ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Explain how each of the four sets of factors affecting consumer behavior affects the consumer purchase process as it relates to toys from Wild Planet Consumers’ behaviors and purchase processes are affected by cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors. In terms of cultural perspective, the target market of Wild Planet is composed of parents and their kids in San Francisco; thus, the products of the company must agree with the American culture, which promotes independence and freedom. Wild Planet continues to provide its customers not only toys but also positive experience products that enable kids to exercise their creativity and imagination. In terms of social factors affecting customers’ purchasing behaviors, the research team of Wild Planet found out that peer pressure and the schoolyard buzz notion play important roles in a toy’s attractiveness to customers. When one kid is seen with a new toy that is deemed cool, other kids may feel the pressure of getting the same toy. In most cases, the notion of schoolyard buzz can be observed in kids’ actions where each kid wants to be the first to own the latest toy; thus, competitions may occur among kids. Competitions promote the attractiveness of Wild Planet’s products and push the company to produce more innovative, imaginative, and interactive products. Also, another social behavior observed among kids is the notion that if the most popular kid in a group owns a specific toy, such a product is deemed cool in the group, and the other kids are pressured to buy the same toy in order to be part of the craze. Toys can be personal for kids; thus, personal preferences must be considered in the making and marketing of toys. In recent interviews conducted with kids who visited the store, Wild Planet found out that toys are being showcased by kids. The difference between the purchasing behaviors of girls and boys can be attributed to the trend of growing older younger. Girls tend to graduate from their toy craze stages earlier than boys. Boys love to take their gadgetries out of their respective boxes while girls prefer to have their toys covered. Another factor affecting girls’ choices in buying toys is the attractiveness of the toys’ physical appearances because girls like to display their toys in their rooms for guests to appreciate. Lastly, the psychological factor in buying gravely affects the sales of Wild Planet. The company tries to understand the preferences of its customers in terms of toys; thus, they continuously improve their products to satisfy their clients’ wants and needs. The creation of positive experience products promotes kids’ imaginations, thus appealing to parents for Wild Planet’s products may help develop and enhance kids’ cognitive processes. With such a notion in mind, parents and children are eager to avail toys from Wild Planet because doing so may benefit them. What demographic segment of consumers is Wild Planet targeting? Wild Planet conducts extensive researches to satisfy the preferences and needs of its target market, which is the children and t
My views changed in many ways from this class. Before this class, I had not considered many aspects of the gay community in many regards. Transsexual’s roles as men or women, lesbian interactions with transsexuals, gay black men with regards to the community, and issues concerning intersexed people were the topics I was most ignorant of. My views on them changed mostly because I became more informed. I was not very biased in any sense to begin with, so the views that changed in this class were not really related to opinion. Essentially, the topic of transsexuals changed my perspective of how they fit in to the community as men or women. I always wondered if they were really considered women or not, and while before I had the opinion that their genitals made up their true role, I now view how they try to act as their role. While it seems obvious that how they act with regards to their role as far as style, expression, etc, I tended to see them in terms of what was actually under their clothes. Now, I see them as however they want to act without discriminating (politely) with regards to how they choose to use their sexual organs as this is part of their sexuality. I was never aware that lesbians or male homosexuals did not let these people into the “community” because they are not actually born into sexuality or are by any definition a pure lesbian or homosexual. Furthermore, I became aware of the problems gay black males commonly have with being cut off from the rest of the African community. The concept of intersexed people having their identity surgically altered before they are aware of it was also new to me and changed my perspective. I wish I could have contributed more to the class, but I contributed a fair amount to the discussions when I thought I could do so in an intelligent manner. This is probably how I contributed best, as I sincerely enjoyed the lectures while giving them deep consideration, I assisted in providing for a stimulating and thought provoking atmosphere. The ways in which I offered unique and specific qu
Introduction Barnes and Noble started off its operations in early 1970s after being established by New York undergraduate University student by the name Leonard Riggio. In its initial years of operation, the company enjoyed an almost monopolistic environment as there were no fierce competitors. As a result, the company used these early opportunities to get involved in offering discounted books and acquiring new markers ventures such as BookMasters and Marboro Books which enabled the company to expand its retail chains (Barnes and Noble, n.d, par.1). During the early years of 1990s, the company’s operations were subjected to fierce competition as other firms received licenses to operate as retail bookstores. This saw other companies like Borders Group Inc., Amazon. com, Books-A-Million, Crown Books and Media Plax, become major competitors to Barnes and Noble (Barnes and Noble, n.d). These companies developed and pursued