A Second Chance Essay Example

A Second Chance Essay Persuasive Essay Imagine being fifteen, living in a cage for the rest of your life and dying in the hands of your cellmates. This has been is the case for more than two thousand American teenagers who are sentenced to die in prison, many of which did not even commit the crime. One person in particular was a boy named Ray; he agreed to go with his friend to rob a bank, but did not know his friend had intentions of killing someone. Ray did not even have a weapon, but his soul swooned slowly as he heard the verdict and can recall clearly the tears that dripped down his face when the Judge sentenced IM to life. Tick, tick, tick, is the sound of the metaphoric clock that ticks away slowly as Juvenile youth continue to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Teenagers who are convicted of serious crimes should not be tried as adults and sentenced to life in prison without any possibility of parole because they lack the maturity and brainpower to make responsible d ecisions with the knowledge of their consequences, teenagers ignore the process of rehabilitation to gain the possibility of a second chance, and many teens are sentenced unfairly due to the aspects of ones fife. We will write a custom essay sample on A Second Chance specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A Second Chance specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A Second Chance specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer One important difference between a teenager and an adult is the development of the brain. There have been studies through MR Machines that concluded that the part of the brain that involves critical thinking thins between ages twelve and fifteen. The grey part of the brain involves the section that contains the humans ability to function in planning, impulse control, and reasoning. This part of the brain spurts in growth during the end of puberty, which is around the late teen years and after the time when any crime was committed. A study done at UCLA showed that a growth in he temporal and parietal lobes spurts from the age of six to thirteen, then quickly dies out during puberty. With these studies, researchers were able to compare the brains of twenty year olds with the brains of twelve to sixteen year olds. The researchers were looking for the production of myelin, which indicates the maturity of the brain. There was a great difference of myelin in the adult brain and the teenagers brain. They concluded that the adult has more executive functions, so they classified the tens brain activity as having impaired executive functioning. Teenagers have different emotions than adults because as the youth grow older, the activity that triggers emotions moves towards the frontal lobe where performance improves. Scientists and doctors understand that the brain of teenagers is a complicated, dynamic area that is not easily understood. Teenagers being tried as adults isnt right because, rather than changing their lives and going to make the community a better place, they sit in their cell with no hope of getting out with no motivation for change. Teenagers in prison deserve a second chance and they are denied the opportunity to rehabilitate or prove their innocence. After many interviews, researchers noticed that the teens regret their past, regret their crime, regret any harm they caused and wish to one day, get out and make the world a better place. Without an opportunity of going on parole to prove their innocence and to show how they have changed, Juveniles are forced to Human Rights Watch completed many studies and they gathered enough information to conclude that forty five percent of youth in prison are being held legally responsible for a crime they did not commit. This situation happened to a 19-year-old boy named Mike Hint. Hint was sentenced for the murder of a young man, as ell as three other people that were involved with the crime. During the court case, Antonio Hint, Mikes father, knew his son was innocent and he mentioned this when he said, Mike wasnt there, I dont know why nobody wont stand up and say he didnt do it. He was put into prison without any chance of parole and the absence of a normal life. Life in prison without the chance of parole should not be the sentence of teenagers because many of the cases are treated unfairly and without Just. Our court is sentencing kids who are not able to vote, buy a lottery ticket, or buy cigarettes to life in prison. Even though a terrible crime may be committed, the youth should be punished for the crime in a way that reflects their age and immaturity, not by the color of their skin. Many of the Juveniles are sentenced to die in prison because of their color and ethnicity. Just as Martin Luther King Jar. Said, We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. After completing many studies, Human Rights Watch determined that eighty five percent of the youth that are sentenced to life without parole are people of color. Racial sentencing is especially bad in California where seventy five percent of the youth in prison are African American or Hispanic. The Human Rights Watch also noticed that the sentencing of African Americans is eighteen point three times the rate for whites; likewise, Hispanics are sentenced to life at a rate that is five times white youth. All of these examples and reasons should be enough to convince our leaders in this country to take another look at the unfair sentencing that is occurring in this land of the free. Something needs to be done about this tragedy that continues to affect the lives of many individuals as well as the families of teenagers whose lives are have been thrown away due to this devastating policy. 2

The Mysterious Tunguska Explosion of 1908

The Mysterious Tunguska Explosion of 1908 At 7:14 a.m. on June 30, 1908, a giant explosion shook central Siberia. Witnesses close to the event described seeing a fireball in the sky, as bright and hot as another sun. Millions of trees fell and the ground shook. Although a number of scientists investigated, it is still a mystery as to what caused the explosion. The Blast The explosion is estimated to have created the effects of a magnitude 5.0 earthquake, causing buildings to shake, windows to break, and people to be knocked off their feet even at 40 miles away. The blast, centered in a desolate and forested area near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Russia, is estimated to have been a thousand times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The explosion leveled an estimated 80 million trees over an 830 square-mile area in a radial pattern from the blast zone. Dust from the explosion hovered over Europe, reflecting light that was bright enough for Londoners to read at night by it. While many animals were killed in the blast, including hundreds of local reindeer, it is believed that no humans lost their lives in the blast.   Examining the Blast Area The blast zones remote location and the intrusion of worldly affairs (World War I and the Russian Revolution) meant that it wasnt until 1927 19 years after the event that the first scientific expedition was able to examine the blast area. Assuming that the blast had been caused by a falling meteor, the expedition expected to find a huge crater as well as pieces of the meteorite. They found neither. Later expeditions were also unable to find credible evidence to prove the blast was caused by a falling meteor. Cause Of the Explosion In the decades since this huge explosion, scientists and others have attempted to explain the cause of the mysterious Tunguska Event. The most commonly accepted scientific explanation is that either a meteor or a comet entered the Earths atmosphere and exploded a couple of miles above the ground (this explains the lack of impact crater). To cause such a large blast, some scientists determined that the meteor would have weighed around 220 million pounds (110,000 tons) and traveled approximately 33,500 miles per hour before disintegrating. Other scientists say that the meteor would have been much larger, while still others say much smaller. Additional explanations have ranged from the possible to the ludicrous, including a natural gas leak escaped from the ground and exploded, a UFO spaceship crashed, the effects of a meteor destroyed by a UFOs laser in an attempt to save Earth, a black hole that touched Earth, and an explosion caused by scientific tests done by Nikola Tesla. Still a Mystery Over a hundred years later, the Tunguska Event remains a mystery and its causes continue to be debated. The possibility that the blast was caused by a comet or meteor entering the Earths atmosphere creates additional worry. If one meteor could cause this much damage, then there is a serious possibility that in the future, a similar meteor could enter Earths atmosphere and rather than landing in remote Siberia, land on a populated area. The result would be catastrophic.

