Internet Shopping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Internet Shopping - Essay Example A long traditional framework in marketing is a worthwhile lens to look through when charting a path for success (i.e., formulating strategy and tactics) in ecommerce. This framework is known as the consumer buying decision process and it encompasses all consumer behaviors related to buying. It consists of five general stages. Consumers may not experience all of the stages for each buying decision. -Purchase - payment and acquisition of product (n.b., the product purchased is not always the one preferred by a consumer -- e.g., when Coca Cola is not available on an airplane, many people drink Pepsi). -Post purchase - behavior related to both the felt comfort and satisfaction levels with the purchase experience and decision; all product related activities that one does after purchasing a product (e.g., returning an item, using an item and being either satisfied or dissatisfied, spreading word-of-mouth). Bruce D. Weinberg in the same article further states that "The Internet creates an information intensive environment where power and success is very much high quality information and the ability to best understand and utilize it. Exchange (i.e., buying and selling) information is typically generated by either buyers or sellers, though certainly others can generate relevant exchange information -... -Post purchase - behavior related to both the felt comfort and satisfaction levels with the purchase experience and decision; all product related activities that one does after purchasing a product (e.g., returning an item, using an item and being either satisfied or dissatisfied, spreading word-of-mouth). Bruce D. Weinberg in the same article further states that "The Internet creates an information intensive environment where power and success is very much high quality information and the ability to best understand and utilize it. Exchange (i.e., buying and selling) information is typically generated by either buyers or sellers, though certainly others can generate relevant exchange information -- for example, those who provide advice (e.g., e-pinions.com). Taken together, this highlights a very important lesson. Buyers and sellers need to listen very carefully to each other as it is their communication skills -- the ability to clearly transmit and interpret needs in the form of information". Further following points are to be kept in mind while developing a website: Make it easy to find desired products at the site. Consumers want to know quickly the purpose of a site; and they want to know who is involved in the venture. Respond quickly to consumer requests for information or assistance. Provide useful and direct information. Provide live or software-based agent assistance online. Enable comparison shopping. State upfront all order-related factors and the total cost of a transaction. Maintain tight security when handling customers' credit card numbers. Keep your customers apprised of fulfillment progress. Simplify product returns and exchanges. Respect your customers' privacy. Don't underestimate

Killing Cleanses and Contaminates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Killing Cleanses and Contaminates - Essay Example Killing contaminates the killer because it is an immoral and irretrievable act. Killing is immoral because it is not easy to justify the act of taking another person’s life. After Frank is brutally murdered, Matt feels more vulnerable, especially when he sees his wife suffering, since the killer, Richard, freely roams around the town. He confides in Willis and tells him that â€Å"she sees him all time. It makes her cry† (Dubus). Willis helps Matt plan the murder of Richard. Together, they justify murder based on the nature and past of Richard. Ruth says: â€Å"Dubus invites his readers to ponder the disparity between people’s ethical responsibility to society and the primal urge to protect and avenge their loved ones† (2). Dubus, nevertheless, indicates that killing the killer is not always a moral choice, because it still means that one forcefully takes another person’s life. ... His murders surpass what Matt did because he orders the murder of two children and a baby, as well as their mother and father. In fact, he executes a massacre to replenish his resources, as he runs from the law. In addition, killing is an irretrievable act with permanent consequences. Matt already performs an illegal and immoral act that will hunt his conscience for life. He will feel guilty, even when he can justify his actions. The Misfit has ruined the future of a family. Bailey, his wife, and their children will no longer live and share each other’s dreams and frustrations in life. Like Richard, they are all also buried away somewhere, with no one to cry for them and pay respect to their deaths. These stories, however, imply the possibility that killing also purifies the killers and their victims. Killing results in a â€Å"revised moral awareness† of the main characters, although with some differences (Bonney 347). Matt feels redemption as a man. He may not have be en able to protect Frank from Richard, but he has defended his wife from Richard’s intrusion on their peace of mind and happiness. Though Matt is tarnished and broken after killing another human being, he is also cleansed from the guilt of not being able to entirely protect his family, especially when he is the â€Å"fearful father† (Dubus) type. The killing also cleanses the Misfit, because, for some reason, he receives the grace of understanding that his life is meaningless. Initially, he blames everyone else for his crappy life, since he says that he calls himself the Misfit because: â€Å"I can't make what all I did wrong fit what all I went through in punishment† (O’Connor). But his short conversation with the grandmother reveals that he is not a good man. He recounts some of his crimes and

