International Language Essay Example for Free

International Language Essay Across 294 countries in the world, there are about 6,500 languages are commonly using in the daily life. The domination of English has been proved as an international language all across with the coming of globalization in future, English is the language of diplomacy and international communications for the use of business, tourism, education, science, computer technology, media, Internet and etc. Without language, all the things couldn’t happen and stay in place like today. People nowadays who stand in the marketplace ordinarily using English as an international language for the purpose of fulfilling communicative needs, a common language to facilitate trade and communication seems unavoidable. Some people think that globalization will become a big threat to the national, cultural and even religious identities as using only a single language and ultimatum to the development of a country. Posses single language may lead to cultural corrosion, a loss of local linguistic knowledge, and mainly will cause to losing of own language which is the carrier of all their cultural values identity is the first thought of conservative minded while they firstly expose to the word of globalization. However, in my opinion, it is possible to use an official international language and still retain theirs own languages with their own cultures values identity. I presented to support that having a single language as an international official language not only provides the opportunities for social mobility and modernity but also removes the probability of losing the national language the carrier of identity by helping people to be identified to the whole world as they are given voices. It is getting involved in international interactions and communications is required. Therefore, to be an active participant in globalized relations, it is necessary to adopt the international language. Using an international language provides opportunities for people to make contributions to the formation and development of that language to lead to scientific and cultural independence. Language is only the instrument of communication for people around the world. Many countries had been adapted to the cultural with an official language or languages. In any country where there are innumerable languages spoken, there is a need for official languages to ensure the flow of communication between different sections of the population and the different states. Above all, international language is important as a common language for people, without language, there will be absence of interaction between people, while there will be a link occurred to no communication to no trading and etc. It’s also important in every aspect for the world. Nowadays, English is considered the universal language for business, international communications, entertainment, tourism, trade and technology. The majority of all resources on the internet are all in English, affecting people to learn English to take full advantage of it. More important, learning English is significant for human to being able for information exchange and connecting to others. In the prevalent globalization there is no doubt that an international language is unavoidability. While trading a business, language is playing an important role of people, if human found difficult in the activation of a common in language spoken, they cannot trade in business. In this sense, not only is an international language inevitable, but also a necessary for trading, commerce and economic expansion by the turn of the century. The criticism to opposing the using of an international official language contends that it would lead to cultural corrosion and a loss of cultural values identity. However, the use of an international official language does not mean that their local languages will disappear. If English already functions as a kind of unofficial international language but this doesn’t mean that people only converse in using English or they ignore their own languages. English is used in specific contexts such as trade, business, etc. and native languages are used for everyday instruction.

The Macro Environment Analysis | Australia

The Macro Environment Analysis | Australia The purpose of this report is to identify social-cultural and ecological environment which access to the major trends and forces can relate to develop tourism industry in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. This report suppose to use the result of macro-environment scanning on social-culture and ecological category to analysis the impact on customers, competition and suppliers. Moreover, the opportunities and threats identified from the impact that affects the tourism industry in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. Macro-environment analysis divides into two categories which are social-culture and ecological. Each category investigated from five variables. As reported by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2010), Australias population growth in the result of two factors: natural increase and net overseas migration. In 2009, Out of the total population growth, 40% was contributed by natural increase and 60% was contributed by net overseas. It is estimated that the resident population will reach 22.33 million at 30 June 2010, an increase of 377,100 people since 30 June 2009. The population growth of Queensland was the second fastest of all states and territories, with an averagely growth rate of 2.5% each year since 2005 and the population reached 4.51 million in 2010 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2009). According to the latest published data from Australia Bureau of Statistics(ABS)(2009) report ¼Ã…’resulting in the population of Brisbane had a steady averaging growth rate of 2.3% per annum over the past five years, resident population increasing from 973,931 to 1,067,279 since 2005 to 2010. 2.1.2 Multiculturalism Australia is a vast melting pot of different races and nationalities. As stated by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2008), in the past forty years immigration was a significant contributor to the Australias population growth. Approximately 6.6 million (25% of Australias total population) from around 200 countries have immigrated to Australia since the Second World War which ended in 1945 to 2006-2007. The largest group of overseas-born residents was born in United Kingdom, accounting for 5.4% of Australias total population, followed by New Zealand (2.4%), China (1.6%), India (1.4%) and Italy (1.0%) (ABS, 2008). According to the data of Multicultural Affairs of Queensland report (2010), in 2006, there were 699,438 Queensland residents born overseas, accounting for 17.9% of Queenslands total population. Brisbane is also a city with diverse cultures. As reported by the Brisbane City Council (2006), the proportion of the Brisbane population born overseas was 23% (198.630 people). 2.1.3 Disability According to the data, there are four million (18.5%) people who had a disability in 2009 and more than a million people had service core activity limitation (ABS, 2009) in Australia. From 2003 to 2009, the disability number decreased from 22.1% to 17.9% (ABS, 2009). In Queensland, the physical disability dropped from 18.3% to 14.7% during 2003 to 2009(ABS, 2005). In addition, the mental and behavioral disability dropped from 3.8% to 3.1 %(ABS, 2005). In Australia, about 55% people aged over 65 had a disability in 1998 as well as in 2003(ABS, 2005). Approximately 42% males and 39% female between aged 65 and 69 had a disability in 2003.Between age 70 and 74, the rate of male with disability and female with disability increased to 45% and 46 % respectively ( ABS, 2005). 2.1.4 Age Age is normally structure divided into three parts: Children (under 15 years of age), working age population (aged between 15 to 64 years) and older people (aged 65 years and over). From the 30 June 2009 to 30 June 2010, the population of Children rose by 44,600 and it was 22.0% of total population. The Australias largest age group was taken up by working age population, the proportion of this group increased from 66.9% in 1990 to 67.6% in 2010. The population of older people and over increased by 94,800, with a proportion of 13.5%. (ABS, 2010) In 2010, the 67.5% (2,676,767) of the Queenslands total population was taken up by working age population, followed by Children 20.4% (807,065) and older people 12.5% ( 480,136) (ABS, 2010). In Brisbane, in 2009, the 68.9% of Brisbanes population was accounted for working age population, followed by children (19.9%) and older people (11.1%) (ABS, 2010). 2.1.5 Education During the 1980s, the rate of participation in education was increasing steadily and the educational level became higher by 1990s (ABS, 2005). In 1976 ¼Ã…’there were 12% in their 20s were people attending educational institution, however this rate increased to 23% in 2001(ABS, 2005). In addition, according to the data, the number of people between the age of 20 and 29 who had achieved higher education was increasing from 1976 to 2010. In 1976, there were 13% people with a bachelor degree compared with 36% in 2001(ABS, 2005). In 2010, 20% people were enrolled a course and about 39% of these attended higher education (ABS, 2010). In Queensland, the rate of high-level education participation increased from 22% to 55% during the period of 1981 to 2003 in age group 20 to 29. Furthermore, there were 57% people had school qualification in 2001 compared 38% in 1991 in Brisbane (ABS, 2005). 