Pricing strategy Essay

Home depot is a store dealing with home appliances and other household consumables. I will look at the pricing strategy of refrigerators. Most prices of different brands of refrigerators are set to match the prices of their competitors. This is because mostly the competitors are operating in the same environment. it is essential to offer better quality brands with the same price as competitors. However when setting the price, the objective is to ensure profitability of the firm is taken care by the price set. The profit firm must incorporate capital requirements and the associated gains that cover the expenses of the organization. Always the profit considered in price setting is equals to price less cost of sales. While capital gains is equivalent the current assets and fixed assets running costs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In choosing the target, market for refrigerator is made during the construction of sores. However the in which they are operating attracts the customers. Take an example of the New York most people have excess disposable income to spend and there are utilities that support the refrigerator in almost all homes.   The company has reported that they have high expectation in the stead rise through to 2025 for product. Another important factor in the increase of consumers are the aging population with large pensions and young business executives with more excessive funds. In fact, this two groups forms an important consumer segment of home depot refrigerators. The customer has carried the consumer assessment they have adapted market oriented determination and differential.   References   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Schaik J.L., (2002); The Task of Marketing Management; J.L. van Schaik (Pity) ltd

Optimization of portfolio risk Essay

This paper is a critique one the article entitled â€Å"Post-Modern Portfolio Theory† by Swisher and Kasten (2005). The framework for this critique is to determine whether there ground to agree or disagree on the claims of the authors as against the evidence they presented. Swisher and Kasten asserted about the unreliability of Modern portfolio theory (MPT) and its mean-variance optimization (MVO) model for asset allocation in the financial services industry particularly on building portfolios. They instead suggested the use of post-modern portfolio theory (PMPT) which presents a new method of asset location that optimizes a portfolio based on return versus downside risk (down side optimization, or DRO) instead of MVO. What makes PMPT different from PMT as explained by the authors is its recognition that standard deviation as a poor proxy in relation to humans experience on risk. They are therefore arguing on the basis of behavioral finance which appears to be not evident under PMT in addition to mathematical implication of the model. They explained that risk is an emotional condition which may be â€Å"fear of a bad outcome such as fear of loss, fear of underperformance, or fear of failing to achieve a financial goal. † (Swisher and Kasten, 2005). They simply cannot equate risks with variability as they argue that risk is â€Å"more complex than simple variance† although they admitted that it (risk) may be modeled and described mathematically. The authors explained that downside risk (DR) is risk definition taken from three sub-measures which include downside frequency, mean downside deviation, and downside magnitude. They added that each sub-measure must be defined with reference to an investor-specific minimal acceptable return (MAR) (Swisher and Kasten, 2005) . In translating their mathematical analysis, Swisher and Kasten (2005) stated that â€Å"people like to make money, not lose† and the chance of making above-average amounts to money frequently is given a heavier weight as against a tiny chance of success in lottery. In other words, the investors would go where there are more chances so that it will be accepted as part of the chance when an investment may turn out to perform poorly but they would hope that it will not to perform very poorly or as often. Swisher and Kasten, (2005) acknowledged the elegance of the mathematical mode for describing the perfect investment although incidentally they found the model called modern portfolio theory (MPT) wrong. They acknowledged that the defect is the provision of inefficient portfolios which goes without saying the it is contradicting what it is supposed to accomplish, that is efficient asset allocation or building of portfolio. The same authors took courage in declaring that the primary reason why MPT produces inefficient portfolios is the erroneous act of equating standard deviation with risk. They explained that risk is something else, and there is a need to have a better mechanical framework to describe it. Their paper therefore suggested a better framework for building of better portfolios through downside risk optimization (DRO). They of course defined DRO as â€Å"optimization of portfolio risk versus return using downside risk as the definition of risk instead of standard deviation. † (Swisher and Kasten, 2005). To be more convincing in their proposed model for through the use of DRO under PMPT, Swisher and Kasten (2005) asserted that DRO is superior to MVO under MPT as an asset allocation tool using the following arguments in support: The first one is the possibility that standard deviation can lead to ridiculous results when used as a measure of risks while downside risk (DR) does the same more closely in capturing the human conception of risk as earlier defined. The second argument is the reality that financial asset returns do not behave as what a normal distribution tries to paint and assume, thus even if for the sake of argument volatility is taken as a perfect representation of risk, the result will still not work. The third one, which strengthened more their position, is the better performance of DRO over MVO when they demonstrated head to head comparison of portfolios (Swisher and Kasten, 2005). More importantly the result of the comparison the performance of the two produced conflicting results hence one could only be correct. This was in fact the authors’ basis in declaring that MPT produces inefficient portfolios. It can be concluded that there is basis to the claim of the authors that PMPT works better than MPT in building portfolios. They were able to demonstrate with evidence about their assertion by using DRO as against MVO in their comparison. There is basis to agree with the authors claim that PMPT points the way to an improved science of investing that incorporates not only DRO but also behavioral finance as against MPT. Given this reason and a number of failures caused by MPT in the past there is basis to give due credit to the proposal of the author for PMPT which justifies its use by investors and analysts as a better alternative in asset allocation. Reference: Swisher and Kasten (2005) Post-Modern Portfolio Theory, Journal of Financial Planning, {www document} URL http://www. fpanet. org/journal/articles/2005_Issues/jfp0905-art7. cfm, Accessed January 22,2008.

WEATHER HAZARDS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

WEATHER HAZARDS - Research Paper Example In addition, Thunderstorms and high-wind events caused the most injuries and deaths while lightning events caused the least injuries. However, none of the weather hazards caused any damage to crops (Virginia Department of Emergency Management, 2004). It is also evident in the table that Tropical storms and Hurricanes caused a lot of damage to properties and crops in the counties of Maryland. They also caused the most injuries and only one death. The tornados also caused damage to properties and crops, many injuries and four deaths. The ice events and snow, lightning events and thunderstorms and high-wind events also caused many assets and crop damage many injuries and fatalities (Homeland Security and Emergency Management agency, 2013). From the table, it can be seen that also the tropical storms and the hurricanes caused the most damage to crops and properties 333 injuries and nine deaths. Lighting events caused the least damage and only two injuries. Tornadoes, snow and ice events, thunderstorms and high wind events also caused some damage to the property and crops. The snow and ice events caused the most injuries as compared to other weather hazards. It also produced the most number of deaths. The Tornados, thunderstorms, high-wind events, and lightning events did not cause any deaths (Emergency Management agency,

