Roles Of Users, Payers And Buyers

Roles Of Users, Payers And Buyers Consumer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the consumer playing the three distinct roles of users, payer and buyer. Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy products. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand peoples wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. WHAT IS CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR? Consumer behaviour can be defined as the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour, and environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives. There are at least three important ideas in this definition: (1) consumer behaviour is dynamic; (2) it involves interaction between affect and cognition, behaviour, and environmental events; and (3) it involves exchange. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IS DYNAMIC First, the definition emphasis that consumer behaviour is dynamic. This means individual consumers, consumer groups, and society at large are constantly changing and evolving over time. This has important implications for the study of consumer behaviour as well as for developing marketing strategies. In terms of studying consumer behaviour, one implication is that generalizations about consumer behaviour are usually limited to specific periods of time, products, and individuals or groups. Thus, students of consumer behaviour must be careful not to over- generalize theories and research findings. In terms of developing marketing strategies, the dynamic nature of consumer behaviour implies that one should not expect the same marketing strategy to work all the time across all products, markets, and industries. While this may seem obvious, many companies have failed to recognize the need to adapt their strategies in different markets. Further, a strategy that is successful at one point may fail miserably at another point because of the dynamism of the consumers and the markets, and this is what makes marketing strategy development such an exciting , yet challenging, task. DATABASE MARKETING Many companies have developed extensive database that allow them to target individual consumers. Here are a few of them: NESTLE chose to launch a new pasta product through the post rather than through television. It is cheaper for them to develop a database of the right socioeconomic profile of pasta-eaters than it is to promote via television. UNILEVER uses database marketing to target their loyal customers, trying to make loyalty last. In Sweden, they are creating a database with users of their Organics shampoo on the basis of participants in a recent competition. They have also sent out samples of a new Dove sensitive crà ¨me douche to target segments in order to create awareness. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR INVOLVES INTERACTIONS A second important point emphasized in the definition of consumer behaviour is that it involves interactions between affect and cognition, behaviour, and environmental events. This means that to understand consumers and develop superior marketing strategies, we must understand what they think (cognition) and feel (affect), what they do (behaviour), and the things and places (environmental events) that influence and are influenced by what consumers think, feel, and do. Whether we are evaluating a single consumer, a target market, or an entire society, analysis of all three elements is useful for understanding and developing marketing strategies. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR INVOLVES EXCHANGES A final point emphasized in the definition of consumer behaviour is that it involves exchanges between human beings. This makes the definition of consumer behaviour consistent with current definitions of marketing that also emphasize exchange. In fact, the role of marketing is to create exchanges with consumers by formulating and implementing marketing strategies. APPROACHES TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH Two broad groups are interested in consumer behaviour a basic research group and an action-oriented group. The basic research group is mainly composed of academic researchers interested in studying consumer behaviour as a way of developing a unique body of knowledge about this aspect of human behaviour. These researchers have backgrounds in anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, and marketing, as well as other fields. The majority of published work on consumer behaviour is basic research, and this work forms the foundation of our text. Because researchers dealing with consumer behaviour have different backgrounds, the way in which they analyse consumer behaviour, the topics they concentrate on, the kind of theories they develop, and the kind of research methods they employ differ as well. Some consumer research is very qualitative, with an emphasis on understanding a particular consumption event, a particular familys consumer behaviour, or the success of a particular brand based on the context in which these phenomena occur and on the history leading up to the occurrence of the phenomenon. Other consumer research concentrates on finding regularities in consumer behaviour that apply in a broad variety of contexts across time and space, such as the effect of personal involvement in a purchase, on information seeking behaviour or the effect of sales promotions on shopping behaviour in supermarkets. CONSUMER AFFECT AND COGNITION Consumer affect and cognition refer to two types of mental responses consumers have to stimuli and events in their environment. Affect refers to their feelings about stimuli and events, such as whether they like or dislike a product. Cognition refers to their thinking, such as beliefs about a particular product. Affective responses can be favourable or unfavourable and vary in intensity. For instance, affect includes relatively intense emotions, such as love or anger; less strong feeling states such as satisfaction or frustration; moods such as boredom or relaxation, and milder overall attitudes, such as liking McDonalds chips or disliking Bic pens. Marketers typically develop strategies to create positive affect for their products and brands to increase the chances that consumers will buy them. Cognition refers to the mental structures and processes involved in thinking, understanding, and interpreting stimuli and events. It includes the knowledge, meaning, and beliefs that consumers have developed from their experience and stored in their memories. It also includes the processes associated with paying attention to and understanding stimuli and events, remembering past events, forming evaluations, and making purchasing decisions and choices. While many aspects of cognition are conscious thinking processes, others are essentially automatic. SOME BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT CONSUMER AFFECT AND COGNITION 1. How do consumers interpret information about marketing stimuli such as products, stores, and advertising? 2. How do consumers choose among alternative product classes, products, and brands? 3. How do consumers form evaluations of products and brands? 4. How does memory affect consumer decision making? 