Article 2 v Article 3 In a Ticking Bomb Scenario Dissertation

Article 2 v Article 3 In a Ticking Bomb Scenario - Dissertation Example This essay discusses that all around the world, the civil societies considered it flagrant violations of human rights. It is also unacceptable under Article 5 of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signatories of Third and fourth Geneva Conventions. Besides United Nations Convention against Torture, ratified by the representatives of 147 countries does not allow torture on captive suspects. The concept of thought experiment was initially introduced by the famous novelist Jean in the year 1960. The driving force of cited thoughts stems from the first Indo China War. The professor of Political Science at Reed College endorsed torturing on suspects provided he or she is involved in claiming or intended to claim numerous lives and destruction of properties through their subversive activities. In accordance with the definition of 1984 United Nations Convention Torture is: â€Å"Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a pe rson for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions†. ... In accordance with the definition of 1984 United Nations Convention Torture is: â€Å"Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions†3. Mentioned definition is strictly applicable on the nations and the government sponsored torture. The torture inflicted directly or indirectly includes: a) torture inflicted upon by the gangsters, ethnic group, rebels or t errorists b) abrupt violence during war and c) whipping d) politically motivated torture of all sorts. The intellectuals of the United Kingdom are of the view that though the torture on suspects is not morally justifiable or legally permissible as per UK law. But under certain circumstances, torture on the suspects to get material information may be allowed. For example if a terrorist who is in the custody of law enforcing agencies / investigation agencies planted bomb in a busy shopping area, if exploded may claim hundreds of lives and mass destruction of properties. In such situation, torture on a suspect to get critical information relating to their links with the terrorist

Eco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Eco - Essay Example A customer relation is one primary feature of business that can allow a small company to outshine large business competitors without spending much money or time. Truthfully, customer relations will build a concrete reputation for an organization and earn repeat clientele. This paper will address customer relations as a congruent economic issue in an organization. In order for any organization to succeed, it must bear in mind that the ultimate goal of all customer relations programs is to establish and build long-term relationships- those in which customers keeps buying the product or service and recommending it to others- with customers. For an organization to achieve this objective, it may need to go to greater lengths to build strong reputation for lavishing their customers with special services, gifts, discounts or other benefits (Schulz, 2008). Nowadays, customer relations has become such a vital paradigm in modern business that people commonly refer to relations with an organiza tion’s internal and external customers. ... Nevertheless, acquiring clients and maintaining them is yet another challenge facing many organizations worldwide. The main aim for all businesses is to gain the most out of their activities. Therefore, customers and customer relations are essential factors that contribute to achievement of this goal (Bliss, 2006). Cognitively, it becomes vital to focus on customer loyalty in order to achieve an organization’s objectives. The main purpose of most well developed customer relations is to turn one time or occasional clients into loyal buyers. Customer relations specialists distinguish loyalty from satisfaction, putting across that, it is possible for an organization to satisfy customers but have no particular loyalty. Some customers claim to draw satisfaction from one company’s products but still buy competitor’s products as well. Indeed, what mostly drives the emphasis on loyalty is the bottom line (Kollin, 2011). Customer relations analysts assert that, by estimat es, an organization can spend much higher amount of money in attracting new customers compared to that required in bringing back loyal customers. In addition, repeat customers are more likely to recommend the company to others and try to out the company’s latest products and services. The financial results are that a small percentage increase in customer loyalty can translate into significant rise in profits. Nonetheless, the opposite of customer loyalty- customer turnover- can deplete an organization’s marketing resources and signal weaknesses in the firm’s brand image or its competition position. However, it is worth noting that, high turnover does not necessarily depict that the company’s underlying products or services are at fault. Rather, it may be the negativity or

Analyzing Popular Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analyzing Popular Culture - Essay Example Although this trend was not suitable for occasions in the past, it has been taken up by stylish people and stars all over the world and has become trendy and â€Å"chic† in the year 2014 ("Farewell to Faux Fashion." 23). Unlike the thoughts of many, the thesis of this paper is that ripped jeans can look good in many different forms and different styles of dressing. The ripped jeans can be dressed up or down, in different styles as either short or long, or even oversize or skinny, but still maintain its goodness in the different styles. A great challenge comes in trying to maintain the comfort while at the same time aiming at portraying an effortlessly pulled together distressed jeans ("Fashion Trends; Ripped Jeans." n.d.). Ripped jeans are a style of denim jeans that features tears and ripped parts which may include the knees, thigh, elbow and many others. Some think of ripped jeans as a sign of overuse. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, glam metal artists and rock and roll punk artists had begun to appear on stage wearing ripped jeans, in an attempt to create a casual punk statement. A good example is the American Poison band for glam metal music back in the 1980s were known for their ripped jeans fashion. After that, the popularity of the ripped jeans began to increase until it attracted designers and teenage fans. In the past couple of years, we began to find ripped jeans in almost all the designer brands and stores. Those who wear ripped jeans were no longer considered shabby. They are instead considered chic and stylish. Even celebrities such as, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and Kendall Jenner who are popular musicians seem to love them, and wear them on a regular basis especially during stage performance s. Various controversies have existed about this kind of fashion. Some people have usually had a thought that ripped jeans has no place in the fashion. The

Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers

Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Health Food Drinks I. Problem definition 1.1 Background India, the worlds largest malt-based drinks market, accounts for 22% of the worlds retail volume sales. These drinks are traditionally consumed as milk substitutes and marketed as a nutritious drink, mainly consumed by the old, the young and the sick. The Health food drinks category consists of white drinks and brown drinks. South and East India are large markets for these drinks, accounting for the largest proportion of all India sales. The total market is placed at about 90,000 ton and is estimated to be growing at about 4%. These Malt beverages, though, are still an urban phenomenon. White drinks account for almost two-thirds of the market. GSK Consumer Healthcare is the market leader in the white malt beverages category with a 60.7% overall market share. Heinzs Complan comes in second (in this segment, third overall) with a market share of 12-13%. Market leader GSK also owns other brands such as Boost, Maltova and Viva. Currently, brown drinks (which are cocoa-based) continue to grow at the expense of white drinks like Horlicks and Complan. The share of brown drinks has increased from about 32% to 35% over the last five years. Cadburys Bournvita is the leader in the brown drink segment with a market share of around 15%. Other significant players are Nestlà ©s Milo and GCMMFs Nutramul. 1.2 Problem Statement The project had been undertaken with an objective to understand the customer behaviour in the â€Å"Health Food Drink (HFD)† product category. The objective of the study also included identifying the determinant purchase factors, the customer segments and the sources of information they rely on. The existing positioning of prominent brands and the perceptions among different segments were also covered under the study. The brand loyalty and switching were also studied. The brand personality was also studied as a part of the project. II. Literature review Nutrition In India After 4 years of age, a childs energy needs per kilogram of bodyweight are decreasing but the actual amount of energy (calories) required increases, as the child gets older. From 5 years to adolescence, there is a period of slow but steady growth. Dietary intakes of some children may be less than recommended for iron, calcium, vitamins A and D and vitamin C, although in most cases -as long as the energy and protein intakes are adequate and a variety of foods, including fruit and vegetables, are eaten- deficiencies are unlikely. Regular meals and healthy snacks that include carbohydrate -rich foods, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes and nuts should contribute to proper growth and development without supplying excessive energy to the diet. Children need to drink plenty of fluids, especially if it is hot or they are physically active. Water is obviously a good source of liquid and supplies fluid without calories. Variety is important in childrens diets and other sources of fluid such as milk and milk drinks, fruit juices can also be chosen to provide needed fluids. In India, each State is practically equivalent to a country with its specific socio-economic level, different ethnic groups, food habits, health infrastructures and communication facilities. Thus, the nutritional status of the population shows significant variation between states since it results from a varying combination of factors. In the last 20 years, there has been an improvement in the nutritional status of the Indian population. This improvement results from not only changes in food intake but also socio-economic factors, increased availability of potable water, lower morbidity and improvement of health facilities. In children under five years of age, the marked improvement in nutritional status is shown by the reduction of the prevalence of underweight from 63%, in the 1975-79 period to 53% in the 1988-90 period. The under-five mortality rate (U5MR), an important indicator of the socio-economic development, and health and nutritional status of a society, declined from 282% in 1962 to 115†° in 1994. However, a multitude of infectious diseases such as respiratory and intestinal infections as well as malaria remain the main cause of death in children under five, with malnutrition being an aggravating factor. Measles, tetanus, typhoid and hepatitis are also frequent causes of death during infancy and childhood. In the last 20 years, there have been no significant changes in patterns of dietary intake. Cereals remain the staple food in India providing most of the energy intake. Since the seventies the consumption of foods like pulses, roots and tubers has fallen, while those of other foods like sugar, jaggery (unrefined brown sugar), fats and oils and green leafy vegetables have slightly increased. The average Indian diet remains largely deficient in green leafy vegetables, meat, and fish, milk and milk products. Moreover, it also remains deficient in some micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine and iron. Adolescents who are undergoing rapid growth and development are one of the nutritionally vulnerable groups who have not received the attention they deserve. In under-nourished children rapid growth during adolescence may increase the severity of under-nutrition. Early marriage and pregnancy will perpetuate both maternal and child under-nutrition. At the other end of spectrum among the