What do we mean by Online marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What do we mean by Online marketing - Essay Example oted within the traditional format of advertising, it is also not uncommon to see the advertiser promote the website and encourage the potential consumer to visit as a means of gaining further information with regards to the product. However, each of these approaches are only part of online marketing or Internet advertising. Ultimately, Internet advertising and online marketing is concentric upon providing web banners, mobile advertising within applications, ad servers, or other promotional marketing messages their delivered through websites that are not otherwise associated with the particular good/product/service that is being offered (Lambrecht & Tucker, 2013). From the brief list that is been provided above, it can definitively be noted that online advertising is a very broad sector that allows for an organization/firm/entity to direct their message to a specific demographic in a way that traditional advertising did not allow. For instance, if a particular company is attempting to market specifically towards individuals within a younger demographic, they will most likely target their online advertising to appear on websites that are frequented by individuals within this younger demographic. By means of comparison, if an older demographic is targeted, websites relating to products or services that individuals within this older demographic readily consume will be placed. One of the unique aspects of online marketing has to do with the fact that the advertiser can generate unique statistics with regards to the overall impact of the particular marketing tactic. For instance, as compared to a print advertisement or a form of marketing that is predicated upon blindly targeting a wide spectrum of the population, these specific level of engagement that can be had with regards to online marketing also allows for the marketer to generate unique usage statistics, click percentages, and the amount of time that individuals is viewing a particular page (Schulze et al.,

Toxicity of Energy Drinks Essay Example for Free

Toxicity of Energy Drinks Essay The new millennium has ushered in a wave of synthetic, caffeinated high-energy drinks targeted at the youth market. Over the past 10 years, the consumption of caffeinated beverages intended to â€Å"energise† has increased significantly. Energy drinks were recently shown to comprise 20% of the total convenience store beverage market, with â€Å"Red Bull† and â€Å"V† accounting for over 97% of sales in this multimillion-dollar industry. 1 Increasingly, toxicity from caffeine overdose is being reported to hospitals and poisons centres. The main active constituents of energy drinks include varying amounts of caffeine, guarana extract, taurine and ginseng. Additional amino acids, vitamins and carbohydrates usually complete the list of purportedly beneficial ingredients. 2 The intended effects of energy drinks are to provide sustenance and improve performance, concentration and endurance. Manufacturers pitch their product to athletes, students and people in professions that require sustained alertness. These drinks are also commonly consumed at dance parties, which require sustained energy for prolonged activity into late hours. In this setting, they may also be combined with alcohol and recreational drugs such as ecstasy (MDMA; 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) or other amphetamines. Young adults and adolescents are particularly attracted to energy drinks because of effective product marketing, peer influence and a lack of knowledge of the potential harmful effects. 3-5 The high sugar content in caffeinated energy drinks is similar to other soft drinks and is known to contribute to obesity. 6Adverse reactions and toxicity from high-energy drinks stem primarily from their caffeine content. 7 The sympathomimetic effects of high-dose caffeine mostly explain the symptoms and hospital presentations related to energy drinks. There is little published literature on the extent and epidemiology of this problem. Indeed, a recent literature review on the effects of energy drinks in children and adolescents found only eight case reports on medical complications from energy drinks. 8 Our study was undertaken to obtain an understanding of the scope of consumption-related issues and toxicity from caffeinated energy drinks in Australia by analysing data from calls to the NSW Poisons Information Centre (NSWPIC) — the largest centre of its type in Australia, taking about 110 000 calls per year, which is 50% of all poisoning-related calls in the country. Methods We undertook a retrospective review at the NSWPIC. Data included calls providing advice to the general public and health professionals. Calls from New South Wales, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory are exclusively handled by NSWPIC from 6 am to midnight; an after-hours call-sharing system is in place with interstate poisons centres. Ethics approval was obtained from the human research ethics committee of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

Society Effects On Gender Roles In Malawi Essay examples --

Society Effects On Gender Roles In Malawi Ivy Tech Vocational Collage The seventeenth and eighteenth century was a time of many struggles with many nations. Slave traders, immigrants and Christian missionaries where some of the troubles brought on by changes happening. While it was a time of change the Malawi people came together and formed this alliance of the Nyau . Mostly to form a resistance. Nyau appealed to the people because it brought their culture together instead of the quilted nature of the other cultures. Through the Nayu the Gule Wamkulu was founded they are a society of men . Chinamwali is a female society . In the early twentieth century the Presbyterians and Catholics condemned the Nyau and the Chinamwali as heinous. Asking the native people to denounce both. People in charge of the ceremonies where uncertain of the future. Missionaries where questioning the ritual ceromines and the children not being in school. Giving the opinion that these children are coerced to join these groups a roadblock to their learning keeping them out of school. The government was asked to step in however , decided not to interfere in this matter . Writing on the Nyau subject reports that the researcher Woods (1991/1992) for example ‘illustrates how lineage elders to establish a new hegemony that enabled them to control the lineage when other indigenous forms of authority nearly collapsed during the colonial era. â€Å" Informing the reader that the Nyau was a strong force not easily broken or infiltrated. Through the course of time the Nyau had less of a need . Times had changed slavery was not as prevalent the immigration had elevated, however the missionaries remained , leaving them with... ...art . Often this is done so that the other wives can make money harvesting crops . The husband can take care of the finances. Having many wives can make for having more children which is a status symbol. His wife may become unbecoming so he may aquire another wife. Sometimes a husband will take a luphatho in the form of a basket of maize flour and one chicken which is taken by the wife herself to her parents to ask for the sister’s hand in marriage. If the parents accept the luphatho the formal processes of paying for the bride price is instituted and finally the young sister joins her sister as a second wife. Women are not allowed to marry more than one man. Works Cited Groves, Z. (2012). Urban Migrants and Religious Networks: Malawians in Colonial Salisbury, 1920 to 1970. Journal Of Southern African Studies, 38(3), 491-511. doi:10.1080/03057070.2012.707507

