Rural Lives Versus Urban Lives Essay Example for Free

Rural Lives Versus Urban Lives Essay Urban and rural living each have their own benefits and drawbacks. A person’s personality, work status, financial situation and his or her age may influence the choice of environment where he or she likes living. In my opinion, the rural life is somehow suitable for the elderly people’s lifestyle while the urban life always inspirit the way young people live. It‘s easier and more comfortable for old people to keep up with the rural style in daily life. Firstly, cities are more crowned and faster-paced while rural living is often more relaxed and less congested. The slower pace of rural areas provides a sense of community and the openness makes people seem accessible to each other. Secondly, cities have fewer homes with yards, but those living in rural areas have more access to open space and nature. A close link to the nature is considered as the most important part of old people’s lives. In contrast, cities have state-of-the art skyscrapers and office that serve to create walls. Finally, cities are a hub for industrialization. There are more factories and businesses, making the areas more polluted. Additionally, the increased population in cities makes the ground more likely to be marred by litter and heavy use. These would have a bad influence on elderly resident’s health. Read more:Â  Rural Area vs Urban Area Living in a lively city is always a sparking desire of young people. City life gives inhabitants the ability to be exposed to more culture. Museums, theatre, and monuments are often easily accessible in cities. Additionally, most cities have a broad range of multicultural restaurants accessible by public transportation or walking. In contrast, entertainment in rural areas may be more limited or require travel. These conveniences are main attractiveness to young people and let them try to become a complete urban resident. City life, like rural life, has its share of advantages and disadvantages. People’s lifestyle choices which are different in separate stages of people’s lives dictate where they choose to live.

Analysis of using controlled slow cooling

Analysis of using controlled slow cooling To get the reproducible outcomes in biomedical research, genetic stability is essential and it is achieved via cryopreservation technique. Technique of cryopreservation involves the preservation of viable cells, living tissues, gametes, embryos, organs and also some organisms on cooling at low sub-zero temperatures, characteristically at -196Â °C for a prolonged time to implement the applications of these biological materials over biomedicine, conservation and animal reproduction (Mazur., 1970). Long time storage is achieved by using this technique (Pereira and Marques., 2008).The cryopreservation technique is carried out in two different ways: Vitrification and 2. Controlled slow cooling (Frederickson., 2000). To proceed with these two protocols, several steps need to be taken and also we must look its advantages and limitations. Alteration in temperature induces main two damages Freezing injury and chilling injury and these injuries are reduced greatly by using the cryoprotectant. Detailed analysis of these and its role in both vitrification and slow cooling techniques is described below (Fuller et al., 2004). TWO APPROACHES OF CRYOPRESERVATION: VITRIFICATION: Preservation of biological materials under hypothermic condition with devoid of freezing is called as vitrification (Rall, W. F. and Fahy., 1985). Vitrification induce glassy formation instead of formation of ice crystal, thus it is not causing essential damage to the living system (Fuller et al., 2004). SLOW COOLING: Preserving cells from room temperature upto the temperature of liquid nitrogen is called as slow cooling. Damage associated with this are reduced using cryoprotectant (Gao and Critse., 2004 and Guan et al., 2008). MAJOR DAMAGES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TECHNIQUE: During cryopreservation, major injury that induces damage to the cell survival is: Freezing injury Chilling injury. (Gao and Critser., (2000). FREEZING INJURY: with the significant preservation at hypothermic temperature, water becomes solidify and it causes the cell damage, even to unviability. (Fuller et al., 2004). Freezing injury TZ p3 This diagram is reproduced from the material belongs to (Ashwood-Smith and Farrant., 1980). At high rate of freezing, ice nucleation provokes. Most cells has thermodynamic freezing point above -0.5Â °C. But the freezing of cell developed only after reaching 5Â °C. Unfrozen state of cell and its environment occurs due to the protective solutes super cooling and freezing point depression. External medium impulsively induce ice seeding formation between 5Â °C and 15Â °C, but composition of cell persist in a super cooled and unfrozen state. Extracellular solution remains in unfrozen fraction and that influences the ice formation in external medium. Concentration of solute in extracellular solution rises in respect to the decrease in temperature. So, ice formation developed and encourages probable imbalance between the cell and external solution. Water present inside the cell is in super cooled state than extracellular region; due to the potential imbalance, water migrates to extra cellular region and freezes. Entire event of cell relays over the cooling. Decrease in cool ing induces the dehydration of cell and the intracellular freezing is prohibited. Rapid cooling induces intracellular ice formation as a result of rapid decrease in extra cellular solution than the water diffusing out from the cell. Ice formation inside the cell is certainly lethal (Fuller et al., 2004). INTRACELLULAR ICE NUCLEATION: Homogenous nucleation, seeding by extracellular ice and heterogeneous nucleation are the possible ways IIF. When the rate of cooling decreases, electrolytes concentration on freezing relate to unfrozen section of water. It is classified into intra and extracellular electrolytes. CELL VOLUME DECREASE: Volume decrease whilst freezing induces injury to cells by minor tonicity solution. Decrease in cell volume whilst freezing concerns cell damage. DEHYDRATION THEORIES (Meryman): Inability of cell to shrink osmotically below perspective level whilst it tries to reaches osmotic equilibrium. This is called as minimum volume hypothesis over damage of slow-freezing. CHILLING INJURY: Different cell type reaches damage upon cooling around 0 Â °C without freezing, i.e without ice formation. Damage occurs irreversibly on chilling temperature. If this happens in sperm cells, it is termed as temperature shock. Direct and indirect chilling injuries are the major two categories of chilling injury. These injuries are expressed upon lower temperature and it is termed as cold shock. It depends over the rate of cooling. Indirect chilling injury occurs on exposure to reduced temperature for a prolonged time and it is independent of rate of cooling. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish cold shock and indirect chilling injury (Fuller et al., 2004). TZ p2 The above plot is reproduced from the material belongs to (Muldrew et al., 2004). COLD SHOCK: Cells become sensitive to cold shock as it rapidly cooled at low temperature for long time. Viability of cell and its severity of injury are relays over the rapid or slow cooling. Also this cold shock s not depends on warming rate but it depends on rate and duration of cooling (Tsai et al., 2009). Membrane permeability is injured upon rapid cooling and chance of reversibility is available for some cases. Addition of specific compounds and cell former cooling condition influences the response of cell. Thermotropic activity of lipid membrane is suspected to identify the injury due to cold shock. Lipid phase transitions of cell membrane influence the injury of cold shock in many species. INDIRECT CHILLING INJURY: Long exposure of biological materials at low temperature causes indirect chilling injury and this injury is cooling rate independent. Lipids and proteins are changed by means of its activity and structure. Eg: changes in enzyme activity and protein denaturation. Also the metabolic pathway and enzyme linked reactions face some alterations as the co-ordination is decreased according to the decrease in temperature rate (Fuller et al., 2004). ROLE OF CRYOPROTECTANT: Cryoprotectant enhances the dehydration process formerly formation of external ice. The activity of water is greatly reduced during the lack of water loss. By reducing the effect of salts, it acts as a protective influence on structure of the cell. Freezing protocol progression needs consistent method to detect the cell viability (Fuller et al., 2004). Cryopretectant may be a chemical additive that is added to the solution before freezing to ensure the high survival rate after post thawing. Role of cryoprotectant is to support and protect the survival of biological material upon cooling to hypothermic temperature for long duration of time. Property of an effective cryoprotectant is high solubility with decreased toxicity. Cryoprotectant can be classified according to chemical class and mode of action. Each categorized cryoprotectant plays a vital role upon thawing and cooling. Freezing point depression is promoted by permeating cryoprotectant due to the presence of electrolytes. Non-permeating cryoprotectant promotes decreased formation of ice crystal upon freezing by prior dehydration of biological material. Reduced deviation of volumes and solutes damage concentration is enhanced by the cryoprotectant. Eg: DMSO (Fuller et al., 2004). Cell protection is also achieved by