5. How do affect and cognition influence behaviour and environments? CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Behaviour refers to the physical actions of actions of consumers that can be directly observed and measured by others. It is also called overt behaviour to distinguish it from mental activities, such as thinking, that cannot be observed directly. Examples of behaviour include shopping at stores, buying products, or using credit cards. Behaviour is critical for marketing strategy because it is only through behaviour that sales can be made and profits earned. While many marketing strategies are designed to influence consumers affect and cognition, these strategies must ultimately result in overt consumer behaviour for them to have value for the company. It is therefore critical for marketers to analyse, understand, and influence overt behaviour. SOME BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT CONSUMER BEHAVIOURS 1. How do behaviour approaches differ from affective and cognitive approaches to studying consumer behaviour? 2. What is classical conditioning, and how is it used by marketers to influence consumer behaviour? 3. What is operant conditioning, and how is it used by marketers to influence consumer behaviour? 4. What is vicarious learning, and how is it used by marketers to influence consumer behaviour? 5. What consumer behaviours are of interest to marketing management? CONSUMER ENVIRONMENT The consumer environment refers to everything external to consumers that influence what they think, feel, and do. It includes social stimuli that influence consumers, such as the actions of others in cultures, subcultures, social classes, reference groups, and families. It also includes other physical stimuli, such as stores, products, advertisements, and signs which can change consumers thoughts, feelings, and actions. The consumer environment is important for marketing strategy because it is the medium in which stimuli are placed to influence consumers. For example, marketers run commercials during TV programmes that their target markets watch in order to inform, persuade, and remind them to buy certain products and brands. SOME BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT CONSUMER ENVIRONMENT 1. In what physical environments do consumer behaviours occur? 2. How do environments affect consumers affect and cognition and behaviour? 3. How do consumers affect and cognition and behaviour affect the environment? 4. What effect does culture have on consumers? 5. What effect does subculture have on consumers? RELATIONSHIPS AMONG AFFECT AND COGNITION, BEHAVIOUR, AND THE ENVIRONMENT Each of the three elements can be either a cause or an effect of a change in the other element. For example, a consumer might see an advert for a new laundry detergent that promises to wash clothes cleaner than OMO. This might change what the consumer thinks about the new brand and lead to a purchase of it. In this case, a change in the consumers environment (the advert for the new detergent), led to a change in cognition (the consumer believed the new detergent was better) which led to a change in behaviour (the consumer bought the new brand). Another possibility is that a consumer might be dissatisfied with his or her current brand of laundry detergent. On the consumers next trip to the grocery, other brands are inspected, and one that promises to get white clothes whiter is selected. In this example, a change in affect and cognition (dissatisfaction) leads to a change in the consumers environment (inspecting other brands) which leads to change in behaviour (purchase of a different brand). While there are other ways changes could occur, these examples serve to illustrate our view of consumers. Namely, that not only do consumer processes involve a dynamic and interactive system, but they are also a reciprocal system. A reciprocal system is one in which any of the elements could be either a cause or an effect of a change at any particular time. Affect and cognition could change consumers behaviour and environment; behaviours could change consumers affect, cognitions and environments. Environments can change consumers affect, cognition and behaviour. There are five implications of viewing consumer processes as a reciprocal system involving affect and cognition, behaviour, and the environment. First, any comprehensive analyses of consumers must consider all three elements and the relationships of them. Description of consumers in terms of only one or two of the elements is incomplete. Second, it is important to recognize that any of the three elements may be the starting point for consumer analysis. While we think that marketing strategists should start with an analysis of the specific overt behaviours consumers must perform to achieve marketing objectives, useful analyses could start with affect and cognition by researching what consumers think and feel about such things as the various brands of a product. Third, since this view is dynamic, it recognises that consumers can continuously change. While some consumers may change little during a particular time period, others may frequently change their affect, cognition, behaviour, and environments. Keeping abreast of consumers therefore involves continuous research to detect changes that could influence marketing strategies. Fourth, while our example focused on a single consumer, consumer analysis can be applied at several levels. It can be used to analyse not only a single consumer, but also a group of consumers that make up a target market, a larger group of consumers which make up all of the purchasers of a product in an industry, or for an entire society. Finally, this framework for analysing consumers highlights the importance of consumer research and analysis in developing marketing strategies. Consumer research and analysis should be key activities for developing marketing strategies. Consumer research includes many types of study such as test marketing, advertising pre-tests, sales promotion effects, analysis of sales and market share data, pricing experiments, traffic and shopping patterns, brand attitude and intentions, and many others. Consumer research and analysis should not end when a strategy has been implemented. Rather research should continue to investigate the effects of the strategy and whether it could be changed to be more effective. Thus, marketing strategy should involve a continuous process of researching and analysing consumers, developing strategies, implementing them, and continuously improving strategies. INFORMATION SEARCH Once the consumer has recognized a problem, they search for information on products and services that can solve that problem. Sources of information include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Personal sources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Commercial sources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Public sources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Personal experience The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with information search is perception. Perception is defined as the process by which an individual receives, selects, organizes, and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world. THE SELECTIVE PERCEPTION PROCESS Stage Description à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Selective exposure consumers select which promotional messages they will expose themselves to. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Selective attention consumers select which promotional messages they will pay attention to. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Selective comprehension consumers interpret messages in line with their beliefs, attitudes, motives and experiences. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Selective retention consumers remember messages that are more meaningful or important to them. The implications of this process help develop an effective promotional strategy, and select which sources of information are more effective for the brand. INFORMATION EVALUATION At this time the consumer compares the brands and products that are in their evoked set. How can the marketing organization increase the likelihood that their brand is part of the consumers evoked (consideration) set? Consumers evaluate alternatives in terms of the functional and psychological benefits that they offer. The marketing organization needs to understand what benefits consumers are seeking and therefore which attributes are most important in terms of making a decision. PURCHASE DECISION Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the consumer is ready to make a purchase decision. Sometimes purchase intention does not result in an actual purchase. The marketing organization must facilitate the consumer to act on their purchase intention. The provision of credit or payment terms may encourage purchase, or a sales promotion such as the opportunity to receive a premium or enter a competition may provide an incentive to buy now. The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with purchase decision is integration. POSTPURCHASE EVALUATION It is common for customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision. This arises from a concept that is known as cognitive dissonance. The customer, having bought a product, may feel that an alternative would have been preferable. In these circumstances that customer will not repurchase immediately, but is likely to switch brands next time. To manage the post-purchase stage, it is the job of the marketing team to persuade the potential customer that the product will satisfy his or her needs. Then after having made a purchase, the customer should be encouraged that he or she has made the right decision. It is not affected by advertisement. INTERNAL INFLUENCES Consumer behaviour is influenced by: demographics, psychographics (lifestyle), personality, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. Consumer behaviour concern with consumer need consumer actions in the direction of satisfying needs leads to his behaviour of every individual depend on thinking process. EXTERNAL INFLUENCES Consumer behaviour is influenced by: culture, sub-culture, locality, royalty, ethnicity, family, social class, reference groups, lifestyle, and market mix factors. MARKETING STRATEGY From a consumer point of view, a marketing strategy is a set of stimuli placed in consumers environments designed to influence their affect, cognition, and behaviour. These stimuli include such things as products, brands, packaging, advertisements, coupons, stores, credit cards, price tags, salespeoples communications, and in some cases sounds (music), smells (perfume), and other sensory cues. Clearly, marketing strategies should not only be designed to influence consumers, but should also be influenced by them. For example, if research shows that consumers are disgusted (affect and cognition) with the advertisements for Armani jeans, the company may want to change its adverts to better appeal to the market. If research shows that consumers in the target market do not shop (behaviour) in stores where a companys product is featured, then the distribution strategy may have to be changed. If the research shows that consumers want to be able to get information from a companys homepage (environment) and none exists, the company may want to create one. Thus marketing strategies should be developed, implemented, and changed based on consumer research and analysis. REFRENCES: Peter J .P, Olson J.C and Grunert K .G (1999) Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy, McGraw-Hill, Berkshire, England. Schiffman L .G and Kanuk L .L (1995) Consumer Behaviour, Prentice-Hall of India, New Delhi. INTERNET SOURCES: Consumer Behaviour curled from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/consumer_behaviour Consumer Psychologist curled from http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/ THE ROLE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN STRATEGIC MARKETING COMMUNICATION à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Consumer Affect and Cognition à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Consumer Behaviour à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Consumer Environment

The Mystery of the Pyramids Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Paper

Why ask why the Great Pyramid was built? Because it is the most massive building on the planet, at least twice the volume and thirty times the mass of the Empire State Building. Because it is aligned to the true cardinal points of the compass even though no compass is known to have existed at its time of construction. Because its masonry which weighs up to seventy tons is joined to the fiftieth of an inch. Because its casing stones were polished to the standard of modern optical work. Why was such an enormous undertaking, combined with such incredible accuracy, deemed necessary for the construction of a mere tomb and funerary ornament to a dead king who never occupied it? It is an enormous undertaking for such a seemingly useless building - a building that is thought of by most to be a house for a dead pharaoh. But there are other reasons to question why the Great Pyramid and indeed why any of the thirty or so pyramids were built than simply because of its immense size, features, and effort that must have been involved in its construction. A large amount of theories exist that speculate about its "true" or other functions. Is the Great Pyramid an astronomical observatory, a huge public works project, the Bible written in solid stone, a prophetic work, or an energy collector? Who designed and built the Great Pyramid? God, Thoth, a past civilization, or space aliens? It is these questions that will be examined so that we can gain a better understanding of why such seemingly enormous undertakings of pyramid construction were ever carried out. Why do some believe that the Great Pyramid (or the pyramid of the pharaoh Khufu or Cheops) at Ghiza was designed with clear mathematical links between the Pyramid's dimensions and the Ea... ...ris. The Pyramids. New York : Hippocrene Books , 1988. De Jager, Cornelius. "Adventures in Science and Cyclosophy." Skeptical Inquirer Winter 1992. Hadingham, Evan. "Pyramid Schemes . " The Atlantic November 1992 . Hamblin, Dora Jane. "A Unique Approach to Unraveling the Secrets of the Great Pyramids . " Smithsonian April 1986 . Lemesurier, Peter. The Great Pyramid Decoded. Longmead: Element Books Ltd.: 1989. Mendelssohn, Kurt. The Riddle of the Pyramids. New York: Praeger Publishers: 1974. Stiebing, William H. Jr.. Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions, and other Popular Theories about Man's Past. Buffalo: Prometheus Books: 1984. Tompkins, Peter. Secrets of the Great Pyramid. New York : Harper & Row: 1971. Works Consulted Trachtenberg, Marvin. Architecture From Prehistory to Post-Modern New York: Hary N. Abrams, Inc.: 1986.