Red Dead Redemption Analysis

Critical Analysis of a Game: Red Dead Redemption Professor Shawn Graham Jad Slaibeh 100804020 Submitted: Thursday February 7th 2013 The game I have chosen for my critical analysis is Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption was made, published, and engineered by a company called Rockstar Games (Rockstar Website). The major distributor of the game is a company who happens to own Rockstar, Take-Two interactive. Being one of the most successful video game developers to date, Rockstar is famous for creating the popular and controversial game series Grand Theft Auto.Rockstar differs very much from other video game developers because they are one of few who have grown and experienced the advancement of video games in terms of graphics and gameplay. Rockstar is known for revolutionizing the concept of having an open world in console video games. This was not originally the case and happened over years of expansion. Rockstar’s first game was released on the original PlayStation. The g ame is called Grand Theft Auto. Its camera was in a bird’s eye view with basic 3D graphics consisting of repetitive player movements. In comparison to today, the game was really quite simple in terms of graphics and game play.The game lacked a larger narrative. Its gameplay was based mostly around the options of stealing cars, doing hits for gang members, killing civilians, and evading the police. This lack of narrative and focus on violence may be one of the reasons why Rockstar dealt with a lot of controversy from the media. As Rockstar grew and released multiple titles, their video games utilized the advancement in technology to create a larger narrative. Using Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), Rockstar developed third person 3D modeled sandbox game (Ogilvie, 2010). With this new open world, the game developers were able to explore more narrative options.Red Dead Redemption used their graphical improvements to allow for new historical representations such as: talking N PCs with their own ethnicity and culture and NPCs who show facial emotion and body language. This allows players to connect better with the world Rockstar has created because they represent what people are familiar with. Rockstar had greatly passed simple storyline of Grand Theft Auto. This is why I chose Red Dead Redemption. It excels in the ability of experiencing a fun and highly skilled game while having improved representations of people, stories, and histories.They do so through implementing character traits in certain NPCs. The NPCs are programmed primarily in two ways. One is to help the player in their quest by providing information to solve the main problem space. The other is to try and stop the player; this creates another problem space that the player must solve. The addition of these advanced NPCs really helped Rockstar deliver a story to their players. They force the player to constantly see familiar NPCs which creates a bond between them and the player. These NPCs fo rce you to make many moral decisions throughout the game.These moral choices the player has to make adds a great deal of advancement to the narrative because the game is programed to change based on these decisions. If the player was to help a gang of thieves raid a site in order to get money, civilians would remember due to the decrease in honour and news would spread. Decisions the player makes affect how NPCs, such as townsfolk or sheriffs, approach the player in the game. If the player was riding their horse along a prairie road and happened to see a gang of thieves taking someone hostage, the player could kill or hogtie the bandits and their honour meter would go increase.These decisions program NPCs to now feel safe around the player by cheering for them. These cheers can often make the player feel happier because of the heroic role they are playing. This social value is what makes Rockstar games a fan favourite. Another reason Rockstar advanced so quickly was the positive cha nge in hardware. The game was originally released on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 on May 18th 2010. I played the game on my Xbox 360 console. To capture the experience of the Wild West, Rockstar consulted some historical experts in the field, along with channelling a lot of time and money into the graphics of the game.According to a New York Times online article, Rockstar spent between 80-100 million dollars on developing the game (Schiesel 2010). I mention this statistic because this comes to show the new era of devotion Rockstar brought to video game production. In any video game, soundtracks can be an incredible boost in its overall character. The soundtracks in Red Dead Redemption are authentic; it gives the game historical flavour. What I mean by this is you truly get a feeling of the Western experience. Rockstar brought on composers Woody Jackson and Bill Elm.In a behind the scenes video, the composers explain that it is essential for them to â€Å"find a balance, paying hom age to what was there but also trying to add our stamp to the music† (GamerSpawn, 2010). Another interesting fact they mentioned was the ability for the game to launch certain lines of music to start based on your actions. For example, if you jump on a horse, a bass line rolls in. If the player is in a shootout, the music intensifies. The music helps reinforce the player’s connection with the historic west by creating familiar sounds associated with the Western era.Before I mention the problem spaces of the game, I would like to continue back to explaining some of the hardware information behind Red Dead Redemption. First we will talk about the controller/controls. Controls have the potential to play a big factor in how we experience a video game. The way the controls are programmed correlate directly with your character’s movement. This gives the player a bigger sense of control. This control makes for a better physical connection. Red Dead Redemption’s c ontroller functions do a great job in the ability to allow the player to become immersed in the game world.If you were not aware of the classic Xbox 360 controller, here is how it is laid out: Some basic controls of the game are: left stick controls which direction your character moves in, right stick controls which direction your character looks, pulling the right trigger will fire your weapon, and pulling left trigger starts the aim mode which makes it easier to hit your target. The Xbox 360 controller, along with the Red Dead Redemption controls, allow the player to control what we are familiar in our everyday lives For example, to shoot a gun in the real world you have to pull a trigger.This is emulated when pulling the trigger on the Xbox controller. When driving a vehicle and turning in a certain direction, we turn the wheel. This is emulated by moving the left stick in order to direct your character. This makes the experience more enjoyable and recognizable. Throughout the ga me you are only controlling one character, the protagonist. The name of this protagonist is John Marston. Marston is a former outlaw who makes a deal with the state to bring justice to his former gang of outlaws in order to get his family back.Upon Marston's attempt to find and capture his former gang members, the plan goes wrong for our protagonist and he is left for dead. Luckily, you are approached by a local ranch farmer, Bonnie Mcfarlane. Bonnie saves your life and brings you back to her farm. That is our initial problem space. The player is immediately placed into the world with a want to defeat our twisted former gang of outlaws and get our family back. This creates an immediate sympathy for our protagonist which adds even more of narrative. Because the game represents plausible situations, players are more likely to sympathize.Although we are placed in a world where there is only one end goal of killing the men who left you for dead and are in the way of getting your family; we have a wide variety of choices in the path of attaining this goal. This concept of beginning the game after being left for dead completely on your own creates an even bigger problem space. My big question was, what do I do first? The player has the ability to access this map in the start menu: [pic] In the Western era, maps would certainly be a way to represent space. Therefore the map gives us the ability to represent space in a way that people are used to.This adds a historical flavour to it because it represents history with adding its own personalized flavour. This map is a fictionalized/representational map of Canada, Mexico and the US. Much like the real world, each territory has its differences. For example: certain NPCs with ethnic representations are present in each area, certain animals are associated with familiar habitats in different territories, and territories such as Canada have more green lands where as Mexico is represented as more dry. To travel to these diffe rent lands, we are immediately handed a horse.When the player first gets their horse, it is quite slow. This is a problem and slow travel can become quite boring. Upon playing I thought there had to be some options to overcoming this problem. Like the real world, the player has the option of feeding their horse to increase its stamina. Another implementation is the trust bar that develops with the players’ horse. This trust bar adds narrative because we are familiar with gaining trust with living things in the real world. The longer the player has kept their horse, the faster it gets and the more risks it is willing to take to get you to your destination.The game specifically promotes value by rewarding the players for keeping the same horse. In doing so, the interface encourages the player to behave a certain way with this virtual animal, representing a relationship common to real life. Even though this horse is merely a program in a video game, the power of the game and the value I had onto it made me have a connection to it. Unfortunately, it is quite possible for the player’s horse to die. For example, upon passing by a poor woman being harassed by drunk men just before entering a town, one of the men shot my horse dead while attempting to hogtie them.After all the investment of money I had put into my horse to increase its stamina, the time spent together gaining trust, and the many missions we had completed together, my horse was now gone. Connecting to history, the video game allows the player to feel the pain that people must have gone through when their own horse died. Clearly their problem was much bigger than a video game can represent, but it once again brings out empathetic emotions. Although the game itself was not based off any real characters or real story lines, it still had the power to create a real connection.The game places the character in an age outside of their norm. If a car breaks down, that person now has the ability to take out a cell phone and call a friend to pick them up. If in 1900 someone’s horse died, that is that until a new horse is acquired. This was now part of my problem space. With these newly acquired problems that I did not have just thirty seconds earlier, I clearly had to deal with these men who altered my path for the negative. Due to this setback I had developed, I quickly hogtied the surviving men and placed their bodies on the train tracks for the upcoming train to deal with them.Although this was an act of immorality because the game gives you an option to return them to the sheriff’s station, I felt no sympathy for these men who, before shooting my horse, were attacking a lone woman. Looking at the game on a narrative level, this meant that a side of my true character was shown, one that let my emotions dictate my actions. At that exact moment the video game explained and taught me a lesson in morality. It also explained how, just like in the real world, others may have handled that same situation completely differently.Moving forward in the game, I was forced to purchase another horse and develop a new connection between us. Purchasing horses is one of the many ways that money is used to solve problems in the game. Money is quite similar to how it is in the real world. The player needs to do work and complete services in order to gain it. It is quite hard to gain money, unlike the other Grand Theft Auto games, which enforces the player to spend wisely. Some examples of situations where you need money are: to buy weapons, ammunition, houses (in order to have multiple save points), and medicine to heal.The player may also acquire money through selling items they find and doing favours and missions for locals and friends met along the way. There is one final question to be answered: was the game historically accurate? The answer to this question is: it depends what you classify as â€Å"historically accurate†. The term is thrown arou nd quite often. Unfortunately, based on the game play, there is far too much fantasy to consider it a game that accurately depicts the lifestyle that people lived in the early 20th century.The game is based off a completely fictional story with fake characters in a fake world. However, the game did a great job of showcasing some aspects of the time frame by utilizing: the advanced RAGE physics engine, the programmed NPCs with character traits, a familiar map system, the player’s horse that rewards you for your loyalty and protection, and the advanced controller settings. Overall, the narrative behind Rockstar Games’s Red Dead Redemption will be remembered in history as one of the most advanced video games for its time. Reference List: 1.Rockstar San Diego Official Website – Available from: http://www. rockstargames. com/reddeadredemption/ 2. Ogilvie Red Dead Redemption: All the RAGE – Available from: http://ca. ign. com/articles/2010/01/28/red-dead-redemp tion-all-the-rage Jan 28 2010 3. Schiesel Way Down Deep In the Wild, Wild West – Available from: http://www. nytimes. com/2010/05/17/arts/television/17dead. html? pagewanted=all=0 May 16th 2010 4. GamerSpawn Red Dead Redemption: Soundtrack Behind the Scenes – Available from: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=vEsknPy5rvg July 29th 2010

Freedom Writers Changing Perspective Essay

The natural and reoccurring aspect of life, change, is one that has positive outcomes and cannot be reversed. The outcome of how change affects a person can be modified due to extrinsic factors of people or place. The inevitability of change can be daunting or reassuring for a person, depending on the way it is embraced. Humans change their perceptions of the world due to what they are subject to. Ones extrinsic factors and how they see the world is constantly shaping their intrinsic factors and his manipulating the ideologies of the forever developing human mind. As individuals, people continue to grow and mature due to how they lead their life. This Change can be seen in the Richard Lagravanese’s composed Freedom Writers, The students undergo a significant change in perspective that breaks down the cultural barriers between the students and opens their minds. This is due to the supreme catalyst figures of Erin Gruwell and also Miep Gies. Place is also a key factor in the sculpting of one’s perspective and the Holocaust Museum The students venture to is a momentous place that furthers their change in perspective. In the film The Composer supports this message through various film and language techniques. The student’s Teacher Erin Gruwell was the driving force behind the student’s positive change in perspective toward life, education and their fellow peers. Her enthusiastic attitude toward her students and job give her students the best chance in life. In the first scene we see Erin at the school, she confesses to the English Coordinator she â€Å"chose Wilson because of the Integration program† and is clear on her teaching goals that â€Å"by the time you’re defending a kid in the courtroom, the battles already lost†¦ he real fighting should happen here in the classroom†. This shows her enthusiasm for teaching and the composer juxtaposes Erin with the Margret (English coordinator) as Margret is now an outdated teacher who sees the children as no more than scores on paper. Erin’s bright radiant blue and red clothes and attitude portray her mind-set and the reoccurring motif of the pearls her father bought her are also present as a close up camera angle is used to show them. Erin meets resistance from the students in room 203 during their first lesson as they show her no respect by arriving late to class and apathetic. The dialogue intensifies the idea of them being apathetic and shows they lack inner belief, â€Å"this is the dumb class† and their body language furthers this, Marcus is eating in class. The Camera angles the composer has used always shows Erin isolated from the class, signifying her lack of control. In the line Game scene, Erin Finally breaks down the barriers dividing them through the confronting questions she asks them, â€Å"Step up to the line if you have lost a friend to gang violence†. As the students realise the similarities they share they start to open up and become more understanding of each other. Erin takes them on a self funded school trip letting them know they are worth more than the give themselves credit. After this scene the students start to write positive and optimistic thoughts in their diary. One student writes in their diary â€Å"Miss G had a beautiful dinner for us†. Erin Does an implausible job at opening the students minds on education and other racial clans and providing them with their own â€Å"kicking spot† where they can escape the dramas of life and be themselves. Erin Met quite a lot of resistance from Eva, who expressed hate for Erin on multiple occasions during the film, until eventually Erin and Eva sat holding hands after Eva, showing the connection they had now established. Another life she gets back on the right track is Andres, as after he is completely isolated from all of his family, he stops attending class and reunites with drug dealing. Erin uses tough love on Andre to get his perspective back on track; she says â€Å"i know what you’re up against†. Andre sheds a single tear which represents him returning to his former functioning life. As the students have now opened up to Each other and start to build relationships between themselves, they are provided with more stimulus to change their perspective on their life, education and their viewpoint on other racial groups in the form of Miep Gies. As the students listen to her story, their attention is engulfed in her and they realise that the problems they are facing are pedestrian to that of what Miep faced. A man pointed a gun at me†¦ and put it against my head† she said. There is sad and quite non-digetic music played during her story to intensify the depression of the time. During her speech there was numerous close up camera shots of the students faces and their facial expressions as they were taking all the information in, however the camera kept showing Eva, it showed her face when Miep said â€Å"I did what I had to do, because it was the right thing to do† . In the next scene Eva Testified in court against â€Å"her own† Because of the influence of Miep Gies’ speech and when she saw the innocent defendants family which reminded her of what she had to face many years before. The surroundings of a person go a long way in shaping their perspective, ideas on life and opening their minds, The Holocaust museum that Erin took the students too played a huge factor in changing their perspective. They Realise that the opportunity for education they are being given is very valuable and they are not utilising the opportunity as not everyone is as lucky as them. The students are really taken back from all the pictures of the affected children. The lighting the composer has used is all dark, black in some spots to exaggerate the sorrow during the visit to the museum and the photos of the children affected by the holocaust are a contrast to this as they are bright, to bring attention to them and show their innocence. The students feel so sad at the experience because they can relate to the holocaust victims, â€Å"I’ll never forget those people† Andre states. The important and unavoidable feature of the world, change, has lasting effects on people that can be beneficial and positive. The fact that the world a person lives in can mould them into something more is a prosperous idea. Its positive outcomes arise from significant aspects of people and place. As a person, one repeatedly embraces change as they thrive off the endless possibilities of the outcome. Richard Lagravanese’s Freedom Writers is a perfect representation of this idea.