fluctuating formation of ice crystal into harmless shape and size during thawing and freezing. It is necessary to look the toxicity of cryoprotectant over cells and its permeability. High concentration of cryoprotectant itself injured. Direct exposure of cryoprotectant with membranes and proteins induce ionic pumps disruption over trans membrane and also causes enzyme inactivation. But more amount of cryoprotectant in vitrification ensures viscous and amorphous medium. The possible approach to overcome this problem is achieved by using mixture of cryoprotectant at definite concentration (Tsai et al., 2008 and Fuller et al., 2004). SIMILARITY AND DIFFERENCES OF VITRFICATION AND CONTROLLED SLOW COOLING: -ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTEGES: Effective vitrification demands enormous sample cooling and solute with high concentration with combination of cryoprotectant (Bielanski, and Lalonde., 2009). Successful vitrification was enhanced in 1985 to cryopreserve the mouse embryo and this technique is also effectively applied to preserve the blood cells, tissues, embryo and oocyte of Drosophila melanogaster, Asparagus officinalis plant as well as embryos of numerous mammalians. Cryopreservation of mammalian system report entails the success achieved through the technique of controlled freezing. However in the case of fruit fly, vitrification occupies a success where the controlled freezing failed. Efficient vitrification technique relays on an optimization of some specific steps that includes appropriate composition and concentration of provided vitrification solution with specific cooling/warming environments. Also this technique induces equilibration of living cells present and to dilute the cells present in the vitrification solution (Fuller et al., 2004). A series course of freezing and warming of bovine in-vitro matured, fertilized and cultured blastocysts using electron microscope (EM) grids (A-F) ( Reproduced from park et al., 1999) The use of slow cooling includes several ranges of rates of cooling when we compared vitrification with rapid and ultra rapid cooling. The ultimate goal of both techniques is to produce a glass like state of cells to prevent the damage caused by formation of ice crystal upon cooling (El-Danasouri, and Selman., 2005). At first, vitrification procedure involves lengthy pre-equilibrium procedure. Currently, combination of penetrating and non-penetrating solutes is used with non-toxic property with several ranges of cooling rates. Both the technique result in successful cryopreservation of embryos and oocytes of humans (Borini, and Coticchio., 2009). Even these procedures resulted good, slow cooling technique applied for cryopreservation of oocytes shows very less successive rates when compared to vitrification. Vitrification acts as a promising technique in many areas in reproductive technology, even though its positive rates need to establish further. Vitrification is an easy procedure and that consumes less time duration. Also this vitrification technique is safer and cheaper when compared to control slow cooling. ( Kuleshova, L.L. and Lopata, A., 2002). Cryopreservation of cell faces relative damage due to cooling and thawing. Mostly damage occurs whilst storing the cells at hypothermic conditions. Maintaining healthier cells for further use are very essential and we need to prevent it from genetic drift and contamination. To stop the biological action of the cell and to maintain that in its preserved state is the role of cryostorage. In fluid system, molecular motion is achieved via temperature (Fuller et al., 2004). The molecular motion get reduce according to the decrease in temperature. Biological species are designed to be viable and active at maximal temperature but it lost its activity at hypothermic condition. At that instance, lipid phase transition, structural and enzymatic damage and de-polymerization occurs (Kiefer et al., 2005). Major damaging phenomenon upon cooling are: Intracellular ice crystallisation and osmotic damage. Chilling sensitivity or cold shock leads the cell to death at the temperature below 0Â °C. These effects differ from one cell type to another. Bacteria and some viruses can sustain in 60 degree but the holding temperature for most of the biological sample is below -130Â °C (Fuller et al., 2004). Conventional cryopreservation method is established to overcome the formation of ice whilst cooling. Formation of ice crystals are avoided by vitrification via its usage of concentrated solution and rapid cooling. This vitrification method contains a potential advantage as it is rapid and this technique does not require rate cooling equipment. Vitrification results in good survival rate of preserved oocytes and embryos. Cryopreservation widely applicable to retain genetic resources and protect the endemic species (Tsai et al., 2010). Vitrification acts as an alternative method to slow cooling. This provides higher survival of pregnancy range and embryo viability. This vitrification acts as a suitable procedure in infertility clinics. In this, cryopreservation of numerous embryos is maintained within short period and thus it acts as a simple method. Still, less number of controlled studies and childbirths are concerned over vitrification technique. Multiple pregnancy risk associated w ith freezing using controlled slow cooling is restricted using vitrification. Also it works with high efficacy (Kuc et al., 2010 and Trounson and Mohr.,1983). Vitrification acts as an attractive cryopreservation method when compared with controlled slow cooling technique. In contrast to slow cooling method, this vitrification technique is precise and in this each and every step is visualized. Vitrification reduces the time duration of exposure to sub-physiological environments. It requires only less than 10 minutes carrying out while slow cooling takes nearly two hours. Vitrification is simpler and it does not need costly programmable freezing equipment. In some cases, chilling injury also prevented by vitrification (Fuller et al., 2004). Needle immersed vitrification requires less concentrated and minimum volume of vtrification solution. Maximize cooling rate, reduce toxicity of vitrification solution with low volume of less concentration cryopreservation. In vitrification, upon freezing, only numerous ice crystals are formed and so less mechanical disruption results by ice crystal (Wang et al., 2008). Vitrification technique is accompanied without the withdrawal of more amount of water. So, less chemical damage only exist. But the chemical damage due to cryoprotectant is a complicated matter. ( long). Common variation held between vitrification and controlled slow freezing is due to the numerous additions of cryoprotectants. Implementation of maximum equilibration condition and dilution are expected from the vitrification media. It is necessary to use low toxic agents in the vitrification solution. To achieve an efficient vitrification, formulation of 2 things over the vitrification technique are essential. 1. physicochemical properties : Concentrated vitrification solution induce glassy solid formation and it helps to devoid of crystallization whilst cooling. 2. cyoprotectant: using low toxic cryoprotectant with an intrinsic permeability. Vitrification protects the cell from ice formation while cryopreservation.Both the vitrification and slow cooling are used to preserve human oocytes (Fuller et al., 2004). In case of human ES cell cryopreservation, improved efficiency is noted in vitrification than in traditional cryopreservation (Zhou et al. 2004 and Peng-Fei et al., 2006). Analysis of colonies after vitrification yields rapid growth and differentiation when compared with slow freezing technique. Vitrification acts as a promising approach to cryopreserve the multi cellular tissue. Even, vitrification achieved certain merits; it is associated with several problems. In the state of vitrified, glass is susceptible to cracking. Care is essential on warming to neglect the formation of ice. Heat transfer rate occurring during vitrification process may vary depends on device.Vitrification include the rapid cooling protocol and it is difficult to maintain at certain temperature with the available equipment. Very rapid and even rewarming requires avoid of devitrification. During slow cooling, increase solute concentration to glass transition needs while prevent by cooling slow enough to allow the cells to dehydrate to protect intracellular supercooling (Youssry et al., 2008). Vitrification requires higher and potentially cytotoxic concentration of cryoprotective agents for one hour before its immersion into liquid nitrogen at specific temperature. To reduce its toxicity, pre equilibrium performed at 4Â °C. It allows the direct visualizaton of cell by the operator (El-Danasouri, and Selman., 2005) Eventhough this vitrification entails with meritful approaches, this technique still been experimental. Also, it requires more additives to reach and it is potentially cytotoxic. This technique highly depends on operator. Timing takes to cover all the steps and it is critical. In contrast to slow freezing, this vitrification needs enough level of training. If the vitrified solution stars to devitrify, (crystalise into ice), viability will be lost. This happens when thawing or extended time of storage persists (Fuller et al., 2004). Viability of vitrified samples is not certain for lengthy period of time but in case of slow cooling, preserved cells can be viable for many years, even to thousands of years. Direct exposure of cryogen can be achieved by fast cooling. As it is so, this process may carry possible