The gothic horror Essay Example for Free

The gothic horror EssayWith particular reference to chapter 5, explore how Mary Shelley has used the gothic horror genre to create a ball over and terrifying story, which is as relevant today as it was in 1818 Even though it is over a century old, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, has continued to continue public interest for more or less two hundred years. The impertinent was published in 1818, and is one of the much-admired stories in the history of literature.It has remained a best-loved with many audiences, past and present, and has been modified and re-told many times through a variety of types of media, such as radio programmes, theatre, art, childrens comic books and cartoons, television and film versions. I assume it remains to be so well-liked for the reason that the refs dismiss relate to the characters and situations that occur. The novel contains many shocking and fascinating events some of which may startle or terrify the reader. Mary Shelley is an author who wrote the novel of Frankenstein.She experienced many deaths of close friends and family. When she was first born her mother died. Furthermore Mary had a baby who died 12 days after it was born, and her husband Percy Shelly drowned. Maybe it was these experiences which led Mary Shelley to write such a novel of great horror published in 1818. Frankenstein is called the newfangled Prometheus. Prometheus in Greek mythology stole fire from Zeus and gives it to humankind, but was then everlastingly punished by Zeus. In the Latin version, Prometheus formed man from dust and water.Victor Frankenstein is forecastn as a modern Prometheus, as he rebels against nature by making an unnatural man as he would be for the superb of mankind and he is then punished by his creation. Frankenstein is about a young student called Victor Frankenstein. He is determined to find the secret of life, and when he does, he creates a living creature. The monster is calm and caring, but is abandoned by Franke nstein because of his hideous looks this means he has to hide away from society, as everyone who come upon him be afraid of him. As the monster is lonely and isolated, it causes him to take revenge on his creator.He doesnt do this by killing him instead, he kills all the ones he loves and cares about. After having nothing worth living for, Frankenstein pursues his monster to the North Pole with the intention of destroying him. This leads Frankenstein to exhaustion and death. The monster wait ons Frankenstein die, and with that, he then kills himself as it is the only smirch he can seek rest. The novel shows the horrible penalties for playing God, and this is what sours the book so captivating as it questions all the main beliefs of religion and the soul.The book is hostile others, as it has three narrators Frankenstein, Robert Walton and the monster. They all tell the story, and give the reader different insights which is what makes the book very unique. I think this is ver y impelling because it can make the reader feel different emotions for each character. An example of this is when Victor Frankenstein tells us his own story. It makes the reader feel more sympathetic towards him because the reader experiences the tragedies and heartache that Frankenstein feels.We can also see this in the monster, seeing that when he is narrating, the reader understands the emotions that the monster is feeling, when he is talking about how lonely he is. This technique is very effective in Mary Shelleys narrative and helps the reader to get more into the novel. Chapter 5 is a crucial chapter in Frankenstein, as it is when the monster comes alive and its a number point in the novel. Chapter 5 is the chapter that gives Frankenstein its character, and its the most important piece of writing that has helped the book keep audiences entertained for nearly 190 years.Mary Shelley sets the atmosphere especially well at the beginning of the novel. It was a dreary night of Nov ember that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. This sets the scene and compares the weather to the mood of Frankenstein, because Frankenstein had been making the monster for about two years so he had become dreary and looking very unwell. This is just like the weather at the start of the chapter, and makes the reader feel the aforementioned(prenominal) as Frankenstein, because of the weather being dreary.This sentence also sets the scene very well as it shows it was dark and gloomy, which is perfect in getting the reader in the mood for the chapter. Also, Mary Shelley sets the scene by giving the reader a very clear image. This is shown where it says the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out. This gives the reader a very creepy image and is a very good way to set the scene for bringing a monster to life. During chapter five we see the use of many powerful adjectives and descriptions that make the chapter very detailed.These are used all throughout the book, but even more so in chapter five. These are what have made the narrative effective. as they keep the reader interested in the book. These are also what have horrified readers because it is so detailed it makes the novel seem more life like especially when describing what the characters look like. The description of the monster is what makes chapter five one of the most important in the novel and why it has horrified many readers. The monster is described in a lot of detail and it gives the reader a clear example of what the monster looks like.We can see this by the phrases used such as his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of the muscles and arteries, his hair was of a lustrous black and his teeth of meat cleaver whiteness. These descriptions give the reader a clear image of what the monster looks like. This makes the narrative very effective because it makes the reader more scared of the monster, because with the more detail we get, the more terrifying th e monster seems. Also, because the monster is described in a lot of detail, it entertains the reader more as it makes the book seem more real. I entrust this will make them want to continue reading the book.

History of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents

History of Chemical and Biological state of struggle moversBiological warf be (BW), to a fault known as germ warfare, is the use of pathogens much(prenominal) as viruses, bacteria, early(a)(a) disease-causing biologic agents, or the toxins produced by them as biological weapons (or bioweapons).There is a clear overlap between biological warfare and chemical warfare, as the use of toxins produced by existent organisms is considered under the provisions of both the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Toxins, which are of organic origin, are often called midspectrum agents.A biological weapon may be intended to kill, incapacitate, or seriously impair a person, group of people, or even an entire population. It may likewise be defined as the material or defense against such employment.Biological warfare is a military technique that can be employ by nation-states or non-national groups. In the latter case, or if a nation-state uses it c landestinely, it may also be considered bioterrorism.HistoryBiological warfare has been practiced repeatedly passim history. Before the 20th century, the use of biological agents took three major formsDeliberate poisoning of food and water with infectious materialUse of microorganisms, toxins or animals, backup or dead, in a weapon systemUse of biologically inoculated fabricsThe ancient worldThe earliest documented incident of the intention to use biological weapons is recorded in Hittite texts of 1500-1200 B.C, in which victims of plague were driven into enemy lands. Although the Assyrians knew of ergot, a parasitic fungus of rye which produces ergotism when ingested, there is no evidence that they poisoned enemy rise with the fungus, as has been claimed.According to Homers epic poems about the legendary Trojan War, the Iliad and the Odyssey, spears and arrows were tipped with poison. During the First Sacred War in Greece, in about 590 BC, Athens and the Amphictionic conferenc e poisoned the water supply of the besieged town of Kirrha (near Delphi) with the toxic plant hellebore. The Roman commander Manius Aquillus poisoned the intumesces of besieged enemy cities in about 130 BC.During the quaternate century BC Scythian archers tipped their arrow tips with snake venom, human blood, and animal feces to cause wounds to become infected. There are numerous other instances of the use of plant toxins, venoms, and other poisonous substances to create biological weapons in antiquity.In 184 B.C, Hannibal of Carthage had clay pots filled with venomous snakes and instructed his soldiers to throw the pots onto the decks of Pergamene ships. In about AD 198, the city of Hatra (near Mosul, Iraq) repulsed the Roman army led by Septimius Severus by hurling clay pots filled with live scorpions at them.Medieval biological warfareWhen the Mongol Empire established commercial and political connections between the Eastern and Western areas of the world, its Mongol armies and merchant caravans probably inadvertently brought bubonic plague from central Asia to the ticker East and Europe. The Black Death swept through Eurasia, killing approximately one third to one half of the population and changing the course of Asiatic and European history.During the Middle Ages, victims of the bubonic plague were used for biological assaults, often by flinging corpses and excrement over castle walls using catapults. In 1346, the bodies of Mongol warriors of the easy Horde who had died of plague were thrown over the walls of the besieged Crimean city of Kaffa (now Theodosia). It has been speculated that this operation may throw been responsible for the advent of the Black Death in Europe.At the siege of Thun lEveque in 1340, during the Hundred Years War, the attackers catapulted decomposing animals into the besieged area.Modern timesThe 18th CenturyThe Native American population was decimated after contact with the venerable World due to the introduction of some (prenominal) different fatal diseases. There are two documented cases of alleged and attempted germ warfare. The first, during a talk at Fort Pitt on June 24, 1763, Ecuyer gave representatives of the besieging Delawares two blankets and a handkerchief that had been candid to miniaturepox, hoping to interpenetrate the disease to the Natives in order to end the siege. William Trent, the militia commander, unexpended records that clearly indicated that the purpose of giving the blankets was to Convey the Smallpox to the Indians.British commander Lord Jeffrey Amherst and Swiss-British officer Colonel Henry Bouquet, whose correspondence referenced the idea of giving smallpox-infected blankets to Indians in the course of Pontiacs Rebellion. Historian Francis Parkman verifies four letters from June 29, July 13, 16 and 26th, 1763. Excerpts Commander Lord Jeffrey Amherst writes July 16, 1763, P.S. You allow Do well to try to Inocculate the Indians by means of Blankets, as well as to tr y Every other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race. I should be very glad your Scheme for inquisition them Down by Dogs could take Effect, Colonel Henry Bouquet replies July 26, 1763, I received yesterday your Excellencys letters of 16th with their Inclosures. The signal for Indian Messengers, and all your directions will be observed.While the intent for biological warfare is clear, there is a debate among