Charles Perkins Activist and Soccer Player

Charles Perkins Activist and Soccer Player Free Online Research Papers Charles Nelson Perkins, AO, (born c.1936/1937 in Alice Springs, Northern Territory - died October 19, 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales) was an Australian Aboriginal activist, soccer player and administrator. He was known as Kumantjayi Perkins in the period immediately following his death. Kumantjayi is a name used to refer to a deceased person in Arrernte culture. Perkins was born to an Arrernte woman and a Kalkadoon man and had 11 brothers and sisters. Perkins was a cousin of artist and soccer player John Moriarty. He married Eileen Munchenberg on 23 September 1961 and had two daughters (Hetti and Rachel) and one son (Adam). Perkins began playing in 1950 with Adelaide team Port Thistle. In 1951 he was selected for a South Australia under 18 representative team. He went on to play for a number of teams in Adelaide including International United (1954-55), Budapest (1956-57) and Fiorentina (1957). In 1957 he was invited to trial with English first division team Liverpool FC. Perkins ended up trialing and training with Liverpools city rival Everton FC. While at Everton Perkins had a physical confrontation with the Everton reserve grade manager after being called a kangaroo bastard. After this incident Perkins left Liverpool to move to Wigan where he worked as a coal miner at the Mosley Common Colliery alongside Great Britain rugby league player Terry OGrady. Perkins played two seasons for leading English amateur team Bishop Auckland F.C. between 1957 and 1959. Perkins in mid-1959 decided to return to Australia after trialing with Manchester United. On returning to Australia Perkins was appointed captain/coach of Adelaide Croatia. At Croatia he played alongside notable Aboriginal figures Gordon Briscoe and John Moriarty. How he managed to get into University First, he had to get is matriculation, which he didn’t have to get to Sydney University. So he went to a college in Sydney called the Metropolitan Business College. Now out of forty five in a class, he and one other person were the only two to successfully get through. His involvement in the Freedom Rides In 1965 he was one of the key members of the Freedom Ride a bus tour through New South Wales by activists protesting discrimination against Aboriginal people in small town Australia. This action was in emulation of the US Civil Rights Freedom Ride campaign in 1961. The Australian Freedom Ride aimed to expose discrepancies in living, education and health conditions among the Aboriginal population. The tour targeted rural towns such as Walgett, Moree, and Kempsey. They acted to publicise acts of blatant discrimination. This was demonstrated through one of the Freedom Ride activities in Walgett. A local RSL club refused entry to Aborigines, including those who were ex-servicemen who participated in the two World Wars. The bus at one stage was run off the road. On 20 February 1965, Perkins and his party tried to enter the swimming pool at Moree, where the local council had barred Aboriginal people from swimming for 40 years since it had been opened. In response to this action the riders faced physical opposition from several hundred local white Australians, including community leaders, and were pelted with eggs and tomatoes. These events were broadcast across Australia, and under pressure from public opinion, the council eventually reversed the ban on Aboriginal swimmers. The Freedom Ride then moved on, but on the way out they were followed by a line of cars, one of which collided with the rear of their bus forcing them to return to Moree where they found that the council had reneged on their previous decision. The Freedom Riders protested again forcing the council to again remove the ban. His life and career after the Freedom Rides In 1961 when Perkins moved to Sydney to study at university he played with Pan-Hellenic (later known as Sydney Olympic FC) in the New South Wales State League where he became captain/coach. He later played for Bankstown and retired in 1965. He later served as president of former National Soccer League team Canberra City. He was appointed Australian Soccer Federation (a forerunner of the Football Federation Australia) vice-president in 1987 and was the chairman of the Australian Indoor Soccer Federation (later known as the Australian Futsal Federation) for ten years until his death in Sydney in 2000. Research Papers on Charles Perkins Activist and Soccer PlayerHip-Hop is Art19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThe Hockey GameQuebec and CanadaAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Research Process Part OneMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

What Your Daily Professional Communication Reveals About You

What Your Daily Professional Communication Reveals About You Noted American author Mark Twain, knew better than most how powerful communication can be. In fact, here is his advice concerning word choice in communicating: The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. And he was right. Choosing the right words based on context, audience and purpose separates effective communicators from ineffective ones across the board at every level of every business enterprise.What this means is that communicating with others is a nuanced art. In order to do it correctly, you have to understand that words have layers of meaning and those meanings can change, depending on audience and context. In such, a smart communicator always considers his or her context (setting), intent and audience before choosing which words to use and the way in which to use them. This type of approach to communication makes the act more powerful, more efficient and more beneficial for you or your career.In fac t, a professionals style of communication and ability to communicate effectively can often make or break a business transaction or deal. Its the reason why communication- both written and verbal- is a skill that is highly sought after by companies who want employees that will build the companys reputation through excellent customer service and top-notch professionalism in everything they do. Communication is key to interaction, and interaction- both with fellow employees and with present or potential clients- is vital to a businesss success.For this reason, if you are a professional, you should stop for a moment to take an honest assessment of your current communication methods and strategies to determine if what you are doing is portraying the picture you want to portray about the level of professionalism you hope to provide for your clients and business associates. Your communication throughout the business day- whether its a quick email to a co-worker or a letter written to a pot ential client- reveals more than you realize about what kind of professional you are, and what your idea of professionalism entails.Below are some of the things your daily business communication may reveal about you, whether you want it to or not:If youre distractedAs communication between smartphones and other mobile devices has become the new norm, it is easy to forego traditional salutations and closings and opt for a more curt approach. After all- if it feels like texting, why not just apply the informal feel of texting to your words, right? From a professional standpoint, this is a very incorrect assumption that can be harmful to your reputation, as well as that of your company.While the prevalence of email as a primary communication tool has admittedly lowered the level of formality that was once used in business communication, accessing that email on smartphones and tablets can run the risk of lowering it even further, until the communication doesnt come across as professiona l at all. In many cases of professional emails sent while on the go and via smartphones, the result ends up reading like a curt, impolite communication style that sounds more like texts than professional business communication.If you choose to (or are forced to) answer work emails on a mobile device, keep in mind that it is still likely to be read as an email on the receivers end. Any greetings or closings that you would typically use in email correspondence should be retained, even if it takes longer to type the words on your mobile device. If the email correspondence is between you and a co-worker, so that the salutations and closings are not necessary, that is one thing; writing with that level of informality to clients, however, or to potential associates with whom you are not in daily communication, is something that should always be avoided.You should also be aware that returning emails via a mobile device often entails writing that communique while distracted by other things around you. Your words will not be as carefully chosen as they would have been if you were less distracted, and your response will likely reflect this distraction. Also, issues like incorrect spelling and grammar, or incorrectly typed words, often occur when professionals conduct correspondence this way.If you enjoy your jobThe amount of passion and energy you bring to your work is reflected in your day-to-day written communication with co-workers and clients. Dont be fooled by the electronic nature of the communication- the words you choose and their tone will play a large role in determining how the audience of those words perceives you. Someone who enjoys what they do will take the extra time to make sure communication is successful- whether its several follow-up questions or touching base to make sure a task is going smoothly.If youre lazyA lazy professional will ask questions of others, both in written and verbal communication, that can be found online readily or in another eas ily accessed source. To avoid doing this, be sure that the questions you ask in your email are directed to the best party to answer them. If its a question that can be found with a quick Google search or a look at the clients website or file, find the answer yourself. Being a self-sufficient professional who doesnt add workload to others (who are likely stressed under their own workload) speaks volumes for your level of consideration for others and your understanding of following a team-oriented approach.

6 Quick and Easy Tips for Proofreading

6 Quick and Easy Tips for Proofreading 6 Quick and Easy Tips for Proofreading Us professional proofreaders are a mysterious breed; a clan of brooding grammar obsessives and spelling pedants, forever clinging on to our red correction pens and shouting verbose slogans about not splitting infinitives. Needless to say, this slavish devotion to typographical accuracy is why we’re so good at spotting mistakes that other people miss. Don’t worry, though, you don’t have to be quite so enamored with editorial excellence to proofread your own writing. To help out, we’ve prepared six quick tips for proofreading that anyone can use. 6 Tips for Proofreading Proofreading Tip #1 – Plan for Your Proofreading! The biggest mistake people make when proofreading is not allowing enough time. Spotting errors in your work requires patience and care, so you need to make sure you set aside time to go back over everything before the deadline for your paper. Proofreading Tip #2 – Vary Your Reading Style Proofreading demands slow and careful reading. The best way to do this is often to print out your work and read it on paper rather than on a computer screen, which gives you â€Å"fresh eyes† and helps make errors stand out. Alternatives include reading out loud, reading backwards (i.e., starting at the end of your paper) and even reading upside down! Proofreading Tip #3 – Use Computers Wisely†¦ Although printing your work out can aid proofreading, your computer also has a few tricks up its plastic sleeves. Spellcheckers, for example, can be invaluable. The â€Å"Find† function in Microsoft Word is a great time saver if you spot a repeated error, too, as it lets you quickly check for additional instances of the same kind. Proofreading Tip #4 – †¦But Look Out for Homonyms! The downside of computer spellcheckers is that they’ll miss erroneous homophones: i.e., words that sound the same as other words, so aren’t spelling mistakes, but are still not the word you intended. Computers can also struggle with acronyms and proper nouns, so be especially careful to double check these. Proofreading Tip #5 – Check Your References Referencing is often where errors creep into otherwise excellent academic papers, so make sure that you check your citations before submitting. The best way to do this is to compare your citations against a style guide provided by your college. Using a citation generator can help too. Proofreading Tip #6 – Stay Fresh! The last of our quick tips for proofreading is to stay fresh! Since concentration is vital to effective proofreading, it’s important to take a break now and then. It can even be worth taking a day away from your paper before you start proofreading. The first step to good proofreading, then, is sometimes to do something else entirely!