2.2 Ecological 2.2.1 Waste and recycling According to paper presented by the then Department of Environment and Heritage to the Productivity Commissions inquiry into waste generation and resource efficiency in Australia, during 2002-03, Australians generated 32.4 million tones of solid waste (domestic, commercial and industrial), with QLD generating 2.86 million tones of that waste. Of the 2.86 million tones generated, 347,100 tones (12.14%) were recovered (Queensland EPA, 2006). The estimation of waste generation and division in Australia from 2006 to 2007; total disposed was 21,069 tonnes; recycled was 22,707 tonnes; total generated was 43,777 tonnes and the division rates was 52%. According to the data which estimated per capita waste generation and diversion rates for Australia from 2006 to 2007, there were 4,181,000 people in Queensland. The average disposal was 1,030 kilograms per capita; and recycled 900 kilograms for a division rate of 47%. It is lower than NSW (52%) and VIC (62%), but it is higher than WA (33%) (Davis, G. Herat, S. 2007). 2.2.2 Temperature Change According to the recent climate and geophysical trends in Australia, Australias continental average temperature has increased by approximately o.8 degree since 1910. Most of this rise occurred after 1950, with 1998 being the warmest year, and the 1990s and 1980s being the warmest and second warmest decades, respectively (Collins 2000). These trends are consistent with those measured globally. Since 1951, mean temperatures have increased 0.1-0.2 degree per decade over most of Australia, with the greatest warming inland, particularly in Queensland and the southern half of Western Australia (WA), although some cooling has occurred in southern Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) (Suppiahet al . 2001).Night-time temperatures have increased more than daytime temperatures (0.96 degree per century for minima 0.56 degree per century for maxima; Suppiah et al. 2001). Average temperatures in Queensland have risen in both summer (0.07) and winter (0.08) over 20 years. 2.2.3 Water Consumption According to the Australia Bureau of Statistics (2006) that farming industry had accounted for 65% of total water consumed in Australia in the year 2004-2005. And, 90% of total water was used by farm in the year 2007-2008. 22% of total water in Australia was used by Queensland in 2006, 24.5% in 2007 and 29.2% in 2008. In Brisbane, according to Brisbane City Council, Environment Waste (2010) consumption falling from 300 litres per day to as low as 127 litres per person per day. 2.2.4 Biodiversity Across Australia, the number of animal species that were threatened every year was increase from 312 in 2001 to 427 in 2009, and within those 427 species, 46% of them were just injured, 41% were accounted as serious injured and 13% of them were listed as extinct. According to Biodiversity (2010), Queensland holds 85% of Australias native mammals (239 species), 72% of native birds (562 species), over 50% of native reptiles (473 species) and 12888 species of native plants in the year 2010. According to the Threatened (2010), approximately 40% of Brisbanes vertebrate animals and 10% of vascular plants in 1500 plants species and 523 vertebrate animals were threatened. And, according to Protecting (2010), under a rise in temperature of more than 2 degrees and increasing CO2, 21% 52% of animal species could be extinct, this affect Brisbane, Queensland and across Australia. 2.2.5 Land use Approximately 55.3% of Australian land was used by agriculture industry in 2006 and Queensland had the highest proportion among all other states (83.1%) and in 2009, 54% of Australian land was managed by agriculture business and Queensland was still the highest among all other states (82%) in the same year. 3.0 Trends 3.1 Social- Culture Trends Based on the research data, it is easy to see an increasing trend because of the high fertility and birth rates with the total population increasing stably and quickly in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. According to this current trend, the numbers of population in the future 10 years will also stably increase because of the overseas immigration and natural increase. (Population variable). As well number of the old people over age 64 increasing significantly during the last 20 years which has resulted in the population in Australia becomes older. In addition, the number of old people with a disability has increased and accounts for half of the old population. It means Australia has an issue with an aging population and in few years, it will become more and more salient factor in government issues (Age variable). Furthermore, because of the increasing number of migrants, Australia becomes a multicultural country. It can be expected that not migration from different countries will keep increasing during the next decade from different countries (Multiculturalism variable). In education, as the data showed above, the number of people participating in education increased quickly and stably during the last 30 years. In addition, the data indicates the number of people achieving high-level education was increasing a lot in Australia, as well as in Queensland and Brisbane. (Education variable). 3.2 Ecological trends In Australia waste generation kept increasing from 2002 to 2007, but recycling is also increase during that period. In Queensland, the per capita waste generation is lower than other states. The temperature has kept increasing since 1910, because of the global warming, particularly in southern Queensland. It has risen in both summer and winter. Every year, more and more species of animals and plants are in danger because of land development or climate change 4.0 Forces 4.1 Social-culture forces Along with the increasing of the ageing population, the ageing tourists become potential tourism market segmentation. The growth of the older with disability forces the tourism industry to develop more humanized infrastructures to meet the needs of the disability market. The increasing number of participants in higher education forces the firm to become more productive and competitive in the marketplace. 4.2 Ecological forces The waste and recycling management is not only to affect the local people living, but also it affects the tourism industry development. The global temperatures growth is not only happening in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, but the temperature increase will impact on the natural environment resource. Hence, it will impact the tourism development in the long-term. 5.0 Impacts on customers, competitors and suppliers First, on the impact of customer, the trend of the increase aging group suggests that the old and retired people will be a big potential market of the tourism industry in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. Furthermore, from the suppliers aspect, they should focus on how to create an interesting tourism product and design the destination to attract the senior group and retired people in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. Lastly, about the impact on competitors, for Australia and Queensland, the competitors will be the other countries and other states. In Brisbane, the competition among the tourism organizations will be to special travel products to catch the attention of old tourists. Second, the growth of disability among old or people affect customers in three levels: there will be many tourists with a disability. Also, build more humanized infrastructures are good for the disability tourists. Suppliers need to create healthy tourism for these people with a disability and provide appropriate service. Competitors for this market will be more at the Australia and Queensland level, but in Brisbane, there should be little competition in this target market, because not too many firms focus on disability tourists. Third, the increase of people achieving high level education improves the rate of customers satisfaction in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. In addition, the competition among the firms shows on the recruitment, because all the firms want to employ highly competent people in Australia, as well as in Queensland and Brisbane. Moreover, high level educational staffs that have good skills and provide good service to customers have positive impacts on suppliers In Australia and Queensland. Fourth, the impacts of loss of biodiversity means loss of tourism potential and reduction in the demand from customers, as there is not too much to see which will be the same for each of Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. The firms in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane will suffer from the lack of product; also, the firms might face the problem of close down. In addition, there will be fewer products to sell. Fifth, as a result of global warming resulting in rising sea levels there will be less and less land to use which will reduce the opportunity for customer to travel in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. For firms, the competition among firms will be intense in three levels because lack of the land will reduce the amount of tourism destination. For the suppliers it will be difficult to provide a good land for tourism. Last, waste and recycle management to advance customers protect environment and reduce wasting. In addition, encourage green tourism participation of customers in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. Suppliers provide more products of eco-tourism in the tourism industries. For firms, sustainable tourism will be a mainstream tourism product in the marketplace, so it is necessary to create green product in tourism industry of Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. 