Sun Yat-sen Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sun Yat-sen - Essay Example It was later that he studied in Hawaii in the Guangzhou Medical School in 1886. Later on he transferred to the college of medicine in Hong Kong in the year of 1892. In times when he was completing his medicine he felt the urge to change the troubled China into a better place. It was in 1984 that Sun Yat Sen stopped his medical practice and entered into the political arena of China. During this time he wrote a letter to the governor recommending different policies which could be implemented to help China thrive. But these recommendations were put down by the governor and he ended up forming an organization known as Revive China Society. It was here that things changed for Sun Yat Sen and he turned out to become a revolutionary leader. In 1894-1895 the Sino Japanese War took place and Sun plotted a revolt against the government in the capital of his province. The revolt launched by Sun did not turn out to be successful and he went into self exile after the events. Sun got publicity abo ut his targets and aims in London when he was arrested by a Chinese delegation. Although Sun easily crept away from the authorities he did get enough publicity to become an icon for the whole China. It was then that Sun returned to Japan and was helped by people who had heard of him. From 1897 Sun began his secret revolutionary attempts to dethrone the government of China. Sun after several attempts tried to turn the governors of different provinces on his side. In the early twentieth century China was ruled by the Qing Dynasty and the aim of Sun was to dethrone the dynasty because of the miserable conditions that it had left China in. However in the early twentieth century the decreasing popularity of the Qing Dynasty helped pave ways for Sun so that he could successfully launch his revolts. The press in China got enough power to expose the Qing Dynasty and it was here that the popularity of Sun increased amongst the students. In 1904 with the help of several people and revolutiona ries Sun was able to form the United League which had to work against the Qing Dynasty. However later in the years he had to face many problems because of the league and went into despair when all the territories of China took an action against him. As he was facing problems from the territories he sought help from his revolutionaries and launched a revolt to capture the province of Ghuangzou but this attempt was again made unsuccessful. In the years following several revolutionaries took to roads and began capturing the states of China. A revolutionary group was finally able to overthrow the government in Wuhan and Sun was then elected the provisional president in the year of 1912. Sun had a weak delegation of members and hence he decided to resign in March 1912 after making a deal with a minister. Sun was later appointed as the director general of the railway development but later left the post and launched a revolt against his successor because of his alleged involvement in the a ssassination of the party’s head. The revolt against his successor failed once again and he had to suffer from other problems soon after. All his attempts to better the conditions of China were not successful and he had to face problems from his nationalist counterparts. In the latter years of his life Sun tried to organize his party but was still not able to take a good position in the assemblies of China. He died of cancer in the year of 1925. Sun Yat Sen is still remembered for his

Nursing Leadership In Global Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing Leadership In Global Healthcare - Essay Example   I relate to many leaders in my nursing field. Most of them have different ways in which they lead their teams depending on their personalities and the work experience they have in the nursing field. One of the leaders who I have interacted very well is my nurse leader. She has worked for 10 years in this field and I believe she has the best experience. She has good leadership skills, something that makes her the best team leader. She is hardworking, a good communicator, responsible, confident, honest, good team player, the good mentor, open minded, reliable resource, goal oriented and courageous. However, these attributes and behaviors can be considered either as positive or negative depending on when and how they are applied. I can say that my nursing leader is very flexible in her work. She can integrate new ideas into the team and how some measures can be taken to ensure that the best outputs are produced. This is a good show of how a good nursing leader should perform. Flexib ility in nursing is encouraged because through this attribute, many types of research are done and solutions for many nursing problems are identified (Barr & Dowding, 2012). New techniques and procedure are emerging due to this creativity in the nursing field. These techniques and procedures are then used to replace the traditional ways of problem-solving. Therefore, flexibility in leadership is a positive attribute because it leads to innovations that are used to improve the health sectors in the world.  ... She is never influenced by how other members think about the issue but she gives what she thinks is right. Nurses are encouraged to honest in their work. This is because honesty will make them work very well with their team members. One of the fields that each nurse leader must be honest is the financial issues. This is a very sensitive part in nursing and each leader must give the honest arguments just in case must matters arise on it. Any dishonesty might cause very many problems to the nurse leader in charge. However, it is very important for every nurse leader to be honest (Barr & Dowding, 2012). On the other hand, I think honesty in rare occasional can be a negative attribute. This is because some truth can harm the team members who are opposing some issues. For example, some promises can be to the team members and later, the fulfillment delays. Nurse leader will have to use some tricks to make the other members believe on the reasons they are given (Ivanov & Blue, 2007). Theref ore, honesty can be a negative attribute but in a very small degree. She is a very hard working person. Her experience as a nurse leader, she got all the strength and ways in which she can manipulate others in doing the work. She always leads the team on the work to be accomplished. She is a goal getter and everything she starts must be completed with good results. She gives us tasks to do and always encourages every to give the best. This is a positive attribute of nurse leader. This attribute maximizes the work productions and makes the other members to work hard since the leader acts as the role model to them. Through her confidence, she is able to do many tasks that can be hard to other people in the team. Sometimes, she gives very difficult tasks to

Social Studies Native Amercian Group Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social Studies Native Amercian Group - Essay Example They therefore had to migrate to regions where food was in plenty and follow migrating animals too. Climatic changes affected how communities lived and built houses in the past, and the main purpose of shelter was to get cover from harsh weather and wild animals. Winter created the need for Iroquoians to build longhouses, which were houses that had greater length than width, had no window and hosted around 30 – 60 people depending on their size. Each family had their section in the longhouse. They used wood from woodlands and elm bark to build these houses. The Algonquians also built longhouses during winter, although they also built the lighter wigwams during the warm seasons. The Iroquoians main source of food was agricultural products. They grew and ate corn and vegetables, although they also hunted animals, for example deer, and also fished in the nearby lakes and rivers. Examples of water animals they went for are the eels. Contrary to them, the Algonquians were mostly hunters and gatherers, hunting mostly the white tailed deer during winter. In summer, when the lakes were no longer frozen, they would fish for food and also kill seals for meat. They left their inland settlements during spring and built others at ocean fronts, depending on sea food and also gathering some fruits and wild vegetables (Hirschfelder, 2000). The two tribes used bows and arrows to hunt animals, although the Algonquians also used techniques such as traps and snares on small animals. Meat was eaten communally, cooked by either men or women depending on the time and occasion. Skins and fur were the main raw materials for making clothes among the Iroquoians, and these were sewn together using needles made from animal bones. Deerskin was a favorite and could be sewn into leggings and tunics. Shells and porcupine quills were dyed and used to decorate the clothes. They wove mats and baskets from tree barks and used clay for cooking

South East Asian Financial Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

South East Asian Financial Crisis - Essay Example Its primary function was to develop economic growth, social progress and cultural development. National resilience refers to all aspects of nation building - social, cultural, economic, ideological and political. It deals with security of nation emerging from the strength of national building. The member countries are ready to neglect short term losses in favor of long term achievements and friendships. ASEAN practice non-interference. It does not mean that the countries are indifferent to one another or close their eyes on member countries. The countries refrain from criticizing the other countries but support them in all their needs. In some ASEAN countries economic development has been given preference over income distribution and employment creation. This has resulted in poverty and income disparities existing along with economic growth. The creation of ASEAN was politically motivated. Its initial objective was to promote harmony among member nations as most of the nations were under security threat. Economic integration was the next priority. ASEAN Free Trade Area was to be formed in 2003 comprising all the 10 South East Asian countries. AFTA was earlier established in 1992 as a political and economic entity. The objective of ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC) is to ensure peace in the region and live in harmony respecting the geographic and historical boundary. (Hank, Lim (2005), Regional trade agreements and conflict: the case of Southeast Asia, available at, http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-132673-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html ) The countries thought that free trade would benefit their economy. It was decided that zero tariffs should be the ultimate goal of AFTA. Originally, only Singapore was in favor of a free zone. Obviously, because, unlike other countries, it is without natural resources and is an export based entrepot economy. The motive behind the formation of AFTA was to attract foreign investments. But AFTA started running into problems right from the beginning itself. That is because some countries were more interested in protecting their domestic industries. AFTA has been considered as a developmental form of regionalism unlike open regionalism which is for globalization. In fact it is between open regionalism and resistance regionalism which tries to protect industries from globalization. However it is closer to open regionalism. Though almost all the countries were in favor of a free zone, at least some of them were against their home industries with high economic status being put at risk. For e xample, rice in Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia and sugar in Indonesia and Philippines. Automobile industry is bound to suffer because of lack of tariff protection. Singapore is likely to suffer because of the unwillingness of ASEAN countries to accept AFTA. Singapore backs up not only APEC but also WTO. Creation of growth triangular natural economic territories also establishes security of economy. Apart from that they ensure political stability and friendliness between nations. It is being pointed that some of the members of the triangles were bitter enemies in the past. ASEAN has been successful in reducing conflicts among its member nations. AFTA went a step further by going for lower tariffs, which would boost intra regional trade and cement better relationship among