Warrior Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Warrior Politics - Essay Example Kaplan's striking theories to utilize history as a guide in today's world especially while dealing with war and violence could be attributed to the fact that he has traveled extensively to the war zones and had a first hand experience of the barbarism that prevails. Robert Kaplan after years of reporting from combat zones in Bosnia, Uganda, the Sudan, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Eritrea have convinced Kaplan (Balkan Ghosts, The Coming Anarchy) that Thucydides and Sun-Tzu are still right on the money when they wrote that war is not an aberration and that civilization can repress barbarism but cannot eradicate it. Reminding readers that "The greater the disregard of history, the greater the delusions regarding the future," Kaplan conducts a brisk tour through the works of Machiavelli, Malthus and Hobbes, among others, to support his advocacy of foreign policy based on the morality of results rather than good intentions. From those classics, he extracts historical models and rationales for exploiting military might, stealth, cunning and what he dubs "anxious foresight" (which some may regard as pessimism based on disasters past) in order to lead, fight and bring adversaries to their knees should they challenge the prevailing balance of power. This is a very valid point when it comes to today's scenario and Kaplan's theories must be tried and experimented. It's very interesting to note that, Kaplan suggests to adapt this model to business, exploring the ways modern-day CEOs can benefit from history's lessons. A clear indication that a lot more can be learnt from the graves of history as well as successfully implementation of the same is bound to show us positive difference. It is just a matter of giving a sincere attempt. Kaplan in his book had a discussion of the world's breeding grounds for rogue warriors out to disrupt daily life in bizarre new ways will strike a chord with most readers, as will his recounting of the brilliant Statesmanship of Churchill and Roosevelt during World War II. As per him, these instances of the past if replicated in today's war struck world would give a better opportunity to us coping up with the aftermaths of the tragedies. He is of the opinion that this is a provocative, smart and polemical work that will stimulate lively discussion. Agents, Brandt and Brandt. (Jan.)Forecast: Kaplan's credentials, combined with his call for a strong and unambiguous foreign policy, should draw attention. Kaplan looks to ancient philosophers and military strategists for ageless wisdom that can be applied to modern geopolitics. He argues that the end of the cold war and the proliferation of modern technology threaten to create such complacency that world leaders miss the significance of "nasty little wars in anarchic corners of the globe." Indeed, Kaplan mentions the likelihood of expeditions to apprehend the likes of Osama bin Laden. Integrating classic and contemporary scholarship, the author argues that the ills of the twentieth century are "less unique than we

Antibiotics for Meringa Oleifera Research Proposal

Antibiotics for Meringa Oleifera - Research Proposal Example Taking antibiotics in their original plant form is still common especially among indigenous communities. This is mostly because some people do not trust pharmaceutical medicines, believing that they have added chemicals that could harm their health Furthermore, pharmaceutical drugs require a lot of procedures, which may be expensive for the average citizen. To minimize such expenses, some people prefer to take the antibiotics in their original plant form. Moringa is among the most commonly used plants. Moringa oleifera is a medicinal plant, belonging to the genus Moringa, and of the family Moringaceae. It is commonly referred to as moringa or drumstick tree. The plant has been significant for its medicinal values whereby almost its entire root, leaves and trunk extracts are used for medicine. It is a common antibiotic used to treat numerous health conditions. However, just like many other antibiotics, it can pose serious health issues to an individual with disseminated intravascular coagulation. Moringa oleifera is a prescription drug yet it is sometimes sold over the counter without a valid prescription. Some people will, therefore, take it in ignorance with the hope of curing their condition only to worsen it. Despite the multitude benefits of Moringa oleifera, there are some conditions of disseminated intravascular coagulation that can be worsened by the injection of the drug. Moringa is a tree plant that has been found to have medicinal value. It can treat several medical conditions as well as provide almost all the nutritional supplements that a person may require in a single serving. Despite its multiple benefits, Moringa may not be safe for use especially if one is suffering from certain conditions. Parts of the roots and leaves of Moringa have been found to have toxins that may damage somebody organs that may lead to paralysis or even death.

Piracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Piracy - Essay Example Practicing piracy may bankrupt a business and may causes human lives thus it should not be supported. Piracy may cause the business go bankrupt. In the study of Gopal and Gupta (p 1946), they stated that piracy had accounted for a yearly $40 billion revenue losses in software products alone. When this practice of piracy continues, time will come the branded software industry may loss its business. People may not patronize the original software products since counterfeited products may be offered at a lesser price. With the worldwide crisis, the presence of counterfeited products may suit the budget of the customers. In a Billboard news report, Tony Fernandez, Chairman of the local music industry in Malaysia gave a warning that the music industry might be destroyed for the next twelve months by piracy. He further noted that major departments in the country had closed as a result. He explained that business is impossible to continue and flourish if they stay to â€Å"bleed† (Pat rick, p 47) as a result of decrease in sale of their legal products. In the sector of online infringement, piracy as a result of file sharing had in turn affected the sale of CD’s to decrease.

Good Grief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Good Grief - Essay Example Grief is a process that individuals go through when they lose or realise they are about to lose something or someone they hold dear in life. This could be a spouse, relative, friend, their own life, property, income among others. These situations subject one into a state of disbelief where the individuals are unable to concentrate in their lives as they used to before as they preoccupy their thoughts with the loss they have suffered. The model’s stages sequence as follows denial stage, anger stage, bargaining, depression stage and the final one of acceptance (O’Rourke 2010). The model can also be used to interpret and come up with explanations for the tendencies associated with people going through rather mild situations than death for example break-up of a relationship, bankruptcy, relocation and many others. This is because these situations are similar in nature in that they all revolve around the loss of something or someone which one has a big attachment with. The s tages as described in KÃ ¼bler-ross’s book of 1969, On Death and Dying, are quite important to many who are grieving. They explain the various processes that one goes through and the reasons for that happening at a certain stage in life and not in another. The big question that seeks to be answered is whether there is really a better way to be bereaved and this is quite well illustrated in this lady’s work. To bereaved is quite a natural process that befalls many and that it is important for one to go through some experiences for them to harden and face life as it is and is supposed to be here on earth. Death in particular of a close person is quite heartening and it makes one to go through a process of grief that at times may not come to an end no matter how they try. The person leaving their loved ones is also at a bad state knowing that they shall leave them behind and takes all the time they have remaining in trying to interact with them so as to

Language and psycholinguistics method for research Essay

Language and psycholinguistics method for research - Essay Example A fully fledged research was carried out among 28 students in this study. Our results states phonological awareness plays an important role in word reading and the non words arranged similar to the actual words do stimulate the correct word reading extensively. We all read several words daily, from film posters to the major office documents. The ability to understand words is important in every persons life as it is an important factor affecting ones knowledge. Lexical decision checks the ability of the person to differentiate between words and non words and identify phonological and semantically primed words. There are a series of experiments conducted to test a person’s lexical decision. This results correlated are used for several different purposes from understanding how people with disabilities in hearing and the normal humans intercept words to determining how the people lexical decision ability influences their reading skill. Human brain processes millions of words every day. How does it identify the meaning of each different word? Collins and Loftus (1975) stated knowledge is stored and processed in the form of nodes. A semantic network stores millions of nodes. One stimulus arouses several related nodes. For example when a person hears the word "car" he automatically associates it with related nodes like "driver", "road" and "speed" rather than other totally different nodes like "dress" and "television". The experiments carried out by various people like McClelland and Rumelhart (1986) have confirmed this concept of relative nodes awakening. The process is termed as "Priming". The researchers also proposed the Parallel Distributed Processing model to enhance the studies about priming. The concept "Priming" helps us understand the mechanism behind understanding words. Pamela Markek says "a concept is represented by a pattern of activation, rather than by activation of a single node". A person’s brain

American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

American history - Essay Example A good understanding of a country’s political culture can help determine the way its government is run, how governmental decisions are made, and more importantly how assets such as land are divided among citizens and put into use. In Native American societies, land was owned collectively by the tribe. An individual had the right to a particular parcel of land only as long as he could put it into proper use lest it went back to communal ownership. The issue of land ownership as a private property which could be bought or sold did not exist. It was until the European settlers brought with them the new ideas of fee simple land ownership, freehold tenure as well as property deeds. The private land ownership and the liberty to do whatever individual aspirations with one’s land were, and still are, essential to the founding values of the US. The agrarian and industrial revolutions led to the unprecedented population growth in the original states. Everyone was acutely aware of the great potential benefits that could be offered by lands. It can be coined to the colonial experience in the issues of land ordinances, they had the knowledge on what it means if an individual would be mandated to work on a piece of land (Ronald 56). The definition of property boundary line would also provide a sense of security in the land ownership, by minimizing the likelihood of boundary disputes. Moreover, it would give the government a number of well-defined plots of land for future developments. This instigated Thomas Jefferson to design a system of surveying the lands that might avoid the pitfalls of earlier methods of determining boundaries. The earlier methods did not define the mechanism by which the land would become states, or how the territories would be governed or settled first before they become states (Brückner 191). Histor ically Public Land Survey as a method has been used to survey and spatially identify land parcels before description of ultimate ownership

Language and psycholinguistics method for research Essay

Language and psycholinguistics method for research - Essay Example A fully fledged research was carried out among 28 students in this study. Our results states phonological awareness plays an important role in word reading and the non words arranged similar to the actual words do stimulate the correct word reading extensively. We all read several words daily, from film posters to the major office documents. The ability to understand words is important in every persons life as it is an important factor affecting ones knowledge. Lexical decision checks the ability of the person to differentiate between words and non words and identify phonological and semantically primed words. There are a series of experiments conducted to test a person’s lexical decision. This results correlated are used for several different purposes from understanding how people with disabilities in hearing and the normal humans intercept words to determining how the people lexical decision ability influences their reading skill. Human brain processes millions of words every day. How does it identify the meaning of each different word? Collins and Loftus (1975) stated knowledge is stored and processed in the form of nodes. A semantic network stores millions of nodes. One stimulus arouses several related nodes. For example when a person hears the word "car" he automatically associates it with related nodes like "driver", "road" and "speed" rather than other totally different nodes like "dress" and "television". The experiments carried out by various people like McClelland and Rumelhart (1986) have confirmed this concept of relative nodes awakening. The process is termed as "Priming". The researchers also proposed the Parallel Distributed Processing model to enhance the studies about priming. The concept "Priming" helps us understand the mechanism behind understanding words. Pamela Markek says "a concept is represented by a pattern of activation, rather than by activation of a single node". A person’s brain