Dances With Wolves Essay -- essays research papers

The film, Dances with Wolves, staring Kevin Costner gives a historically accurate presentation of the Sioux Indians and their way of life. In this production, Lieutenant John Dunbar, played by Costner, is rewarded for his heroic actions in the Civil War by being offered an opportunity to see the American frontier before it is gone. Dunbar is assigned to an abandoned fort where his only friends are a lone wolf and his beloved horse, Cisco. After several weeks of waiting for more American troops, a Sioux Indian makes contact with Dunbar and reports this finding to his chief. This incident sets off a train of events that would forever change John Dunbar and the Sioux tribe he encounters. When Dunbar realizes that the Indians know where he lives, he becomes extremely paranoid and spends his days preparing the fort for another confrontation. He buries all the extra materials in fear that they might fall into enemy hands. On one of his daily rides around the frontier, Dunbar comes across an Indian woman crying under a tree. He sees the imminent danger from the woman’s self-inflicted wounds and determines it is his duty to return the woman to the Sioux camp. Dunbar dresses in his best uniform and shines his boots to prepare for the meeting. When the Sioux spot Dunbar they are immediately alarmed and confront him ready to kill. Kicking Bird, a Sioux holy man and the first Sioux to know of Dunbar’s existence, discourages the fight claiming that the white man is not there to fight. Wind In His Hair, a fierce warrior, tears the Sioux women from Dunbar’s grasp and the lieutenant is allowed to go freely. That following evening the Sioux council discussed w hat they would do with their new neighbor and decided that Kicking Bird and Wind In His Hair would revisit Dunbar’s fort to find out why he was there. Dunbar welcomed the Sioux to the fort but was worried of what they planned to do with him. The language barrier was met head on, as neither could understand each other. Using gestures and objects, limited communication was accomplished on the first visit. The Sioux continued to visit Dunbar and each day progress was made. Dunbar taught the Indians some of the white culture and Kicking Bird was anxious to discover why he was in their territory and how many more white men would come. Both sides were forced to overcome the language barrier and their mutual fear and distrus... ...w village, he took the trip back to the fort, promising to catch up with them later. Upon his arrival at the fort, a new fleet of soldiers had settled in. They quickly spotted Dances With Wolves and attacked him. The soldiers killed his horse and arrested him. Dances With Wolves would not cooperate with the American soldiers but would only speak to them in Sioux. Due to his lack of assistance, the soldiers were forced to transport their prisoner back to Fort Mays to be hung. Before the Americans could make it to Mays, the Sioux attacked them and saved Dances With Wolves. Dances had proven his loyalty to the Sioux and abandoned all his white ways. The transformation became complete. Lieutenant John Dunbar went through several drastic changes to become Dances With Wolves. In his short time with the Indians, he turned enemies into friends and foreign customs into his own. His view of the Sioux changes more severe than he does. No longer does he view them as savages without order, but now he sees them as a civilized group with more heart than anyone he has met before. His experiences with the Sioux help to open his eyes and change him into a man he never was and never thought he’d be.

