The Two Species of Elephants

In the present day there exists two species of elephants. These two species have many relatives that have come before them and died out. Several of these species are Paleomastodon, Deinotherlum, Gompotherium, Prlmelephas which Is a direct ancestor to the modern day elephant, Stegadon, American mastodon, and wooly mammoth. All of these species are considered Proboscidea which are mammals that have trunks â€Å"proboscidea encompasses the trunked mammals† (J.D. Illiger). Within the probosciedea family there consists the elpephantidea, which elephants would be considered. There are many dfferent types of elephants due to where the species was located and the types of plants in which they ate. The earliest common ancestor of all elephants was the Paleomastodon which originated in Africa about 36-35 million years ago. It was a small mammal that had a trunk and it evolved into the many different species of elephant.One of the first species that adapted from the Paleomastadon was the Delnothenum which lived In Africa and had tusks that pointed downward which helped it scarpe of bark from a tree. It also had a small brain which scientist believe Is responsible for Its extinction ue to lack of intelligence compared to other species. Gomphotherium is another species ot elephant that lived in the Americas, Europe, Delgrosso 2 and Asla and originated about 13 million years ago. It lived in swampy lake areas and marshes.This species had long tusks and a short trunked which was adapted to help It dig through mud to find aquatic vegetation. Stegadon which was the largest of all the species of elephants grew to its size to due to abundance of food that it would find in the parts of asia in which it lived. Most of them died out hundreds of housands of years ago except for a subspecies that lives in Indonesia on an Island of flores. This subspecies was smaller than the other species since it was secluded on an island and did not have access to as much food.The American Ma stadon was found in the Americas and was a fur covered species of elephant, to help protect it from the colder climates, that was hunted Into extinction by humans about 10,000 years ago. Primeelephas is a direct genus to the modern day elephant and originated in Africa about 23 million years ago. It evolved Into three new species the Wooly mammoth, African elephant, and Asian elephant. The wooly mammoth lived in most places In the northern hemisphere and was covered In a coat of fur due to the cold climates in which it lived.It lived through the last ice age and died out at the end of it due to hunting and the quick climate change. The two living species of elephant left are the African elephant or loxodante and the Asian elephant or elephas. These two species are very similar except that the Asian elephant has an arched back while the t Of2 KS OT tne ATrlcan elephant. Delgrosso 3 ATrlcan elepnants DacK Is relatlvely stralg an tne longer tus All species of animals must adapt to surv ive. It is through these adaptations that ifferent species arise.

Sloan School of Management

I am really pleased to have some discussion about my interest to apply for Sloan MBA program. I am determined to take admission in an MBA program in a reputable school and Sloan School of Management is one of my top priorities. The reason that I’ve chosen your school is that MIT Sloan is most popular and reliable in administrating and imparting education to business professionals. It has been able to launch change in our current business environment.Its reputation is much known among professionals and still its well educated and learned faculty is still contributing to this culture. I am much acquainted with the culture you promote and also easy and compassionate essay questions you ask. By taking MBA program at Sloan School of Management I hope that I will learn a lot about business dealings and can perform much better in the construction business.Our company is a recognized name in construction industry of China. We have been engaged in steel structural design, manufacture, and installation for more than ten years. Amazingly, our sales have grown tenfold in the last two years.Though it appeared that we were flourishing but there were uncontrollable crisis through which we were passing. For several months we worked under great pressure and none had time to consider company’s long-term goals.As I’ve spent uncountable hours in allocating assignments, monitoring status, solving problems, and handling nonstop incidents. My experience shows that we need a change in company’s environment.We have to change current project-based model to a mass production and commercialize our products. In order to enhance my career as a ‘project manager’ and my working knowledge in this business I am very keen to take this program. During my management career I’ve successfully dealt with several complex situations and led a team to complete most difficult and time consuming projects in rural China.I have also shown outstanding quantitat ive analysis skills and innovated new and extremely useful operational modes in the company. I want to excel my skills and compete in this business as a successful businessman.My capabilities show that I am a proven leader not just an entrepreneur. In order to put my vision into practice I must continue my studies and complete my MBA from Sloan institute of Management. I hope Sloan will play important role in transition of my career success.My visions are clear and I am determined to pursue my career in this field. After graduating from Sloan, I will return to my family business to take charge of overseas market expansion, and form a total solutions transnational steel-structure on partnership basis. I have planned to combine our unparalleled design originality with competitive cost advantage to broaden our business scope by promoting customized Composite Steel Structural Villa.Besides, I have also planned to establish Green House Business Group and Material Innovation Team for bett er environmental protection. Furthermore, my plan also includes developing multilateral investment strategies and conducting upstream industrial integration. Finally, I aim to capture venture capital for carrying out IPO in 2015. My ultimate objective is to lead my business as a driving force in the world’s economy with a clear mission and improve living standards.

Property Asset Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Property Asset Management - Case Study Example Its choice of location of the retail outlets will most likely determine the strategic location of its warehouses so that logistical support of fast and cheap delivery expenses is maximized. The choice of location of warehouses is therefore crucial and is heavily dependent on their projection of where the retail outlets are to be situated. It seems that leaseholds are long-term and for 30 years. On the other hand their strategy to expand and locate retail outlets are yet to be tested and any error in their choice will mean that they have to pre-terminate their leaseholds, if they go on leasing, or assign them. The existing leases are FRI types which mean that Dell has the annual burden of maintaining the facilities, repair and cover them with insurance. But it saves them to raise the capital cost to set up the facility. In a leasehold Dell does not need to raise the initial cost of constructing the facilities. On the other hand in a freehold Dell will have to raise the required huge funding at the start of the project. In a Leasehold the company does not end up owning the facility and thereby benefit from it increases in value. In freehold they benefit from the gain on the sale of the property at values that are higher than the acquisition cost. The impact on the net income in terms of leasehold costs as against depre ciation will be minimal. Leasehold rates include financial charges of lessor, whereas in freehold that is funded by debt the company will incur financial charges as interest and depreciation expense that is over the life of the asset. In both freehold and leasehold with FRI Dell will incur the same cost of annual maintenance and repair, and cost of capital. In Dell's decision to acquire as freehold warehouse facilities and retail outlets chains has an impact on capital investments. There are two types of properties that they need, namely: warehouse facility, and retail outlets. In either case they will also need transport delivery system, between the plant and the warehouse, and from warehouse hubs to the retail outlets. Capital asset investment. Definitely, the freehold strategy will require huge long-term funds. The location and number of square meters will determine the acquisition price of each type of facility. In the case of warehouse facilities their location will likely be outside commercial centers may not be as expensive in terms of property values compared to retail outlets which are to be located in commercial centers where property values are higher. Also, the retail outlet and location of property will likely increase in value over the years compared to warehouse locations. In terms of the size or area required the warehouse facilities could be larger on the average compared to warehouse outlets. Their current cost of acquiring could be the same with the outlets of higher price per floor area but less area, while the warehouse is with a lower price but larger area. But when the total areas of warehouses and retail outlets are compared the investment on each type that is needed to acquir e them could be significant. We do not know which one will be more expensive when the aggregates

International Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

International Economics - Essay Example vements of goods and services from one country to another, globalization has made a revolutionary changes in the market especially when it comes with issues related to the burgeoisie or the employer and the proletariat which pertained to employees (Steger, 2003, p. 37). As a result of changing the traditional way of conducting business and employment under the era of globaliztion, the culture and traditions, social, and economic condition within a society changes. There is a positive and negative impact associated with globalization. The positive impact includes the fact that globalization open a lot of new business or employment opportunities to people living in developing countries. However, people who live in developed countries will also suffer from the consequences of transferring some of the available jobs to low-paid competitive individuals who are working in developing countries. Specifically the shift from a pure national economy towards a more globalized economy is possible through continuous global trade, outsourcing of goods and services, foreign direct investment, the use of information and communication technology, migration, and the international capital flows (Friedman, 2008, p. 49; Bhagwati, 2004). For this reason, Lopez (2000) stated that the â€Å"economic power of a country is no longer strongly associated with political power†. In relation to globalization, this study will discuss the main purpose of establishing the world trade organization and GATT. As part of going through the main discussion, the current and most recent trade negotiations at the world trade organization will be identified followed by assessing its economic benefit as a result of a successful conclusion. In line with this, the economic importance of encouraging fair price competition in the market, strategic ways on how the implementation of GATT rules were able to encourage fair price competition will be tackled in details. Globalization is â€Å"a process of interaction and

EASY JET (ONE BUDGET AIRLINE) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