Explain the types of advantages highlighted by John Dunning in the Essay - 1

Explain the types of advantages highlighted by John Dunning in the Eclectic Paradigm. In what ways does this theory repersent an advance on those of earlier theorists - Essay Example The theory of electric paradigm seeks to provide a general perspective for determining the degree and pattern for both domestic and foreign-owned production companies. Dunning does not only consider organization structure as significant but also added three significant theoretical factors including ownership, location and internalization advantages. The major aim of introducing the OLI-model was to merge the international economic theories into one approach. Dunning also distinguishes different types of foreign direct investments; thus, the model takes into considerations the resources of the country, location advantages and ownership advantages. Thus, Dunning identifies ownership, location and internalization (OLI) advantages some of which offer the explanation to the chronological acts of domestic and foreign-owned production. Ownership-specific advantages are the competitive advantages of the companies seeking to connect in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment). Therefore, companies that highly engage in foreign production have high chances of achieving competitive advantages. The ownership advantages are connected to the size and market position of the specific firm and these ownership advantages are often referred as monopolistic or competitive advantages (Cantwell and Narula 2001, p.111). They are advantages to the specific firm because they are the main asset for the specific firm. They also offer the firm a market position or cost advantage over a certain firm; thus enabling the firm to achieve effective business performance. Therefore, it is vital to develop and protect the ownership advantages because competitors may attempt to infringe or copy them. These advantages are further divided into standard ownership advantages, benefits of being a multinational enterprise and benefits derived from belonging t o large industry. First, the standard ownership advantages are those advantages that an industry requires to compare with other rival industries in a