6.0 Opportunities (in general) that arise from this impact Australia is a travel destination country which has wonderful natural environment and heritage resources and the speed of development of tourism industries is growing fast in Australia. Although there are some negative impacts of the macro environmental issues on customers, competition and suppliers, there are still opportunities for tourism development. The increasing number of old and disability tourists will bring Australia, Queensland and Brisbane more tourism opportunity which can help the local stakeholders to be more clear about the target market. From the target market analysis, the local infrastructure and facilities will be built more concern about the older and disability people to provide them higher quality service to satisfy their travel expectation. For example, the destination can provide the nursing facilities for the older and disability people which would provide an advantage over other travel destinations. Targeting the market of old and disability tourists with appropriate infrastructure will decrease the effectiveness of the competition from international tourism market. The increasing employees with a higher level of the education and training can promote the quality of the tourism service and cater for the technological tourist. It should be an advantage for Australia, Queensland and Brisbane in the marketing share in the tourism industry. Also, it can increasingly attract employees who have hospitality talent to work here. The Australia waste and recycling management which is a long term environmental protection can provide the travelers a natural protected travel destination. Also, the local waste and recycling management can influence the travelers concern the environmental issues and choose the green tourism product and services. The suppliers will invent more green tourism products and services not only to concern the environment, but also promote more travelers enjoy the eco-tourism in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane. 7.0 Threats that emanate from this impact Firstly, in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, the threats from the aging market and disability market classified into the same category, as they are both potential consumers with special needs. However, there is a significant difference between the spending on the ordinary consumers and consumers with special needs. For instance, in order to make the tourism market accessible, the requirement to build approachable facilities, recruit nursing staff and design tourism packages for these special markets significantly increase the organizations budget and the market prices. Thus, for the disabilities and aging customers, they are faced with the high travelling prices and the need of special assistance which may result their dissatisfaction. For suppliers, these market lines may be a threat to them in reaching the organizations substantial long-term goals. Furthermore, the increasing costs of integrated reconstruction, recruitment and innovation also threat the competitors in tourism in dustry, which make it more difficult to become competitive in the marketplace. Secondly, the high level of customer satisfaction has no negative impact on tourism organizations in Australia, as well as Queensland and Brisbane. Moreover, it brings the high customer retention and excellent reputation for the organizations. In addition, from the competitors perspective in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, the increasing demand for higher education employees is a threat to organizations to retain the outstanding employees and maintain low turnover rate. In addition, the good performances of workers lead to an underlying threat that is the workers will demand pay rise in the future and affect the profit of the suppliers in Australia and Queensland. Thirdly, in Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, as tourism industry is a big contributor to economy, the loss of customer demand will lead to the decline in organizations profit. Moreover, the lack of product will bring a threat to tourism organizations, which will influence the width of product line. Fourthly, as lacking of opportunities for customers to travel to Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, tourism organizations need to face threats from other travel destinations in international, domestic and local dimensions. For competitors, the reduce amount of tourism destinations will intensify the difficulty of Australia to be competitive in international tourism marketplace. However, for both Queensland and Brisbane, the reducing number of destinations may create barriers for new entrants, thus avoid competitions. From the suppliers perspective, the lack of attractive landscape creates a potential earning loss threat. 8.0 Conclusion The

Consumer Behavior Is Essential For Effective Marketing Marketing Essay

Consumer Behavior Is Essential For Effective Marketing Marketing Essay Introduction: A Consumer is somone who acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing process. (Investor words, 2010). We can classify consumers in two categories: (i) personal consumers / retail consumers, and (ii) organisations as consumers. In each case bahaviour is analysed differently. I will concentrate in this essay on personal consumers and their behaviour and its implications for effective marketing. Consumer behaviour is the process individuals or groups go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs, making purchase decisions (e.g., whether or not to purchase a product and, if so, which brand and where), interpret information, make plans, and implement these plans. Understanding customer perception and motivations has tremendous implications for selling and marketing, process improvement and, in turn, reaching targetted consumers and make rewarding profit. With the Consumer-Centered era long gone, in the New Era orentation to enable long-term bonds with consumers it is essential to study consumer behaviour and to understand more of the customers psychology, their internal and external motivations, preferences, limitations, and actions to be able to provide a tailored value proposition. As a discupline, this is referred to as customer relationship management (CRM). Diagram showing consumer behavior, measures, and marketing actions. (graph from: Norton, 2005)Consumer attitude: The process of purchase is largely influenced by consumer attitudes. In the context of marketing, it is towards: product, brand, place (eg retail store), etc.  Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumers (1) beliefs about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioural intentions.   These components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together embrace the forces that influence how the consumer will react to the object.(Perner, 2008) Beliefs: Consumer beliefs can be positive (e.g. chocolate tastes good) as well as negative (e.g., chocolate makes me fat).   In addition, some beliefs may be neutral (chocolate is a treat), and some may differ depending on the person or the situation (e.g., dark chocolate gives a lot of energy and stimulatesgood when you need to study or boost your energy level, but not good just before sleep time).  Often consumer believes can be inaccurate (e.g. pork is healthier than chicken). Feelings/Affect- is the consumers feelings toward a brands product or service.   Sometimes these feelings are based on the beliefs (e.g. a person feels nauseated when thinking about a hamburger because of the amount of fat it contains), but there may also be feelings which are relatively independent of beliefs (e.g.  I like ice cream) Behavioural intention.   Is what the consumer plans to do with respect to the object (e.g., buy or not buy the brand).   This can be a logical consequence of beliefs (or affect), or may reflect other circumstancese.g., although a consumer does not really like a bar/restaurant, he or she will go there because it is a hangout for his or her friends. (Perner, 2008) Changing behaviour of customers can be challenging because people like to believe that their behaviour is rational; thus, once they use our products, chances are that they will continue unless someone is able to get them to switch (Perner,2010). Consumer Choices: The comonly accepted and studied path of consumer choices, also illustrted in Elliot (1997), includes 5 main steps: Need/ opportunity recognition 2. Information Search 3. Evaluation of alternatives 4. Purchase 5. Outcome of purchase/feedback Need/opportunity recognition. Consumers recognize a need for a product/service when they percive a gap between their current state and their desired state. This can be either because of a change for the worse in their current state (need recognition) or when the desire seem to be further away (opportunity recognition). ( Elliot, 1997). That can be as easy as concluding that we need milk because we have just run out and cant make a cake without it. Or when a mother decides that buying an Armani top for her son would probably make her family more recognisable and admirred. Information Search. After identifying a product which will satisfy the need or opportunity gap, it is assumed that a customer will search for information to help him make a decision. Here it has been established that there are two ways in which information search takes place. Those are internal and external searches. Internal vs. External Search(Perner,2008) Internal search involves the consumer identifying alternatives from his or her memory/experience. Internal search is influenced by motivations, attitudes, personality, age, lifestyle, perception and learning/ experience.   