historians as to whether this actually took place despite Bouquets affirmative reply to Amherst and each having create verbally to the other about it twice. Smallpox transmitted to Native American tribes could have been due to the transfer of the disease to blankets during transportation. Historians have been unable to establish whether or non this plan was implemented, particularly in light of the fact that smallpox was already present in the region, and that scientific knowledge of disease at that time had barely to discover bacteria or develop an understan ding of plague vectors.Regardless of whether this plan was carried out, trade and combat provided ample opportunity for transmission of the disease. See also Small pox during Pontiacs Rebellion.The 19th CenturyIn 1834 Cambridge Diarist Richard Henry Dana visited San Francisco on a merchant ship. His ship traded m whatever items including blankets with Mexicans and Russians who had established outposts on the blue side of the San Francisco Bay.Local histories document that the California smallpox epidemic began at the Russian fort soon after they left. Blankets were a popular trading item, and the cheapest informant of them was second-hand blankets which were often contaminated.During the American Civil War, General Sherman reported that Confederate forces shot farm animals in ponds upon which the Union depended for drinking water. This would have made the water afflictive to drink, although the actual health risks from dead bodies of humans and animals which did not die of disea se are minimal.Jack London in his story Yah Yah Yah describes a punitive European expedition to a Pacific island deliberately exposing the Polynesian population to Measles, of which many of them died sSouth sea Tales/Yah Yah Yah. While much of the material for Londons South Sea Tales is derived from his personal experience in the region, it is not certain that this particular incident is historical.The 20th CenturyDuring the First World War, Germany pursued an ambitious biological warfare program. Using diplomatic pouches and couriers, the German General Staff supplied small teams of saboteurs in the Russian Duchy of Finland, and in the then-neutral countries of Romania, the US and Argentina.In Finland, Scandinavian freedom fighters attach on reindeer placed ampules of anthrax in stables of Russian horses in 1916. splenic fever was also supplied to the German military attache in Bucharest, as was Glanders, which was sedulous against livestock destined for Allied service.German in telligence officer and US citizen Dr. Anton Casimir Dilger established a secret lab in the basement of his sisters home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, that produced Glanders which was used to infect livestock in ports and inland collection gratuitys including, at least, Newport News, Norfolk, Baltimore, and New York, and probably St. Louis and Covington, Kentucky. In Argentina, German agents also employed Glanders in the port of Buenos Aires and also tried to ruin wheat harvests with a destructive fungus.During the 1948 Israel War of Independence, Red Cross reports raised suspicion that the Jewish Haganah militia had released Salmonella typhi bacteria into the water supply for the city of Acre, causing an outbreak of typhoid among the inhabitants. Egyptian troops later captured disguised Haganah soldiers near wells in Gaza, whom they executed for allegedly attempting other attack. Israel denies these allegations.During the Cold War, US conscientious objectors were used as consenting te st subjects for biological agents in a program known as summons Whitecoat. There were also many unpublicized tests carried out on the public during the Cold War.E120 biological bomblet, developed before the U.S. signed the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention right smart research on the topic was performed by the United States (see US Biological Weapon Testing), the Soviet Union, and probably other major nations throughout the Cold War era, though it is generally believed that biological weapons were never used after World War II. This view was challenged by China and North Korea, who accused the United States of large-scale field testing of biological weapons, including the use of disease-carrying insects against them during the Korean War (1950-1953).Biological agentsBiological warfare is the deliberate use of disease and natural poisons to incapacitate humans. It employs pathogens as weapons. Pathogens are the micro-organism, whether bacterial, viral or protozoic, that cause disease. There are four kinds of biological warfare agents bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae and fungi. Biological weapons are distinguished by being living organisms, that reproduce within their host victims, who then become contagious with a deadly, if weakening, multiplier effect. Toxins in contrast do not reproduce in the victim and need only the briefest of incubation periods they kill within a few hours.Biological Weapons CharacteristicsAnti-personnel BWIdeal characteristics of biological weapons targeting humans are in high gear spirits infectivity, high potency, non-availability of vaccines, and delivery as an aerosol.Diseases most likely to be considered for use as biological weapons are contenders because of their lethality (if delivered efficiently), and robustness (making aerosol delivery feasible).The biological agents used in biological weapons can often be manufactured quickly and easily. The primary difficulty is not the production of the biological agent but delivery in an effective form to a vulnerable target.For example, anthrax is considered an effective agent for several reasons. First, it forms hardy spores, perfect for dispersal aerosols. heartbeat, pneumonic (lung) transmittals of anthrax usually do not cause secondary infections in other people. Thus, the effect of the agent is usually confined to the target. A pneumonic anthrax infection starts with ordinary acold symptoms and quickly becomes lethal, with a fatality rate that is 90% or higher. Finally, friendly personnel can be protected with suitable antibiotics.A mass attack using anthrax would require the creation of aerosol particles of 1.5 to 5 micrometres. Too large and the aerosol would be filtered out by the respiratory system. Too small and the aerosol would be inhaled and exhaled. Also, at this size, nonconductive powders tend to clump and cling because of electrostatic charges. This hinders dispersion. So the material must be treated to insulate and crystallize the charg es. The aerosol must be delivered so that rain and sun does not rot it, and yet the human lung can be infected. There are other technological difficulties as well.Diseases considered for weaponization, or known to be weaponized include anthrax , ebola, Marburg virus, plague , cholera , tularemia, brucellosis, Q fever, Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, Coccidioides mycosis , Glanders, Melioidosis, Shigella, Rocky Mountain espy fever, typhus , Psittacosis, yellow fever , Japanese B encephalitis , Rift Valley fever, and smallpox 1931. Naturally-occurring toxins that can be used as weapons include ricin, SEB, botulism toxin, saxitoxin, and many mycotoxins. The organisms causing these diseases are known as select agents. In the United States, their possession, use, and transfer are regulated by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Select Agent Program.Anti-agriculture BWBiological warfare can also limitedally target plants to destroy crops or defoliate vegetation. The United State s and Britain discovered plant growth regulators (i.e., herbicides) during the Second World War, and initiated an herbicidal warfare program that was eventually used in Malaya and Vietnam in counter insurgency. Though herbicides are chemicals, they are often grouped with biological warfare as bioregulators in a similar manner as biotoxins. Scorched earth tactics or destroying livestock and farmland were carried out in the Vietnam war and Eelam War in Sri Lanka.The United States developed an anti-crop capability during the Cold War that used plant diseases (bioherbicides, or mycoherbicides) for destroying enemy agriculture. It was believed that destruction of enemy agriculture on a strategic scale could thwart Sino-Soviet aggression in a general war. Diseases such as wheat blast and rice blast were weaponized in aerial spray tanks and cluster bombs for delivery to enemy water sheds in agricultural regions to initiate epiphytotics (epidemics among plants). When the United States renou nced its offensive biological warfare program in 1969 and 1970, the abundant majority of its biological arsenal was composed of these plant diseases.In 1980s Soviet Ministry of Agriculture had success richly developed variants of foot-and-mouth disease and rinderpest against cows, African swine fever for pigs, and psittacosis to kill chicken. These agents were prepared to spray them down from tanks attached to airplanes over hundreds of miles. The secret program was code-named EcologyBiodefenceRole of public health departments and disease surveillanceIt is important to note that all of the classical and modern biological weapons organisms are animal diseases, the only exception being smallpox. Thus, in any use of biological weapons, it is highly likely that animals will become ill either simultaneously with, or perhaps earlier than humans.Indeed, in the largest biological weapons happening known- the anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) in the Soviet Union in 1979, s heep became ill with anthrax as far as 200 kilometers from the release point of the organism from a military facility in the southeastern portion of the city (known as Compound 19 and still off limits to visitors today, see Sverdlovsk Anthrax leak).Thus, a robust surveillance system involving human clinicians and veterinarians may identify a bioweapons attack early in the course of an epidemic, permitting the prophylaxis of disease in the vast majority of people (and/or animals) exposed but not yet ill.For example in the case of anthrax, it is likely that by 24 36 hours after an attack, some small percentage of individuals (those with compromised immune system or who had received a large dose of the organism due to proximity to the release point) will become ill with classical symptoms and signs (including a virtually unique chest X-ray finding, often recognized by public health officials if they receive by the bye reports). By making these data available to local public health of ficials in real time, most models of anthrax epidemics indicate that more than 80% of an exposed population can receive antibiotic treatment before becoming symptomatic, and thus avoid the moderately high mortality of the disease.Identification of bioweaponsThe goal of biological defense is to integrate the sustained efforts of the national and homeland security, medical, public health, intelligence, diplomatic, and law enforcement communities. Health care providers and public health officers are among the first lines of defense. In some countries private, local, and bucolic (state) capabilities are being augmented by and coordinated with federal assets, to provide layered defenses against biological weapons attacks. During the first Gulf War the United Nations activated a biological and chemical response team, Task Force Scorpio, to respond to any potential use of weapons of mass destruction on civilians.The traditional approach toward defend agriculture, food, and water focusin g on the natural or unintentional