Business Crime - Christies Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Crime - Christies Ltd - Essay Example Before proceeding to the topic of Christies Ltd. and business crime, it is important to understand how and why the Theft Act 1968 came into existence. This Act was original for it was the first British legislation, which the dealings of criminal law accessible to all citizens and not just limited to attorneys. An article from bbc.co.uk (2001) tells this history: Before 1968, theft and other, similar, offences were governed by a mass of conflicting legislation and common law and was over-complex. Before 1968, if 'ownership' passed by means of deception, the offence was 'obtaining by false pretences'. If 'possession' was passed, the offence was 'larcency by a trick'. Other offences existed, including 'larcency by a servant', 'fraudulent conversion' and 'embezzlement'. It had reached the point where it was harder to discover which crime the accused may have committed rather than whether or not the accused was guilty. The 1968 Theft Act, as well as the 1971 Criminal Damage Act, did much to overcome this problem. All previous theft legislation and common law were overruled, resulting in the creation of the first codified definition of law in England and Wales.

The Effect of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Buying Behavior Essay Example for Free

The Effect of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer Buying Behavior Essay The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years or so. Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrity in influencing buyers purchase decision. They have firm believe that likeability or a favorable attitude towards a brand is created by the use of a celebrity. The crore of rupees spent per year on celebrity endorsement contracts show that celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Sharukh khan and Sachin Tendulkar play an important role for the advertising industry. It is an established fact that celebrity endorsement can bestow unique features or special attributes upon a product that it may have lacked otherwise. In India from late 1970s and early 80s the new trend in advertising started. Brands started being endorsed by celebrities. Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons were roped in to endorse prominent brands. Advertisements featuring stars like Late Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Tabassum (Prestige cookers), Sunil Gavaskar for Dinesh Suiting, Ravi Shastri and Vivian Richards (Vimal), Persis Khambhata and Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving cream) became common . Though marketers should remember that celebrities are mere living beings like us and if they can highlight the benefits or advantages of a brand they can also have some uncanny negative impact. Theory and practice suggests that the use of stars and their unleashing power in advertising generate a lot of publicity and attention from the public but the underline questions are, do these stars really help a brand by increasing its sales? On the other hand, can they really have an Impact on the persons consumption pattern, thereby changing his brand preference? How an advertisement featuring a celebrity can influence consumers buying decision and can create an association between a brand and a common man. To answer these questions, the article will examine the relationship between celebrity endorsements and brands, and the impact of celebrity endorsement on consumers buying behaviour as well as how consumer makes brand preferences. We will apply a wide range of accepted principles of how consumers brand attitudes and preferences can be influenced, how buyers behavior can be influenced, how buyers behavior can be molded. We will use the principles of credibility of source and attractiveness, the match-up hypothesis, the consumer decision-making model and the communication model to understand this phenomenon. Brand- A layman  perspective Brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational and cultural image that you can associate with a company or the product. Few examples will bring home the meaning i.e. Amul utterly butterly delicious; Coke – thanda matlab coca-cola; Pepsi – Yeh dil mange more; Kurkure- Masti bole to kurkure and Daewoo ka India. These examples convey one message that when people watch advertisement a connect is being created and result is that people go for experience of buying. People feel by using the brand they will portray certain traits or characteristics that otherwise they do not have. This generates a certain level of emotional affiliation and a sense of fulfillment. It is this emotional relationship with brands that make them so powerful. Advertisements enforces what exactly the brand stands for and what to expect by its consumption and above all what factors, features and attributes makes it better from competition. Advertisements along with other marketing efforts generate expectations and feelings in a customer and force them to think when they see or hear the brand name. This Thinking process and emotional bonding gets more mature and relevant when a celebrity endorses the brand. The subjective intangible feelings of a customer become objective and tangible in the form of celebrity and the level of expectations will rise. The customer will start to perceive himself in the reference frame of the celebrity after the brand or the advertised product has been purchased or consumed by him. Celebrity and a Brand Star power in India can be gauged by the successful endorsements done by Sharukh Khan (Pepsi, Hyundai Santro, Sunfeast, and Navratan etc.), Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Hrithik Roshan and the others. The inevitable question is, if and how the lively interest of the public in the rich and famous can be efficiently and effectively used by companies to promote their brands and consequently to increase their sales revenues. This fact can be brought out by using certain examples i.e. Mr. Amitabh Bachchan promoting Cadbury chocolates after the fiasco of infestation when the image of Cadbury India went very low in the eyes of people. Soon the company found a perfect fit and a reliable celebrity to transmit the correct message and help regenerating the lost trust. The fit between the product and celebrity  is evident as Mr. Bachchan and Cadbury chocolates both have tested troubled times and still they stand tall and the love and trust they both share with the people