This is often the only search method used for low involvement products or fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), thus building top of mind awareness is crucial task for marketing communications especially in hose low-involvement products categories (Elliot, 1998). External search involves information from environment that influences the purchase decisions. Those external factors influencing decision process include situational influences, such as, physical environment and time, and social influences such as advertising as well as culture, subculture, social class, group membership, family, friends, work/school peers, co-workers, people from the same sports/hobby clubs, neighbors etc. There are various referent groups that people consciously or unconsciously consider during their search. Those include; membership, aspiration, avoidance, word of mouth, opinion, leadership. Despite consumer interests and beliefs, they will strive to conformity and thus usually the internal search has to compete with their external influences because they want to belong to, and be accepted by, people from their direct environment. Consumers are more likely to use an external search for high involvement products.   For instance before buying a house, the consumer is more likely to ask friends opinions, read reviews in Consumer Reports, consult several web sites, and visit several property offices.   Thus, it is extremely important that firms that offer products that are selected predominantly through external search invest in advertising and marketing to ensure having information available to the consumer in need-e.g., through brochures, web sites, or news coverage. Evaluation of choices: The evaluative criteria are the product attributes, functional, symbolic and emotional, on which the relative performance of the competing alternatives will be compared (Elliot 1998). Decision rules can be: I. Compensatory, when a poor performance on one attribute can be offset by good performance on other attribute. (e.g. one car is not as fast as other but its cheaper.   If the price is sufficiently inexpensive, the consumer may then select it over a car with better acceleration that costs more) II. Non-compensatory, when only one standard is used and alternatives which dont measure up are eliminated. (e.g. when a customer wants to have a UK-branded product, lets say cereal, although there will be many other cereals with same ingredients and good taste they wont be considered) Considering that human beings seek to reduce cognitive efforts, often the way for choice evaluation are rules of thumb, e.g. cheapest is best, or known brand is always better than unknown, etc. Unfortunately this type of thinking often lead to systematic bias when compared with the rational decision making model of economic theory. Those would be believes that e.g. if an item is on sale it must be a good deal, or all branded products are of the same quality. Purchase: Purchased is often influenced by time, the more time between the intention to buy and the purchase the more opportunity for change in original intention. But in many instances a conscious purchase intension is not formulated prior to the purchase act and in this case a display of product may trigger impulse purchase. US studies show that 83% decisions to purchase of snack foods take place in the supermarket itself rather than prior to shopping. Obviously higher involvement products are more likely to be pre planned than lower involvement products. (Elliot, 1998) Outcomes of Purchase: These have important implications for the future purchase decisions. The cognitive approach points to importance of prior expectations as a determining how well consumer will evaluate the purchase experience. The lower the expectations the less dissatisfaction on poor product performance, and the more satisfaction on good product performance is seen. Consumer Involvement: The amount of effort a consumer puts into searching depends on a number of factors. There is a classical model to measure consumer involvment in purchase decision. This model shows that involvmnet depends largly on: price, type of product, frequency of purchases, symbolic meaning, social visability, time commitment, potentiality for harm, potentiality for poor performance of product/service etc. (Elliot, 1998) In practice the price or high significance will mostly effect the involvement of consumers. E.g if we buy boat or house we are more likely to put more effort in research than when we buy washing powder. The same is true for highly life significant products such as computer or medications, which tend to be given more attention than lets say notepad or pen. (where you shop, ease / proximity of parking, ambience, safety, provision of child care, etc) Influences on Consumer Behavior(Perner 2008) The Life Cycle. Individuals and families tend to go through a life cycle: The simple life cycle goes from    http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/images/cb/Simple_FLC.png (Perner 2008) In real life however, there are many more complications possible, such as couples undergo divorce, single parents run house or remarry or become involved in other non-marital relationships, or stay on their own etc. Integrating all the possibilities gives a depiction of the Family Life Cycle to the one below: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/images/cb/Family_Life_Cycle.png (Perner 2008) Obviously young singles with still little cash and highly influenced by their peer environment will have different needs, and make different purchases to young couples, and young couples will greatly vary in their customer behaviours to full nest families. Then again there is a significant difference in amount, type and variety of products purchased between Nest I, Nest II and III families, since different age of children in the family will have various demands / needs, and the older the children the more influence they will have on parents and their purchase decisions themselves. Empty nest family with no children in the house often can afford more luxurious items than before. They will frequently look for comfort and durability and high quality of goods. Older singles will have similar needs, but if retired or lonely may not be able to afford as high standards of products as empty nest and thus minimalistic approach can be seen in their purchase behaviour. Apart from differences in customer behaviour arising from Family Life Cycle it is also important to mention that behaviour changes with age, health, career and financial status. Older people tend to have greater income but also greater obligations such as mortgages, children, and spouse. Different ages are concerned with different financial rewards and obligations. That often leads to different consumer behaviour. Figure 2.5 Consumer life events Understanding the life event triggers behind the big decisions that consumers make, assists information providers in targeting information at the times and places in peoples lives when they most need it. (Australian government, 2010) Family decision making model: Another relevant consideration includes the Family decision making model. It is important to realise that it is not only the decision maker(s) in the family that count during the decisions processes of the family. Although they decide where and which product, brand to buy, there are also initiator, ultimate users, the information gatherers/holders- who seek out information about products of relevance, Influencers- who do not ultimately have the decision power, but they may make their wishes known by asking for specific products or causing embarrassing situations if their demands are not met. And then again all those have different role to that of the purchaser. (Perner, 2008) It was measured that parents under childrens (age 4 -12years) influence in US purchase products worth apporximately $4,400 per year per child. This comprises nearly $150 billion annually in US market alone. (McNeal,1997). This statistic is even more prominent if we look at China and heir one child policy and the six-pocket syndrome (where all 4 grandparents and parents can cherish and spoil 1 child only (Goll,1995) From the marketing point of view, family decision-making model introduces some problems since the purchaser can be targeted by point-of-purchase (POP) marketing efforts that cannot be aimed at the decision maker, or influencer. It should also be noted that family decisions are often subject to a great deal of conflict. The reality is that few families are wealthy enough to avoid a strong tension between demands on the familys resources. (Perner, 2008) Family decision making model can be observed in nearly any shop. This will take place when a family is out and about maybe doing grocery shopping and then suddenly one of the children will point to a toy or Christmas tree that courts its attention (that will be the initiator). There will be various criteria to consider: maybe some information provided on the spot about this particular Christmas tree; the fact does the family have already one or not and in what condition it is, also time of the year will have influence on the decision making process. The user or a Christmas tree is the whole family but especially children. Mother of the family will often be the decider who will try to satisfy the whole family and purchase something that is practical and safe a s well as will look representative in the home surrounding. Father will often pay for the tree and make the purchase thus in this scenario will be the buyer. This issue is addressed by many shops by offering extensive displays o f