Customer attitude towards change in brands' ownership in the Literature review

Customer attitude towards change in brands' ownership in the automotive industry and how it affects car purchase intentions - Literature review Example The paper tells that with the continued elevation of completion within the current global marketplace because of globalization, introduction of new products has turned out to be a highly risky venture. One factor facilitating such high levels of risk is the implausible high cost of creating brands for product (new products), which can exceed 100 million dollars in some cases. Thus, firms are resulting into line extensions, brand extensions, as well as other new strategies of products, which allow their leveraging of the existing trademark equity with their relatively new products as a measure of minimizing the brand associated risks. Due to the increasing alarming studies about the possible harmful impacts of these, family brands’ extensions, the marketers’ attention has been captured by some recent new approaches. One such approach is the alliances of brands, which this paper seeks to examine in the automobile industry. In the present competitive world, brand alliances are often chosen as strategic options, which assume a diversity of forms ranging from simple advertising to ingredient branding. Some prominent illustrations of such collaborations of brands are evident across the daily life of consumers and spans diverse industries such as high technology, airlines, automobile industry, services, fast moving consumer products, as well as the fashion industry. In marketing, an attitude is a general assessment of products or services created over time. Attitude satisfies personal motives as well as affects buying and shopping habits of the consumers. Consumer attitudes compose of the consumers’ beliefs, behavioral intentions, and feelings about a product or service. This is within the marketing context, usually a retail or brand store. Beliefs, behavioral intentions, and feelings about a product are considered together as they are interdependent. They also represent the forces influencing the way in which consumers react towards an object. Th e consumer attitudes are an advantage as well as an obstacle to a marketer. Selecting to ignore or discount attitudes of the consumers concerning car brands in the development of marketing strategies guarantees less successful of the whole campaign. The perceptive marketers control their attitudes’ understanding in order to predict the consumers’ behavior. Such well-informed marketers understand the exact ways of distinguishing the variations between attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors while controlling all the three in development of effective marketing strategies. Most of the brand alliances or M&A occur between firms from the same nation and across international borders as well as between transnational brands as shall be seen in the automotive industry, which has witnessed a number of mergers and acquisitions. Such transnational alliances of brands allows business entities the permit of marketing as well as learning beyond their domestic scale markets, while maintaini ng high levels of domestic responsiveness. Both parties involved in brand alliance accrue benefits via increasing the rate of success for the product offering in the local markets while strengthening their local brands. This is realized via foreign investment and technology transfer between the alliance partners. However, the successfulness of such brand alliances must consider the attitudes of the customers in the target markets as these determine their effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to examine the alliances in the automotive industry. The emphasis is on examining the attitudes of the customers towards the increasing M&A in this industry as well as its impacts on their intentions of purchasing cars. The objective is determination of the relationship existing between the behavior and attitudes of the

The Cowboy Phenomenon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cowboy Phenomenon - Essay Example Finally, the cowboy is aggressive because nothing can stop him from achieving any goal he wishes to achieve (Ruud, Geoff & Hugo 156). â€Å"There are some things a man just can’t run away from† The first characteristic of the cowboy involves certain aspects of his lives that are mandatory. Consequently, the cowboy must perform these functions because he has no other options. The functions could even be dangerous to the cowboy’s existence. However, the cowboy performs the functions to satisfy significant expectations in his life. For example, in Johnny Guitar†, Johnny realizes that he is in love with Vienna. This love for Vienna enables the viewers to encounter the first cowboy characteristic of Johnny Guitar. This is because Johnny Guitar maintains Vienna’s company after the self-declared reformed. Guitar knows about Vienna’s possible involvement in the robbery because of criminal history, which Vienna already has. However, this does not stop Johnny Guitar from saving his love, Vienna. Johnny Guitar is aware that it is a great risk to save Vienna after her capture but the love he has inspires him (Ray). Consequently, Charles Cosby displays similar cowboy characteristics in â€Å"Cocaine Cowboys 2†. The only difference is that Cosby’s inspiration is the urge to be successful in the cocaine business, not love. Cosby has exemplary courage, which enables him to write letters to Blanco. Evidently, Griselda Blanco is a queen pin who most people fear. Therefore, Cosby’s decision to write the letter to Blanco is synonymous with the first characteristic of the cowboy. This is because Cosby dreams of also leading the cocaine business. Later he establishes the cocaine business and is a rich man because he was not afraid to approach the godmother (Corben & Perry). â€Å"A man ought to do what he thinks is right† The second characteristic of the cowboy encourages cowboys to do what they think is right rega rdless of other people’s views. Johnny Guitar helps Vienna out of the burning bar without considering if Vienna was right or wrong. Johnny Guitar believes that men ought to protect the respective women who they love. Therefore, he saves Vienna from all troubles that face her like when Emma convinces the men to kill Vienna. Similarly, Cosby engages in certain behavior that people would otherwise consider immoral. For example, he sells cocaine in the city without considering the dangers, which he poses to people. Cosby is equally aware of the consequences of the cocaine business. He risks serving jail time like Blanca or even facing more punishments that are serious. However, this knowledge does not stop Cosby from engaging in the dangerous drug business. His only concern is to be successful with the drugs, which he realizes when he owns the 40 Million-cocaine business (Ray). â€Å"If everything isn’t black and white, I say â€Å"why the hell not?† Finally, the c owboy is aggressive in everything he does because of what Johnny Guitar and Charles Cosby reveal in their respective situations. For instance, Johnny Guitar ensures that he saves Vienna when Emma suggests killing Vienna. It is among the most dangerous decisions he makes in the entire movie. This is because of Vienna’s past and the anger, which Emma and her gang have for Vienna. Obviously, Emma would also kill anyone who was on Vienna’s side. However, that could not prevent Johnny Guitar from facing the angry

