Saturday, May 23, 2020

Discrimination and Same-Sex Marriages Essay - 2392 Words

Discrimination and Same-Sex Marriages Scott D. Kuhn English 1020 Professor Appelt July 17, 2011 Abstract My subject is on discrimination and same-sex marriage. During my research, I looked at what discrimination was and where it came from. Next, I focused my attention towards the Bible and the views of Christianity. Lastly, I took a look at what the law had to say about same-sex marriage. What I found was astonishing. My conclusion was that discrimination is ever prevalent in todays society, and that if you do not allow same-sex marriage, then you are discriminating against others. Discrimination and Same-Sex Marriages What if someone came into your home today and told you that you could no longer have children. Why you†¦show more content†¦It wasnt until 1920 that the right to vote was finally given to women. This discrimination in our history has taken a long time to overcome. Even today, we find ourselves struggling to gain equal rights for everyone. When Arizona passed a new immigration law, people all across the nation rallied to protest. Those people felt that the new law allowed for racial profiling and was discriminating against people of Hispanic decent. So how then, do we stop the discrimination? The current answer is to pass a new law. As a species, we may be slow to accept change, but once we do, we open our hearts and minds to it. A perfect example of this fact is the formation of law upon law to ensure that discrimination in the work place, the home, or in the streets of this great nation does not happen. And when it does, thos e that commit the crimes are severely punished for it. So how is it, with all of the anti-discrimination laws on the books, that we still discriminate against same-sex marriages? Thats easy. We change the rules to fit our own needs. The Constitution clearly states that The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Great examples of this occurred back in 2008 and 2009. In Varonas (Fall 2010) analysis of the elections in 2008 and 2009, he does an in-depth look at why all of the proposed legislation forShow MoreRelatedPrejudice And Discrimination On Same Sex Marriage Essay1821 Words   |  8 PagesPrejudice and discrimination on same sex marriage. Prejudice which means prejudgement where it displays attitude towards a social group (Hogg Vaughan, 2011). This is a huge social issue within society has faced as it leads to many consequences that can end in violence. Homosexuality is an example of sexual minors facing prejudice from other social groups. There have been a number of prejudice and discrimination towards the gay community since the 1980’s where sexual behaviour between the same gendersRead MoreGay Marriage Should Be Legal922 Words   |  4 Pages Gay marriage is between partners of the same sex. Gay marriage is one of the most controversial issues in the modern world. For the past thousand years, marriage has been known to be the social union between a man and a women. In most cultures around the world, homosexuality was seen as wrong, and marriages between same-sex couples was forbidden. The Gays Rights Movement has existed for over 89 years in counting since the development of the Society for Human Rights in Chicago. The publicRead MoreThe Legalization Of Gay Marriage1749 Words   |  7 PagesThe Legalization of Gay Marriage: A Step to Equality Imagine a world where heterosexuals are the minority. Straight people would be the ones fighting for the same rights as homosexuals. Same-sex marriages would be average and normal, while straight marriages would be frowned upon and considered unholy in the eyes of religion. Heterosexuals would be denied service at restaurants because of their sexuality, they would be called derogatory names while holding their partner’s hand and most importantlyRead MoreSame Sex Marriage Should Be Legal Under International Law1219 Words   |  5 PagesSame-sex marriage is a very controversial topic around the world. This is because people have mixed views about the issue at hand. Religion plays a big part in people’s view points on the matter. However, the question is should same sex marriage be legal under international law? Same-sex marriage should be legal under international law because everybody has the right to get married without legal discrimination. More and more governments each year around the world are considering legalizing same-sexRead MoreThe Legalization Of Same Sex Marriage938 Words   |  4 Pagesabides by the law should be afforded the same rights as any American. However, not all citizens are afforded equal rights. Lesbians, gays, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) are consistently denied rights that are typically taken for granted by the average American. Specifically, gay and lesbians couples are denied the right to marry even if they are upstanding citizens. They are held at an unfair disadvantage because of their sexual orientation. This discrimination must stop because gay and lesbian couplesRead MoreShould Gay Marriage Be Legal?1183 Words   |  5 PagesOf course gay marriage affects society is several ways. Society has always looked upon gay marriage as between a man and a woman, by legalizing same-sex marriage the traditional idea of marriage is revised. If same-sex marriage is legal, should it be taught abo ut in schools? Matt Stick asks interesting questions in his article â€Å"How could gay marriage harm anyone?† He brings up the question of â€Å"If a parent objects to a school teaching pro-homosexuality and pulls his child out of school and becauseRead MoreRecognition of Same Sex Marriage1592 Words   |  7 Pagesbegan a relationship. As their relationship progressed, Oliver and Erik wanted to take the next step. Denmark has allowed same-sex civil unions since the 1980s, but same-sex marriage was illegal; although couples engaged in same-sex civil unions received nearly all of the same benefits and obligations of opposite-sex marriages. In 2012, Denmark passed legislation permitting same-sex couples to be legally married and naturally, the couple did so. Erik got an amazing job offer in Chattanooga, TennesseeRead MoreA Brief Note On Sociological Factors On Clients1666 Words   |  7 Pagespolicy and its failure to support all minorities, specifically same-sex couples King (cited in Australian Marriage Equality, 2015) stated â€Å"When any society says that I cannot marry a certain person, that society has cut off a segment of my freedom†. This quote from Martin Luther King Jr is as applicable today to legalising same-sex marriage as it was to the civil rights movement and inter-racial marriage over half a century ago. Marriage is a right that most Australians take for granted. StudiesRead MoreSame Sex Marriage Should Be Legal Essay1475 Words   |  6 PagesSame sex relationships relate to when a man or woman are attracted to someone of the same gender of themselves. It is being rejected as same gender marriage denies the obvious purpose between a man and a women which is procreation (Richardson-Self, 2012). Denying same sex couples the legal right to get married, could mean that they are being denied their basic human rights to enjoy human benefits (Richardson-Self, 2012). However, the opposing view is that if gay marriage was granted the legal rightsRead More Should gay marriages be legalized? Essay1504 Words   |  7 Pages Should same sex marriages be legal? nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Same-sex marriages have been very controversial since becoming an issue in Canada regarding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Several people state that same-sex marriages should be legal, while others disagree, saying it should not be permitted. There have been many debates and inquiries about this issue for several years; the MP’s and Parliament will finally settle the problem within the next year or so. Many are in favour