affluent segment of population, adolescent obesity is increasingly becoming a problem. Pre-school children constitute the most nutritionally vulnerable segment of the population and their nutritional status is considered to be a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition. Over the last two decades there has been some improvement in energy intake and substantial reduction in moderate and severe under- nutrition in pre- school children India has enormous under-nutrition and over-nutrition problems Asia has the largest number of malnourished children in the world. The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Asia was inspired by the massive challenge that this situation currently poses for Asia. It describes the main driving forces behind the groundswell of under-nutrition, while shedding light on the emerging double burden of co-existing underweight and overweight, and the linkages between these two different forms of malnutrition. There are two types of nutritional problems one is under-nutrition and another is over-nutrition. Emphasis should be given not only to food but also to care and health, the reason being that even if children in the age group of 0-2 years are able to get food, they may have mothers who do not have enough time to pay attention to their children. Similarly, if there is no health-guaranteeing environment, and children suffer from diarrhoeal diseases, no amount of food will help prevent malnutrition. Over-nutrition, on the other hand, means either too many calories or the wrong types of calories such as saturated fats or highly processed sugar that lead to obesity, vascular diseases, etc. Many developing countries have under-nutrition and those in Europe and North America have over- nutrition problems. There is this in-between category with countries like India that still have an enormous amount of under-nutrition and significant over-nutrition problems. In India, for instance, around 50 per cent of its children under the age of five are undernourished or malnourished. But in urban areas, the over-nutrition problem is shooting up, thanks to the change in lifestyle and food habits. As a result, health systems are under huge stress. When there is malnutrition, there is a higher level of lower birth rate. One in three babies born in India weigh significantly low because their mothers are undernourished. Some low-weight babies die and some survive and those who survive adapt to malnutrition and scarcity. That is, the biological adaptation is programmed to maximize every calorie the body gets. This adaptation that helped a malnourished baby survive suddenly turns out to be a mal-adaptation when the baby becomes an adult. The adult, who was malnourished in the past, gains extra weight even when he takes only normal amount of food because of the biological adaptation. Brand Loyalty Selling to brand loyal[1] customers is far less costly than converting new customers (Reichheld 1996, Rosenberg and Czepiel 1983)[i]. In addition, brand loyalty provides firms with tremendous competitive weapons. Brand loyal consumers are less price sensitive (Krishnamurthi and Raj 1991)[ii]. A strong consumer franchise gives manufacturers leverage with retailers (Aaker 1991) 1. And, loyalty reduces the sensitivity of consumers to marketplace offerings, which gives the firm time to respond to competitive moves (Aaker 1991) 1. In general, brand loyalty is a reflection of brand equity, which for many businesses is the largest single asset. Perhaps the most cited conceptual definition of brand loyalty comes from Jacoby and Chestnut (1978, p. 80)[iii]: â€Å"The biased, behavioral response, expressed over time, by some decision-making unit, with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands, and is a function of psychological (decision-making, evaluative) processes.† Consistent with this definition are two broad categories of operational definitions. The first stresses the â€Å"behavioral response, expressed over time†Ã¢â‚¬â€typically a series of purchases. As Day (1979) observed[iv], however, the major limitation of behavioral measures is the failure to identify motive and the resulting confusion between brand loyalty and other forms of repeat buying. The major alternative operational definition is based on consumer attitudes, preferences, and purchase intentions. These measures stress the cognitive â€Å"bias,† and the â€Å"psychological (decision-making evaluative) proc esses† underlying loyalty. Health Related Expenses KSA TECHNOPAK has conceived an innovative product called Health Outlook 2003, which provides strategic insights to consumer shopping and buying behavior. Apart from the consumer insights, complete health profiling is also done for providing derived disease incidence and prevalence in the country. This Pan Indian research model provides large research depths by covering about 10,000 households across cities like Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Calcutta, Patna, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Madurai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Surat. The rich respondent profile includes SEC A, B and C giving a good coverage for demographic types. Health Outlook shows that health enjoys about 9.4 per cent share of the wallet of Indian consumer and is on the rise for the last three years. This spend includes health supplements, health drinks, doctors and consultants fees, medicines, medical insurance, regular check ups etc. About 91 per cent of this was out-of-pocket expense and only 9 per cent came from employers and insurance. Analysis of the consumers drug purchase behaviour shows that 59 per cent use old prescriptions and 29 per cent use over-the-counter drugs, meaning 88 cent of the consumers indulged in self-medication. Consumer attitudes to health drinks are mainly influenced by quality attributes. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. The relationships between consumers awareness of health drink, price and perceived quality of food were investigated by tests involving series of consumer panels and sensory evaluation. Sensory responses were also matched to instrumental analysis data. Results indicated that overall there was no relation between panelists views about health drinks and their sensory perceptions. Eighty percent of the panelists felt that organic products were too expensive, but would buy them if they were cheaper. However the study showed that most of the people would not be likely to change their preference once they had made a product choice based upon sensory attributes. This has important implications, indicating that not only price, but also sensory quality of health drink must be considered in order to maintain repeated purchases by most consume rs. It is widely accepted that consumer acceptance of drinks is mainly determined by their sensory perception, while choice is strongly influenced by the perceived value for money. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Although comparisons between organic and conventional drinks have been reported for a range of attributes, measures of the quality of health drinks as perceived by consumers using objective sensory evaluation methods, or the relevance of any preconceptions in perception have not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of objective quality measurements including sensory attributes and consumer perception of organically and conventionally produced health drink products. About two thirds of the consumers that participated in the survey believed that health drink is good for the environment, and 55% thought that it is healthier. However there was some confusion relating to the use of pesticides and chemicals in that. Few consumers distinguished health drinks by appearance or taste. Buyers of health drinks were more likely to indicate that the appearance and taste are better, but environmental protection was still the dominant perceived benefit. Buyers who believe that health drink is better also think that it is expensive (p II. Approach to the problem Objective or theoretical framework The objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence a person into making a decision to buy a certain brand of malt-based health drink. As mentioned in the Literature Review, according to industry analysts, this category has grown only on promotions and for now, except for promotions, nothing seems to be working. Therefore, ideally, this research should be able to bring to the fore, certain other factors that could lead to a growth of this segment. At the very least, the research should corroborate the existing assumptions regarding the influencing factors. It should be in a position to verify that the steps various players are taking to stimulate volumes are in the right direction, and would eventually lead to an increase in market share. Research Questions I. What are the different â€Å"Customer Segments† depending upon the preferences? II. What is the perception of people towards the leading brands of Health Food Drinks? III. What are different factors that influence the customer when He/She buys a Health Food Drink? IV. Who are the major Influencers in the purchase decision of Health Food Drinks? Identification of information needed After fixing the objective, we started an extensive reading on the topic. The very first question we needed to clear in our mind was: â€Å"What does Health Food Drinks mean?† Therefore we narrowed down to the malt-based Health drinks like Bournvita and Horlicks. The subsequent readings helped us understand the consumer patterns and perceived needs of the consumers from a health drink. Depending upon that, we listed down several factors that can influence a consumer in buying or not buying a health drink. The study on â€Å"Consumer Behaviour† throws light on the prevalent consumer purchase influencers like Price, Nourishment, Palatability, and Packaging which are included in the purchase influence factors in the questionnaire The Literature on â€Å"Indian Nourishment† shows that the Indian consumer is getting more and more health conscious and thus there is huge potential for the health drinks in the Indian market. Nowadays there can be a number of sources that influence a family in buying a Health Drink. These sources can be promotions, Doctors Advice, Peer Group talks ( word of mouth) and choice of the children themselves. Since the malt-based health-drink segment is broadly divided into 2 categories brown (cocoa-based) and white, therefore it was decided to study the leading brands available in both these categories. We visited retail outlets in different parts of South Delhi to determine the most popular brands. We have assumed that brands that are most visible and widely available are the most popular, as retailers would stock only those brands that invoke maximum sales All identified factors were discussed and screened by the research team. In this process, factors that did not convey much, did not sound authentic or did not differ much from other factors were eliminated. III. Research Design The methodology followed for analyzing the consumer behavior of health food drink customers. 3.1 Preliminary Investigation This phase involved preliminary investigation of the various factors which could possibly affect the consumers perception about the various brands and in turn influence the purchase decisions of the consumer. We primarily used three methods to identify the various factors. The Secondary data gathered was analyzed to understand the current scenario of the Health drinks segment. The analysis of the secondary data also helped us find different attributes which affect the health drinks segment. 