child-attractive items, together with parent-satisfying product descriptions to fulfil needs of the decision maker, and not infrequent value deals to finally convince the ultimate buyer. The Means-End Chain. Is another model of consumer behaviour where consumers buy products not because of their attributes per se but rather because of the ultimate benefits that these attributes provide, in turn leading to the satisfaction of ultimate values. An important implication of means-end chains is that it is usually most effective in advertising to focus on higher level items. (Green Book, 2005) This can be illustrated on example of UHT milk. A consumer may not be interested in the process and chemistry of ultra high temperature process of milk preservation, but might reason as follows: Self satisfaction/esteem Kids will continue to get all calcium and vitamins required for growth and strong bones, and he milk is there whenever needed Children can safely use the milk when they need it without a need to go back to a shop for weeks at a time. Milk can be stored longer without taste and properties change, Long life properties of UHT milk UHT milk producers use this model and emphasise the long life properties of milk, and thus in consumer perception this is the main focus point. They often dont make further investigation to find out that UHT milk has sufficiently less vitamins and minerals then fresh milk, and frequently make decision to buy long life milk instead of fresh milk. Diffusion Curve Model: And last but not least we should note that not all consumers will choose to buy new products at the same time. Dependingly on their education, experience, capacity to purchase and desires we will be able to identify Innovators who buy first but comrpise less than 5% of consumers, e.g. people who follow the latest releases of technology/fashion engineering and will purchase the products as soon as they reach the market even if they dont necessary need it, and it means paying premium price for those goods. After the first purchases by Innovators, the Early adpoters will show their interest. They benefit form using the product and want to maintain an edge over the rest of their peer group / consumers at large. However the vast majority of the curve ignores most marketing efforts at the earliest stages until they are convinced that the product or idea is not a fad. Successful new products, the hits, are most sought by Innovators and Early Adopters soon after introduction: and then Early majority will follow the trend to purchase. After some time the later majority will make the decision to buy, and then when the products/ services are no longer considered new by majority of population the laggards will come to belive it is ecessary for them to aquire this product. Possibly that will take place after the older model they owned is no longer functioning and it is necessary for them to replace it. Those clients frequently benefit from large discounts, since new more desirable models are often already available on the market. The described above model is commonly known as Diffusion Curve model or 5 segments model, and can be illustrated as bellow (actual percentages will vary according to the product / sector / consumer mix): Viral Marketing and Consumer Behavior (Graph from; Braziel, 2007) This model doesnt equally apply to all products, it is mostly used for electronics, computers, fashion clothing, house appliances such as AGD (white goods) and RTV (audio / visual electronics) products. Thats because we cant really talk about innovative products when it comes to FMCGs like bread, milk, butter. Also it would be hard to talk about laggards when the product of concern was something everyone needs in day to day life. Knowing about the diffusion curve model and the fact that new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only spread later, and then only gradually, to the rest of the population, companies learned that to introduce new products they must be well financed so that they can stay afloat until their products become a commercial success by generating self-sustainable profit. They also realize that it is very important to please initial customers, since they will in turn influence many subsequent customers brand choices. That is why many brands use post-purchase evaluation forms and ensure quick response to any dissatisfaction, so consumers feel understood, respected and powerful. This helps in creating good overall impression about the product or brand, which is likely to be passed on to Early adopters and beyond. Discussion: There are two main applications of consumer behavior in marketing: (Perner 2005) Using consumer behavior to make better marketing campaigns. For example by understanding that consumers are more receptive to food advertising when they are hungry, food/snack companies learned to schedule snack advertisements late in the afternoon. As a result of increased receptiveness consumers are more likely to memorize the items and either buy there and then or next time when they see the product on the supermarket shelf. by understanding that new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only spread later, and then only gradually, to the rest of the population, companies learned that (1) to introduce- new products must be well financed so that they can stay afloat until their products become a commercial success. (2) it is very important to please initial customers, since they will in turn influence many subsequent customers brand choices. Social marketing involves getting ideas across to consumers rather than selling something. E.g. To reduce the incidence of transmission of diseases through illegal drug use the best solution, obviously, would be if we could get illegal drug users to stop. This, however, was deemed to be infeasible. It was also determined that the practice of sharing needles was too ingrained in the drug culture to be stopped. As a result, using knowledge of consumer attitudes, Dr. Fishbein created a campaign that encouraged the cleaning of needles in bleach before sharing them, and this marketing campaign was hugely successful (Syed, 2009) Attitude research has shown that consumers often tend to react more favorably to advertisements which either: Admit something negative about the sponsoring brand (e.g., the Volvo is a clumsy car, but very safe), this approach makes consumer perceive the advert more reliable, and will pay off by their better attitude towards brand/product advertised. OR Admits something positive about a competing brand (e.g., a competing supermarket has slightly lower prices, but offers less service and selection).   Two-sided appeals must, contain overriding arguments why the sponsoring brand is ultimately superior-that is, in the above examples, the but part must be emphasized. (Perner, 2008)   Again this two side appeal gives consumer perception of rational, reliability and this type of advert is more likely to be listened, believed in and remembered. Knowing it is generally very difficult to change beliefs that people hold, some companies try to change the importance of beliefs by decreasing them or by strengthen them by advertising e.g. milk company can emphasise on the importance of milk ingredients such as; calcium and iron for the health being of people, and thus increase the perception of importance for milk in consumer eye, which will then lead to increased milk sales. Companies can also add to consumer beliefs, e.g. Cereal makers can add beliefs that their cereal are more convenient and healthy than other cereals, which sounds quite plausible to some people if the advert uses enough credible terms for ingredients. Thus consumer perceive those cereals more appropriate for breakfast than others and are more likely to purchase them when next time see them in the shop. Using consumer choices model described in the introduction, some companies will seek to create in the eyes of target consumers a perception of need of e.g cooking spice, by advertising it as a miracle mix which will make every dish you make tasty and desirable by all family members. That perception of opportunity may trigger the consumer purchase decision. Knowing that information search for FMCGs is mostly internal, food producers try to make impression on the consumer e.g by making tomatoes look more healthy and appealable to potential consumers e.g we can see tomatoes with green stems or big organically grown sign on the packaging that will trigger the consumer desire to eat healthy and even though those tomatoes may not be any healthier than the other 5 types that sit on the shelf. The perception of healthy / organic will arise in consumer mind and thus he will be more likely to purchase them. In relation to purchase decisions of consumers, many companies, especially those selling low involvement goods, use a marketing strategy which is directed at one of humans basic motivation:- curiosity. By packaging a product with interesting and/or innovative pictures and images, they try to wake up consumer curiosity and in this way win the consumer interest and encourage impulse to buy. Knowing that fulfilling original expectations of consumer will often lead to repeat purchase some products e.g Heinz Ketchup by introducing a claim of great thickness and delivering on it better compare to other brands, can win consumer because consumer attention is drawn towards thickness only and satisfying this attribute alone give consumer overall perception of good performance. Emphasising consumer brand loyalty, many shops introduce loyalty cards, which give additional credits for shopping in particular shop, such as entitlement to discounts and promotions. Loyalty