contamination of organism from the liquid nitrogen. So, this process cannot be applicable for therapeutic cells. Vitrification technique is applied only to cooled cell suspensions in minor quantities. This method is not projected to apply in large quantities like cryovials, matrix tubes, bags, microtitre plates etc. Quality control measurement via this vitrification technique is made to be impossible as we need to take experiments for all straws. (Fahy et al., 2004) Usually the slow cooling procedure is used in infertility centers. But it is associated with documented limitations. Also sometimes, it damages sensitive parts of the cell ( eg- zona pellucida) and it induce biological changes. Because of these changes, we will get a depleted outcomes. To overcome this, Modifying cryopreservation procedure is attained- freezing and thawing by polymers. This also enhanced with changing the time duration of the cooling protocol and it is looked as same as the path to simplify and fast up cryobanking procedures to get beneficial results. As the vitrification technique connected with some problems, it acts as a challenging technique for reproductive medicine. The slow freezing technique serves as an effective method for humans too (Mandelbaum, J., 2000). An alternative method for cryopreservation was developed and it is called as vitrification. Comparative study has been taken between controlled slow cooling and vitrification techniques with patients undertaking controlled ovarian stimulation in GnRH agonist to determine efficacy. The rate of pregnancy after vitrification reveals more than higher successive rate than result achieved via slow cooling. Efficacy of vitrification yields (50.4%), and slow cooling results in (25.9%) successive rates.Human ovarian tissue also cryopreserved (Noriko et al 2009) Both cryopreservation as well as cryostorage contains budding advantages, especially in invitro fertilization. Ultimate goal of cryopreservation is to achieve maximum persistence rate and sustainability of biological system after thawing. In slow cooling procedure, clinically satisfactory result has not been attained. Slow cooling procedure needs costly equipment and also it is time consuming. One of a significant advantage of vitrification process is its tendency to form any ice crystals during both cooling and warming. In contrast, its limitation held in toxic effects due to addition of cryoprotectants and contamination via liquid nitrogen. In slow cooling technique, toxicity of cryoprotectant is relatively less. But many research outcomes supports the vitrification process rather than slow cooling in fertility treatment(Tsai et al., 2010). Blastocyst cells can be preserved by both the cryopreservation techniques. Among these, vitrification promotes increasing chance for future development. A reliable advancement is needed for vitrification to enhance the preservation of supernumerary blastocysts. Unsatisfactory results have been produced for the blastocyst preservation through slow freezing method. Vitrification acts as an alternative principle which is allied with capability of inducing more pregnancy rate and increased survival of embryo upon cryopreservation (Trounson and Mohr ., 1983 and Fuller et al., 2004). CONCLUSION: Approach taken by Kolibianakis et al results in the comparative analysis of both vitrification and controlled slow cooling. And its outcome provides similar results are given by both of these techniques. But comparatively, post thawing survival frequency is better in vitrification than slow cooling. Finally, they suggested that the there is no link between the vitrification process in giving high rate of pregnancy but it displays the successful post thawing survival both in the cleavage stage and in the blastocyst stage (Youssry et al., 2008 and Porcu et al 2000). According to Balaban et al survival rate of human 3 day embryo preservation reported the percentage of survival rate by vitrication as 94.8% whereas slow cooling provides 88.7%. (Kuc et al., 2010). Vitrification study over the embryo in cleavage stage testified 80% of survival rate and 22-35% of pregnancy rate. These results are more significant than the slow cooling procedure. Although the two main approaches of cryopreser vation contains signficant results, Vitrification gains more positive outcomes. Even in both the cases, limitations persist. All of its limitations can be always overcome by its positive side.

Models of Celebrity Endorsement Strategy

Models of Celebrity Endorsement Strategy The selection of celebrity endorsers is not an easy task; many scholars have tried to create models in order to help for the right selecting of celebrity endorsers. Hovland et al (1953) conceptually contributed one of the earliest models, which is Source Credibility Model. Afterwords, the Source Attractiveness Model (McGuire, 1985), the Product Match-Up Hypothesis (Forkan, 1980; Kamins, 1989, 1990), and the Meaning Transfer Model (McCracken, 1989) was presented through empirically researchers in turn. The Source Credibility Model and Source Attractiveness Model are categorized under the generic name of Source Models since these two models basically show and reflect research of the Social Influence Theory/Source Effect Theory, which argues that various characteristics of a perceived communication source may have a beneficial effect on message receptivity (Kelman, 1961; Meenaghan, 1995). The source credibility model is based on research in social psychology (Hovland and Weiss, 1951-1952; Hovland, Jani, and Kelley, 1953). The Hovland version of model present that a message depends for its effectiveness on the expertness and trustworthiness of the source (Hovland et al., 1953, p.20; Dholakia and Sternthal, 1977; Sternthal, Dholakia, and Leavitt, 1978), which means that information from a credible source (e.g.celebrity) can influence beliefs, opinions, attitudes, and/or behavior via a process called internalization, which occurs when receivers accept a source influence in terms of their personal attitude and value structures (Erdogan, 1999). Expertness is defined as the extent to which a communicator is perceived to be a source of valid assertions and refers to the knowledge, experience or skills possessed by an endorser. Hovland et al (1953) and Ohanian (1991) believed that it does not really matter whether an endorser is an expert, but all that matters is how the target audience perceives the endorser. However, Aaker and Myers (1987) advocated a source/celebrity that is more expert to be more persuasive and to generate more intentions to buy the brand (Ohanian, 1991). Hence, expert sources influence perceptions of the products quality (Erdogan, 1999). Meanwhile; Speck et al (1988) found that expert celebrities produced higher recall of product information than non-expert celebrities, even though the difference was not statistically significant. Moreover, celebrities professional accomplishments and expertise may serve as a logical connection with the products, and consequently make the endorsement more believable to co nsumers (Till and Brusler, 2000). Trustworthiness refers to the honesty, integrity and believability of an endorser depending on target audience perceptions (Erdogan, 1999). Advertisers capitalize on the value of trustworthiness by selecting endorsers, who are widely regarded as honest, believable, and dependable (Shimp, 1997). Smith (1973) argues that consumers view untrustworthy celebrity endorsers as questionable message sources regardless of their qualities. Friedman, et al (1978) addressed that trustworthiness is the major determinant of source credibility and then tried to discover that likability was the most important attribute of trust. Thus, they recommended advertisers to select personalities who are well liked when a trustworthy celebrity is desired to endorse brands. However, Ohanian (1991) found that trustworthiness of a celebrity was not significant related to customers intentions to buy an endorsed ethnic status could affect endorser trustworthiness and brand attitudes, because people trust endorsers who are similar to them. Their findings implied that when targeting particular ethnic groups such as Africans and Asians, ethnic background should be carefully evaluated. Measuring source credibility in selecting celebrity It is quite reasonable to make sense that a sources credibility is totally subjective, but research shows that in spite of individual preferences, a high degree of agreement exists among individuals (Berscheid et al, 1971). Patzer (1983) developed the Truth-of-Consensus method to assess a sources credibility and attractiveness. The method is based on the foundation that individuals judgments of attractiveness and credibility are naturally subjective, but these judgments are shaped through Gestalt principles of person perception rather than single characteristics. Notably, on the basis of extensive literature review and statistical tests, Ohanian (1990) constructed a tri- component celebrity endorser credibility scale, (see figure) which assumes that credibility and effectiveness of celebrity endorsers is associated with given characteristic dimensions, even though McCracken (1989) argued that the celebrity world consists of much more just attractive and credible individuals. Table 2: Source Credibility Scale Attractiveness Trustworthiness Expertise Attractive-Unattractive Trustworthy-Untrustworthy Expert-Not Expert Classy-Not Classy Dependable-Undependable Experience-Inexperienced Beautiful-Ugly Honest-Dishonest Knowledgeable-Unknowledgeable Elegant-Plain Reliable-Unreliable Qualified-Unqualified Sexy-Not Sexy Sincere-Insincere Skilled-Unskilled