Labor productivity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Labor productivity - Essay Example Having a team spirit among the laborers also cannot be overlooked. The desire to play and win as a team and not as an individual is an important aspect of labor productivity. When workers have the urge to play and conquer as a team, they feel more obligated to fulfill their end of the task so as not to let the other team players down. Teamwork will lead to the realization of the maximum potential in each of the laborers (West, 2012). With regard to teamwork, individuals can work at improving their inter-personal skills, which will enable them to associate in a healthy manner with their fellow employees. Having a well structured and properly functioning organizational structure also considerably contributes to the maximization of labor productivity (Steffan, 2008). A well organized structure in an organization will ensure that there are policies that have been set in place to look into the concerns and matters raised by laborers. In settings where such structures do not exist, it might be of an individual’s concern to propose to the management to come up with a structure that seeks to address their needs. Family matters are also a factor to consider, acknowledging that it influences labor productivity to a noticeable extent. Workers in any given organization who experience a supportive family life are capable of producing more at work due to presence of motivation. On the other hand, individuals who experience a stressful family life will not be able to fully exploit their potential at work, thus reducing the overall labor productivity. Hence, at the individual level, one can work at building healthy family life in order to be able to be fully productive. Lastly, there is the factor of capital formation and it has a positive influence on labor productivity. For example, the transfer of individual’s savings into a business venture in the form of shares will lead to earning of the

BUSINESS MODELS AND PLANNING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

BUSINESS MODELS AND PLANNING - Essay Example From the case study it was evident that company alpha engaged in seven business model innovations in which only 4 were successful. Amongst the remaining three, the company either succeeded or failed in their operations. From the case study it was evident that only the innovations which involved exploitation of existing technology and the development and exploitation of technology based products encouraged the success. The company’s failure was attributed to lack of desired quality and standards and that the market was small for the company’s turnover. On the other hand company beta only managed 3 business innovations two of which were successful while the other one failed. Success to the business model was due to acquisition and exploitation of new technology. However, the failure was due to a new product entrant into the market which faced severe completion that squeezed it out. To innovate in business model means that a company must be able to engage in mergers and acquisitions which reduces the company’s competitiveness? In addition to this, innovations in business model also require that companies are able to acquire or embrace new technology that exists within the business environment. From the research conducted between company alpha and beta it is evident that success only came when the companies involved in business models which involved acquisition of new technology and development. For example, company alpha engaged in seven business model innovations in which only 4 were successful. Only the innovations which involved exploitation of existing technology and the development and exploitation of technology based products encouraged the success. The case was similar to company beta which involved in only 3 business innovations and only two succeeded. Innovation is a rigorous process that involves companies to

Future of Modernization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Future of Modernization - Essay Example Even though every society has a specific logic, some of the viewpoint matches; the outcomes of good and bad deeds, a constant change in the technological world with an ever increasing rate and even for the fact about society’s evolution. Two kinds of societies emerge in the post-industrial revolution era; those who put a heavy burden to find ways to match steps with the currently affluent counter parts or be lost in the race of whole mankind, like a forgotten equation. The development of modernization is different in different scenarios mainly due to a vast difference in the ways of governance, environment, enlightenment and other institutions. This paper discusses the modernization process in the United States society. Furthermore, the idea of an evolved modernization, aftermath of modernization and my ideas about the modernization in this country will be argued. Many people in U.S.A argue that the industrial revolution had a fresh effect on the society, which in turn dented many communities, economic manifest and institutional changes all across America. Modernization has injected itself in the American society from various angles which has proven to be an electric chair for small and traditional ways of living. It has also brought a massive expansion in personal opinions, social disparity, future planning and knowledge of passing time. The small rural communities were known for their coherent living for thousands of years, before modernization brought a steep decline to this fragrance of the American society. This close set-up was mainly due to the close inter-relationship between friends, families and neighbors. These were times when people relied on each other without any fear of misjudgment, just because they shared the same wall. These communities played a vital role in giving the people a sense of identity, security, identity and purpose (Neitz, 2009). Saying all of the above, one should not get carried away with what used to be because these soc ieties for all the closeness, had their fair share of issues; like minimum choices and conveniences, as compared to the modern society people. The old system of living is outdated now in this present age, with villages and small towns being tourist attractions for those who want to see a glimpse of the foregone lifestyle, its simplicity and non-complexity. An acute volume of attention is on agriculture, which has always been a heavy burden on the rural American areas. Therefore a lot of country men had to travel to the cities in the hunt of jobs, since more financial benefits have been based on the corporate economy, unlike the economy of the past, which heavily relied on agriculture in the past. The modification, as a result of the changing economic tilt, has brought a huge difference in the lives of the American citizens. The difference is such that, the people have forcefully adopted non-rural ways to live for survival. A strong observation can be made, one which defines that the post-industrial revolution society has killed the traditional ways and cultures of the past. Although a strong argument is presented to rebut this fact that the modern society has brought more options, life control to individuals as compared to the people in the pre-modern society, who had fewer choices in the areas of personal thinking. Development in the field of individual preference is another plus point of the modernization in U.S.A. The new order of modern society advertises an

Integrated Science, Hurricanes Definition Causes and Precautions Essay Example for Free

Integrated Science, Hurricanes Definition Causes and Precautions Essay The winds weaken with height.  · The centers of the hurricane are warmer than their surroundings  · They form under weak high altitude winds.  ·The air also sinks at the center of a hurricane and the main energy source is the latent heat of condensation.  ·They weaken rapidly over land. Definition: A Hurricane is an intense tropical weather system with a well defined circulation and maximum sustained winds of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher. In the western Pacific, hurricanes are called typhoons, and in the Indian Ocean are called cyclones. Hurricanes are products of the tropical ocean and atmosphere. Each year on average, ten tropical storms (of which six becom become hurricanes) develop over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico. Many of these remain over the ocean. Howevever, about five hurricanes strike the United States coastline every 3 years. Records of hurricane in the Caribbean:  ·Anguilla Hurricane Earl 2010 Antigua Barbuda Hurricane Debby 2000 , Hurricane Omar 2008 , Hurricane Earl 2010  ·Babrbados Hurricane Joyce 2000  ·Haiti Hurricane Isaac -2012 , Hurricane Hanna 2008 , Hurricane Ernesto 2008 , Hurricane Kyle 2008  ·Grenanda- Hurricane Emily 2005 Evacuation Safety Procedures: (Hurricane) When a Warning or Hurricane watch is occured :  ·Leave low lying areas.  ·Protect windows with plywood boards, or storm shutters.  ·Secure outside objects.  · Make sure you have plenty of fuel and water.  ·Have several days supply of food and water for each family member. If called to evacuate, do so immediately. Before the storm: -Stay in Secure Room. -Stay away from windows. -Do not use the phone, or candles. -Have supplies on hand. -Remain indoors when the eye moves over your area because the storm will resume shortly. After the storm:  ·Make sure that all is definitely clear outside, and the storm has completely passed before going out.  ·Report downed power lines, and stay away from them.  ·Use stored water and food.  ·Be patient. Things will take a while before they get back to normal.