The Meaning of Lives Essay Example for Free

The Meaning of Lives Essay In her article The Meaning of Lives, Susan Wolf, a moral philosopher and philosopher of action, investigates whether meaning can exist in lives without postulating the existance of God. Wolf establishes her position on this philosophical question from an agnostic perspective and rationally argues that such a question can in fact â€Å"fit within a negative or agnostic view about the meaning of life† (Wolf 63). With this paper, I will first summarize the prominent points of Wolf’s article then highlight and expound upon areas of her argument that contradict her line of reason. Lastly, I will introduce the theistic perspective on meaningful lives along with presenting Wolf’s reason and argument as supporting evidence for the theistic view. In the Meaning of Lives, Susan Wolf opens briefly with an evaluation of the philosophically ambiguous question, â€Å"What is the meaning of life? † She argues this particular question is impossible to rationalize because it dependents upon a postulation for the existence of God. Wolf claims it is necessary to postulate the existence of God in order to argue this original question because if God does exist, then He â€Å"may have created us for a reason, with a plan in mind†(Wolf 63). Thus, if God exists then there would be purpose and meaning to human existence dependent upon the creator God. Wolf does not deny the existence of God; she simply suggests that a divine existence is improvable. Therefore the question of a grand purpose and meaning in life is an unnecessary and an improvable argument to find an answer to, due to the improvable nature of God. However, she does believe that meaning in lives is not contingent upon the existence of God stating, â€Å"Meaningfulness is an intelligible feature to be sought in life† and that â€Å"a positive view about the possibility of meaning in lives can fit with a negative or agnostic view about the meaning of life†(Wolf 63). She expounds on this argument in three distinct sections. The first part of Wolf’s argument observes three different examples of meaningless lifestyle. Wolf articulates that learning from three paradigms of meaningless lives, one can construct an understanding for meaningfulness. She begins with a lifestyle she labeled the Blob. The Blob is defined by a lifestyle that â€Å"is lived in hazy passivity†¦ unconnected to anyone or anything, going nowhere, achieving nothing† (Wolf 64). Wolf deduces from the Blobs meaningless lifestyle, that in order to attain a meaningful life one must be engaged in a project, which can include relationships. The second meaningless lifestyle, in contrast to the Blob’s lifestyle of passivity, is regarded as the Useless life; â€Å"a life whose dominant activities seem pointless, useless or empty† (Wolf 65). After reviewing the lifestyle of the Useless life, a life void of worth, to achieve meaning â€Å"one must be engaged in a project or projects that have some positive value† (Wolf 65). The final category of a meaningless life would be the lifestyle of the Bankrupt, â€Å"someone who is engaged or even dedicated, to a project that is ultimately revealed as bankrupt, not because the person’s values are shallow or misguided, but because the project fails†(Wolf 65). Ultimately, Wolf concludes that in order to achieve meaningfulness one must not only be engaged in a project of positive value but that project must be in some way successful. After providing a working definition for a meaningful life, Wolf raises the question as to what constitutes â€Å"positive value† and who has the right to objectively determine value. Similarly to Wolf’s construction of meaningfulness, she argues reasons for why an individual is incapable of objectively determining positive value. This incapability for determining objective value is due to the individual’s subjectivity and â€Å"interest in living a life that feels or seems meaningful†(Wolf 66). Therefore, because an individual is incapable of distinguishing objective positive value from interest, it is unlikely that the individual can distinguish what is required for a meaningful life. She argues that objective value is determined and achieved through observing value in other people’s lives. Wolf clarifies that the objective good she is referring to is not compared to moral goodness, â€Å"benefiting or honoring humanity† (Wolf 67). Wolf claims that meaningfulness is not contingent upon moral value. Instead, Wolf suggests that while there are examples of lives exhibiting great moral value, such as Mother Teresa and Gandhi, that are full of meaning; there are also examples of other lives, such as â€Å"artists, scholars, musicians and athletes†, that possess great meaning, not based upon their moral value. These lives are considered valuable and meaningful due to their ability to â€Å"develop our skills and our understanding of the world† which â€Å"give meaning to our lives- but they do not give moral value to them †(Wolf 67). A greater understanding of our own worth and the Universe is what Wolf constitutes for lives to have meaning. The final stage in Wolf’s argument poses the question â€Å"what is the good, after all, of living a meaningful life†(Wolf 67)? Wolf does not wish to define goodness, but rather discusses the advantages for living a life full of meaning. Wolf makes the final stand, that in order to grasp meaningfulness and understand how one can achieve it in their life; an individual must become enlightened to their status in the world as â€Å"a tiny speck in a vast universe† (Wolf 69). This description of where an individual lies in relation to the vastness of the Universe, provides the reality that meaning in lives cannot logically be contingent upon the desires and benefits for the individual, due to humanities insignificance. It seems illogical to Wolf, that a person who seeks to find meaning in their life could conclude that is dependent upon their independent happiness claiming, â€Å"to devote oneself wholly to one’s own satisfaction seems to me to fly in the face of truth, to act as if one is the only thing that matters, or perhaps, more, that one’s own psychology is the only source of (determining) what matters† (Wolf 70). The truth, to which Wolf refers, is the reality that individuals have very little significance in relation to the value of the vast Universe. It is because of this truth that a self-center and egocentric life goes against of logic after such a truth is realized. Wolf argues that instead of egocentric priorities to achieve meaning, an individual should alternatively be focused on the needs of the Universe and others. She understands that â€Å"you are just one person among others, equally real- is the source of practical reason-in this case, it gives you reason to take the pains of others to constitute reasons for action†¦reason to care about the pain of others that is grounded, not in our own psychologies, but a fact about the world†(Wolf 70). In this section, I will address three areas of Wolf’s reasoning I find to be inconsistent with her argument as a whole. A concern that I have regarding Wolf’s argument is her use of the word â€Å"meaning†, in regards to the meaning of lives. A very different connotation of the word â€Å"meaning† suggested by the philosophical question, â€Å"What is the meaning of life? † Wolf states that the question, â€Å"What is the meaning of life? † requires an individual to postulate the existence of God because it implies their ultimate aim â€Å"to find a purpose or a point to human existence†(Wolf 63). However, Wolf also argues, â€Å"whether or not God exists, the fact remains that some objects, activities and ideas are better than others. Whether or not God exists some ways of living are more worthwhile than others†(Wolf 72). At the beginning of Wolf’s argument about the meaning of lives, suggests that she neither denies nor rejects the existence of God. She argues this as true because she believes the question behind the meaning in lives can be answered as â€Å"an intelligible feature to be sought in life and that it is at least sometimes attainable but not everywhere assured†(Wolf 63). Wolf reduces the meaning of lives to that which can be determined by human reasoning a finite measurement of this transitory world. Thus Wolf, who has neither denied nor rejected the existence of God has unreasonably eliminated the question of origin of lives, as irrelevant to meaning in lives. She focuses how certain types of lives merit significance in existence and consequently refers to the word â€Å"meaning† as synonymous with value. Finally, Wolf argues that there is value in human lives that â€Å"can fit with a negative or agnostic view about the meaning of life†(Wolf 66). This statement is far less controversial than her attempts to argue that meaning in lives is achievable without the postulation of God. Logically, to explore meaning in lives, one must consider the beginning of life, which must have been constructed either by accident or by a creator. Meaning cannot be cited as more or less significant at a particular point in an individual’s life. Thus, the point that one comes into existence must be regarded for defining meaning within an individual’s life. The second problem in Wolf’s argument comes in her evaluation of what is considered a project of positive value. An individual who is engaged in a project of positive value is central to Wolf’s definition of a meaningful life. Although, projects of positive value can add to meaning in an individual’s life, Wolf’s reasoning as to â€Å"who is to decide which projects have positive value† is vague and inconsistent with her earlier positions (Wolf 66). Wolf concludes that individuals are incapable of objectively deciding what has positive value, due to subjective interests, which skew their understanding of objective value. Wolf deduces that in order for an individual to understand projects of positive value, which will eventually adds meaning to heir lives, they must experience an â€Å"epiphany†¦ to the recognition that our life to date has been meaningless† (Wolf 66). This comment is completely inconsistent with Wolf’s fundamental goal to acquire an understanding of meaning in lives from an intelligible process of reason. The understanding for projects of positive value through an epiphany is inconsistent with her pervious arguments because it depends she suggests that understanding meaning comes from an unintelligible source of knowledge. Who is to say that that epiphany is not guided by a supreme higher being? The irony of Wolf’s conclusion about the necessary epiphany, is that her statement â€Å"It is the sort of experience that one might describe in terms of scales falling from ones eyes†, compares closely to the allusion found in Acts 9:18 (Wolf 66). The verse reads â€Å"And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized† (NIV 1000). The language of scales falling from the eyes in order to gain true understanding is regarded in both versions as an act depended upon a supernatural entity enabling the change. This very interesting comment by Wolf, suggests that understanding how an individual recognizes truth through epiphany is beyond the capabilities of human control and intellect. Her attempted arguments about how a meaningful life is realized are sound up until the point about epiphany. Lastly, Wolf’s argument for meaning in lives lacks any discussion of immortality as a necessary property for meaning. Wolf reasons that there are certain lifestyles that are more meaningful than others. This argument for certain lifestyle having greater meaning has limited relevance because as she rationalizes, lives are finite and temporary as are the lives of others whom we must focus in our acknowledgement of the truth that we are just a â€Å"speck in the vast Universe†(Wolf 69). Wolf does a fine job at articulating the insignificance and temporary state of human life. However, she fails to recognize that in her attempts to construct a logical framework for meaning in finite lives she disregards the possibility for immortality to give further meaning to lives. Thus, she reduces the idea of meaning as an avoidance of an egocentric lifestyle and recognizes insignificance and meaning within an individuals’ life alone. Wolf’s claim that meaning is attainable through certain actions only satisfies temporary lives for a finite amount of time. This argument surrounding meaning as dependent upon an inward realization of insignificance manifesting into outward actions, is simply a cycle of meaningless people helping other meaningless people, and causes only a temporary impact. In an argument for the importance of immortality to meaning in lives, Gianluca Di Muzio states, â€Å"If a human being dies and her actions have no lasting effect, because the world itself perished, then her life was meaningless. If, in the end, all comes to nothing, then it does not matter in the first place whether a particular person existed or not† (Di Muzio 2). In order for actions and lives to be meaningful, they must have a lasting impact or something to gain, and provide for others in a way that is not reducible to the finite and temporary world. Thus, achievable immortality must exist for meaning to be possible. Although she attempts to determine the meaning in lives for an agnostic world, I would argue that Wolf’s argument actually supports many theistic views regarding the meaning of lives. Though many of Wolf’s arguments do not adequately provide understanding for meaning in lives from an agnostic perspective, many of her points parallel to the theistic view of â€Å"purpose theory. † Before I expound on these similarities, an understanding of the theistic view regarding the meaning of must be addressed. According to Borchert, the theistic view argues that, â€Å"life is meaningful insofar as one fulfills a purpose that God has assigned† (Borchert 295). In â€Å"Confession†, Leo Tolstoy discusses meaning in life from the theistic perspective and claims â€Å"now I see clearly that my faith-my only real faith-that which apart from my animal instincts gave impulse to my life- was a belief in perfecting myself† (Klemke 2). Tolstoy sought such perfection in artistic achievements and loving his family. In trying to find meaning in family and people, Tolstoy ultimately realizes that â€Å"My family — wife and children — are also human. They are placed just as I am: they must either live in a lie or see the terrible truth† (Klemke 10). In other words, Tolstoy realizes that if meaning resides in the finite and temporary nature of humanity, meaning too will die along with the life. Tolstoy further suggests that meaning cannot reside within artistic modes when he writes Art, poetry? Under the influence of success and the praise of men, I had long assured myself that this was a thing one could do though death was drawing near — death which destroys all things, including my work and its remembrance; but soon I saw that that too was a fraud† (Klemke 10). This declaration further supports Tolstoy’s theistic belief that everything of and in this world cannot be the ultimate source of meaning in lives. Although, the substance of this world may increase value within life, it cannot supply ultimate, enduring meaning. Tolstoy finally declares, â€Å"To know God and to live is one and the same thing. God is life- Live seeking God, and then you will not live without God† (Klemke 11). This passage concludes with his theistic assertion that without a â€Å"divine plan for the world, then all efforts come to nothing, because everything comes to nothing. Hence our lives are meaningless without God† (Metz 293). Though Wolf attempts to support an agnostic view for the question, â€Å"is there meaning in lives? † her central points mirror those of the theistic view and supports many of its claims. This final section will concentrate on central points within Wolf’s argument that support a theistic view for understanding meaning in lives. To begin, she claims that a life has meaning insofar as it is â€Å"engaged in a project or projects that have some positive value† (Wolf 65). Although this statements seems logical, Wolf fails to provide an intelligible source for acquiring knowledge about whether or not a project has positive value and which projects do not. She betrays the agnostic attempt to provide an understanding of meaning in lives through reason, by suggesting that realization of projects with positive value relies upon an epiphany. The concept of an epiphany for realization is inconsistent with her attempts to rationalize. However, when Wolf’s definition is placed against the theistic view, it is logically consistent with theological beliefs. Theists believe that an individual must be actively engaged in positively affecting peoples lives with in the world, while ultimately contributing to God’s divine plan in order for their lives to have meaning. This concept is articulated beautifully in Gianluca Di Muzio’s argument: Theism and the Meaning of Life, in which he states, â€Å"In order to have meaning, our lives must make a difference to a higher scheme. And theism sees human action as doing a sort of double duty. On one hand, they affect other people and events in this world, on the other, they further or hinder God’s ultimate plan† (Di Muzio 2). This statement suggests that humanities actions in projects have the ability to have two different forms of significance, both relative and ultimate. Relative significance refers to the theistic perspective that, â€Å"actions and events have relative significance when they only influence other actions and events†(Di Muzio 3). Ultimate significance is when our actions and events â€Å"contribute to God’s plan† (Di Muzio 3). Both of these forms contribute to theistic view, however Wolf’s argument focuses solely on relative significance. The theistic understanding of relative significance is paralleled to Wolf’s understanding of meaning in lives. She believes that when individuals realize their insignificance and begin to seek beyond themselves for meaning by actively engaging in projects of positive value, they can acquire meaning. Though this insignificance is transient, it supports the theistic belief that, â€Å"human beings have access to value† without having to postulate the existence of God, because â€Å"existence affords the opportunity to attain the kinds of goods that make a human life worthwhile and fulfilling† (Di Muzio 5-6). Wolf’s profound point that human life is just a â€Å"speck in a vast universe† lays the foundation for the theistic belief in ultimate significance (Wolf 71). Theists believe that there is A fundamental disproportion between aspirations and reality is a powerful source of the idea that our lives are absurd and meaningless. We think we matter, and yet we don’t. The world is not intoned with our hope, desires and projects. The possibility of out destruction looms everywhere; and human suffering, however enormous, seems to be nothing but a passing accident, a byproduct of the presence of sentient creatures in a world that merely tolerates them for a short time. (Di Muzio 9) This understanding of human insignificance plays a vital role in the theistic belief that despite human fragility, purpose and significance are achievable within the most tragic circumstances. Wolf’s recognition of our insignificance implies our need to look beyond our own lives for meaning. If a life of meaning depends upon recognizing the truth about our insignificance and continuing to be â€Å"actively engaged in a project of positive value†, and one cannot perform these projects due to tragic circumstances, then within Wolf’s reasoning their life can not have meaning. Wolf’s understanding of meaning depends upon individual human performance. In trying times of suffering, whether great or small, this concept of looking outside of ones own circumstances is hard to accomplish and in some circumstances impossible, thus in such cases meaning cannot be unachieved. The theistic view of ultimate significance provides a hope that a life of suffering can have meaning and purpose too in that, â€Å"the idea of God and hope for immortality can help us look again at the world and our fragile lives as meaningful†(Di Muzio 9). The project of participating in God’s divine plan is the only project that has lasting and unwavering value for meaning in lives. Wolf’s central argument concerning meaning in lives provides many logically convincing and sound points. However, Wolf’s definition of a life of meaning is both disconnected from her original argument and lacks a consistent, authoritative source and process for achieving meaning. She attempts to suggest that meaning is an â€Å"intelligible feature to be sought in life†, then provides the solution for achieving this insight of through the unintelligible source of epiphany. Secondly, Wolf’s argument for the realization of insignificance as the truth, unlocks the need for an individual to look beyond serving his or her own self-centered desires for meaning. However, though her point about insignificance seems valid, Wolf fails to provide examples or an understanding of how an individual can objectively determine how to look outside of themselves. In total, Wolf produces an understanding of meaning that depends upon an individuals abilities to undergo an epiphany and properly manifest their understanding of the need to look outside one’s self and recognize Universal needs. The problem with this stance is that focusing on the Universe provides no lasting impact, or meaning to a particular life because the things of this Universe are finite and temporary. The individual’s life will eventually end along with the actions and events they affected. Though existence can provide an opportunity for value, as understood in Wolf’s argument and the theistic view, meaning is dependent upon a infinite being whose performance can not be temporary. An individual must not be reliant on their personal performances and finite experiences to obtain meaning, but rather is actively engaged in an eternal project of positive value, determined by an infinite and constant authority, God. Works Cited Borchert, Donald M. Theism. Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2nd ed. 10. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Web. 25 Apr 2012. Di Muzio, Gianluca. Theism and the Meaning of Life life’s meaning? Ars Disputandi . 6. (2006): 1-12. Print. Klemke, E. D. â€Å"The Meaning of Life†. 2nd. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print. Metz, Thaddeus. â€Å"Could God’s purpose be the source of life’s meaning? † Cambridge Journals. (2000): 293-311. Print. Wolf, Susan. The Meaning Of Lives. 62-73. Print.