Source: Ohanian, R (1990) Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers perceived expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness, Journal of Advertising, p39-52 The Source Attractiveness Model Advertisers have chosen celebrity on the basis of their attractiveness to gain from dual effects of celebrity status and physical appeal (Singer, 1983). Meanwhile, research showed that physically attractive endorsers are more successful at changing beliefs (Baker and Chrurchill, 1977; Chaiken, 1979; Debevec and Kernan, 1984) and generating purchase intentions (Friedman et al, 1976; Petroshius and Schuman, 1989; Petty and Cacioppo, 1980) than those unattractive individuals. Hence, McGuire (1985) conducted an empirical research to contend that the effectiveness of a message depends on similarity, familiarity and liking for an endorser. The McGuire (1985) model holds that sources that are known to, liked by, and/or similar to the consumer are attractive and, persuasive. The source attractiveness model also rests on social psychological research (McCracken, 1989). Meanwhile, Cohen and Golden (1972) suggested that physical attractiveness of an endorser determines the effectiveness of persuasive communication through a process called identification, which is assumed to occur when information from an attractive source is accepted as a result of desire to identify with such endorsers. Petty and Cacioppo (1980) conducted attractiveness of endorsers in terms of a shampoo advertisement to comprehend effectiveness of advertising message types. In 1983, Petty et al replicated the earlier study in 1980. Their findings emphasize the interaction between involvement level and endorser type. Under low-involvement conditions, the endorser type had a significant impact on attitudes towards the product even though no impact was found on behavioral intentions. With respect to recall and recognition measures, findings indicated that exposure to celebrity endorsers increased recall of the product category only under low-involvement conditions. Besides, the endorser type manipulation revealed that celebrities had marginally significant impact on brand name recall over typical citizens. Patzer (1985: p30) stated that physical attractiveness is an information cue; involves effects that are subtle, pervasive, and inescapable; produces a definite pattern of verifiable differences; and transcends culture in its effects. Patzer argues that people usually inflate their own attractiveness so that attractive endorsers should be more effective than average looking endorsers. Kahle and Homer (1985) operated celebrity physical attractiveness and likability and measured attitude and purchase intentions on the same product: Edge razors. Findings indicated that participants exposed to an attractive celebrity liked the product more than participants exposed to an unattractive celebrity. Recall for the brand was greater both in attractive and likeable celebrity conditions. However, unlikeable celebrities unexpectedly performed better on recognition measures than likeable and attractive celebrities. Meanwhile, findings proved that an attractive celebrity created more purchase intentions than unattractive celebrity, but conversely an unlikeable celebrity produced more intentions to buy the product than a likeable celebrity. Quite significantly, studies by Cabalero (1989) and Till and Brusler (1998) demonstrate that positive feelings towards advertising and products do not necessarily translate into actual behavior or purchase intentions. A possible reason for the lack of celebrity endorsers effect on intentions to purchase is that celebrity endorsement seems to work on the cognitive and affective components of attitudes rather than the behavioral components (Baker and Churchill, 1977; Fireworker and Friedman, 1977). In terms of gender impact between endorsers and target audience, Debevec and Kernan (1984) found that attractive female model generated more enhanced attitudes than attractive male models across both genders and particularly among males. Conversely, Cabalero et al (1989) found that males showed greater intentions to buy from male endorsers and females hold greater intentions to purchase from female endorsers. Furthermore, Baker and Churchill (1977) found a rather unexpected interaction among female models, product type and intentions to purchase products among male subjects. For instance, when the endorsed product was coffee, an unattractive female model created more intentions to buy the product than her attractive counterpart among males, whereas when it was perfume or aftershave, male reacted more positively to an attractive female model. However, Petroshius and Schulman (1989) found that endorsement gender had no impact on attitudes towards advertisements and no major impact on i ntentions to buy products. Consequently, based on above disparate and controversial arguments, there is no consistent and coherent direction in terms of gender interactions between endorsers and target audiences to aid practitioners. In brief, it is apparent that attractive celebrity endorsers enhance attitudes and recall towards advertising and brands than unattractive celebrity endorsers, however there is no consistent agreement in relation to creating purchase intentions, even though a few studies found that celebrities can create purchase intentions. Multiple celebrity endorsement Millions of dollars are spent per annum on celebrity endorsement contracts on the basis that source effects play an important part in convincing communications. Although traditional advertising knowledge suggests the meaning of an elite product contract with the celebrity, uniqueness comes with a high price label. As a result, it is becoming familiar for companies to share stars (Elliott, 1991; Sloan and Freeman, 1988). For example, former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan has endorsed products for 14 companies (Lipman and Hinge, 1991), and golfer Lee Trevino has had endorsement contracts with Cadillac, Motorola Cellular Phone, Spalding Top-Flight, and La Victoria Salsa (Shatel, 1991). Multiple product endorsements set up new questions relating to our understanding of how consumers react to celebrity endorsements. If as McCracken (1989, p.311) suggests, the celebrity endorser takes on meanings that carry from ad to ad, does endorsing multiple products affect those assigned meanings such that the consumer perceives the celebrity to be less credible and less likable (Kaikati, 1987)? Do consumers have less positive approaches toward ads and brands if multiple product endorsements are involved? What consequence do multiple product endorsements have on consumers buying aims? Does the number of products endorsed restrain the effect of frequent publicity to the celebrity endorser (Tripp, 1994)? Practical proof concerning how consumers react to multiple product endorsement is restricted, leaving unanswered issues in an important research ground. It is known the act of multiple product endorsements guides to certain impressions about celebrity. Early studies (i.e. Mowen and Brown 1981; Mowen, Brown, and Schulman 1979) suggest that simply knowing that a celebrity endorses multiple products is satisfactory to decay consumers insights of endorser honesty, as well as a brand and ad evaluations. Given a limited knowledge of how the endorsement process works (McCracken, 1989), these are clearly issues with theoretical value. The current study independently manipulated the number of exposures to a celebrity in a way different from previous studies in order to investigate the effects of continual exposure to the multiple product endorsers on consumer responses. The apply of actual stimulus is important since exposure to multiple product endorsers (vs. knowledge only) may result in effects different from multiple product endorsement effects. For example, attribution theory (Kelley, 1973) suggests that assumptions may result in consumers evaluating multiple product endorsers less favorable than single product endorsers. According to Kelley, observers identify an actors action to be characteristic when it happens in the presence of a unit and does not occur to its absence. In the case of endorsements, single product endorsements (even if viewed multiple times) compose characteristic actions since spokesperson endorses one brand and not other brands or products. In contrast, multiple product endorsements compose non distinctive actions because the endorsements take a broad view across products with the celebrity constant. Limited of the number of exposures to the endorser, this non distinctiveness may result in consumers concluding that the nature of the spokesperson was the reason for the endorsement, not the nature of product. Although multiple product endorsements (i.e. non distinctive actions) influence perceptions of the spokespersons credibility (i.e, internal attributions), the spotlight of external attributions for single product endorsements (i.e.. distinctive actions) is not obvious. Witnesses of a spokesperson who endorses only a single product may or may not trait the endorsement to the product itself (e.g. product quality). The product repr esents only one cause for the endorsement. Other potential causes for the endorsement exist (e.g., popularity of the endorser; endorsers ties to the product, company, or advertising agency; money paid to the endorser) (Tripp, 1994). In this respect, multiple product endorsements may lead to attribute suggestions about nature of the spokesperson (e.g. traits such as greediness) and, in turn, pressure such manifestations of affect as credibility and likability (Weiner, 1985). Moreover, affect may lead to comparative preferences or be short of of preferences toward associated stimulus (Bara and Ray, 1985) such as the ad or brand. Attribution theory may be used to make clear consumers assumptions about the reasons for a product endorsers support (Folkes, 1988). Commonly, when exposed to a single endorsement, consumers attribute the support to an external cause (e.g. a financial reason). However, the frequency of an action and the actions with which it co varies form the basis of many attributions (Folkes, 1988). Since a multiple product endorser is seen repeatedly and in different contexts, examination of the relationship between the number of exposures to the celebrity, endorser likability, and credibility is a critical consideration. Berlynes (1970) two-factor paradigm suggests that increased exposure to a stimulus results in a more favorable response initially due to a learning factor. At some higher number of exposures, however, a negative response (possibly due to tedium) begins to predominate. Taken together, these two theoretical ideas suggests that the number of products endorsed and the number of expo sures to the endorser may interact such that the number of products endorsed moderates the effect of number of exposures. Thus, inclusion of actual exposure allows for the first tests of any multiple product endorsement effects on both dimensions of credibility and likability beyond that due to repeated exposure to the endorser (Tripp, 1994). The product Match-Up hypothesis Forkan (1980) and Kamins (1990) conducted empirical experiment to test the Product Match-up Hypothesis, which contends that messages conveyed by celebrity image and the product message should be congruent for effective advertising. The determinant pf the match between celebrity and brand depends on the degree of perceived fit between brand such as brand name and attributes and celebrity image (Misra, 1990). Advertising a product via a celebrity who has a relatively high product congruent image leads to greater advertiser and celebrity believability (Levy, 1959; Kamins and Gupta, 1994; Kotler, 1997). Importance of proper match-up between celebrities and products has been emphasized. From practitioners perspective, a senior vice president of a leading beverage company states that celebrities are an unnecessary risk unless they are very logically related to products (Watkins, 1989). Another practitioner quoted by Bertrand and Todd (1992) argued that if there is a combination of an appropriate tie-in between the companys product and the celebritys persona, reputation or the line of work that the celebrity is in, advertisers can get both the fame and the tie-in working for them. Meanwhile, many studies report that consumers also expect congruity between celebrity endorsers perceived images and their endorsed products (Callcoat and Phillips, 1996; Ohanian, 1991; OMahony and Meenaghan, 1997). Otherwise, Evans (1988) argued that if celebrities do not have a distinct and specific relationship to the product they endorse, the use of celebrities could produce the Vampire effect which happens when the audience remembers the celebrity, but not the product or service. Meanwhile, the absence of connection between celebrity endorsers and products endorsed may lead consumers to the belief that the celebrity has been bought to endorse the product/service (Erdogan, 1999). Significantly, the proper match-up between a celebrity and a product has been based on celebrity physical attractiveness, and the match-up hypothesis predicts that attractive celebrities are more effective when endorsing products used to enhance ones attractiveness (Kahle and Homer, 1985; Kamins, 1990). Research also identifies that characteristics of a celebrity interact positively with the nature of the product endorsed (Friedman and Friedman, 1979; Kamins, 1990; Lynch and Schuler, 1994). Choi and Nora (2005), who used a cognitive approach that focuses on consumers attributions of celebrity endorsement motives, emphasized that the level of celebrity and product congruence will influence celebrity endorsement effectiveness through the process of consumer attributions of the celebritys motive for associating him or herself with the particular product and the subsequent effect of these attributions on the consumer evaluations of the endorser, the advertising, and the brand involved in the endorsement. Surprisingly, Kamins and Gupta (1994) found that the match-up between a celebrity endorser and the endorsed brand also enhances the celebrity endorsers believability and favorable attitudes (Till et al, 2006). Friedman and Friedman (1978) found that celebrity endorsers are more appropriate where product purchases involve high social and psychological risk. Meanwhile, Kamins (1989) and Kamins, et al (1989) found that celebrity endorsers were able to generate desired effects on high financial and performance risk products/services such as management consultation and computers. Conversely, Callcoat and Phillips (1996) reported that consumers are generally influenced by endorsers if products are inexpensive, low-involving and few differences are perceived among available brands. As a result, these contradictory arguments lead to the conclusion that advertising is a powerful mechanism of meaning transfer that virtually any product can be made to take any meaning (McCrackens 1987; OMahony and Meenaghan, 1997). The almost studies in terms of evaluating celebrities endorser and endorsed products/brands are using consumer samples. Only one study by Miciak and Shanklin (1994) investigation considered advertising practitioners when choosing celebrity endorsers based on a small sample including 21 agencies and 22 company practitioner. Remarkably, more recently, Erdogan et al (2001) investigated a larger sample that is the 300 largest British advertising agencies (Campaigh, 1997) to consider important celebrity characteristics from the practitioners perspective when selecting an endorser by conducting exploratory interviews and a mail survey. Their findings provide implications for both theory and practice. At the theoretical level, the research firstly shows that managers do not see celebrities as undimensional individuals such as attractive and credible when selecting celebrity endorsers, because celebrities are different unknown endorsers as they represent a variety of meanings that are drawn from the roles they assume in television, film, politics, and so on (McCracken, 1989). Secondly, managers have implicitly incorporated the findings of product match-up hypothesis research in their decision-making. On the other hand, for practitioners, as none of the advertising agencies had any written documentation regarding celebrity endorsement strategy, Erdogan et al (2001) set the criteria through providing a possible check list of factors in Table 3 below, when practitioners select celebrity endorsers. However, DeSarbo and Harshman (1985) argue that neither the source credibility and attractiveness nor the match-up research is adequate in providing a heuristic for appropriate celebrity endorser selection, although the Match-Up Hypothesis extends beyond attractiveness and credibility towards a consideration and matching of the entire image of the celebrity with the endorsed brand and the target audience. The Meaning Transfer Model McCracken (1989) organized an empirical research evaluating effectiveness of the endorser depends upon the meaning the person brings to the endorsement process in part. McCracken (1989) and Brierley (1995) pointed out that the number and variety of the meanings contained in celebrities are very large, which includes status, class, gender, and age and personality and lifestyles types, more importantly, the cultural meanings existing in a celebrity go beyond the person and are passed on to the products. Fortini-Campbell (1992) argues that products just like people have personalities, and claims that people consume brands with personality characteristics like their own or ones they aspire to possess in celebrities. Similarly, according to Fowles (1996), advertisers rationale for hiring celebrities to endorse products is that people consume images of celebrities, and advertisers hope that people will also consume products associated with celebrities. Celebrity endorsement actually is a special instance of a more general process of meaning transfer (McCracken, 1989). This process is a conventional path for the movement of cultural meaning in consumer societies through formation of celebrity image, transfer of meaning from celebrity to product, and from product to consumers. McCracken (1988) defined that meaning begins as something resident in the culturally constituted world, in the physical and social world constituted by the categories and principles of the prevailing culture. Furthe rmore, McCracken (1989) found that several instruments facilitate this transfer. Firstly, the movement of meanings from the culturally constituted world to consumer goods is accomplished by advertising and the fashion system. Then, the movement of meanings from consumer goods to the individual consumer is accomplished through the efforts of the consumers. Hence, meaning circulates in the consumer society. Besides, McCracken (1986) argued that advertising is one of the instruments to move meanings from culture, to consumers, to goods; this movement is accomplished by the efforts of promotional agencies. Similarly, Domzal and Kerman (1992) claimed that advertising is an integral part of social systems, whose function is to communicate the culturally constructed meaning of products to consumers. As the