Schizophrenia :: essays research papers

Schizophrenia      WHAT IS SCHIZOPHRENIA? What does the term schizophrenia mean? In its most rudimentary sense, we may state that schizophrenia is an ailment, developed by Eugene Bleeder. Eugene Bleeder was one of the most powerful therapists of his time. He is most popular today for his presentation of the term schizophrenia, recently known as dementia praecox. In reality, schizophrenia is frequently utilized conventionally and improperly as it is regularly applied to nearly any sort of irregular conduct of which the speaker objects. Schizophrenia is universally saw as the "classic case of madness" . It is a surprising and here and there alarming experience to out of the blue run over a individual who announces himself Jesus Christ, blusters drivel, or sits with his body unmoving as though solidified in time and spot. For certain individuals, such an experience is excessively stunning, excessively fearsome, excessively terrible. They rush away, attempting to excuse the picture of the unhinged individual from their psyches. No different sickness is as debilitating and confusing as schizophrenia. Today, disregarding the medications that have permitted numerous schizophrenics to live at home or in the network, a noteworthy number of individuals admitted to mental emergency clinics are casualties of the ailment. As indicated by the Encyclopedia Of Health, schizophrenics represent almost 40% of admissions to state mental emergency clinics, 30% of mental admissions to Veterans Administration medical clinics, and about 20% of admissions to private mental medical clinics. Schizophrenia is serious. Its motivation or causes are yet obscure, and it is difficult to anticipate what course the sickness will take. There are numerous speculations about the reasons for schizophrenia, its movement, and its possible result. They are at present being investigated by scientists around the globe.      Schizophrenia's most sensational manifestations are extreme and unending daydreams and mental trips. A dream is a deception or thought that rationale also, reason demonstrate to be "crazy". A mental trip is seeing, hearing , or detecting something that isn't there. The two side effects happen in other psychological instabilities, however the substance of the schizophrenic dreams is frequently unmistakable enough that the experienced therapist or clinical analyst can promptly distinguish the clutter. Another regular attribute of this impairing ailment is the disconnected discussion of its casualties. Their talk regularly comprises of a arrangement of obscure explanations hung together in an indistinguishable way. Audience members are left confused by what they have heard and this can be ascribed to the lopsidedness of the schizophrenic's talking designs. To some degree, schizophrenics show a specific aloofness or detachment with respect to what is occurring around them. Their entire enthusiastic viewpoint is stifled, and they appear next to zero warmth toward others.

CLARA Survey Mindful Agency

Question: Examine about theCLARA Surveyfor Mindful Agency. Answer: Individual Reflection After an exhaustive reflection, I set up that I have a solid Mindful Agency. I was so charmed on the grounds that the quality of my Mindful Agency demonstrated to me that I am a dependable understudy who is not kidding with whatever movement I perform. Being solid has empowered me to be a basic mastermind who can utilize his brain to settle on objective and cognizant choices with respect to my life. This has allowed me a chance to release my obligations much capably. In this way, to get the best out of my educational time, I need to benefit from my qualities by appropriately arranging and dealing with my time since it is a significant asset I have as of now. As an understudy, I realize that I ought to devote my time for scholastics. This is the reason I accept that the consequences of my study show that I have been doing so well (Gale Schrder 2014). Along these lines, the best activity is to exploit my qualities and guarantee that they advantage me in the most ideal manner conceivabl e. Simultaneously, I ought to recognize my shortcomings and feel propelled to make the vital changes. This will assist me with improving my aptitudes and become an effective understudy and expert so far as that is concerned. As an understudy, I know for sure that I have far to go. Accordingly, having completed a goal self-appraisal on my qualities and shortcomings, I have come into a resolution that I should settle on significant decisions with respect to my profession improvement. Therefore, I have chosen two suitable methodologies: looking for clinical chances to accept obligation just as taking part in humanitarian effort. I am persuaded that these are significant procedures that if appropriately misused, can assist with setting me up to be a balanced proficient who is learned and can serve the general public by conveying my best for the wellbeing of the network (Davis, Thwaites, Freeston Bennett?Levy 2015). They have a capability of engaging me to boost my latent capacity and in the end prevail in my investigations. Accomplishment in my profession is a long procedure that requires satisfactory arrangements directly from this time until I complete my investigations. Subsequently, any methodology that can impel me towards progress ought to be welcome and given the fundamental help it merits. Having gauged all the accessible choices, I have chooses to choose the two procedures in light of the fact that as I would like to think, they are the most practical. In the event that appropriately used, they can empower me to propel my vocation to the following level. Looking for clinical open doors will empower me to get down to earth aptitudes and encounters that will make me to fit into the activity advertise. Here, I will get the opportunity to find out much about patient consideration, understanding connections, cooperation and time the board. Then again, chipping in will give me a satisfying opportunity to offer back to the general public, form my notoriety, get presentation, and learn significant abilities such intercultural correspondence. Over the long haul, I will wind up turning into an adaptable and dynamic expert who can serve in whatever sort of various network (Chaddock, Thwaites, Bennett-Levy Freeston 2014). Along these lines, I unequivocally accept that these are t he main methodologies that are fitting for me as an up and coming proficient. Saving some an opportunity to obtain down to earth abilities is honorable in light of the fact that it serves to profit me a lot. One thing I can't deny is that I have deliberately picked procedures that will make me to be an outstanding expert upon the finishing of my examinations. From the proof accumulated during the reflection, I discovered that my procedures have been of incredible assistance to me. By deciding to be a basic mastermind, I have figured out how to utilize my innovativeness to settle on sensible choices that can make me to be an excellent understudy. This is the reason the greater part of the occasions; I have been making exact decisions as I should. Simultaneously, I have been spending a huge segment of my time on my book work (Katsikitis, McAllister, Sharman, Raith, Faithfull-Byrne Priaulx 2013). Which means, I have embraced splendid time the executives methodologies to empower me to appropriately utilize the accessible time with no wastage. It is hence that I qualify my Mindful Agency as a better quality that I merit than have as an engaged understudy. Saving some time and participating in willful and clinical work can be a compensating activity. In fact, my techniques gave me considerable control over my ways to deal with learning. The conviction of committing my opportunity to administration of the network is an unmistakable evidence that I am profoundly worried about my profession improvement. Through my techniques, I have settled on a decision to be a capable understudy who takes as much time as necessary to play out all the obligations given to me. Subsequently, I have figured out how to create and support the aptitudes of time the board, cooperation and responsibility. As I would see it, I view these as the most critical abilities that should control me in whatever movement I participate in (Cleary, Horsfall, Muthulakshmi, Happell Hunt 2013). For instance; being responsible has made me to be a straightforward understudy who can assume a full liability for every one of my activities at whatever point vital. I do this in light of the fact that, to me, it sets me up to be direct proficient who can be depended with overwhel ming obligations and duties in whichever setting I work. The decision of my methodologies has affected on me from various perspectives. Above all, it has set me up to rise as a perfect understudy. The way that I can utilize my inventiveness to settle on reasonable choices infers that I can be a decent time chief who devotes his vitality to do gainful exercises. This has profited me, however profited others also. The gained aptitudes have empowered me to adequately speak with others, hear them out and set up a decent and solid relational relationship with them (Boud, Keogh Walker 2013). Simultaneously, my procedures have made me to be a magnanimous expert who is worried about the government assistance of others in the general public. This is the reason I have settled on the choice to take part in charitable effort since it will give me a plentiful stage to offer back to the general public as I manufacture my nursing vocation. Whenever allowed a chance to utilize the system once again, I would not stop for a second to do as such. From the reflection did up until now, I came to build up that my procedures are very proper for me as an engaged understudy. What I can be sure of is that I am in a difficult circumstance that requires legitimate dynamic. To do as such, I have to apply the most reasonable methodology that can empower me to utilize my abilities and experience to concoct very much idea and objective choices. Accordingly, given the positive effects of the methodology, I would have no way out as opposed to reusing it over and over. By and by, I would need to have sufficient opportunity to refine my correspondence and community abilities (Bennett-Levy Lee 2014). This will engage me to be a dedicated and cordial character who can make due in any of condition anyway testing it may be. This, as I would like to think, is the thing that I have to prevail in my examinations and enough set myself up for my vo cation. References Bennett-Levy, J. Lee, N.K., 2014. Self-Practice and Self-Reflection in Cognitive Behavior Therapy Training: What Factors Influence Trainees Engagement and Experience of Benefit?. Conduct and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 42(01), pp.48-64. Boud, D., Keogh, R. Walker, D., 2013. Advancing appearance in learning A modeli. Limits of grown-up learning, 1, pp.32-57. Chaddock, A., Thwaites, R., Bennett-Levy, J. Freeston, M.H., 2014. Understanding individual contrasts in light of Self-Practice and Self-Reflection (SP/SR) during CBT preparing. The Cognitive Behavior Therapist, 7, p.e14. Cleary, M., Horsfall, J., Muthulakshmi, P., Happell, B. Chase, G.E., 2013. Vocation advancement: graduate attendant perspectives. Diary of clinical nursing, 22(17-18), pp.2605-2613. Davis, M.L., Thwaites, R., Freeston, M.H. Bennett?Levy, J., 2015. A quantifiable effect of a self?practice/self?reflection program on the remedial abilities of experienced cognitive?behavioural specialists. Clinical brain science psychotherapy, 22(2), pp.176-184. Hurricane, C. Schrder, T., 2014. Encounters of self?practice/self?reflection in intellectual social treatment: A meta?synthesis of subjective examinations. Brain science and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 87(4), pp.373-392. Katsikitis, M., McAllister, M., Sharman, R., Raith, L., Faithfull-Byrne, A. Priaulx, R., 2013. Proceeding with proficient advancement in nursing in Australia: Current mindfulness, practice and future headings. Contemporary medical attendant, 45(1), pp.33-45.