Monday, May 18, 2020

Essay about The Changing Goals of Communism - 602 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The original goals of communism, a perfect proletariat society, transformed over time; from the revolutionary thinking of Karl Marx to the murderous communist dictatorships of V.I. Lenin and Joseph Stalin. In the original Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles, the orignal idea of communism and socialism was to form a perfect proletariat society, where there were no classes and all people lived as equals together. Over the years, the original idea of peace and equality for all was transformed and molded to fit a certain person or groups personal interests. The peaceful society idea never worked out at all in a country like Russia. Rulers like Stalin and Lenin not only did not carry out†¦show more content†¦There were not only many divisions between the proletariat movement, but in some cases fighting broke up. This just driving a greater wedge between two groups of proletariats, and creating larger and lasting divisions in the movement. Marx said a united communist front would be successful, there was no unity in the communist movement in Russia. Eventually the idea that only one specific proletariat party could have power led to bloody purges of opposition and uprisings throughout the country. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Early communist thinkers stressed that a proletariat takeover of a government should be a peaceful one, not the overall blood bath of the takeover and the purges in Russia. The process of a communist takeover involves that formation of one single classless society, where everyone is a proletariat. To do this, the party must â€Å"rid† the country of the bourgeoisie class and other non-worker classes. I believe the original plan to accomplish this involved the gradual changes from the upper class to worker. Not the quick, bloody liquidation of a class like that of the Kulaks. Even though Stalin ideas of forming one united worker class went along with original communist plans, his way of achieving this did not. He asks the question in â€Å"The Collectivization and Liquidation of the Kulaks† (pg.271)Show MoreRelatedGeorge Orwell s Animal Farm Essay1420 Words   |  6 Pagesthe reality of communism and reflects his opinions through sardonic situat ions that occur among animals. The state of communism that Marx and Friedrich Engels describe is where the state is abolished, people live in a society where members work together in agreement and no one is exploited, and every member shares the rewards of hard work. The envisions of Marx greatly contrasted with the plot of Animal Farm. Old Major, a pig, had a dream that mirrored Marx and his dream of communism. This â€Å"dream†Read MoreGeorge Orwell s Animal Farm Essay1581 Words   |  7 Pagesthe reality of communism and reflects his opinions through sardonic situations that occur among animals. The state of communism that Marx and Friedrich Engels describe is where the state is abolished, people live in a society where members work together in agreement and no one is exploited, and every member shares the rewards of hard work. The envisions of Marx greatly contrasted with the plot of Animal Farm. Old Major, a pig, had a dream that mirrored Marx and his dream of communism . This â€Å"dream†Read MoreThe Russian Revolution Of 19171563 Words   |  7 Pagesepoch, changing a monarch-led country into the Soviet Union and spreading the red of communism in waves through generations. A powerful team of Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky organized the Bolsheviks, or Red Army, in political and military strategy against the Menshevik White Army. Part of their success came from the lack of unification of the Mensheviks. While the White Army banded together under a simply ‘anti-Bolshevik’ policy, the Red Army was spurred on by one philosophy: communism. HoweverRead MoreThe Cold War Between The United States And The Soviet Union861 Words   |  4 Pagesweapon that was used was a religious revival. The goal of this revival in religion was to bring on a fight against communism and become more patriotic in doing so with religion. Many big names came out of this and ideas came out of this time changing how we connect to people. Many evangelists lik e Billy Graham and Fultan J. Sheen used forms of media such as radio and television to reach out to people and spread the evils of the world including communism. Many great gatherings such as Graham’s Los AngelesRead MoreThe Great Depression Of The Twentieth Century1423 Words   |  6 Pagesimpacted the outcome of the twentieth century and changing urban form. Among the horror that erected in this time period, the communist movement is often forgotten. The change in political platforms, inspired by the Theory of Communism by Karl Marx was theoretically perfect. However when ____ (number of countries that used communism) adopted communism, its universal failure resulted in the misunderstanding and contempt of human nature . Communism was well designed for military strength and intimidationRead MoreThe Rise and Fall of Communism1465 Words   |  6 PagesEveryone would like to live in a perfect society, and in Germany, Karl Marx set out to do just that by creating the governme nt system known as Communism. Though, this system has failed in many countries all over the world because of many significant flaws in the very foundation of the system. Some of the most feared probabilities in society that Communism was created to eliminate still prevailed and were at the heart of the system’s downfall. If the system was infallible, why were so many of itsRead MoreThe Development Of The Communist Manifesto In The European1083 Words   |  5 Pagesanalysis of the communist manifesto developed by Marx and its significance in the achievements of certain goals. For instance, Trump s budget proposal reflecting working-class resentment to the poor. According to Marx in the journal, he suggests that it’s high time that the communist manifesto presented itself on the global platform and face the population and lay out their views, their goals and the aims they intend to undertake in the quest to enhance development. Despite this, however, he insistsRead MoreMarxist Theory on Crime and Punishment Essays742 Words   |  3 Pagesociety†.  Ã‚  With  this  theory,  Marx  had  a  great  impact  on Russian  literatureÍ ¾Ã‚  specifically,  Ã‚  Fyodor  Dostoyevskys  Crime  and  Punishment.  Ã‚  According  the  the Marxist  theory,  one  would  interpret  Crime  and  Punishment  as  a  perfect  example  to  the  rise  of communism.  Ã‚  This  novel  embodies  the  Marxist  theory  because  it  is  a  proclamation  of  a  proletariat,  being that  Raskolnikov  is  out  of  place  in  society,  struggling  from   a  paralyzing  poverty  and  has  a  craving  for fighting  for  the  common  good  among  a  society  of  unjust  peopleRead MoreCommunist Manifesto : Understanding Today s World1429 Words   |  6 PagesCommunist Manifesto in Understanding Today’s World Introduction What is Communism? How has Communism shaped the today’s world as it is? Is Communist Manifesto still applicable in the current world? Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto in 1848, and the manifesto had a great influence on the world history that the world would be a different place if the manifesto would not have been published. In this paper, I will summarize the arguments made in the manifesto to help theRead MoreThe Cold War On The World948 Words   |  4 Pagestensions, competition between communism democracy changing the world politically, economically, and socially as well as fear. One of the many effects that brought changes to politics around the world. Khrushchev along with The Soviet Union(USSR) exposed communism to the world, â€Å"To attempt to enforce its will on non-communist countries (Berlin and Laos are current examples)† (Doc. 6,II). The USSR pushed its rule around the world in an attempt to spread communism especially between Europe and Southeast

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

History of Fiscal Administration and the Theory and...

HISTORY OF FISCAL ADMINISTRATION AND THE THEORY AND PURPOSE OF TAXATION Introduction Fiscal Administration is not difficult to define. In simple terms, fiscal administration is the branch of economics that deals with the revenues and expenditures and their impact on the economy. It is the manner of collecting something from the constituents and spending it also for the constituents. And the exact definition according to http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-fiscal-administration.htm, fiscal administration is the act of managing incoming and outgoing monetary transactions and budgets for governments, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and other public service entities. Constituents charge leaders, whether†¦show more content†¦For after all, public finance raises and spends revenue for the functions of the state. These functions have been changing with the development of the society. Thus, tracing the development of public finance institutions necessitates an examination of the development of organized society itself. Early Public Finance If we are to trace the origins of public finance institutions, we would probably start with the beginnings of the state under the slave societies. Under the primitive societies, there was not probably much public finance to speak of. The primitive tribes were on subsistence basis, with hardly any surplus. Whatever was acquired form hunting and fishing was immediately consumed. Battles over territories, the capture of defeated tribes who were turned into slaves, te development of settled agriculture and rudimentary advances in the production of goods led to the great empires of Asia, Africa and Europe. The early public finance institutions of these slave societies served as foundations for modern institutions and practices. Ancient public finance provided some of the basic instruments of public financial management. Medieval public finance further refined some of these concepts, distilling their basic aspects by an expanded application to medieval public goals and conditions. It also introduced some basic tools like accounting and auditing. The idea of financingShow MoreRelatedEquity: Tax and Adam Smith Essay2030 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction This piece of eassy will contain two sections. In this part of the eassy I will discuss the meaning and importance of equity in taxation since Adam Smith included it as one of the Canons of taxation. Equity is defined as â€Å"redistributive taxation induces allocative distortions by driving a wedge between the price the consumer pays and the price the producer receives† (Begg et al. 2005, p.219). There are two types of equity to be considered: the horizontal equity, and vertical equityRead MorePublic Borrowing in the Philippines2777 Words   |  12 Pagesinstead of taxation. [2] Origin of Public Borrowing [4] Mercantilist Period (1500-1750) European economists between 1500 and 1750 are considered mercantilists. This is the era of merchant capital, dependent on connections between social and productive systems. [4] Mercantilism started it all, during this era colonies were established and mercantilist trade was a great tool used for the control and accumulation of gold and silver bullions [5], the idea of financing was born for this purpose. AdamRead MoreIca Gh Syslabus26672 Words   |  107 PagesQuantitative Tools in Business Audit and Internal Review Business and Corporate Law Principles and Practice of Taxation PART 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Financial Reporting Public Sector Accounting Cost and Management Accounting Financial Management PART 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Advanced Financial Reporting Advanced Audit and Professional Ethics Corporate Strategy and Governance Advanced Tax Planning and Fiscal Policy Review of Qualifying Examinations Syllabus May 2010 Proposed Transitional Arrangements 1 2 3 4Read MoreFactors Affecting Tax Compliance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the Advent of the Eac Common Market.1751 Words   |  8 Pagescompliance has been a topic of great interest to Revenue authorities especially in the developed countries. Hostility towards tax compliance is an age old problem. â€Å"Taxes are considered a problem by everyone. Not surprising, taxation problems date back to the earliest recorded history† (Taxworld Organization, 1999). Developing countries, perhaps due to their frequent budget deficits have not been able to conduct comprehensive research on the behavior of taxpayer in relation to compliance. Hostility betweenRead MoreEssay on A Case Study on Vat9414 Words   |  38 PagesTax System By Ajay Dongol P.U. Reg. No. 2007-2-03-0176 Roll. No. 831455 A Summer Project Submitted to: Ace Institute of Management Pokhara University In Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Business Administration New Baneshwor Kathmandu December, 2009 i      ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my gratitude to Ace Institute of Management along with Mr. Prakash C. Bhattarai, our course instructor for providing us the opportunity and supervisingRead MoreSocial Security a Challenge to Public Finance1824 Words   |  7 PagesSecurity. The bill entitled the Economic Security Bill and was the starting point for Social security. (ssa.gov) Social Security was enacted as part of the New Deal. Its purpose was to provide a safety net for the elderly and their direct survivors, as well, temporary unemployment benefits. The funding was a compulsory taxation of the employed workforce in shared responsibility with the employers (Hyman 2010 p. 312). The legislation was clear on the system design during the time of creation. PensionsRead MoreCompare and Contract the Budget Processes and Systems of Fiscal Accountability in Presidential and Parliamentary Systems of Government.8193 Words   |  33 PagesComparative Public Administration PROJECT Compare and contract the budget processes and systems of fiscal accountability in Presidential and Parliamentary systems of Government. Student: Lyn Marie James Abstract There is diversity of forms of government (Laundy, 1989) and different ways of classifying them and as such, this paper sets out to discuss the budgetary powers of the legislature under different forms of government, and the environment that informed the political structuresRead MoreThe Economic Properties Of Intangible Assets9432 Words   |  38 Pagesfurther reform 19 3.1. Redefining the PE notion with closer attention to the nature of intangibles 19 3.1.1 The creation of a ‘virtual PE’ concept 20 3.1.2 Placing the ‘force of attraction principle’ at the centre of the PE definition 21 3.2. The taxation of MNEs on the basis of the ‘enterprise doctrine’ 22 Conclusion 26 Bibliography 28 Introduction The pace at which hardware, software and networks are developing allows considerable growth and value creation. The digitalisation of existingRead MoreTransfer Pricing20501 Words   |  83 PagesPricing in Developing Countries An Introduction Topics 1. Abstract 2. International tax law its sources 3. Brief history of International Tax Law 4. Who gets the pie? 5. Arm s length principle : Cornerstone of International Tax Law 6. Transfer pricing methods 7. Problems with of source taxation of MNE s 8. Internet e-commerce : Achilles heel of current International taxation regime? 9. Formulary Apportionment (FA) 10. Existing uses of Formulary Apportionment systems in the world 11. DevelopingRead MoreThe Ratification Of The Us National Constitution3020 Words   |  13 PagesThere are several watersheds in the history of United States, of which have all shaped the future of the country in a way they may have never imagined. This paper will focus on the discussion on the following three topics: The ratification of the constitution in 1787 limits the democratic freedoms that American citizens had gained right after the Revolutionary War; the New Deal Coalition and policies formed by the President Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) that prevents t he country from becoming a socialist