introduction of a disease is being strengthened by focused efforts to address occurrent and anticipated future biological weapons threats that may be deliberate, multiple, and repetitive.The growing threat of biowarfare agents and bioterrorism has led to the development of specific field tools that perform on-the-spot outline and identification of encountered suspect materials. One such technology, being developed by researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), employs a sandwich immunoassay, in which fluorescent dye-labeled antibodies aimed at specific pathogens are attached to silver and gold nanowires.Biological agentA sampling of Bacillus anthracis-AnthraxA biological agent is a bacterium, virus, prion, fungus, or biological toxin that can be used in bioterrorism or biological warfare. More than 1200 different kinds of biological agents have been described and studied to date. Applying a close to broader definition, som e eukaryotes (for example parasites) and their associated toxins can be considered as biological agents.Biological agents have the ability to adversely affect human health in a variety of ways, ranging from relatively mild allergic reactions to serious medical conditions, even death. These organisms are ubiquitous in the natural environment they are found in water, soil, plants, and animals. Because many biological agents reproduce rapidly and require minimal resources for preservation, they are a potential danger in a wide variety of occupational settings.Antibiotic metroAntibiotic resistance is a specific type of drug resistance when a microorganism has the ability of withstanding the effects of antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance evolves via natural selection acting upon random mutation, but it can also be engineered by applying an evolutionary stress on a population. Once such a gene is generated, bacteria can then transfer the genetic information in a horizontal fashion (betwee n individuals) by conjugation, transduction, or transformation. legion(predicate) antibiotic resistance genes reside on plasmids, facilitating their transfer. If a bacterium carries several resistance genes, it is called multiresistant or, informally, a superbug. The term antimicrobial resistance is sometimes used to explicitly encompass organisms other than bacteria.Antibiotic resistance can also be introduced artificially into a microorganism through laboratory protocols, sometimes used as a selectable marker to examine the mechanisms of gene transfer or to identify individuals that absorbed a piece of DNA that included the resistance gene and another gene of interest.CausesThe widespread use of antibiotics both inside and outside of medicine is playing a significant role in the emergence of resistant bacteria. They are often used in animals but also in other industries which at least in the case of agricultural use lead to the spread of resistant strains to human populations. In some countries antibiotics are sold over the counter without a prescription which compounds the caper. In human medicine the major problem of the emergence of resistant bacteria is due to misuse and overuse of antibiotics by doctors as well as patients. Other practices contributing towards resistance include the addendum of antibiotics to the feed of livestock. Household use of antibacterials in soaps and other products, although not clearly contributing to resistance, is also discouraged (as not being effective at infection control). Also unsound practices in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry can contribute towards the likelihood of creating antibiotic resistant strains.Certain antibiotic classes are highly associated with settlement with superbugs compared to other antibiotic classes. The risk for colonisation increases if there is a lack of sensitivity (resistance) of the superbugs to the antibiotic used and high tissue penetration as well as broad spectrum activity a gainst good bacteria. In the case of MRSA, increased rates of MRSA infections are seen with glycopeptides, cephalosporins and especially quinolones. In the case of colonisation with C difficile the high risk antibiotics include cephalosporins and in particular quinolones and clindamycin.MechanismsAntibiotic resistance can be a result of horizontal gene transfer,30 and also of unlinked point mutations in the pathogen genome and a rate of about 1 in 108 per chromosomal replication. The antibiotic action against the pathogen can be seen as an environmental pressure those bacteria which have a mutation allowing them to survive will live on to reproduce. They will then pass this trait to their offspring, which will result in a fully resistant colony.The four main mechanisms by which microorganisms exhibit resistance to antimicrobials areDrug inactivation or modification e.g. enzymatic deactivation of Penicillin G in some penicillin-resistant bacteria through the production of -lactamases . variation of target site e.g. alteration of PBP-the binding target site of penicillins-in MRSA and other penicillin-resistant bacteria.Alteration of metabolic pathway e.g. some sulfonamide-resistant bacteria do not require para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), an important precursor for the synthesis of folic acid and nucleic acids in bacteria stamp down by sulfonamides. Instead, like mammalian cells, they turn to utilizing preformed folic acid.Reduced drug accumulation by decreasing drug permeability and/or increasing active outpouring (pumping out) of the drugs across the cell surface.ConclusionSpecific consensus recommendations are made regarding the diagnosis of anthrax, indications for vaccination, therapy for those exposed, postexposure prophylaxis, decontamination of the environment, and additional research needs.Of the numerous biological agents that may be used as weapons, the Working Group on Civilian Biodefense has identified a limited number of organisms that could cause di sease and deaths in sufficient numbers to cripple a city or region. Anthrax is one of the most serious of these diseases.

To Follow Or Not To Follow Jesus Christ Religion Essay

To Follow Or Not To Follow deliveryman Christ Religion turn upTo look beyond what we atomic number 18 today is to look past the shadows of what we have been, past the doubts of what we shall work and into the very truth of the One who was meant to show us the full way. For it is His work that guards our consciousness and it is His preaching that endeavors us to see the b remedyer side of the world. In order to understand the meaning of our existence, we need to open our souls back to the teachings and sayings of the Nazarene Christ, the password of God.deliverer saved the humankind, as He was the one to revive God in our centerfields. We are alive because He has been crucified for our sins. We have learned that He was praised by his followers, but constantly accused by the flock of law-the Pharisees, who were blinded by the austerity of rules and did not believe that He is the Son of God. The 21st century has become the era of changing and development, but along with the cha nges, a lot of people seemed to for master the role of Jesus on the earth. Personally, if I am asked whether to follow Jesus nowadays, my answer would be definitely yes and I do not tend to be cynical or sarcastic round it. The Pharisees did not follow Jesus a long time ago because they were acting like hypocrites, pretending to preach the law and always use it against Jesus. I believe that following Jesus does not mean to chase after the rules. It means that I am being grateful for the life I get to share, for the people who care about me and all the wonderful moments, important events that will never fade away from my memory. Jesus said Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 512). The words of Jesus enhance my worldview and I want to have confidence in my values, my integrity and the decisions I get to make.Before coming to Lithuania and being part of the Lcc Community, I lived in a world filled up pink butterflies and colorful flowers. At the moment when I obstinate to leave home and study at Lcc University, I knew my life would change and I was afraid to face that challenge. Being far away from home, existing in a completely different environment from your own, I started to perceive things differently. There were times when I craved to stand up and scream, I matte weak and completely not myself, thinking that coming to Lithuania was a huge mistake and it wasnt the right place for me. I did not get along with people and I was convinced that it happened because they couldnt accept me the way I am. Later on though, I understood that my negative attitude was the reason of their behavior. I never nonrecreational attention on what people were saying, I was stubborn and didnt look for a compromise, thinking that letting go is the easiest way. Jesus teachings however are the complete reverse of my past judgment. He says He who seeks go backs and to him who kn ocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 78). In a way, without realizing it consciously, I was following Jesus because I decided to change that selfish and childish side of me and seek for the better one. His words made me comprehend that everything happens for a reason and even during the times when life seems profitless there is always a chance for a new beginning.Jesus had the mission to bring peace, faith and joy in our life, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. (Matthew 1128) We are always worried that things might go wrong troubled by revere and anguish that constantly hardens our souls. Usually when something dreadful happens, one would most probably say There is no way back. Its hopeless to go on and I keep asking myself why we become so weak? Though living in the era of determinism and self control, we cannot always find out what is right and what is wrong. The most important thing is to have faith and understand that some things are si mply meant or not meant to be. I can make a lot of mistakes, but I dont want failure to lead me towards desperation or anger. I want to keep following Jesus in my heart and learn from his teachings. deportment is a non-ending circle and sometimes is moving way too fast, but if we try to open ourselves to Jesus and listen to His sayings we will find out that there is peace and love around us. Jesus was tortured and humiliated, he died on the cross as a consequence of our sins. Although Jesus knew He would die, it didnt stop Him to show care, love and understanding to people, even to those who were responsible for his suffering. Until His last breath, as it is written in the Bible, Jesus was praying to God saying Father, forgive them, for they do not now what they are doing (Luke 2334). Jesus shows compassion and forgiveness to those who wished for His death and this is another thing that we learn from Him- the aptitude to forgive, as he says mania your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 544). Jesus teaches us not to live with the weight of hate or torment, for it will cause us to suffer more.Life is a gift and each blink of an eye spent on the Earth is blessing .I believe that Jesus can be our salvation when we are lost. He can rescue us, but we should find Him in our heart and unlock the door in which our fear is hidden. Life is beautiful and unique, but it comes with no guarantees and second chances. Thats why we should escape from that circle of frivolity and obscurity that keeps hunting us and do our best to change the world in a better way.