detailed strategies that centered on increasing their marketing advantages. At the same time the competitor companies possessed vital resources and strategies such as: sophiscated inventory management system in the retail book industry, strong brand position, provision of outstanding value to customer together with superior shopping experience and massive sales volumes (Modi, Durkin, Kass and Ulin, 2000). Barnes and Noble external environment Firms constantly interact with their outside environment and suggestion has been that firms need to participate in continuous assessment of their environment (Cowper, 2006). External environment that a firm conducts its operations in include: competitive forces, demographic forces, social and cultural forces, economic forces, legal and governmental forces and technological forces (Cowper, 2006). Established literatures postulate that every firm or organization is shaped by the external macro and micro environment with possibilities of internal environments being controllable. However, it has been seen that firms have limited influence over their external environment and in reality firms are always advised to align their internal environment with the necessary changes in the external environment which in turn result in modifying the firm’s mission and shifting priorities and goals (Lussier, 2008). Competition from Amazon Amazon.com was started in1994 by Jeff Bezos and in 1995 the company opened its virtual doors before going public in 1997 through an Initial Public Offer-IPO (Modi, Durkin, Kass and Ulin, 2000). As part of its strategy, Amazon.com has identified certain key factors in its overall business model. The key success factors include: “a strong brand position, providing customers with outstanding value and a superior shopping experience, massive sales volume and realizing economies of scale and scope” (Modi, Durkin, Kass and Ulin, 2000, p.11). Amazon.com operations are centered on these key success factors (KSF) and the visi
Introduction A timely warning, the organization of combating forest fires, and eliminating their consequences requires using modern information technologies and the capabilities of geographic information systems. The Forestry Department has already transformed the taxation and cartographic data on paper carriers almost everywhere and created combined databases on magnetic media that allow using modern information technologies. To form the petrological characteristics of forest fund lands, taxation characteristics in most cases require the generalization and creation of specialized information systems. An effective struggle against the threat of fire is possible in case modern and high-tech equipment is introduced to monitor and identify possible danger timely. As an effective measure, the implementation of a remote control system for forest fires will be considered. This program allows monitoring the condition of forest areas, transmit temperature data, and signal in case of a fire hazard. With the help of such a system, the danger can be identified before the fire spreads over a large area, and emergency measures can be taken to save the terrain. The introduction of remote control will ensure the protection of forests and help to avoid serious damage to nature and human victims. Marketing Mix Product Target The system of remote notification of fire danger will be of interest to the Forestry Department since it is the responsible board that controls this sphere. According to Yuan, Zhang, and Liu (2015), “traditional forest fire monitoring and detection methods employ either mechanical devices or humans to monitor the surroundings, but these methods can be both dangerous and costly in terms of the required human resources” (p. 783). Also, an innovative system of remote control and detection of fire will be necessary for rescue teams regularly engaged in firefighting. State boards will be able to obtain reliable and effective equipment that will protect forest territory and thereby save a significant part of resources. Moreover, this system will help to eliminate the need for mechanical intervention, which will also become an additional benefit for the authorities to reduce the financing of “manned aerial vehicle-based systems” (Yuan et al., 2015, p. 783). Therefore, the implementation of this project is justified from the point of view of state boards’ interests. Marketing Design In order for the fire alarm system under consideration to be in demand in the market and among interested parties, it is necessary for the product to meet all stakeholders’ requirements and possess specific characteristics. The price of such goods may vary depending on the bundle and the terms of sale. Both one-time and long-term payments are possible. It is assumed that the goods will be distributed on the territory with large forest areas where the application of the system is most relevant. Using the program at home is irrational since the coverage radius is extensive, and specific signals are interpreted based on the analysis of data from an open area. The promotion of the notification system can occur both through the advertising of the goods in the media and
State of Contacts Coral reefs are animals that have become ancient and are found in the sea. These ancient animals are said to have evolved to form the reefs. They take along time to evolve and the ones that are available were formed 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. They are said to cover a small portion of the sea and they protect the animals found in the sea. The coral reefs are defined as structures that are produced by dead animals that live in the sea. They develop with low nutrients because high nutrients will kill them. This is because the high nutrients will cause algae to start growing thus suppressing the growth of the coral reefs. The formation of the coral reefs is a complex process because the bones of the fish have to accumulate and breakdown begins. These bones contain calcium carbonate and this facilitates the formation of the head of the coral reef (Anderson, Dennis, 1984). Other sea animals