cards databases on the other hand enable understanding the clients better and give offers that best suit their behavior/habbits. Its a win-win situation for seller and buyer: the consumer has a perception of being special/appreciated and can see the reward for loyalty, while the shop has more information about the customers. For example, it was established that a buyer of full fat milk is 2.5 times more likely to purchase children orientated products. That is because a lot of parent buy full fat milk for their kids, and having kids means we buy for them more than just milk. Knowing that, a shop/company can send kids products brochures only to those people buying full fat milk rather than spend money on approaching adults who dont have kids and are unlikely to purchase childrens products. All the models described above are important to know and consider; to help spot emerging patterens and trends relative to the marketing and branding process. However they seem to be slightly overcomplicated and we need to realise that every day consumer patterns as well as practical marketing often varies from the theoretical models. To support this view we dont need to look far, we read from countless articles e.g McCole (2004) suggests that there exists a sizable gap between the worldviews of academics and practitioners. And Brennen (2004, p. 492), in his editorial comments in a special issue that explored the nature of the academic-practitioner divide, notes that a consensus seems to be emerging that much, or perhaps most, of work done by academics is of limited relevance to practitioners. (Syed H. Akhter, 2009). Also there are numerous studies which show that a large percentage of consumers dont research their purchases or limit the research to minimum, e.g. on average 52% of peo ple in US obtained no independent information on products/services purchased and even for purchase of a new car, more than 30% of people visit only one car dealer.(Elliot, 1998). A lot of those theoretical models, together with practical / anecdotal experience, indicate that decisions made by customers are mostly emotion-driven or impulse driven. The purchase decisions often depend on curiosity, value perception (an approximation of reality), brand loyalty or rules of thumb , rather than research, and that is why marketing, branding and advertising need to enhance value perception for the customer and take care of a good purchase experience rather than just focusing on the purchase product/service. Conclusion: To conclude this paper on dynamics of consumer behaviour in practical marketing, I decided to look into Early Learning Center (ELC) brand and their marketing strategies. With their consumer base largely being 0-6 year old children, specifically I sought evidence of ELCs marketing efforts reflecting a sound understanding of the behavior of their target customers, the adults who buy those goods on childrens behalf Early Learning Centre (ELC) ~ Toy Sale Now On Early Learning Centre (ELC) is essentially a marketing and distribution company, but one that also designs and commissions the manufacture of its own-branded products.It was established in 1974 as a mail order firm, and was an early adopter of direct sales through the Internet the website www.elc.co.uk was first launched in 1999 and proved to be successful in its first year in terms of profit generated on internet-driven purchases.. In 2007 Mothercare plc acquired Early Learning Centre for  £85m ( £49m plus  £36m debt). Mothercare is one of the most familiar names in UK retailing, and is probably the first store that comes to mind when thinking of the needs of pregnant women, babies and children up to the age of 10. There is a lot of overlap with ELC in the post-natal market and so their merger and co-location of stores makes sense from a business perspective. Today there are over 225 ELC stores in the UK, and 115 stores internationally operated by franchise partners in locations including UAE, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia Ireland, and Poland. Catalogues sales have remained a core part of the business. [Early Learning Centre prints and distributes over 4 million catalogues in the UK alone each year.] Over 80 percent of the products sold by Early Learning Centre are own brand. ELC operate through three distinct channels to market; UK stores, Direct (internet-based businesses and catalogue mai l order), and International.(ELC, 2008) The Early Learning Centre brand provides eight major categories of toys and games primarily for children in the 0-6 year age range. They segregate their items based on sex and age of children for whom the toys are designed. This approach helps greatly during customers search through the products. As a result customers can put less effort into the search process and it adds to their overall shopping experience. Knowing that changing attitude of consumer is generally very difficult. Instead ELC try to influence feelings, either by advertising itself to create pleasant, warm feeling about products, and hope that will be enough to make customer like the product, or they use classical conditioning by e.g. showing happy, stress free children playing with ELC toys. the great outdoors!!! acctive play and fresh air fun! (pictured copied from: http://www.kidstart.co.uk/partner/ELC.aspx) Another strategy of ELC involves exposure effect. By providing advertisement and pictures outside the store and in magazines known to be popular amongst parents of 0-6 year old children and those adults likely to buy presents for such children, ELC ensures customers are more familiar with the product and thus more likely to purchase it. Aware that changing behaviour of customers can be challenging, one strategy employed by ELC is to introduce seasonal price discounts to justify in consumer minds the switch, based on a good deal principle. After the switch if a customer was more satisfied with the ELC product than with a previously used brand, there is a large likelihood that he or she will stick with the ELC products for future purchases even when the price goes back to normal. Another marketing strategy employed by ELC is engaging the convenience mindset of their target audience. ELC stores are usually located in big shopping malls, specifically in those locations in the mall that are frequently used/passed by customers on their way in or out. Not only are toys displayed, many toys at the entrance, but also throughout the store, are out of their packaging to enable better investigation of product prior to purchase. This is also a great way to attract the children of passing shoppers mothers, families into the shop to play. When this happens parents will be forced to come into the shop and during that time possibly will purchase one or more of the toys that their children were attracted to, or indeed other

One of the Best Shots Ever Essay -- Narrative Memoir Essays

One of the Best Shots Ever   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The soft moon rock jumped off the face of the club, as I moved through impact. All I saw was the perfect arch of the rock as it hurled through the air and over a small rock infested river that runs in front of the oblong green. I had just pulled off one of the best shots ever in my golf career.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It all started on a brisk August morning. That day I had to get up before the first rays of the sun could be noticed on the horizon. I awoke to the droning sound of my green digital alarm clock, and immediately jumped into a hot steaming shower to wake me up from a sleepless night. As I jumped out of the shower, I realized that I only had thirty minutes to be completely ready and do my morning warm-up. I flew through everything and still had to wait fifteen minutes for Jim to pick me up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The drive down to Cedaredge took an eternity, since I was ready to get on the golf course. We drove in and noticed that we were the first of our team to arrive. This gave me plenty of time to get ready. I went inside the plain glass doors of the clubhouse and received a large, green, plastic bucket of range balls, picked up my clubs and headed to the driving range. I noticed that as I walked there was a slight coat of dew on everything. I set my bucket of balls down on the right side of the hitting area where I always went and proceeded to go through my routine. The ground was very supple, but I couldn't even make a divot in it early in the morning because I was so stiff. My swing had not yet gotten adjusted to feel each piece of the grass as it went over the ground. The first shot into the horizon was a promising one. It traveled perfectly with even a little right to left action, or a draw. Then the... ...ine the ball would be traveling on and noticed a crater of a ball mark from a previous shot hit to the green. I fixed the indention in the green so I was ready to putt. I used the red star of my marking to place my ball on the right line. I knew the putt was slick with a foot of break to the right which was perfect for me since I putt left handed. I lifted my belly putter out of my bag and took my stance over my Hogan ball. I felt my smooth stroke just tap the ball and heard the plunk of it dropping into the earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I had just planted a small moon rock into the center of the earth. It was no ordinary rock and it happened on the hardest hole I have ever played on a golf course. I knew as soon as my Hogan ball dropped the day was mine and all I needed was that one perfect shot (or lucky break of not going in the water) to get me started in my golfing career.