And Sun Also Rises Essay Example for Free

And Sun Also Rises Essay This paper discusses Ernest Hemingway’s novel And Sun Also Rises (1926) and takes an in-depth analysis of the development of the female character Lady Brett Ashley in trying to come up with better understanding of the character’s role in the novel. Hemingway’s And Sun Also Rises is widely regarded as Hemingway’s best novel. It became the overnight Bible of the postwar generation. (Barrett, 724) The novel revolves the theme of damage done to Hemingway’s generation by the violence of World War I. All the main characters of the novel are to certain extent scarred by war. Some of them suffer physical injuries like Jake or Count Mippipopolous and others bear the psychological trauma of â€Å"lost generation† (the phrase belonged to Hemingway’s friend Gertrude Stein and became the novel’s first epigraph). Among those psychologically deteriorated individuals Lady Brett Ashley is a controversial character that evokes different readers’ and critics’ reaction. This paper explores the path by which Lady Ashley’s character develops through the novel. With the first meeting with Brett Ashley her individual female sexual appeal and exceptional general attractiveness is revealed. From the beginning of the book, men find her irresistible. When Jake, as narrator, first introduces Brett, he says, â€Å"Brett was damned good-looking. She wore a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy’s. She started all that. She was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht, and you missed none of it with that wool jersey† (Hemingway, 22). Robert Cohn, too, is immediately captivated by Brett, and a short time later, he says, â€Å"She’s a remarkably attractive woman† (Hemingway, 38). She is a strong and independent woman and probably these are the features that attract men more than her physical beauty. Her real tool is her charisma that strikes the men around her. Every significant male character in the novel, at one time or another, comments on Brett’s female attractiveness. When he is introduced to Brett, Bill Gorton says, â€Å"Beautiful lady† (Hemingway, 74); Mike Campbell says, â€Å"Brett, you are a lovely piece. Don’t you think she’s beautiful? † (Hemingway, 79) These compliments are like a refrain that is reiterated through the rest of the novel. Despite the abounding attention on men’s side Brett rejects to become committed to a single man, at least physically. Neither the affluence of attention nor her independence makes Brett a happy woman. Having first appeared as a careless free woman Brett Ashley turns out to be an unhappy and miserable creature just the same as all those who lived through the war. Brett is often described in the literary criticism as sexually promiscuous, or even a nymphomaniac, which seems extreme given that in the course of the story she has sexual relationships with, at most, three men her fiancee, Mike Campbell; Robert Cohn; and Pedro Romero. Some critics, like Edmund Wilson, assess Brett’s conduct as â€Å"bitch-like†; Wilson interprets Brett Ashley as â€Å"an exclusively destructive force† (p. 238). This interpretation, plausibly, is directly related rely to Brett’s own assertion that she makes to Jake after she leaves Romero: â€Å"You know it makes one feel rather good deciding not to be a bitch† (Hemingway, 245). Nonetheless it is difficult to agree with such interpretation of Brett’s character. First of all it is known that she is one of the â€Å"lost generation†, the people whose youth fell on the post-war period when the relationships and responsibilities were loose and disordered, and so Brett’s behavior merely reflects this time. Furthermore, though Brett never stayed with any man longer than she wanted, she never displayed cruelty in attitude toward men, so she could not destruct them to any degree. And the most important thing which explains Brett’s character is again related to the time of the novel. Brett Ashley belongs to those people whose thoughts are confused being affected by the war. So while looking for her way in life she fails in finding the lull for her psychological disturbances therefore continues her self-abusive conduct. Brett can be profoundly careless of the feelings of others. She scatters cigarette ashes on Jake’s rugs, and when Romero gives her a bull’s severed ear after a successful bullfight, she leaves the gift behind, stuffed in a hotel drawer. Cohn calls her a sadist when she is unmoved by the plight of the horses gored in the bullring. Certainly she uses Jake heartlessly at times, expecting him to introduce her to a man she desires, put up with her affairs, remain steadfast in his devotion to her, and faithfully run to her rescue on short notice when she finds herself at loose ends in another country. Yet she is also deeply unhappy and emotionally fragile. Viewed more sympathetically, she can be seen as a self-destructive woman, traumatized by the ugly and unromantic loss of her first love to dysentery in the war: â€Å"Brett hurts no one in the novel as severely as she hurts herself. Her nymphomania, her alcoholism, her constant fits of depression, and her obsession with bathing are all symptoms of an individual engaged in a consistent pattern of self-abuse† (Whitlow, 56). All in her misery she often complains to Jake, her only true friend, about her aimless existence and unsatisfying life. Her vagrancy from relationship to relationship is assimilated with Jake and company roaming around bars. As the novel unfolds one observes how Lady Ashley transforms from the self-confident independent woman into one who seems extremely awkward being by herself. That is why she is searching for the shelter in more or less stable though platonic relations with Jake. As with the other characters, World War I obviously played the determinative role in the formation Brett Ashley’s character. Having lost her true love during the war she elaborated the pattern of random relations, especially with regard to men. Her skepticism and lost faith in search for true love symbolizes the search of the whole lost generation for their decayed values. Unable to find support in the traditional convictions that imposed certain meaning to her life Brett feels morally lost. Having lost belief in anything Brett together with her friends is trying to escape the reality and fill her empty life with careless wandering from bar to bar, living night life, drinking and entertaining, doing everything that fits into the notion escapist activity. The character of Lady Brett Ashley is developing through the novel from the initial impression of careless but happy woman into the typical representative of post-war generation with aimless way in life. Parties, free love and other kinds of merry-making are only the futile distraction for concealing the sorrow and insecurity that filled her soul.