3.2 Collection of Quantitative data Measurement and Scaling Procedures: Non-Comparative Rating scale is used in which respondents evaluate only one object at a time, and for this reason noncomparative scales are often referred to as monadic scales. Noncomparative techniques consist of continuous and itemized rating scales. We have used continuous rating scale in order to rate the choices for purchase considerations and the sources of purchase decisions. Questionnaire Design: This phase involved the design of the questionnaire on the basis of the potential factors identified as influencing the customer behavior. Research problems were listed and then the information needed was identified. The questions were then prepared in order to fulfill the information requirements as identified earlier. Survey: Different Survey methods were used for collection of data. The principle method used was Personal Interviewing of the respondents. In-Home interviews were conducted by us at various locations in Delhi. We also did Mall Intercept at popular markets like Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar. Due to the shortage of time, we conducted a few telephonic interviews to maintain diversity in data. 3.3 Sampling Process Target Population: The target population is the collection of elements or objects that process the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made. Our target population involves the users, deciders and buyers of health food drinks. The users include the old and the young population. The deciders and the buyers mostly include the house wives who buy the product from the market. Sample Size: It denotes the number of elements to be included in the study. Due to time constraints the sample size chosen is very small. Sampling Technique: A mixture of quota and stratified method was used for sampling, with care being taken to get responses from customers of different age groups and different family sizes. iv. Fieldwork The survey was conducted keeping in mind the users and deciders of the health drinks. The survey was conducted in the Paschim Vihar and Ranibagh Areas of Delhi. We made several trips to the local market (Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar) and the nearby households to gather information from relevant people. V. Data Interpretation and Analysis 5.1 Data Analysis Plan This chapter shows how the information needed to answer the three key research questions have been extracted via the questionnaire. Q1 explicitly asked the respondents if a health drink is used in the family or by them. The questionnaire was not administered to the respondents that answered NO to this question. Such respondents have not been included in the sample size of 60 that has been mentioned. Q2 to Q6 of the questionnaire are used to get the general details about the respondent (age, educational qualification, annual income, family size and number of children in the family. Q4 explicitly asked the respondents about the size of the family and Q6 asked about the number of children in the respondents family. Q7 explicitly asks the brand preference of the respondent about the health drink. Q8 asks the respondents to rate the importance of the following purchase considerations on a scale of 1(Very unimportant) to 5 (Very Important): a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions These attributes were decided after a thorough secondary data analysis. However some of these attributes might have similar effect on the consumer preference. Therefore we conduct a factor analysis to find out the factors to which one or more of the above variables belong. Q9 asks the respondents to rate the Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision. The following sources were considered: a) Advertisement b) Children c) Doctor d) Family e) Past experience f) Retailer g) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. Q10 ask the respondents to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: a) Boost b) Bournvita c) Complan d) Horlicks e) Milo Q11 and Q12 are used to determine the brand loyalty of the respondent towards the health drink, thus asking the switching pattern of the users. Q13 in the Questionnaire attempts to find the Brand Personality by asking customers the perceived traits of each of the leading brands of health drinks available in the market today. It is very important to realize that these are not the attributes that the drink claims to possess, via its advertisements and other promotional activities. For e.g. Boost in its campaign claims that â€Å"Boost is the secret of my energy†, but rather the attributes the customer feels that the drink possesses. Therefore, if respondents identify spiritedness with Boost it would imply that Boost is successful in its marketing strategy. The responses to this question would also be important to other players in this segment, as they would realize that their promotions are not being effective and hence this would encourage them to redirect their marketing efforts. Apart from spiritedness, the other important traits have been identified as Modesty, Honesty, Cheerfulness, Boldness, Spiritedness, Reliabil ity, Sophistication, Toughness, and Ruggedness. 5.2 Methodology Questionnaire Checking/Editing: The questionnaire is checked for completion and interviewing quality. Editing is the review of the questionnaire with the objective of increasing accuracy and precision. Collation of Data: The data is collated in the excel sheet and prepared for statistical analysis. An SPSS view of the data was also taken for further analysis. Choice of Statistical Analysis Techniques: T-statistic: A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors or sources of information to find out the most important influencing the purchasing decision. T-test was also conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. Anova: It is carried to study the variance of the factors or product attributes that influence the most among the various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. Factor Analysis: The various variables that denote the product attributes that determine the purchasing decision can be actually factored using factor analysis. This factoring of the variables helps in easily studying the consumer behaviour. Cluster Analysis: The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc using cluster analysis so as to identify the distinct clusters depending upon these demographic factors. Multi Dimensional Scaling: This analysis was performed on the overall samples as well as on the 2 segments individually so as to gauge the difference in their perceptions. The selection process depends on the fact that it is conducted on the aggregate level data, i.e. that on the two clusters formed after cluster analysis. This is due to the fact that all market strategies are typically formulated at the segment or aggregate level. 5.3 Analysis and Interpretation Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision h) Advertisement i) Children j) Doctor k) Family l) Past experience m) Retailer n) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors. The results of the test are as shown in the Exhibit 1. We can say from the results that there is a significant difference between the ranks of the factors with a 95% confidence. The two most important factors that emerge out of the tests overall are the â€Å"Family doctor† and the influence of the â€Å"Family†. This finding is an important implication for product placement. We can say that the health food drinks should appeal to the complete family rather than only a particular age group. Doctors can also be an important influencer or opinion leader and hence should be targeted in the product promotions. Some products have been promoting their products using comparative advertisements including testifications by the doctors. A second test can be conducted in the same manner taking only the cases where the people are having kids in the family. The results are shown in the Exhibit 2. We observe that the two most important factors differ from the first scenario. The two most important factors that emerge out of the test are â€Å"Family Doctor† and â€Å"Advertisement†. Thus it can be concluded that advertisements have an important influence on the families having kids or in turn the kids. This can be easily observed from the large number of advertisements directed towards the well being of kids. Product Attributes Influencing the Purchase Decision The following product attributes were identified as influencing the purchase decisions of the customers: a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions The respondents were asked to score the importance of the factors on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. A t-test was conducted on the scores of the factors in order to find the most important factors. The t-test shows there is a significant difference between the scores of the various factors with a 95% confidence. The results of the test are shown in Exhibit 3. We observe from the results that the two most important product attributes in making a purchase decision are the â€Å"Palatability† and the â€Å"Nourishment† perception in the minds of the customers. These factors turn out to be the same irrespective of whether there are children in the family or not. We then study the variance of these factors among various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. We studied the variance of the mean scores of these attributes among the various groups differentiated by the following factors:- a) Income b) Education c) Age d) Family size The results of the Anova tests which were conducted on the data are as shown in the Exhibits 4-7. We observe that there are no significant differences in the scores of the product attributes in different groups as classified by â€Å"Income†, â€Å"Education† and â€Å"Family size† within a 95% confidence interval. However there is a significant different on the â€Å"Nourishment† and â€Å"Economy† product attributes of health food drinks. As is observed from the mean scores, the â€Å"Nourishment† aspect becomes particularly important for people above the age of 60. It is also important for people who are young in age i.e. less than 20. However it does not seem to be very significant for people in the age group 33- 45. The factor analysis of these attributes is done in the following section. Factor Analysis of Purchase Considerations The factor analysis of the 8 product attributes yields the following 3 factors: Factor I: Promotion, Shelf-Presence, Packaging Economy Factor II: Palatability, Brand Factor III: Nourishment, Colour (For the output of factor analysis, refer to exhibit 8.) As factor I encompass the accessibility and affordability of the product, it can be termed as ‘Purchase Feasibility. As factor II encompass the palatability and brand value of the product, it can be termed as ‘Likeability. As factor III encompass the nutritional value and colour, an indicator of quality, of the product, it can be termed as ‘Utility. Customer Segmentation The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc. The cluster analysis on these demographic variables yields the following 2 clusters: * Cluster 1: The members are almost uniformly distributed across all age segments except under-20 in which no member lies. However, the family size is large than 3 for all the members and a majority of members having 1-2 child in the family. The cluster size is 27 respondents. * Cluster 2: All the members in this cluster are less than the age of 32 yrs, with the majority being less than 20 yrs. Around 90% of the members were either single or couple thus suggesting that the members were either students, or bachelor/newly-married young working professionals. The cluster size is 30 respondents. * As the consumption in cluster 2 would be lower than the large families comprising kids older persons because of less health concerns and preference for alternative beverages, the price sensitivity of cluster 2 would be low while cluster 1 is concerned about economy. (For output of cluster analysis, refer to Exhibit 9). Thus, cluster 1 could be termed as ‘value-seekers while cluster 2 could be termed as ‘quality-seekers. Different Brands on Product Attributes Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: f) Boost g) Bournvita h) Complan i) Horlicks j) Milo The respondents were asked to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. T-test was conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. The results have been shown in Exhibit 11. The number of respondents who were consuming the various brands is as shown in the pie chart. As we can observe from the graph, Bournvita is found to be the leading brand closely followed by Horlicks, while the other brands do not have a large taking from our survey. The results of the various brands on different attributes are as follows: a) Nourishment: Horlicks scores well above all the b Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Understanding Health Food Drink Consumers Health Food Drinks I. Problem definition 1.1 Background India, the worlds largest malt-based drinks market, accounts for 22% of the worlds retail volume sales. These drinks are traditionally consumed as milk substitutes and marketed as a nutritious drink, mainly consumed by the old, the young and the sick. The Health food drinks category consists of white drinks and brown drinks. South and East India are large markets for these drinks, accounting for the largest proportion of all India sales. The total market is placed at about 90,000 ton and is estimated to be growing at about 4%. These Malt beverages, though, are still an urban phenomenon. White drinks account for almost two-thirds of the market. GSK Consumer Healthcare is the market leader in the white malt beverages category with a 60.7% overall market share. Heinzs Complan comes in second (in this segment, third overall) with a market share of 12-13%. Market leader GSK also owns other brands such as Boost, Maltova and Viva. Currently, brown drinks (which are cocoa-based) continue to grow at the expense of white drinks like Horlicks and Complan. The share of brown drinks has increased from about 32% to 35% over the last five years. Cadburys Bournvita is the leader in the brown drink segment with a market share of around 15%. Other significant players are Nestlà ©s Milo and GCMMFs Nutramul. 