al l across India. This is a live example of how a celebrity brought certain attributes to a product like chocolate. Actor Sharukh khan has also endorsed diversified products. His endorsement basket is ranging from Hyundai Santro to Sunfeast biscuits on one hand and from Compaq computers to Videocon electronics on the other. According to Advertising research companies both the actors are doing well and the ad spent on both by the companies is increasing at a phenomenal rate, so does their basket of endorsements. These actors bring reliability and trust in the brand and above all, they help in increasing the sales revenues. Celebrity endorsements are powerful, has become evident from the above two examples but, why is it so? This power is offered by the following elements, which also creates a Top of the Mind Position. * Instant Awareness, knowledge about the brand and easy recall. * Values and image of the brand is defined, highlighted and refreshed by the celebrity. * The celebrity adds new edge and dimension to the brand. * Credibility, trust, association, aspiration and connectivity to brand. * Belief in efficiency and new appearance that will result in at least trial usage. Understanding Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, sociopsychology, anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision-making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand peoples wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. The study and knowledge of consumer behavior helps firms and organizations to improve their marketing strategies and product offerings. Following are the important issues that have significant influence on consumers psyche  and their ability to take decisions: †¢ The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives (e.g., brands, products); †¢ The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g., culture, family, signs, media); †¢ The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions; †¢ Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and marketing outcome; †¢ How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and †¢ How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to more effectively reach the consumer. †¢ Their Age, Religion, Culture, Income, informal group and Referent Group. Understanding these issues helps us adapt our strategies by taking the consumer into consideration. Traditional Factors affecting consumer decision making There are several factors that affect consumers decision to purchase a brand and a product. These factors though at time are not very much visible but they make an impact and affects sales of a product or brand up to a great extent. The table below shows some of these factors. Impact of a Brand on consumer purchase decision Research studies have proven that known products and names are sold more than unknown ones. Therefore, a known brand or an optimally exposed brand will find more recognition and buyers in the market in comparison to completely unknown or unexposed brand. Recognition of brand and its significance along with the traditional factors plays a very significant role in consumer decision-making process. More or less every consumer has a brand preference and given the affordability and societal norms, each buyer would like to buy and consume one of the highly acceptable, recognizable, and reputed brands. The above given model explains the important role that a brand plays in three different stages of consumers purchase decision making. A consumer start collecting data or information about his favourite brand than he keeps his favourite as one of the alternatives and he evaluate his selected brand against all available options and on finding it suitable or best among all options based upon a qualitative and quantitative evaluation he will ultimately purchase the selected or favourite brand. The diagram above explains how various traditional factors along with brand preference interact during purchase decision process and finally results into a consumers final product choice or ultimate purchase. Celebrity and a brand Surveys suggest that compared to any other types of endorsers, famous people achieve a higher degree of attention and recall. They increase awareness of a companys advertising as well as help in retention of message in the psyche of the audience. They can also help the company in reducing their expenditure on Media and other forms of publicity. An example will bring more clarity, When S Kumars, a known textile brand entered into readymade garments business they used Hrithik Roshan, then the hottest advertising icon for their launch advertising for TAMARIND, now one of the premium readymade brands. They reckoned that they have spent 40-50 percent less on media due to sheer impact of using hottest star like Hrithik. The Ad recall was as high as 70 percent and the campaign can be termed as a great success. Celebrities also create positive feelings towards brands, connect user to brand and are perceived by consumers as more entertaining. Using a celebrity in advertising or for any, other type of communication for brand building is likely to positively affect consumers brand preference, brand attitude, brand association and purchase intentions. To ensure positive results, however, it is critical for advertisers to have a clear understanding of consumers reactions and reinforcement of celebrity endorsement. The impact of celebrity endorsement on any brand as well as on consumers purchase decision is very critical. Source Credibility Central goal of advertising is the convincing of consumers and persuasion to purchase, the ultimate objective, though not openly spoken, is to some how attract consumers to the market offering of the company, generating positive attitude, reinforce positive association and ultimately to generate sales,  may be a trial purchase. At later stages, the sponsor may work towards creating a brand loyalty but generating initial sales or increasing the existing sales is the primary objective. In this respect, the credibility of an endorser along with advertisement plays an important role in convincing the target audience of the attractiveness of the companys brand and generates sales. Pursuing a celebrity endorsement strategy enables advertisers to project a credible image in terms of expertise, persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and objectiveness. To create effective messages, celebrity advertisers also have to consider the attractiveness of the spokesperson. Source