our detailed analysis we concluded that quality is the most important factor which can affect our potential customers. People really prefer to eat in a fast-food restaurant which has normal prices, good service and nice interior. People have gotten tired of going to the same places like Mcdonalds and Subway. They want something new, fresh and with fast home delivery. 4 P’s Product: Salads, Pizza, Pasta, Beverage, Deserts Price: 5 to 10 leva Promotion: TV ads for now Place: We should place our restaurants in the Mall or somewhere in the centre of Sofia and Varna Conclusion From our research we conclude that we definitely should focus on consumer satisfaction. This is possible if we have control over the quality of the food, service and control over prices. We have to make sure that we can create a friendly physical environment. Our restaurant must become like a second home for our consumers. And we think that our potential consumers in Bulgaria would be very pleased with our services. Recommendations We should do some strong TV advertising. We should open branches in more cities, such as Varna, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo We should have at least one restaurant in the mall. The competition will be extremely big but with our brand image and variety of food and beverages we think we could easily achieve successful market share. References http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/ http://www.marketingteacher.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Pizza_Hut