Effective Satire in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater :: God Bless You Mr. Rosewater

Effective Satire in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater Satire is a technique used in literature to criticize the faults of society. An excellent examle of contemporary satire is Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The author tells the life of Eliot Rosewater, a young and affluent man troubled by the plights of the poor. Eliot is the President of the Rosewater Foundation, a sum of money worth approximately $87 million. Using this position, he does everything he can to help the poor. This charity giving is socially unacceptable to the wealthy, particularly Eliot's father Senator Lister Ames Rosewater. Vonnegut uses caricature, irony, and tone to satirize the lack of care the rich have for those socially "beneath them." Vonnegut satirized the rich by exaggerating prominent features to portraying Senator Rosewater as a snob. He is characterized as heartless, shallow, and mean; seems to care only about his family name and public image. Senator Rosewater has no pity for the poor in his heart, "I have spent my life demanding that people blame themselves for their misfortunes." (62) The most evident flaw of Eliot's father is how he worries what people will think of him. When Eliot first opens the Rosewater Foundation and gives out money to those in need, Senator leaves him alone - to do as he chooses. However, when the young and unlearned lawyer Norman Mushari begins trying to prove Eliot insane and to shift the money to Fred Rosewater, a distant relative in Rhode Island, Senator crusades to prove the opposite. Everyone is asked, even Eliot's ex-wife Sylvia DuVrais Zetterling, for proof. Senator Lister Rosewater simply brushes aside Sylvia's pain to question her. "'What did he seem like there in Paris?' the Senator wanted to know. 'Did he seem sane enough to you then?'" (64) Senator goes to the small town of Rosewater, Indiana, where Eliot is living and meets with him. Worried by what he sees, Senator plots with attorney Thurmond McAllister to make the jury believe Eliot is fit and able. Senator only cares about Eliot when the family name is endangered. Another hideous aspect of the Senator's personality is his cruelty towards his son. He disapproves of Effective Satire in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater :: God Bless You Mr. Rosewater Effective Satire in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater Satire is a technique used in literature to criticize the faults of society. An excellent examle of contemporary satire is Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The author tells the life of Eliot Rosewater, a young and affluent man troubled by the plights of the poor. Eliot is the President of the Rosewater Foundation, a sum of money worth approximately $87 million. Using this position, he does everything he can to help the poor. This charity giving is socially unacceptable to the wealthy, particularly Eliot's father Senator Lister Ames Rosewater. Vonnegut uses caricature, irony, and tone to satirize the lack of care the rich have for those socially "beneath them." Vonnegut satirized the rich by exaggerating prominent features to portraying Senator Rosewater as a snob. He is characterized as heartless, shallow, and mean; seems to care only about his family name and public image. Senator Rosewater has no pity for the poor in his heart, "I have spent my life demanding that people blame themselves for their misfortunes." (62) The most evident flaw of Eliot's father is how he worries what people will think of him. When Eliot first opens the Rosewater Foundation and gives out money to those in need, Senator leaves him alone - to do as he chooses. However, when the young and unlearned lawyer Norman Mushari begins trying to prove Eliot insane and to shift the money to Fred Rosewater, a distant relative in Rhode Island, Senator crusades to prove the opposite. Everyone is asked, even Eliot's ex-wife Sylvia DuVrais Zetterling, for proof. Senator Lister Rosewater simply brushes aside Sylvia's pain to question her. "'What did he seem like there in Paris?' the Senator wanted to know. 'Did he seem sane enough to you then?'" (64) Senator goes to the small town of Rosewater, Indiana, where Eliot is living and meets with him. Worried by what he sees, Senator plots with attorney Thurmond McAllister to make the jury believe Eliot is fit and able. Senator only cares about Eliot when the family name is endangered. Another hideous aspect of the Senator's personality is his cruelty towards his son. He disapproves of

Personal Communication Ethic :: Ethics Communication Skills Speech Essays

Personal Communication Ethic I feel that that the best way to persuade people is with your ears — by listening to them. Feeling this way, I based my personal communication ethic on listening. If all you do is talk, then you probably don't have too many friends. I know that when I am interrupted in mid-sentence I feel like punching the other person. I feel as if the other person doesn't give a care in the world about what I think, and not only does that take away any respect I had for that person, but it hurts my feelings. Here, I have the TOP TEN WORST EXCUSES NOT TO LISTEN 10. It would blow my chances for America's Funniest Home Videos 9. I enjoy fighting over misunderstandings 8. My spouse will expect me to do it all the time 7. I like the challenge of doing a project for the boss when I don't have a clue what's wanted 6. Ignorance is bliss 5. Two words: Political speeches (I'm sorry, that's a good excuse) 4. It gives me a chance to use my creativity to fill in the blanks 3. I forget what I'm going to say if I listen 2. Congress doesn't why should I? 1. People might think I care â€Å"Listening to obtain sensory stimulation or enjoyment through the works or experiences of others,† can promote effective listening skills within the family unit. In this connection, through the use of storytelling, families can ultimately develop and refine listening skills and promote a rich sojourn of the past. This is one way you can practice listening is at home. I hope you have learned something through this speech and I hope you can use this ethic in your life. Thank you Part II #2 Your emotional and physiological state will influence the meaning you give to your perceptions. The sight of raw clams may be physically upsetting when you have a stomachache, but mouth watering when you're hungry. Also, perceiving only the positive in people that you like and only the negative in the people that you do not like is called bias. Be aware of perceptual evaluations influenced by your own biases. #3 Self-concept differs in different situations and at different times through many different ways. One way would be through others images of you.