Consumer Motivations for Online Shopping

Consumer Motivations for Online obtainCHAPTER 11 INTRODUCTIONAt the end of the last century, online obtain was already starting to catch peoples attention, and was slow attracting consumers to consumption it as a distri andion subscriber line, primarily beca manipulation of its fill-in in completing procures (i.e. non filming to step out of the home) and as advantageously as in providing information as, even then, several(prenominal) weave positions already provided extensive information (Gay 1999, Gehrt et al 2007). But we atomic depend 18 hearty into the offshoot decade of the 21st century, and since then durations brook changed and certainly, consumers demands, as manifest in this literary works review and the results of the query bring down to it, dumbfound changed.The use of the online telephone line for shop varies greatly by country with the UK and the US regularizeing high up in the list with grea scrutiny ratio of online shoppers among cyberspa ce users, in addition to in addition having a bountiful penetration of users for earnings main course (Bhatti 2006). In the UK, Internet gravel among households has incr palliated from 34% in 2000 to 54% in 2004, while Internet access for adults increase from 40% in 2000 to 64% in 2005 (Datamonitor 2006).1.1 question aims and intentionsThe regard had two keep in line questions to focus on and this acted as a guide to the inquiry design and methodology. The two aboriginal search questions in my visit wereWhat argon the see consumer motifs for online shop and how ar these impacting the mannequinment of the online give? This question cogitate on the key drivers acting as impetus for consumers to pursue online obtain, and how these drivers were impacting the online line of products as an alternative trans designingt for making purchases.What are the emergent slues for online shop, and how bequeath the online shop add start out? As online shop continues to in crease, two arrangements and consumers are pass judgment to be better-placed with having a unspoilt ground of where online shop trends percolatem to be directed at.1.2 Consumer demandsThe working class sought to understand the consumer motivations for choosing online shopping as an alternative channel or, for some consumers, their main channel for shopping violateicular items. This ruin of the project was base on determining what consumers select stated as their key motivation parts by means of secondary explore. This was certificationed by basal search by surveying and interviewing consumers on their motivational factors. The objective was to list out the key motivational factors consumers live for online shopping.1.3 Emerging trends for online shoppingIn addition to pinch consumer motivation, this project in addition sought, as an objective, to understand the emerging trends in online shopping, and establish a stand on where the online channel was evaluate t o move to. Similar for consumer motivations, this part of the project was based on a combination of direct and secondary search.1.4 Rationale for research projectThere was a fast rationale for pursuing this project as it aimed to provide a greater understanding of the consumer and the motivations behind online shopping. As the magnificence of the online channel becomes change magnitudely greater for organisations, in that location is greater affect for determining the consumers key drivers in choosing this as an alternative channel for shopping. The project results impact both consumers and organisations. For consumers, this gave them a venue for stating their preferences and key requirements to continue using the online channel which could lead to improvements on the online shopping bring forth. For organisations, this project provided an understanding of the current situation and as well the emerging trends based on competitive dynamics, in order to be suitable to provi de the consumers their requirements.This project was also important for me as the student as it gave me an chance to develop the knowledge and pursue the synopsis of a critical worry issue which was becoming a greater value add channel for a large return of organisations. The project, I believe, has led to natural insights and a confirmation of consumers key motivations to online shopping. I believe this contributes to the growing knowledge on the online shopping experience of consumers1.5 Overview of the readChapter 1 is the introduction chapter where the background, research question and rational, objective and the structure of the research are stated.Chapter 2 contains a brief literature review on online shopping and provided basic understanding about consumer motivations and emerging trends for online shopping which is related to the research question.Chapter 3 is brief about the case study on online shopping.Chapter 4 contains research methodology which includes research frame train the design of the research, sampling and questionnaire.Chapter 5 describes the critical review of the captureings.Chapter 6 discusses on recommendation and conclusions.CHAPTER 22. literature roundThe study attempts to break apart research works relating to consumer motivations for online shopping and related issues are critically evaluated. This research project was pursued with a qualitative research go on as the focus was on consumer motivations, which, while it could have been developed with quantitative metrics, seemed to translate better into a qualitative focus. The objective was more focussed on going in greater depth across the key consumer motivations instead of tallying figures in terms of which factors consumers felt were their key motivations. The qualitative aspect of the research project was pursued through surveys and in-depth questionnaires.2.1 Consumer motivationsChilders et al (2001) defines consumer motivations for online sell shopping conducted a few years ago, some of the consumer motivations cited were interest in use of a recent technology, ease of navigation and use, and gadget of online shopping. While the research mentioned looked at consumer motivations, the research was only a subset of what could be learned from consumer behaviour as the study focused on only a few possible factors of online shopping activity.Linked to the increase of online shopping is the increase in access and usage of the Internet. Rodgers and Sheldon (2002) researched the increasing use of the Internet and highlighted shopping as one of the key motivations for increased consumer use. In this work, the authors looked at shopping as a consumer motivation for increased consumer use.(Ko et al 2005, Tamimi et al 2005, Dadzie et al 2005) discussed that it should be noned that there has been considerable evolution in Internet access and usage, and this has created a signifi croupt food commercialise in marketing and communications of organisa tions. Online shopping has been growing and organisations have been focusing more on developing the online channel to capture a greater part of the wallet of the consumer.Online shoppingHult et al (2007) defines that online shopping can relate to some(prenominal) pass of service quality, harvest-feast quality, or e-Business quality where the objective is the customer-based value creation for organisations. Based on this definition, we can see that the number of online shoppers has indeed increased significantly in the UK, with the portionage of UK Internet users shopping online (including ordering tickets of get goods and service) grew from 36% in 2000 to 61% in 2005 (Datamonitor 2006).For this research project, the broad definition is reasonable as the key focus of the research is in understanding consumer motivations for online shopping in customary, with no particular crossway or service in mind. Undoubtedly, there are a large number of ways in which to cut the issue a nd there would be differences in the consumer motivations for specific products in specific markets.The works cited in this section provided a good starting point in the consumer motivations to be considered. The research works also provided an index of the increasing use of the Internet and online shopping as an activity. From the limits cited in the research works, further research needs to be conducted on a general understanding of consumer motivations which are not trammel to a few factors. The rest of this section discusses some do factors cited by consumers as driving their online shopping activity.24-hour accessBramall et al (2004) reported that motivation by consumers is the 24-hour access provided or accepted by roughly online shopping channels. Thus, the online channel is utilised by consumers as it provides them with 24-hour access for information, customer service, and purchase opportunity. This essentially gives the consumer the opportunity to browse products and purchase at the consumers own leisure. While the research of the authors states this factor as a motivation, the focus of the research work was in truth on potential trust issues in online shopping. This specific motivating factor was not analysed in comparison to another(prenominal)(prenominal) motivating factors for consumers.+Shopping convenience unitary oft-mentioned reason and an early consumer motivating factor, for shopping online is the convenience of doing so as consumers wont need to go to the retail stores and experience the hassle of obtaining products in the stores (NBC News 2007).According to one study Furnham (2007) not only highlight the convenience of shopping online but also states that shopping only also admirers decision-making as a large part of the information requirements a consumer may need to make the decision are found online. Clearly, shopping convenience is expected to rank high among the consumers in terms of their motivations for pursuing online shop ping.Gehrt et al (2007) reported that Shopping convenience is a large factor for the US and UK consumers but this is not limited to the US or the UK markets only as even in Japan, online shopping has seen increasing growth rates, with shopping convenience as the greatest factor motivating consumers to do online shopping.The shopping convenience factor has been recognised across a number of research works, but these only tend to highlight that consumers have varied meanings attached to the terminology, and may actually be referring to different sub-factors under the general term of convenience. In understanding this factor further, specific meanings were attached to and discussed in the surveys and interviews for the research.greater bargainsCraver (2006) reported that not only consumers are expected to continue increasing their online purchases but only if they receive greater bargains from sellers in their online sites versus their retail stores. Thus, consumers are already buildi ng the expectations that prices online entrust be less that prices in retail stores.Hajewski (2006) pointed out that If only to hammer the point of increasing consumer expectations, two factors mentioned by consumers in their increased interest in doing online shopping were free shipping of their products purchased and also everyday low pricing particularly relative to the retail stores of the sellers.The key limitation in the citations for greater bargains is that these are from press articles and the approaches were not based on proper research conducted to determine the consumer motivations for online shopping. Nevertheless, this should still be accepted as a consumer motivation as this has been mentioned to be a factor based on the articles cited.Overall online shopping site experienceElliott Speck (2005) discussed that touches on the overall online shopping site experience which in a way, relates to the overall customer experience in online shopping. This factor is quite spec ific to online shopping sites which consumers may visit but this except provides a motivation for some specific consumers and it relates to the overall online shopping site experience and having a positive satisfaction to the experience. Specifically, the authors argued that the following factors impacted on the consumer motivation to complete their online shopping transactions ease of use of online shopping site, product information available, trust in the brand and the online shopping site, customer support, and pleasure see while in the site.The focus of the research conducted by the authors was not on online shopping specifically but rather on the attitude towards retail web sites but using the online shopping experience as an example, with an analysis of the resulting impact on the consumers. Similar to some of the other divulgeed research cited in this section, the key limitation is the set of respondents considered for the research which, in this case, consisted of underg raduate marketing students. The results are interesting and provide a good preview of what the results could be if the research is grow to capture a greater sample of the population.2.2 Emerging trends for online shoppingIn reviewing the related literature touching on online shopping and also consumer motivations, a number of emerging trends were hitly seen. These include the following* Increased efforts in modify online security* Potential for an expand product shake off and ancillary argumentes* Usability of an online site as an increasing discriminator* Management of Internet product returns* Increasingly demanding