attractiveness refers to the endorsers Physical appearance, Personality, Likeability and Similarity to the receiver, thus to the perceived social value of the source. This behavior mainly goes back to halo effect, whereby persons who perform well on one dimension example: physical attractiveness or top professional performance, social status are assumed to excel on other levels as well i.e. happiness and coolness. This is evident from the use of Fardeen Khan, modern, dynamic, outgoing and smart personality for Provogue; he translates the modernism of the brand well. Titan uses Aamir Khan in his different avatars for communicating to the public that their watches are as reliable and passionate as Aamir is for films. Both Fardeen and Aamir carry the message well and enhance the credibility of the brand they endorse. Establishing a Perfect Match Research proves that a spokesperson especially for a service product or organization (ICICI- First Amitabh Bachchan, now Shahrukh Khan) interacts with the type of brand being advertised. These stars communicate the value of the product and transform an ordinary service into a miracle solution for all problems of an ordinary customer. According to Friedman and Friedman (1979), a famous relative to a normal spokesperson is more effective for products high in psychological or social risk, involving such elements as good taste, self-image, and opinion of others. Several research studies have examined the congruency between celebrity endorsers and brands to explain the effectiveness of using famous persons to promote brands. In India, a brand called Reid Taylor presented its perfect example when they first launched their advertising campaign featuring James Bond fame of the time Mr. Pierce Brosnan along with the tagline BOND WITH THE BEST but the James  Bond idea did not worked and the company was not happy with the results. After the debacle of the first campaign, company introduced a family ad where children are celebrating there parents silver wedding anniversary and they are out with their father to purchase a suit for him. Even this commercial did not work and it was taken off the air. As a last resort, company introduced Mr. Amitabh Bachchan as Reid Taylor man, a man propagating the brand for special occasion and for very special people in life. The commercial from the initial days got good response and did extremely well as people were able to connect with Mr. Bachchan and the values he was propagating. For the masses, there was a perfect match of an ideal Indian family man, a star and a good quality but bit highly priced brand reserved especially for special occasions and for very special people. Second example that can be quoted is of Vishwanathan Anand, who endorsed NIIT. NIIT adopted a very smart strategy by roping in Vishwanathan Anand an international chess wizard for their advertising campaign. As chess is considered to be a game full of strategies and a game for smart people and when one of the greats of the game is asking people to join NIIT it was suppose to have a positive influence on the people and actually it had. There was complete congruency and compatibility between the celebrity endorser, the product and the message. Contrary to only favorable outcomes, there are several examples where the product, even the entire campaign collapsed due to heavy weight celebrity as the agency or the ad failed to establish the relationship between the endorser and the product. Keeping the focus only on success, where the product and the celebrity were a perfect match, following are few examples: Celebrity Endorser Company / Product Amitabh Bachchan * Dabur * Cadbury * Reid and Taylor * Parker Shahrukh Khan * Santro * Videocon * Sunfeast * Pepsi Juhi Chawala * Kurkure Ustad Zakir Hussain * Taj mahal tea Aamir Khan * Titan * Coke * Toyota Innova Aishwarya Rai * Nakshatra * Lux Rani Mukherjee * Fanta * Nestle Munch Kajol and Ajay Devgan * Whirlpool * Tata Indicom The campaigns are not only basking with the glory of success stories, but there is considerable number of failures as well. Assuming that a person just have to be famous to represent a successful brand, however, would be incorrect and may turn out to be a very dangerous preposition resulting into a big calamity for the entire advertising campaign or the brand. Very well accepted and attractive super stars like Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan failed in turning their endorsements into success i.e. Maruti Versa similarly Virendra Sehwag also failed to deliver Reliance Telecommunication with the master stroke of his cricketing genius. Among the possible reasons identified by several authors, including overexposure and identification, the match-up hypothesis specifically suggests that the effectiveness depends on the existence of a fit between the celebrity spokesperson and endorsed brand. Empirical work on the congruency of brand with the celebrity often has concentrated on the physical attractiveness of the endorser. Results show that an attractive spokespersons are more effective in terms of attitude change when prompting brands that enhance ones attractiveness i.e. cosmetics; health drinks or fashion wear. Primary data states, for celebrity spokespersons to be truly effective, they should be knowledgeable, experienced, mature, and a bench mark in their respective field and qualified to talk about the product. Transferring the Meaning After watching an advertisement the consumers try to find the meaning of the advertisement and associate the same with the endorser and eventually transfer to the brand. To understand this phenomenon Mc Cracken (1989)  suggested a comprehensive model known as Meaning Transfer Model. This three-stage model suggests how the meaning associated with the famous person moves from the endorser to the product or the brand. Thus, meanings attributed to the celebrity become associated with the brand in the consumers mind. Finally, in the consumption process, the customer acquires the brands meaning. The third stage of the model explicitly shows the importance of the consumers role in the process of endorsing brands with famous persons. In contrast to anonymous endorsers, celebrities add value to the image transfer process by offering meanings of extra depth and power, what is complemented by their life style and personalities. Therefore, to transfer the correct meaning to the consumer the company should select a celebrity that will produce the most favorable response for consumers and for the purpose