like the parrotfish and the sponges help in the breakdown into small fragments and settle in the structure of the reef. There are other animals that contribute their skeletons for the formation of the coral reefs. The algae that is found in the sea also helps in reef building because they contain limestone and this is important in the integrity of the reefs. The building of the reefs takes place in photic zone because this zone allows sunlight to penetrate through and the process of photosynthesis occurs. They also have a relationship with the algae that is said to be symbiotic, that is, they benefit from each other. The algae helps the reefs to carry out the process of photosynthesis because ten reefs do not have any green matter. It is said that without this algae the coral reefs cannot or can be formed slower than the expected time of their full maturity. Corals reproduce from time to time both sexually and asexually by external or internal fertilization. The breakdown is facilitated by the movement of the waters in form of waves. The result of the breakdown is beautiful and colorful reef that supports the life of the animals found in the marine. Introduction Most of the coral reefs are found in typical waters and they spread on the botto
Burton G. Malkiel examines the increases in the asset management fees and demonstrates that they do not appear to affect the economy in any positive way but prove to be a deadweight loss. This conclusion is received from a study that includes the review of theoretical material on the topic and original research. First, the author demonstrates the process of the asset management fees growth. Malkiel examines the phenomenon of the economy of scale and demonstrates that it is indeed very characteristic in most cases of asset management (with a debatable exception of small-cap funds due to the related difficulties). The author also points out that it mostly produces benefits for the asset managers, even though the individual investors are stated to be able to benefit with the help of the index fund. Through the analysis of the expenses of the actively managed fund assets, Malkiel shows that the fees expressed in the percentage of assets appear to be low, which is vastly different from their real cost; apart from that, they do not decrease despite the competition (100). These fees, according to Malkiel, have increased for mutual funds, institutional and individual investors, though the rate of increase is different. All these facts account for the growth in the financial services industry. Malkiel then states that the fees can be justified when the investment provides greater profit than it would unmanaged. Therefore, to find out the extent of the consistency of he fees, the author chooses to compare the return ratios of active and passive funds. The results suggest that most funds (less than one-third) have not survived, which means that the chances of failure in active management are quite high. Apart from that, the results also demonstrate that the increase of fees does, in effect, serve to improve the efficiency of the market (by supporting arbitrage activities), but there is no evidence to demonstrate that the market is not efficient without them. The efficiency, in this case, according to Malkiel, can be demonstrated by the surviving funds: the managed funds have greater chances of success in the non-efficient market. According to Malkiel, this has never been the case with the market. The conclusion of the author is that, despite the potential to increase the market efficiency, higher fees do not necessarily lead to this result. In the light of the growth of the fees charged by the funds managers, Malkiel doubts the value of the potential (104-105). These facts make the author to wonder why the excessive fees are not eliminated yet. His suggestions of the explanation include the bias of the customer (who may grow to believe that the higher fee and, possibly, a brand means better quality), the widely spread and advertised idea of the difficulties of investing, and the overconfidence of the investor (who believes that they are capable of finding the best manager). Malkiel also points out that, while sophisti
Introduction Advertising is an important element in the process of marketing a product, service, or company. In addition, advertisement plays a key role in process of a firm disseminating concepts and ideas about its products and services. Over the years, there has been a change in the process of commercial advertising from being a fact-based marketing strategy that benefits both the firm and the customers to a method of just benefiting just the firm. This makes commercial advertising to be closely related to propaganda since it tends to be one-sided (Kataras Para. 4). According to Kataras (Para. 4), propaganda refers to a message that is specifically designed to influence the opinions, emotions, behavior, and attitudes of individuals to whom the message is directed. Rutherford asserts that propaganda is specifically designed for a particular group of individuals (5). This also applies to advertising which is designed for a particular target market. Propaganda is meant to attain certain objectives which may include political, social or economic benefits. For example, propaganda can be used to disapprove or gain the support of a given group of people. Therefore, the result of propaganda is that the message communicated to the target group appeals to them making them respond in a manner that benefits the individuals who had designed the message. There are various forms of propaganda which include black, white, and grey propaganda. Black propaganda refers to a message in which the message communicated is misrepresented by purporting to originate from a particular source while it is actually from another. In white propaganda, the source of information is identified but the message may be distorted. On the other hand, grey propaganda refers to propaganda in which the source of information is not identified. Creating product information through commercial advertising can be classified as a form of propaganda. This is due to the fact that the objective of advertisement is to promote a product or service resulting in a financial benefit to the firm. This makes advertising to be a form of propaganda since it has ulterior motives to benefit the firm through making a sale. Just like propaganda, advertising is aimed at shaping the opinion of the public so as to attain a particular goal. There are various forms of commercial advertising. These include industrial, consumer advertising and prest