Advocates violence Essay Example for Free

Advocates violence Essay A hate group is â€Å"a group or movement that advocates violence against or unreasonable hate or hostility toward those persons or organizations identified by their religion, race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability† (Wikipedia, 2004). The ideology of hate groups is based on the inaccurate information using for disparagement. The members of hate groups prejudge each individual in the target group as low or contemptible. They believe in the supremacy of their race, religion and use the violence and intimidation as the tools of the infuence on the target groups. How they do it? Usual tactics of the hate group includes four main elements: dehumanizing or demonizing the target; use of the conspiracy, theories, possibly not well backed up or referenced; claiming for manifesting interests of majority, support of thef pseudo-scientific theories using as the background for their grudge against target groups. The Southern Poverty Law Centers Intelligence Project reckoned up that 751 hate groups were active in the United States in 2003 (http://www. tolerance. org/maps/hate/state. jsp? T=12m=2). The most infamous and oldest American hate group is the Ku Klux Klan. This movement joined more than 150 various hate groups. The target of the attacks of the Ku Klux Klan is blacks, Jews, immigrants and gays. Today the most active Ku Klux Klan organization in the USA is the Church of the American Knights of the KKK. This radical wing of the Ku Klux Klun is led by Jeff Berry and had strong prositions among other hate groups of the state of Indiana. While other KKK groups are trying to represent themselves as a civic organization for whites, the American Knights actively propagate strong measures against minorities. The credo of the American Knights is expressed in Jeff Berry’s speech: â€Å"We hate Jews, We hate niggers†¦. I’m a Yankee and I have never heard the word thank you in the nigger vocabulary†¦. We don’t like you niggers†¦ Tell me one thing your race has accomplished. † (ADL audio tape of Jasper rally, October, 1998 rally in Jasper, TX cited by http://www. adl. org/backgrounders/american_knights_kkk. asp). The same ideas we see in the Platform of the American Knights: Enemies from within are destroying the United States of America. An unholy coalition of anti-White, anti-Christian liberals, socialists, feminists, homosexuals, jews [sic] and militant blacks have managed to seize control of our government and mass media. This gang of criminals and degenerates has declared war on the hard working, tax paying, White citizens †¦ The American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan plan to change things for the better. We shall liberate our nation from these savage criminals and restore law and order to America. (cited by ADL backgrounder, 1999) But the hate groups do not only tell terrible words. They also do the terrible things. Every hour in the USA someone commits a hate crime. Every day at least eight blacks, three whites, three gays, three Jews and one Latino become hate crime victims. Every week a cross is burned. Three crosses were burned in the yard of a mixed-race family in the March of 2003 (Ladoga, IN). Swastikas and offensive messages were burned into the lawns of four residences (St. John, IN). The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan distribute their flyers throughout a neighborhood. According to FBI statistic â€Å"the greatest growth in hate crimes in recent years is against Asian Americans and gays and lesbians† (http://www. tolerance. org/pdf/ten_ways. pdf). But the noble Knights of KKK do their business only with hidden faces: â€Å"It is essential to the organization to allow members to preserve their anonymity since, if members are not allowed to appear in public without being able to maintain their anonymity, they will not participate in public events† http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_group