The Miranda Warning :: essays research papers

The Miranda Warning For the past decade, many Right Wing organizations have sort to change many of the laws, governing our rights and freedom. These laws were passed by congress and upheld by the Supreme Court. The Miranda Warning is one of these laws. The Miranda Warning is intended to protect the guilty as well as the innocent and should be protected at all costs. Without the law, many suspects may be treated unfairly. It is a necessary safeguard. Miranda is a ruling which says that the accused have the right to remain silent and prosecutors may not use statements made by them while in police custody, unless the police advice them of their rights. In other words, a police officer must inform a suspect of this fundamental right, under the Fifth Amendment, at the time of their arrest and or interrogation. Miranda protect ignorant suspects from incriminating themselves. Miranda also protects suspects from overzealous police officers. Although most law-enforcement agents in the United States are decent men and women, some abuse their power. They may try to coerce suspects into giving false confessions. Time and time again, we read of cases where suspects were forced to make confessions because an overzealous or prejudiced police officers want to close a case. The story of Rubin Hurricane Carter, made popular by the motion picture of the same name, demonstrated how lives could be destroyed when vindictive and manipulating detectives abuse their power. The Miranda Warning helps keep abuses in check. If the law is used correctly, the guilty would receive their due punishment. When police officers inform suspects of their rights before interrogation, it is very unlikely that the judge presiding over any case would throw out statements made during questioning. Many high ranking law enforcement agents around the country support the Miranda Warning rule because it is a necessary safeguard; it helps and does not hinders the judicial process. William J. Bratton former police commissioner for the New York City Police Department said, "Miranda works at a minimal social cost. The Supreme Court should reaffirm a decision that has served this country well." I believe that the Miranda warning protects all citizens, guilty and innocent, victim and perpetrator, from unscrupulous officers. The law was designed to insure that the statement given is voluntary and not extracted by force or coercion. Many courts including the Supreme Court have made thousands of decisions using the Miranda ruling without any indication that the law was unconstitutional or benefit criminals.

Deception Point Page 74

â€Å"Smart people like yourself don't have the luxury of playing stupid, Dr. Harper. You're in trouble, and the senator sent me up here to offer you a deal. The senator's campaign took a huge hit tonight. He's got nothing left to lose, and he's ready to take you down with him if he needs to.† â€Å"What the devil are you talking about?† Gabrielle took a deep breath and made her play. â€Å"You lied in your press conference about the PODS anomaly-detection software. We know that. A lot of people know that. That's not the issue.† Before Harper could open his mouth to argue, Gabrielle steamed onward. â€Å"The senator could blow the whistle on your lies right now, but he's not interested. He's interested in the bigger story. I think you know what I'm talking about.† â€Å"No, I-â€Å" â€Å"Here's the senator's offer. He'll keep his mouth shut about your software lies if you give him the name of the top NASA executive with whom you're embezzling funds.† Chris Harper's eyes seemed to cross for a moment. â€Å"What? I'm not embezzling!† â€Å"I suggest you watch what you say, sir. The senatorial committee has been collecting documentation for months now. Did you really think you two would slip by undetected? Doctoring PODS paperwork and redirecting allocated NASA funds to private accounts? Lying and embezzling can put you in jail, Dr. Harper.† â€Å"I did no such thing!† â€Å"You're saying you didn't lie about PODS?† â€Å"No, I'm saying I bloody well didn't embezzle money!† â€Å"So, you're saying you did lie about PODS.† Harper stared, clearly at a loss for words. â€Å"Forget about the lying,† Gabrielle said, waving it off. â€Å"Senator Sexton is not interested in the issue of your lying in a press conference. We're used to that. You guys found a meteorite, nobody cares how you did it. The issue for him is the embezzlement. He needs to take down someone high in NASA. Just tell him who you're working with, and he'll steer the investigation clear of you entirely. You can make it easy and tell us who the other person is, or the senator will make it ugly and start talking about anomaly-detection software and phony work-arounds.† â€Å"You're bluffing. There are no embezzled funds.† â€Å"You're an awful liar, Dr. Harper. I've seen the documentation. Your name is on all the incriminating paperwork. Over and over.† â€Å"I swear I know nothing about any embezzlement!† Gabrielle let out a disappointed sigh. â€Å"Put yourself in my position, Dr. Harper. I can only draw two conclusions here. Either you're lying to me, the same way you lied in that press conference. Or you're telling the truth, and someone powerful in the agency is setting you up as a fall guy for his own misdealings.† The proposition seemed to give Harper pause. Gabrielle checked her watch. â€Å"The senator's deal is on the table for an hour. You can save yourself by giving him the name of the NASA exec with whom you're embezzling taxpayers' money. He doesn't care about you. He wants the big fish. Obviously the individual in question has some power here at NASA; he or she has managed to keep his or her identity off the paper trail, allowing you to be the fall guy.† Harper shook his head. â€Å"You're lying.† â€Å"Would you like to tell that to a court?† â€Å"Sure. I'll deny the whole thing.† â€Å"Under oath?† Gabrielle grunted in disgust. â€Å"Suppose you'll also deny you lied about fixing the PODS software?† Gabrielle's heart was pounding as she stared straight into the man's eyes. â€Å"Think carefully about your options here, Dr. Harper. American prisons can be most unpleasant.† Harper glared back, and Gabrielle willed him to fold. For a moment she thought she saw a glimmer of surrender, but when Harper spoke, his voice was like steel. â€Å"Ms. Ashe,† he declared, anger simmering in his eyes, â€Å"you are clutching at thin air. You and I both know there is no embezzlement going on at NASA. The only liar in this room is you.