Psychologically Manipulative Advertising Strategies

Psychologically Manipulative Advertising Strategies Introduction: This research is based on the psychological effects of advertising on the consumer. The controversial advertising campaigns are intended to provoke discussion of global issues, not to sell clothes. Today, any product is made of two things: a percentage of material and a percentage of image. And the part of the product that is made of image is getting bigger (Luciano Benetton)( Financial Times, 2001). Therefore advertising is getting more tricky and complicated. The picture has great importance to the content of the advertisement because it has the possibility to express feelings. Owing to this, it is very important to be sure that the picture expresses feelings that agree with the strategy of the sender. If not, there is a risk that the picture sends out a message that was not intended (Sidenbladh,E 2000). This not only kills the purpose of the advertisement but fails to impact the consumers mind, not to mention the waste of valuable advertising time and the costs attached to it. Ad vertising intends to influence people to think a particular way and to apply pressure for consumers to purchase a product. There is a level of understanding of this fact on the part of the consumer, but this does not mean that the people are able to fully control their own reactions. To persuade the receiver is the most important task of the picture. The receiver is meant to think along the line of thoughts that the sender intended to create. It is therefore believed that peoples self-understanding, behaviour and lifestyle would be affected. The picture is intended to remind people about their own and personal lifestyle and experiences. The fact is that we look at a picture in accordance with our own experiences. The consciousness only grasps a small part of all the sight impressions we actually receive. This is where peoples different associations and experiences enter the picture (Hansson et al., 1992). Many of these messages are certainly involuntary, usually coming from the atti tudes that are widespread in a society at a given time. These messages are intended to attract the viewer and to guide thier thinking on certain channel with the aim of selling the product and making the consumer believe that are getting the complete package that comprises of the product along with the image attached to it. This may be achieved by giving an impression of what that product may account for in their lives by exaggerating and impressing an image of a certain level of emotional importance that they link to the product. There are many different communication models that originate from the classical Stimuli-Organization-Response Model (Aaker et al., 1992; Fiske, 1994). As an example we have chosen Edfeldt (1992) because it stresses the influence of disturbance of the senders message. The sender should create an advertisement and formulate it in the best possible way, in order to sell the product intended. Already at this stage it might happen that the message changes owing to the simple reason that it is not always so easy to put your thoughts into words and pictures. The senders own thoughts have vital importance to how the advertisement will look and through which sender and channel it will be publicized. When the advertisement reaches the sender it will be changed and also be affected by this persons personal thought; later on it will also be adjusted and might again be changed in some ways, in order to fit the media channel, which is intended. After that the receiver, and hopefully also the consi gnee, will get the message and in this step it is their thoughts that decide how the advertisement shall be interpreted. Consequently, at every step there are disturbances, which make the process sometimes troublesome.(Andersson, S. 2004)Advertising agencies make use of their knowledge of psychology to come up with campaigns that will appeal to the consumers desires and needs. In an individual society its easier to victimise the masses with such kind of an advertisement campaign as compared to multicultural societies. Products like fairness creams are significantly advertised in the sub continent and the advertisements give an impression that people who are dark are less likely to succeed in life as compared to the ones with a lighter skin tone. One of the fair and lovely ads shows how a girl cannot get her dream job only because she is dark and after using this product she get it even without an interview. (Fair and lovely, 27 Feb. 2009) Viewing such an ad will impact the people who have a darker skin and in some cases put them in a complex about their appearance. This in turn will make the consumer believe that in order to live a better life they require the product. Contrary to that in countries with a predominant Caucasian population tanning lotions are publicised. These products are again publicised sticking with the same concept. The Coppertone Sun Lotion Commercial from 1989 shows a girl walking on the beach alone and lonely and at the sight of the tanning lotion she starts to fantasize of being really sexy and a male attention magnet. (Coppertone Sun Lotion Commercial 1989, 24 Feb. 2009). This kind of an advertising approach impresses that the product being advertised is not just a luxury cosmetic anymore for the consumer but a survival necessity. Such advertisement campaigns are not taken to be offensive in that particular region and in fact are spot on as these concepts originate from the complexes that originally exist in that particular society. This may also be considered as one of the approaches to this kind of advertising. When the advertisers are dealing with a society like the one in UK that has a mixture of all sorts of cultures using such an advertisement strategy becomes all the more complex and difficult. Some of the ideas might create interest in one particular group of people, while others may be unaffected or worse offended by it. In order to design such a advertising strategy the advertisers may have to have a fairly good knowledge of the way the people think in that particular community which is being targeted. This study will investigate effectiveness of such advertising campaigns as The message of the advertisements is basically to sell products and to be able to catch the receivers attention. Therefore it is important that the sender not only makes sure that the product in the advertisement is successful and is selling, but also is aware of and careful about the pictures many effects. The values that are spread and how they in turn affect the consumer are important for the future of the product ((Hà ¤gg et al., 1972) Literature review Impact of media and in particular visuals on a consumers mind Background Historically, television was assumed to be an excellent vehicle for presenting a message to a relatively captive mass audience (Secunda, 1988). Lead by a large body of research, advertisers often spend noteworthy sums attempting to ensure that certain segments see specific ads enough to prompt some response and spawn the biggest â€Å"bang for the buck† (Vakratsas and Ambler, 1999). There has been a lot of research done on the way consumers react and interpret advertisement. This research focuses on the audience as a whole and consumers as a general market. However there has been no research carried out that divides the consumers in regards to their ethnicity and subcultures and study how each of them react to the same kind of an advertisement. A targeted advertisement is more valuable with the targeted segment because ad characteristics such as actors, symbols, and themes are customized specifically to the characteristics of the targeted consumer segment. Previous research shows that consumers who are members of the group being targeted by an ad are more likely to take a positive interpretive attitude regarding the ad than are members of non-targeted groups (Grier and Brumbaugh, 1999). That is, targeted consumers are likely to create meanings that transmit through the advertisement positively to themselves. It is a common awareness among the managers of multinational companies that advertising plays a vital role in a building brand. Developing and upholding a sturdy brand in the fullest sense requires much more strategic thinking as brand tools suggest the conceiving of a promise of value for customers and then ensuring that the promise is kept. Building a powerful brand requires determining the substantial characteristics of the contributions that carry the brand name and the payback the customers get from those benefits and the psychological or emotional benefits of the products. This may be described as what â€Å"value† means to a typical loyal customer; and what, ultimately, is the crucial nature and character of the brand over time. A good brand image will result in an increase in the brand equity. Strong brand equity allows the companies to retain customers better, service their needs more effectively, and increase profits. (Rajagopal, 2006) Consumers often animate brands by donating them with personality traits, and marketers often create or highlight these perceptions by their brand positioning. Brand personality traits provide symbolic meaning or emotional value that can chip in to consumers image of the brand. Human personality traits are determined by multi-dimensional factors like the individuals behaviour, appearance, attitude and beliefs, and demographic characteristics. Based on the trait theory, (Batra et al. 1993) observed that there are five steady personality dimensions, also called the â€Å"Big Five† human personality dimensions. The â€Å"Big Five† human personality dimensions are Extroversion/introversion, Agreeableness, Consciousness, Emotional stability, and Culture. Based on these human personality dimensions, Aaker (1997) identifies the new â€Å"Big Five† dimensions related to brands. These are Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness. This pattern suggests that these brand personality dimensions might operate in different ways or influence consumer preference for different reasons. Sincerity, excitement, and competence represent an innate part of human personality whereas sophistication and ruggedness tap dimensions of indivi dual desire. Hence, the following proposition has been considered as the customers identify brands that have similarity to their own personalities and represent closeness in terms of the psychographic and emotional attributes.