Witness essay 2012 hsc Essay Example for Free

Witness essay 2012 hsc Essay How does Weir’s portrayal of the relationship between Book and his world move us into a deeper understanding of power? The 1985 film ‘witness’ directed by Peter weir is a crime/drama that develops the theme of conflict though individual power on a social, cultural and personal level. These areas of power are highlighted through the use of film techniques such as; camera shots, camera angles, lighting and costume. The film outlines the juxtaposition between mainstream American society and the Amish community in regional Pennsylvania, the theme of power between Book and his world precisely emphasize this juxtaposition. The competent American society is seen as a violent and arrogant group of people, whereas the Amish community is seen as the defenceless peaceful, religious group of people. Peter weir is careful to portray power realistically; he does this though the use of violence. Weir uses three basic groups when it comes to violence. The Amish, who refuse violence in all circumstances, men like John Book who use violence to achieve justice, and the perpetrators of violence, people like Schaeffer and Mcfee, who use violence to achieve outcomes and power. Books life is one abundant with violence that is the consequence of his line of work, which essentially is present due to his authorised general level of power, he is a police officer so by law enforcement is required to exert his power though violence and literal means in order to protect and support the community in which he lives, even if this means extermination of one’s life. Weir presents the violence in the film in a graphic, confronting way. This is done to emphasise to the audience the bloody consequences that come from negative use of power to achieve justice or commit crimes. By not sensationalising violence, weir creates a realistic mis en scene; however Weir presents that violence, as used by people like John Book is necessary, as long as people like Mcphee and Schaeffer exist. The impracticality of the Amish view is presented when they are shown being harassed by tourists. Eli’s statement â€Å"it happens, we ignore them†, show that it is a regular occurrence. The idea of not using violence, even in self defence is shown to be impractical in the wider world. The Amish are community is here portrayed as one in absence of power, even though they could possibly defend themselves or use violence they choose to accept the disturbance by the modern society, and use pacifism to be genuine to their culture, being respective but vulnerable. However accompanying them is John Book, being a stereotypical police officer he possesses the power in violence and is unafraid and unrestricted to making use of it. By utilising the power he has hold of, he attacks the hecklers as he is ambiguous to achieving a sense of justice for the Amish, demonstrating the conflicting use of power when Eli says â€Å"it’s not our way† and John Book replies â€Å"but it’s my way†.