Effectiveness Of Online Marketing Tools Marketing Essay

Effectiveness Of Online Marketing Tools Marketing Essay The present research paper is looking into effectiveness of online marketing tools on B2C websites. In this section a background in e-commerce, online marketing and online customers is provided in order to give the reader an introduction. Background nnnnnnnnnnn 1.1.1. E-commerce The development of the information communication technologies has brought changes to the way of doing business and lead to the birth of electronic commerce. Chaffey (2006) defined E-commerce as both financial and informational electronically mediated transactions between an organization and any third party it deals with. By the nature of business transactions, e-commerce can be classified into business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), consumer-to-business (C2B), and intra-organizational e-commerce (Dou Chou 2002). Business to consumer (B2C), the focus of our research, is defined by Chaffey (2006) as, commercial transactions between an organization and consumers. E-commerce transactions have grown significantly during the past years (Grover Teng, 2001) and are expected to continue growing with double-digit annual growth rates (Daniels, Sehgal, Vogel, 2008). According to Mulpura (2008) Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce and online retail sales reached $175 billion in 2007 and are predicted to reach $204 billion in 2008, $235.4 billion in 2009, $267.8 billion in 2010, $301 billion in 2011, and $334.7 billion in 2012. One of the main reasons for the growth of B2C e-commerce is increasing number of internet users (Oppenheim, 2006). 1.1.2. Online Marketing Internet created new ways of doing business for the companies but Internet is not only a place for buyers and sellers to discover product information; it also plays a role of intermediary (Bailey Bakos, 1997). Ab Hamid (2008) states that; The emergence of Internet technology, particularly the World Wide Web, as an electronic medium of commerce offers new opportunities to industries to adopt the Internet as their alternative marketing tools (or as the only marketing channel). There is still no widespread agreement regarding the nomenclature used to describe marketing through internet and terms such as hypermedia marketing, digital marketing, online marketing and e-marketing, have all been used at one time or another (Dholakia, 2005). Online marketing term will be used in our research. Elley and Tilley (2009) described online marketing as promotional activity on the internet, including email that can take many forms, including search engine marketing, email marketing, online advertising, social media, and affiliate marketing. These online marketing tools became one of the important communication tools for the companies to promote services and products in todays economy. Shankar Batra (2009) states, Marketing communications through the online medium are growing rapidly and The role of online marketing communications in the marketing mix is constantly evolving Shankar and (Hollinger, 2007). These views are also motivated by Reedy (2000) and he says online c ommunications tools are started become an important ingredient in the promotional mix and its 1.1.3. Online customers The Internet is no longer a novelty in the minds of todays population as it is the access to it. In fact, the Internet and digital information have taken over many aspects of our lives from communication to information consumption to new ways of doing business. It has reinvented our vocabulary and gave new meanings to words in cyberspace, for example surfing, visitors, hits or navigate (Dobrowolski 2000). These changes in meaning can be discovered as well in the word user; it can mean a surfer or a visitor. Now, in the 21th century, borders represented by gender, occupation and education in using or navigating the Internet and other digital mediums have been sponged away by habit, supported by changes in system technologies. So surfing the Internet, texting a mobile message or reading an online magazine is opened and, in fact, used by elderly, children or unemployed and technologies have become more mobile, real-time and interactive to support those behaviors. (Nicholas and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. 2003) By now, it is a common knowledge that consumers of all ages shop online, but as Silverman (2000) and Seock (2008) point out, college students with ages between 18 and 22 are the hottest market and can be the main customers to generate revenue and growth for online sales. The common trait argued in Seocks (2008) research is that although college students are avid information seekers though the internet, the conversion rate to online buyers is very low, only 4,9 % from general online visitors buy also the products online (Kerner 2005). InternetWorldStats shows that, in 2010, 92,5% of Swedens population was using the Internet, making it one of the most developed Internet and broadband markets in the EU, a so called online nation  [1]  . All members of the age group 15 to 24 year old is using the Internet on a daily basis with an average of 155 minutes online per day  [2]  , but it is only the 3rd biggest age group that is actually shopping online, 72% of Swedish males aged 16 to 24 have purchased online in 2010, whereas 82% of the 25-34 female users have purchased in the last year  [3]  . The trends in connectivity and being online also differ with age group. According to Internetstatistik.se, 15 to 24 year olds are more avid consumer of social media (66%) than e-mail (44%)  [4]  , which just emphasizes even more the need of new insight into what Shop.org names as social commerce. The problem arises into how to blend new social media and other new technologies into an effective online marketing strategy in order to obtain the wanted conversion from online visitors to online customers. What comes after building a Facebook company account, twittering about the new promotion and optimizing your website? 1.1.4. Effectiveness New technologies have changed the ways customers and companies relate to one another and has challenged the traditional process of transactions and the way communications between consumers and companies are managed (Ozuem, Howell and Lancaster, 2008). When evaluating this new technologies, it is important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of traditional and new channels as well as, from a managers point of view, translate them into effectiveness (Danaher and Rossiter, 2011). Companies are not using the whole potential of online marketing tools although they perceive them as effective (Teo 2005). However, measuring marketing effectiveness poses numerous challenges due to the multitude of possible metrics for assessing effectiveness (Gray, 2006). Chaffey (2009) translates effectiveness as doing the right thing and from a practical point of view producing the required outputs and outcomes. Kierzkowski, McQuade, Waitman and Zeissler (1996) expresses 5 wanted outcomes from a marketers point of view attract customers, engage customers, retain customers, learn about customers and relate to customers. It is critical for companies to know; how do they attract customers to their website, engage them to turn into paying customers and also retain them to keep returning to your website. Chaffey 2009 states Online communications techniques used to achieve goals of brand awareness, familiarity and favorability and to influence purchase intent by encouraging users of digital media to visit a web site to engage with the brand or product and ultimately to purchase online or offline through traditional media channels such as by phone or in-store. As Teo (2005) has established in his research, effectiveness does not have to translate necessarily only into revenue, but it can be measured in building customer relationships, traffic on the companys website or another outcome that satisfies management. Our research will use the same 5 points outcome from Kierzkowski, McQuade, Waitman and Zeissler (1996) and will explore the different ways customers reach companies via internet. 1.2. Problem Discussion What is the problem? (Borrowed or created) Today, companies realized the potential of e-commerce and most of them already started to make use of this technology. Ã…Â  Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ eulovs and Gaile-Sarkane (2010) state that, E-commerce has now become a key component of many companies in the daily running of their businesses. Thus, the e-marketing component of a companys marketing strategy has grown in importance; Baker (2007) states that, In a short period of time, e-marketing has become a facet of marketing that cannot be ignored. New developments on internet technologies enables new ways of marketing, communication, gathering customer opinions and experiences about products, services and firms, and also allows personalized one-to-one marketing (Li and Bernoff, 2008). Marketers are faced now with two important questions that they have to answer regarding: Which online marketing tools to use for the wanted outcome? Andrews, et al. (2007 cited in Ab. Hamid, 2008) point out that for firms the increased importance of Internet channels can be seen in its contribution to disseminating information, enhancing consumer value, improving consumer satisfaction, loyalty and retention as well as consumer perception which in turn leads to better profitability and expanded market share. How to integrate them in the overall company strategy? Baker (2007) noted that, marketers need to carefully assess the significance of e-marketing and assimilate it, as appropriate, into all aspects of marketing from strategy and planning to marketing research, objectives setting, buyer behavior, marketing communications and the marketing mix. Given that the Internet has not only changed the way companies do business, but as well consumers behavior to shop or to look for information, the matter of effectiveness of online tools arises. Online marketing tools need to be identified well by the companies and marketers should validate the economics of their promotional activities against their effectiveness ( McQuade, S. (1996). In addition, the specific characteristics of the world wide web (traditional barriers of communication are broken, information and competition just at a click away) often result in a question that we will try to answer in this research: Research question: What tools are effective in attracting, retaining and engaging customers? 1.3. Research Problem Questions that are developed from problem Which online tools are customers responding to? How effective is the online marketing tools to attract online customers? How effective is the online marketing tools to engage online customers? How effective is the online marketing tools to retain online customers? Starting from an existing study on digital marketing, we have chosen to apply a similar model into a quantitative research that is questioning students in Sweden about the effectiveness of digital marketing tools. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of online marketing tools of B2C websites in Sweden. 2. Literature Overview This section will present review of relevant literature relating to our research. We will identify the theoretical base on which our study will be built. What to base the study on? 2.1. E-commerce and B2C Digital technology, particularly the internet, has been described as an enabler of a global marketplace, characterised by equal access to information about products, prices, and distribution (Strauss et al., 2006). According to Chaffey (2009) e-commerce is all electronically mediated transactions between an organization and any third party it deals with. According to this definition non-financial transactions can be considered to be part of e-commerce. Chaffey (2009) Business-to-consumer (B2C) markets have made a significant contribution to the commercial development of the Internet encouraging wide-scale use of computer networks by a diverse and increasingly global range of consumers 2.2. Online Marketing Elley and Tilley (2009) defined online marketing as promotional activity on the internet, including email that can take many forms, including search engine marketing, email marketing, online advertising, social media, and affiliate marketing. McQuade, S. (1996) states that there are several success factors for companies to be able to successful in the online market, these five factors are Attract users. Engage users interest and participation. Retain users and ensure they return to an application. Learn about their preferences. Relate back to them to provide the sort of customized interactions that represent the true value bubble of digital marketing. e-marketing is the strategy that the agency or organization uses the modern communication technical methods to exchange the potential market into reality market. The e-marketing is that we can use internet making continuously services in the every step of products pre-selling, products selling and products after-selling. It runs in the whole process of business operating and includes searching for new customers, services for old customers. 2.2.1. Attracting McQuade (1996) states that the current clutter on the Internet virtually ensures that the build it and they will come model is insufficient to draw consumers, marketers need to actively attract users in the first place. Chaffey (2009+) Before an organization can acquire customers through the content on its site, it must, of course, develop marketing communication strategies to attract visitors to the web site. Reed (2010) states online marketing drives traffic to your site and he also mentions this is probably the single biggest reason for using online marketing. Baker (2009) states that; to bring in the customers, companies must ensure their website is visible to customers thats why companies first priority is to be ensure their website is Search Engine Optimized. Banner and display advertisement is another important marketing tool that generate traffic and increase the views of your website. Social media tools generate traffic to your website and its also very important tool to engage current customers. Baker (2009) states Social media can deliver new customers, but primarily is a terrific tool to communicate and engage current customers. Engagement is driven by good design and good content. The biggest explosion in this area has been the growth of online video to drive the message of business and products across in a dynamic way. A recent survey by Yahoo Pew has shown video can increase e-commerce purchases by up to 40 percent. According to Chaffey (2009) online marketing focus on three main activities; customer acquisition (attracting site visitor), conversion (generating leads and sales), and retention (encouraging the continued use of digital channels). Reed (2010) states online marketing is an important tool and lists why it works for companies: Online marketing drives traffic to your site: This is probably the single biggest reason for using online marketing. Creates new ways to connect with your market: companies will become visible to a new set of prospects. Builds trust: your clients and customers can get to know you through your online presence. Starts a conversation: A two way of dialogue with your customers and prospects is much more effective than a one-way broadcast of your marketing message. Creates value: If you can create a useful resource or interesting content targeted at your niche, they will keep coming back for more. Builds communities and relationships. Online marketing communications defined by Chaffey 2009 as Online communications techniques used to achieve goals of brand awareness, familiarity and favourability and to influence purchase intent by encouraging users of digital media to visit a web site to engage with the brand or product and ultimately to purchase online or offline through traditional media channels such as by phone or in-store. 