1.2 Problem Statement The project had been undertaken with an objective to understand the customer behaviour in the â€Å"Health Food Drink (HFD)† product category. The objective of the study also included identifying the determinant purchase factors, the customer segments and the sources of information they rely on. The existing positioning of prominent brands and the perceptions among different segments were also covered under the study. The brand loyalty and switching were also studied. The brand personality was also studied as a part of the project. II. Literature review Nutrition In India After 4 years of age, a childs energy needs per kilogram of bodyweight are decreasing but the actual amount of energy (calories) required increases, as the child gets older. From 5 years to adolescence, there is a period of slow but steady growth. Dietary intakes of some children may be less than recommended for iron, calcium, vitamins A and D and vitamin C, although in most cases -as long as the energy and protein intakes are adequate and a variety of foods, including fruit and vegetables, are eaten- deficiencies are unlikely. Regular meals and healthy snacks that include carbohydrate -rich foods, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes and nuts should contribute to proper growth and development without supplying excessive energy to the diet. Children need to drink plenty of fluids, especially if it is hot or they are physically active. Water is obviously a good source of liquid and supplies fluid without calories. Variety is important in childrens diets and other sources of fluid such as milk and milk drinks, fruit juices can also be chosen to provide needed fluids. In India, each State is practically equivalent to a country with its specific socio-economic level, different ethnic groups, food habits, health infrastructures and communication facilities. Thus, the nutritional status of the population shows significant variation between states since it results from a varying combination of factors. In the last 20 years, there has been an improvement in the nutritional status of the Indian population. This improvement results from not only changes in food intake but also socio-economic factors, increased availability of potable water, lower morbidity and improvement of health facilities. In children under five years of age, the marked improvement in nutritional status is shown by the reduction of the prevalence of underweight from 63%, in the 1975-79 period to 53% in the 1988-90 period. The under-five mortality rate (U5MR), an important indicator of the socio-economic development, and health and nutritional status of a society, declined from 282% in 1962 to 115†° in 1994. However, a multitude of infectious diseases such as respiratory and intestinal infections as well as malaria remain the main cause of death in children under five, with malnutrition being an aggravating factor. Measles, tetanus, typhoid and hepatitis are also frequent causes of death during infancy and childhood. In the last 20 years, there have been no significant changes in patterns of dietary intake. Cereals remain the staple food in India providing most of the energy intake. Since the seventies the consumption of foods like pulses, roots and tubers has fallen, while those of other foods like sugar, jaggery (unrefined brown sugar), fats and oils and green leafy vegetables have slightly increased. The average Indian diet remains largely deficient in green leafy vegetables, meat, and fish, milk and milk products. Moreover, it also remains deficient in some micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine and iron. Adolescents who are undergoing rapid growth and development are one of the nutritionally vulnerable groups who have not received the attention they deserve. In under-nourished children rapid growth during adolescence may increase the severity of under-nutrition. Early marriage and pregnancy will perpetuate both maternal and child under-nutrition. At the other end of spectrum among the affluent segment of population, adolescent obesity is increasingly becoming a problem. Pre-school children constitute the most nutritionally vulnerable segment of the population and their nutritional status is considered to be a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition. Over the last two decades there has been some improvement in energy intake and substantial reduction in moderate and severe under- nutrition in pre- school children India has enormous under-nutrition and over-nutrition problems Asia has the largest number of malnourished children in the world. The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Asia was inspired by the massive challenge that this situation currently poses for Asia. It describes the main driving forces behind the groundswell of under-nutrition, while shedding light on the emerging double burden of co-existing underweight and overweight, and the linkages between these two different forms of malnutrition. There are two types of nutritional problems one is under-nutrition and another is over-nutrition. Emphasis should be given not only to food but also to care and health, the reason being that even if children in the age group of 0-2 years are able to get food, they may have mothers who do not have enough time to pay attention to their children. Similarly, if there is no health-guaranteeing environment, and children suffer from diarrhoeal diseases, no amount of food will help prevent malnutrition. Over-nutrition, on the other hand, means either too many calories or the wrong types of calories such as saturated fats or highly processed sugar that lead to obesity, vascular diseases, etc. Many developing countries have under-nutrition and those in Europe and North America have over- nutrition problems. There is this in-between category with countries like India that still have an enormous amount of under-nutrition and significant over-nutrition problems. In India, for instance, around 50 per cent of its children under the age of five are undernourished or malnourished. But in urban areas, the over-nutrition problem is shooting up, thanks to the change in lifestyle and food habits. As a result, health systems are under huge stress. When there is malnutrition, there is a higher level of lower birth rate. One in three babies born in India weigh significantly low because their mothers are undernourished. Some low-weight babies die and some survive and those who survive adapt to malnutrition and scarcity. That is, the biological adaptation is programmed to maximize every calorie the body gets. This adaptation that helped a malnourished baby survive suddenly turns out to be a mal-adaptation when the baby becomes an adult. The adult, who was malnourished in the past, gains extra weight even when he takes only normal amount of food because of the biological adaptation. Brand Loyalty Selling to brand loyal[1] customers is far less costly than converting new customers (Reichheld 1996, Rosenberg and Czepiel 1983)[i]. In addition, brand loyalty provides firms with tremendous competitive weapons. Brand loyal consumers are less price sensitive (Krishnamurthi and Raj 1991)[ii]. A strong consumer franchise gives manufacturers leverage with retailers (Aaker 1991) 1. And, loyalty reduces the sensitivity of consumers to marketplace offerings, which gives the firm time to respond to competitive moves (Aaker 1991) 1. In general, brand loyalty is a reflection of brand equity, which for many businesses is the largest single asset. Perhaps the most cited conceptual definition of brand loyalty comes from Jacoby and Chestnut (1978, p. 80)[iii]: â€Å"The biased, behavioral response, expressed over time, by some decision-making unit, with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands, and is a function of psychological (decision-making, evaluative) processes.† Consistent with this definition are two broad categories of operational definitions. The first stresses the â€Å"behavioral response, expressed over time†Ã¢â‚¬â€typically a series of purchases. As Day (1979) observed[iv], however, the major limitation of behavioral measures is the failure to identify motive and the resulting confusion between brand loyalty and other forms of repeat buying. The major alternative operational definition is based on consumer attitudes, preferences, and purchase intentions. These measures stress the cognitive â€Å"bias,† and the â€Å"psychological (decision-making evaluative) proc esses† underlying loyalty. Health Related Expenses KSA TECHNOPAK has conceived an innovative product called Health Outlook 2003, which provides strategic insights to consumer shopping and buying behavior. Apart from the consumer insights, complete health profiling is also done for providing derived disease incidence and prevalence in the country. This Pan Indian research model provides large research depths by covering about 10,000 households across cities like Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Calcutta, Patna, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Madurai, Ahmedabad, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Surat. The rich respondent profile includes SEC A, B and C giving a good coverage for demographic types. Health Outlook shows that health enjoys about 9.4 per cent share of the wallet of Indian consumer and is on the rise for the last three years. This spend includes health supplements, health drinks, doctors and consultants fees, medicines, medical insurance, regular check ups etc. About 91 per cent of this was out-of-pocket expense and only 9 per cent came from employers and insurance. Analysis of the consumers drug purchase behaviour shows that 59 per cent use old prescriptions and 29 per cent use over-the-counter drugs, meaning 88 cent of the consumers indulged in self-medication. Consumer attitudes to health drinks are mainly influenced by quality attributes. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. The relationships between consumers awareness of health drink, price and perceived quality of food were investigated by tests involving series of consumer panels and sensory evaluation. Sensory responses were also matched to instrumental analysis data. Results indicated that overall there was no relation between panelists views about health drinks and their sensory perceptions. Eighty percent of the panelists felt that organic products were too expensive, but would buy them if they were cheaper. However the study showed that most of the people would not be likely to change their preference once they had made a product choice based upon sensory attributes. This has important implications, indicating that not only price, but also sensory quality of health drink must be considered in order to maintain repeated purchases by most consume rs. It is widely accepted that consumer acceptance of drinks is mainly determined by their sensory perception, while choice is strongly influenced by the perceived value for money. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Although comparisons between organic and conventional drinks have been reported for a range of attributes, measures of the quality of health drinks as perceived by consumers using objective sensory evaluation methods, or the relevance of any preconceptions in perception have not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of objective quality measurements including sensory attributes and consumer perception of organically and conventionally produced health drink products. About two thirds of the consumers that participated in the survey believed that health drink is good for the environment, and 55% thought that it is healthier. However there was some confusion relating to the use of pesticides and chemicals in that. Few consumers distinguished health drinks by appearance or taste. Buyers of health drinks were more likely to indicate that the appearance and taste are better, but environmental protection was still the dominant perceived benefit. Buyers who believe that health drink is better also think that it is expensive (p II. Approach to the problem Objective or theoretical framework The objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence a person into making a decision to buy a certain brand of malt-based health drink. As mentioned in the Literature Review, according to industry analysts, this category has grown only on promotions and for now, except for promotions, nothing seems to be working. Therefore, ideally, this research should be able to bring to the fore, certain other factors that could lead to a growth of this segment. At the very least, the research should corroborate the existing assumptions regarding the influencing factors. It should be in a position to verify that the steps various players are taking to stimulate volumes are in the right direction, and would eventually lead to an increase in market share. Research Questions I. What are the different â€Å"Customer Segments† depending upon the preferences? II. What is the perception of people towards the leading brands of Health Food Drinks? III. What are different factors that influence the customer when He/She buys a Health Food Drink? IV. Who are the major Influencers in the purchase decision of Health Food Drinks? Identification of information needed After fixing the objective, we started an extensive reading on the topic. The very first question we needed to clear in our mind was: â€Å"What does Health Food Drinks mean?† Therefore we narrowed down to the malt-based Health drinks like Bournvita and Horlicks. The subsequent readings helped us understand the consumer patterns and perceived needs of the consumers from a health drink. Depending upon that, we listed down several factors that can influence a consumer in buying or not buying a health drink. The study on â€Å"Consumer Behaviour† throws light on the prevalent consumer purchase influencers like Price, Nourishment, Palatability, and Packaging which are included in the purchase influence factors in the questionnaire The Literature on â€Å"Indian Nourishment† shows that the Indian consumer is getting more and more health conscious and thus there is huge potential for the health drinks in the Indian market. Nowadays there can be a number of sources that influence a family in buying a Health Drink. These sources can be promotions, Doctors Advice, Peer Group talks ( word of mouth) and choice of the children themselves. Since the malt-based health-drink segment is broadly divided into 2 categories brown (cocoa-based) and white, therefore it was decided to study the leading brands available in both these categories. We visited retail outlets in different parts of South Delhi to determine the most popular brands. We have assumed that brands that are most visible and widely available are the most popular, as retailers would stock only those brands that invoke maximum sales All identified factors were discussed and screened by the research team. In this process, factors that did not convey much, did not sound authentic or did not differ much from other factors were eliminated. III. Research Design The methodology followed for analyzing the consumer behavior of health food drink customers. 3.1 Preliminary Investigation This phase involved preliminary investigation of the various factors which could possibly affect the consumers perception about the various brands and in turn influence the purchase decisions of the consumer. We primarily used three methods to identify the various factors. The Secondary data gathered was analyzed to understand the current scenario of the Health drinks segment. The analysis of the secondary data also helped us find different attributes which affect the health drinks segment. 3.2 Collection of Quantitative data Measurement and Scaling Procedures: Non-Comparative Rating scale is used in which respondents evaluate only one object at a time, and for this reason noncomparative scales are often referred to as monadic scales. Noncomparative techniques consist of continuous and itemized rating scales. We have used continuous rating scale in order to rate the choices for purchase considerations and the sources of purchase decisions. Questionnaire Design: This phase involved the design of the questionnaire on the basis of the potential factors identified as influencing the customer behavior. Research problems were listed and then the information needed was identified. The questions were then prepared in order to fulfill the information requirements as identified earlier. Survey: Different Survey methods were used for collection of data. The principle method used was Personal Interviewing of the respondents. In-Home interviews were conducted by us at various locations in Delhi. We also did Mall Intercept at popular markets like Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar. Due to the shortage of time, we conducted a few telephonic interviews to maintain diversity in data. 3.3 Sampling Process Target Population: The target population is the collection of elements or objects that process the information sought by the researcher and about which inferences are to be made. Our target population involves the users, deciders and buyers of health food drinks. The users include the old and the young population. The deciders and the buyers mostly include the house wives who buy the product from the market. Sample Size: It denotes the number of elements to be included in the study. Due to time constraints the sample size chosen is very small. Sampling Technique: A mixture of quota and stratified method was used for sampling, with care being taken to get responses from customers of different age groups and different family sizes. iv. Fieldwork The survey was conducted keeping in mind the users and deciders of the health drinks. The survey was conducted in the Paschim Vihar and Ranibagh Areas of Delhi. We made several trips to the local market (Sarojini Nagar and Malviya Nagar) and the nearby households to gather information from relevant people. V. Data Interpretation and Analysis 5.1 Data Analysis Plan This chapter shows how the information needed to answer the three key research questions have been extracted via the questionnaire. Q1 explicitly asked the respondents if a health drink is used in the family or by them. The questionnaire was not administered to the respondents that answered NO to this question. Such respondents have not been included in the sample size of 60 that has been mentioned. Q2 to Q6 of the questionnaire are used to get the general details about the respondent (age, educational qualification, annual income, family size and number of children in the family. Q4 explicitly asked the respondents about the size of the family and Q6 asked about the number of children in the respondents family. Q7 explicitly asks the brand preference of the respondent about the health drink. Q8 asks the respondents to rate the importance of the following purchase considerations on a scale of 1(Very unimportant) to 5 (Very Important): a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions These attributes were decided after a thorough secondary data analysis. However some of these attributes might have similar effect on the consumer preference. Therefore we conduct a factor analysis to find out the factors to which one or more of the above variables belong. Q9 asks the respondents to rate the Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision. The following sources were considered: a) Advertisement b) Children c) Doctor d) Family e) Past experience f) Retailer g) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. Q10 ask the respondents to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: a) Boost b) Bournvita c) Complan d) Horlicks e) Milo Q11 and Q12 are used to determine the brand loyalty of the respondent towards the health drink, thus asking the switching pattern of the users. Q13 in the Questionnaire attempts to find the Brand Personality by asking customers the perceived traits of each of the leading brands of health drinks available in the market today. It is very important to realize that these are not the attributes that the drink claims to possess, via its advertisements and other promotional activities. For e.g. Boost in its campaign claims that â€Å"Boost is the secret of my energy†, but rather the attributes the customer feels that the drink possesses. Therefore, if respondents identify spiritedness with Boost it would imply that Boost is successful in its marketing strategy. The responses to this question would also be important to other players in this segment, as they would realize that their promotions are not being effective and hence this would encourage them to redirect their marketing efforts. Apart from spiritedness, the other important traits have been identified as Modesty, Honesty, Cheerfulness, Boldness, Spiritedness, Reliabil ity, Sophistication, Toughness, and Ruggedness. 5.2 Methodology Questionnaire Checking/Editing: The questionnaire is checked for completion and interviewing quality. Editing is the review of the questionnaire with the objective of increasing accuracy and precision. Collation of Data: The data is collated in the excel sheet and prepared for statistical analysis. An SPSS view of the data was also taken for further analysis. Choice of Statistical Analysis Techniques: T-statistic: A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors or sources of information to find out the most important influencing the purchasing decision. T-test was also conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. Anova: It is carried to study the variance of the factors or product attributes that influence the most among the various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. Factor Analysis: The various variables that denote the product attributes that determine the purchasing decision can be actually factored using factor analysis. This factoring of the variables helps in easily studying the consumer behaviour. Cluster Analysis: The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc using cluster analysis so as to identify the distinct clusters depending upon these demographic factors. Multi Dimensional Scaling: This analysis was performed on the overall samples as well as on the 2 segments individually so as to gauge the difference in their perceptions. The selection process depends on the fact that it is conducted on the aggregate level data, i.e. that on the two clusters formed after cluster analysis. This is due to the fact that all market strategies are typically formulated at the segment or aggregate level. 