EASY JET (ONE BUDGET AIRLINE) - Essay Example Porter's Generic Value Chain can be applied to examine the firm's ability to connect primary value chain activities with support services (Porter, 1998). Easy Jet has made use of both strategies to better advantage in marketing its products. Supplier power refers to the degree of freedom that suppliers have over the firm which buys supplies from them. Easy Jet in particular and the budget airline industry in general have to procure supplies from suppliers in the open market where rules of competition might threaten Easy Jet's own strategic objectives as well as others. For example customer care practices require a host of supplier networks to coordinate every aspect of the marketing process from the time of inquiry to the end of the journey. How Easy Jet would respond and how would the rest of the industry respond to all this, depend on a number of other variables such as the concentration ratios in the supplier industries, the availability of and the degree of dependency on credit, macro-economic variables, e.g. interest and business tax rates and a host of other factors. In the airline industry it's an unwritten rule that the aggregation of strategic supplier networks across a range of ancillary services - e.g. handli ng customers' inquiries to the seat allocation process - would benefit only those airlines which place their products in strategic sub-segments appropriately and immediately. Buyer poweBuyer power is perhaps the most effective force with far reaching consequences for the business that the company has to face. For instance customers of short haul budget airlines carry such weight in the decision making process of the individual airline to such an extent that they can drive prices down if they happen to boycott a certain airline or airlines on the ground that their services are below their expectations. Buyer power has also been studied in the budget airline market segment with reference to price and income elasticities of demand. The European no-frills low cost airline market segment is ruled by the same economic principles but its qualitative shift has brought about a highly articulate population of consumers whose demand for the product at a given time is determined not only by the price and

CRJS472IP1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CRJS472IP1 - Research Paper Example A high biometric, as categorized by Woodward (McGuire, L., 2000), are those systems which involve physical features that do not change with time. Examples of these are fingerprints and some parts of an individual’s eye. When something is considered high biometric, it refers to the reliability of the object used for the system. (McGuire, L., 2000). In both the public and private sector, high biometric is used for identification, verification and security purposes. Fingerprinting is the most commonly used biometric system (Spinella, E., 2002) by the government and private organizations. Fingerprints are unique to an individual so much so that even identical twins have different sets of fingerprints for each digit. In fact, they are supposedly more exceptional than the DNA since although twins can share the same genetic material in their body, the same cannot be said for their fingerprints. (Watson, S., 2008) As such, both public and private institutions have turned to fingerprinting to identify individuals. Apple’s iPhone 5S and 5C models do not need a four-digit security number to open the device. Instead of the common security applications, Apple has incorporated a fingerprint scanner which allows the gadget to identify its owner by reading the imprint the individual makes when he or she presses the start button. (Trader, J., 2013) The public sector has also benefited from fingerprint scanning technology. The police and other government agencies tasked in keeping the peace have been using a person’s biometrics to aid in the performance of their duties. The history of fingerprinting in the criminology goes way back to 1903 when a man named Will West drew confusion as another man named William West was already in prison. (The History, 2014) After their fingerprints were taken, it was discovered that they were

Wirless Transformer Charger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wirless Transformer Charger - Essay Example ecting the level of battery in an electronic device, for example a cell phone, and is able to charge the device automatically as soon as the level of battery in the device falls lower than a specific threshold. The system of resonant induction charging will be utilized in our project which possesses the capability of charging several devices simultaneously unless they all bear the same resonant frequency.  Ã‚   The system would comprise of three key mechanisms: wireless power transfer, unit battery indicator, and the transducer/receiver unit. The battery indicator would produce a warning sign when the level of battery to be charged in the handy device goes up to a particular threshold value. As soon as the battery drops below a particular brink, the battery indicator’s first LED will be powered off and, afterwards, the dropping edge will be detected by the edge detector. The signals from the edge detector will be held be the SR latch which, in turn, will turn on the switch. A transducer will be fed the warning signs from the switch which connects to the receive located in the charging dock. The transducer, also called an ultrasound transducer, releases the ultrasound signals. The signal is fed into the rectifier once it is detected by the receiver in the charging dock, and is then, converted to a uniploar signal from the swine signal. The DC voltage will be obtained by the feeding a nd conversion of the unipolar signal into low pass filter. To lessen the undulation of the DC voltage, the application of the voltage regular is done, which results in the formulation of a flat DC voltage capable of turning on the switch. Ultimately, the power supply unit is turned on in the dock and the AC wall outlet draws the power. Then, the 60 Hz AC current converts to a frequency which is higher enough to be appropriate for the power to transfer (for example, 13.56 MHz in the ISM band). The wireless power unit is then fed the up-converted AC current. A pair of resonant loop

Work Related Values in a Non-Profit Organization Essay

Work Related Values in a Non-Profit Organization - Essay Example Hofstede has identified 4 dimensions for classifying values with national culture and has emphasized that these 4 dimensions are only a framework and there are no rules attached to these dimensions. Power distance Uncertainty Avoidance Individualism and collectivism Masculinity and Femininity According to Hofstede, any organization is made of up to 2 cultural elements- internal elements of culture that are invisible, associated to a particular organization and external values of culture which are usually the general rules, regulations, values and practices. Power distance index: How an organization handles inequalities According to Dutch Sociologist Geert Hofstede, power distance index refers to the distribution of power and money between people in an organization and this helps in understanding and analyzing the extent people in the organization submit to authority. It is usually low in organizations where people work with each other that are not in authority and high in organizatio ns where there is more of a hierarchy involved. In any nonprofit organization, the power distance index is usually very low as the main objective of a non-profit organization is to address issues and promote interests of the poor, provide community development infrastructure and provide basic social service to the people. Since the organizations are by and large nonprofit in nature, most of the people working are volunteers and there is no hierarchy followed is such organizations. The people working for the organization are treated equally despite the difference in power, status or wealth. Privileges, status symbols and power is less evident in any non-profit organization as all the people work together for a single cause. Uncertainty Avoidance: Uncertainty avoidance means the organization’s tolerance to indistinctness and vagueness. Some organizations have a very relaxed attitude towards uncertainty and it doesn’t affect them. The behavior of the people is directly re lated to the work/organization. Some organizations/people would prefer security to a job structured approach to work with written rules and regulations. Low uncertainty avoidance is usually seen in non-profit organizations as the people in this organization are used to handling unknown events and there are also no specific strict rules or regulations that need to be followed. Individualism or collectivism- Behavior towards a group This represents and defines the degree to which individuals of a particular group or organization are collective and integrated as a group. Individualism refers to organizations where individuals look after themselves whereas collectivism refers to people integrated into strong groups who would help each other attain goals... In a social organization, the members are usually very cohesive in nature they usually help each other and the society. In any other organization, employees stress for personal achievement, success and individual rights as they have t o fulfill their needs and dreams. Non-profit organizations are usually collective in nature. The aim and vision of any NGO organization is to provide assistance and support to the poor. Masculinity and Femininity According to Hofstede, masculine society refers to fewer women in hobs and there is vast value difference between men and women in the same job profile. There would be more job stress, earnings, challenges and stronger motivation factors to perform better on the job. In a feminine society, managers are relatively less interested at leadership and they usually have no job stress. In a non-profit organization, there is more of a feminine dimension as the people at work have more of a service role. There is more stress on relationships, society and social responsibility rather than earnings and recognitions by the

Software Apps for Business ( The Apple Mac book ) Research Paper

Software Apps for Business ( The Apple Mac book ) - Research Paper Example Apple has offered multiple machines during the period on between 2008 and 2012, including Apple Airs 2011, Apple MacBook Pro 2012 and Apple MacBook Retina Display 2012. This research-based study is intended to highlight the exemplary differences between machines launched in 2008 and 2012 in order to identify the relative differences, advantages of the new model and disadvantages of not using it along with other alternatives for Apple’s product offered in 2012. Product Offered in 2008 The apple MacBook Pro offered in 2008 had a 15 inches long screen with overall height of 0.95 inches with 14.35 inches of width, dept of 9.82 inches and weight of 5.5 pounds. This MacBook allowed connections and expansions through Magsafe power port with Ethernet port. Also, a FireWire port along with USB connectivity was also present. Express card with 34 slots, Kensington lock slot were one of the main features. Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth and Gigabit Ethernet were available for multi purpose connectivity to other networks. Audio features included stereo speakers, omnidirectional microphone, Minijacks for line-in and lineout and Apple stereo headsets were also available. Video output display is supported by NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor with dual-link DVI support; 256MB of GDDR3 memory on 2.4GHz configuration; 512MB of GDDR3 memory on 2.53GHz and 2.8GHz configurations along with Built-in camera and Minidisplay port (Apple, 2008). Further output options are DVI output, VGA output, and Dual-link DVI output whereas, the input is performed through traditional keyboard and touchpad. Specifications of Apple MacBook 2011 & 2012 Over five years, Apple has launched few models which were an extension of Apple MacBook 2008. These models were faster and lighter with impeccable audio and visual output and peripheral support for various software applications. In order to explain the advancement in Apple MacBook 2008, a comparative analysis of it with Apple MacBook Pro 2012 is performed. Apple MacBook Pro 2012 is an advanced version of Apple MacBook Pro 2008 with extensive memory, processing ability and various other features (Arthur, 2012; Westover, 2012). There are various versions available in Apple MacBook 2012 however for the purpose of comparison; Apple MacBook 2012 with 2.6 GHz processor is selected (Apple, 2012). Furthermore, presence of Intel architecture makes it fully capable of supporting multiple operating systems (Nikkel, 2009)1. Advancements Made in the Version 2008 and Comparison with Version 2012 The advancements made in this product are listed below (Apple, 2008; Apple, 2010): a) 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) with 6MB L3 cache where the last version had 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor with L2 Cache memory. b) The memory constitutes of 8GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 memory as compared to previous 1066 MHz frontside bus with maximum up to 4 GB memory. c) Storage has been multiplied up to 750 GB 5 400 rpm hard drive as compared to 320 GB. d) In MacBook 2012, various configuration options are available whereas