Solution Are we going to win

Solution Are we going to win Can you guess where I am right now? Points to the most creative answer. Expect an entry either later tonight or tomorrow about how I experienced my first flight cancellation ever. Puzzle Solution Follows. Are we going to win? Here is my schedule. I just cant seem to get the times right. I need a hand. Day 1: Multivariable Control Systems Solving Complex Problems Intro to Numerical Simulation in Electrical Engineering Welding and Joint Processes Day 2: Field Geology Solving Complex Problems Introduction to Planetary Science Introduction to Planetary Science Day 3: Multivariable Control Systems Welding and Joint Processes Introduction to Planetary Science Introduction to Planetary Science So, first, you would say to yourself, self, those look like classes at MIT. You would be right. Since MIT lives in numbers instead of words, the next step is to gather the numbers of all these classes. So you end up with this: Day 1: 6.245 12.000 6.673 3.37 Day 2: 12.115 12.000 12.004 12.004 Day 3: 6.245 3.37 12.004 12.004 This is the point where you needed to refer to the flavor text. The flavor text is stressing different components of time. First, the fact that I cant get the times right means that the times are most likely in the wrong form. The thing that you needed to realize, was that all these were times, just not in the right form. You could have used a calculator to convert the times, by multiplying the decimal by 60, twice, or you could have found a website, like this one: http://www.springfrog.com/converter/decimal-time.htm. So, converting the times, I get: Day 1: 6:14:42 12:00:00 6:40:22 3:22:12 Day 2: 12:06:54 12:00:00 12:00:14 12:00:14 Day 3: 6:14:42 3:22:12 12:00:14 12:00:14 Also, as you all know, I have two hands, so by stressing that I need a hand. I was refering to the 3 hands on an analog clock. This meant you should view these times on an analog clock. If you do this, the 3 hands will form letters for each time. 6:14:42 T 12:00:00 I 6:40:22 M 3:22:12 E 12:06:54 W 12:00:14 L The title of the puzzle was meant to reassure you that you had indeed found the solution (Are we going to win?). So using all the times, the answer you get is: TIME WILL TELL

Environmental Scan Paper - 1272 Words

Environmental Scan Paper There are internal and external elements that help a corporation determine their future. Environmental scanning monitors, evaluates, and disseminates the information from both the internal and external environments within the corporation. The internal and external elements are strategic factors that determine the corporation’s future. Environmental scanning can be conducted through a simple SWOT analysis that describes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as strategic factors for an organization. The internal environment of the corporation is the strengths and weaknesses variables within the organization. The external†¦show more content†¦A.O. Smith Water Products Company A.O. Smith Water Products Company is an industry leader in the manufacturing of gas and electric residential and commercial water heaters. They offer production and services in the United States as well as major international markets. Since the company was founded it places a premium on engineering excellence. This has resulted â€Å"in many firsts in both residential and commercial water heaters and boilers† (PRN Newswire , n.d.). The company has an ongoing commitment to innovative and continuous improvement in their products. Because of their quality products and services, A.O. Smith Water Products Company has become one of the most trusted and requested brands in the water heater industry. A.O. Smith Water Products Company provides warranty services for all of their products. The company does incur extra costs because of it. Product defects are low, but they can still be expensive. Each product that moves through the warranty process cause charges from customer service, manufacturing expense, and additional packaging and shipping charges. Global suppliers can increase taxes and shipping costs, which could force them to change suppliers. The cost of marketing is a potential weakness because of the economy. Magazines and other marketing s ources could start charging more. A.O. Smith Water Products Company believes in environmental sustainability, which increases costsShow MoreRelatedEnvironmental Scan Paper1539 Words   |  7 PagesEnvironmental Scan Paper MGT/498 July 22, 2015 Environmental Scan Paper The evaluating, monitoring, and disseminating of information from internal and external environments to key people within the corporation is called environmental scanning. (Wheelen and Hunger. 2010) Environmental scanning helps an organization identify relevant factors and use those factors to obtain a competitive advantage within the environment. The author will discuss how an organization creates value and sustainsRead MoreEnvironmental Scan Paper1148 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Environmental Scan Paper Shalunda Lester MGT 498 May 2, 2015 Jerome Dausman Environmental Scan Paper Introduction The monitoring, evaluating, and disseminating of information from the external and internal environments is known as environmental scanning. This information goes to key people within the corporation to identify strategic factors and help determine the future of the corporation (Wheelen Hunger). SWOT analysis is the simplest way to conduct environmental scanning. TheRead MoreEnvironmental Scan Paper1497 Words   |  6 PagesEnvironmental Scan Paper MGT/498 December 10, 2014 Dr. Pamela Linden Environmental Scan Paper Environmental scanning plays a critical role in the strategic management planning process. The environmental scan provides important information, which may be useful in forecasting changes for the future. Environmental scanning is, â€Å"the monitoring, evaluation, and dissemination of information from the external and internal environments to key people within the organization.† (Wheelen and HungerRead MoreEnvironmental Scan Paper1138 Words   |  5 PagesEnvironmental Scan Paper MGT/498 Environmental Scan Paper The business environment of an organization reveals much about its competitiveness and the possible influences on the success of its strategies. The focus of this paper will be an environmental scan of the internal and external environments of two real-world firms, their competitive advantages and company strategies for creating value and sustaining competitiveness, measurement guidelinesRead MoreEnvironmental Scan Paper1535 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Environmental Scan Paper Christine Jennings MGT/498 Jacqueline Limonta November 17, 2014 Environmental Scan The concept of environmental scanning is important because of the short term and long term success of a company. This tool helps companies scan, monitor, evaluate, and forecast the internal and external parts of the company. In order to obtain an accurate assessment of the internal and external variables of a company, the business managers would have to use a SWOT analysis to developRead MoreEthical and Environmental Scan Paper1850 Words   |  8 PagesEthical and Environmental Scan Paper: Enron, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft Ethics and the environmental responsibilities of companies tie directly into those of social responsibilities and occupy a very important position in both incorporating into strategic plans and the company’s value system. In this paper, the subject to describe is how the role of ethics and social responsibility is developed into a company’s strategic plan; this will enclose an example of how Enron initiated an oversteppingRead MoreMgt 498 Week 3 Environmental Scan Paper1112 Words   |  5 PagesEnvironmental Scan Paper Your Name MGT 498 Week 3 Instructor Name Date For any company to survive in the business environment, they must be accustomed toward any situation within the environment because of certain issues, perceptions, chances, and resources. These are such reasons every business must observe any applicable changes, which can occur within the environment and invent from existing policies to adjust toward variations. For any company to succeed the company will need to conquer theRead MoreMgt 498 Week 3 Environmental Scan Paper1099 Words   |  5 PagesEnvironmental Scan Paper Your Name MGT 498 Week 3 Instructor Name Date For any company to survive in the business environment, they must be accustomed toward any situation within the environment because of certain issues, perceptions, chances, and resources. These are such reasons every business must observe any applicable changes, which can occur within the environment and invent from existing policies to adjust toward variations. For any company to succeed the company will need to conquerRead MoreMGT/498 Week Three Individual Environmental Scan Paper1199 Words   |  5 Pages Environmental Scan Paper Craig Clark University Of Phoenix MGT/498 March 9, 2013 Environmental Scan Paper The environment of any organization consists of internal and external factors. An organization should conduct a scan of its environment in order for it to determine development, and a forecast on the factors that may influence the success of the organization. Scanning the environment refers to the possession and utilization of the information that an organization hasRead MoreEnvironmental Scan1153 Words   |  5 PagesMGT 498 Environmental Scan Paper MGT/498 Environmental Scan Paper Environmental scans play a crucial role in the strategic planning process by helping organizations take a look at their competitive advantages and identify ways to sustain the advantages. Wheelen and Hunger (2010) describes environmental scanning as â€Å"the monitoring, evaluation, and dissemination of information from external and internal environments

Messenger Of Christianity, Jesus Of Nazareth - 1412 Words

Lauren Robison Ivy Mccmullin February 20,2017 â€Å"Messenger of Christianity, Jesus Of Nazareth† â€Å"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means, God with us † (Teen Study Bible NIV, Mat.1.23). The name Immanuel, also refers to the leader of the Christian society, Jesus Christ. The word â€Å"Jesus means God is salvation, and the word Christ, or Messiah, means the anointed, that is, the one anointed of God, who came to guide the people walking in darkness† (Arabic Bible). This Christian man, Jesus, is the central deity to the monumental religion of Christianity. He lived a life modeling faith, courage, selflessness, and love. These main aspects impacted the way that the modern†¦show more content†¦On the other hand, he encourages for people to love their enemies, give to the needy, and be in consistent prayer with God (Teen Study Bible NIV, Mat. 5). These sermons are historical records for the central moral guidelines, on how to live a Christian life. If Jesus did not teach the word of God, and lead by an example from his teachings, there would be no guidelines to live by in the religion. A miracle is â€Å"a divinely natural phenomenon experienced humanly as the fulfillment of spiritual law† (Merriam-Webster). Jesus performed many miracles throughout his community. A few examples of miracles performed by Jesus was him healing a man with leprosy, giving a blind man vision, healing people demon possessed, walking on water, feeding a large community of people, resurrection from his crucifixion, and much more. These miraculous accounts added a since of life to religion, and gave people hope and faith into this new religious practice. Witnessing the miracles, and hearing the stories of a human figure performing miracles, spread across the Roman Empire. People from all over the community came to hear and witness these miracles partake. These accounts gave evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus’s miracles and teachings came to a halt when he was put up for trial for potential crucifixion, under Pontus Pilate and the community of people. The people voted him as guilty and he wasShow MoreRelatedMuhammad and Jesus1256 Words   |  6 Pagesand Jesus Paper. Submit a 1250 to 1500-word paper in which you compare and contrast the lives of Muhammad and Jesus in relation to each perspective religion Complete the following steps in your paper: Trace the lives of Muhammad and Jesus historically Compare what impact the death of each had on their perspective religion Describe the way each individual was or is worshipped Explain how their messages are being carried out in the world today Introduction Muhammad and Jesus of NazarethRead MoreChristianity the most Universal Religion791 Words   |  3 PagesChristianity Christianity is the most universal religious belief in the world. 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We will discuss the origin of Angels and likewise Demons, their role in both the New and Old Testament and lastly we will discuss the activity ofRead MoreComparing Islalm to Christianism593 Words   |  2 Pages When it comes to Islam, I am a little curious on whether it is a different interpretation of Christianity. During my teenage years, an older friend of mine tried to convert to me Islam, as I must admit, it really sounded appealing. Nevertheless, after he was done, I still stuck to my Christian beliefs because where he starts during our conversation to where he ended made the different for me. Let me explain, my friend, Anselm is his name, started preaching using a chronological order in how IslamRead MoreJesus And Mohammed Essay1309 Words   |  6 PagesIn both Christian and Islamic religions, a monotheistic religion applies. Jesus is the embodiment of Christ and Mohammed is the profit that lives through Allah. Both of those leaders are the main pillars of each of their religions. Both live lives that were in a condense to each of the religions the correct way to live. For each of the religions both Jesus and Mohammed are what every single follower aspires to live like. They lived rigious and just lives. Their deaths marked the start of new religionsRead MoreThe Religion of Islam Essay1383 Words   |  6 Pages Islam is Gods final revelation of prophetic religion, in fulfillment of all that had preceded. Moses was given the Law; David was given the Psalms; Jesus was given the Gospel. Judaism offers Gods message of justice, and Christianity proclaims the love of God. To Mohammed (570-632 A.D.; spelled in a variety of ways) the God of Abraham and Jesus revealed the Quran (Arabic for recital, sometimes written Koran). 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Common examples are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (answers.com). There are different types ranging from different regions yet; some could be so similar at the same time in their teachings. Islamic and Christianity religions are two of the biggest religions in the world and are so different and in some aspects the same. The two religions also share some rivalries that have been displayed in the media because of the view that Islam has on the Christianity culture. I will be further exploring