5.3 Analysis and Interpretation Sources of Information influencing the Purchase Decision h) Advertisement i) Children j) Doctor k) Family l) Past experience m) Retailer n) Word of mouth The respondents were asked to rank the factors in order of importance. A t-test was conducted on the results of the survey in order to compare the means of the ranks for the factors. The results of the test are as shown in the Exhibit 1. We can say from the results that there is a significant difference between the ranks of the factors with a 95% confidence. The two most important factors that emerge out of the tests overall are the â€Å"Family doctor† and the influence of the â€Å"Family†. This finding is an important implication for product placement. We can say that the health food drinks should appeal to the complete family rather than only a particular age group. Doctors can also be an important influencer or opinion leader and hence should be targeted in the product promotions. Some products have been promoting their products using comparative advertisements including testifications by the doctors. A second test can be conducted in the same manner taking only the cases where the people are having kids in the family. The results are shown in the Exhibit 2. We observe that the two most important factors differ from the first scenario. The two most important factors that emerge out of the test are â€Å"Family Doctor† and â€Å"Advertisement†. Thus it can be concluded that advertisements have an important influence on the families having kids or in turn the kids. This can be easily observed from the large number of advertisements directed towards the well being of kids. Product Attributes Influencing the Purchase Decision The following product attributes were identified as influencing the purchase decisions of the customers: a) Nourishment b) Colour c) Palatability d) Economy e) Shelf-presence f) Packaging g) Brand Image h) Promotions The respondents were asked to score the importance of the factors on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. A t-test was conducted on the scores of the factors in order to find the most important factors. The t-test shows there is a significant difference between the scores of the various factors with a 95% confidence. The results of the test are shown in Exhibit 3. We observe from the results that the two most important product attributes in making a purchase decision are the â€Å"Palatability† and the â€Å"Nourishment† perception in the minds of the customers. These factors turn out to be the same irrespective of whether there are children in the family or not. We then study the variance of these factors among various demographic groups by conducting the one way Anova test on the scores of these 8 factors. We studied the variance of the mean scores of these attributes among the various groups differentiated by the following factors:- a) Income b) Education c) Age d) Family size The results of the Anova tests which were conducted on the data are as shown in the Exhibits 4-7. We observe that there are no significant differences in the scores of the product attributes in different groups as classified by â€Å"Income†, â€Å"Education† and â€Å"Family size† within a 95% confidence interval. However there is a significant different on the â€Å"Nourishment† and â€Å"Economy† product attributes of health food drinks. As is observed from the mean scores, the â€Å"Nourishment† aspect becomes particularly important for people above the age of 60. It is also important for people who are young in age i.e. less than 20. However it does not seem to be very significant for people in the age group 33- 45. The factor analysis of these attributes is done in the following section. Factor Analysis of Purchase Considerations The factor analysis of the 8 product attributes yields the following 3 factors: Factor I: Promotion, Shelf-Presence, Packaging Economy Factor II: Palatability, Brand Factor III: Nourishment, Colour (For the output of factor analysis, refer to exhibit 8.) As factor I encompass the accessibility and affordability of the product, it can be termed as ‘Purchase Feasibility. As factor II encompass the palatability and brand value of the product, it can be termed as ‘Likeability. As factor III encompass the nutritional value and colour, an indicator of quality, of the product, it can be termed as ‘Utility. Customer Segmentation The set of respondents was segmented on the basis of the demographic information namely ‘age-group, ‘income-group, ‘education, ‘family size etc. The cluster analysis on these demographic variables yields the following 2 clusters: * Cluster 1: The members are almost uniformly distributed across all age segments except under-20 in which no member lies. However, the family size is large than 3 for all the members and a majority of members having 1-2 child in the family. The cluster size is 27 respondents. * Cluster 2: All the members in this cluster are less than the age of 32 yrs, with the majority being less than 20 yrs. Around 90% of the members were either single or couple thus suggesting that the members were either students, or bachelor/newly-married young working professionals. The cluster size is 30 respondents. * As the consumption in cluster 2 would be lower than the large families comprising kids older persons because of less health concerns and preference for alternative beverages, the price sensitivity of cluster 2 would be low while cluster 1 is concerned about economy. (For output of cluster analysis, refer to Exhibit 9). Thus, cluster 1 could be termed as ‘value-seekers while cluster 2 could be termed as ‘quality-seekers. Different Brands on Product Attributes Five major selling brands were tested on the various product attributes mentioned. The brands included in the test were: f) Boost g) Bournvita h) Complan i) Horlicks j) Milo The respondents were asked to score each of the brands on the various product attributes on a scale of 1 5. T-test was conducted on the various product attributes for different brands. The results have been shown in Exhibit 11. The number of respondents who were consuming the various brands is as shown in the pie chart. As we can observe from the graph, Bournvita is found to be the leading brand closely followed by Horlicks, while the other brands do not have a large taking from our survey. The results of the various brands on different attributes are as follows: a) Nourishment: Horlicks scores well above all the b

Essay --

The year was 1915, Carter G. Woodson had recently traveled from Washington D.C to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of emancipation. This gave him and thousands of other African Americans the ability to appreciate displays highlighting the progress African Americans had made since the abolishment of slavery. This occasion inspired Woodson and four others to form the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now Association for the Study of African American Life and History or ASALH). This organization’s purpose was to recognize and promote the accomplishments and history of African Americans that often went unnoticed. In 1916, Woodson created The Journal of Negro History in hopes that it would familiarize people with the findings and achievements of African Americans. But Woodson wanted more; he wanted all people to celebrate and be aware of the great things African Americans had and were accomplishing. He wanted both whites and blacks to have strong, positive affi liations. Woodson decided the best way to accomplish these things was to create Negro Achievement Week. Negro Achievement week was placed in February in order to commemorate the birthdays of two men who helped pave the way for African Americans: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas. Both of these men’s birthdays were already being celebrated in black communities, thus increasing the possibility of success for Negro Achievement Week. But Woodson didn’t want this celebration to just be about these two men; however great, neither one of them single-handedly abolished slavery. Rather, Woodson wanted Negro Achievement to celebrate and appreciate the great accomplishments and history of the whole entire African race. Woodson’s Negro Achievement Week received a lo... ...ca in African American college students helped lead to the formation of Black History Month. The increase of younger activists allowed the ASALH to cultivate into a more modern association. Fifty years after the first celebration, the ASALH was able to develop the week long celebration of Negro Achievement Week into Black History Month. Every president since 1976 has made some sort of endorsement of Black History Month. No one can quite say how Woodson would feel about about the way black history is commemorated today. One thing we do know is that America has come along way since the ASALH was first created in 1915. People appreciate and recognize the history and achievement of African Americans significantly more than they did one hundred years ago. It can be assumed that that would make Woodson proud of just how far Negro Achievement Week and the ASALH have come.

Advocacy Campaign for Child Welfare

CHAPTER ONE SITUATION ANALYIS To be able to come up with a good child welfare advocacy, the group assessed the external and internal situation. This chapter evaluates the situations and trends in a particular advocacy. It provides the information needed for planning. Background of Child Welfare Child welfare is a government- run service for protecting children and young people who are underage which are still vulnerable to abuses like commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labor, and harmful traditional practice.It is estimated that in our country, about 100,000 children die each year from preventable diseases, more than 2 million school age children are not studying, there were also upwards of 2 million working children and that street children number about 200,000 in 57 cities. UNICEF figures out the number of sexually prostituted children at around 60,000. There are many organizations here in the Philippines that promote child welfare that has one common goal which is to help many children, especially children who are homeless and had been abandoned by their love ones.According to Presidential Decree No. 663 dated December 10, 1974 regarding the Child and Youth Welfare Code Art. 3. Right of the Child clearly states that: All children shall be entitled to the rights herein set forth without distinction as to legitimacy or illegitimacy, sex, social status, religion, political, antecedents, and other factors. (1) Every child is endowed with the dignity and worth of a human being from the moment of his conception, as generally accepted in medical parlance, and has, therefore, the right to be born well. 2) Every child has the right to a wholesome family life that will provide him with love, care and understanding, guidance and counseling, and moral and material security. The dependent or abandoned child shall be provided with the nearest substitute for a home. (3) Every child has the right to a well-rounded development of his personality to the end th at he may become a happy, useful and active member of society. The gifted child shall be given opportunity and encouragement to develop his special talents.The emotionally disturbed or socially maladjusted child shall be treated with sympathy and understanding, and shall be entitled to treatment and competent care. The physically or mentally handicapped child shall be given the treatment, education and care required by his particular condition. (4) Every child has the right to a balanced diet, adequate clothing, sufficient shelter, proper medical attention, and all the basic physical requirements of a healthy and vigorous life. 5) Every child has the right to be brought up in an atmosphere of morality and rectitude for the enrichment and the strengthening of his character. (6) Every child has the right to an education commensurate with his abilities and to the development of his skills for the improvement of his capacity for service to himself and to his fellowmen. (7) Every child h as the right to full opportunities for safe and wholesome recreation and activities, individual as well as social, for the wholesome use of his leisure hours. 8) Every child has the right to protection against exploitation, improper influences,   hazards, and other conditions or circumstances prejudicial to his physical, mental, emotional, social and moral development. (9) Every child has the right to live in a community and a society that can offer him an environment free from pernicious influences and conducive to the promotion of his health and the cultivation of his desirable traits and attributes. (10) Every child has the right to the care, assistance, and protection of the State, particularly when his parents or guardians fail or are unable to rovide him with his fundamental needs for growth, development, and improvement. (11) Every child has the right to an efficient and honest government that will deepen his faith in democracy and inspire him with the morality of the const ituted authorities both in their public and private lives. (12) Every child has the right to grow up as a free individual, in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, tolerance, and universal brotherhood, and with the determination to contribute his share in the building of a better world.The Helping Juans group would like to market our advocacy and also to contribute in giving awareness to everyone about child welfare especially the parents simply because we would like to educate them regarding concerns about the welfare of each and every one’s children, meaning, we love our children and they should be provided with all the support, either physically, financially, emotionally, spiritually, and morally.Every child has their own rights and every one of them need to be treated in a right way. But the child welfare in the Philippines is not given that much attention because the kind of governance we have now is corrupt and cannot be dependable all the times because of countless pr oblems that our country is facing and it is sad to say that number of street children are increasing.But if our government will just make up for all their mistakes