figure 1 shows, the meaning that begins in the dramatic role of the celebrity resides in the celebrity themselves in stage 1. In stage 2, this meaning is transferred when the celebrity enters into an advertisement with a product, and some of the meanings of the celebrity are now the meanings of the product. In the final stage, the meaning moves from the product to the consumer. Notably, celebrity endorsement makes a very particular contribution to each of these three stages in meaning transfer process. In sum, as McCracken (1989) suggested, the meaning transfer model presented is intended to demonstrate that the secret of the celebrity endorsement is largely cultural in nature, and that the study of the celebrity endorsement is improved by a cultural perspective. Consequently, advertisers should assess the culture that encompasses a celebrity to determine whether these meanings are feasible for brands/products in order to achieve effectiveness of the endorser. Definition of celebrities Celebrities are people who enjoy public recognition by a big share of a certain group of people. Whereas characteristic like attractiveness, amazing lifestyle or special skills are just examples and specific common characteristics cannot be observed, it can be said that within a analogous social group celebrities generally vary from the social standard and enjoy a high degree of public awareness. This is factual for classic forms of celebrities, like actors (e.g. Meg Ryan, Pierce Brosnan), models (e.g. Naomi Campbell, Gisele Buendchen), sports athletes (e.g. Anna Kournikova, Michael Schumacher), entertainers (e.g. Oprah Winfrey, Conan OBrien) and pop stars (e.g. Madonna, David Bowie) but also for less obvious groups like businessmen (e.g. Donald Trump, Bill Gates) or politicians (e.g. Rudy Giuliani, Lee Kuan Yew). Celebrities appear in public in different ways. First, they appear in public when satisfying their profession, e.g. Pete Sampras, who plays tennis in front of an audience in Wimbledon. Furthermore, celebrities appear in public by attending special celebrity events, e.g. the Academy Awards, or world premieres of movies. In addition, they are present in news, fashion magazines, and tabloids, which offer second source information on events and the private life of celebrities through mass-media channels (e.g. Fox 5 news covering Winona Ryders trial on shoplifting, InStyle). Last but not least, celebrities work as spokespersons in advertising to endorse products and services (Kambitsis et al. 2002, Tom et al. 1992). Advantages and disadvantages of celebrity endorsement strategy Potential Advantages Potential Disadvantages Preventive Tactics Assisting product  marketing and  increased attention Overshadow the brand Pre-testing and careful planning Image polishing Public controversy Buying insurance and putting  provision clauses in contracts Brand introduction Image change and  overexposure Explaining what is their role and  putting clause to restrict  endorsements for other brands Brand repositioning Image change and loss of  public recognition Examining what life-cycle stage  the celebrity is in and how long  this stage is likely to continue Underpin global  campaigns Expensive Selecting celebrity who are  appropriate for global target  audience, not because they are  hot in all market audience Source: Erdogan, B.Z (1999) Celebrity endorsement: A literature review, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol 15, p295 Mathur et al (1997) state a variety of reasons that firms use celebrity endorsers including that firms may feel that the life experiences of endorsers fit the advertising message, that the endorser has high appeal with the firms target consumer group, or that the endorsers universal appeal makes the advertising universal. Celebrity endorsement can bring out several positive effects. They are that advertisements become believable (Kamins et al, 1989), message recall is enhanced (Friedman and Friedman, 1979), recognition and perception of brand names is improved and attitudes about products with low purchase involvement are affected (Petty et al, 1983; Till et al, 2006), positive attitudes about brands results (Kamins et al, 1989), and distinct personalities and appeals for products and brands are created (McCracken, 1989; Dickenson, 1996). Moreover, celebrity endorsements are believed to generate a greater likelihood of customers choosing the endorsed brand (Heath et al, 1994; Kahle a nd Homer, 1985; Ohanian, 1991). As a result the use of celebrity endorsement is an advertising strategy that should enhance the marginal value of advertisement expenditures and create brand equity by means of the secondary association of a celebrity with a brand (Keller, 1993). Meanwhile, research indicates that celebrity endorsements can result in more favorable advertisement ratings and product evaluations (Dean and Biswas, 2001). Some of the most difficult aspects of global marketing to gasp are host countries cultural roadblocks such as time, space, language, relationships, power, risk, masculinity and femininity (Mooij, 1994; Hosfsted, 1984). Under this situation, celebrity endorsements are a powerful device by which to enter foreign markets; and celebrities with world-wide popularity can help companies break through many such roadblocks (Erdogan, 1999). On the other hand, there are also many potential disadvantages and hazards in utilizing celebrities as endorsers as a part of marketing communication strategy. Firstly, benefits of using celebrities can reverse markedly if they for example, suddenly change image, fall popularity, get into a situation of moral turpitude, lose credibility by over-endorsing or overshadow endorsed products (Cooper, 1984; Kaikati, 1987). Secondly, negative information about a celebrity endorser not only influences consumers perception of the celebrity, but also the endorsed product (Klebba and Unger, 1982; Till and Shimp, 1995). Thirdly, another common concern is that consumers will focus their attention on the celebrity and fail to notice the brand being promoted (Rossiter and Percy, 1987). Fourthly, celebrities who are blamed for negative events such as accidents can have detrimental influence on the products they endorse (Louie and Obermiller, 2002). Besides, Mowen and Brown (1981) argue that if a celebritys image ties in with many brands/ products, impact and indentify with each product may reduce since the relationship between the celebrity and a particular brand is not distinctive. This can not only compromise the value of the celebrity in the eyes of stars fans (Graham, 1989), but also can make consumers to think the real nature of endorsement that has less to do with the brand/product attributes, and more to do with generous compensation for the celebrity, leading consumers to overt doubt about their motives, so as to cause the negative influences on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions among the multiple products endorsed by celebrities (Cooper, 1984; Tripp et al, 1994). The f

Research Proposal: Eating Breakfast and Weight Loss Essay -- health, c

Introduction and Background Introduction Almost two out of three adults are obese or overweight, and more than half of the young children are not active enough to have potential risk for obesity (King, 2013). Obesity has already become one of the most significant public health issues in the entire world. Research has mentioned that obesity could lead to the many risks for premature mortality and numerous chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, coronary heart diseases, hypertension, and decreased life expectancy, and it could affect an individuals’ social and psychological status. People who have obesity are also more likely to experience bias, discrimination, and reduce quality of life (King, 2013). Numerous strategies have been proposed to manage obesity. Energy intake plays a key role in managing obesity and weight loss. Some people opt to eat one or two meals per day which may not be a healthy way of losing weight. Breakfast is often said to be the most important meal of the day. Eating a good breakfast can reduce the total energy, carbohydrate, and fat ingested over a long day, which a sufficient healthy breakfast can be conducive to change the portion size ingested at lunch and dinner in order to cut off calories (De Castro, 2007). Some researchers mentioned that increasing breakfast intake could help to decrease weight easier compared to those who did not eat breakfast (Schusdziarra et al., 2011). Choosing what type of breakfast to eat is important when individuals want to have access to controlling weight. Vander et al. (2008) said that the egg breakfast could enhance the efficiency of weight loss with an energy-deficit diet. However, some individuals still don’t believe e... ... 167 (2), 188. Lohman, T. G., Roche, A. F., &Martorell, R. (1991). Anthropometric standardization reference manual, 71-80. Miller, T., Mauthner, M., Birch, M. & Jessop, J. (2012). Ethics in qualitative research. SAGE. Sacco, J. E., &Tarasuk, V. (2009). Health Canada's proposed discretionary fortification policy is misaligned with the nutritional needs of Canadians. Journal of Nutrition, 139(10), 1980- 1986. Schusdziarra, V., Hausmann, M., Wittke, C., Mittermeier, J., Kellner, M., Naumann, A., Erdmann, J. (2011). Impact of breakfast on daily energy intake - an analysis of absolute versus relative breakfast calories.Nutrition Journal, 10(1), 5-12. Wyatt, H. R., Grunwald, G. K., Mosca, C. L., Klem, M. L., Wing, R. R., & Hill, J. O. (2002). Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the National Weight Control Registry. Obesity Research, 10(2), 78-82.