Washington D.C Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Washington D.C - Essay Example The population of the District of Columbia was 582,049 persons, as of 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates . The great in-migration of professionals from all over the U.S. to the Washington, DC area over the past century makes meeting a native-born Washingtonian a rare occasion in some settings. The Washington Metropolitan Area’s population is recorded as 6,256,400 persons as of year 2005 ACS, whereas the population of Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area has been recorded as 8 million in the year 2005. [01] According to the census held in 1860, Washington remained as a small city with its population of just over 75,000 persons until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. The significant expansion of the federal government to administer the war and its legacies such as veterans' pensions led to notable growth in the city's population. By 1870, the District population had grown to nearly 132,000. The District's population peaked in 1950, when the census for that year recorded a record population of 802,178 people. [02] Social Geography: Social geography can be defined as the study of how society affects geographical features, and how environmental factors affect the society. Thus, it becomes very important to look at some geographical features of the Washington D.C. before attempting to get into the details of its social geography. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 68.3 square miles (177.0 km). 61.4 square miles (159.0 km) of it is land and 6.9 square miles (18.0 km) of it (10.16%) is water. Washington is surrounded by the states of Maryland (on its southeast, northeast, and northwest sides) and Virginia (on its western side); it interrupts those states' common border, which is the Potomac River's southern shore both upstream and downstream from the District. The Potomac River as it passes Washington is virtually entirely within the District of Columbia border because of colonial riparian rights between Maryland and Virginia. As of 2002, the federal government accounts for 27% of Washington, D.C.'s jobs.4 The presence of many major government agencies, including the Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration, has led to business development both in the District itself as well as in the National Capital Region of Maryland an d northern Virginia. [03] Immigrant Trends in Metropolitan Washington: The Washington metropolitan area has emerged during the past 30 years as a new focus of immigrant settlement in the U.S. In 2000, the region ranked seventh5 among all U.S. metropolitan areas for its number of foreign-born residents in 2000. With 832,016 immigrants counted in Census 2000, the capital region lines up behind the major immigrant gateways of metropolitan Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Miami in terms of size, and falls closely into line with Houston and Orange County, CA. The Washington metropolitan area attracted 575,000 immigrants between 1980 and 2000 and has become a major destination for immigrants to the United States. By 2000, 832,016 immigrants made up some 17 percent of the region's population, making

Opening sequence of two contrasting Soap Operas Essay Example for Free

Opening sequence of two contrasting Soap Operas Essay The opening sequence of a British soap The opening sequence of East Enders seems to be slightly monotonous, the colours are made up of greys and blues. Straight away the title of the soap opera rolls onto the screen and a strong drumbeat takes a hold of the viewers attention. The drum sounds like a sudden heartbeat (the sort a person gets when they are taken aback by a certain situation) it seems that this is the effect they want the viewer you to have by the end of the programme. The image of a map of London with the River Thames running through it remains still but the camera continues to zoom out in a rotating motion showing a small community within a large urban community. The Soundtrack has no vocals but is a memorable theme tune. Its one of which will attract the viewers attention and will send them straight to their seats to get ready for the episodes up-coming dilemmas. The opening sequence lasts a total of twenty-four seconds. The opening sequence of an Australian soap In the opening sequence of the soap opera Home and Away it is apparent that the atmosphere appears to be much brighter and more contented, sounds of seagulls (usually found on beaches) and crashing waves can be heard. This instantly hooks the viewer into the surreal get away imitation of a perfect world. The colours are vivid and exotic, and the dark blue background can be easily associated with the ocean. The camera then pivots around and then flashbacks from the previous episodes appear to let the viewer get an understanding of what the content of the present episode will contain. Small images of individual characters become visible with affirmative, joyful expressions on their faces, a majority of the cast appear to be in their youth. This will attract a younger audience. Another thing that will exert a pull on a younger audience is the soundtrack it is memorable and idealistic. The soundtrack has featured vocals from a male and female individual and includes the soap title. Through watching and studying two different soap operas it appears to me that in the Australian soap opera the producers tend to incorporate positive messages in their shows and focuses on the lives of teenagers in the small fictional town of Summer Bay, where-as the in the British soap tends to focus on day-to-day dilemmas that can occur to the average Londoner. Nevertheless the Australian audience may have a larger appeal to a younger audience because of its surreal appearance and there seem to be younger characters. East Enders seems to be more of a family soap opera because of the different events appeal to a range of age groups. Soap Operas GCSE Coursework Assignment Television is becoming an increasingly important part of society. We have more televisions in our homes, and on those televisions there are more soap operas for the viewing public for example, East Enders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Neighbours, Home and Away, Brookside and Hollyoaks. Soap operas have become a modern day phenomenon. Individuals undoubtedly get a lot of pleasure from them, and although the soap opera is viewed as entertainment. The industry have cunningly organised a viewing schedule so that a certain type of soap appeals to a particular target group. For example in Television guides there are a variation of different showing times. Neighbours is shown once at 1:45 am and a second time at 5:35pm, this suggests that this soaps target group are 11-16 year olds returning from school prepared to watch their favourite soap. Where-as Eastenders is shown just the one time at 7:30pm this suggests that their target are of all ages especially families, because families will presumably be together at this point of the evening. Television companies have developed soaps into a competitive atmosphere because there is a constant battle over viewers. The more ratings the soap has the more successful it becomes. Soap Operas were originally presented on radio in the United States after the Second World War. Formerly soaps were only aimed at one gender, women. During World War II, women had taken the jobs of men in the military service, however when men had returned to civilian life women returned to a domestic role. Unlike today, soaps werent shown as television dramas for long periods of time (1 hour 1/2 hour shows), they were short radio drama serials, which dealt with ordinary life. Soap companies eager to establish themselves in the new post-war prosperity sponsored these short drama serials. This is how the evolution of soaps transferred into the growing medium of television. Soap operas have developed ideas, which have proved successful in the cinema technique that makes the viewer determined to watch the next episode. Melodramatic scenes are predominantly evident in the extended episodes of soaps such as, emotional and sentimental stories essentially about love. Music also plays a great role in soap opera episodes. Music in Soap operas is usually used to intensify the sense of emotion. Soap operas today have proved to be very successful. Soaps such as Hollyoakes, Eastenders and Coronation Street are just three out of a list of many popular soap operas. It seems that soap operas will still be around within many years to come, with the new, over exaggerated and extreme story lines that have our society glued to our seats watching whichever soap opera appeals to us the most.

Buddha was a religious innovator Essay Example for Free

Buddha was a religious innovator Essay In my opinion, Buddha was a religious innovator- since he went against all other prominent religious beliefs of the time in declaring that there was no soul- no permanent self (anatta). I will be discussing whether Buddha was indeed a religious innovator, the ideas he has taken from other religions and entirely original, new concepts he created. He disagreed with many other popular religious practices, for example sacrifices- around which the Vedic religion (which was popular around Buddhas time) revolved. He did so for many reasons, the main being Buddhists dont believe in a God- no God would mean sacrificing an animal would be wasteful and pointless. Another reason he disagreed with this would be that hurting the animal would be against the eightfold path since harming the animal unnecessarily would not be a right action it would also be an example of not showing the right mindfulness since if we were aware of the animals pain and suffering then we wouldnt be sacrificing the animal. Many Buddhists choose to be vegetarian as hurting animals creates bad karma due to the above. Buddhas main difference in opinion to ideas of the time would be that the Buddhist Dharma (or teaching) says that we have no soul or no permanent self, this is called Anatta. Buddhists believe that because we are made up of five Skandhas- (Form, sensations, perceptions, mental formation and consciousness) that are constantly changing, we have no permanent self. Buddhism was the first religion to say that we have no soul. The Jains and Shramanas (both prominent religions of Buddhas time) both taught that the atman (or soul) is reincarnated time after time until Moksha, where the soul returns to God (or Brahmin in some cases.) In Buddhism, Buddha taught that it is not our atman that is reborn, but our karma. For example- a candle lighting another candle, it is the heat from the first candle that lights the second- no part of the first candle is passed along to the second. Buddhists believe this, but with karma instead of heat- that is, they believe it is our karma that causes rebirth time after time. Buddha also made it clear that equality was an important part of Buddhism since we could be reborn as anything- poor man or a king- we are all the same. This was innovative since in Eastern Europe there was great emphasis on the social division called the caste system, which was present in the Vedic religion and very rigid. This meant that many of the lower classes and poorer people could not take part and so were cut off from the religion. However, Buddha did take ideas from the ideas of karma, but changed them slightly. For example, the Jains believed that karma was a sticky substance which floated above their heads preventing them from escaping rebirth, whereas Buddhists might perceive karma as a force which governs balance- for example if youre a bad, mean, rich person in this life, you might come back as a poor beggar who lives a miserable life. Another Jain idea that Buddha imitated was that of Ahisma or non-violence. Buddhists believe violence is wrong because of parts of the eightfold path, such as right action. This was the Jains main teaching- they were the first to become vegetarians- many Buddhists choose to become vegetarians too. Having considered both points of view, I still believe that Buddha was a great religious innovator simply due to the fact that most of his teachings and ideas had not been heard before.