and give more attention to our real problems especially the lack of funds on every department including DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), it would be a great relief to everybody especially those children who are in an orphan who had been abandoned and just relying to their orphanage. CHAPTER TWO ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN Christmas for Little Juans is an advocacy campaign introduced by Helping Juans, a group composed of nine members from MA101.We made this group for us to help abandoned children even with just simple things, like feeding them, giving them gifts and showing them love especially to this kind of season. These children are often working in very difficult circumstances without enough food to eat and decent place to sleep. The street is their only home. Our advocacy campaign is to raise awareness abou t these children. We want them to be recognized and at the same time to be cared and sheltered. It is our organization's ultimate goal in raising awareness about these kids and also in gathering support for the welfare and benefit of street children in Manila.We are volunteer based and believe that the money our donors give should be used wisely and efficiently as possible. The target participants for our advocacy campaign were the Asia Pacific College community particularly the students of APC. But that doesn’t mean that the campaign is limited only to these people, but instead, they are just mainly the market. APCians, together with the faculty and staff, were encouraged to join to help the group gain funds for their advocacy campaign and help their beneficiary foundation.These participants didn’t regret helping the campaign but instead touched their hearts and realized how important helping the needy people is. The group did not just help others but also helped them selves because by helping other people to the best of their ability, they automatically helped themselves. Helping Juans believed that it is their group’s as well as the entire mankind's obligation to make sure these kids get proper place to live, proper education and proper treatment, so that they can appreciate their lives and look towards the brighter side and maybe, someday they can also make an impact in this world.CHAPTER THREE PARTNER ORGANIZATION The My Father’s House (MFH) is a licensed, nonprofit child caring organization serving the abandoned, neglected and orphaned children. This organization aims to introduce each child to Jesus Christ with the hope that they come to know Him as Lord and Saviour of their lives through the promotion of discipline and obedience under God’s love and principle, provide programs and services to develop self sufficiency and independency, place children in loving stable Christian homes for their protection and security, an d implement holistic programs that will empower children and youth.The organization has a total of 64 students, 10 of which are youth scholar under the Independent Living Program. Others were declared abandoned and voluntarily surrendered by parents. They train these children to observe respect and politeness on their behavior and it is observed that the children have become more accepting of one another and of the authority that the adults have over them. They also implement behavior modification strategies so they would become more open to caregivers and social workers. Children are being adopted by Filipino, American, Spanish and Finnish families.They are open to people who are willing to help and give hands to the children. They prefer clothes, school supplies and food for the children. MFH is located at 135 Ramona Tirona corner Sison St. , BF East Phasi VI, Las Pinas, their location is inside the subdivision and it has a high security which they can have the assurance of the ch ildren's safety. They have places for children to sleep, eat, study and play. They have 3 bed rooms, one room for girls, one room for boys from 5-12 and another for teenagers.They have a kitchen which serves good food and they eat as a family. They have a separate building for studying and well trained teachers for them. They have court, play ground and a pool for the children to enjoy. MFH has several partners like Benny Hinn Ministries and Partners, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB), Association of Child-Caring Agencies in the Philippines (ACCAP), KRAFT Philippines, and Wide Horizons for Children, etc. CHAPTER FOUR OBJECTIVES General Objectives: To be able to raise child welfare awareness in the Asia Pacific College community effectively * To inculcate to the minds of the people the essence of child welfare * To build up empathy for these children * To let the orphans experience God’s loving touch by sharing food, gifts and clothing * To share love and care during the Christmas season CHAPTER FIVE INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES The group planned to promote â€Å"Christmas for Little Juans† through print ads and through the use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.It was found to be more effective as the target market of this advocacy campaign, the Asia Pacific College community is usually inclined with these media, so the relay of the message of â€Å"Christmas for Little Juans† is effective and efficient. A. Viral Marketing Viral Marketing was executed through the use of Facebook. The group has created a fanpage, â€Å"Christmas for Little Juans,† so that they will be able to disseminate announcements and updates easily. Aside from that, it also helped them also be easy to get feedbacks from its participants. B. AdvertisingPrint advertisements were produced so that it will be posted in the bulletin boards. By doing this so, the APC community was able to be aware of that the group campaigns for. C. Public Relation The group built a good relation with their sponsor companies and because of this, these companies helped them fund the advocacy. In addition, they have also talked and discussed to some professors their advocacy campaign. In return, some professors allowed their students to attend the activities the group has prepared. D. Selling The group sold ballers to introduce the campaign to their target market.These items were sold through the micro blogging sites, Facebook and Twitter to minimize costs since selling these items in the cafeteria costs a lot because the group must pay additional expenditure for occupying a space in the caf. On the other hand, they also held a film showing at room 415. * Ballers The group saw the trend of wearing ballers in school so they have thought of selling this item for a cause. In a baller is a statement that says, â€Å"I support Child Welfare. † It was a good way of introd ucing the campaign since it spoke for what the group campaigns for.The group was able to get it for P35 each and was also able to sell it for P60, making a profit of P25 per baller. * Sponsorships The group sent letters of sponsorships to fund other activities. * Film Showing The group rented Room 415 for film showing. A person will be charged P50 for a movie as an entrance fee. But then, he/she will enjoy free unlimited snacks while watching. b. Culminating Activity * The group wanted to have a culminating activity that will not only benefit the foundation but also give their audience something in return.They’ve came up hand stamps for their culminating activity. APCians were gathered at the cafeteria to post their hand paints on a long cloth. A registration fee of P20 is charged. They got a free button pin that says, â€Å"I SUPPORT CHILD WELFARE. † It’s not only the button pins that they got, but also the extraordinary feeling of supporting a campaign. CHAPTE R SIX TIME TABLE CHAPTER SEVEN EVALUATION A. Audience Response a) Advocacy Our advocacy campaign was to inform not only students and professors but everyone to be aware of today’s children welfare.Nowadays, almost everybody is aware of the poverty of our country is experiencing and one major problem is the lack support of the society to the children on the streets. Our Advocacy targets to influence everyone to be aware of what is going on to these children. Implementing our campaign, we expound the knowledge of our audience of what our advocacy really means and how they could help. The audience responded in a manner that we did not expect. They have been aware of today’s children in our society and as part of their response, knowing that this could help the welfare; they did not hesitate to support every event we shared.They let our campaign sink in not only in their minds but also with their heart to show their care for these children. No doubt that our campaign achie ved not only its proposed objectives but we also hit the hearts of every audience who cares for the children. b) Culminating Activity The title of our culminating activity is â€Å"High-Five For A Cause†. People wondered what we meant by that, even the audio visual presentation is not enough for them. Due to our creative way of dragging their attention, they started to get curious on our booth—so they went to our area and checked things out.As we explained things to them, we received different types of expression; for some it is just a waste of time and money, but for others they appreciated our concern to the orphan. Now, P20 is not much of a pain in the pocket that is why all we have to do is invite them without too much effort. In addition to this, once they already put their handpaint on the wall they received a button pin meaning that they supported our campaign. Because of this, registration fee was actually a good deal for those who participated. Most of the rea ctions we got are either a ready to participate gesture or eager to get out of that place.As we execute our activity, we observed that people who have seen our campaign is just a waste of money and time for some, like what we have mentioned before. Moreover, some think that putting paint in their hands is a hassle on their part, thinking maybe the paint we use is hard to get rid off. However, for those who were interested, we observed that as they put their handpaintings on the wall it is more likely a fun thing to do for them knowing that something was unique and it was for a cause. B. Budget Utilization Disbursement of Funds for Christmas Party Funds from SponsorshipsFunds from Fund Raising Activities CHAPTER NINE RECOMMENDATIONS For our fund raising Film Showing we could have prepared more chips and more movies to watch. First, the information was not disseminated properly. It was two days before the showing when the group has announced the activity. So that’s why, the gro up didn’t reach their target number of viewers, and that, the participants were so little. They should have posted the print ads ahead of time so that participants were able to be aware of it. There had been a technical problem with the movie—it was skipping a scene so they had to change the movie.But good thing, the audience still liked the movie and still watched it till the end. The group could have chosen a bigger space like the auditorium but unfortunately they could not afford it. So we decided to hold our event in room 415 which was convenient to other students who have classes so they can easily go to our event after their class. But the group was happy that there are more people who participated and enjoyed their event. Lastly, the film showing could have been a success if the time was extended. Most of the people who bought tickets have classes from 12:45-2:30.It could have been better if the group extended the film up to 5pm. The advocacy campaign, â€Å"Hi -Five for a Cause. † which was held at the APC cafeteria was a success. You could see that every student who would pass by the booth would notice and  support the culminating activity. Although, we recommend that the culminating activity should have been widely spread and advertised more so that more people would be able to support. The event lacked noises to advertise the activity. The group could have put up big advertisements like posters and give away fliers earlier.Some of the supporters were not really aware on what they are doing and some of the group members can't explain them thoroughly because of more people coming to their booth but Helping Juans gave them fliers which tell what the advocacy campaign all about. But overall, the culminating activity that we organized was a success for us. CHAPTER TEN DOCUMENTATIONS Unlimited chips for film showing Registration Film viewing Hi-Five For A Cause They support Child Welfare. Almost a hundred supported our campaign. Ball ers @ P60 each