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Human Resource Management And Business Strategy Essay

Increased integration between human resource management and business strategy is one of the most m important demands that are placed upon modern strategic human resource management. In both the management and the academic literature, it is generally acknowledged that the strategic deployment and management of personnel can contribute to the success and continuity of the firm. Some go even further by stating that a firm’s human resources form the basis of the firm’s competitive advantage. In this view, the human resources are the most important assets of an organisation. At the same time, in addition to the importance of the human resources as such, it is believed to be impora tant that the management of the human resources should be in perfect fit with the management of the organisation as a whole and its strategic plans. However, despite these optimistic accounts, it is clear that the implementation of strategic human resource management is difficult and to date, has diffused only to a limited extent (Rowland Summers, 1981; Lorange Murphy, 1984; Nkomo, 1984; Golden Ramanujam, 1985; Mills, 1985; Buller Napier, 1993). The literature often refers to a relatively small number of success stories. In other instances, the literature provides rather normative models of strategic human resource management, models which are still in need of being the subject of practical experiences and empirical e testing. Also, in general, most literature is mainly concerned with ‘what’Show MoreRelatedHuman Resource Management and Business Strategy5165 Words   |  21 Pages| Human Resource Management and Business Strategy | | | Abstract Human resource strategies of the group Sun City International have been identified and analysed for purposes of this report. While reviewing the different related literature this report attempts, through an analysis of external and internal factors, to examine how strategic management may help to deal with challenges and changes in a company, closely linked to the human resource department of the group. Finally, the impactsRead MoreCase Analysis: Zappos Human Resource Management and Business Strategy673 Words   |  3 Pagesapplied to all new employees, regardless of position. Passing the training is a prerequisite for retaining ones position as a Zappos employee. During the first week of training, new hires are offered a maximum $2,000 for leaving the company. This strategy is used to weed out uncommitted new employees. Generally, there are very few who accept the offer in favor of their jobs at the company. 3. What is unique about the hiring and orientation practices is the emphasis the company places on ensuringRead Moreâ€Å"Critically Assess the View That Human Resource Management Practices Should Be Designed to Fit the Business Strategies and Objectives†Ã¢â‚¬Æ'1310 Words   |  6 PagesQuestion: â€Å"Critically assess the view that human resource management practices should be designed to fit the business strategies and objectives†Ã¢â‚¬Æ' Dynamism is increasingly becoming a feature of the business environment, so what can businesses do to attain and sustain a competitive advantage? They need to set out clear goals and objectives and then ensure that all internal processes and activities are designed in a manner to attain these goals and objectives. Furthermore, some of these practicesRead MoreHuman Resource Management Policies and Practices That Can Support Business Strategies and Contribute to Improved Performance of the Organization4241 Words   |  17 PagesHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES THAT CAN SUPPORT BUSINESS STRATEGIES AND CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVED PERFORMANCE OF THE ORGANIZATION PREPARED BY: ROLAND GBENGA STUDENT NUMBER: 0075DSDS1011 MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINITRATION CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY MARKETING MANAGEMENT DR. GEORGE KOSHY 6TH DECEMBER, 2011 Table of Contents Table of Figures 4 1.0. INTRODUCTION 4 2.0. LITERATURE REVIEW 6 2.1. Recruitment and Selection (Toyota) 6 2.2. Training and ProfessionalRead MoreResearch Proposal: Strategic Hrm1623 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Perspectives on Human resource strategy: A key role contributing to organization performance in Cambodian Context† By Chit Uys Stevexo July 21, 2011 The strategic management of an organization s human resource has been recognized as one of the keys to business success. This particular strategy generally involved the optimization of the employees potentials mainly through training and performance assessment. This organizational strategy has been integrated in several businesses mainly toRead MoreStrategic Human Resource Management : Marks And Spencer1208 Words   |  5 PagesBusiness environment is facing a rapid change that reminds the business management to focus on its core competencies to survive and sustain in the competitive environment. The core competencies can be developed by strategic human resource management. According to Armstrong (2006) employees are the valued assets for a company. The strategic human resource management is mainly developed in accordance to the fact that human resources need to be managed strategically for the company to enjoy sustainableRead MoreStrategic Human Resource Management1738 Words   |   7 PagesSTRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organization in order to improve performance. Strategic management The word ‘strategy’, deriving from the Greek noun strategus, meaning ‘commander in chief’, was first used in the English language in 1656. The development and usage of the word suggests that it is composed of stratos (army) and agein (to lead). In a management contextRead MoreHuman Resources : A Fundamental Department Of An Organization913 Words   |  4 PagesHuman Resources is a fundamental department of an organisation; this is because it focuses on the management of the personnel within the company. Human resources has been identified as ‘the source of sustainable competitive advantage and success, this is true when human resources management policies and practices are implemented with the main strategies and objectives set by the company itself. Strategic human resources management emphasises the successfulness of combining policies, strategies andRead MoreEssay on Training and Development and Performance Management1616 Words   |  7 Pagesord er to define Human Resource Strategy, one must first understand the concepts behind an organisation’s business strategy and its HRM practices. Various definitions of ‘strategy’ exist, almost all of which boil down to the simple fact that it is the general direction of an organization, which it must strive to go in the long term. The responsibility of adhering to the business strategy falls on the managers, who must use the resources at hand, keeping in context with the business environment theirRead MoreHuman Resource Management And Human Resources1243 Words   |  5 Pages Human resource management Introduction As storey (2001) explains that human resource management concept is typical approach to business which quest to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic disposition of dedicated and committed human work force using array of values, culture, personnel and structural techniques. In simple word Human resource denotes to employees that help to run and drives an organisation which is also the main workforce of any organisation