( Rajagopal, 2006) This builds the grounds for the psychologically manipulative advertising strategies. Advertisers study carefully these attributes and try to link it to the consumer. Then base the advertisements to target these personality traits in people. The following discussions in the paper analyze the influence of advertising practices on the buying behaviour of consumers. The discussions in the paper are built around cognitive relationship between the consumer behaviour and communication. There do exist well thought out advertisement strategies that are carefully planned and call upon the values of a closely defined audience or a subculture. Over a period of time, some campaigns can transform the public perceptions, in turn increasing public awareness and changing general perceptions of issues previously overlooked (Rotfield, 2002). Some subjects that are commonly used as the bases of such sort of an advertising strategy are talked about in the following chapters. These form the basis of psychological manipulative advertising strategies and have an underlined meaning and an impact on the way the consumer not just sees the product but also triggers some emotions that they start to relate to it. Sexuality The upcoming and the new focus of advertiser in th fashion advertisement is the homosexual community. With approximately 22-30 million members (Dossi, 2006), or approximately 6-7 percent of American adults (Seckler, 2006), and a combined collective buying power of $641 billion in 2006, the USA gay and lesbian market is commonly considered the â€Å"Dream Market† (Packaged Facts, 2004). The average household income for gay/lesbian households is between $60,000 and $79,999, significantly higher than that of their heterosexual counterparts (GL Census, 2005). These figures portray the homosexual community as a substantial market. There for an attractive target for the advertisers and a potential consumer base for the brands. A recent study addressing this issue investigates heterosexual and homosexual responses to ads containing heterosexual, implicit homosexual and explicit homosexual imagery (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005, p. 429). The authors of the study find that the conventional straight audience is alienated by explicit gay and lesbian imagery, but not by implicit gay and lesbian imagery. They also find that the homosexual audience responds equally well to both implicit and explicit gay and lesbian imagery, and therefore suggested using implicit homosexual imagery to reach this audience and at the same instance avoid alienating or worse offending the larger heterosexual population that makes up a far greater percentage of the market. However, In this study the use of implicit versus explicit gay and lesbian imagery in this study did not represent a deviation in the degree of intimacy, and may have caused a level of inaccuracy in interpretation of the results. The ad that represented the implicit im agery used was an actual beer ad containing the symbolism of a pink triangle, a rainbow flag and the slogan, â€Å"Another one coming out†, this add does have a implicit under lying message to it but does not really have a level of intimacy attached to it that was meant to be studied, whereas the supposedly explicit imagery showed a kiss on the cheek or the forehead with either a lesbian or a gay male couple, both images were taken from clothing ads. Neither ad primarily contained explicit sexual contact, and could have portrayed to be a non-sexual relationship.( Dotson M.J, et al. 2009) Based on the findings of Dotson M.J it is suggested that If narrow targeting is possible, it is preferable to the use of crossover ads. If ones primary audience consists of straight males, one might not wish to use ads with any homosexual themes. There is perhaps wider freedom with a straight female audience who may be more tolerant of ambiguous homosexual imagery. If ones primary audience is gay and lesbian, evident depictions of primarily gay males and lesbians, especially androgynous depictions, are recommended. If management wishes to use crossover appeals in a publication that appeals to both gays and straights, ambiguous subtle approaches would appear to be most appropriate (Dotson M.J, et al. 2009). Gender Gender is one of another tools that can be used for this kind of an advertising approach and plays an important role in how ads are perceived. Both the gender of the audience as well as the gender of the models presented in the ads (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005) is of equal value. The relations between genders may have important implications for marketers. Advertisers often place the same advertisement in multiple media outlets, and rely on it communicate a specialized message to each audience (Penaloza, 1996). This could be a problem or a gamble both at the same time. It may be a problem as all the media might not be aiming to the same kind of a consumer in terms of background and mental and emotional levels, therefore the message may be interpreted differently by the variance in the market that is being targeted. It may be a gamble as the advertisers are trying to reach out to a wider demographic with the same advertisement this could be a hit or miss situation depending on the typ e advertisement and the consumer it is targeting. Advertisers usually use gender stereotypes and gender-linked traits (a collection of psychological characteristics and behaviours characterizing men and women) and gender roles activities differentially appropriate for men or women in advertisements (An.D and kim S. 2007). Usually gender role depictions of women as dependent and emotional have been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes and having adverse effects on a wide range of behaviours (Bretl and Cantor, 1988). Specifically, Jones (1991) summarized instances of subtle stereotyping in advertisements: †¢ functional ranking – the ability to depict men in executive roles and as more functional when collaborating with women; †¢ relative size – the inclination to depict men as taller and larger than women, except in the case when women are clearly superior in social status; †¢ reutilization of subordination – an surplus of images of women lying on floors and beds or as objects of mens mock assaults; †¢ the feminine touch – the tendency to show women cradling and caressing the surface of objects with their fingers; and †¢ Family – fathers depicted as physically distant from their families or as relating primarily to sons, and mothers depicted as relating primarily to daughters. (An.D and kim S. 2007) In the past content analysis has been used as a major research method to investigate gender roles portrayed in advertising (Cooper-Chen, 1995). Since, there has been such high levels of research in this particular area, its is not fair to provide a complete review in a few paragraphs (for articles based on the review , see Courtney and Whipple, 1983; Furnham and Mak, 1999. In the first study of this particular subject, Courtney and Lockeretz (1971) reported that US magazine advertisements depicted woman for having a place only in the household, and also did not consider them of a great value to make important decisions, and thus highly dependent on the opposite sex for that matter. In the next few decades, quite a few studies based on the subject (McArthur and Resko, 1975; Belkaoui and Belkaoui, 1976; Whipple and Courtney, 1985; Gilly, 1988; Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Mazzella et al., 1992; Kramer and Knupfer, 1997; Furnham and Mak, 1999; Furnham et al., 2000) also portrayed and examine d this depiction of woman in US magazine and television advertising. This research implied the status of woman and their role to be more of a passive nature, secondary to men, and thus dependent on men, and not capable of making important decisions, depicting their lack of brainpower and authority, younger, appealing, self-enhancing, and ornamental. Such stereotyping in the portrayal of women has continued into the mid-1990s although percentage of women shown as professionals and managers has made modest gains since the late 1950s (Cheng, 1997). The role of women was also brought forward as for being an attention grabber in advertisements, women were quiet often shown as objects of sex (Soley and Kurzbard, 1986; Ferguson et al., 1990; Klassen et al., 1993). While most researchers were mainly focusing and paying attention to the role of women, another research has observed the portrayal of men and women appearing in advertisements together (Wiles and Tjernlund, 1991; Klassen et al., 1993; Zotos and Lysonski, 1994) or male positioning solely (Wolheter and Lammers, 1980; Skelly and Lundstrom, 1981; Kolbe and Albanese, 1996). These studies generally implied that men are depicted in categorically dissimilar ways as authoritative, sovereign, professional, self-directed, outdoor, middle-aged, argumentative, practical, and pleasurable. Comparative studies showed that the difference in the portrayal of the two sexes was in the presentation (i.e. men were kept in the forground as the main focus as the women provided to be a back ground) of the type of products advertised (e.g. men were used for technical products or women for the purpose of household products). Other researchers (Soley and Kurzbard, 1986; Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Ferguson et al., 1990; Klassen et al., 1993) observed that the advertisers had made some development in the ways both the genders are advertised, mainly in the depiction of women in a less domesticated way (e.g. regular representations of women in more professional and corporate ways) perhaps due to the increasing feminine movements along with â€Å"raising† of feminist consciousness (Ford and LaTour, 1993). In this observation the cases studied the impact that the consumer psychology had on the way advertisers approach their advertising campaigns. This also suggested that the advertisers dont just use advertising to make people believe in things but at times use underlying norms prevailing in the society to structure the advertising campaigns in order to relate to the audiences and reach out to them. Hence leaving an impact on the way they view things. Celebrity Another key aspect that advertisers especially in the fashion arena use to impact and attract the consumers attention is celebrities. From the work of Langmeyer and Shank (1994), we can define this assemble not only comprise objective beauty, but also non-physical beauty, such as sportsmanship, charm, grace, intelligence and credibility. A good-looking celebrity is more likely to be a more powerful foundation of a brands image due to the advantage of their celebrity standing and their physical attractiveness (Kamins, 1990). In research that has investigated physical attractiveness showed that physically attractive celebrities have a positive effect on the products and brands with which they are linked to. As an example, after thoroughly reviewing the literature, Joseph (1982) states that physically attractive celebrities have a positive effect on the way the product is perceived and looked upon. In another study Kahle and Homer (1985) discover that the celebritys attractiveness can i mprove the way the brand is remembered, what the brand promises and the attractiveness of a brand. In an even more current study, Till and Busler (1998) bring to a close that the use of an attractive representative for the brand has positive effects, on the attitude of the consumers targeted, towards the brand. One of the findings from these observations is that the attractive sources tend to attract more attention than other less attractive sources. Therefore they are able to communicate the meaning with more effectiveness. Building on from these findings, we can say that the more attractive the celebrity, the more the image of the endorsed product will benefit. An example of an advertising campaign where the attractiveness-image of a celebrity has been linked with the image of the brand and used as a psychologically impacting tool for the consumer is the Star Ambassador campaign by a renowned watchmaker Omega. This ad champagne features supermodel Cindy Crawford and Formula One racing driver Michael Schumacher. Crawfords who is renowned for her beauty, and Schumachers for his outstanding driving abilities makes them extremely eye-catching and very noticeable in their professions and beyond. These attributes make these celebrities ideal ambassadors for Omegas products (see Omega, 2004). Considering this it is safe to say that celebrity attractiveness has a positive relationship with brand image (seno.d, et al 2007). In a study carried out by Klaus et al. It suggested that, women in particular responded more positively and had a more favourable attitude towards, celebrities in the advertisements.