† Gabrielle felt her muscles go rigid. The man's gaze was angry and sharp. She wanted to turn and run. You tried to bluff a rocket scientist. What the hell did you expect? She forced herself to hold her head high. â€Å"All I know,† she said, feigning utter confidence and indifference to his position, â€Å"is the incriminating documents I've seen-conclusive evidence that you and another are embezzling NASA funds. The senator simply asked me to come here tonight and offer you the option of giving up your partner instead of facing the inquiry alone. I will tell the senator you prefer to take your chances with a judge. You can tell the court what you told me-you're not embezzling funds and you didn't lie about the PODS software.† She gave a grim smile. â€Å"But after that lame press conference you gave two weeks ago, somehow I doubt it.† Gabrielle spun on her heel and strode across the darkened PODS laboratory. She wondered if maybe she'd be seeing the inside of a p rison instead of Harper. Gabrielle held her head high as she walked off, waiting for Harper to call her back. Silence. She pushed her way through the metal doors and strode out into the hallway, hoping the elevators up here were not key-card operated like the lobby. She'd lost. Despite her best efforts, Harper wasn't biting. Maybe he was telling the truth in his PODS press conference, Gabrielle thought. A crash resounded down the hall as the metal doors behind her burst open. â€Å"Ms. Ashe,† Harper's voice called out. â€Å"I swear I know nothing about any embezzlement. I'm an honest man!† Gabrielle felt her heart skip a beat. She forced herself to keep walking. She gave a casual shrug and called out over her shoulder. â€Å"And yet you lied in your press conference.† Silence. Gabrielle kept moving down the hallway. â€Å"Hold on!† Harper yelled. He came jogging up beside her, his face pale. â€Å"This embezzlement thing,† he said, lowering his voice. â€Å"I think I know who set me up.† Gabrielle stopped dead in her tracks, wondering if she had heard him correctly. She turned as slowly and casually as she could. â€Å"You expect me to believe someone is setting you up?† Harper sighed. â€Å"I swear I know nothing about embezzlement. But if there's evidence against me†¦ â€Å" â€Å"Mounds of it.† Harper sighed. â€Å"Then it's all been planted. To discredit me if need be. And there's only one person who would have done that.† â€Å"Who?† Harper looked her in the eye. â€Å"Lawrence Ekstrom hates me.† Gabrielle was stunned. â€Å"The administrator of NASA?† Harper gave a grim nod. â€Å"He's the one who forced me to lie in that press conference.† 88 Even with the Aurora aircraft's misted-methane propulsion system at half power, the Delta Force was hurtling through the night at three times the speed of sound-over two thousand miles an hour. The repetitive throb of the Pulse Detonation Wave Engines behind them gave the ride a hypnotic rhythm. A hundred feet below, the ocean churned wildly, whipped up by the Aurora's vacuum wake, which sucked fifty-foot rooster tails skyward in long parallel sheets behind the plane. This is the reason the SR-71 Blackbird was retired, Delta-One thought. The Aurora was one of those secret aircraft that nobody was supposed to know existed, but everyone did. Even the Discovery channel had covered Aurora and its testing out at Groom Lake in Nevada. Whether the security leaks had come from the repeated â€Å"skyquakes† heard as far away as Los Angeles, or the unfortunate eyewitness sighting by a North Sea oil-rig driller, or the administrative gaffe that left a description of Aurora in a public copy of the Pentagon budget, nobody would ever know. It hardly mattered. The word was out: The U.S. military had a plane capable of Mach 6 flight, and it was no longer on the drawing board. It was in the skies overhead.

Doing Business in Countries with Totalitarian Goverments Essay

The ethics of doing business in countries with totalitarian governments has many pros and cons involved with it. But for this debate I will show the cons of doing business in a country with a totalitarian government with an example. The term totalitarian government can be defined as in political science a system of government and ideology in which all social, political, economic, intellectual, cultural, and spiritual activities are subordinated to the purposes of the rulers of a state. (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia) Totalitarian dictatorship strives to be in the control of all the aspects of the private and public behavior by the government influencing all of society toward all their common goals and policies. When I began thinking of a totalitarian government a good example came to mind is the totalitarian states of Nazi Germany which was under the leadership of Adolf Hitler at that time. It was the first examples of decentralized or popular totalitarianism in which the state achieved an overwhelming popular support for its country’s leadership. The support from its individuals was not spontaneous but it genesis depended on its charismatic leader. It also was made possible only by the modern developments in its communication and transportation. According to the Britannica Encyclopedia under totalitarian rules, the traditional social institutions and organizational are discouraged and suppressed. Thus saying that the social fabric is weakened and the people became more amenable to absorption into a single unified movement. With all said me I believe that with doing business in a country that has a totalitarian government would not be a chose one bit. A totalitarian government will tell you as a business owner how you should run your business. They will also make themselves involved in every big or little aspects of how your business is operated. With being in a totalitarian government you would have to be very caution of what and how you sell your goods and services. I also believe that with a totalitarian government that if you make one wrong move you business could be taken over by the government. By doing business with a country that lives under the  totalitarian rules you as a business owner are inadvertently supporting the regime of the dictators. References: â€Å"Definition of totalitarianism† Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (2008). Retrieved May 5, 2008 from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761574819/totalitarianism.html†Totalitarianism† (2008). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 5, 2008 from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.brigannica.com/EBchecked/topic/600435/totalitarianism