Celebrity Endorsement Free Essays

This research report is presented subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade sold, and circulated without the author (s) prior consent in any form, binding or cover other then that in which it is printed until unless it is done for educational purpose s purpose. The author (s) asserts the moral right. Printed in January 2009 ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. We will write a custom essay sample on Celebrity Endorsement or any similar topic only for you Order Now 2009 | 3 Project Background I the world were full of all wise men and all wise women; we would have never heard of a term called â€Å"advertisement†. And then good products would have found the right customers and grown to prosperity. Firms would have worked out a mathematical formula to sell and succeed. But the buying process isn’t rational; and so is this world. Today, the business firms are trying out different ways in advertisement to increase their sales. Pakistanis are die-hard movie and sport buffs; and this aspect of the consumers has invited the concept of â€Å"Celebrity Endorsement† to the world of advertisement.The purpose of this report is to analyze the role of Celebrity Endorsement in the process of brand-building and consumer buying behavior by taking appropriate examples from the advertising landscape. The modern world of marketing communication has become colorful and inundated with advertisements, and it is hard to get noticed. It is an uphill task for the designer of an advertising campaign to differentiate itself from others and attract viewers’ attention. In this jet age, people tend to ignore all commercials and advertisements while flipping through the magazines and newspapers or viewing TV. But even then, the glamour of a celebrity seldom goes unnoticed. Thus, celebrity endorsement in advertisement and its impact on buying behavior the overall brand is of great significance. In this process, the companies hire celebrities from a particular field to feature in its advertisement campaigns. The promotional features and images of the product are matched with the celebrity image, which tends to persuade a consumer to fix up his choice from a plethora of brands.Although this sounds pretty simple, but the design of such campaigns and the subsequent success in achieving the desired result calls for an in-depth understanding of the product, the brand objective, choice of a celebrity, associating the celebrity with the brand, and a framework for measuring the effectiveness. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 4 SY NOPSIS the brand forever. Choice of the celebrity, hence, is of utmost importance and is usually done based on many different parameters – appeal, looks, popularity or even just a fantasy figure to endorse a brand. In today’s highly competitive markets, big brands are at loggerheads when it comes to products, each having a similar product to that of a rival. Where does one brand gain that quintessential advantage – advertising, service, promise of trust, or even the all important price factors? Advertising seems to be the best platform where brands prefer to compete on – right from hiring the best advertising agencies to getting the biggest celebrities.What would be the formula to success then? Well, a good creative agency, a large enough promotional budget and a huge star to endorse your brand would definitely ensure in the minds of a brand management team a feeling of security, success and a triumph over the competitors brand. The general belief among advertisers is that brand co mmunication messages delivered by celebrities and famous personalities generate a higher appeal, attention and recall than those executed by non-celebrities. The quick message-reach and impact are all too essential in today’s highly competitive environment.The different models applied by brands to achieve the full potential of such endorsements, highlight the need for a convergence between the theoretical and pragmatic approaches of brand building and effective advertising. The importance of a celebrity-brand match and the various roles played by them as brand-associates show the momentum this strategy has gained in the last decade or so. We put forward certain ideas like ‘positioning by association’, I t is a known fact that the best endorsements achieve an eclectic balance between the product (brand) and the celebrity.Giving a brand a ‘face’ is more than just a marketing strategy to increase sales or gain market share, it is a decision that can change the future of ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 5 ‘diminishing celebrity utility’ and the Multiplier Effect which show the triangular relationship between the brand, the consumer and the celebrity. Pakistan is a country where people are star-struck by film stars, cricketers, politicians, and even criminals.Why? Populations of 170 million and ticking, everyday people need something or someone to look up to. A sense of security, admiration, comfort, familiarity, and above all, someone they aspire to be at some hidden level in their lives. And clever marketers leverage this very celebrity appeal and are successfully carrying out their jobs by giving the bottom lines of all the brands what they want – profit, market share and even recall. But how much star power is too much? â€Å"Does Vaneeza really use Lux Soap? † asked a 6 year old to her mother.Her mother laughs and says, â€Å"No way, just a gimmick. † What does that do to the brand? Now, despite the potential benefits derived from celebrity endorsements, they increase a marketer’s risk manifolds and should be treated with full attention and aptitude. A brand should be cautious when employing celebrities to ensure promise believability and delivery of the intended effect. The growing importance of mythical characters as celebrities and their sway over the target segments are ample proof of public demand for icons to look up to.As the celebrities traverse from a mere commercial presence to public welfare message endorsements, a whole new dimension is added to this process and helps us in achieving a holistic view of the impact which celebrities generate in every sphere and segment through their well-versed endorsements. At the end of the day, do any stakeholders in a company (employees, contractors, customers, shareholders, communities the company supports with jobs) benefit from a celebrity endorsement? Does anyone buy a product because a Lollywood or TV actor/actress or Model stands up and reads a script in somewhat convincing manner?Are their distinctions in how consumers perceive these types of endorsements and respond to them? ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 6 What happens when a celebrity endorser gets involved in a public scandal, or worse, dies? Will the product lose consumer support or perish? The most important thing to remember is that putting a celebrity in an ad is not an idea in itself.Unfortunately, this is how most celebrities are being used in Pakistani advertising, where they just become a prop. Ideally, ther e should be an idea that makes the celebrity relevant to the product and the consumer. A celebrity’s presence in the ad should be contextual. Celebrity endorsement cannot guarantee fool-proof success. The celebrity endorsement strategy must be integrated with target market characteristics, and the other elements of the marketing mix such as product design, branding, packaging, and pricing. The message execution that will be mouthed by the celebrity must likewise be made clear and single-minded.You can do this cleverly by aligning the spirit of the brand to the product, or by using a celebrity because it ensures that people will notice you, and hopefully remember what the brand is saying. Smart associations are ones where the former happens. Before we go into analyzing success and failure stories of brands, we examine the title once again and try looking at it extremely minutely ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value]Published in Jan. 2009 | 7 THE IMPACT impact could be measured would be on a comparative basis of the brand before and after the celebrity began endorsing the brand. Sales / revenue, market share, brand recall, level of repurchase, brand loyalty, trust, image and perception of the brand per say. In this trend of creati ve advertising, we see usage of celebrities of all walks in life – particularly actors, film stars, models, sports persons, and the whole gamut. But the usage can always backfire if the choice of the star is completely contradictory in nature to the brand.Believability and association of brand to celebrity is important. Selection of celebrities can be done while they are at their peak or when they are destined for greatness in the near future, again a risk that may go either way. What is important at some level is the value that a celebrity adds to a particular brand. The advertiser tries his best to make the celebrity and brand as analogous as possible. The celebrity endorser is seen to score quite well on dimensions such as trustworthiness, believability, persuasiveness, and likeability when tested for reaction from people.This is important to a marketer as if he can get a celebrity to make the masses follow, believe or listen to him, he has been successful. A s defined earlier, impact would be both short term and long term, but here the focus would be more on the long-term implications of the brand. Measurement of this would be challenging and data would be difficult to obtain. The parameters on which ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 009 | 8 DEFINITIONS OF CELEBRITIES said that within a society, celebrities generally differ from the common people and enjoy a high degree of public awareness. Among the classic forms of celebrities, actors (e. g. , Shan, Reema Khan, Sana, etc. ), models (e. g. , Mehreen Gillani, Vanzeeza Ahmed, etc. ), sports-persons (e. g. , Waseem Akram, Jan Sher Khan etc. ) are significant. According to Friedman and Friedman, a â€Å"celebrity endorser is an individual who is known by the public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed†.Compared to other endorser types, famous people always attach a greater degree of attention, recall and loyalty. According to Melissa St. James, a doctoral fellow and marketing instructor at The George Washington University, â€Å"Studies show that using celebrities can increase consumers’ awareness of the ad, capture [their] attention and make ads more memorable. † In this age of intense competition, where capturing a position in the consumers’ mind space is extremely tough, celebrity endorsements give an extra edge to the companies for holding the viewers’ attention.Celebrities can catalyze brand acceptance and provide the enormous momentum that brands require by endorsing the intrinsic value to the brand. So, in the Pepsi advertisement; singer Annie or actre ss Reema Khan are the celebrity endorsers for the product or brand called Pepsi and this process is referred to as Celebrity Endorsement. C elebrities are people who enjoy specific public recognition by a large number of certain groups of people. They have some characteristic attributes like attractiveness, extraordinary lifestyle or special skills that are not commonly observed. Thus, it can beZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 9 IMPORTANT CELEBRITY ATTRIBUTES and the celebrity gains. The most important attribute for a celebrity endorser is the trustworthiness. The target audience must trust that a celebrity carries a particular image and it must match with the product. The second attribute in order of importance is likeability. The celebrity also must be accepted as a popular icon by a large cross section of the audience.Companies use celebrity endorser because they are considered to have stopping power, i. e. , a celebrity can be a very useful tool to draw attention to advertising messages in a cluttered media environment. The overall popular image coupled with exact product-image match enhances the consumer attention resulting in greater brand recall. Similarity between the target audience and the celebrity is the third important attribute. A person well-known in a society can have greater impact than a celebrity of a different world. If the endorser and receiver have similar needs, goals, interests and lifestyles, the position advocated by the brand communication is better understood and received. Similarity is also used to create a situation where the consumer feels empathy for the person shown in the commercial. The bond of similarity between the endorser and the receiver increases the level of persuasiveness. W hile selecting a celebrity as endorser, the company has to decide the promotional objective of the brand and how far the celebrity image matches with it. The selection is in fact a collaboration, from which both the companyZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 10 The Need for Celebrity Endorsement endorsement to perk up brand recall and product sales. This has now become a trend and is being perceived as a strategic means of brand building exercise. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (EML) suggests that consumers will scrutinize claims more in important situations (say, life saving drugs) than in unimportant ones.So, for almost similar products like Coke and Pepsi, it makes sense to use endorsement. Also, Friedman Friedman have shown that a celebrity relative to a non-celebrity spokesperson would be more effective for products high in psychological or social risk, involving such elements as good taste, selfimage, and opinion of others. For example, when actor Tallat Hussain endorses Toyota Liana drive; the consumers are made to think that he is giving his opinion to go for this car. T he charisma of the celebrities almost always entices people and their words are worshipped by a lot of people.Their influence also goes on the political front, where they are invited for political endorsement. The business firms, thus, resort to celebrity Two reasons why advertisers need celebrity endorsement are to increase the credibility attrac tiveness of their advertisement. This is solely to affect consumers’ attitude towards their brand. To justify this hypothesis, we can take the example of Sonia Jahan and Ali Zafar has turned the tables for Telenor brand called Talkshawk as sales increased by a whooping 500%. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 11 ublished The Process of Celebrity Endorsement T he process of celebrity endorsement is more of meaning translation meaning application. A deeper insight into this complex process is provided by the following theory. The Meaning Transfer Model McCracken, the author to this model, has suggested that, â€Å"The effectiveness of the endorser â€Å"The depends, in part, upon the meaning he or she brings to the endorsement process. † The celebrities’ effectiveness as endorsers stems from the cultural meanings with which they are endowed. It is a three-stage process of meaning transfer that involves the formation of stage meaning celebrity image, transfer of meaning from celebrity to the brand, and finally, from the brand to the consumer. Figure 1: The Meaning Transfer Model To explain it with the help of an example, we can take the ca of Waseem Akram and Accu case Chck. The cricket icon is seen as â€Å"Mr. Dependable†. And when he endorses Accu Chck, an image . Chck of â€Å"dependability† is tagged on to the brand under promotion. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 1 Celebrity Selection T †¢ here are various scientific ways in which the right celebrity is selected for the product endorsement, which are discussed here after: Stereotyping Tellis defines stereotypes as perceptions and depictions of individuals based on simplistic, biased image of the group to which they belong, rather than on their own individual characteristics. For example: its better to select celebrities who say are teens for chocolate advertisements and females for detergent ads, etc. The TEARS1 Model Match up between Brand Image Celebrity Image Fame, Popularity (But Brand should be Reliable) Trustworthiness Celebrity Chosen Physical Attractiveness Expertise Figure 2: The TEARS Model 1 Defined by J. Lindeberg. The attributes highlighted by the acronym â€Å"TEARS† are gauged for celebrity selection. These are Trustworthiness, Expertise, Attractiveness, Respect, and Similarity. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMP UTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 13Trustworthiness: Zia Muhi-u-Din who is an icon of trust; promoting KASB Bank. Expertise: Waseem Akram for a sports brand. Attractiveness: Sonia Jahan, Vaneeza Ahmed, Mehreen Gillani, Shan, etc. Respect: Social worker Abdus Sitar Edhi and the Blood donation campaign. Similarity: a child artist promoting a chocolate brand. A celebrity scoring high on all the above attributes can turn out to be a good endorser for the brand under question. †¢ The No TEARS Model The â€Å"No TEARS† approach is a tool for managers and their advertisers how to go about selecting celebrities so as to avoid the pitfalls from making an unwise decision. It gauges the following information: celebrity audience match up, celebrity brand match up, celebrity credibility, celebrity attractiveness, cost consideration, a working ease and difficulty factor, an endorsement saturation factor, a likelihood-of-getting-into-trouble factor Selecting the right celebrity does more than increasing sales; it can create linkages with the celebrities’ appeal, thereby adding new dimension to the brand image. Research conducted by Katherine Eckel has revealed that celebrities can get people to make a better choice but cannot influence ‘people to make a foolish choice’.ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 14 The success of celebrity endorsement in Pakistan can be sought from a market research conducted earlier which found that 8 out of 10 TV commercials scored the hig hest recall were those with celebrity appearances. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value]Published in Jan. 2009 | 15 ublished Brand, Celebrities ; Consumers Figure 3: Factors Impacting a Brand while being viewed by a Consumer in Media : by The model above shows the various factors that affect a celebrity endorsed brand while viewed by a consumer in the media (both TV and print). The central idea being the impact on brand and consumer behavior. The three major parts to a brand being shown are: . The Product Advertisement The celebrity endorsing it It is important is to study the relationship between these factors and how they together act for or against the brand.The product is important, of course, it may fulfill a need, want or a desire. Quality is need, quintessential and, hence, nowadays it is understood the product is of highest quality. So what next? The advertisement is important as a good product could see an early exit if the ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 16 advertisement is handled badly, and otherwise, a mediocre product which is tastefully handled goes a long way.Lastly, the celebrity in the advertisement, recall, trust, familiarity are some of the reasons that they are used. Now consider the interactions of these individual factors. The best of superstars can be doing the advertisement but if the product is far from the image the star has, the whole advertisement is a waste. Imagine Javed Sheikh doing an advertisement for ad for youth apparel. Well, exceptions can be there but then again it depends on the way it is done. Believability is of vital importance. The relationship between a product and its advertisement again can be either dependant or none.In that case, a shock value makes people remember the brand better and, hence, a possible long term loyalty. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 17 Facts Approximately 60-70% of all television commercials feature famous people. Telenor Talkshawk sales went up when Telenor endorsed Sonia Jahan and Ali Zafar with a well executed TVC. Pakistan is a country of cricket fans, that’s why Pepsi is endorsing almost 90% times cricketers in their ads.Reema Khan who is brand ambassador of Warid Postpaid appeared in Prepaid Warid advertisement, and sales went down dramatically. Amitabh Bachchan (AB) was seen endorsing Maruti’s Versa Car. The AB factor worked wonders as far as generating curiosity was concerned but the actual product couldn’t meet the expectations of people, and hence, the endorsement strategy didn’t work. He has been used very effectively by Parker Pens, ICICI Bank and Cadbury’s to name a few. Magic Johnson lost his endorsement deals when he announced in 1991 that he’s HIVpositive. It wasn’t until July 2003 that he landed his first endorsement deal since the announcement.Ticket sales at Wimbledon are known to have shot up significantly for all matches featuring the latest ‘sex-symbol’ on the circuit – Anna Kournikova. An average player who is yet to win even a single tennis tournament, Anna is known to have earned far more from endorsements than her tennis career could ever have given her. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 18 The Argument for Celebrity EndorsementsThe need for brands to use luminaries in advertising is most felt when the concerned brand has very close subst itutes available; when there is a need to create a unique and clear differentiation for the brand, and when the brand has to make an impact at its introductory stage. Research has indicated that target prospects are more likely to choose goods and services endorsed by celebrities than those without such endorsements. Celebrities facilitate instant awareness and immediate attention. In this era of sound bites, channel surfing, visual orientation and quick newspaper scanning, there is great demand for people’s time and focus.Studies have shown that some of the attributes associated with the celebrity are passed on to the brand. For instance, if a motorbike is associated with a celebrity who connotes performance then one need not hunt for the reassurance required to make the down payment. The idea, thus, is to convince people of the utility lying in your brand. For instance, if I want to say Dettol Soap gives maximum protection against germs, viruses and bacteria and it is hard to convince a priori, then it’s easier to say: ‘Mahnoor Baluch says Dettol Soap gives maximum protection against germs, viruses and bacteria because she i s very caring mother’. The brand, therefore is riding piggyback on the celebrity. At a rational level, everyone knows it is a paid endorsement, and there is no immediate, conscious association. But at a subliminal level an association occurs – the attributes of one rubs off onto the other. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 19 Brand Image CelebrityResearch has shown that there are three aspects that influence a customer’s attitude and, hence, the long term impact on the brand – Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and Expertise. The matrix below shows us the images and the celebrities: Elegance Beauty Attractiveness Classy Stylish Mahira Honest Trustworthiness Reliable Knowledge Expertise Qualified Experience Tallat Hussain Zia Muh-ud-Din Nabeela Waseem Akram Liana KASB Bank Shampoo Accu Chck Hence, we see depending on the product and aspect of brand, the choice of the Anwar Maqsood Panteen Pampers Vaneeza Meera Indigo Ufone Public DemandAli Zafar/Sonia Jahan Telenor Talkshawk Iman Ali Sunsilk celebrity is important so that the celebrity can reflect that and not go against the brand. Getting back to the basic of branding after such exhaustive examples can make us reflect ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 20 on our choices of celebrity and the impact on the brand. We talk about Brand Equity, Brand Identity and Position. It is worthwhile to see the effect of a celebrity on these critical elements.Brand equity essentially made up of loyalty, awareness, perceived quality, associations, and other proprietary brand assets. The celebrity should be chosen in such a way as to reinforce and strengthen the brand in all these elements but the question is, can he/she? Take an example of another star Hadiqa Kayani, who endorses modish, trendy home appliances from a Pakistani manufacturer PEL (Pak Elektron Ltd. ) with the backing of a stylish star was a great idea for the brand image. It was able to attract new customers who were style and trend conscious but unable o afford high price international brands. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 21 The Argument against Celebrity Endorsements CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT: THE ISSUES INVOLVED There are several factors to consider before resorting to celebrity endorsement. There is no single formula to win in the world of marketing. A company must analyze the prospect of endorsement from 360 degrees, prior to product promotion. Price vs. Profit The most important issue is that of Return on Investment (ROI). Companies need to perform a cost-benefit analysis prior to endorsement. The process of gauging the effectiveness of endorsement on the overall brand is but difficult. The companies expect to bring, in the long run, future sales, revenues and profit from the present investments on celebrity endorsement. Celebrity endorsement is an expensive means of brand promotion and the price burden almost always shifts on to the consumers; if not, then it narrows the companies’ profit. Multiple Brand Endorsement vs. Multiple Celebrity Endorsement In the advertising landscape, we find either a celebrity endorsing multiple brands or multiple celebrities being used to endorse a single brand. Sonia Waseem Akram, for example, endorsed more then 10 brands (including Pepsi, Accu Chck, Rexona, etc. ). Iman is endorsing more then 5 brands at the moment including LUX, Mobilink Jazz, Sunsilk Shampoo. Tripp et al, says that the endorsement of as many as four products negatively influences the celebrity spokesperson’s credibility and likeability.ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 22 ublished Figure 4: Multiple Brand Endorsement ( : (Atif Aslam) Also, the use of multiple celebrities to endorse a brand may hinder the meaning transfer process, and thus, lead to confusion among the consumers. Similarity between the target audience and the celebrity is the third important attribute. A person well-known in a society can have greater impact than a celebrity of a different world.If known the endorser and receiver have similar needs, goals, interests and lifestyles, the position similar advocated by the brand communic ation is better understood and received. Similarity is also used to create a situation where the consumer feels empathy for the person shown in the commercial. The bond of similarity between the endorser and the receiver increases the level of persuasiveness. The companies have to first clarify their business objectives, brand values and then decide who the celebrities are who can carry them forward. Otherwise, their can be unnecessary canZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 23 investments without proper return. So the celebrity endorsement cost has to be weighed up against the return on marketing investment. Besides, while designing an ad campaign, one should also keep in mind that the overuse of some extremely popular celebrities often tends to confuse consumers and reduce the utility of celebrity endorsement. Another argument against celebrity endorsement involves the behavior of the celebrity.The values that display themselves in regrettable behavior could transfer themselves to the brand. The marketing function of a company should also understand that brands should assume a much greater space than the celebrities, because their association may be temporary but the brands are permanent. The various risks associated with celebrity endorsements are as follows: †¢ Negative publicity – If the celebrity is strongly associated with the brand then the occurrence of the negative publicity can spill over the brand. This can harm the trustworthiness and credibility in the mind of the consumers. Overshadowing – When celebrity endorser is used, the risk of consumers focusing on the celebrity and not on the brand exists. †¢ Overexposure – This risk arises when the celebrity chooses to endorse several different products simultaneously which might leave the consumers con fused. E. g. , Vaneeza Ahmed endorses different brand including Mobilink Indigo, LUX, etc. †¢ Overuse – Sometimes the company can use many different celebrities to appeal to different market segment. But multiplicity of endorser might blur the image of the brand and reduce the effectiveness of the means of persuasion. Extinction – The favorable response obtained by a particular brand may weaken over time if the brand gets significant exposure without the association of the celebrity. If the celebrity contract is for a considerable period of time, then it can lead to draining out capital without proper return. †¢ Financial Risk – The decision for hiring an expensive endorser may not be always feasible if there is a poor brand fit. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 009 | 24 Therefore, for celebrity endorsements to work effectively there are some fundamental ground rules: The brand promise and the brand personality should be clearly articulated. The communication objectives for the campaign should be frozen. Focus must be on the synergy between the brand and the celebrity image Establish explicitly what the celebrity is going to communicate Once these criteria are met, endorsements can work as a force multiplier. A deeper insight in the impact of celebrity endorsement on consumers’ minds can be explained by the meaning transfer model, explained in the next section.ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BA HRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 25 ublished WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING HAS THE HIGHEST IMPACT ON DECISION OF BUYING A PARTICULAR PRODUCT ? Celebrity Brand Name Self Esteem 3% 48% 25% 24% Luxury/ Need Motor Vehicles From the above graphical representation we can see that a major portion of consumer buy a Motor Vehicle just because it is a luxury/need 24% buy it for the self esteem and 25% go for a Motor Vehicle /need. % just because of the brand name.We have a small but affective percentage of consumers who are consu influenced by celebrities endorsing a brand. So, we can conclude that celebrity endorsement is an affective tool to build brand image as well as it has a positive influence on consumers. Mobile Phones Celebrity Brand Name 4% 30% 32% Status Cost 34% Again we don’t see much consumers influenced by the celebrity endorsement. 34% buy a cell phone to celebrity meet their level of standard or class. 32 out of 100 are brand conscious because they don’t want to take risk by using a new brand. In short, they want to avoid the risk involved in purchasing a new brand. 0% consumers are cost/price conscious. Their demand for a mobile can increase or decrease with the onsumers increase in price. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 26 ublished Clothing Celebrity Status Cost Brand Name 44% 32% 10% 14% Unfortunately, we don’t see much advertisement of clothes on different media in Pakistan but still we see 32% consumer get attracted towards a particular apparel brand because of the celebrity endorsing towards that brand.This may be because we have cable in almost every house especially in cities. So, ads and celebrities from India help them decide what particular brand to be bought. 24% people are status and cost conscious so, again the demand is dependent on the price they pay for a specific product. Food Products Attractive Packaging Brand Name Celebrity Quality 47% 30% 10% 13% Here we can see that even after endorsing a celebrity in a Food Product advertisement, nominal consumers are attracted towards it. Most of the people are quality conscious and they are not ready to compromise on that.Attractive packaging seems to be an affective tool in making a consumer decides affective whether to go for a certain food product or not. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 27 ublished MOTIVATION FACTOR DUE TO WHICH YOU PURCHASE A PRODUCT? Value for Money Various Discounts Latest Trends Attractive Advertisement Celebrity Endorsing the Brand 18% 14% 10% 20% 38% Motivation is a driving force that leads to a purchase or at least take consumer attention towards a product.The finding from our survey shows that a large number of consumers buy a product that gives number them value for their money. 20% get attracted because of the appealing advertisement. But again we see that 14% of customers get attracted because of the celebrity endorsing that product. A noticeable number of customers get motivated because of the promotional offers companies make time to time omers and 18% are fashion, style conscious and go for product that is up-to-the-minute. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 28 ublished DOES A CELEBRITY HELP IN INCREASING THE MARKET SHARE OF A COMPANY’S BRAND? Yes No Can’t Say 18% 36% 46% Whether someone get attracted towards a particular brand because of the celebrity or not a very large not, number of consumers agree with the statement that celebrities help in increasing the market share of the company’s brand they are endorsing but at the same time half the consumers do not agree with the statement and 18% consumers are neutral about the statement.WHAT DO YOU THINK, CELEBRITIES THEMSELVE USE THE PRODUCTS THEY ENDORSE? Yes No Can’t Say 30% 12% 58% This was a very interesting question to ask from consumers. The answer of 58% consumers was ‘No’, is 12% agreed and 30% consumers were neutral about the statement that celebrities themselves use the product they endorse. We can see a sense of untrustworthiness. This may be because of the knowledge and information consumers have. Educated consumers are certain about the consumers’ usage of the brand they are using. ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 29 ublished ON A PERSONAL NOTE WHAT KIND OF CELEBRITY DO YOU PREFER THE MOST? Famous Personalities Cricketers None of the above 4% 6% Movie/Tv Stars/Models Politicians 12% 32% 46% We see a lot of advertismeent daily on TV, Newspapers, magazines and 80% of the companies use Movie/TV Stars/ Models for endorsement of their brands. 46% consumers like Movie/TV Stars/Models. ovie/TV As Pakistanis are cricket fans so, the results were obvious. 32% people like cricketers in ads. 2% of them get attracted towards an advertisement that endorse famous personlities like Anwar Maqsood, Abdus Sitar Edhi etc. Politicians have not good reputation in our country or to be more specific, among the educated people, but still we see 4% people who like politicains in advertisement. 6% like other personalities such as Zia Muh-ud-Din, Nabeela, etc. Din, ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 30 LIMITATIONS – Research was limited to Islamabad City. Specifically two universities students and teachers, family members and some people in different markets. 2- The number of respondents was not adequate for such kind of research, in our case 100. 3- Most of the students of universities are not very serious about the research projects conducted in universities because they think this report/research is just for getting marks. So, there is chance that some of them might have provided wrong information. 4- There is a possibility that some respondents might have misunderstood the statements.ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ; COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD [Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior ; Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 31 Conclusion Celebrity endorsement can be a goldmine or a minefield for a company’s brand building process. There have been extensive studies relating to the process of celebrity endorsement and brand-building. These studies indicate that celebrity endorsement has worked well in some consumer segments while failing in others. Few celebrities have been more successful than those with almost parallel fame.So the role of celebrity endorsement in the advertising space is equivocal and cannot be seen as an assured strategic tool to win profits, market share, revenues, etc. Consumers can identify the clear difference between a good script and a good brand idea. For example, while Pepsi’s Reema Khan’s (Action Girl) ad was seen as one with a good script, Dew’s Dew Na Kiya to Phir Kya Jiya†¦ was seen as an insightful and strong brand idea. For all the flak it drew in its vainglorious attempts to run down competition, Thumbs-Up was seen as the only example of seamless linkage between brand positioning and brand celebrity. Brand† is the most valuable asset of any company; building its image is, thus, of paramount importance. Any thoughtless adventure can be like the Sword of Damocles upon your head. Celebrities do not make brands but ideas do. If the former were true then brands would have vanished when the hype and hoopla around the celebrities faded. Celebrity endorsement is also one of the ideas. But, its easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out-of-date. Therefore, it is imperative to invest in good ideas; which will bring good returns.Thus, the need of the hour is to focus less on your Return-on-Investment, and think more in terms of your Return-on-Ideas. There is an increasing challenge to the marketing manager to develop and implement an integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan to realize the true value of the celebrity endorsements. There is a gradual shift from the traditional approach of showing celebrities in advertisement to making them the â€Å"spokes-person† of the brand. Companies have taken ZAHEER AHMED KHAN – MBA (MARKETING) BAHRIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCES, ISLAMABAD Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement On Consumer Behavior Overall Brand Value] Published in Jan. 2009 | 32 celebrity endorsement to next level by projecting brands as a way of life. Smart companies are using their brand ambassadors in other mediums such as movies to promote their brands. Wooing the key existing and potential target customers is the trait of a successful promotion strategy. However, the marketing manager should be able to offer significant value propositions in the services / products offered to the customers. How to cite Celebrity Endorsement, Papers Celebrity Endorsement Free Essays How the celebrity endorsement advertisement influence consumers in a negative way Professional research and Evaluation Student name: Jiang WeiWei Student number: 3363314 April, 2013 Abstract The goal of this research is to grasp consumers’ negative reaction of celebrity endorsement advertisement (including the reaction of over celebrity endorsement ads, celebrity’s over-endorsement and celebrity’s negative performance). The aim of this study is trying to find out how to take advantage of celebrity endorsement advertisement more effectively and correctly in Internet-information times. As the development of entertainment and web 2. We will write a custom essay sample on Celebrity Endorsement or any similar topic only for you Order Now 0 tools (such as blog, social networking sites), more and more firms would like to invite a celebrity to show up in their ads to attract more attentions of their target consumers. As a result, the effect of celebrity endorsement ads is not as effective as it was. Sometimes the celebrity endorsement would have even a counterproductive effect on consumers. Introduction Celebrity endorsement advertising has been one of the most common strategies for a brand or product to gain public’s awareness. It has been estimated that one quarter of all advertisements employ a celebrity spokesperson to endorse a product or brand (Shimp, 1997). Freiden (1984) found that celebrities stood out in terms of trustworthiness, likability, persuasiveness and believability. However, the effect of celebrity endorsement ads has been weakened as the appearances of over celebrity endorsement ads, celebrity’s over-endorsement and celebrity’s scandal. In the literature, only few studies in celebrity have studies consumers’ negative reactions. So findings in this area would help the advertisers select and create more effective celebrity endorser ads under the new changes. Reference David, H Benedikte, A, 2003, ‘Factors predicating the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement advertisements’, Journal of European Marketing, vol. 38, no. 11/22, pp. 1509-1526 This research examines whether consumers infer that celebrity endorsers like the products they endorse. The study presents a model using these inferences and other characteristics of the endorser to predict attitudes toward the endorsed products. I found this article through RMIT library database. I searched using the keywords factors of influence of celebrity endorsement. Steven, M, Edwards Carrie, LA, Ferle, 2009, ‘Does gender impact the perception of negative information related to celebrity endorsement’, Journal of Promotion Management, 15(1), 22-35 The study examines the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement by examining how a respondent’s gender impacts identification with a spokesman and the processing of negative information about celebrity’s performance. I found this article through RMIT library database. I searched using the keywords negative influence and celebrity endorsement. Kineta, Hung, Kimmy, W, Chan Caleb, H, 2011, ‘Assessing celebrity endorsement effects in china: a consumer-celebrity relational approach’, Journal of Advertising Research, 10(2), 608-622 This article aims to exam how the celebrity over-endorsement effect on consumers and to explain which kind of celebrity has a deeper and wider influence on consumers. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world over-endorsement. Somdutta, Biswas Mahmood, Hussain Kathleen, O, Donnell, 2009, ‘Celebrity endorsements in advertisements and consumer perceptions: a cross-cultural study’, Journal of Global Marketing, 22(5), 121-137 This article studies consumer perceptions of celebrity endorsements from a cross-cultural perspective. The implications for markets in this article as well as suggestions for future research as discussed. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world celebrity endorsement in advertising. Kerry, 2010, Endorsement in advertising: a social history, 8th edn, illustrated, McFarland Co, Michigan University This book introduces a brief history of celebrity endorsement advertisement from 1919 to 2003 which including some growth and changes about spokesman ads. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world history of endorsement ads. Robert, Macken@gmail. com, 2010, ‘UK. Election celebrity endorsement’, weblog post, 3rd May, General One File, viewed 31 March 2013, http://find. galegroup. com. ezproxy. rmit. edu. u This blog discusses the situation of celebrity endorsement in UK which in a typical country would represent an average state of celebrity spokesman ads. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world celebrity in UK. Angela, B Maureen, W, 2003, ‘The naked truth of celebrity endorsement’, Journal of British Food, vol. 105, no. 4/5, pp 288-296 This case study e xamines the use of celebrity endorsement in the formation of the retail image of leading European grocery. The aim of this study is to explore the essence of the spokesmen advertisements. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world the truth of celebrity endorsement. Erik, J Henri, burgers, 2009, ‘Celebrity capital as a strategic asset: Implications for new venture strategies’, Advances in Entrepreneurship, firm emergence and growth, 8th edn, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 137-160 This book explains that how the celebrity entrepreneurs benefit new ventures and shows that how the different strategic implications of celebrity capital for ventures using celebrity entrepreneurs versus endorsers. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world celebrity endorsement. Elliott, T1992, ‘The media business: Advertising: New tactics on celebrity endorsement’, Newspaper of The New York Time, 3 April, p. 3 This article comes from The New York Time newspaper which discusses the new changes about celebrity endorsement as a new media tactic that has attracted much attention from consumers. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world new media tacyics Chung-Kue, Hsu Daniella, Mcdonald, 2002, ‘An examination on multiple celebrity endorsers in advertising’, Journal of Product Brand Management, vol. 11(1), no. 6, pp. 19-29 This study discusses advantages and potential concerns of multi-celebrity endorsement advertising and documented the actual use of multiple celebrity endorsers in the milk mustache campaign in the USA. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world multiple celebrity endorsement. Annotated bibliography Steven, M, Edwards Carrie, LA, Ferle, 2009, ‘Does gender impact the perception of negative information related to celebrity endorsement’, Journal of Promotion Management, 15(1), 22-35 This article seeks to define how the negative information about a celebrity impact male and female consumers in different ways (such as different extent impacts). The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of an endorsement for a gender-related product (such as cars and cosmetics). The summary of this article provides a useful overview. The discussion is logical and reasonable, especially the first hypothesis which aims to explain negative information about a celebrity will impact consumers’ attitude towards the celebrity, endorsement/advertisement, product rating, and product interest negatively is useful and related to my research. Furthermore, most of the examples of celebrity’s endorsement (such as Josh Howard and Michael Phelps) in this article are new and typical which would explain the situation (celebrity over-endorsement) clearly. However, the final findings from the research and hypothesis are not clearly and specific. For example, there is no exact result about which group (male or female consumers) would have a stronger reaction to negative information about endorser. The author should do a further explanation about the reason why it is hard to get the exact results. I found this article through RMIT library database. I searched using the keywords negative influence and celebrity endorsement. Kineta, Kimmy, W Caleb, H, 2011, ‘Assessing celebrity endorsement effects in china: a consumer-celebrity relational approach’, Journal of Advertising Research, 10(2), 608-622 This article discusses consumers’ reaction about endorsed brands and over-endorsement ads in china. Following that is a deeper investigation about comparing sports celebrity with entertainment celebrity’s influence on consumers. The purpose of this article is to confirm consumers and celebrity’s relationship in c hina and to help advertisers to pick up a suitable spokesman for their brands and products . The author quotes some latest literatures (such as the definition of value-transfer approach) and examples which could represent for the fast-replacing generation of celebrity. The second hypothesis of this article is helpful to my study, especially the findings about the celebrity’s capacity may be related to the diversity of the celebrity’s core value set. The finding also illustrates that not all the celebrity who endorse multiple brands would decrease their influence on consumers. At the same time, there are some shortages in this article. Firstly, some of the investigations are too complicated to understand, especially the large number of tables and graphs which make the data difficult to calculate. In addition, the online survey samples just focused on generation-young people which is an important group but not representative of the overall consumer population. In conclusion, although this study was conducted in China market, the findings of this study would implications that beyond cultural context. I found this article through the RMIT library database. I searched using the key world over-endorsement. How to cite Celebrity Endorsement, Papers