2.2.2. Engaging 2.2.3. Retaining 2.3. Online Marketing Communications There are several online marketing tools to attract customers and each tool must be chosen and applied carefully by the companies. online marketing tools available for b2c companies Developing the capability to create and maintain an effective online presence through a web site is a key part of Internet marketing. Effective means that the web site and related communications must deliver relevance to its audience, whether this be through news content for a portal, product and service information for a business-to-business site or relevant products and offers for an e-commerce site. At the same time, effective means the web site must deliver results for the company. 2.3.1. Social Media Social media is defined as a group of Internet-based applications such as blogs, social networking sites, content communities, collaborative projects, virtual game worlds and social worlds that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content (Kaplan Haenlein, 2010). The social media marketing connects service providers, companies and corporations with a broad audience of influencers and consumers (Weinberg 2009, 2-3.). Frick (2010) states that, When you share content on social profiles and your network of friends in turn share it as well, the potential for reaching huge numbers of people with little effort and in a small amount of time could be construed as a tangible business transaction, at least in terms of its marketing potential. Increasing usage of social media and networks created new ways of marketing of products and services. According to Black, Harrison et. Al. (2010) the uptake in use of social media tools is currently rising extremely quickly, Facebook now has over 400 million users and Twitter over 50 million. With these high potentials companies realized the importance of social media and social media started to become a new way to reach potential customers. Kaplan (2010) states that each Social Media application usually attracts a certain group of people and firms should be active wherever their customers are present. A research done by Digital Brand Expressions indicates that 78 percent of client companies actively utilizing social media (sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) and only 41 percent of the respondents strategic social media communications plan  [5]  . 2.3.2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) 2.3.3. Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of identifying and fine-tuning elements and keywords of a Website to improve the traffic in order to reach the highest possible visibility from search engines. Hernà ¡ndez et al (2009) states that, SEO tool tries to capture users who are actively looking for information about a product related to the firm, which converts them into potential clients openly expressing their needs. So SEO is the first thing to tick on your list and its worth remembering that 50 percent of all online purchases start with a search. SEO is a great tool to create brand awareness and increase the website visits. Highest ranking in search engines can attract more visitors to the website. According to Evans (2007) more than half of all visitors come from a search engine rather than from a direct link on another web page. 2.3.4. Mobile Marketing Shankar and Balasubramanian (2009) define Mobile marketing as a two- or multi-way communication and promotion of an offer between a firm and its customers using a mobile medium, device, or technology. Marketing through mobile devices can be used to attract new customers or to retain them. Lubbe and Louw (2010) states that, Mobile devices create an opportunity to deliver new services to existing customers and to attract new ones. Shankar et al. (2010) states that is improving the acquisition and enhancing the retention of customers is an important challenge in the mobile marketing context and the retailers need to better understand social networking to attract and retain customers. Mobile marketing is taking off as more consumers are increasingly becoming dependent on their mobile device for their day-to-day needs, including music, voice and data communication, and photography (Shankar and Balasubramanian 2009). 2.3.5. Affiliate Marketing Chaffey (2009) defines affiliate marketing as a commission based arrangement where referring sites (publishers) receive a commission on sales or leads by merchants (retailers or other transactional sites). He also states that Web site traffic can be developed through online partnerships such as affiliate marketing which involves partners being paid commission for each sale or lead. Affiliate marketing programs help firms to increase their reach and acquire other firms customers when the firms agree to refer their customers to the third parties (Akà §ura, 2010). 2.3.6. Display (Banner) Advertising Display ads are paid ad placements using graphical or rich media ad units within a web page to achieve goals of delivering brand awareness, familiarity, favourability and purchase intent. Many ads encourage interactioÄ ±n through prompting the viewer to interact or rollover to play videos, complete an online form or to view more details by clicking through to a site. Chaffey 2009 2.3.7. Permission E-mail marketing A wide variety of e-commerce marketers are using permission-based e-mail communications to notify prospects of promotions and services, acquire new customers, increase sales, and, most importantly, develop and nurture an ongoing dialogue and relationship with their customers. LOrà ©als brand Lancà ´me uses email newsletters to keep in touch with customers and hence strengthen their brand loyalty (Merisavo and Raulas 2004). The consumers exposed to e-mail marketing recommended the brand to their friends. E-mail also activated consumers to visit retail stores, buy the brands products, and visit the brands site on the internet via links. Brand attitudes were also positive among consumers who had received e-mail. The data show that consumers with higher brand loyalty appreciate regular communication from the brand more than the less loyal. From this we conclude that e-mail offers marketers an opportunity to further strengthen the brand loyalty of already loyal customers by keeping in frequent contact with them. 2.3.8. Online PR Subscription and Feed tools. RSS etc. Social Media Membership Dynamic content 2.3.9. Viral Marketing Viral marketing for the real world. Chaffey and Smith (2008) states that Viral marketing harnesses the network effect of the Internet and can be effective in reaching a large number of people rapidly in the same way as a computer virus can affect many machines around the world. With viral techniques, traffic is built either through using e-mail (virtual word-of-mouth) or real-world word-of-mouth to spread the message from one person to the next (Chaffey and Smith, 2008). BLENDTEC CASE STUDY 2.3.10. Permission E- mail Marketing E-mail is most widely used as a prospect conversion and customer retention tool using an opt-in house-list of prospects and customers who have given permission to a company to contact them (Chaffey and Smith, 2008). For example, Lastminute.com has built a house list of over ten million prospects and customers across Europe. 2.3.11. Online PR Maximising favourable mentions of your company, brands, products or web sites on third-party web sites which are likely to be visited by your target audience. (Chaffey, 2006). According to Chaffey (2006) online PR include: Communicating with media (journalists) online: setting up a press-release area on the web site; creating e-mail alerts about news that journalists and other third parties can sign up to; submitting your news stories or releases to online news feeds. Link building: A structured activity to include good quality hyperlinks to your site from relevant sites with a good page rank. Blogs, podcasting and RSS: Web logs or blogs give an easy method of regularly publishing web pages which are best described as online journals, diaries or news or events listings, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an extension of blogging where blog, news or any type of content is received by subscribers using the systems mentioned above. Podcasts are related to blogs since they can potentially be generated by individuals or organisations to voice an opinion either as audio (typically MP3) or less commonly currently as video. Managing how your brand is presented on third-party sites As part of online PR it is useful to set up monitoring services. It is also necessary to have the resources to deal with negative PR as part of online reputation management. Creating a buzz online viral marketing. member get member 2.4. Online customer This section will present a short story of developments in digital interactive environment with regards to digital user definition and behavior in this environment and will present the new digital player characteristics that is said to be transformed into the Google generation Starting with the term of end-user which was pushed by scholars in the late 1970s to define the persons that would finally benefit from the usage of information, the growing number of users (we refer to tens of millions) in the coming 20 years after that have given birth to the term consumers, as recognition to their new found (economic) powers  [6]  . Nicholas D. and Dobrowolsky T. (2000) argue the over-usage of the term user in reference to the Internet and name it a tired, over-used, cheap and misused word, which provides the information profession with a debased currency. It does not reflect the close and complex engagement that takes place between a person and todays interactive information systems  [7]  . Instead they introduce the term player as a new name for the information consumer and characterize information seeking behavior as interactive, recreational, social and competitive with nuances depending on individual online engagement. According to their following research in 2003, the digital players characteristics are  [8]  : Enormous and unprecedented numbers; we have gotten used to see and speak of website traffic in millions. All powerfull; power given by numbers, by huge choice possibilities and backed-up by governments. Personal characteristics; they cover all age groups, education groups and gender. More then that, the research has revealed that the Internet, initially a male dominated domain, now reflects the gender balance of the general population  [9]  that needs a new demographic profiling in consumer behavior. Huge choice is premonitory (not sure if it is the right word) of the next 2 characteristics: Promiscuous users short attention spans and short visits; Nicholas and Dobrowolski refer to users as bouncers. Online consumers bounce from website to another due to short attention spans, running against homepages they do not like, huge choice of websites, etc. Promiscuous; consumers visit a lot of sites online, but purchase from just a few. (more explanation needed?) Untrusting; all electronic media is two-dimensional and the information provider can be everyone. cited in Seock 2008 Consumers across the age spectrum shop online, but college students aged 18 to 22 have been identified as the Internets hottest market and a prime source of future growth in online sales (Silverman, 2000). College students yearly expenditures reach near $200 billion (as cited in PROMO Xtra, 2003). They are heavy users of the Internet and have more access to this medium than most other population segments (Jasper Lan, 1992; Kim LaRose, 2004; U.S. Department of State, 2002). According to Harris Interactive (2002), 92% of college students own a computer and 93% access the Internet. Their online spending exceeds that of any other demographic group in the U.S. (ODonnell Associates, LLC, 2004). Roemer (2003) noted that U.S. college students online purchases came to $1.4 billion in 2002 following a 17% increase over the previous three years. In this vein, it is important for retailers and consumer educators to better understand college students online shopping behavior. Chaffey (2009), Age can affect levels of access to technology, computer literacy, and eventually, the extent to which individuals use the Internet as part of their shopping routines. Chaffey (2009), At the higher end of the educational spectrum (university and college graduate) the internet is considered as essential if not indispensible. However , the digital divide is persistent and internet access is lower in areas with poorer educational achievement and lower-income schools.d Share of persons who use the Internet at least once a week By age groups 16-74 years of age, shares in percent. Year 2010 Share of persons who ordered goods or services via the Internet during the last twelve months By age groups 16-74 years of age, shares in percent. Year 2010. Orders made for private purposes 2.5. Effectivenes online However, measuring marketing effectiveness poses numerous challenges due to the multitude of possible metrics for assessing effectiveness (Gray, 2006 ). The analysis of advertising channel effectiveness and consumer behavior has emerged as a key concept in the marketing discipline for researchers and practitioners because it bridges consumer behavior and marketing strategy (Woodruff, 1997; Overby et al., 2004). The operational and management processes of e-marketing Online and offline communications techniques for e-commerce There are different marketing communicati