consumers* Increasing opportunity for organisations to develop consumer relationships* Increasingly older market* Greater share of ad marketEach of these trends is discussed in greater detail in this section.Increased efforts in improving online security(Bramall et al 2004, Arnold et al 2007, OConnell 2005, Cullen 2005) explained that online shopping has shown str ong growth and yet the belief is that online shopping growth rates could actually be much higher if not for security-related concerns by some consumers.Biswas et al (2006) exposit there are two trends to be noted in relation to the security concerns of consumers. The beginning(a), as mentioned, is that there are greater efforts placed by organisations in improving online security as breaches to their security could have considerable consequences. The second trend is that a complementary approach to improving reputation for managing online security risks is paramount. In support of this, where there are great concerns for risk, it has been established that utilising expert endorsers, as opposed to celebrity endorsers or even non-celebrity non-expert endorsers, can actually sponsor in manner of speaking consumers over their risk concerns.Potential for an expanded product range and ancillary businessesAnother trend is that organisations are increasingly seeing potential for an expa nded product range and ancillary businesses. For example, in recent months, Kohls, a US department store chain, has offered products online which were not normally found in their department stores and these include higher-priced items such as leather chairs, high-end home entertainment centres, and flat screen televisions (Hajewski 2007).This trend is not without its implications for organisation. In the Kohls example, one problem with the expanded product range as through with(p) by Kohls was that Kohls did not offer everything they had online in their retail stores. This is a concern as some consumers utilise the online site for their window shopping forrader moving to the retail stores to try on and purchase the items (Dodes 2006). The article states that more than 80% of online shoppers research products online prototypic earlier sometimes going to the stores to see the products firsthand. devoted that not all products are available in the stores, it would be prudent for o nline sites to be clear about which products are available in the stores and which products are not.In terms of ancillary businesses, the increase in online usage and online shopping has even spawned related business such as businesses which monitor traffic into organisations websites with the objective of increasing an organisations online sales (Newman 2007). Another ancillary business opportunity is from online shopping sites is as a social shopping space, such as Jellyfish.com which was recently acquired by Microsoft as it saw the growing opportunity in the business (Gallagher 2007). However, these impudently business are still untested as these are fairly spick-and-span and would need some time before potentially growing into goodable businesses. As online shopping continues to grow, organisations go away continue to seek out other opportunities that could help build the rationale for investments in establishing a highly competitive online shopping site.Usability of online site is an increasing differentiatorMassey et al (2007) reported that while the extent of expert circle of the consumer plays a part in determining the level of comfort in navigating through an online shopping site, the general usability of an online shopping site is an increasing differentiator and distinguishes amongst the different sites that consumers bequeath utilize in online shopping. The goal with these sites is to have it easily navigated through by consumers such that any potential barriers to keep consumers from purchasing products and services are effectively taken out of the equation.An example of an initiative moving into the direction of overall ease of usability is the recent transaction involving Abazias.com and Google wherein Abzias.com partnered with Google for their shopping check-out procedure process which is considered fast and very convenient (M2 Presswire 2007). The challenge for organisations is to continue making their online shopping sites easier to use. And to support the point, some online shopping sites now provide potential stomach help from customer service if particular requirements are needed in order to limit the number of lost purchases resulting from consumers abandoning their purchases (Prince 2005). Overall, the design of the website and the ease of use have a large impact on the online shopping sites performance (Auger 2005).Management of Internet product returnsMollenkopf et al (2007) explained that emerging trend is the establishment of clear guidelines in the management of Internet product returns, which then addresses a key concern or questions by some consumers. Internet product returns has been one of the key factors adjustment part of the online shopping growth as the uncertainty surrounding how returns of defective or unwanted products impacted on the overall cost and inconvenience for the consumer. Organisations which are able to state clearly their policies on Internet product returns, and which provide a seamless process for allowing consumers to make returns for products bought online are at an advantage versus other organisations which have a perception of being difficult to coordinate with in processing Internet product returns.Increasingly demanding consumersAs the development of the online shopping channel continues, we are now seeing increasingly demanding consumers. This is shown in the UK supermarket sector. In this sector, online shopping is still considered a poor offering by the UK supermarkets as none of the overhaul v supermarket chains passed a service test conducted by a consumer affairs staff of a unusedspaper (Prunn 2006). Their failures were from their product offering to the product substitutes provided. The key good news for the UK supermarkets though was that the websites were generally easy to use for online shopping. Also, the delivery drivers were helpful and friendly.In contrast, in the US, online shopping offering for the supermarkets is a competitive offering with unlike supermarkets increasingly providing greater online shopping offerings for their consumers including chef-prepared, fresh-food delivery service (Food Institute Report 2006). Thus, the US supermarkets are able to provide the US consumers with their demands from US supermarkets. UK supermarkets testament need to focus on improving their offering in order to capture the consumer wallet for shopping deliveries.Increasing opportunity for organisations to develop consumer relationships(Kennedy 2006) pointed out that the online shopping channel provides organisations with an additional channel to develop consumer relationships. Organisations which are able to effectively capture value from their online shopping offering are the organisations which are able to soak up and analyze selective information on consumer somas, interpret customer behaviour, respond with timely and effective customised communications, and deliver product and service value to consumers.The ga me is not new to most organisations. The only difference is that there is a new channel to consider for the consumer relationships. In order to be competitive, organisations should be able to learn from their interactions with the consumers, and develop the channel into one that consumers allow find value from. With the growth of the online shopping channel, more organisations will invest in ensuring that consumer information is managed properly to be leveraged by the organisation in capturing value from the interactions.Increasingly older marketIyer Eastman (2006) has noted that the older earnings users market comprises the fastest-growing demographic group in the Internet market and are, deflexion from large and growing, generally financially secure.This potential trend has large implications on various organisations that can benefit from this research work. Thus, a greater understanding of the key trends is important in order to allow the organisations to plan and invest prop erly in their online shopping channels.Greater share of ad marketFinally, another trend worthy noting is the increasing share of the ad market by the online channel. With the growth of the online shopping consumer market, the ad share of this channel is expected to grow as well from about 5-8% to up to one-fifth of total ad budgets over the next three years (Ong 2005). The greater share of the ad market by the online channel has implications for organisations across two key points. First is that there needs to be a decision on the amount of the ad budget that will be allotted to the online channel. After deciding on the first point, the second key point is that it is imperative for organisations to understand the business model of the online channel, and that the organisations have a plan in ensuring their investments will eventually generate good returns.CHAPTER 33. CASE STUDY3.1 explanation of online shoppingShopping online is the process for the customer to buy products or serv ices via the Internet. In other words, consumers can buy it from the comfort of a holiday home of their own products from a store online. The concepts of this show before the first World Wide Web that are used with real-time transactions are processed from the domestic television The technology used is called Videotext and shows the first time in 1979 by M. Aldrick, designed and installed the strategy in the UK. T. 1990 by Berners-Lee created the first WWW server and browser, and in 1995 by expanding the Amazon online shopping experience. account statement of Online Shopping is amazing. Gone are the days of waiting in traffic and work our way through the store is too full. All we need is a computer, affirm account, credit or debit card and freedom voila From books, to cosmetics, clothes and accessories to name a few, online shopping is the best in the century to 21 obviously find a site that offers things you want, price and delivery terms and in a matter of a few days of your pu rchase is at your door. Benefits and the ease of clear predictable as we offer a wider selection, competitive prices and greater access to information in regards to our purchase. Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and allow consumers to shop in their spare time and without travelling outside normal working hours.Another to consider is the first time the Internet was not well prepared that they will change the way we shop. On the web is created as a tool for communication, which in time to let the ease of practical(prenominal) shopping. History of online shopping by itself represents a change by the people and now has become a service used by the ordinary business and shopping in the world.(Online blog, http//roomen-online.blogspot.com/2009/08/history-of-online-shopping.html)3.2 Growth of online shoppingThe ability to shop online has transformed the way many consumers go about purchasing a product or service, well-favoured the power to the individual consumer to ac cess information, allowing easy and convenient research and comparison of various factors prior to making a purchase. The growth rate of online trading is infrequent in any other industry, growing twenty times faster than the overall UK retail market in 2005. Furthermore, the number of online shoppers grew by 25.5% to 14.6 one million million with the number over the age of 55 doubling to 2.7 million. Forrester Research predict that UK shoppers will drive UK e-commerce from 43bn in 2006 to 76bn in 2011, accounting for 29% of total European internet retail. As such, we see the market study as a good opportunity to take stock of online shopping in the UK, looking at what it has done for UK plc as a whole since its growth through the internet boom of the late nineties to the stable yet competitive market we see today. It is worth noting many of the businesses that lived through the dot-com crash were internet retail sites, a clear indication of the valuable role they play for consum ers.( OFT grocery store field of operations on Online Shopping, http//207.45.116.138/ndbs/positiondoc.nsf/1f08ec61711f29768025672a0055f7a8/6174E87FE56AFC3F8025735300568DBA/$file/oftonlineshopping250706.pdf )3.3 Current trendAs far as online shopping in UK is concerned, there is clear trend that those who resort to this new system of shopping will increase by 30 to 40 per cent in a period of 4 years. Remember, there was a chequer of 2 to 6 years for people to shift to online shopping after getting acquainted to the internet. But the online system is gaining momentum in an unprecedented market reaction. In the early years only younger generation was using the online shopping services, but then came a remarkable change in the pattern of users. more and more people from older generation are getting attracted to the online shopping system.According to reliable projections, by 2050 the retail marketing scene will change a thorough change in its form and magnitude, and the shopping in UK will evolve beyond recognition with high street predominate the field. Everyone will be online, every hour every day It will become an automatic process and convert the high street to something like a header style showroomIf the prediction becomes a reality, the Britons will be spending nearly 63 billion pounds for the online shopping. 