the celebrity should have, the appropriate set of characteristics and the public should be able to visualize and comprehend the same. The company should consider the consumers needs while developing their communication strategy and selecting an appropriate celebrity to transmit the same, i.e. Kurkure used actress Juhi Chawala with the punch line Masti Bole To Kurkure and the actress on screen and off-screen personifies the masti and helps the brand in communicating the same easily. Compatibility of the celebritys persona with the overall brand image is very important, as a celebrity imparts credibility and inspirational value to a brand and his or her image should perfectly match the brands image. A good brand campaign idea and an intrinsic link between the celebrity and the message are must for a successful campaign. Certain elements that generate a perfect match or compatibility between the celebrity and brand image are: * Celebritys fit with the brand image along with celebrity-target audience match. * Celebrity associated values and celebrity-product match. * Costs of acquiring the celebrity and his or her popularity along with controversy risks associated with the celebrity. * Credibility, availability and physical attractiveness of celebrity. The above points can be put to perspective by using two examples, first Kapil Devs Palmolive da jawaab nahin and second Nakshatras brand recall due to its endorser, the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Both brands have edged out and carved out their niche in consumers mind due to image and credibility of their endorsers.  These were the cases of perfect match between the brand image and the image or persona of the celebrity endorser. Conclusion A brief assessment of the current market situation indicates, that celebrity endorsement advertising strategy can under the right circumstances indeed justify the high costs associated with this form of advertising. The use of celebrity for endorsements create a very favorable impact on the consumer and it creates a connect which forces a consumer to purchase a product. However, as several failures show, it is essential for advertisers to be aware of the complex processes underlying celebrity endorsement. It has been proved from the discussion that celebrity endorsements are a powerful and useful tool that magnifies the effect of a campaign but the word of caution to be followed seriously; celebrities alone do not guarantee success nor does a great advertising campaign or the best possible product. It is the combination of several factors and elements that work together for the success of a brand and its acceptance in the minds of consumers as well as for its market offering. Modern day consumers are well educated and smart, they know celebrities are being paid for these endorsements and this knowledge makes consumers rather more cynical about the product and celebrity endorsements. Majority of the consuming population also knows what is advertising and how it actually works and this knowledge of consumer makes the task of celebrity endorsement all the more difficult and challenging for the advertising companies and the sponsors. Indian companies both advertising and product offering companies have top make an effort to overcome this ever-mounting challenge. References * Aaker, David A. (1996), Building Strong Brands. New York, NY: The Free Press. * Daneshvary, Rennae and R. Keith Schwer (2000), The Association Endorsement and * Consumers Intention to Purchase, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17 (3), 203-213. * Friedman, Hershey H. and Linda Friedman (1979), Endorser Effectiveness by Product Type, Journal of Advertising Research, 19 (5), 63-71. * McCracken, Grant (1989), Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement Process, Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3), 310-321.

Human Nature in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Essay -- Papers

Human Nature in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley In the novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, the relationship of external apperence and internal feelings are directly related. The creature is created and he is innocent, though he is seaverly deformed. His nature is to be good and kind, but society only views his external appereance which is grotesque. Human nature is to judge by external apperence. He is automatically ostracized and labeled as a monster because of his external apperence. He finnaly realized that no matter how elequintly he speaks and how kind he is, people will never be able to see past his external deformities. Children are fearful of him, Adults think he is dangerous, and his own creator abandons him in disgust. The creature is treated as a monster, therefore he begins to internalize societies view of him and act the like a monster. Man by nature, judges people and things by their appearance. If a person is pleasant looking then they will be given more of a chance to express their internal self. If they are ugly, or cosmetically deformed, they usually aren't given much of a chance to show who they really are. Grotesquely ugly people are sometimes thought of as monsters, and are ostracized. Many cosmetically inferior people are afraid to go out into society. Mankind seems to be fearful of the unfamiliar and unknown. People are afraid of what they do not understand. Deformaty is something that most people can not comprehend. How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophy, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endevoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! - Great god! His yellow skin scarcely... ...ves for my destruction. Shall I not hate them who abhor me? I will keep no terms with my enemies. I am miserable and they shall share my wretchedness." ( the creature, page 97) Here the creature tells Frankenstien that he is the fallen angel. This means that he believes that Frankenstien could have done a better job raising him. The creature indicated that he was born good and virtuous, but lonliness and misery due to the alenation he receives from mankind, have made him feel like a monster. Society sees him as a monster and makes him feel like one, so now he will begin to act like one. The creature then begines to tell Frankenstien the tale of what he has done and hoh he has managed to survive the past few years. Bibliography: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. Norton Critical Editions. New York: Norton, 2005. Print.