Glass Ceiling :: essays research papers

Glass Ceiling Women hold just 9 per cent of executive positions in Australia – Candy Tymson Gender Differences It is commonly argued that female and males are very different with respect to their personal characteristics, such as motivational issues and experience. (Liebermale, 2002) Even when female and males have the same characteristics, there is still some difference with respect to their behaviour and the outcome of their activities. Men recognize that what they say to a female is either heard or reacted to differently than expected. Men find themselves thinking carefully about how to approach an issue or how to speak, thereby removing rapport building from the relationship with a female. Because female are more relationship oriented, they tend to lead by consensus. Men tend to be more hierarchical and include only the people closest to them at their level in the decision making process. When females have to make a decision they will often process and look at options out loud while men tend to process internally until they come up with a solution. Females often think that the male is being unresponsive to suggestions because of this and men often think that females are looking for approval when they process out loud or that they don't know what they are doing. Some men think that a female's way of processing is a sign of weakness. Communication Styles. In non-verbal behaviour females will nod their head to show that they are listening. Men leave the conversation thinking that a head nod means agreement and will be surprised to find out that the female didn't agree at all. When a female is speaking to a male and he does not say anything and stays in a neutral body language to show that he is listening, a female will interpret that as the male being bored or not understanding what she is saying.

Attitude Formation Essay

Attitude Formation/ Change Essay Plan INTRODUCTION: What are Attitudes? A learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object, they are also transferable simplifies the decision making as what has been learnt from one The attitude â€Å"object†: It includes specific consumption or marketing concepts such as product, product category, brand, service, possessions, product use, price, package etc. Eg.Consumer attitudes towards online shopping. Attitudes are a learned predisposition that means attitudes are formed as a result of prior direct experience with the object through word of mouth, information acquired from others or from advertising. Attitudes are relatively consistent with the behaviour they reflect. They usually occur within a situation such as an event or circumstance that, at a particular point in time, influence the relationship between attitude and behaviour.In consumer behaviour attitudes usually rela te to consistent purchase, recommendations, top rankings, beliefs, evaluations, intentions. BODY: Tricomponent model -cognitive- the knowledge and perceptions acquired from direct contact with a product Affective: the emotions and feelings helping to evaluate the product Conative: the tendency to behave or act in a particular way MULTI ATTRIBUTE MODEL: Attitude toward object model: Suitable for measuring attitudes towards a brand, product, or service or specific brand.Presence or evaluation of certain product specific beliefs about the product-Level of positive and negative attributes, favourable or unfavourable attitudes towards the product. Attitude towards behaviour: An individual’s attitude towards behaving or acting to an object rather than an attitude towards the object itself. Eg. Your reaction/action when you are presented with a BMW. Theory of reasoned action: An integration of attitude components- the affective, the cognitive, conative-has been designed to give mark et researchers a esearch tool that better predicts and explains consumer behaviour. Theory of planned: consumers are affected by perceived behavioural control , there skills of resources can influence the outcome, has been used to understand the willingness to engage in a broad range of activities. How attitudes are learnt: -As attitudes are formed, there is a shift from no attitude to some attitude towards a particular object -this shift in attitude is a result of learning established brand names are often perceived favourably, as the result of stimulus generalisation (classical conditioning) -Sometimes attitudes follow the trial purchase of the product (instrumental conditioning) Attitudes are learned through: -classical conditioning: repeated satisfaction with other products from the same organisation -instrumental conditioning: a new product is purchased= if it proves satisfactory consumers are likely to develop a favourable attitude towards it -Cognitive learning: attitudes are formed of the basis of information found and the consumers own beliefs and knowledge.Sources of influence on formation of attitudes: family, friends, personal experience, promotional activities, mass media, internet. Personality and Attitude formation: Personality plays a critical role in attitude formation , those with a high need for cognition are likely to form positive attitudes to promotions that are rich in product related information Those with a low need of cognition have more positive attitudes towards promotions that feature attractive models or well known celebrities.