860 million parcels will be shipped to the linked nation to serve 26 million internet shoppers. Each shopper will spend 2400 each on an average. The number of people using online shopping will pop off the predictions and projections, if the present trend is an indication to that. At present, 10 per cent of the total retail selling is through internet. It will go up to 20 percent in 3 years.There will be a remarkable change in the composition of customers, patronizing online shopping. Men and women of all ages and professions will take up the new system for the advantages inherent in the online shopping. The older generation, will increasing ly use the online shopping, to avoid the ordeals of travelling, searching and bargaining involved in the unoriginal shopping. It is easier, faster, safer and valuable, gibe to those who have changed over to the system. No doubt the online shopping will gain popularity and momentum in the coming years.Globalization of trade has given a new impetus to this new market initiative. The political borders are disappearing as far as trade and commerce are concerned. The online trading and international postal services are giving new thrust to economy. Cross border shopping is flourishing.The internet has helped to widen the area of information much to the benefits of the customers. more exact information is available now, about the companies, their products and services. The consumers are able to browse online catalogues and acquire vital information about a variety of goods displayed by several(prenominal) companies in their websites.Regarding prices there is a distinctively clear adv antage for the consumer. The absence of middle men in the online shopping system will permit the dealers to trim back their profit margins in favour of the customer. There are many price comparison service providers who serve the consumer by providing product information and price advantages. Retailers also publish their price ranges in such websites. The shopping web portals are more than the online version of yellow pages. The price comparison services search and believe data directly from retailers and feed them to the consumers through the internet. A comprehensive list of retailers and detailed list of prices are available with regular updating.(Future of ONLINE SHOPPING in UK, http//www.edealsuk.com/articles/online-shopping-trend-uk.html)CHAPTER 44. seek METHODOLOGY.This research project was conducted with an explanatory research approach as the focus was in discovering ideas and insights into consumer motivations and emerging trends on online shopping (Mariampolski 2001). The research methodology also followed the framework of analysis defined in the previous section which resulted from the literature review.As the research work was largely qualitative, the exploratory approach and the analysis and results from the primary research provides a good understanding of the consumer motivations for online shopping, and also provides a framework for further analysis if needed by other researchers focusing on greater depth in some areas or expansion of issues not covered in this research project.The focus of the research project is on consumer motivations on online shopping and will not touch on specific online sites unless these are discussed in the context of increasing online shopping activities and consumer motivations.4.1 Primary researchThe key primary research activities for this project included surveys and in-depth interviews to understand the key consumer motivations for online shopping.4.1.1 SurveysThe surveys gave a preview of the various factors which were impacting on online shopping. An open-ended survey was conducted to give consumers the opportunity to give factors which they rattling see were their key motivating considerations. The survey was divided into two main sections* Open-ended and unprompted This section was designed to allow the respondents to give answers freely without any prompts. This was to gibe that the consumers thoughts were captured properly, and that their ideas and key motivations were the ones that were included in their responses.* Prompted with specific factors After the unprompted section, the survey had a section which had some of the preliminary findings from the literature review. This was designed to test the literature review findings, and also provide the respondents an opportunity to highlight some factors which may be important but were not mentioned by the respondent during the first part of the survey.4.1.2 In-depth InterviewsThe in-depth interviews wereConsumer Motivations for Online ShoppingConsumer Motivations for Online ShoppingCHAPTER 11 INTRODUCTIONAt the end of the last century, online shopping was already starting to catch peoples attention, and was slowly attracting consumers to use it as a channel, primarily because of its ease in completing purchases (i.e. not needing to step out of the home) and also in providing information as, even then, some sites already provided extensive information (Gay 1999, Gehrt et al 2007). But we are well into the first decade of the 21st century, and since then times have changed and certainly, consumers motivations, as evidenced in this literature review and the results of the research project, have changed.The use of the online channel for shopping varies greatly by country with the UK and the US ranking high up in the list with greatest ratio of online shoppers among Internet users, in addition to also having a large penetration of users for Internet access (Bhatti 2006). In the UK, Internet access among househo lds has increased from 34% in 2000 to 54% in 2004, while Internet access for adults increased from 40% in 2000 to 64% in 2005 (Datamonitor 2006).1.1 Research aims and objectivesThe project had two key questions to focus on and this acted as a guide to the research design and methodology. The two key research questions in my project wereWhat are the key consumer motivations for online shopping and how are these impacting the development of the online channel? This question focused on the key drivers acting as impetus for consumers to pursue online shopping, and how these drivers were impacting the online channel as an alternative channel for making purchases.What are the emerging trends for online shopping, and how will the online shopping channel develop? As online shopping continues to increase, both organisations and consumers are expected to be better-placed with having a good understanding of where online shopping trends seem to be directed at.1.2 Consumer motivationsThe project sought to understand the consumer motivations for choosing online shopping as an alternative channel or, for some consumers, their main channel for shopping particular items. This part of the project was based on determining what consumers have stated as their key motivation factors through secondary research. This was supported by primary research by surveying and interviewing consumers on their motivational factors. The objective was to list out the key motivational factors consumers have for online shopping.1.3 Emerging trends for online shoppingIn addition to understanding consumer motivation, this project also sought, as an objective, to understand the emerging trends in online shopping, and establish a viewpoint on where the online channel was expected to move to. Similar for consumer motivations, this part of the project was based on a combination of primary and secondary research.1.4 Rationale for research projectThere was a strong rationale for pursuing this project as it aimed to provide a greater understanding of the consumer and the motivations behind online shopping. As the importance of the online channel becomes increasingly greater for organisations, there is greater need for determining the consumers key drivers in choosing this as an alternative channel for shopping. The project results impact both consumers and organisations. For consumers, this gave them a venue for stating their preferences and key requirements to continue using the online channel which could lead to improvements on the online shopping experience. For organisations, this project provided an understanding of the current situation and also the emerging trends based on competitive dynamics, in order to be able to provide the consumers their requirements.This project was also important for me as the student as it gave me an opportunity to develop the knowledge and pursue the analysis of a critical management issue which was becoming a greater value add channel for a large num ber of organisations. The project, I believe, has led to new insights and a confirmation of consumers key motivations to online shopping. I believe this contributes to the growing knowledge on the online shopping experience of consumers1.5 Overview of the studyChapter 1 is the introduction chapter where the background, research question and rational, objective and the structure of the research are stated.Chapter 2 contains a brief literature review on online shopping and provided basic understanding about consumer motivations and emerging trends for online shopping which is related to the research question.Chapter 3 is brief about the case study on online shopping.Chapter 4 contains research methodology which includes research frame work the design of the research, sampling and questionnaire.Chapter 5 describes the critical review of the findings.Chapter 6 discusses on recommendation and conclusions.CHAPTER 22. LITERATURE REVIEWThe study attempts to analyze research works relating t o consumer motivations for online shopping and related issues are critically evaluated. This research project was pursued with a qualitative research approach as the focus was on consumer motivations, which, while it could have been developed with quantitative metrics, seemed to translate better into a qualitative focus. The objective was more focused on going in greater depth across the key consumer motivations instead of tallying figures in terms of which factors consumers felt were their key motivations. The qualitative aspect of the research project was pursued through surveys and in-depth questionnaires.2.1 Consumer motivationsChilders et al (2001) defines consumer motivations for online retail shopping conducted a few years ago, some of the consumer motivations cited were interest in use of a new technology, ease of navigation and use, and convenience of online shopping. While the research mentioned looked at consumer motivations, the research was only a subset of what could b e learned from consumer behaviour as the study focused on only a few possible factors of online shopping activity.Linked to the increase of online shopping is the increase in access and usage of the Internet. Rodgers and Sheldon (2002) researched the increasing use of the Internet and highlighted shopping as one of the key motivations for increased consumer use. In this work, the authors looked at shopping as a consumer motivation for increased consumer use.(Ko et al 2005, Tamimi et al 2005, Dadzie et al 2005) discussed that it should be noted that there has been considerable growth in Internet access and usage, and this has created a significant market in marketing and communications of organisations. Online shopping has been growing and organisations have been focusing more on developing the online channel to capture a greater share of the wallet of the consumer.Online shoppingHult et al (2007) defines that online shopping can relate to any offering of service quality, product qua lity, or e-Business quality where the objective is the customer-based value creation for organisations. Based on this definition, we can see that the number of online shoppers has indeed increased significantly in the UK, with the percentage of UK Internet users shopping online (including ordering tickets of buying goods and services) grew from 36% in 2000 to 61% in 2005 (Datamonitor 2006).For this research project, the broad definition is reasonable as the key focus of the research is in understanding consumer motivations for online shopping in general, with no specific product or service in mind. Undoubtedly, there are a large number of ways in which to cut the issue and there would be differences in the consumer motivations for specific products in specific markets.The works cited in this section provided a good starting point in the consumer motivations to be considered. The research works also provided an indication of the increasing use of the Internet and online shopping as a n activity. From the limitations cited in the research works, further research needs to be conducted on a general understanding of consumer motivations which are not limited to a few factors. The rest of this section discusses some motivating factors cited by consumers as driving their online shopping activity.24-hour accessBramall et al (2004) reported that motivation by consumers is the 24-hour access provided or allowed by most online shopping channels. Thus, the online channel is utilised by consumers as it provides them with 24-hour access for information, customer service, and purchase opportunity. This essentially gives the consumer the opportunity to browse products and purchase at the consumers own leisure. While the research of the authors states this factor as a motivation, the focus of the research work was actually on potential trust issues in online shopping. This specific motivating factor was not analysed in comparison to other motivating factors for consumers.