Protest Music Anaylsis free essay sample

Protest music is a genre of music that contains a message of needed social change. One such example of protest music is the song Killing in the Name by the American rap-metal band Rage against the Machine. Killing in the Name manipulates musical elements in such a way to clearly convey their message of protest. Their message is retesting the illusion of control under the guise of government, oppression and racism. This essay will deconstruct the manipulation of musical and compositional devices that successfully communicate a message of protest to the listening audience. Killing In the name Is composed In the key of D minor which means both the guitar and bass are tuned down to drop D (decade). With the low E string tuned down It creates a darker, more aggressive tone that coupled with saturated distortion, helps to emphasis their message of protest and convey their anger against The Machine. We will write a custom essay sample on Protest Music Anaylsis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first four bars of the song start off with aggressive, distorted D minor power chords played by the guitar and bass accompanied by crochet hits on a loose hit-hat ND bass drum kicks on the first beat of the first four bars, this sets the beat and the overall mood of the piece straight away.At bar 5 the bass plays a triplet pattern solo on the low D and High D#, creating an unbalanced tone; this is used to signify the governments unjust actions and to further enforce their message of protest. At bar 6 two cow bells are used to play a flamed, triplet pattern on each cowbell, the distinct sound is used to further disrupt the tone centre which create a sudden haft in the mood to a more aggressive, confronting mood to emphasis the underlining meaning of the lyrics during the first verse.At bar 9 the full drum-kit is re-introduced, playing a fast rock beat. With the drums playing at an upbeat tempo, accented with dominant use of cymbals and the bass playing the triplet pattern, this small section of the piece adds further to the rebellious feel which is necessary to successfully convey their message of protest and anger to their audience.

Friday, May 1, 2020

A Trip to Paris free essay sample

Looking at this photo of myself four years ago, I can say that I am no longer that little shy kid always attached to his twin brother. Sure Ive grown in size, but no matter how that change is measured, whether in meters or feet, it will never compare to how much Ive grown mentally. The year 2006 was a pivotal year for me, vastly changing my perspective on life, as it was the year in which my mother had told me Antonio, Im sending you off to French camp during the summer. I can still remember my response to the news — Why are you punishing me and sending me off to school during the summer — but now looking back at her decision, Im grateful that she did, because ultimately that decision molded me into who I am today. During the course of two weeks I lived with more than one hundred other kids of various different nationalities, took French classes, and toured around the city of Paris. We will write a custom essay sample on A Trip to Paris or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The day of my arrival onto the campus, I vividly remember the nervous feeling that I had looking at all of the different faces, wondering how Id befriend them all, especially my roommates. Once I met my roommates I realized that everyone was just as nervous as I was, since they were all in the same circumstances that I was. With each day I made more friends, and eventually came to realize that having a friend and living with a friend are two very different things. Being around someone twenty-four hours a day, even if it is just for two weeks, will make both closer than they are with most. In those two short weeks the people I met, the ones that I came to call my friends, I also came to my family. Those friendships that I made in some ways have defined me, since thanks to them, I learned a lot about other cultures and about myself. I learned that I love languages, I learned that I enjoy learning about different cultures, but most of all I learned the importance of communication. In o rder to succeed in life communication is critical. For example, when a director films a movie, he or she will film a scene from various different angles, and each angle has a different effect on the scene. The same can be said about an idea, but in a more complex way. Each different culture offers a different perspective on a certain idea, which in turn will be once again affected by the language spoken by the portrayer, giving a multitude of different perspectives on just one idea. Here I am, four years later at seventeen years of age, now a speaker of four languages, giving me the opportunity of doing more of what I do best, meeting new people and starting a conversation.