Portfolio Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Portfolio Assessment - Assignment Example It first involves determining the actual existent state of a company of business. External and internal audits should be carried out to clearly bring out an understanding of an organization’s actual competency and the existing competitive environment. It will then become necessary to determine the most important goals for the company (Porter 2008, p. 89). Priorities should be set at this stage and it should be ensured that the strategic plan focuses on these priorities. Objectives should then be set in order to address any priority issues that may be existent. Accountabilities should then set so that communication becomes easier and the objectives are addressed at individual levels. The plan should then be reviewed over and over again due to the dynamic nature of the market. Strategic tools are the essential and most applied business solution tools that companies apply so as to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Innovations and new developments only become successful if the resulting products and services can sell well. These tools are instrumental in analyzing the existing market, be it a niche, so as to create opportunities for serving clients with a wide variety of products that are more competitive and adapted to a dynamic market development as compared to the other competitors. Some of these tools include Porter’s 5 forces Model, The BCG Matrix, The SWOT Matrix, and The 4 P’s of the Marketing mix, Life Cycle Analysis, Ansoff Matrix, Maslow’s Pyramid and the 7-S McKinsey method. All these strategies are aimed at analyzing different aspects and levels of existence in an organization (Simerson 2011, p. 123). As such, not all these tools are applicable to any situations, thereby their effectiveness is limited to specific si tuations. The political factors of analysis involve government controls and rules in the effort of the company to keep up with the Environmental and Corporate Social

The Gulf War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Gulf War - Essay Example After easily conquering Kuwait, Iraq began verbal attacks on Saudi Arabia, which forced the rest of the world to take a stern action against the stubborn Iraq nation. When Iraq defied all the warnings to leave Kuwait, a military action was the only remaining solution to cub that problem. The western world in collaboration with other wealthy nations contributed funds and security forces to fight Iraq. The gulf war negatively affected the economies of almost all nations, with the worst hit being the developing nations and it altered global democracy. The gulf war had a great negative effect on the world economy that was under pressure in recovering from the Second World War was threatened once again. Oil prices escalated at a great deal since Middle East countries are the major world oil producers because the war had interrupted oil mining and the exportation processes. The oil supply in Middle East countries reduced greatly up to a point where it could not meet global energy demands. Due to the scarcity of oil from major producers, the few Non- OPEC oil producing countries took advantage and hiked their oil prices and the customers did not have a choice but to dig deeper into their pockets. Those prices affected the budgets of various countries since a portion of money that had been set aside for other national projects had to be used to meet the rising cost of oil (Schwab 340). After the problem persisted for a long time, the global economy had taken a recession direction. Many developed nations opted to exploit on other sources of energy to meet their energy demands. Those unplanned new projects hampered development in those nations due to the increased expenditures that those countries did not anticipate. The cost of production of energy rose at an alarming rate, and the result was that the production cost of goods also rose. The increased cost of production further worsened the world economic status since most industries had reduced their production capabili ties and they faced weaker purchasing powers. Most ended up in retrenching a good number of their workers thus increasing the rate of unemployment and overdependence at the same time. Annual revenues that governments earned from those companies reduced drastically forcing them to reduce funding the national projects and development of infrastructures. Free trade markets experienced acute shortages of various goods whose prices had also risen; the nations that relied on these products had to spend more to get them (Schwab 342). Since many sovereign states had cut down on the cost of development, it implied that they produced fewer goods to trade and thus they earned less from foreign exchange markets and in local trades. The poverty levels pushed up due to the increased rate of unemployment, thus posing a great threat to the nationals’ securities since a considerable number of people had turned into theft and other criminal acts to earn their daily bread (Cashman & Robinson 11 ). The developing states faced the worst economic crisis as compared to the developed countries primarily because those nations heavily depended on the imported goods from their developed neighbors (Costigan & Perry 301). The oil crisis forced those developed states to use more money from their budgets and they had to stall some of their projects