The current prevalence of vaccine refusals associated with parental safety concerns necessitates the exploration of the connection between vaccines or its ingredients and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A study conducted by Freed, Clark, Butchart, Singer and Davis (2010) revealed that more than half of 2521 survey respondents believed that there is a strong association between vaccines and autism. Moreover, approximately twelve percent of the survey participants reported that they had not followed recommendations about vaccines and refused administration at least once (Freed et al., 2010). Furthermore, the findings of the study suggest that parental concern about vaccines was significantly higher among parents of Hispanic origin (Freed et al., 2010). Taking into consideration the fact that etiology of ASD in not particularly clear and is still under debate, it is necessary to examine the current literature pertaining to the assessment of the link between vaccine administration and ASD (Freed et al., 2010). An article written by Price et al. presents the results of a study examining the connection between prenatal and infant ethylmercury exposure associated with the use of ethylmercury in vaccines and immunoglobulin preparations and autistic disorder (AD), ASD, and ASD with regression (2010). The study was conducted on a sample size of 256 children diagnosed with ASD using the control group of 752 subjects of the same age and gender (Price et al., 2010). Children’s exposure (prenatal and postnatal) to thimerosal was verified with the help of immunization records. A conditional logistic regression model was applied in order to determine the degree of association between ASD, AD, and ASD with regression and exposure to thimerosal during different periods of child development. Results of the study suggested that there is no association between ethylmercury exposure and increased risk of ASDs (Price et al., 2010). A case-control study conducted by DeStefano, Price and Weintraub (2013) confirms Price et al.’s findings and suggests that there is no relationship between increasing exposure to organomercury compounds and risk of developing some form of ASDs. However, the authors suggest that there is a chance that immunologic stimulation caused by vaccines containing antigens could be accountable for the development of ASD during the first years of life (DeStefano, 2013). Therefore, this possibility should be further investigated. Another study aimed at the exploration of the link between exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccine and the increased risk of different ASDs was conducted by Geier, Hooker, Kern, King and Geier in 2013. The study examined whether there is a link between the toxic effects of exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines and the risk of developing ASD. The study revealed that administration of a thimerosal-containing Diphtheria-Tetanus-acellular-Pertussis (DTaP) vaccine is associated with a higher risk of subsequent ASD diagnosis than administration of thimerosal-fre
Alpes is a Mexican corporation owned by a family and deals in provision of animal health products and services. The firm was to enter into a joint venture with another firm, the Charles River Laboratories. The CRL was to undertake the chance and exploit the opportunity of the joint venture in order to increase its profitability. However, before undertaking the venture, it was necessary for CRL to undertake a PESTEL analysis of the joint venture so that it can prepare itself regarding resultant business deals with Alpes. Political Environment The political environment involves evaluation of the political impacts on the economy and the friendliness of the political system in Mexico towards the business venture to be established by the agreement between CRL and Alpes. The political environment in Mexico is very friendly to businesses as it has set policies in place to allow businesses to conduct their operations. However, Mexico has been portrayed by the media as a country that is full of corruption and doing business in the country is not easy for the joint venture since the firm is bound to lose a lot before it increases its market share. For instance, the directors of Bausch recalled an earlier experience with a Mexican joint venture in which their company was defrauded by a Mexican Optics distributor. Economic Environment The economic environment is very important for the joint venture as it will determine the success of the joint venture in Mexico. To begin with, the business environment shows some positive signals to the joint venture as the demand for the eggs products sold by the joint venture was on the rise. Initially, the cross border trade between two companies from different countries was allowed and the two firms are also allowed to engage in a joint venture. Mexico is doing well economically based on its economic growth figures, which is a positive indicator toward the growth of business for the joint venture. Socio-Cultural Environment Demographic figures of Mexico indicate that the country has a population of about 111,211,789 million people that are from different cultures within the country. Given the country’s economic well being, the large population will provide a ready market for the egg products sold by the joint venture. Alpes will provide goodwill by selling the products of the joint venture in Mexico because it has already established itself with outlets in Mexico. Technological Environment Technologically, the joint venture needs to adopt the latest technology in the production o