Teenage Purchasing Decisions for Cosmetics

Teenage Purchasing Decisions for Cosmetics Chapter 1: Introduction This introductory chapter is divided into five subsections. Firstly, a brief background of the research will be presented. Thereafter, the problem discussion will be provided, which in turn will lead to the purpose and objectives of the research. Finally, the delimitations and summary of the dissertation will be set. 1.1 Research Background According to Kotler (2008), consumer behavior is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It is a subcategory of marketing that blends elements from psychology, sociology, socio psychology, 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, psychographics, and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people needs. He also stated that it also tries to assess influences on the consumer from group such as family friends, reference groups, and society in general for example while consumers purchase the shoe, then they go for family decision, comfort, satisfaction, price and quality (Kotler, 2008). According to Baker (2002), consumers are not aware of the products and usage but constantly they are choosing among the various products. They are intentionally procuring the various new brands without any knowledge about the new products. Additionally if new company enters into the market, for every consumer it is very complicated to understand the features of the news products and this makes confusion among the consumers to obtain the information. For example: If one local company enters into the market then to increase the knowledge about the features of the new product, it will take long time for the consumers to recognise. Baker (2004) stated that the consumer will respond according to the product quality and reliability, the fundamental understanding of products is necessary to understand the product features, products reliability and product benefits. The consumer is the end user for the product; consumers buy the products in market; in order to execute flourishing sales operations in the market an efficient distribution channel and networks are required for the organisations. He also stated that advertisement, distribution channels and networks play an important role in the consumer goods industry. Manufacturing companies, retailer and suppliers do not have an idea about the consumer behaviour in the local market. Thomas (2004) suggested that direct marketing activities should be left to the local market leaders, because the local market leaders have best idea of local market and local consumer behaviour. In the current literature, there are two major approaches to studying consumer decision-making involving screening and choice. One approach is to extend the single-stage choice models by adding an explicit choice set from which the final choice is made (Swait Adamowicz, 2001). Another approach studies the process of screening prior to choice (Teder, 2000). Understanding consumer decision-making is important. From a practical perspective, marketing managers are increasingly concerned that their products/brands may not be considered or chosen over those of their competitors. From a research perspective, a more representative model of the staged decision process may significantly improve our ability to predict consumer choices (Roberts Lattin, 1991). Recently, the growth of cosmetic industry in the global beauty market represents a slight slowdown due to a weakened economic state in the most developed markets and declining penetration of emerging markets. However, among the gloomy picture of the worlds cosmetic industry, the Asian market emerges as the brightest star as according to the Euromonitors report (2009), the Asia Pacific markets value is up to more than US$70 billion which is the second highest after the Western European market. Among the European markets, UK is the fastest growing market with the compound growth rate of fourteen percent over the period of 2000 to 2005. The economic growth of more than seven percent a year since 1990 could be the reason why the UKs cosmetic market has attracted a lot of the worlds cosmetic leaders like Unilever, LOreal, Johnson Johnson and PG. These cosmetic companies activities in UK help creating an exciting and competitive cosmetic market (Euromonitor, 2009). Consumers unique shopping patterns are developed and affected by socialization agents, which include family, peers, and the media. According to Lachance et. al (2003), these socialisation agents may often impact whether or not the adolescents will buy certain products or brands.. However Miller et.al (2003) claims that celebrity endorsements do not influence consumers purchasing behaviour. In contrast Boyd and Shank (2004) maintain that consumers, particularly teenagers, are likely to select products or brands that are endorsed by celebrities. Moreover, peers are likely to exert normative and informative influence. Lachance et. al, 2003 identified that they may influence the teenagers brand and product choices. Additionally, an individual is likely to conform to a group if he or she shares beliefs and norms with the group (Arnould et.al, 2004). Also, a group is likely to effectively exert influence on an individual if the individual is highly committed to the group (Hawkins et al, 2004). 1.2 Reason Behind Choose the Topic The main reason behind chosen this topic is previous studies have not precisely conducted a focused investigation into the influence of peers and celebrities on fifteen to eighteen year-old females purchasing behaviour in cosmetic products. Most researches on peer influence were conducted on general consumers with general products (Elliott and Leonard, 2004). Moreover, As for researcher, she always felt that â€Å"Consumer Buying Behaviour† is one of the most interesting subjects for her and as a female she thought to do a dissertation on the influence of celebrities endorsement on female teenagers would suitable for her to work on. Researcher did previous semester in LSC and she took a course on Research and Methodology (RM) which helped her to know the format of the research paper. Moreover her supervisor Dr.Fahads motivation and encouragement had helped researcher to select this topic. Researcher have studied out many articles of Consumer Buying Behaviour and annual reports of different cosmetic company and tried to sort out a topic, which is going to be suitable for her dissertation according to supervisors suggestion. This dissertation will help cosmetics firms and retail stores develop a precise marketing strategy to appeal to teenage consumers and to understand their purchasing behaviour. 1.3 Research Problem According to the website of BHB (2009), beauty and cosmetics are not innovations of the 20th century. It is known from reports of old Egypt and the Roman Empire that people have ever since attached importance to a cultivated appearance. Numerous up to date studies prove that today more than 60 per cent of women really care much about beauty, cosmetics, skin and body care. Even men show an increasing interest and demand in products such as skin care cosmetics, creams or anti aging lotions. To place and keep a cosmetic product successfully in the market, it is vital for companies active in manufacturing and selling cosmetics to have extensive scientific pharmaceutical and market research done. It is crucial for manufacturers of natural cosmetics or make up to know about consumer behaviour, trends and demands in the sector. Consumers might decide for a product because of its characteristics, its care factor, its sensitivity or its branding and attractive packaging. Cosmetics companies use the desires, senses and images consumers have or want to experience. More and more often, companies let celebrities and super models act as testimonials for fragrances, organic cosmetics or anti aging make up cosmetics. Colourful and exciting advertisements on TV, the internet or in print media tremendously influence consumer purchasing behaviour and desires. Packaging and the design of, for example, perfume bottles, let a cosmetics product appear even more desirable and trendy. This di ssertation will focus on beauty products in order to help cosmetics industry and retail stores develop a precise marketing strategy to appeal to female teenagers and to understand their purchasing behaviour. Previous studies have not precisely conducted a focused investigation into the influence of peers and endorsers on fifteen to eighteen year-old males purchasing behaviour in cosmetic products. Most researches on peer influence were conducted on general consumers with general products (Cited in Escalas and Bettman, 2003). However, some research has investigated this influence among children (Piacentini and Mailer, 2004). According to Klein (2001), teenagers are mostly influenced by friends and may not necessarily be influenced by celebrities. Additionally, no research has been conducted on symbolic consumption in relation to beauty products among the above-mentioned age groups. The researches were conducted on general consumers with general products (Piacentini and Mailer, 2004). 1.4 Research Aim and Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate internal and external influences on teenagers purchasing decisions on cosmetic products in London. This research also investigates that how celebrities influence the brand choice of teenagers buying behaviour towards cosmetics in London market. The key objectives of this study are outlined as follows: To investigate how consumer buying behaviour factors influence female teenagers when purchasing cosmetic products. To explore the role of peers and celebrities and their influence on female teenagers purchasing decisions of cosmetic product. To analyse how celebrities influence the brand choice of youth females buying behaviour towards cosmetic products in London market. To give recommendation and conclusion. 1.5 Research Limitations The delimitations of a research study indicate its parameters; that is what the study will include and not include (Creswell, 2003). The scope of the study was limited to female consumers aged fifteen to eighteen living in the UK, specifically London city. This was due to time and budget constraints. In addition, the study only examines beauty products as opposed to general products. Further, the focus of the research was on symbolic consumption, peer groups and aspiration groups including beauty products endorsements rather than all internal and external influences. 1.6 Structure of the Dissertation Chapter 1: In this chapter mainly it talks about introduction of this dissertation, which also includes brief introduction of the topic, research background, rationale behind choose the topic, problem statement, aim and objectives and limitations of this research. Chapter 2: The second chapter is the literature review of this dissertation concerned about, the works of various authors and scholars who have highlighted and discussed about the theories of consumer behaviour and celebrities endorsement from different dimension. Chapter 3: This chapter will analyse the overall market overview of cosmetics products in UK Chapter 4: This third chapter will discuss the research method used in this research paper. Research method allows the researcher to plan and design the whole research in a proper way and shows the right direction to achieve an outcome. So the chapter explains the reasons behind the use of selected research method and the advantages by using the specified research approach. Chapter 5: This chapter discusses and analyses the market information and survey for the sake of the research. It also shows the data those have been gathered through interviews of customers, sales representative, and analyse the data to provide a fruitful meaning of the research finding. Chapter 6: This chapter has been discussed the research recommendations, limitations, further research on this topic and also describe how managers can get benefit or managerial implications of this paper. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter is the theoretical foundations that underpin this research study. In this chapter the theoretical framework relevant to dissertation purpose and questions will be presented. The chapter starts with a presentation of the brief discussion on consumer buying behavior, followed by purchase decision process and teenagers learning process and thereafter theories regarding factors influencing the purchase decision will be discussed. The following chapter presents the theoretical foundation of this research. The framework of the literature review is outlined. 