(Klaus N et al, 2008). This research also showed that male and female consumers responded more favourably to adverts with female celebrities, with male participants providing a more favourable response than female participants, but finds only limited interaction effects, in terms of differences between male and female participants attitudes, evaluations, and responses, to adverts with male and female celebrities.(Klaus N et al, 2008) This research observed the impact of this manipulation approach in advertising on male and female consumers. Goldsmith et al. (2000) define celebrity standing in the context of advertising as the extent to which a celebrity is â€Å"perceived as possessing expertise relevant to the communication topic and can be trusted to give an objective opinion on the subject†. This shows that the careful selection of a celebrity to represent a product is crucial, as the celebrity has to have some level of relation to the way the product is preceded by the consumer. It could be in terms of the trust that the consumers hold with the celebrity or the authenticity and the sincerity of the opinion of that particular celebrity on the subject of that product. Expertise and trustworthiness are the most important aspects of celebrity credibility. When consumers evaluate these aspects of a particular celebrity, they echo on the soundness of the pronouncements made by that celebrity. There is a level of trust between the celebrity and the consumer. The trust being that the consumer believes in the credibility of what the celebrity is endorsing (e.g.Hovland et al., 1953). The more the consumer is in favour of these celebrity credibility constituents, the celebrity endorser in turn is seen to be a more convincing source for the representation of that information about the product and also as an authentic representation for that brand (e.g. Ohanian, 1990). After a careful study of the literature on this area, Goldsmith et al. (2000) conclude by saying that the assumed credibility of a particular celebrity has a positive impact, in respect to convincing consumers and influencing consumer attitudes, towards the products with which the celebrity is associated. One such example of a celebrity whose credibility coincides with that of a brands image is John Travolta (actor). He endorses the Australian airlines (Qantas). John Travolta as an individual has a passion for airplanes and aviation. He has a commercial pilot license and also owns a Boeing 707. Considering all this, John Travolta is therefore considered to be a convincing aviation expert. Therefore, the Australian airline (Qantas) values John Travolta as a celebrity endorser for their brand (Gotting, 2002). From what has been discussed above, it could be said that celebrity credibility has a positive relation to the image of the brand. As brand image has a positive relation to brand equity, It can be said that celebrity credibility has an indirect but yet a positive effect on brand equity (seno.d, et al 2007). This research emphasises and proves the importance of such kind of an advertising approach and its positive appeal to not only the brand image but also the brand e quity. Importance of consumer behaviour Consumer behaviour can be defined as ‘the study of the process involved when individuals or groups, select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Solomon et al., 2002). From a marketing perspective, an understanding of consumer behaviour can help marketers to come up with marketing strategies that successfully aim the group being targeted while fulfilling their business objectives. In order to come to a decision the consumer processes the information conveyed to them which in turn triggers a response including feelings and emotions. These messages, usually in form of images, ‘ either present and attractive personality for the product or indirectly suggest to the consumer that they can acquire a certain style by using a particular brand (Duncan, 2002). As an affect of the advertisements consumers relate products and brands to lifestyles or quality. The emotional experience is becoming a crucial part of advertisin g in todays world marketing communicators require a good understanding of these responses and implications in order to be able to foresee the effectiveness of brand messages (Ducan,2002). Cultural diversity in the UK At present marketers supporting ethnic communities are building brand awareness by using central symbolisms to reach ethnic consumers (Holland and Gentery, 1999). The marketers tend to use the stereotypical image of the ethnic minorities as a base for their advertisements. The inevitable stereotypical portrayal of ethnic minorities in intercultural communications results in a wide range of emotional responses and attributes regarding the motifs of marketers (Holland and Ball, 1995). At the same time the negative responses feared as a result of stereotyping regardless of the intention, may be one of the reasons as to why marketers are slow to catch on the ethnic marketing practices (Burton, 2002), also the uncertainty of marketers in how to approach ethnic consumers (Gooding, 1998). From the literature already discussed shows that the advertisers have put quiet a lot of effort in studying the consumer psychology as a whole and in the past have proved to be helpful to the marketers, ho wever very little effort has been put in the past to study the diversity of the market in terms of ethnicity. One such study lead by Holland and Gentry (1999:67) suggested that irrespective of the degree of acculturation of an ethnic individual, they still tend to ‘ maintain expressive symbols of ethnicity and cultural traditions, whilst..adapting or renegotiating them to fit into present day society. The study of these attributes can open a new window of opportunity for the advertisers to reach out to such individuals at a more personal level. In this context the expression to be used goes beyond the symbolic expression, whereas ethnic individuals hand pick parts of their cultural past with the intention of adopting them to the present day society or in other words come up with a hybrid between the two cultures that they coexist in at the same time at more of a psychological level. The strength of ethnic identification is shown to have a significant effect on audience evaluation of advertisements (Greg, 1997), and in turn is more likely to influence the way the information in the advertisements is perceived and subsequently the implications it may have on marketing related decisions (Green, 1999). Donthu and Cherian (1992) discovered that the measure of ethnic identification may be of great significance to the consumer purchase behaviour. Whittler (1991) suggested that individuals with a high ethnic identification had strong cultural attitudes attached to them, therefore are more likely to be affected by the race or origin of the model. Green (1999) discovered in his study that African Americans were more probable to have a positive assessment of an advertisement featuring models from the same race. Advertisers in their attempts to market a product look for the target markets approval for that particular advertisement though when targeting ethnic minorities they should emphasise more on the use of cultural symbols that are closer to that of the target audiences (Holland and Gentry, 1999). Koslow et al. (1994) observed that using Spanish language in advertisements was linked to positive consumer perceptions towards the advertisers sensitivity towards the Hispanic culture. Therefore it could be said that strong ethnic identifiers are likely to trigger a stronger emotional response to the advertisements that depict some sort of cultural attributes (Holland and Gentry, 1999, Green, 1999). Greens (1999) research findings suggested that ‘the individuals feelings towards advertisements depend on the degree of identification with their ethnic group. The proposition of this study would be to the advertisers that there should be a great deal of emphasis on the media strategy which w ould imply that the main focus should be on their target audience rather than on the creative strategy i.e. the use of black/white models. Green (1999) suggested that advertising in the local publications was more effective in regards to national publications when advertising to an ethnic minority. It was also observed that the Asian markets responded better to the ethnic based advertisements irrespective of the type of media (Kinra, 1997). On the other hand the representation of ethnic actors has increased greatly in the media that there is now an over representation of the ethnic minorities in the media as compared to their proportion in the society (Taylor and Stern, 1997). Thi Psychologically Manipulative Advertising Strategies Psychologically Manipulative Advertising Strategies Introduction: This research is based on the psychological effects of advertising on the consumer. The controversial advertising campaigns are intended to provoke discussion of global issues, not to sell clothes. Today, any product is made of two things: a percentage of material and a percentage of image. And the part of the product that is made of image is getting bigger (Luciano Benetton)( Financial Times, 2001). Therefore advertising is getting more tricky and complicated. The picture has great importance to the content of the advertisement because it has the possibility to express feelings. Owing to this, it is very important to be sure that the picture expresses feelings that agree with the strategy of the sender. If not, there is a risk that the picture sends out a message that was not intended (Sidenbladh,E 2000). This not only kills the purpose of the advertisement but fails to impact the consumers mind, not to mention the waste of valuable advertising time and the costs attached to it. Ad vertising intends to influence people to think a