Sabmiller Sources of Finance Free Essays

SABMiller should combine those 4 sources of finance: retained profit, issuing shares, bond, debenture and bank loans. Each source of finance has its own advantages and disadvantages: †¢ Retained profit: When SABMiller use retained profit, it do not have to pay any brokerage fees. Retained profit is also flexible and simple. We will write a custom essay sample on Sabmiller Sources of Finance or any similar topic only for you Order Now The manager can use this source of finance for different purposes. Because retained profit belong to the whole company, not any individual so there is no dilution of control. Furthermore, ‘all profit from investment belong to shareholders’. However, using retained pro fit could decrease the possibility to pay and paying high dividends to shareholders. †¢ Bank loans: As a new company enters Vietnamese market, SABMiller needs a large sum of capital to bulid its offices, equipments, raw material and invest in potential projects to earn more profit for its first stage of development. Therefore, borrow money from banks is a very suitable source of finance because they can provide a large amount of money. But asking for a loan from banks is so risky. When the company borrow money from banks, it must pay enough interest on time and the interest rate may be very high. Before lending the firm money, banks would look at SABMiller’s characters, ability to pay back, purpose of the loan, the amount of the loan, the repayment terms of the loan and secutity. If the business did not pay back the interest on time, it is nearly impossible for it to borrow money again. †¢ Issuing shares: It could be a long term source of finance when SABMiller is listed in stock market. If the firm has nice reputation and work well, it will motivate more shareholders to buy the shares, so SABMiller could raise a large sum of capital. Moreover, when the company issues share, it is more difficult for SABMiller to lose ownership and have takeover risk. But as well as its advantages, issuing shares also has many limitations. If there is a reduction on in a shareholder’s percentage of controlling a company, the dilution of control will appear. The cost involved may be high, such as floatation cost, brokerage fees, underwritten fees, administrative fees, legal. Furthermore, issuing shares is so adventurous and risky because if the performance of the company go down, the price of shares will decrease, even it might be very low. The business can have backrupt trouble when the price of share go down too much. When SABMiller cannot repay the debt to creditors, it will lead to backruptcy. †¢ Issuing bonds and debentures: These sources of finance could be used in long term. The company could have a less expensive loan from its creditor. However, debenture stock have to compete with gilts to draft investors. And because debenture stock has higher risk, ‘company debentures must generally offer a higher rate of interest than the interest rate of gilts’. Unless the business pay their debt on time, it will lose its assets and money. How to cite Sabmiller Sources of Finance, Essay examples

Cultural Diversity in Business Essay Example For Students

Cultural Diversity in Business Essay In their eagerness to avoid the courts and editorial pages, most firms in America, and increasingly in Europe, now pay close attention to the sex and race of the people they recruit and promote, For example, Harvard Business School has just announced that they will go out of its way to include women in its case studies, which are used in business-school classrooms around the world. In other words, schools and businesses, in order to stay out of trouble, are taking the easy way out, quotas. (Kole, MacDonald.1997.1) Although some women and minorities are hired to fill quotas, the majority of them are needed to create a cultural diverse workplace. Cultural Diversity can have a positive effect and be profitable but only for some firms. A well considered strategy must accompany Cultural Diversity if profit is to be made. There are at least two reasons to expect a policy of diversity to yield profits. One difference is communication. Because many people find it easier to understand others of the same sex, or nationality, it helps to have employees from the same cultural background as your customers. Its not only a matter of language, but understanding the customers needs, tastes and the earning of their trust is vital. The recruiting of people from a different cultural background can not only improve communication with outsiders, it may also bring fresh ideas to insiders (Kole, MacDonald. 1997.2). Businesses dont only need cultural diversity in order to relate to customers, they need women and minorities in management. Smaller banks have traditionally selected their directors from among those who live and work in their communities. Their reasoning is to hire people who cannot only tell the banks what the people want, but also spread the word about their products. However, many banks surveyed by the Business Times have local natives on their boards, few women are represented and almost no minorities can be found-even in areas where there is a large minority population (Kole,MacDonald.1997.2). Many bank CEOs feel that the lack of minority and female representation needs to be corrected (Cochran.1997). Jack Anderson, chairman and Chief Executive of Johnstown-based BT Financial Corp. the holding company for Laurel Bank, and Johnstown Bank Trust Co. states Any right-thinking person understands the need for diversity, he said I think it is something we need to work toward.(Neiser.1997.1) Anderson also recognizes that there hasnt been a large pool of candidates to choose from. His sentimates are echoed by most bank executives (Cochran. 1997). Simply put, women and minorities are being left out of the board rooms, minority customers are paying the price. Problems that Occur Due to Lack of Representation If minority groups arent represented in a community many problems may arise. One of which is customer dissatisfaction. Customers that cans communicate with their bank or other businesses can become very frustrated and unhappy if customers dont see their group represented within a business. They may not want to be a client of that company. The most important part of being a Community Bank is representing your community(Cochran.1997). With this statement made by Pam Yoakum, assistant manager of Regency Bank, one cant help but construe that in order to fully represent a community all minority groups should be represented. Affirmative Action In the late 1960s and early 70s, affirmative action was the club that the federal government used to force American companies to hire people of color and women for managerial jobs. It mandated that a company set up specific and results-oriented procedures to which the company must commit itself and apply every good faith effort to insure equal employment opportunities to all employees regardless of sex, race, religion, or national origin. Back in the 1960s and early 70s, affirmative action, one of Lyndon Johnsons Great Society Programs, created bright visions of magnificent career possibilities for millions of people of color and women. Monetary Policy (5418 words) Essay For the first time, masses of women and people of color could begin dreaming of a career in corporate management. Affirmative Action put minorities into the corporate environment. And now Cultural Diversity programs are created to help companies handle their presence(Davis.1997.127). These creations open more jobs including an institute for managing diversity. Affirmative action changed .

Innovation and Change

Innovation and Change Innovation and Change - P G Essay Business Innovation and Creativity Proctor and Gamble (P & G) was established in Cincinnati in 1837 by William Proctor and James Gamble manufacturing Soap and Candles. The partners grew the business from strength to strength through ingenious innovations, with the help of successive generations then through none family management to create the $70 billion enterprise. P & G is a business where innovation flows throughout every sector both internally and externally, from suppliers to distributors. The networks and alliances which have been made allow for channels of communication to be access with ease allowing ideas to be acknowledged and trailed – the lifeblood of innovation. The innovation and creativity practice occurs, and is similarly discouraged by two determining factors: the internal and external environment. Internal Internal factors within an organisation, such as P & G, can foster the creative drive of innovation but likewise can be its own downfall. The Seven Virtues of managing creativity evaluates the areas where ideas can be furthered upon therefore ensuring the organisation continues to be innovative. Culture Politics Learning Generation of ideas Job orientation Architecture Change External The founders of the company have always shown initiative by suppling the needs of the everyday consumer from very early on when the enterprise was established. The first major break through for the company was during the American Civil War in 1862, when the Union Armies contracted the pair to manufacture a soap which was small enough for soldiers to carry everywhere but long lasting. The forward thinking cousins, James Norris Gamble and William Alexander Procter (sons of the founders) purchased a phenomenal amount of rosin (essential in the soap making process) before the war. The purchase stood the company in great stead against its rivals, as supplies ran short P