2.1 Consumer behavior Consumer behavior is the study of consumers as they exchange something of value for a product or service that satisfies their needs (Well Prensky, 2003, p.5). The study of consumer behavior focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption related items (Schiffman Kanuk, 2004, p.5). In short, the company should study and create the marketing campaign for their target group. But in the product life cycle, due to the consumer behavior the image, target audience or function of this product can be in change. This group of consumers have a diversity of needs, such as a need for belonging, independence, approval, and responsibility, as well as having the need for experimentation (Solomon et al. 2004). Teenagers are increasingly given the task of buying products for the family. They not only have more spare time but also enjoy shopping more than their parents do. For this reason, marketers are targeting their ads mainly at te enagers. To gain teenagers attention more effectively, advertising campaigns must be honest, have clear messages, and used with humour. Moreover, teenagers tend to be inconsistent and are likely to switch brand preference quicker than any other age group, as they have a high need to be accepted by their friends (Blackwell et al. 2001). Finally, teenagers are â€Å"easier targets, because they have grown up in a culture of pure consumerism. Because of this, they are way more tuned into media because there is so much more media to be tuned into† (Bush et al. 2004, p. 109). Teenagers enjoy advertisements; a McCann survey shows that 75% of a sample of mixed 15-25 year olds felt that advertising was entertaining and 68% said that they found it a useful source of ideas about what to buy (Piper, 1998). When youths needs and desires are understood, marketers can show young consumers how products improve their lives. Harris Interactive, a Rochester, New York-based market research firm, estimates that teens spend on average $94.7 billion yearly ($3,309 per capita), while young adults between ages 20 and 21 spend $61.3 billion yearly ($7,389 per capita) (Schadelbauer, 2006). He also stated that interestingly, 69% of the U.S. youth respondents of one survey said that their parents pay their bills and they have little or no idea of who provides their telecommunications services or how much they cost. In the databases mentioned above, there are studies about ethical aspects of marketing to youth, whether regarding clothing, soft-drinks, cosmetics, technology, movi es, records, food, and tapes exchange. Some companies use â€Å"cool† appeal in their advertisements. The young people distinguish themselves among social classes to the detriment of their â€Å"natural† behavior by purchasing â€Å"cool† products. Misleading advertisements change the behavior of young people and can affect them when they grow up. In the 1980s, Nike and Calvin Klein brands began to focus on brand capital rather than on products themselves. Now, the brand names become the objective of the purchase in itself (Bergadaa, 2007). In particular, cigarette and alcohol producers are criticized by those who say that they are marketing to immature consumers (Schadelbauer, 2006). According to the Keynote UK marketing report (2008), respondents were asked if they had used any so-called ‘celebrity fragrances, as industry comment has been made on the popularity of such brands. Those who used fragrances endorsed by celebrities, who tended to be in the you ngest age group, were most likely to have chosen Britney Spearss fragrance; others of popularity included the Beckhambranded fragrances, and the Jennifer Lopez and Kylie Minogue fragrances The report also stated that the retail chain The Perfume Shop names Stunning by Katie Price (the glamour model formerly known as Jordan) as its most popular female fragrance of 2007, with Shh by Jade Goody in second position and Coleen by Coleen McLoughlin (the celebrity girlfriend of Manchester United football superstar Wayne Rooney) in fourth place. The Fragrance Shop, meanwhile, lists Coleen, Curious (Britney Spears) and Kate (Kate Moss) among its ten bestselling womens brands in 2007. 2.2 Consumer Decision making theories Acoording to Shao (2006), the decision literature can be classified into three broad categories: 1) normative 2) behavioural, and 3) naturalistic. In this section the differences between the three different approaches to studying consumer decision behaviour is identified. 2.2.1 Normative decision theory Normative Decision Theory originated in the economic discipline. According to Shao (2006), earliest researchers viewed decision-making as gambles and decision makers as â€Å"economic† men striving to maximise payoffs. The word ‘normative describes how decision makers should behave in order to obtain maximum payoffs. Examples of Normative Decision Theory include Expected Utility Theory adapted by Neumann Morgenstern (1947) and Subjective Expected Utility Theory adapted by Savage (1954) (Cited in Shao, 2006). An important addition of the Expected Utility Theory is the Subjective Expected Utility Theory proposed by Savage (1954). The main difference between the two is that the former uses objective probabilities, while the final uses subjective probabilities. By substituting subjective probabilities for objective probabilities, Subjective Expected Utility Theory proposes that the decision maker may be uncertain about whether the various outcomes (payoffs) will actually occur if the option is chosen (Beach, 1997). On the other hand according to Schoemaker (1982), Normative Decision Theory is actually a family of theories and at their core is a rational decision maker. The implied decision process is a single-stage process of consistent calculations of the options utilities. He also stated that consumer decision-making is a complex process. However, the normative assumptions are imposing an order on the complexity of decision-making (Beach, 1997). Over time, there has been growing discontent with the normative approach to studying consumer decision-making because the observed decision behaviour often violate the underlying assumptions of Normative Decision Theory. 2.2.2 Behavioural decision theory Behavioural Decision Theory emerged when decision researchers observed that decision makers seldom make explicit tradeoffs, let alone explicit use of probability and their preferences are constructed, not invariant (Bettman et al., 1998). The rational decision maker depicted by Normative Decision Theory was challenged by Simon (1955) who argued that decision makers have only bounded rationality and is seeking to satisfy. He also argued that Normative Decision Theory put â€Å"severe demands upon the choosing organism and those consumers do not necessarily search for all available alternatives, but choose the first feasible alternative that exceeds a given amount of payoffs. However he also proposed classic Satisfying strategy that was employed on decision makers in complex choice situations† (Cited in Shao, 2006) 2.2.3 Naturalistic decision theory Naturalistic Decision Theory originated from the discipline of organisational behaviour. According to Shao (2006), many researchers have developed various naturalistic decision models based on their observations of how decisions are made by individuals in natural environments. For example, a decision maker such as a fire ground commander will first recognize the fire situation, generate a few potential plans of actions, use cognitive imagination to assess the appropriateness of each plan to controlling the fire, and then act on the plan that he believes is the most appropriate (Cited in Orasanu Connolly, 2009). 2.3 The Buying Decision Process The consumer decision making process consists of mainly five steps according to most researchers within the field (Peter and Olson 2005, p.169). They also stated that the steps included in the model are; need or problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and the post-purchase process. However, not all purchased require every step. Consumer can skip the evaluation of alternatives when considering low involvement products (Peter Olson 2005, p.168). According to Hawkins et al. (2001, pp.26-27) there are more aspects than only decision making process that affect consumer behavior which are external and internal influences. 2.3.1 Problem recognition The consumer decision making process generally begins when the consumer identifies a consumption problem that needs to be solved (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007, p. 195). Problem recognition is the perceived difference between an ideal and actual state. Ideal state is the way consumers would like a situation to be or the way they want to feel or be at the present time. An actual state is the way individuals perceive their feelings and situation to be at the present time (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.508). It can be said that consumer encounter the dissatisfaction or inconvenience situation and they would like to move to other preferable ones, problem is therefore recognized (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.508). 2.3.2 Information search Once the problem is recognized, relevant information from the past experience or long term memory is used to determine if a satisfactory solution is known, this is called internal search (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.528) and if the solution cannot be found in internal search then the external information relevant to the problem will be sought. Normally after problem recognition has been stimulated, the consumer will usually begin the decision process to solve the problem, typically from internal search because each consumer has store in memory a variety of information, feelings and past experiences that can be recalled when making a decision (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007, p.195). However, the stored memory can be decayed overtime, then they will be uncertain about their recalled information they will be engaged in external search, acquiring information from outside sources. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2007, p.205), consumers can acquire information from five major categories of external so urces such as from retailers, media, other people and independent sources, and by experiencing the product. After searching for appropriate evaluation criteria, the consumers would probable seek appropriate alternatives-in this case brands, or possibly stores. They also identified that brands are affected in internal search and external search. In the internal search, consumers recall the sets of brands from their memory wherever the problem recognition occurred. Normally two to eight brands are tended to recall at a time and if they cannot recall brands from memory, the set of external factors such as availability on the shelf or suggestion from salesperson will then affected consumers purchasing. Additionally, well-known brands are more easily recalled during internal search than unfamiliar brands because the memory links associated with these brands tend to be stronger (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007, pp. 203-204). 2.3.3 Evaluation of alternatives The next step in the process is an evaluation of the alternatives which consumer compares the available options and information that has been gather through the searching process (McCall et. al., 2002) and seem most likely to solve the problem. There are two methods that consumers use when evaluating alternatives, which are attribute-based choice, this choice requires the knowledge of the consumers to compare the attribute of each available alternative and tends to exploit more effort and time, thus to be rational in the evaluation. And the other method applied is attitude-based choice, this method occur when consumers use their emotion, such as attitude and impression, in their evaluation (Hawkins et al., 2001, pp.560-562). 2.3.4 Purchase decision Consumers evaluate the stores image such as merchandise, service, physical facilities, convenience, promotion, store atmosphere, institution and post-transaction factors and make a selection to purchase at that specific outlet. On the other aspect, amount of the purchase, it is common that the consumers enter to one outlet with an intention to buy a particular brand but leave the store with a different brand or additional items. This shows the influences operating in the store effect consumers purchasing decision (Hawkins et al., 2001, pp.609-618). 