Havisham and Havisham

Miss Havisham and Havisham: Two Entirely Different People Carol Anne Duffy’s poem is intertextual. The character Havisham was built, off of Charles Dickens â€Å"Great Expectations† and more specifically off of Miss Havisham. Both Miss Havisham and Havisham are described as decaying skeletons and because of their similar names it would make sense to think of them as the same person, but are they really? At my first glance it seemed as if both Dickens’ and Duffy’s Havisham were the same character and I will admit there are some similarities like their obsession, but even these so called similarities have differences at their core.In reality they are very different characters that act differently and have different personalities. Even the way they are depicted, is very differently from one another, but when one looks at them together they do seem to help Dickens’ Miss Havisham be seen in a different life; a more human light. So even if the do seem sim ilar, they are in fact very different. You can see these differences most strongly by looking at the Havisham’s personalities. Dickens’ Miss Havisham is strong, powerful and driven for revenge towards Compeyson, and every other man alive.She even plans to and manipulates Estella so she may complete her revenge and hurt many men the way she has been hurt. Duffy’s Havisham on the other hand seems to be more fragile and weak and tells everyone she hates â€Å"him† but seems to be tottering on the edge of her conviction and on the edge of her desire for him. Both Miss Havisham and Havisham seem to have a strong obsession, both are obsessed with their former fiance and have lead there life surrounding themselves with that obsession. Dickens’ Miss Havisham obsession does tend to differ from Duffy’s Havisham.Dickens’ Havisham is obsessed with destroying and breaking any and all men she meets. Her obsession has even lead her to destroying Est ella, the only one that she had at first sought to protect. My Dear! Believe this: when she first came to me, I meant to save her from misery like my own. At first I meant no more. † â€Å"Well, well! † said I. â€Å"I hope so. † â€Å"But as she grew, and promised to be very beautiful, I gradually did worse, and with my praises, and with my jewels, and with my teachings, and with this figure of myself always before her a warning to back and point my essons, I stole her heart away and put ice in its place (Dickens 365) At first, Miss Havisham wished to protect Estella from the harsh world, to protect her from any man who would hurt her as she herself was hurt, but obsession lead her down a darker path. We can see part of this darkness when she tries to make Pip like herself, to make him obsessed and live his life trapped by his love for Estella, just like she lived her life for preserving the time before she was left by Compeyson.We can see her fueling his love for Estella several times throughout the novel, one of the most noticeable would be when she tells him to love Estella even if she hurts him. â€Å"Love her, love her, love her! How does she use you? ‘ Before I could answer †¦ she repeated, ‘Love her, love her, lover her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces – and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper – love her, love her, love her! † (Dickens 219).Pip, like Estella is becoming a marionette for Miss Havisham’s obsession, for if she could not have a life of happiness, a life being married to the one she thought loved her, no one could. Her revenge towards the man she once loved turns her bitter and twisted, putting anyone in her path in danger. At this time she is like a broken toy, malfunctioning and working herself into a frenzy, her revenge that started off towards one man has become a revenge and hatred towards love, and anyone who may achieve it.The Havisham from Duffy’s poem seems to have a more single minded obsession. She is obsessed with what has happened to her and the one who did this to her. Her obsession for the man who jilted her takes both and envious and murderous tone, for example she has â€Å"dark green pebbles for eyes† and â€Å"ropes on the back of my hands [she] could strangle with†(Duffy Lines 3-4). No her eyes have not turned into pebbles, but she is envious and jealous of her former lover, after all she is rotting from the inside out while he is living without even having regretted hurting her.The â€Å"ropes† on the back of her hands could mean many things but it could be an indication of her age, or her veins swollen with age and sticking off of her corpse like body. The fact she could strangle with her own veins shows a sinister scene, who she wishes to strangle could be herself but is most likely the man who jilted her. The only real similari ty between the Havishams would be there decayed appearance. After all both of Havisham descriptions are dark and tend to make them seem like the living dead of skeletons; for example Dickens’Havisham is described as follows; I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. I saw that the dress had been put upon the rounded figure of a young woman, and that the figure upon which it now hung loose, had shrunk to skin and bone. †¦ Now, waxwork and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me (Dickens 52) Miss Havisham has decayed and withered away, she still wears her bridal dress, and it has yellowed and decayed along with her.She has no substance, she is a person that has already died long ago, and only an empty crazed shell remains. Duffy’s Havisham has a similar description, â€Å"Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days/ in bed caw ing Nooooo at the wall; the dress/ yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe;/ the slewed mirror, full-length, her, myself, who did this/ to me? †(Duffy Lines 5-9). Havisham has both the appearance of Miss Havisham and her name, she even is still wearing her own bridal dress, even after all the years it has been since she was jilted. She has also yellowed, decayed and her withered body trembles from the strain of life.But Havisham spends days â€Å"cawing† at the wall, she has gone past the point of straight forwardly get revenge, her words are choppy, disconnected and she can’t seem to follow a though. She has fractured mentally and can only think of her pain from being betrayed. She, unlike Miss Havisham, has no grip on reality and cannot accomplish her revenge. Another one of the differences between the Havisham is that Dickens Miss Havisham is strong and steady in her desires, whereas Duffy’s Havisham is weak and wavers in her feelings. Miss Havisham is defined by her rejection on her wedding day.She is determined to live in heartbreak while making it impossible for those around her to have healthy relationships. She stops all the clocks, she wears the same dress, she never eats in front of anyone and only every wears one shoe. She essentially stopped time for herself by not allowing anything to change after she learns about her lover’s betrayal and her determination has helped her to do this. â€Å"I'll tell you what real love is. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter–as I did† (Dickens 219).Duffy’s Havisham on the other hand is constantly wavering, she can seem to make up her mind about her true feelings, and after all when you look at how broken she is it is not a big surprise. Even her fist line has a contradiction about her feelings, â€Å"Beloved sw eetheart bastard. †¦ / Some nights better, the lost body over me,/ my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear/ then down till I suddenly bite awake†(Duffy Lines 1, 10 -12). After seeing these lines we can be sure that Havisham has mixed feelings about her ex-fiance.She obviously bounces between bitter hatred and self-loathing that she still desires them. Her ex is both something that she finds beloved and a sweetheart, but also feels betrayed by; after all she does call him a bastard. We can see she still desires his body when she speaks about â€Å"the lost body† on top of her. But you can see her bitterness remains by her dehumanization of him. When you first read â€Å"Great Expectations† Miss Havisham does not seem to be real. She seemed to me to be a creation from a child’s imagination.She is a ghost, a skeleton and an engineer who takes pleasure in manipulating everyone from Estella to Pip. Though after having read Duffy’s Havisham, it seem s as if Miss Havisham is more human. Duffy’s Havisham wants to have â€Å"a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon† (Duffy Line 15). She is quite twisted according to our standards and makes Dickens’ Miss Havisham seem tame and mild is they are shown together. Havisham is dark and has a slightly murderous intent; she is violent and is more dangerous, especially if we compare her to Miss Havisham. Havisham is but a tool to make Miss Havisham seem softer, and nicer.A tool that makes it possible to have pity upon Miss Havsham and place the blame of her current state upon her insensitive ex-fiance Compeyson. So, in conclusion, the two Havishams that at first seem to be one and the same are in fact different. Dickens’ Havisham is strong and unwavering, determined and manipulative, while Duffy’s Havisham is weak and wavering, helpless yet dangerous. They both have very different personalities, and very different ways of looking at things. They are two com pletely different individuals that just happen to have a similar name and appearance.They don’t act the same; they don’t have the same desires or motives so they can not be the same person. When they are placed side by side they just use each other to let the other be seen in a different light. Whether we see a crazed, dark evil or a pitiful, lonely soul depends on the Havisham you wish to view. Works Cited Dickens, Charles, and Margaret Cardwell. Great Expectations. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. Print. Duffy, Carol Ann. â€Å"Havisham. †Ã‚  Introduction to English Studies. North Bay: Nipissing University Coursepack, 2012. Black Board. C. McFarlane. Web. 02 Mar. 2012.