The Essential 55 by Ron Clark for Elementary Students

The Essential 55 by Ron Clark for Elementary Students A few years ago, I watched Disneys Teacher of the Year Ron Clark on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He told the inspirational story of how he had developed and implemented a set of 55 essential rules for success in his classroom. He and Oprah discussed the essential 55 things that adults (both parents and teachers) need to teach children and hold them accountable for. He compiled these rules into a book called The Essential 55. Eventually he wrote a second book called The Essential 11. Some of the Essential 55 rules surprised me with their mundane nature. For example, If you dont say thank you within 30 seconds, Im taking it back. Or, If someone asks you a question, you need to answer it and then ask a question yourself. That last one has always been one of my pet peeves with children. Here are some of the ideas that Ron Clark says are essential for kids to learn: Make eye contactRespect other; ideas and opinionsDo not save seatsSay thank you within three seconds of receiving somethingWhen you win, do not brag; when you lose, do not show angerDo your homework each and every night without failDo not talk in a movie theaterBe the best person you can beAlways be honestIf you are asked a question in conversation, ask a question in returnPerform random acts of kindnessLearn the names of all the teachers in the school and greet themIf someone bumps into you, even if it was not your fault , say excuse meStand up for what you believe in To tell you the truth, I had felt fed up with students general lack of manners for quite awhile. For some reason, it hadnt occurred to me to teach good manner explicitly. I figured this was something that parents would teach their children at home. Also, theres such a big push towards standards and test scores in my district that I didnt see how I could get away with teaching manners and common courtesies. But, after hearing Rons passion and his students gratitude for what he had taught them, I knew I had to give the concept a try. With Mr. Clarks book in hand and a determination to see solid improvement in how my students would treat me and their classmates in the coming school year, I set out to implement the program in my own way. First of all, feel free to adapt the 55 rules to your own needs, preferences, and personality. Ive adapted it to be Mrs. Lewis Essential 50. I got rid of some of the rules that didnt apply to my circumstances and added a few to reflect what I would really like to see in my classroom. After school started, I introduced the concept of my Essential 50 to my students. With each rule, we would take a few moments to discuss why its important and how it will look when we act a certain way. Role-playing and a frank, interactive discussion seemed to work best for me and my students. Right away, I saw a difference in my students behavior that has lasted for months. I taught them how to applaud for things that they like, so now they applaud whenever anyone enters the classroom. It makes the visitor feel so welcome and it always makes me smile because its so cute! Also, they have really taken to answering me formally, saying Yes, Mrs. Lewis or No, Mrs. Lewis. Sometimes its hard to fit a non-academic subject like the Essential 55 into your busy day. I struggle with it, too. But its definitely worth it when you see such a visible and lasting improvement in your students behavior and manners. If you havent checked out Ron Clarks The Essential 55 for yourself, pick up a copy as soon as you can. Even if its mid-year, its never too late to teach your students valuable lessons that they will likely remember for years to come.

Immigration Debate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Immigration Debate - Essay Example This essay Immigration Debate discusses the issues of illegal immigrants and the corresponding US laws. Traditionally, immigrants to the U.S. were less likely than those born in America to collect welfare. This historic arrangement has radically changed over the past three decades. Today, immigrant families are at least 50 percent more likely to receive federal benefits than those born in this country. Additionally, immigrants are more likely to adapt their lives to rely on the welfare system and studies have shown the longer immi ¬grants stay in the U.S., the more likely they are to be on welfare. To further aggravate the situation, when an illegal immigrant becomes a citizen, he can legally bring his parents who also have the right to become citi ¬zens. Approximately half of current illegal immigrants do not possess a high-school level education. Welfare use among this group and for low-skill immigrants granted amnesty is three times the rate for the U.S. born citizens. The hea ted rhetoric of the immigration debate has caused many to become fearful that their standard of life will dramatically decrease if the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants are permitted to stay in the country, so much so that there is a growing movement to disallow citizen status to the children of illegal immigrants born in the U.S. The 14th Amendment addresses this issue. â€Å"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside†.

Steel sector analysis within the EU Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Steel sector analysis within the EU - Essay Example d the steel sector of the European Union in an adverse manner and presently, the industry is under significant stress in areas relating to reduction in the demand for steel, rise of emerging countries as industrial powerhouse and rising instances of high unemployment. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the European business environment on the steel sector of the country. The idea is to find the factors that are causing challenges for the industry and the ways in which these problems can be resolved. The steel companies in Europe have been primarily under the control of the government in the 80’s. The situation had rapidly changed from 1988-1998 when most of the steel companies were sold to the private sector enterprises. The productivity of the companies had increased rapidly and profitably began to show improvement slowly. Only a fraction of the steel companies remained under the government and the major steel companies sold to the private sector were given full liberty to expand across the national borders. The previous decade has been largely characterized by mergers and acquisitions. European steel companies has been able to create strong profits which had lured number of steel companies from the Asian countries to export steel to Europe, particularly when production was slack in their countries. Further mergers and acquisitions had taken place from 2004 (Wubs, 2008). The following table shows some of the key companies and the output produced from them. The present state of challenges of the steel sector in the European steel sector comes from both internal and external environment. The internal issues arise from the slow recovery of the European economy after the financial crisis and the external issues arise from certain actions that are taken by the trading partners and the policies of the government. The European Union has always maintained very high environmental standards and has constantly committed itself to the reduction of the

Marketing Mix For Diet Coke Marketing Essay

Marketing Mix For Diet Coke Marketing Essay It allows the preservation and improvement of an organisational competitive position in the market. It is an advantage that allows business to stay alive against its competition. See Coca Cola Companys competitors and positioning in (Appendix1) See Porters competitive advantage and cost advantage in (Appendix 2). When a company brings a new product into a market they must think about who is the product aimed at, what advantage will customers expect, how does the company plan to position the product inside the market and what benefit will the product proffer over their competitors. According to Kotler product have three levels, core product, actual Product and augmented product, see Coca Cola product levels in (Appendix 3) When companies introduce new product, it takes some time to be extensively accepted, at which point its sales and incomes will begin to rise. This will attract other competitors into the market, cause the market to mature. Finally, the market will decline as companies start to introduce the next product, and customers switch to that product. See Coca Cola product life cycle in (Appendix 4) Coca Cola Company provides different type soft drinks like Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Fanta etc. There good image makes the organisation more strong. Coca Cola Company provides good quality products with good taste. They are specialised in soft and fizzy drinks. Coca Cola have created good image in customers mind, their image is reputable and reliable, and it has one of the most well-liked soft drinks available. They have well-known which is why customers feel comfortable in buying Coca Cola products. Coca Cola can market too many different segments. Coca Cola can market their product to teenagers much easier than older people, because teenagers are their target market. See Coca Colas mission statement in (Appendix 5). Distribution in marketing acts importantly to attract customers convenience and organisations use method of distribution to see their ability. Two types of channel of distribution methods are available. Distribution is underneath the group of place, therefore organisations create a precise distribution method so that its readily available to the customers and it can improve possible sales for an organisation. See Coca Cola distribution channels in (Appendix 6). The Coca Cola Company sell its products with bottling and canning operations. The distributors get to the Coca Cola to the wholesalers and the wholesalers get it to retailers and at final the customers buy Coca Cola from retailer shop. If Coca Cola does not work on its distribution services then their bottles are just reachable at their factories then customers may not be keen to get them. Its more appropriate for the customer to buy Coca Cola from a close seller as compared to getting it from factory. Therefore distribution system of an organisation can be both its weakness and strength. Companies should know that their products are available at retailer shops and stores where customers can easily buy it. One of the parts in the marketing mix is pricing. This part of the 4Ps are the one making returns and which is also why it is important that an organisation chooses the right price. Pricing is one of the most significant parts of the Coca Cola Company marketing mix, which makes revenue for them. Coca Cola use different types of pricing strategies. The pricing strategies are standing much on what aims the company has put itself to achieve. See (Appendix 7). Owing to the accessibility of wide variety products the pricing is complete according to the market and geographic segment. Each sub-brand of coca cola has different pricing strategy. Their pricing strategy is base on the competitors pricing, Pepsi is one of their competitor in soft drink industry. The Coca-Cola Company choose their pricing objective they believe will be most effective in dispensing their brand to customer, to do this Coca-Cola use market-skimming pricing. Coca Cola Company use marketing-skimming as there is a enough number of purchasers that have a high demand, also Coca Cola sets an primary high price and then lower the price to make the product available to a extensive market. Coca Cola Company use penetration pricing strategy as they want to hold maximum share of the market by maximum profit. Coca Cola use discount pricing, where their products prices are often become down during sale periods and special occasions, like Christmas, Easter etc. Also Coca Cola use competitor pricing, where to meet the competition pricing, their products pricing are set about the same level as it competitors. Promotional activities are important element because, these activities are performed in order to inform customers about the product and it includes personal selling, adverting, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing etc. An advertisement, for instance helps a buyer to get to know about the company and it is products, this can be done by bill boards, banners or posters. The benefit of advertisement is that it informs people about different products and services, their utilities, cost and other requirements. The disadvantage is cost because advertising is more expansive. In personal selling companies use their staffs to sell their product after face-to-face communication with the customer and seller efforts to convince a customer to purchase the product. Personal selling is one of the ways to keep good customers relationships, but this method is expensive. Here are some examples of sales promotions activities and it includes buy-one-get-one-free, bonus points, free gift cards, vouchers and coupons, competitions and prize draws, etc. The advantage is that sales promotion can help companies to provide right information to customers, also it encourage repeat purchases and customer loyalty, but the advantages are that it increase price sensitivity and it is generally for a short duration Public relations play an important role in promotion. It can be used to create a good image of the company for example magazines, TV or radio etc. PR is inexpensiveness of the cost, but it is hard to predict about the responses and it increase the risk. Direct marketing is where a company selling their products directly to people such as fliers or street advertising. It allows targeting specific customer and it can be measureable, but it is difficult to get it is direct impact and it can be quite expansive. Coca Cola use different methods of advertisement and the company spends a lot in order to be seen on billboards, radio, magazines, television, and on the internet. The Coca cola Company uses advertising as its key source of increasing buyer consciousness. It mostly uses the television; this source allows the companys products to attract more customers. Coca Cola uses the radio as another method of advertisement and this is a cheaper then TV. They use personal selling, where the company train their sales staffs, which they preform as a representative of the company to the shops. Newspapers and magazines are other forms of advertising that is extensively used by Coca Cola. Moreover, Posters, signs and billboards are also broadly used as an important part of the Coca Cola promotion. Coca Cola billboards are normally placed at the city centres and their posters are usually displayed at the shops, public transport and restaurants like McDonalds, KFC, etc. In addition, Internet is another method where different forms of Coca-Cola advertisements are placed. Specially, the brand online advertisement is assumed through the wide use of banners, on-site sponsorships and several other formats of online advertisements. Marketing mix has three additional elements: People, Process and Physical Evidence People are one of the elements of service marketing mix. People define a service. This mentions to the people who are in straight contact with the customer such as staff. One of the important parts in selling a product is the companys staff because most customers rely on a decent service before purchasing a product. For example, the employees in Coca Cola Company have a standard uniform. The companies always focus on friendly and quick service to its customers from their staffs. The process of the product is essential in marketing. This determines the capability of the product to supply the demand of the consumers. The process at Coca Cola Company is hidden and it is not visible to the customers. Coca Cola has two types of processes which is involves bottling and labelling solutions. The most important stage that Coca Cola consider is control of the company to get products at the agreed time and good quality, and the last step they consider is, the selling of beverage for target customers of distributors. Physical evidence is an important element of marketing mix where customers will base their decisions based on the service which intangible. Companies physical evidence is supported by signs, symbols and artefacts of the business itself. Examples of this would be the signage in Coca Cola which reassures the customer through branding. Coca Cola Company is focusing on target market; when it markets a product it mainly consider on demographic and physiographic segmentations; where demographic segment before it markets it identify the consumer groups in: age, sex, education, race, and occupation, and in physiographic it divides the market into different levels as: lower class, middle class, and upper class to identify their customers. Coca Cola segments different ages. The company focus on whole population in the world, but young generation is the target marketed of the company. Also Coca Cola segments different income levels by packing, where for small income people they has returnable glass bottle, for middle people they has small non returnable bottle and for rich and higher income people, the company has Coca Cola tin. Marketing mix for Diet Coke: Coca Cola developed a new product. This product is a diet drink by the name of Diet Coke. They have designed the marketing mix of product which is detail in below: Product: Diet Coke is a very fresh and tasty diet drink and provide energetic feel with good taste. Diet Coke is available in different sizes of which start from This drink is mainly for the Price: Price of Diet Coke is very suitable as compared to its main competitors. Place: placement has an important role to play in the products success and failure. That is why the company makes sure that the Diet Coke is place in such a way in market that its in reach of every customer. They have very strong distribution channel and their product is available on maximum stores in the city. Promotion: For a product of such high standards like Diet Coke it requires good promotional activities. For this purpose the Coca Cola Company have chosen following promotional tools: for advertisement the company have use different types of media like television, newspaper, magazines, internet and radio. There are some characteristics to a service such as: lack of ownership, intangibility and inseparability. Each of these taken into account when marketing a service, see (Appendix 8). A product is something which is tangible where as a service is intangible. A product is much easier than the service because after marketing and selling a product there is something tangible to be seen by the customers for they are satisfaction but in services they cannot because its intangible. On the whole, the marketing of product is focused on 4Ps in marketing mix i.e. product, price, place, and promotion. The Coca Cola Company consider on their customers demand in order to find out a product that can respond the market demand. First of all, Coca Cola Company focuses on the strength as well as eliminates the weaknesses of marketed products in order to improve products to meet customers demand as much as possible. Secondly, they focus on the pricing factor in product marketing because the price must be set to match with the buying authority of target customers. Thirdly, the Coca Cola focus on place because place of product marketing refers to distribution channels to deliver and sell the product to customers. Finally, they create promote the product in order to convince customers and inspire the sale in a short term. On the other hand, a service is the action that provide for customers. The service marketing is generally use 7Ps which is extended from 4Ps by including people, process and physical evidence. It is important for any business to employ suitable staffs or people. Employing and training of staffs have good impact that is why the Coca Cola Company gives training to their staffs because most of customers will judge the quality of their service from staffs. Therefore, Coca Cola employ staffs that have good and interpersonal skills. Conclusion: The essay shows that marketing mix (4Ps and 7Ps) is a very important part of creating marketing strategy, also it is crucial for a company to implement their marketing concept successfully. The Coca Cola Company develops their product or service to meet the customers needs and wants; then they seem into determining how their consumer going to receive the product and they consider direct or indirect channels of distribution. The Coca Cola Company will decide a price for their products that ensures a profit. Finally, they promote their product by using different advertising methods to attract customers.