Slavery in Chesapeake and the Economy

Slavery in Chesapeake and the Economy The development of slavery in the Chesapeake was due solely to the economic needs of white settlers. Do you agree? History can never adequately provide answers regarding the motives of men and women throughout recorded history; what it can do, however, is to provide a prism through which to gauge the consequences of their actions. With regards to slavery, the consequences of the Southern United States’ intrinsic involvement in the practice of slavery were truly seismic, resulting in the American Civil War and the cementation of the world’s most powerful economic and military force. The role of the Chesapeake in this tumultuous domestic conflict should not be underestimated such was the deep seated nature of the region’s association with slavery. Certainly, economic necessity appears to be at the forefront of this historical fact with the rich tobacco and other grain industries flourishing in the South as a direct result of the burgeoning slave trade. Indeed, as Fogel (2003) underscores, even the slaves themselves could be traded amongst white settlers for economic profit. For the purpose of perspective, the following analysis into the development of slavery in the Chesapeake region must adopt a critical stance attempting to show that economic reasons were indeed the dominant paradigm in the region’s development of a sophisticated slave trade while also underscoring the complex and diverse nature of the early American slave trade. First, however, a conceptualisation of the issue must be attempted. It is important to note that Chesapeake differed markedly from the slave trades operating in the Georgia Low Country after the first arrival of enslaved African workers in the early seventeenth century (transported by Dutch merchants to replace a dwindling European labour force in the North American colonies). Unlike in other English colonies, the Chesapeake was a locale that was only colonised for economic reasons with a sparse colonial population in the days immediately prior to the introduction of slavery. Likewise, the differences within the Chesap eake itself highlight the way in which the values of trade, profit, production and the economy were central to the genesis of slavery in the region, as Philip Morgan (1998:9) details. â€Å"By the late seventeenth century, Virginia had a plantation economy in search of a labour force, whereas South Carolina had a labour force in search of plantation economy.† From the very beginning, therefore, a symbiosis began to form between the determining economic factors of the white settler communities and the introduction of large numbers of slaves into the colonies, with the number of African workers increasing from 13000 to 250000 in the Chesapeake Bay area between 1700 and 1770. The fact that this unprecedented level of African recruitment was accompanied by a drive to attract more female slaves to the colonies so as to increase the plantation population is testimony to the economic imperative at the heart of slave development in the Chesapeake. If slavery were a temporary measure to increase population levels in the area then the imposition of female slaves would not have occurred; only because of the permanence of the economic necessity for slaves did this phenomenon occur. Furthermore, the sheer expanse of the New World landscape required the development of slaves to even begin to cultivate the land for economic production. After the introduction of rice crops in the 1680’s, Boyer (2003:85) estimates that a farmer planting 130 acres of the crop would require at least 65 slaves to do so. With the rapid reduction of the white indentured slaves after the turn of the eighteenth century, the absolute economic need for African slaves in the Chesapeake further increased so that the white plantation owners were utterly dependent on slave manpower in order to function as viable enterprises, competing with highly productive colonies such as the West Indies. Without the slave trade, the Chesapeake region of America particularly the states of Virginia and North Carolina could never have emerged as a major player in the expanding trans‑Atlantic trade system. It was not just for economic reasons that slaves were seen as integral to the rise of the Chesapeake. Health imperatives likewise played a part in the development of slavery during the early years of the colonial era. The African workers were immunised against the malaria that came with the imported rice and grain crops – a disease that rendered white workers obsolete during the formative years of the Chesapeake’s economic development. Moreover, the hot and humid climate of the Chesapeake was wholly alien to the white settlers from the colder European climate while the African workers imported to work on the plantations were much better equipped to cope with the working conditions in the New World, though Oscar and Mary Hadlin (1950:199-222) refute this claiming that it is unjust to blame nature for barbaric human institutions. It is also important to recognise, as Edmund Morgan (2003:314-344) points out, that the slaves were important for sociological and cultural reasons, helping to underpin the rigid class structure that flourished in the southern American states. By taking away the need for a white working class, the slaves of the Chesapeake performed the task of cultural underdogs, which was an integral part of the economic rise of the region as a world exporter. Despite the diverse range of cultural and sociological factors prevalent in the development of slavery in the Chesapeake there is no escaping the pre‑eminence of economic imperatives. Indeed, the manufacturing of the term ‘slave trade’ implies the significance of economic issues in all parts of America that indulged in slavery with the transaction of human beings working in tandem with the production of profits garnered from the rich plantations. As Winthrop Jordan (1976:110-115) details, the underlying prejudice of the white settlers incorporating a profound sense of racial and ethnic superiority facilitated the evolution of slavery as a comprehensive way of life in the Chesapeake. The fact that the Chesapeake was willing to go to war with the Yankees for the perpetuation of the profits generated by the slave trade proves beyond doubt that economic reasons were the catalyst behind the development of slavery in the region. References Boyer, P.S. et al (2003) Enduring Vision: a History of the American People: Fifth Edition New York: Houghton Mifflin Breen, T.H. (Ed.) (1976) Shaping Southern Society: the Colonial Experience Oxford: Oxford University Press Fogel, R.W. (2003) The Slavery Debates, 1952-1990: a Retrospective Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press Morgan, E.S. (2003) American Slavery, American Freedom London: W.W. Norton Co. Morgan, P.D. (1998) Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth Century Chesapeake and Low Country Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press Selected Articles Jordan, W. (1976) Unthinking Decision: Enslavement of Negroes in America to 1700, quoted in, Breen, T.H. (Ed.) Shaping Southern Society: the Colonial Experience Oxford: Oxford University Press Journals Hadlin, M.F. and Hadlin, O. (April 1950) Origins of the Southern Labour System, quoted in, William and Mary Quarterly, Volume 7, Number 2