2.3.5 Post purchase behavior After purchase, the customers evaluate their level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the product. Buyer satisfaction is determined by how close the products performance came to meet the buyers product expectations (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007). They also stated that consumers can experience dissonance (anxiety over whether the correct decision was made) or regret after a purchase (pp.272-273). One way of reducing dissonance is to search for additional information from sources such as experts and magazines. With searching for information to support and make the chosen alternative more attractive and the reject ones less attractive, thereby reducing dissonance (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007, p.272). Additionally, information that supports the consumers choice acts to bolster confidence in the correctness of the purchase decision (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.628). 2.4 Consumer Learning Process Learning is a progression by which consumers systematize their knowledge and it evolved over time. Consumers attitude and their future purchasing activities can be influenced by the learning process constantly. For gathering information from the stimuli in their environment consumers use their perceptual processes. According to Ganassali et.al (2009), consumer behaviour is approached by researchers adopting a variety of interpretative models and with a wide array of multidisciplinary frames, from economy to sociology, psychology and anthropology. According to East (1997), a shared perspective the different approaches to the understanding of consumer purchase decisions can be grouped. 2.4.1 Cognitive approach According to Ganassali et.al, (2009), this one is deeply rooted in the economic science and assumes a sensible behaviour of the decision maker, based on the price of the goods and on its attitude to respond to functional needs. The critical variable under this approach is the availability of sufficient information about purchase alternatives (price, product functionalities) to support the decisional process. So, from this approach, a main block of determinants concerning product characteristics drives the buying process. 2.4.2 External conditioning approach According to Foxall, 1990 cited in Ganassali et.al, (2009), this approach, the purchase decision is a response to external stimuli .The significant variable under this approach is which kind of external stimuli can influence purchase decision. From this second approach, a group of external determinants can influence the buying process, for example parents opinions or ads exposure. 2.4.3 Experience social interaction approach According to this approach, the present consumer decision aims at the construction of personal identity (Ganassali et.al, 2009). Following this idea, two main streams have been developed. One focuses on individual consumption decisions based on â€Å"emotional† explanation of consumer behaviour (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). Ganassali et.al, (2009) also stated that the other stream concentrates on consumption as a means of social interaction, building on the pioneer sociological contribution of Veblen (1899 cited in Ganassali et.al, 2009). From both streams, the idea is that each prospective consumer has an individual internal value schema (based on internal emotions and external social interaction) that manipulates what he/she buys. 2.5 Teenage Learning Process for Shopping According to Solomon et al. (2004), teenagers are group of consumers that has a variety of needs. Such as, need for belonging, independence, approval, and responsibility, as well as having the need for experimentation. He also states that teenagers are increasingly given the task of buying products for the family. Since they not only have more spare time but also enjoy shopping more than their parents do. Therefore, marketers are targeting their ads primarily at teenagers. In order to gain teenagers attention more effectively, advertising campaigns must be honest, have clear messages, and humorous. Moreover, teenagers tend to be fickle and are likely to switch brand preference quicker than any other age group, as they have a high need to be received by their friends (Blackwell et al. 2001). According to Moschis and Moore (2001), as people grow up from childhood to adulthood, they obtain the skills, knowledge and attitude relevant to form purchase behaviour. The conceptual model of consumer socialisation presented in figure 2.5 demonstrates this. It claims that an individual learns from a socialisation agent through interaction and that changes his or her cognitive organisation with age. The socialisation agent (Churchill and Moschis, 1979), can be a family member, peers, teachers, the media, and media personalities like athletes, movies stars, and rock stars (Mowen and Minor, 1998). They can exert strong influences on the individual due to frequent interactions, superiority or control over rewards and punishments. The individual is influenced by the agent during the process of learning. However, this depends on the individuals cognitive development or life stage and structural variables, like status, sex, age, social class and religious background. Additionally, the ind ividual will develop cognitions and behaviour, learning properties, which will form his or her consumer behaviour (Moschis and Moore, 2001). In Moschis and Moore study on teenagers decision-making (2001), it was found that for low involvement products young people depend largely on the mass media for information. The results of the study imply that socialisation agents may affect the consumers decision-making cognitions. The study also found that low-involvement products are bought with peers rather than parents (Moschis and Moore, 2001). Furthermore, teenagers are more likely to stand on their evaluation on the brand name and the sale price in their buying decisions. Males are more motivated by social consumption and characterised by materialistic attitudes than females. This may be because status, power and respect are important among the peers (Churchill and Moschis, 1979). 2.6 Influencing Factors of Purchase Decision 2.6.1 Advertisement Advertising informs consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and tries to persuade consumers to buy them (MacKenzie, 2004). Moreover, Kotler et al. (2005), claim that advertising aims at attaining target consumers to either think or respond to the product or brand. As a method of achieving advertisement goals, advertisements as well as their contents play an essential role in the process of commercial Teenage Purchasing Decisions for Cosmetics Teenage Purchasing Decisions for Cosmetics Chapter 1: Introduction This introductory chapter is divided into five subsections. Firstly, a brief background of the research will be presented. Thereafter, the problem discussion will be provided, which in turn will lead to the purpose and objectives of the research. Finally, the delimitations and summary of the dissertation will be set. 1.1 Research Background According to Kotler (2008), consumer behavior is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It is a subcategory of marketing that blends elements from psychology, sociology, socio psychology, 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, psychographics, and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people needs. He also stated that it also tries to assess influences on the consumer from group such as family friends, reference groups, and society in general for example while consumers purchase the shoe, then they go for family decision, comfort, satisfaction, price and quality (Kotler, 2008). According to Baker (2002), consumers are not aware of the products and usage but constantly they are choosing among the various products. They are intentionally procuring the various new brands without any knowledge about the new products. Additionally if new company enters into the market, for every consumer it is very complicated to understand the features of the news products and this makes confusion among the consumers to obtain the information. For example: If one local company enters into the market then to increase the knowledge about the features of the new product, it will take long time for the consumers to recognise. Baker (2004) stated that the consumer will respond according to the product quality and reliability, the fundamental understanding of products is necessary to understand the product features, products reliability and product benefits. The consumer is the end user for the product; consumers buy the products in market; in order to execute flourishing sales operations in the market an efficient distribution channel and networks are required for the organisations. He also stated that advertisement, distribution channels and networks play an important role in the consumer goods industry. Manufacturing companies, retailer and suppliers do not have an idea about the consumer behaviour in the local market. Thomas (2004) suggested that direct marketing activities should be left to the local market leaders, because the local market leaders have best idea of local market and local consumer behaviour. In the current literature, there are two major approaches to studying consumer decision-making involving screening and choice. One approach is to extend the single-stage choice models by adding an explicit choice set from which the final choice is made (Swait Adamowicz, 2001). Another approach studies the process of screening prior to choice (Teder, 2000). Understanding consumer decision-making is important. From a practical perspective, marketing managers are increasingly concerned that their products/brands may not be considered or chosen over those of their competitors. From a research perspective, a more representative model of the staged decision process may significantly improve our ability to predict consumer choices (Roberts Lattin, 1991). Recently, the growth of cosmetic industry in the global beauty market represents a slight slowdown due to a weakened economic state in the most developed markets and declining penetration of emerging markets. However, among the gloomy picture of the worlds cosmetic industry, the Asian market emerges as the brightest star as according to the Euromonitors report (2009), the Asia Pacific markets value is up to more than US$70 billion which is the second highest after the Western European market. Among the European markets, UK is the fastest growing market with the compound growth rate of fourteen percent over the period of 2000 to 2005. The economic growth of more than seven percent a year since 1990 could be the reason why the UKs cosmetic market has attracted a lot of the worlds cosmetic leaders like Unilever, LOreal, Johnson Johnson and PG. These cosmetic companies activities in UK help creating an exciting and competitive cosmetic market (Euromonitor, 2009). Consumers unique shopping patterns are developed and affected by socialization agents, which include family, peers, and the media. According to Lachance et. al (2003), these socialisation agents may often impact whether or not the adolescents will buy certain products or brands.. However Miller et.al (2003) claims that celebrity endorsements do not influence consumers purchasing behaviour. In contrast Boyd and Shank (2004) maintain that consumers, particularly teenagers, are likely to select products or brands that are endorsed by celebrities. Moreover, peers are likely to exert normative and informative influence. Lachance et. al, 2003 identified that they may influence the teenagers brand and product choices. Additionally, an individual is likely to conform to a group if he or she shares beliefs and norms with the group (Arnould et.al, 2004). Also, a group is likely to effectively exert influence on an individual if the individual is highly committed to the group (Hawkins et al, 2004). 1.2 Reason Behind Choose the Topic The main reason behind chosen this topic is previous studies have not precisely conducted a focused investigation into the influence of peers and celebrities on fifteen to eighteen year-old females purchasing behaviour in cosmetic products. Most researches on peer influence were conducted on general consumers with general products (Elliott and Leonard, 2004). Moreover, As for researcher, she always felt that â€Å"Consumer Buying Behaviour† is one of the most interesting subjects for her and as a female she thought to do a dissertation on the influence of celebrities endorsement on female teenagers would suitable for her to work on. Researcher did previous semester in LSC and she took a course on Research and Methodology (RM) which helped her to know the format of the research paper. Moreover her supervisor Dr.Fahads motivation and encouragement had helped researcher to select this topic. Researcher have studied out many articles of Consumer Buying Behaviour and annual reports of different cosmetic company and tried to sort out a topic, which is going to be suitable for her dissertation according to supervisors suggestion. This dissertation will help cosmetics firms and retail stores develop a precise marketing strategy to appeal to teenage consumers and to understand their purchasing behaviour. 