Word of Mouth Marketing in the Time of the Internet

At the threshold of the onslaught and brutal display of power of the internet-based word of mouth, there are many important things to discuss standing from different perspectives. The most important of which is from the standpoint of an advertising/marketing strategist, which is constantly manipulating the mechanisms of social behavior (including the word of mouth phenomenon then and now) in the name of successful market control. Word of mouth (WOM) and marketing go hand in hand in the past, largely because of the impact of interpersonal relationship and communication in consumerism. Companies overwhelmingly believe in the ability of consumers to influence one another’s purchasing decisions (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). † Today, another player comes into the picture – the internet. If traditional marketing and advertising has managed to weave its way around traditional word of mouth communication enough to successfully manipulate it, the same cannot be said about how advertising and marketing entities are dealing with internet-based sources of word of mouth communication. The internet has shown that it is a powerful tool for word of mouth communication and the power grows vis-a-vis the growth of users, who are also the consumers. â€Å"The large number of users gives Internet WOM significant potential power for marketers. Anecdotal evidence of the power of the Internet WOM abounds (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † Despite the problems that go with the rise of internet-based word of mouth communication and marketing, there are still positive things to hope for. The opportunity here is for companies to find their brand ambassadors (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64),† while for others, the task is to simply be able to work well with this new social trend empowered by new technology that many is enjoying at the moment. Nonetheless, this is a very important topic to discuss, break down and analyze. This paper will discuss how different internet-based sources of word of mouth marketing including web sites, blogs and other similar mediums affect th e decision-making process and the buying habits of modern day consumers. This paper will be discussing the special and important relationship of three factors – the internet, consumers and the word of mouth communication – because how these factors affect each other is an important aspect that shapes how consumerism takes place today. Since the day that humans were able to understand and execute the system of selling items or services for a profit, the consumer segment of the society has already been created; and today, everyone is a consumer. With the creation of the consumer section and the start of the flow of local economics via sustainability through the sale of items or services that other people are willing to pay for is the creation of word of mouth communication. What is word of mouth communication, or WOM? There are several yet similar explanations about word of mouth communication made by experts. Here is one: â€Å"Word-of-mouth communication† is used â€Å"to exchange post-purchase experience among the costumers (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 09). † Providing that this explanation is correct, the very first word of mouth communication is the very first time the very first consumer who bought something from another person told another individual what he or she thinks of the recent item he/she purchased. This trend has not changed since. All over the world, part of the culture of consumers is to let other people know how they feel about the product they purchased. Usually, neighbors who have pleasant relationship with each other include in their casual conversations appraisal and assessment of the things or services that they recently bought or paid for. It could be about anything and everything – food, clothing, equipment, accessories, home appliances, medicine etc. Word of mouth communication happens everywhere: as neighbors and friends talk to each other during social gatherings or everytime they pass by each other in malls, grocery stores, at work or when they bump into each other in leisure locations like in beach, gym, arcade etc. Word of mouth communication is a product largely a personal face-to-face conversation, although sometimes telephone conversations, even mails also become sources of word of mouth communication. This happens when friends or relatives suggest or advise for or against a particular item or brand, or if they simply express how satisfied or dissatisfied they were in a particular brand or item even without the conscious effort to affect the personal belief of the listener in the item or brand in question. Word of mouth is everywhere, it was an everyday experience which, at one point, was believed to be strong enough that it can affect consumer attitude. At the onset of media advertising in radio, television and print, commercials took to mimicking word of mouth phenomenon to reflect real life and make it appear that in real life, people are really talking positively about the brand featured in the commercial so that the consumers are influenced towards imbibing the same mindset about the product. Word of mouth style in advertising in media is one of the important types of advertising approach because it was successful and effective. When people see individuals in a commercial enjoying a bottle of a popular soda and talking about it and recommending it to other people, they feel that the people in the commercial are directly talking to them; and for most part consumers who are exposed to television are influenced into trying the product because the commercial made them feel/think that the product was great and it was worth trying. At this point, there was already a genuine word of mouth communication happening between individuals, as well as artificial word of mouth communication, which happen when commercials try to influence and manipulate the thinking, mindset and attitude of the consumers through the help of commercials. Word of mouth, at this time, was still powerful but it was not an unstable power that cannot be controlled. For one, word of mouth communication moves around a particular network and does not extend any further that it cannot immediately create a nationwide attitude for or against a product or brand. Secondly, advertising agencies and marketing professionals managed to control consumer attitude and buying preference largely because of the ability of commercials and marketing efforts to convince people to patronize a particular brand. And then, there was the Internet. The internet was not created primarily to alter the previous status quo in the consumer world. The idea behind the internet is to provide an information highway for everyone to use. But the inherent characteristics of the internet made it an important aspect in how word of mouth, marketing and consumerism would change. The internet gave word of mouth communication renewed power by giving the consumers power communicate with each other and let other consumers know how individuals feel about particular products being sold to the people. The society was introduced to a new set of culture that included blogs and websites, emails and chats, forums and websites which all provided new platforms where information can be made available, information which included the personal thoughts of other consumers about products. It turns out that other consumers are very much interested in finding out what other people think, especially about products that other people are thinking of buying. Because of this, consumers knowingly or unknowingly focused more attention online, looking for the opinion of individuals about different products and letting real life experience and not padded advertisement act as the source of information about products. This information is used to assist the individual in the formation of the individual’s buying attitude and consumer behavior upon a particular product. Some of the examples include the browsing of Internet users in sites that feature blogs on consumer appraisal on products, found in websites like www. oxygen. com and its message board; www. leftgear. com and its style chat; and other websites like www. consumerreviews. com and www. epinions. com. The entry of the internet complicated the relationship of consumer world with world of mouth communication, and most of the problematic aspect of this social change targeted the companies which are finding different ways and means to be able to regain control of this new source of word of mouth communication. I. The Consumer and word of mouth The consumer and word of mouth has been together and closely related to each other for a long period of time. â€Å"Verbal consumer-to-consumer communication, often referred to as simply ‘word of mouth’ (WOM) has long been recognized as an important factor in consumer behavior (Schindler, Barbara, 2005, p. 35). † Word of mouth and consumers are symbiotic and intertwined, each other directly affecting the other. Without consumers, word of mouth communication, at worst will lose its essence and its ethos, especially if the information disseminated are merely results of company-led propaganda. Without word of mouth communication, consumers will have to rely on how much information they have for them to be able to make the best, educated decision when buying products or services and selecting which brand to pick from the shelf. â€Å"The word-of-mouth communication between the consumers is crucial (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 109). † Getting the opinion of other people first before making a decision is one of the innate characteristics of many individuals, and their particular attitude in buying is no different. For some people, they want to know first how other people ahead of him or her in buying the product feels about the item, and then uses this information to assess whether or not he or she will pursue purchasing the product, opt for other brand of the same product or shelf the idea of purchasing one all in all. â€Å"Innovators first seek information from other people in the purchase of an innovation and such behavior is similar across various new product categories (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 73). † This particular attitude of consumers is the main vein that connects consumers to word of mouth communication. For most experts, they believe that there are many enough individuals who follow this pattern of behavior in buying that it is important for companies to know how word of mouth communication. The consumers react and interact with each other so that the companies can make adjustments that enable them to use the presence of word of mouth communication to their advantage. If marketers were to realize the intended results of their efforts, they would benefit from understanding the manner in which consumers process WOMC (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). † This is crucial for consumers because information sharing and dissemination is accomplished through this. But there is more to that. This is also crucial for companies relying on positive word of mouth from consumers to improve how the public perceive the product they are selling, or simply, marketing. The best marketing that ever was, or ever will be is word of mouth. There is no dollar value you can assign to having someone else talk positively about you, your company, and your services (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). † This realization comes from the consideration that companies also has to rely on wor d of mouth communication because in several instances, the public/consumer is not interested or affected anymore by commercials and are instead more interested in word of mouth communication. Internet-Based Word of Mouth Seen by Consumers as a Fresh Alternative versus Product/Service Commercials There are many reasons why people find the internet-based word of mouth tools like blogs and forums more reliable, dependable and useful for information gathering. One of the possible reasons is that individuals are already tired, fed up or already calloused by the traditional commercials that they are not as affected anymore as in the past in being exposed to product commercials in television and print media. The feeling of being detached and impersonal by these commercials only improves its quality as something that is feigned and artificial, and because people wanted more, particularly something more personal and more genuine, word of mouth via the internet communication became the suitable answer to this consumer need. â€Å"Instead of fake artificial commercial messages, people can now get real-life comments from peers on anything they want (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). † II. Word of mouth and the Internet. Word of mouth was a social phenomenon even before the age of Internet. But in the entry of the internet in the social structure and global culture, word of mouth communication, no doubt, was influenced by this new technology. â€Å"The development of the Internet has led to the appearance of new forms of word-of-mouth