Allegory of Human Nature in Lord of the Flies Essay

Oxford University Press Dictionaries defines an allegory as â€Å"a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one† Many people read in William Golding’s Lord of The Flies as an allegory. There’s no question that it can be looked at as a symbolic story, however, the question is what Lord of the Flies is an allegory of? One way this novel can be looked at is as an allegory of human nature. In other words, this story can be seen as symbolism of how humans behave and show their true colors when placed into a survival situation. Various characters in Lord of the Flies could be thought to symbolize different qualities of human nature. Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are three extremely influential characters and all three of them represent both sides of human nature: good versus evil. Ralph symbolizes the good in humanity in Lord of the Flies. The name Ralph derives from the Anglo-Saxon language and means â€Å"council. † As commander of the conch, Ralph was voted chief of the boys on the island; and from this point, his name became affiliated with council and government. Throughout the story, Ralph never gave up on his views and priorities, them being to get off the island. Ralph also, in terms of Lord of the Flies, symbolized civilization and order. He established order and civilization on the island at the first meeting by creating a main goal, priorities, and gave out positions such as the hunters and his right hand man, Piggy. Ralph was the only outlet of hope towards the end of the book and he was able to follow through and survive without falling into the savage state like the others. In this novel, Piggy symbolizes intelligence and logic. From the beginning, by finding the conch and recognizing its importance, he has always been the voice of intelligence and insight. One may say that piggy may be more logical and objective and therefore describe him as being left-brained. He uses his logic at many points throughout the book in such times as when he wanted to take attendance or when make the sundial. Piggy has good intentions for his ideas, however, because of his lack of confidence and his physical appearance, he is shot down by most of the other boys. He is a great example of symbolism for human nature in Lord of the Flies because for one, he and Ralph both make up a nearly perfect leader with intelligence, leadership, logic, and insight. Also, it is important to connect that insight, being Piggy, was shot down and made savage by the hunters.

Digital Media And Democracy Tactic

Transformation nowadays was at hand in different facet of our lives. Same with the instance in the field of media practices, everyone has the right to participate in this free trade of information. The query if this alteration in media can be utilized in forming social movements was at hand. Taking this into account, clearly we can say that new technologies can take us to another level. It is so powerful that it can contribute to the knowledge that we possess and it can even mold us to be someone we dream of becoming.Technologies absolutely provide us with lots of awareness and new ideas, â€Å"technology is offering us new standards, platforms and ways of expression† (Boler). In the interview with Boler, interesting topic that unravels the layers of expression through the use of technologies, blogging is one of the concepts that have been touch. Indeed, it connotes a new system of negating with other people. Of course there are a certain restrictions in making a blog for inst ance, but the focal point of everything is simply going deep with the material and exploring the new concept of technology, this is what can make us truly express our emotions.Using this medium we would be able to have a grip towards the different phenomenon in our realm. Globalization has a lot to do with the fuzz about the internet. Practically, the emerging technique of using the internet was said to expand the horizon of an individual. On the contrary, the effects of such was claimed by some to be alarming since it dominates liberalization and freedom of speech, â€Å"internet’s material properties are biased towards openness, liberalization, democracy, freedom of speech and communication† (Boler). Censorship on matters of exceeding within the limits of exhausting the internet should be inflicted.People who are engage in using the system should know the proper utilization. We know how powerful our new systems could get and we can never deny the fact that the improp er use of such could result into a serious matter of politics. Anything that is set to contain in any sites should be filtered in any way to increase the sensitivity of everyone. This extraordinary issue of technological upgrading should not be exploited to serve only one purpose; it is ultimately design for the common good and for the sake of everyone else.