Cultural Context: Alcohol Essay -- Drinking Teenagers Papers

Cultural Context: Alcohol Alcohol has always been a controversial topic in the United States for social, political, and religious reasons. The negative effects of drinking came to the foreground of American concern during the early twentieth century. This was a time of great prosperity followed by the Great Depression. Both of these eras led Americans to turn to or against liquor as the cause or demise of their success. Prohibition marked a change in the American way of life and is best documented by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in their contemporary works. Both of these authors grappled with alcohol use and abuse within their own lives and writing. On 12:01 a.m. on July 16, 1920 the 18th Amendment went into effect, marking the beginning of a thirteen-year period of national Prohibition in the United States. The movement had existed for decades, but it was not until President Wilson and his southern Democrats came to Washington did it get national momentum, (Parrish, 96). Those who were in favor of Prohibition were collectively known as â€Å"the drys.† The group was generally composed of members of two sub-groups: the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League. The Anti-Saloon League considered themselves â€Å"an army of the Lord to wipe out the curse of drink,† (Sann, 26). A large majority of the prohibitionists were church-going, Protestant women from small-towns. The divide in opinion between the cities and the rural and suburban areas was so great that the passage of the 18th Amendment was considered a major cultural victory over large cities (Parrish, 97). The call for temperance was supported by progressive reformers who viewed the â€Å"Devil’s Brew† as the primary source ... ...Company, 1992. p. 95-113 This was the most useful source in understanding the social context of Prohibition, its enforcement, and failure. Sann, Paul. The Lawless Decade. New York : Crown Publishers, Inc, 1957. p. 21-24. 115-120 This book provided background information on the 1920s, the Jazz Age, and the role alcohol played during these time periods as well as the American response to Prohibition. www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=441 This article was extremely helpful in understanding the circumstances during Prohibition and how exactly citizens managed to undermine the law. www.drugtext.org/library/articles/craig103.htm This article emphasized and provided a glimpse into the lawlessness of Prohibition and the operation of speakeasies. www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/episode5/topic1/e5_t1_s2-rr.html Cultural Context: Alcohol Essay -- Drinking Teenagers Papers Cultural Context: Alcohol Alcohol has always been a controversial topic in the United States for social, political, and religious reasons. The negative effects of drinking came to the foreground of American concern during the early twentieth century. This was a time of great prosperity followed by the Great Depression. Both of these eras led Americans to turn to or against liquor as the cause or demise of their success. Prohibition marked a change in the American way of life and is best documented by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in their contemporary works. Both of these authors grappled with alcohol use and abuse within their own lives and writing. On 12:01 a.m. on July 16, 1920 the 18th Amendment went into effect, marking the beginning of a thirteen-year period of national Prohibition in the United States. The movement had existed for decades, but it was not until President Wilson and his southern Democrats came to Washington did it get national momentum, (Parrish, 96). Those who were in favor of Prohibition were collectively known as â€Å"the drys.† The group was generally composed of members of two sub-groups: the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League. The Anti-Saloon League considered themselves â€Å"an army of the Lord to wipe out the curse of drink,† (Sann, 26). A large majority of the prohibitionists were church-going, Protestant women from small-towns. The divide in opinion between the cities and the rural and suburban areas was so great that the passage of the 18th Amendment was considered a major cultural victory over large cities (Parrish, 97). The call for temperance was supported by progressive reformers who viewed the â€Å"Devil’s Brew† as the primary source ... ...Company, 1992. p. 95-113 This was the most useful source in understanding the social context of Prohibition, its enforcement, and failure. Sann, Paul. The Lawless Decade. New York : Crown Publishers, Inc, 1957. p. 21-24. 115-120 This book provided background information on the 1920s, the Jazz Age, and the role alcohol played during these time periods as well as the American response to Prohibition. www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=441 This article was extremely helpful in understanding the circumstances during Prohibition and how exactly citizens managed to undermine the law. www.drugtext.org/library/articles/craig103.htm This article emphasized and provided a glimpse into the lawlessness of Prohibition and the operation of speakeasies. www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/episode5/topic1/e5_t1_s2-rr.html

The Economy and SUVs Essay examples -- essays research papers

SUV’s have become the center of a large controversy in the last couple of years. Many studies have been conducted on the relation to the economy and the popularity of the SUV. The sport utility vehicle not only affects the economy with its gas-guzzling capabilities during a time of war, but with the safety questions that have continued to arise. â€Å"Automobiles have a large impact on the quality of our environment and public health. Automobile use affects virtually every aspect of environmental quality - including noise levels, air quality, water pollution, and urban sprawl. Ninety percent of the environmental impact of automobiles occurs through the operation of the cars: about 10 percent from the production, raw materials and disposal of automobiles. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Federal law permits Sport Utility Vehicles to waste 33 percent more gasoline than passenger cars. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SUVs can spew 30 percent more carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and 75 percent more nitrogen oxides than passenger cars. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since 1990, the inefficiency of light trucks (including SUVs) have led to Americans wasting an extra 70 billion gallons of gasoline. â€Å" SUV’s burn more gas and spew out more pollution. Many of the big SUV’s pollute three times as much as cars, which greatly contributes to climate change and smog. But for many of us, it is difficult to connect our actions at the gas pump with the temperature outside or with the quality o...