1.3 Research Problem According to the website of BHB (2009), beauty and cosmetics are not innovations of the 20th century. It is known from reports of old Egypt and the Roman Empire that people have ever since attached importance to a cultivated appearance. Numerous up to date studies prove that today more than 60 per cent of women really care much about beauty, cosmetics, skin and body care. Even men show an increasing interest and demand in products such as skin care cosmetics, creams or anti aging lotions. To place and keep a cosmetic product successfully in the market, it is vital for companies active in manufacturing and selling cosmetics to have extensive scientific pharmaceutical and market research done. It is crucial for manufacturers of natural cosmetics or make up to know about consumer behaviour, trends and demands in the sector. Consumers might decide for a product because of its characteristics, its care factor, its sensitivity or its branding and attractive packaging. Cosmetics companies use the desires, senses and images consumers have or want to experience. More and more often, companies let celebrities and super models act as testimonials for fragrances, organic cosmetics or anti aging make up cosmetics. Colourful and exciting advertisements on TV, the internet or in print media tremendously influence consumer purchasing behaviour and desires. Packaging and the design of, for example, perfume bottles, let a cosmetics product appear even more desirable and trendy. This di ssertation will focus on beauty products in order to help cosmetics industry and retail stores develop a precise marketing strategy to appeal to female teenagers and to understand their purchasing behaviour. Previous studies have not precisely conducted a focused investigation into the influence of peers and endorsers on fifteen to eighteen year-old males purchasing behaviour in cosmetic products. Most researches on peer influence were conducted on general consumers with general products (Cited in Escalas and Bettman, 2003). However, some research has investigated this influence among children (Piacentini and Mailer, 2004). According to Klein (2001), teenagers are mostly influenced by friends and may not necessarily be influenced by celebrities. Additionally, no research has been conducted on symbolic consumption in relation to beauty products among the above-mentioned age groups. The researches were conducted on general consumers with general products (Piacentini and Mailer, 2004). 1.4 Research Aim and Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate internal and external influences on teenagers purchasing decisions on cosmetic products in London. This research also investigates that how celebrities influence the brand choice of teenagers buying behaviour towards cosmetics in London market. The key objectives of this study are outlined as follows: To investigate how consumer buying behaviour factors influence female teenagers when purchasing cosmetic products. To explore the role of peers and celebrities and their influence on female teenagers purchasing decisions of cosmetic product. To analyse how celebrities influence the brand choice of youth females buying behaviour towards cosmetic products in London market. To give recommendation and conclusion. 1.5 Research Limitations The delimitations of a research study indicate its parameters; that is what the study will include and not include (Creswell, 2003). The scope of the study was limited to female consumers aged fifteen to eighteen living in the UK, specifically London city. This was due to time and budget constraints. In addition, the study only examines beauty products as opposed to general products. Further, the focus of the research was on symbolic consumption, peer groups and aspiration groups including beauty products endorsements rather than all internal and external influences. 1.6 Structure of the Dissertation Chapter 1: In this chapter mainly it talks about introduction of this dissertation, which also includes brief introduction of the topic, research background, rationale behind choose the topic, problem statement, aim and objectives and limitations of this research. Chapter 2: The second chapter is the literature review of this dissertation concerned about, the works of various authors and scholars who have highlighted and discussed about the theories of consumer behaviour and celebrities endorsement from different dimension. Chapter 3: This chapter will analyse the overall market overview of cosmetics products in UK Chapter 4: This third chapter will discuss the research method used in this research paper. Research method allows the researcher to plan and design the whole research in a proper way and shows the right direction to achieve an outcome. So the chapter explains the reasons behind the use of selected research method and the advantages by using the specified research approach. Chapter 5: This chapter discusses and analyses the market information and survey for the sake of the research. It also shows the data those have been gathered through interviews of customers, sales representative, and analyse the data to provide a fruitful meaning of the research finding. Chapter 6: This chapter has been discussed the research recommendations, limitations, further research on this topic and also describe how managers can get benefit or managerial implications of this paper. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter is the theoretical foundations that underpin this research study. In this chapter the theoretical framework relevant to dissertation purpose and questions will be presented. The chapter starts with a presentation of the brief discussion on consumer buying behavior, followed by purchase decision process and teenagers learning process and thereafter theories regarding factors influencing the purchase decision will be discussed. The following chapter presents the theoretical foundation of this research. The framework of the literature review is outlined. 2.1 Consumer behavior Consumer behavior is the study of consumers as they exchange something of value for a product or service that satisfies their needs (Well Prensky, 2003, p.5). The study of consumer behavior focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption related items (Schiffman Kanuk, 2004, p.5). In short, the company should study and create the marketing campaign for their target group. But in the product life cycle, due to the consumer behavior the image, target audience or function of this product can be in change. This group of consumers have a diversity of needs, such as a need for belonging, independence, approval, and responsibility, as well as having the need for experimentation (Solomon et al. 2004). Teenagers are increasingly given the task of buying products for the family. They not only have more spare time but also enjoy shopping more than their parents do. For this reason, marketers are targeting their ads mainly at te enagers. To gain teenagers attention more effectively, advertising campaigns must be honest, have clear messages, and used with humour. Moreover, teenagers tend to be inconsistent and are likely to switch brand preference quicker than any other age group, as they have a high need to be accepted by their friends (Blackwell et al. 2001). Finally, teenagers are â€Å"easier targets, because they have grown up in a culture of pure consumerism. Because of this, they are way more tuned into media because there is so much more media to be tuned into† (Bush et al. 2004, p. 109). Teenagers enjoy advertisements; a McCann survey shows that 75% of a sample of mixed 15-25 year olds felt that advertising was entertaining and 68% said that they found it a useful source of ideas about what to buy (Piper, 1998). When youths needs and desires are understood, marketers can show young consumers how products improve their lives. Harris Interactive, a Rochester, New York-based market research firm, estimates that teens spend on average $94.7 billion yearly ($3,309 per capita), while young adults between ages 20 and 21 spend $61.3 billion yearly ($7,389 per capita) (Schadelbauer, 2006). He also stated that interestingly, 69% of the U.S. youth respondents of one survey said that their parents pay their bills and they have little or no idea of who provides their telecommunications services or how much they cost. In the databases mentioned above, there are studies about ethical aspects of marketing to youth, whether regarding clothing, soft-drinks, cosmetics, technology, movi es, records, food, and tapes exchange. Some companies use â€Å"cool† appeal in their advertisements. The young people distinguish themselves among social classes to the detriment of their â€Å"natural† behavior by purchasing â€Å"cool† products. Misleading advertisements change the behavior of young people and can affect them when they grow up. In the 1980s, Nike and Calvin Klein brands began to focus on brand capital rather than on products themselves. Now, the brand names become the objective of the purchase in itself (Bergadaa, 2007). In particular, cigarette and alcohol producers are criticized by those who say that they are marketing to immature consumers (Schadelbauer, 2006). According to the Keynote UK marketing report (2008), respondents were asked if they had used any so-called ‘celebrity fragrances, as industry comment has been made on the popularity of such brands. Those who used fragrances endorsed by celebrities, who tended to be in the you ngest age group, were most likely to have chosen Britney Spearss fragrance; others of popularity included the Beckhambranded fragrances, and the Jennifer Lopez and Kylie Minogue fragrances The report also stated that the retail chain The Perfume Shop names Stunning by Katie Price (the glamour model formerly known as Jordan) as its most popular female fragrance of 2007, with Shh by Jade Goody in second position and Coleen by Coleen McLoughlin (the celebrity girlfriend of Manchester United football superstar Wayne Rooney) in fourth place. The Fragrance Shop, meanwhile, lists Coleen, Curious (Britney Spears) and Kate (Kate Moss) among its ten bestselling womens brands in 2007. 2.2 Consumer Decision making theories Acoording to Shao (2006), the decision literature can be classified into three broad categories: 1) normative 2) behavioural, and 3) naturalistic. In this section the differences between the three different approaches to studying consumer decision behaviour is identified. 2.2.1 Normative decision theory Normative Decision Theory originated in the economic discipline. According to Shao (2006), earliest researchers viewed decision-making as gambles and decision makers as â€Å"economic† men striving to maximise payoffs. The word ‘normative describes how decision makers should behave in order to obtain maximum payoffs. Examples of Normative Decision Theory include Expected Utility Theory adapted by Neumann Morgenstern (1947) and Subjective Expected Utility Theory adapted by Savage (1954) (Cited in Shao, 2006). An important addition of the Expected Utility Theory is the Subjective Expected Utility Theory proposed by Savage (1954). The main difference between the two is that the former uses objective probabilities, while the final uses subjective probabilities. By substituting subjective probabilities for objective probabilities, Subjective Expected Utility Theory proposes that the decision maker may be uncertain about whether the various outcomes (payoffs) will actually occur if the option is chosen (Beach, 1997). On the other hand according to Schoemaker (1982), Normative Decision Theory is actually a family of theories and at their core is a rational decision maker. The implied decision process is a single-stage process of consistent calculations of the options utilities. He also stated that consumer decision-making is a complex process. However, the normative assumptions are imposing an order on the complexity of decision-making (Beach, 1997). Over time, there has been growing discontent with the normative approach to studying consumer decision-making because the observed decision behaviour often violate the underlying assumptions of Normative Decision Theory. 