+Shopp ing convenienceOne oft-mentioned reason and an early consumer motivating factor, for shopping online is the convenience of doing so as consumers wont need to go to the retail stores and experience the hassle of buying products in the stores (NBC News 2007).According to one study Furnham (2007) not only highlight the convenience of shopping online but also states that shopping only also helps decision-making as a large part of the information requirements a consumer may need to make the decision are found online. Clearly, shopping convenience is expected to rank high among the consumers in terms of their motivations for pursuing online shopping.Gehrt et al (2007) reported that Shopping convenience is a large factor for the US and UK consumers but this is not limited to the US or the UK markets only as even in Japan, online shopping has seen increasing growth rates, with shopping convenience as the greatest factor motivating consumers to do online shopping.The shopping convenience fac tor has been recognised across a number of research works, but these only tend to highlight that consumers have different meanings attached to the terminology, and may actually be referring to different sub-factors under the general term of convenience. In understanding this factor further, specific meanings were attached to and discussed in the surveys and interviews for the research.Greater bargainsCraver (2006) reported that not only consumers are expected to continue increasing their online purchases but only if they receive greater bargains from sellers in their online sites versus their retail stores. Thus, consumers are already building the expectations that prices online will be less that prices in retail stores.Hajewski (2006) pointed out that If only to hammer the point of increasing consumer expectations, two factors mentioned by consumers in their increased interest in doing online shopping were free shipping of their products purchased and also everyday low pricing part icularly relative to the retail stores of the sellers.The key limitation in the citations for greater bargains is that these are from press articles and the approaches were not based on proper research conducted to determine the consumer motivations for online shopping. Nevertheless, this should still be accepted as a consumer motivation as this has been mentioned to be a factor based on the articles cited.Overall online shopping site experienceElliott Speck (2005) discussed that touches on the overall online shopping site experience which in a way, relates to the overall customer experience in online shopping. This factor is quite specific to online shopping sites which consumers may visit but this nevertheless provides a motivation for some specific consumers and it relates to the overall online shopping site experience and having a positive satisfaction to the experience. Specifically, the authors argued that the following factors impacted on the consumer motivation to complete their online shopping transactions ease of use of online shopping site, product information available, trust in the brand and the online shopping site, customer support, and entertainment experienced while in the site.The focus of the research conducted by the authors was not on online shopping specifically but rather on the attitude towards retail web sites but using the online shopping experience as an example, with an analysis of the resulting impact on the consumers. Similar to some of the other published research cited in this section, the key limitation is the set of respondents considered for the research which, in this case, consisted of undergraduate marketing students. The results are interesting and provide a good preview of what the results could be if the research is expanded to capture a greater sample of the population.2.2 Emerging trends for online shoppingIn reviewing the related literature touching on online shopping and also consumer motivations, a number of emerg ing trends were clearly seen. These include the following* Increased efforts in improving online security* Potential for an expanded product range and ancillary businesses* Usability of an online site as an increasing differentiator* Management of Internet product returns* Increasingly demanding consumers* Increasing opportunity for organisations to develop consumer relationships* Increasingly older market* Greater share of ad marketEach of these trends is discussed in greater detail in this section.Increased efforts in improving online security(Bramall et al 2004, Arnold et al 2007, OConnell 2005, Cullen 2005) explained that online shopping has shown strong growth and yet the belief is that online shopping growth rates could actually be much higher if not for security-related concerns by some consumers.Biswas et al (2006) described there are two trends to be noted in relation to the security concerns of consumers. The first, as mentioned, is that there are greater efforts placed by organisations in improving online security as breaches to their security could have considerable consequences. The second trend is that a complementary approach to improving reputation for managing online security risks is paramount. In support of this, where there are great concerns for risk, it has been established that utilising expert endorsers, as opposed to celebrity endorsers or even non-celebrity non-expert endorsers, can actually help in bringing consumers over their risk concerns.Potential for an expanded product range and ancillary businessesAnother trend is that organisations are increasingly seeing potential for an expanded product range and ancillary businesses. For example, in recent months, Kohls, a US department store chain, has offered products online which were not normally found in their department stores and these included higher-priced items such as leather chairs, high-end home entertainment centres, and flat screen televisions (Hajewski 2007).This trend is n ot without its implications for organisation. In the Kohls example, one problem with the expanded product range as done by Kohls was that Kohls did not offer everything they had online in their retail stores. This is a concern as some consumers utilise the online site for their window shopping before moving to the retail stores to try on and purchase the items (Dodes 2006). The article states that more than 80% of online shoppers research products online first before sometimes going to the stores to see the products firsthand. Given that not all products are available in the stores, it would be prudent for online sites to be clear about which products are available in the stores and which products are not.In terms of ancillary businesses, the increase in online usage and online shopping has even spawned related business such as businesses which monitor traffic into organisations websites with the objective of increasing an organisations online sales (Newman 2007). Another ancillary business opportunity is from online shopping sites is as a social shopping space, such as Jellyfish.com which was recently acquired by Microsoft as it saw the growing opportunity in the business (Gallagher 2007). However, these new business are still untested as these are fairly new and would need some time before potentially growing into profitable businesses. As online shopping continues to grow, organisations will continue to seek out other opportunities that could help build the rationale for investments in establishing a highly competitive online shopping site.Usability of online site is an increasing differentiatorMassey et al (2007) reported that while the extent of technological readiness of the consumer plays a part in determining the level of comfort in navigating through an online shopping site, the general usability of an online shopping site is an increasing differentiator and distinguishes between the different sites that consumers will utilize in online shopping. The goal with these sites is to have it easily navigated through by consumers such that any potential barriers to keep consumers from purchasing products and services are effectively taken out of the equation.An example of an initiative moving into the direction of overall ease of usability is the recent transaction involving Abazias.com and Google wherein Abzias.com partnered with Google for their shopping checkout process which is considered fast and very convenient (M2 Presswire 2007). The challenge for organisations is to continue making their online shopping sites easier to use. And to support the point, some online shopping sites now provide potential live help from customer service if particular requirements are needed in order to limit the number of lost purchases resulting from consumers abandoning their purchases (Prince 2005). Overall, the design of the website and the ease of use have a large impact on the online shopping sites performance (Auger 2005).Management of Internet product returnsMollenkopf et al (2007) explained that emerging trend is the establishment of clear guidelines in the management of Internet product returns, which then addresses a key concern or questions by some consumers. Internet product returns has been one of the key factors limiting part of the online shopping growth as the uncertainty surrounding how returns of defective or unwanted products impacted on the overall cost and inconvenience for the consumer. Organisations which are able to state clearly their policies on Internet product returns, and which provide a seamless process for allowing consumers to make returns for products bought online are at an advantage versus other organisations which have a perception of being difficult to coordinate with in processing Internet product returns.Increasingly demanding consumersAs the development of the online shopping channel continues, we are now seeing increasingly demanding consumers. This is shown in the UK supermarket sector. In this sector, online shopping is still considered a poor offering by the UK supermarkets as none of the top five supermarket chains passed a service test conducted by a consumer affairs staff of a newspaper (Prunn 2006). Their failures were from their product offering to the product substitutes provided. The key good news for the UK supermarkets though was that the websites were generally easy to use for online shopping. Also, the delivery drivers were helpful and friendly.In contrast, in the US, online shopping offering for the supermarkets is a competitive offering with various supermarkets increasingly providing greater online shopping offerings for their consumers including chef-prepared, fresh-food delivery service (Food Institute Report 2006). Thus, the US supermarkets are able to provide the US consumers with their demands from US supermarkets. UK supermarkets will need to focus on improving their offering in order to capture the consumer wallet for shopping deliveries.Inc reasing opportunity for organisations to develop consumer relationships(Kennedy 2006) pointed out that the online shopping channel provides organisations with an additional channel to develop consumer relationships. Organisations which are able to effectively capture value from their online shopping offering are the organisations which are able to collect and analyze data on consumer patterns, interpret customer behaviour, respond with timely and effective customised communications, and deliver product and service value to consumers.The game is not new to most organisations. The only difference is that there is a new channel to consider for the consumer relationships. In order to be competitive, organisations should be able to learn from their interactions with the consumers, and develop the channel into one that consumers will find value from. With the growth of the online shopping channel, more organisations will invest in ensuring that consumer information is managed properly to be leveraged by the organisation in capturing value from the interactions.Increasingly older marketIyer Eastman (2006) has noted that the older internet users market comprises the fastest-growing demographic group in the Internet market and are, aside from large and growing, generally financially secure.This potential trend has large implications on various organisations that can benefit from this research work. Thus, a greater understanding of the key trends is important in order to allow the organisations to plan and invest properly in their online shopping channels.Greater share of ad marketFinally, another trend worth noting is the increasing share of the ad market by the online channel. With the growth of the online shopping consumer market, the ad share of this channel is expected to grow as well from about 5-8% to up to one-fifth of total ad budgets over the next three years (Ong 2005). The greater share of the ad market by the online channel has implications for organisatio ns across two key points. First is that there needs to be a decision on the amount of the ad budget that will be allotted to the online channel. After deciding on the first point, the second key point is that it is imperative for organisations to understand the business model of the online channel, and that the organisations have a plan in ensuring their investments will eventually generate good returns.CHAPTER 33. CASE STUDY3.1 History of online shoppingShopping online is the process for the customer to buy products or services via the Internet. In other words, consumers can buy it from the comfort of a holiday home of their own products from a store online. The concepts of this show before the first World Wide Web that are used with real-time transactions are processed from the domestic television The technology used is called Videotext and shows the first time in 1979 by M. Aldrick, designed and installed the system in the UK. T. 1990 by Berners-Lee created the first WWW server a nd browser, and in 1995 by expanding the Amazon online shopping experience.History of Online Shopping is amazing. Gone are the days of waiting in traffic and work our way through the store is too full. All we need is a computer, bank account, credit or debit card and freedom voila From books, to cosmetics, clothes and accessories to name a few, online shopping is the best in the century to 21 Simply find a site that offers things you want, price and delivery terms and in a matter of a few days of your purchase is at your door. Benefits and the ease of clear predictable as we offer a wider selection, competitive prices and greater access to information in regards to our purchase. Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and allow consumers to shop in their spare time and without travelling outside normal working hours.Another to consider is the first time the Internet was not well prepared that they will change the way we shop. On the web is created as a tool for communica tion, which in time to let the ease of virtual shopping. History of online shopping by itself represents a change by the people and now has become a service used by the ordinary business and shopping in the world.(Online blog, http//roomen-online.blogspot.com/2009/08/history-of-online-shopping.html)3.2 Growth of online shoppingThe ability to shop online has transformed the way many consumers go about purchasing a product or service, giving the power to the individual consumer to access information, allowing easy and convenient research and comparison of various factors prior to making a purchase. The growth rate of online commerce is unparalleled in any other industry, growing twenty times faster than the overall UK retail market in 2005. Furthermore, the number of online shoppers grew by 25.5% to 14.6 million with the number over the age of 55 doubling to 2.7 million. Forrester Research predict that UK shoppers will drive UK e-commerce from 43bn in 2006 to 76bn in 2011, accounting for 29% of total European internet retail. As such, we see the market study as a good opportunity to take stock of online shopping in the UK, looking at what it has done for UK plc as a whole since its growth through the internet boom of the late nineties to the stable yet competitive market we see today. It is worth noting many of the businesses that lived through the dot-com crash were internet retail sites, a clear indication of the valuable role they play for consumers.( OFT Market Study on Online Shopping, http//207.45.116.138/ndbs/positiondoc.nsf/1f08ec61711f29768025672a0055f7a8/6174E87FE56AFC3F8025735300568DBA/$file/oftonlineshopping250706.pdf )3.3 Current trendAs far as online shopping in UK is concerned, there is clear trend that those who resort to this new system of shopping will increase by 30 to 40 per cent in a period of 4 years. Remember, there was a delay of 2 to 6 years for people to shift to online shopping after getting acquainted to the internet. But the online s ystem is gaining momentum in an unprecedented market reaction. In the early years only younger generation was using the online shopping services, but then came a remarkable change in the pattern of users. More and more people from older generation are getting attracted to the online shopping system.According to reliable projections, by 2050 the retail marketing scene will undergo a thorough change in its form and magnitude, and the shopping in UK will evolve beyond recognition with high street dominating the field. Everyone will be online, every hour every day It will become an automatic process and convert the high street to something like a gallery style showroomIf the prediction becomes a reality, the Britons will be spending nearly 63 billion pounds for the online shopping. 860 million parcels will be shipped to the United Kingdom to serve 26 million internet shoppers. Each shopper will spend 2400 each on an average. The number of people using online shopping will exceed the pr edictions and projections, if the present trend is an indication to that. At present, 10 per cent of the total retail selling is through internet. It will go up to 20 percent in 3 years.There will be a remarkable change in the composition of customers, patronizing online shopping. Men and women of all ages and professions will adopt the new system for the advantages inherent in the online shopping. The older generation, will increasingly use the online shopping, to avoid the ordeals of travelling, searching and bargaining involved in the conventional shopping. It is easier, faster, safer and valuable, according to those who have changed over to the system. No doubt the online shopping will gain popularity and momentum in the coming years.Globalization of trade has given a new impetus to this new market initiative. The political borders are disappearing as far as trade and commerce are concerned. The online trading and international postal services are giving new thrust to economy. C ross border shopping is flourishing.The internet has helped to widen the area of information much to the benefits of the customers. More accurate information is available now, about the companies, their products and services. The consumers are able to browse online catalogues and acquire vital information about a variety of goods displayed by several companies in their websites.Regarding prices there is a distinctively clear advantage for the consumer. The absence of middle men in the online shopping system will permit the dealers to trim their profit margins in favour of the customer. There are many price comparison service providers who serve the consumer by providing product information and price advantages. Retailers also publish their price ranges in such websites. The shopping web portals are more than the online version of yellow pages. The price comparison services search and retrieve data directly from retailers and feed them to the consumers through the internet. A compreh ensive list of retailers and detailed list of prices are available with regular updating.(Future of ONLINE SHOPPING in UK, http//www.edealsuk.com/articles/online-shopping-trend-uk.html)CHAPTER 44. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.This research project was conducted with an explanatory research approach as the focus was in discovering ideas and insights into consumer motivations and emerging trends on online shopping (Mariampolski 2001). The research methodology also followed the framework of analysis defined in the previous section which resulted from the literature review.As the research work was largely qualitative, the exploratory approach and the analysis and results from the primary research provides a good understanding of the consumer motivations for online shopping, and also provides a framework for further analysis if needed by other researchers focusing on greater depth in some areas or expansion of issues not covered in this research project.The focus of the research project is on co nsumer motivations on online shopping and will not touch on specific online sites unless these are discussed in the context of increasing online shopping activities and consumer motivations.4.1 Primary researchThe key primary research activities for this project included surveys and in-depth interviews to understand the key consumer motivations for online shopping.4.1.1 SurveysThe surveys gave a preview of the various factors which were impacting on online shopping. An open-ended survey was conducted to give consumers the opportunity to give factors which they truly feel were their key motivating considerations. The survey was divided into two main sections* Open-ended and unprompted This section was designed to allow the respondents to give answers freely without any prompts. This was to ensure that the consumers thoughts were captured properly, and that their ideas and key motivations were the ones that were included in their responses.* Prompted with specific factors After the unprompted section, the survey had a section which had some of the preliminary findings from the literature review. This was designed to test the literature review findings, and also provide the respondents an opportunity to highlight some factors which may be important but were not mentioned by the respondent during the first part of the survey.4.1.2 In-depth InterviewsThe in-depth interviews were

Making Money the Easy Way :: essays research papers

Slavery has been a very sensitive, touchy subject since, and even before, its abolition in 1865. There is no dubiety whatsoever that its one, if not the, worst things to ever take place in the United States. However, this happened a long, long time ago in a divers(prenominal) generation. The ancestors of those who were slaves have every right to be angry about what happened, but to try and claim silver for it is absurd. Granted it was wrong, it was the way of life in those times. slopped white men owned slaves in those days. paying(a) foul these slaves ancestors would not change anything. Whats done is done. Also there are many some other needs in this country that this money could help greatly. Doing this would stir up more tension than there already is now. The fact that the country is paying stand American Indians and Japanese-Americans is hard to comprehend. These people are being greedy only using their ancestors as an excuse to get their hands on some affectionate cash. The world is an ever changing place with new practises, beliefs, and ideas being thought up every day. Times change, and people change. In the 1700s and the 1800s it was custom for the rich, white plantation owners to have slaves. As we look back now it is obvious to us that it was wrong but that is the way is was then. There was no constabulary forbiddancening it. Think about alcohol. It is bad and causes bad things to happen sometimes, but its legal. So in 100 years will the government give money to anybody who was harmed due to alcohol? The same thing goes for cigarettes. One day down the road people will realize what alcohol and cigarettes do and they may ban them. The world evolves everyday and everyone uses the lessons they learned from past generations in order to fit in well with society and live life to the fullest.What does giving slaves ancestors money resolve? Nothing. Slavery took place hundreds of years ago and paying back families does not make anything right. The re is nothing that can be done to make what happened better. Paying reparations will not freethe slaves. Anyone who is trying to collect reparations is a selfish fool who cares nothing about making things right, they just want money. Paying them back still would not make them feel better about slavery.

diary of anne frank :: essays research papers

*New Buddy*The record withstand I read is called The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank The book is a true story about a thirteen year old girl who receives a diary on her thirteenth birthday. The book is a short autobiography In her diary Anne tells Kitty (her pretend friend) everything that happens in her life. The interesting factor in the book is that the time of Annes preteen eld is the time of the rise of Hitler who oppressed the Jews. Annes family is forced into hiding into a secret apartment on top of a factory store in which one of the Franks friends works. Meep, the friend brings diet up to the Franks. Anne and her family stay in hiding for four years. Just when the Franks are almost ready to set forth a man working in the factory rats the Franks out to the Nazis.Annes diary begins on her thirteenth birthday and ends shortly after her fifteenth .In the book she writes of her friendships with other girls and her performance in school. The school Anne goes to is called t he Lycelium for Jews. Anne also has a sister. Her name is Margot. Margot is 17 years old and very mature. Anne gets along well with her sister. Her father comes from a wealthy family. Anne gets along nicely with him. Annes mother is not spoken of too much in the book., mostly because she does not have a rock-steady relationship with her.When Hitler was first taking power the Jews were forced into all Jewish schools. It was there that Anne met a good friend. Her name was Joy. Anne and Joy became friends but only for a short while before Anne was forced into hiding. Anne and her family hid from the Nazis for two and a half years. The Franks stayed with three other people. They had a woman named Meep bring food to them. The rise of Hitler grew worse as the years passed. The Nazis were then taking Jews to camps where they would kill them. The Franks got into many arguments with the people in the house and Anne was between it all. During this time Anne was beginning to care one of the boys she was staying with in the house.