Improving health for the psychiatric population Essay - 1

Improving health for the psychiatric population - Essay Example Each person is entitled to a good mental health to enable them to adhere to their roles in school, family and at work. According to EC (2005 p4), â€Å"mental health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes hi or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.† However, mental illness is accompanied by depression, stress, and mental strains, hence rendering a person incapable of acting normal. Nevertheless, Psychiatric problems may be hereditary, environmental, or economic. Psychiatric illness affects a country’s economy via loss of production through early retirement. Therefore, the need for mental health improvement on the general population is important; as its related challenges need to be addressed; for instance, stigma and human rights. Studies on the psychiatric population have been conducted over the past years, including the causes, symptoms, and treatment. According to Stewart, et al (2009 p749), manual restraining was commonly used in Psychiatric hospitals as a way of managing violent behaviors of the patients. Violent behaviors among the psychiatric patients are usually high; therefore, manual restraint is commonly used to calm the patient down. This method involves restraining the patient on the floor in a prone position to restrict any movement; however, such reaction lasts for about ten minutes. Stewart et al (2009) further insist that manual restraint involves the risk of injury to the involved parties, but are common in staff members. According to a survey conducted on 269 nurses in the psychiatric care units, they agreed to the fact the manual restraint had positive outcomes, although it was stressful (Stewart, et al, 2009, p.753). Mental disorders are not only evident in adults, but also among

Films the Conversation and the Parallax view and its influence on the Essay

Films the Conversation and the Parallax view and its influence on the audience - Essay Example Authority on wiretapping soon after the Watergate Scandal broke out referred to the equipments used to eavesdrop on the Democratic National Committee's headquarters as sloppy and amateurish. Harry Caul is depicted as the microcosm of America at the 70's. He is shown as an anti hero in the sense that he can effortlessly bug anybody at anytime, anywhere. He is dedicated to his work which becomes an obsession, and he doesn't seem to care about fellow humans and their sufferings. He himself is a paranoid and secrecy is his moral. He swears by secrecy in anything remotest connected to him, perhaps it's the realisation in his sub conscious mind that how important a person's secrecy is which he is constantly violating. However, when he overhears a conversation of a couple he was bugging, his conscience prevailed over his sense of professionalism and he got entangled in a web of deceptions and lies. The movie is insightful and penetrating and divulges deep into the fears in everyone's mind, which is lying dormant. The conversation is about paranoia, invasion of privacy, bugging and nagging conscience of people. In the Watergate scandal, the people involved although were aware of the immorality of their act, did not think it to be objectively wrong. Harry initially had no notion about the immorality of his job but finally he had which destroyed him. Though the script was written in the mid 60's, the release of the movie coincided with the Watergate Scandal and the script that finally emerged had in it issues of personal responsibility and encroachment of technology on the privacy of individual. The film is not a response to any one political event, rather it is a generalised commentary on the erosion of privacy and... The Parallax Corporation is shown to have unlimited power. The question about Kennedy’s assassination and the Watergate scandal of 1974 are stark realities which proved general publics ignorance about constant threat to democracy and freedom. The scenes behind the Parallax Corporation where Frady undergoes some qualifying tests, reveals how patriotic values can be perverted and manipulated to serve a corrupt system. Both the movies released in the 70’s are influenced by the happening in America during that time period. While intrusion of privacy, wiretapping, lies, deceits at the highest level, fear psychosis in mind of the American public, were depicted in the Coppola movie â€Å"the Conversation† through the surveillance expert Harry, the Parallax View based on conspiracy theory drew its storyline from assassinations of J.F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Since both the movies drew their inspiration from real life situation, every image seen in the movies have the potential of affecting the audience greatly. Presenting the most dangerous and volatile political issues of the 1970’s in a lucid pattern, both the movies have earned critical acclaim.

Marketing Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing Communications - Essay Example A marketer detect these goals while analysing hierarchies in which consumers’ values drive the desired psychosocial consequences of product consumption, and the latter, in turn, influence product preferences. In general, researchers have yet to make a connection between the macro and micro approaches to consumer goals. Other approaches that highlight situational influences on consumer goals include the social, cultural, physical, and timely contexts of consumption (Ratneshwar et al: 10). Different methods through which consumer behavior can be analysed are by studying consumer economic, passive, emotional and cognitive behavior. An economic perspective according to Becker (1965) helps us to make the best usage of time as he suggests that time is as valuable as money. Consumer makes decisions while equating in his mind the value of time with the opportunity cost, the wage rate, and assumes that the value of time is a constant and is not influenced by any characteristic of the outcomes as long as the best alternative use of time is unaffected (Holbrook: 30). Economic perspective serves as an indicator to analyse consumers with respect to several alternate solutions or products, among which they prefer to choose one that economically suites them, while satisfying their area of interests. Becker’s context-free approach supports the economic view under which a consumer makes decisions and terms it as prospect theory. According to this theory what matters to consumer to take a decision are the utilities and values that exist in the back of his mind? While these utilities acts as a function of gains and losses relative to a particular reference point, it is this point that indicates the extent and represent consumer’s buying power. To examine this method an experiment was conducted where consumers were given an option to save few minutes of travel time on a train by paying an additional $2 for a service. Prospect theory mentioned it as an opportunity