2.2.2 Behavioural decision theory Behavioural Decision Theory emerged when decision researchers observed that decision makers seldom make explicit tradeoffs, let alone explicit use of probability and their preferences are constructed, not invariant (Bettman et al., 1998). The rational decision maker depicted by Normative Decision Theory was challenged by Simon (1955) who argued that decision makers have only bounded rationality and is seeking to satisfy. He also argued that Normative Decision Theory put â€Å"severe demands upon the choosing organism and those consumers do not necessarily search for all available alternatives, but choose the first feasible alternative that exceeds a given amount of payoffs. However he also proposed classic Satisfying strategy that was employed on decision makers in complex choice situations† (Cited in Shao, 2006) 2.2.3 Naturalistic decision theory Naturalistic Decision Theory originated from the discipline of organisational behaviour. According to Shao (2006), many researchers have developed various naturalistic decision models based on their observations of how decisions are made by individuals in natural environments. For example, a decision maker such as a fire ground commander will first recognize the fire situation, generate a few potential plans of actions, use cognitive imagination to assess the appropriateness of each plan to controlling the fire, and then act on the plan that he believes is the most appropriate (Cited in Orasanu Connolly, 2009). 2.3 The Buying Decision Process The consumer decision making process consists of mainly five steps according to most researchers within the field (Peter and Olson 2005, p.169). They also stated that the steps included in the model are; need or problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and the post-purchase process. However, not all purchased require every step. Consumer can skip the evaluation of alternatives when considering low involvement products (Peter Olson 2005, p.168). According to Hawkins et al. (2001, pp.26-27) there are more aspects than only decision making process that affect consumer behavior which are external and internal influences. 2.3.1 Problem recognition The consumer decision making process generally begins when the consumer identifies a consumption problem that needs to be solved (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007, p. 195). Problem recognition is the perceived difference between an ideal and actual state. Ideal state is the way consumers would like a situation to be or the way they want to feel or be at the present time. An actual state is the way individuals perceive their feelings and situation to be at the present time (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.508). It can be said that consumer encounter the dissatisfaction or inconvenience situation and they would like to move to other preferable ones, problem is therefore recognized (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.508). 2.3.2 Information search Once the problem is recognized, relevant information from the past experience or long term memory is used to determine if a satisfactory solution is known, this is called internal search (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.528) and if the solution cannot be found in internal search then the external information relevant to the problem will be sought. Normally after problem recognition has been stimulated, the consumer will usually begin the decision process to solve the problem, typically from internal search because each consumer has store in memory a variety of information, feelings and past experiences that can be recalled when making a decision (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007, p.195). However, the stored memory can be decayed overtime, then they will be uncertain about their recalled information they will be engaged in external search, acquiring information from outside sources. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2007, p.205), consumers can acquire information from five major categories of external so urces such as from retailers, media, other people and independent sources, and by experiencing the product. After searching for appropriate evaluation criteria, the consumers would probable seek appropriate alternatives-in this case brands, or possibly stores. They also identified that brands are affected in internal search and external search. In the internal search, consumers recall the sets of brands from their memory wherever the problem recognition occurred. Normally two to eight brands are tended to recall at a time and if they cannot recall brands from memory, the set of external factors such as availability on the shelf or suggestion from salesperson will then affected consumers purchasing. Additionally, well-known brands are more easily recalled during internal search than unfamiliar brands because the memory links associated with these brands tend to be stronger (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007, pp. 203-204). 2.3.3 Evaluation of alternatives The next step in the process is an evaluation of the alternatives which consumer compares the available options and information that has been gather through the searching process (McCall et. al., 2002) and seem most likely to solve the problem. There are two methods that consumers use when evaluating alternatives, which are attribute-based choice, this choice requires the knowledge of the consumers to compare the attribute of each available alternative and tends to exploit more effort and time, thus to be rational in the evaluation. And the other method applied is attitude-based choice, this method occur when consumers use their emotion, such as attitude and impression, in their evaluation (Hawkins et al., 2001, pp.560-562). 2.3.4 Purchase decision Consumers evaluate the stores image such as merchandise, service, physical facilities, convenience, promotion, store atmosphere, institution and post-transaction factors and make a selection to purchase at that specific outlet. On the other aspect, amount of the purchase, it is common that the consumers enter to one outlet with an intention to buy a particular brand but leave the store with a different brand or additional items. This shows the influences operating in the store effect consumers purchasing decision (Hawkins et al., 2001, pp.609-618). 2.3.5 Post purchase behavior After purchase, the customers evaluate their level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the product. Buyer satisfaction is determined by how close the products performance came to meet the buyers product expectations (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007). They also stated that consumers can experience dissonance (anxiety over whether the correct decision was made) or regret after a purchase (pp.272-273). One way of reducing dissonance is to search for additional information from sources such as experts and magazines. With searching for information to support and make the chosen alternative more attractive and the reject ones less attractive, thereby reducing dissonance (Hoyer MacInnis, 2007, p.272). Additionally, information that supports the consumers choice acts to bolster confidence in the correctness of the purchase decision (Hawkins et al., 2001, p.628). 2.4 Consumer Learning Process Learning is a progression by which consumers systematize their knowledge and it evolved over time. Consumers attitude and their future purchasing activities can be influenced by the learning process constantly. For gathering information from the stimuli in their environment consumers use their perceptual processes. According to Ganassali et.al (2009), consumer behaviour is approached by researchers adopting a variety of interpretative models and with a wide array of multidisciplinary frames, from economy to sociology, psychology and anthropology. According to East (1997), a shared perspective the different approaches to the understanding of consumer purchase decisions can be grouped. 2.4.1 Cognitive approach According to Ganassali et.al, (2009), this one is deeply rooted in the economic science and assumes a sensible behaviour of the decision maker, based on the price of the goods and on its attitude to respond to functional needs. The critical variable under this approach is the availability of sufficient information about purchase alternatives (price, product functionalities) to support the decisional process. So, from this approach, a main block of determinants concerning product characteristics drives the buying process. 2.4.2 External conditioning approach According to Foxall, 1990 cited in Ganassali et.al, (2009), this approach, the purchase decision is a response to external stimuli .The significant variable under this approach is which kind of external stimuli can influence purchase decision. From this second approach, a group of external determinants can influence the buying process, for example parents opinions or ads exposure. 2.4.3 Experience social interaction approach According to this approach, the present consumer decision aims at the construction of personal identity (Ganassali et.al, 2009). Following this idea, two main streams have been developed. One focuses on individual consumption decisions based on â€Å"emotional† explanation of consumer behaviour (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). Ganassali et.al, (2009) also stated that the other stream concentrates on consumption as a means of social interaction, building on the pioneer sociological contribution of Veblen (1899 cited in Ganassali et.al, 2009). From both streams, the idea is that each prospective consumer has an individual internal value schema (based on internal emotions and external social interaction) that manipulates what he/she buys. 2.5 Teenage Learning Process for Shopping According to Solomon et al. (2004), teenagers are group of consumers that has a variety of needs. Such as, need for belonging, independence, approval, and responsibility, as well as having the need for experimentation. He also states that teenagers are increasingly given the task of buying products for the family. Since they not only have more spare time but also enjoy shopping more than their parents do. Therefore, marketers are targeting their ads primarily at teenagers. In order to gain teenagers attention more effectively, advertising campaigns must be honest, have clear messages, and humorous. Moreover, teenagers tend to be fickle and are likely to switch brand preference quicker than any other age group, as they have a high need to be received by their friends (Blackwell et al. 2001). According to Moschis and Moore (2001), as people grow up from childhood to adulthood, they obtain the skills, knowledge and attitude relevant to form purchase behaviour. The conceptual model of consumer socialisation presented in figure 2.5 demonstrates this. It claims that an individual learns from a socialisation agent through interaction and that changes his or her cognitive organisation with age. The socialisation agent (Churchill and Moschis, 1979), can be a family member, peers, teachers, the media, and media personalities like athletes, movies stars, and rock stars (Mowen and Minor, 1998). They can exert strong influences on the individual due to frequent interactions, superiority or control over rewards and punishments. The individual is influenced by the agent during the process of learning. However, this depends on the individuals cognitive development or life stage and structural variables, like status, sex, age, social class and religious background. Additionally, the ind ividual will develop cognitions and behaviour, learning properties, which will form his or her consumer behaviour (Moschis and Moore, 2001). In Moschis and Moore study on teenagers decision-making (2001), it was found that for low involvement products young people depend largely on the mass media for information. The results of the study imply that socialisation agents may affect the consumers decision-making cognitions. The study also found that low-involvement products are bought with peers rather than parents (Moschis and Moore, 2001). Furthermore, teenagers are more likely to stand on their evaluation on the brand name and the sale price in their buying decisions. Males are more motivated by social consumption and characterised by materialistic attitudes than females. This may be because status, power and respect are important among the peers (Churchill and Moschis, 1979). 2.6 Influencing Factors of Purchase Decision 2.6.1 Advertisement Advertising informs consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and tries to persuade consumers to buy them (MacKenzie, 2004). Moreover, Kotler et al. (2005), claim that advertising aims at attaining target consumers to either think or respond to the product or brand. As a method of achieving advertisement goals, advertisements as well as their contents play an essential role in the process of commercial