Love’s Pain Is Its Own Redemption Essay

â€Å"What is love?† According to Joseph Rey F. Celestino, M.A, this is a question that excites and stirs a thousand fold of other questions in our minds. That’s a verbatim of what he had said in an article he made, called Love’s Pain is It’s Own Redemption. It is an article that opened my eyes to the reality of love. It’s an article that never seizes to amaze me, to amuse me, to make me question my beliefs, and change my views and opinions (in a good way), no matter how many times I read it. It continues to serve as an instrument of wonder, challenging me to go out, explore, and experience the magic, the marvel, and the astounding beauty of love. It’s an article about the enticing world something that we all know of, but only get a glimpse of its true form. I have never viewed love in a way that’s even just a tiny bit close to the way I see it now. I gained a deeper understanding of how love moves and works, but I know that I still have a long way to go before I figure out what love really is, or who knows? Maybe I’ll never find the right words to define what it is. Maybe I’ll never know what love means. The possibilities are endless. But this article is my guide, so that I won’t get lost, as I start my quest on finding clues that might lead me to the answers I’ve been looking for, to questions I never thought I would ever ask, about things I never thought I‘d be curious about. According to the author, â€Å"What is love?† is a question that knows no barriers, knows no bounds, and knows no age and generation. He also made a statement which I find very agreeable. He said that â€Å"love is the most celebrated theme of human existence (†¦)† I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. No matter who you are, where you’re from, how old you are, or what gender you are, you absolutely, positively have something to say about something is related to love, or when love itself is being talked about. We each have our own views and opinions regarding love. These may be brought about by mere experiences, or our beliefs, or other factors that may affect or form our ideas and judgments. He further stated that the untangled web of mystery of love is what binds us all. He said that â€Å"As we are drawn to the nearness of its answer, the more that we find ourselves confused and puzzled.† Pertaining to the question being discussed. He explained how love or the question of what it is, is in fact too close to being a paradoxical phenomena. Maybe that’s why people try so hard to find a definition for love. Maybe that’s why people try to put love in words. Because people do not want things and questions left unanswered and undefined. Being curious is in our nature. We hunger and thirst for answers to things we do not even fully understand. We find it hard to â€Å"let things be†. Because we exist questioningly. And we do not easily let things go. That’s why, each of us, whether we say it or not, has our own definition of love. We on our own try to define it, or share our ideas about it to find common things with others’ ideas, and formulate a concrete explanation or definition of love. For what reasons, there may be a lot. But the point is, the mere presence of love in a conversation, or discussion, or anything, really, we automatically get excited and pay attention, because we want to know what it is. The author, through the article, further explained thing about love that might deepen, or cut our curiosity about it. He explained that the on-going controversy about the definition of love is not new to the world. He said that that controversy went even way, way back before some of us existed. He said that Philosophy has been trying to reckon prominent questions, such as â€Å"Is love and unanswerable question, or an unquestionable answer?†, and â€Å"Why is there love, rather than no love at all?†. As I said earlier, according to the author, Philosophy has been trying to reckon these questions for more than two and a half millennia of its existence. This means that Philosophy has been trying to approach these problems for over 2,000 years. He further stated that Socrates and Plato, on the one hand, and the poetic movement led by Homer, on the other hand, opened their respective conversation tables on the subjects of love and intimacy in that ancient far away. He also said that scholars of the present day, still linger on the ideas left by these past masters. Countless books have already been published, (and still publishing), of millions of films have already been produced, just to give us an inch of hope or a glimpse of the definition, or the answers to the questions about love. It’s taking so long, for people to find love’s meaning. And yet, we never get tired. With each experience we gain, we get bits and pieces of ideas of how we can define love. But still, despite all efforts given by our ancestors, and us, people in the present, we only see a blur, of loves true form. Maybe it’s about time we stop trying to define love, and just let it be. Let love be love. Maybe, we should start experiencing it, and enjoying it, instead of stressing ourselves trying to find meaning to something this mysterious, this big, this amazing. Yes, maybe we should do that. But there’s something about trying to define love, that gives us this sense of satisfaction, because that more we try to find meaning for it, the more we get to experience it. Our hearts burst with so much happiness when we know that we are in the presence of love. Mr. Celestino, got into a deeper explanation of tons more interesting topics, like, the myths created by society, about love, about Aristophanes’ narrative that concerns human relationship, and a lot more, Part of this â€Å"a lot more† topics included on of my favorite arguments ever. Love at first sight. I have never been a believer of love at first sight. This may sound offensive to those who believe, but, I think the idea is pretty unrealistic. Yes, it’s a really good idea. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice to see someone and automatically know that that person is â€Å"the one†? Isn’t that what happens in most romantic movies? Two people just happens to be in the same place,, at the same time, and look at each other at the same moment. They look into each other’s eyes, and poof! They’re in love. It would be nice. I really would. But as I said earlier, that’s what happens in most movies. That’s what happens in most r omantic books or novels, even. These are made to tickle our systems and trick us into believing that these things could actually happen in to us real life. Truthfully speaking, nothing that perfectly constructed, and well-made could happen in real life. We exist in reality. We don’t live in some 2-hour-or-so film that is so beautifully made, it may be close to perfection. That’s not how life works. That’s not reality is all about. On the contrary, in reality, nothing happens the way we imagine it would, let alone like what would happen in films or books. That’s exactly why people make films and movies. They make things that they imagine come to life. They make their imaginations seem real, by putting them into films or books. This is where people get the concept of love at first sight. And upon reading through the article, I just found more proof to what I believe in. Mr Celestino said that there is no such thing as love at first sight. In verbatim, he said â€Å"Love does not bite on a first sight.† He explained that â€Å"The presence of the other that is brought to one’s sight appears as an assembly of physical qualities and in turn, the one beholding such sight finds himself or herself being caught in a feeling that is simply stated as attraction.† This statement sums up my thoughts, and puts them into words. As I most commonly say it, â€Å"Love takes time. Baka infatuation lang yan.† He further explained that the attraction brought about or formed by meeting or seeing someone particularly attractive, may breathe two things. Infatuation and affection. He said that infatuation is a shadow of love’s true form. He said that infatuation is confined as mere liking of corporeal qualities that are usually pleasing aesthetically to one’s sight for a short-lived time. Affection, on the other hand is love in its potential state. Affection is something that may grow to be love. Love is neither infatuation, nor is it affection. Although affection may grow to be love, it is not love. At least, not yet. These two are commonly mistaken to be love. But as I always say, â€Å"love takes time.† It doesn’t happen in a blink of an eye. He explained other topics, like the famous clichà ©s, â€Å"Love is blind†, â€Å"First love never dies†, what love is in the Philippines, and another one of my favorite topics, rejection. According to the article, â€Å"Rejection is painful but it is liberating in the sense that the self that is being refused is set free to reclaim himself/herself in order to heal the wounded soul and to love again when the right time comes.† Yes, love is liberating, it may take some time to make all the pain go away, because nothing hurts more than the refusal of one to receive the self that is being offered. It traps the soul of the lover into a world of agony and pain, and sometimes, the lover finds no other meaning in life, since he and his love had been rejected. This is why rejection is crucial in a lover’s life. Simply because the pain inflicted to that person, may cost him his very life. The author also explained what pain is, and what it’s all about, selfishness, and divorce and separation, how God’s love for humanity, and Christ’s crucifixion is the concretion of love in an ultimate sense. And he ended this beautiful article with a just conclusion, he said, â€Å"To love, therefore, is to face even what is uncalled for and to manifest unselfish goodwill towards the other. It could be painful in the process but love will find a way to surpass it. That is why there is resurrection in every instance of death.† I was left with no words, as I reached the last page of the article. It was beautiful, breathtaking, and heart stopping. It spoke from a view that is totally different from others. And it may still not contain answers to my question, but it made me hunger for more, thirst for answers, and crave for the experience of love in it’s fullest. For me, to earn a symbiotic and intact relationship, there are a lot of values needed. Love, as there core, with others such as trust, understanding, disciple, respect, etc. In spite of all these, I think a symbiotic relationships would not exist without respect. Because, well, love and respect would not be right without one another. If you love someone, you are going to respect him/her. And the everything else will follow. Respect comes with trust, and understanding. If you respect a person, you will trust him, that he/she’s doing things for the better. You would come to a deeper understanding because you respect each other, and each other’s opinions. You will be discipline, because you respect your loved one, and if you respect them, you won’t do anything that would bring them harm. All, in all, I think respect is an essential in a mutual loving relationship. After reading the article, honestly, I was left with no words. I was too breathless, too astonished, too bewildered to even speak. I had to process my thoughts, and get the thoughts of the author in synced with my own. I had to clear my head and catch my breath. I’m not saying that the article gave me too much to handle. All I’m trying to say is that the article is something different from all others that I have read. And now that it’s been a while since I last read the article, I can finally confide with my thoughts and put them into words. After reading this article, I have learned so much, and I can easily say that I have more knowledge about love than I could ever imagine. I never thought I’d see myself writing this essay about love, (which isn’t really my specialty), yet here I am, close to my fourth page. I never knew I had so much to say about love until now. I never knew the impact and effect that article had on me. And all my thoughts, put into a statement after reading Love’s Pain is Its Own Redemption is found in the very first sentence of this entire essay. It seems to me like I just went back to where I started, and let me state (or ask) it again. â€Å"What is love?† I learned that no matter how hard we try to define love, it’s just too big of a paradox to start with. It’s too broad of an idea to put in just a few words in the dictionary. It’s too extraordinary to try and figure out. It’s to magical, to be given any scientific explanation. So I want to end my essay the way I started it. After reading the article written by Joseph Rey Celestino, M.A., I’m left with only one question (and a gazillion more underneath it). What is love?