communication (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † Today, the internet and word of mouth is connected with each other; online word of mouth communication is expected by experts to increase as long as the users of the internet continue to increase. As online word of mouth communication increases, so is the power and influence of online word of mouth to affect consumer behavior and buying attitude, making word of mouth dependent on its online breadth for its power and influence, and the internet's source of power dependent in part in how individuals like consumers utilize this medium and give it power by exercising the newfound consumer power (word of mouth communication) through the internet and its features. â€Å"The importance of online WOM increases as access to and usage of the Internet continues to grow (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † Understanding how word of mouth works is one thing. But making word of mouth result favorably towards a particular product or item is more complicated. And with this knowledge, companies ensure that their initial task is not to make the most out of the word of mouth phenomenon by manipulating it in the onset; but rather to ensure that any marketing strategies outside word of mouth considerations do not become a source of negative publicity which in turn would be a potential negative feedback that can be fed in the word of mouth network and would generate more negative publicity and blow the problem out of controllable proportion. The companies’ task is the fine tuning of the advertising strategy driving the demand using sugarcoated advertising claims but paying attention not to initiate negative word-of-mouth effects (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 109). † In the age of internet-based word of mouth, this is a task which is not as difficult as controlling a publicity crisis that went public and became the subject of many blogs and forums that can devastate and destroy the reputation of a product; there is just no ethical way to stop the bloggers from publishing online what they think and feel and how they respond to negative publicity, regardless of the notion that â€Å"bad publicity is still publicity. There is just too many bloggers, blog sites, forums and chat rooms in the information highway that controlling what comes from it is impossible, but making sure bloggers cannot say anything bad about the product, compared to the earlier task, appears more doable, workable and possible. At least through that, companies can hope that they have something they can use to attempt to equalize the impact of internet-based word of mouth communication. In this line of thought, it is easy to see that one of the effects of the powerful internet-based word of mouth communication is forcing companies to either make something flawless and good all in all, or be good in covering up foul ups and problematic aspects that can be used as topics to start communication threads and negative word of mouth streams of conversation that can be devastating. Simply said, this situation can translate to better quality control, with companies trying to play it fair with the consumers as much as possible, lest someone notices how things do not add up and publish it in the internet and create an online buzz that can negatively affect the image of the product and the company. Traditional or through the internet, word of mouth among customers and the consumer is a very powerful aspect of the mechanism of marketing and consumerism. Being able to understand this aspect is critical especially for market strategists and for the company themselves, so that they can, in turn, prepare for the possible trend in the word of mouth phenomenon, how it will affect the product and how they would hand this situation in a manner that benefits them more than harms them. Clemmer, Sheehy (1994) explained what the Washington, D. C. based group TARP or Technical Assistance Research Program found out, particularly that â€Å"while only a small percent of your unhappy customers bother to tell you about their dissatisfaction, they are eager to tell lots of your potential customers about the problems they have had dealing with you (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 15). † This is just one of the many proofs that customers talk to each other, share each other’s experiences, and more often than not, take to heart the input they receive from other people and use it to affect their future decision making when it comes to buying or p atronizing a product or item. Through word of mouth phenomenon, many things come into play and not just patronage of products – sometimes the success of the new things being offered to the public is also dependent on word of mouth, regardless of whether or not the outcome resulting from the word of mouth is good or bad publicity for the product. â€Å"Favorable WOM has been found to be positively related to new-product diffusion†¦ Even negative WOM is found to increase credibility (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). † Increased Role of Word of Mouth Today. As years go by and as the attitude of consumerism increases around the world, the power of consumer input through different channels including the use of word of mouth communication (WOMC) also increased in significance. Partly, this is one of the means by which both the consumers and the companies in need of genuine product, service and performance appraisal can have real, first hand information about how the public as consumers really feel about a product, service or item sold to them. Word of mouth has become one of the gauges, not just of product appraisal but of the performance as well, of the companies to be able to deliver to the public what the public genuinely needs, and not what the companies want the people to need. â€Å"In the past decade, word of mouth and its more formal manifestation found in many consumer and industry protection movements have been playing a much bigger part in broadcasting what kind of service/quality a company is consistently delivering as perceived by its customers (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 5). † The increase in this trend is due largely to the growth and increase in customer participation. â€Å"The influence of blogs and podcasts is increasing due to fast expansion of the audience and contributors (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 9). † Word of mouth has become an important point of concern for marketing. This is because at the entry of the internet and the weakening hold of traditional advertising and marketing effort to influence the public, the consumers found in the World Wide Web a new source of information, as well as a place where they have the chance to speak about their experience as consumers, in the process empowering consumers and making them not just mere recipients of the messages of the advertising and marketing strategies but also a source of information that can seriously compete and challenge traditional marketing and advertising when it comes to reaching and affecting the consciousness of the audience. Professionals know about this already, but they are careful not to openly admit how consumers of today rely on word of mouth in the internet blogs and forums. How they are very cautious not to make internet-based word of mouth push their carefully and delicately laid out advertising and marketing plans out of order by making sure that even the consumer has fully ignored the commercials, the word of mouth results still puts a particular product in a positive light. Nacht and Chaney (2006) quoted Paul Beelen who said that a positive comment is very important, more important compared to commercials or print ads especially if the comment was something that came from â€Å"someone you know and trust (Nacht and Chaney (2006, p. 64). † Beelen, as quoted by Nacht and Chaney, went on to explain by stressing that word of mouth became more potent now than it was before because of the fact that â€Å"millions of consumers are now also publishers (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 4)† and the traditional word of mouth that was once left in the party huddles now jumps off and lives on longer and extends towards a wider audience via â€Å"the World Wide Web, in the form of podcasts, wikis, forums, and most importantly: blogs (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). † Word of Mouth Marketing and the Power of the Internet Why is word of mouth very powerful? One of the reasons is that because it happens as part of a very simple and common human experience. It i s an important part of constant everyday interaction between individuals. Because the efficacy found in the word of mouth phenomena is the fact that there is a sense of commitment and the value of trust and credibility that people are willing to put on the line, making people trust the appraisal of the person who have already used a particular product. This power is a very important power that marketing strategists need to have if they want to be able to control and predict the outcome of buying attitudes and consumer preferences, the result more favorable to the product they intend to sell to the market. For example, the traditional word of mouth phenomenon happens between friends, between relatives or peers in the house, in the neighborhood, in the office or in locations where human verbal interaction is possible. A housewife may rant to a neighbor and fellow housewife how the recent upholstery stain remover did not work for her and how it messed the sofa more. Of course, housewife #2 do not have any way of finding out if this was true or if the worsening of the condition was caused by other factors (i. e. wrong use of the cleaner, etc), but there is a very large possibility that housewife #2 will shy away from the particular brand being discussed and select another brand (not unless the brand being talked about is something that housewife #2 has already used in the past and depended on for quality and performance). Nonetheless, this illustrates what is in play in the word of mouth phenomena. It becomes more credible because people believe that the appraisal/assessment of a product/service is based largely on true, first hand experience without any manipulative motive from the source of information besides the need to share the experience with another individual. The same effect marketing and PR professionals try to produce everytime they use common or ordinary looking individuals to comment on their products or everytime they use the everyday man random interview wherein the individual endorses a product based on his/her own true experience, which some individuals may not easily believe knowing that actors in paid ads are mere puppets and totally unreliable sources of information in a pseudo-word of mouth approach. This traditional word of mouth model is no different from how word of mouth communication and word of mouth marketing happens today in the online world or through the internet. â€Å"In recent years, the opportunity for consumers to generate WOMC (word of mouth communication), and the rate at which it is disseminated, has increased significantly due to penetration of the Internet (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). Bloggers talk about items they recently bought or thinking of buying, and more often than not replies to the subject thread will generate different opinions about the product being talked about, and this series and streams of ideas racing back and forth between individuals involved in conversation through blogging affect the perception not just of the bloggers involved but also those who come across the blog site and gets to read it (i. . those who searched for the particular product in the search bar to get more information about the item, who will soon have dif ferent notions and particular mindset about the item which was unknown to the person prior to reading the blog and message threads that influenced the individuals thinking and perception about the product). Word of mouth marketing and communication placed in the plateau or realm of the internet is more influential and powerful as it is more dangerous because the spreading of word of mouth through the internet is easier and can target and reach more individuals compared to traditional word of mouth experiences. Because of this, marketing strategist are all the more concerned about the power of the internet-based word of mouth phenomenon. â€Å"Chat rooms and message boards, for example, allow individuals to share experiences with relative ease (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). † For example, talking about a particular product or item in a chat room with 50 listed participants (something which is not impossible or difficult to achieve, especially with the growth of social networking via the internet that links more and more people together in a tightly knit web of online community that connects one to another in many different links) already puts the source of the information in a position wherein he/she can influence 49 different individuals, especially if the topic/item/product is about something that is of common interest to everyone in the chatroom (i. . the newest electronic entertainment gadget among young individuals or a particular product or item among hobbyist, like the newest GPRS gadget among outdoor enthusiast). Imagine the impact of influencing 49 individuals, something that is not easy to do traditionally since it is not easy to gather 50 individuals in one location on a particular time only to rant about product appraisal (not unless its the a nnual Tupperware Party, where the preferences of the individual on a particular common interest is already a given). Manipulating Internet-Based Word of Mouth Communication Because of the power of online word of mouth communication, there are several efforts to cheat word of mouth communication by planting individuals that will act as sources to create a stir in the internet and in the process allow people to talk about a particular product or item in the internet through blogs and forums and chat rooms, in the process creating word of mouth communication and marketing the product/item/service to the consumer. A perfect example is what happened in the internet during the effort to create popularity for a former pop star. â€Å"Students hired to post questions and comments on teen-oriented chat rooms and bulletin boards generated discussion and interest in pop singer Christina Aguilera (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † The power of word of mouth found in internet tools is very potent that companies are also trying to find ways on how to combat the presence of negative inputs directed at company products resulting from online word of mouth communication. Trademark owners may be able to suppress or excise negative word of mouth (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). † This can be also considered as manipulating online word of mouth, largely to protect the interest of companies who are in danger of bad publicity and bad public standing if word of mouth in the internet is not properly handled. Because of the power of online word of mouth and the collaboration of the word of mouth culture with the internet technology, several changes happened. One of which is the challenging the traditional market cycle power players. Experts believe that online and offline word of mouth communication functions differently. And because of that, control is something that companies are struggling with as word of mouth in the internet increases. â€Å"Offline, trademark owners have a fair amount of control over consumer perceptions of their brands. Online word of mouth undermines that control (Goldman, 2008, p. 04). † Challenging the Traditional â€Å"Expert-Review† Notion Another important characteristic of word of mouth communication in the internet that makes it very influential and significant in the consumer reception and patronage of a product in the shelf is because of what experts believe as the shift of credibility from the traditional â€Å"product experts† to the everyday, everyman blogger in the internet where word of mouth is mostly prevalent. Even if companies pay for the opinion of respected â€Å"product experts,† it hardly matters now because it seems like individuals who want information about a product read about what other individuals like themselves has to say about the product before creating their own mindset and perspective about the item. â€Å"Nowadays, customer reviews posted in different forums or virtual communities, web blogs and podcasts are much more powerful and believable than expert product reviews (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 8). † This is good news for those who will be affected by word of mouth in a positive manner, especially those whose appraisal that was transferred via word of mouth through blog(s) commend the product and encourage other people to use it, because this phenomena evens out the impending failure in credibility of perceived product experts. This can also spell doom and worst case marketing crisis management for those which were appraised negatively in the blogosphere. Word of Mouth as a Source of Important Information One of the sources of power of word of mouth is because people rely on it, generally for information. In this age where there are many things being offered to them, each type of item available in different brands, customers wanted to have more information until they are satisfied that they know what they need to know after making the purchase. â€Å"A second source for consumers to learn about a new product is through word-of-mouth (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). † This was true during the pre-internet age, and still holds true now that Internet became part of the social culture and took an important part in how word of mouth is undertaken today. Word of mouth, particularly internet based word of mouth communication has been an important source of information that some believe that it has already overtaken the significance of the traditional mass media platforms when it comes to consumer preference on where to find the information that they want to know. Take for example, the case for the diffusion of new products in the market. Some experts believe that in this particular area, word of mouth is very important factor in how the sales and marketability of the new product will turn out after consumer reception to the product is gauged. Awareness of new products primarily came from personal communications, with mass media only consulted when more information was desired (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). † That people rely heavily on the input of other people rather than the impact of mass media advertising and marketing strategy only points to the idea that large sections of the items, services and other things for sale – particularly those which is in its initial launch level – depend the level of consumer saturation based on how the consumer and their preferences and buying habits will react to the input of word of mouth in their consciousness. Some studies have shown that innovators engage in more WOM communication than do imitators†¦ and are more dependent on WOM (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). † III. The Internet and the consumer One of the best things that happened to the world is the internet, as much as the internet is one of the best things that happened to consumers because of many different reasons. First, the internet improved purchasing, making the buying and selling of things faster and more convenient both for the vendor and the customer. Online purchasing is also now an option to consumers, thanks to the internet. Another important impact of the internet in the world of consumers is how the internet gave the consumers the power by providing consumers with a new platform for word of mouth communication. In the past, the consumers are left with very little options and chances for their opinion and thoughts to be heard by the companies that sell items, by their fellow consumers and by the rest of the world. With the entry of the internet, the consumer section is once again empowered because they have now, through the internet, what they did not have when the transfer of information was controlled largely by manufacturers and vendors. â€Å"Using the internet, consumers can now easily publish their opinions, providing their thoughts, feelings, and viewpoints on products and services to the public at large (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † A place to speak and influence other consumers through online word of mouth was made possible by the internet, and the consumers are now not merely the end-recipients of the products of capitalism and manufacturing. Consumers, with a more powerful type of word of mouth communication through the internet, can make people boycott brands and products and seriously affect the sales of different items simply by convincing individuals through blogs and forums and chats why such products should not be patronized. Consumers will never see fellow consumers as someone with an agenda, and because of this, they will take the input of fellow consumers and allow it to seriously influence them. Influencing Brand Perceptions Through the use of the internet, the consumer is not only provided with a new way to purchase goods and items, but also given the chance to influence other consumers towards brand perception. â€Å"The broad reach of online word of mouth gives consumers tremendous power to influence brand perceptions (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). † The Power of the Internet in Consumer World There are many proofs of the power of the internet in the consumer world. Some of the proofs include the fact that through the internet, consumers are connected with each other. â€Å"The Internet helps create new word of mouth content and disseminate word of mouth to new and previously unreachable audiences (Goldman, 2008, p. 404),† while another significant proof of the power of the internet in the consumer world is the entry of internet and how it impacted trademark law, â€Å"Online word of mouth poses the most important challenge to Internet trademark law (Goldman, 2008, p. 04). † These proofs of the power of the internet in the consumer world particularly through the internet-based word of mouth only highlights the limitations found in traditional and/or offline word of mouth communication. â€Å"Offline, consumer word of mouth plays a major role in the marketplace by disciplining some brands and rewarding others, but a person’s views typically reach only a limited number of people (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). † Proof of the Power of Internet-Based Word of Mouth The effects of word of mouth among customers and consumers have been studied extensively for years. Ever since market analyst identified the power of word of mouth in the market value and market success of products and other things for sale to the consumers, many entities like TARP have undertaken studies in order to understand more how word of mouth works and how it actually affects things. â€Å"TARP has studied the ripple effects of dissatisfied customers and word of mouth testimonials. The results will rock anyone concerned about sales and marketing (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 15). But studies are not just the sole proof that can validate the claim that internet-based word of mouth is effective and is being seriously used today in aggressive marketing. Other proofs may include the cases in the past that pointed to the role and power of internet-based word of mouth and how it influenced the outcome of consumer/public patronage and support. Other proofs of the power of the internet -based word of mouth communication are identified by experts by naming instances wherein internet-based word of mouth communication was important in the marketing and in the ensuing success of the product/item/services for sale to the public. One of the industries that depend on positive public acceptance of what they sell for them to survive and sustain themselves is the entertainment industry, particularly movie making. In the past, many different movies saw what the Internet-based word of mouth can do for particular movies to make it big in the silver screen, including popular titles like the hit Blair Witch Project. â€Å"After the success of the use of Internet buzz in promoting the movie The Blair Witch Project, studios are increasingly relying on online WOM to develop interest in new films (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 5). † The movie acted as a perfect case study that indicate the impact of internet-based word of mouth and how it can create a stir among consumers that can lead to consumption of the product (in this case, leading the people to watch the movie). Because of this, many other marketing strategists of other film outfits followed suit, including this particular formula in the overall marketing str ategy to guarantee the success of the movie based on patronage and public support. The same was the case in the more recent movies, like the global smash hit epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings which, according to Schindler and Bickart (2005), relied on the role and impact of the internet and how it can diffuse word of mouth information via its many different features. â€Å"New Line Cinemas encouraged the development of unofficial web sites about the movies, providing these sites with interviews with the film’s director in order to generate discussion and excitement about the movies (Schindler and Bickart, 2005, p35). Blogs – a Powerful Internet-Based Word of Mouth Communication Tool The creation of blogs and the blogosphere, and how the consumers were quick to embrace and utilize this new, internet-based form of interpersonal interaction is one of the main reasons why the internet has become a very potent source for word of mouth communication, word of mouth marketing and advertising, and word of mouth communication that can either seriously improve or damage a particular product or brand. While blogs are not exclusively focused on product and services analysis, it is easily noticeable how the traditional trend occurring between neighbors who chat and compare their thoughts on different products and services (in the process producing word of mouth communication) transformed into online neighborhood chat. Only this time, the people involved in the conversation of product and services comparison are bigger in numbers and not limited to geographical boundaries. An American youth can blog about his assessment of the latest mobile phone or media player, which can get different reactions from other individuals who may or may not be directly related or connected with the blogger from as far as Asian or European countries. They can converse via their entries and replies in the blog and talk as if they are next door neighbors even when offline they are mere strangers to each other and live thousands of miles away. It is for this particular power to â€Å"spread the word† that marketing strategies and companies make sure that they make sufficient consideration and leg room to accommodate the possible input of blogs and word of mouth communication in the internet in their overall market strategy and the overall performance of the product they are trying to sell. Generally, what every company can hope for is that the bloggers in the blogosphere have mostly good words to tell to each other when it comes to appraising the product/services that they are trying to sell to the public. â€Å"Not only will consumers talk to you via your blog, they also will talk to one another. Your readers can become your best brand-building evangelists, helping you to spread your message and your presence throughout their networks (Nacht, Chaney 2006, p. 64). † Being able to get an online ally and brand evangelist (directly or indirectly) is important because it does not only make one’s product or services look good, but it also helps in selling the product/service to the people. As what most experts believe, what people read in the online blogs focused on product and services assessment and appraisal greatly affect the individual in what he or she might want to buy in the very immediate future. â€Å"For consumers, blogs are like customer reviews on Yahoo! ocal or Amazon, which are helpful in making decisions about what to buy and whose services to use (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 65). † This is the needed push so that consumers can take it to the next level – to actually buy an item, and to start the foundation of a long lasting brand patronage and to trigger the start of new word of mouth by using the new consumer as the new source of information for other people whom the consumer can convince to either try the brand or opt for something else. Of course, marketing and advertising people have since made it their task to provide that necessary push to (1) make the consumer buy, (2) start the foundation of brand loyalty, and (3) make the consumer new sources of information that can influence other consumers and expand the network of word of mouth communication that delivers a very positive message favorable to the product/service being sold to the public. Today, experts believe that this task is something that advertisers and marketing professionals cannot achieve solely by themselves and their efforts. Internet-based tools like blogs provide the crucial word of mouth communication that heavily influences consumers. Blogs, one of the most popular and user-friendly internet-based tool for word of mouth communication, is proving that it is one of the forces to reckon with, flexing extensive power that dictates the movement in consumer attitude. â€Å"Blogs are word of mouth supercharged (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64)! † Add to this trend the consideration that most people outside of the marketing and advertising business is fast catching up with what advertising and marketing is trying to do. They sense the artificial push given to consumer and in the process, making consumers less and less dependent on advertising and more and more difficult to be influenced by advertisements especially when it comes to consulting other people about product input to affect buying attitude and preference. With internet-based tools like blogs, consumers feel like they are genuinely talking to another person who would give them an honest, first hand, experience-based opinion without any motive or agenda to influence the consumer’s buying preference other than to provide information. It is something that most believe they do not actually get from advertisements and marketing campaigns geared at making brands look good and pleasing to the senses and covering up areas which maybe problematic or undesirable for the consumer in real life. In their book, Nacht and Chaney (2006) used as an example the result of a North Carolina survey, and wrote that â€Å"one third of all consumers would prefer to receive product information from friends and specialists rather than from advertising (Nacht and Chaney, 2006, p. 65). The idea of â€Å"friends† in this particular idea would likely include peers and contacts in the online/internet network of an individual. The exchange of information between â€Å"friends† to substitute the information gathering from advertising-based sources most likely happens online, including the use of blogs through writing blogs or reading other people's blogs about the product, in this case blogs act, according to PR strategist Steve Rubel, as a â€Å"24/7 focus group that's transparent and out in the open (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). Companies also understand the significance of blogs and have a particular role for blogs to play in how consumerism works, in the hope that blogs can assist them in making sure consumerism and its related socio-economic conditions interact together favorably for the company and its products and items it sells to the public. â€Å"Smart businesses will pay attention to blogs, using them as kind of informal network of consumer opinion. Blogs have become a word-of-mouth marketing channel that allows companies to keep a pulse on their marketplace (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 4). † The Internet Versus the Traditional Tri-Media So how does the internet and its features (i. e. websites, blogs etc) actually become another important source of word of mouth marketing and in the process have the capacity to influence the buying attitudes and preferences of the consumers? The internet, like the radio, print media and the television are all platforms used for the movement of information. The f irst three types of information platforms – the tri-media – nearly had the similar effect that the internet has. While the tri-media, no doubt, had immense effect on buying attitude and preferences and overall marketing, there is something that the internet has managed to give to the target consumers that the tri-media failed to provide them: interactivity. Because the websites and the blogs and the podcasts feature interactivity by allowing ordinary individuals to have a say on products or items for sale, people listen to what they have to say more. And because the internet is an accessible and available platform for discussion between and among customers (something that is not available for the other tri-media since the information direction here is one way – from the companies to the target audience), consumers who tried the product or service feels good that they have an avenue where they as ordinary consumers can appraise and assess a product, without the restrictions of companies and without the marketing scripts and paid appearances by individuals posing as ordinary consumers in the tri-media marketing which, as years went by, became passe and hardly credible a style for word of mouth marketing to convince the consumer/audience. Blogs and the websites has proven that it is a fresh new approach that meant empowering the consumers, allowing them not only to be informed but also to speak about the products and services they bought. The absence of pretentiousness and feigned positive approval in the world of blogging has made it a very influential tool because people speak based from their own appraisal of the product or services. And if the appraisal is good, then this type of word of mouth marketing can indeed help a product to gain more followers and patrons. Similarly, the bloggers who are not impressed by something they bought may speak about the product negatively. This is a serious threat to the market power and credibility of the product. Since the time of television, print and radio advertisements, marketing personnel are already conscious of the impact of having an â€Å"ordinary and common† individual talk about the product. This is why many brands have opted to pick someone that is not popular, someone that represents the common folk, to speak positively about the product as if what they are saying in the television, print or radio advertisement is a genuine personal appraisal and not a scripted one. Of course, to be able to get a space in television, radio or print media, one has to pay a hefty sum, and because of that, it is impossible an d impractical for the real common folk to talk to the masses via the avenues of mass communication about how he or she felt about a particular detergent brand or hamburger chain. The internet, through personal websites and blogs, is a very cheap way to make one’s own assessment of products through product reviews. In this particular sphere, the genuine essence of the idea of word of mouth is maximized because blogging meant that the entire worldwide communities hooked in the internet are talking to each other. This explains the idea that an important aspect of word of mouth marketing information transfer traffic is highly dependent on how the need to interact with peers and friends is facilitated and consumed by the consumers themselves. â€Å"Interaction with peers triggers new customer needs and alters buying attitude (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 8). By blogging, people can influence other people not just about particular brand preferences. They can also influence other people about starting to want to buy something which an individual did not know or want in the past prior to the onset of the influence of the input of blogging or of a particular blog article. Through blogs they tell each other what products they find best and what products they find disappointing. They talk to each other, and the speed by which their messages are sent to each other is something that the traditional tri-media cannot match, making the bloggers and what they say to each other more powerful and more influential. Conclusion How the world is recognizing the true impact of the optimization of a potential of the internet as a powerful tool in marketing particularly through word of mouth marketing today just goes to show that, similar to the case of the traditional tri-media during its early years, new information platforms are always important avenues that affect the people and the different aspects of their lives, one of which is buying attitude and buying preferences. Add to the fact that compared to the era of the early years of the traditional tri-media, the world today at the apex of the influence of the internet on modern day life is also characterized vis-a-vis by the heightened sense of consumerism and capitalism that more and more people are investing in businesses that create new things to sell to the people because they can make people believe they need to buy these things. As products and brands compete for the limited budget of consumers, elbowing each other to be able to find a place in the grocery or shopping bag, what peers in the internet world has to say to each other about particular items and brands is an important word of mouth marketing hinged on electronic/digital medium of information dissemination that should be consistently studied so that they can have the knowledge on how they can use this tool for their own advantage, marketing-wise. This endeavor has, no doubt, started. But the study of this phenomena brings to light the prospect that the media and platforms of information and interactivity will always be an important tool to shape social attitudes, including consumer attitudes towards buying, brand preference and item selection. â€Å" The social effects of the social media are, by and large, a fascinating research area and a field most likely to shape future consumer or even human behavior (Swoboda et al, 2008, p. 9). May it be traditional word of mouth phenomena or online, internet-based word of mouth, what serves as a constant truth is that word of mouth remains an important and influential aspect of social interaction that affects market power of items for sale because word of mouth affects the buying attitude and consumer preferences. â€Å"It appears that electronically transferred or face-to-face WOMC has the potential to alter carefully planned marketing communication programs, depending on how consumers process such information (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). † This leans towards the understanding that marketing strategies should always take into consideration word of mouth experiences and its impact and how word of mouth can be controlled to favor a particular product and act as a usef ul support mechanism in a marketing strategy.