Examine the Reasons for Changes in the Patterns of Marriage, Cohabitation and Divorce Essay

â€Å"Examine the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage, divorce and cohabitation over the past 40 years. † The patterns of marriage, divorce and cohabitation over the past 40 years has varied considerably. In 1972, over 480,000 couples got married subsequently making this the highest amount of marriages within a year ever since the Second World War. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this was down to the baby boom generation of the 1950’s reaching the age of marriage. However, after this period, the number of marriages in England went into decline. Recently, marriages reached an all-time low in 2005 when only 244,701 couples got married. Less than half of what it was in 1972. Some people accuse society of rejecting marriage and are no longer bothered about it but, statistics prove otherwise. These statistics reveal that people are, in fact, delaying marriage. It is said that people most people will marry later in life, most likely after a period of cohabitation. Reasons for this may be that couples are being wary before making any serious commitments. Proof that supports the â€Å"marrying later in life† idea is that the average age of a bride in 2003 was 29 and all grooms 31 years old compared with 22 for women and 24 for men in 1971. Specifically, women may want to delay marriage for reasons such as advancing in their career prospects. Not only is there a drop in the total number of marriages but also a decline in marriage rates (the number of people marrying per 1000 of the population aged 16 and over). Marriage rates are at their lowest since the 1920’s and further plummeting. In 1994, the marriage rate was 11. 4 but this had declined to 10. by 2004. The male rate declined from 36. 3 in 1994 to 27. 8 in 2004 whilst the female rate declined from 30. 6 to 24. 6. Once more, surveys emphasis that most people, whether single, divorced or cohabitating still see marriage as a desirable life-goal and therefore will get married eventually especially if they are having children as they see this as the basis of family life. Another change in the pattern of marriage is that two fifths of all marriages are remarriages. These people are clearly faithful to the institution of marriage in spite of their previous negative experience of it. The reason for this trend could possibly be due to their first marriages, which were empty-shell marriages. This is where there is no love or intimacy between them, but the marriage persists for the sake of the children until they are old enough. They might then decide to start a new life, including getting remarried. Such options are available to civilization for several reasons. Changes to the attitude of marriage has ensured that there is less pressure to marry and that there is more freedom to choose what type of relationship people want to live in. The norm that everyone ought to get married has greatly weakened. This is visible by the decline in stigma attached to marriage – cohabitation, remaining single and having children outside of marriage is now all regarded as acceptable. Giddens (1993) and Goode (1963) both argue that there is a trend towards adopting Westernised forms of marriage and family structure. They believe that we are slowly moving towards having the free choice of choosing our spouse, that there is a decline in arrange marriage and an increase towards egalitarian marriage and the notion of no sexual experience prior to marriage seems to be changing. Coleman and Salt (1992) also support this view as they believe that traditional views are being challenged by new idea, new economic roles for women, new laws and family planning. Dennis (19840 similarly suggests the same idea claiming that modern marriages are fragile and are only held together by emotional ties. He thinks that if these ties fail, then there is little reason for a couple to remain together. Regardless of the reduction in the overall number of people marrying, married couples are still the main type of partnership for men and women in the UK. In 2005, seven in ten families were headed by a married couple. In the terms of Divorce – the legal termination of marriage, this has increased immensely since 1971 due to the change in legislation that had liberalized divorce, made it cheaper and easier to obtain. The Divorce Reform Act of 1971 was the most important because prior to 1971, one partner had to provide ‘evidence’ that they had been wronged by the significant other (matrimonial offence). Due to the change of the law, it allowed people to divorce on the basis of â€Å"irretrievable breakdown†. In addition, since 1984, the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act reduced the time limit for divorce for a minimum of 3 years of marriage to only one year. After this act, the divorce rate shot up again, as it did in 1971. Now, people were finally able to legally to end all connections, as previously when divorce was either too expensive or difficult to obtain, separation was very common, which was when a couple decided to live away from each other. To go into more detail of the trend of increased divorces, in 1993, the number of divorces peaked at 180,000. By 2000, this figure had fallen to 154,000, lthough the years 2001 – 2004 have seen a gradual rise to 167,100. There is now almost as many divorces as there is marriages and if recent trends continues, almost 40% of marriages will end in divorce. An adequate reason for this increased style of divorcing is that it is no longer linked with stigma and shame. The British culture is hugely based on Christian beliefs and one of these beliefs is that marriage is for life (‘till death do us part’). Nevertheless, over the years secularisation and a change in attitudes has emerged and the view that divorce can lead to greater happiness for the individual is more acceptable. Wilson (1966) agrees with this as he believes that the Christian ideal of lifelong marriage is taken less seriously as less than half of marriages ceremonies are now religious and few couple are regular churchgoers. Another view is that people now have a higher standard of marriage and increased expectation. Fletcher (1966) argues that couples are less likely to put up with doomed ‘empty-shell’ marriages, thus making divorce more common. However, at the same times, most divorcees remarry, suggesting that they do not reject the institution of marriage but expect more from the relationship. Another reason which contributes to the increase of divorce rates is down to women wanting to improve educational and career opportunities. Increase to women employments has ensured for women to be economically and financially independent. So women who were previously stuck in ‘empty-shell’ marriages because of their inability to support themselves – now do not have to. Fletcher greatly agreed with this argument but women’s earnings are still less than 755 of men’s. Many women are in low paid and part time work, so their opportunities for financial independence are limited. Feminist sociologists note that women expectations of marriage have changed radically over the years. Evidence of this is that 75% of divorce petitions are made by women, indicating dissatisfaction among women with their marriages and their husbands. This can support Thornes and Collard’s (1979) view that women expect more from marriage than men and the value friendship and emotional gratification more than men do. If the male spouse fails to live up to these expectations, women may feel the need to search elsewhere. Lastly, Functionalist sociologists argue that high divorce rates indicate that marriage is progressively valued and that people are demanding higher standards from their partners. They believe that couples are not refusing to put up with hopeless, ‘empty-shell’ marriages as people now want emotionally and sexually compatibility, and equality as well as companionship. It is a fact that some will even go through various people just to search for ‘the one’ and if they marry every time they meet a new partner, then they are obviously going to contributing to the rising divorce rates. Cohabitation is a trend that has been on the rise for the last decade. The proportion of non-married people cohabiting has risen sharply in the last 20 years from 11% of men and 13% of women in 1986 to 24% and 25% respectively. In 2007, the Office for Nation Statistics (ONS) suggested that cohabitating couples are the fastest growing type of family in Britain. For instance, there are around 2. 2 million cohabiting couples with or without children and about a quarter of all unmarried adults under 60 are now cohabiting – double the number in 1986. This specific form of relationship has increased by 65% since 1997. In addition, the ONS data suggested that a third of teenagers in 2007 were destined to cohabit rather than marry compared with one in ten of their grandparents. As gathered, the trend is on the rise, raising a few questions from researchers as to why this is happening. One reason would be that people like to cohabit to â€Å"test the water†. During this period, they (the couple) will assess and analyse each other to see if they are well-matched and whether they will be able to live with one another before making any serious commitments. After all, cohabitation on average lasts 5 years, which from then on 60% of cohabitees will then join in matrimony. Another reason for the increase of cohabitation is that there are a significant number of people who live together whilst in the process of divorce. For example, in 2005, 23% of cohabiting men were separated from former partners while 36% were divorced. So granting a person may be married, they have separated and moved into another house to live with as person they have met. This will be then considered as a cohabitee. A third reason contributing to the rise of cohabitation is that people are baffled by the cost of marriages. According to Wedding Guide UK, the average cost of a traditional wedding in the UK is around ? 11,000. To add to this, some people are putt off by the religious ceremony of marriage. Britain has over time grown to become a secular society. Both these factors will make people refrain from marrying because in their eyes they see it as long as they are happily together, they do not need a ring or a piece of paper to prove anything else. Women do not want to marry as much anymore with increased career opportunities. Most women feel that there is less need to go throw the hassle for the financial security of marriage as they are free to opt for cohabitation. However many argue that the relationship between cohabitation and marriage is not clear cut since for some couples, cohabitation is just a step on the way of getting married, whereas for others it is a permanent alternative to marriage. Chester (1985) argues that for most people cohabitation is part of the process of getting married. For example, according to Ernestina Coast (2006) 75% of cohabiting couples say they expect to marry each other. On the other hand, some couples see cohabitation as permanent substitute to marriage. Andre Bejin (1985) argues that cohabitation among some young people represents a conscious attempt to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship than conventional patriarchal for example Shelton and John (1993) found that women who cohabit do less house work than married women This would appeal to women as it relieves them of the worry of balancing both house work and their daily jobs which women of marriages do have to worry about. Many sociologists are now claiming that marital breakdown is the norm of todays society. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995) argue rising divorce rates are the products of a rapidly changing world in which the traditional rules, rituals and tradition of love, romance and relationships no longer apply. Whereas Functionalist Robert Chester (1985) insists that even though there are new ways of living, the nuclear family will not die out but instead conform to the new traditions of todays society. Morgan (1996) and Giddens (1991) both similarly argue that divorce may have physical harm to each individual yet it brings freedom and opportunity to humanity. Morgan claims that the more divorce and re-marriages increase, the more we find ourselves part of many different families at the same time and this effects who we think we are. Giddens, once again, shadows Morgans views by saying that divorce offers people the chance to reassess who they are. In conclusion, there have many changes in the institution of marriage. Many argue that society will no longer be the same. This is considered to be very realistic as all human actions change over time.