particular way and to apply pressure for consumers to purchase a product. There is a level of understanding of this fact on the part of the consumer, but this does not mean that the people are able to fully control their own reactions. To persuade the receiver is the most important task of the picture. The receiver is meant to think along the line of thoughts that the sender intended to create. It is therefore believed that peoples self-understanding, behaviour and lifestyle would be affected. The picture is intended to remind people about their own and personal lifestyle and experiences. The fact is that we look at a picture in accordance with our own experiences. The consciousness only grasps a small part of all the sight impressions we actually receive. This is where peoples different associations and experiences enter the picture (Hansson et al., 1992). Many of these messages are certainly involuntary, usually coming from the atti tudes that are widespread in a society at a given time. These messages are intended to attract the viewer and to guide thier thinking on certain channel with the aim of selling the product and making the consumer believe that are getting the complete package that comprises of the product along with the image attached to it. This may be achieved by giving an impression of what that product may account for in their lives by exaggerating and impressing an image of a certain level of emotional importance that they link to the product. There are many different communication models that originate from the classical Stimuli-Organization-Response Model (Aaker et al., 1992; Fiske, 1994). As an example we have chosen Edfeldt (1992) because it stresses the influence of disturbance of the senders message. The sender should create an advertisement and formulate it in the best possible way, in order to sell the product intended. Already at this stage it might happen that the message changes owing to the simple reason that it is not always so easy to put your thoughts into words and pictures. The senders own thoughts have vital importance to how the advertisement will look and through which sender and channel it will be publicized. When the advertisement reaches the sender it will be changed and also be affected by this persons personal thought; later on it will also be adjusted and might again be changed in some ways, in order to fit the media channel, which is intended. After that the receiver, and hopefully also the consi gnee, will get the message and in this step it is their thoughts that decide how the advertisement shall be interpreted. Consequently, at every step there are disturbances, which make the process sometimes troublesome.(Andersson, S. 2004)Advertising agencies make use of their knowledge of psychology to come up with campaigns that will appeal to the consumers desires and needs. In an individual society its easier to victimise the masses with such kind of an advertisement campaign as compared to multicultural societies. Products like fairness creams are significantly advertised in the sub continent and the advertisements give an impression that people who are dark are less likely to succeed in life as compared to the ones with a lighter skin tone. One of the fair and lovely ads shows how a girl cannot get her dream job only because she is dark and after using this product she get it even without an interview. (Fair and lovely, 27 Feb. 2009) Viewing such an ad will impact the people who have a darker skin and in some cases put them in a complex about their appearance. This in turn will make the consumer believe that in order to live a better life they require the product. Contrary to that in countries with a predominant Caucasian population tanning lotions are publicised. These products are again publicised sticking with the same concept. The Coppertone Sun Lotion Commercial from 1989 shows a girl walking on the beach alone and lonely and at the sight of the tanning lotion she starts to fantasize of being really sexy and a male attention magnet. (Coppertone Sun Lotion Commercial 1989, 24 Feb. 2009). This kind of an advertising approach impresses that the product being advertised is not just a luxury cosmetic anymore for the consumer but a survival necessity. Such advertisement campaigns are not taken to be offensive in that particular region and in fact are spot on as these concepts originate from the complexes that originally exist in that particular society. This may also be considered as one of the approaches to this kind of advertising. When the advertisers are dealing with a society like the one in UK that has a mixture of all sorts of cultures using such an advertisement strategy becomes all the more complex and difficult. Some of the ideas might create interest in one particular group of people, while others may be unaffected or worse offended by it. In order to design such a advertising strategy the advertisers may have to have a fairly good knowledge of the way the people think in that particular community which is being targeted. This study will investigate effectiveness of such advertising campaigns as The message of the advertisements is basically to sell products and to be able to catch the receivers attention. Therefore it is important that the sender not only makes sure that the product in the advertisement is successful and is selling, but also is aware of and careful about the pictures many effects. The values that are spread and how they in turn affect the consumer are important for the future of the product ((Hà ¤gg et al., 1972) Literature review Impact of media and in particular visuals on a consumers mind Background Historically, television was assumed to be an excellent vehicle for presenting a message to a relatively captive mass audience (Secunda, 1988). Lead by a large body of research, advertisers often spend noteworthy sums attempting to ensure that certain segments see specific ads enough to prompt some response and spawn the biggest â€Å"bang for the buck† (Vakratsas and Ambler, 1999). There has been a lot of research done on the way consumers react and interpret advertisement. This research focuses on the audience as a whole and consumers as a general market. However there has been no research carried out that divides the consumers in regards to their ethnicity and subcultures and study how each of them react to the same kind of an advertisement. A targeted advertisement is more valuable with the targeted segment because ad characteristics such as actors, symbols, and themes are customized specifically to the characteristics of the targeted consumer segment. Previous research shows that consumers who are members of the group being targeted by an ad are more likely to take a positive interpretive attitude regarding the ad than are members of non-targeted groups (Grier and Brumbaugh, 1999). That is, targeted consumers are likely to create meanings that transmit through the advertisement positively to themselves. It is a common awareness among the managers of multinational companies that advertising plays a vital role in a building brand. Developing and upholding a sturdy brand in the fullest sense requires much more strategic thinking as brand tools suggest the conceiving of a promise of value for customers and then ensuring that the promise is kept. Building a powerful brand requires determining the substantial characteristics of the contributions that carry the brand name and the payback the customers get from those benefits and the psychological or emotional benefits of the products. This may be described as what â€Å"value† means to a typical loyal customer; and what, ultimately, is the crucial nature and character of the brand over time. A good brand image will result in an increase in the brand equity. Strong brand equity allows the companies to retain customers better, service their needs more effectively, and increase profits. (Rajagopal, 2006) Consumers often animate brands by donating them with personality traits, and marketers often create or highlight these perceptions by their brand positioning. Brand personality traits provide symbolic meaning or emotional value that can chip in to consumers image of the brand. Human personality traits are determined by multi-dimensional factors like the individuals behaviour, appearance, attitude and beliefs, and demographic characteristics. Based on the trait theory, (Batra et al. 1993) observed that there are five steady personality dimensions, also called the â€Å"Big Five† human personality dimensions. The â€Å"Big Five† human personality dimensions are Extroversion/introversion, Agreeableness, Consciousness, Emotional stability, and Culture. Based on these human personality dimensions, Aaker (1997) identifies the new â€Å"Big Five† dimensions related to brands. These are Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness. This pattern suggests that these brand personality dimensions might operate in different ways or influence consumer preference for different reasons. Sincerity, excitement, and competence represent an innate part of human personality whereas sophistication and ruggedness tap dimensions of indivi dual desire. Hence, the following proposition has been considered as the customers identify brands that have similarity to their own personalities and represent closeness in terms of the psychographic and emotional attributes.( Rajagopal, 2006) This builds the grounds for the psychologically manipulative advertising strategies. Advertisers study carefully these attributes and try to link it to the consumer. Then base the advertisements to target these personality traits in people. The following discussions in the paper analyze the influence of advertising practices on the buying behaviour of consumers. The discussions in the paper are built around cognitive relationship between the consumer behaviour and communication. There do exist well thought out advertisement strategies that are carefully planned and call upon the values of a closely defined audience or a subculture. Over a period of time, some campaigns can transform the public perceptions, in turn increasing public awareness and changing general perceptions of issues previously overlooked (Rotfield, 2002). Some subjects that are commonly used as the bases of such sort of an advertising strategy are talked about in the following chapters. These form the basis of psychological manipulative advertising strategies and have an underlined meaning and an impact on the way the consumer not just sees the product but also triggers some emotions that they start to relate to it. Sexuality The upcoming and the new focus of advertiser in th fashion advertisement is the homosexual community. With approximately 22-30 million members (Dossi, 2006), or approximately 6-7 percent of American adults (Seckler, 2006), and a combined collective buying power of $641 billion in 2006, the USA gay and lesbian market is commonly considered the â€Å"Dream Market† (Packaged Facts, 2004). The average household income for gay/lesbian households is between $60,000 and $79,999, significantly higher than that of their heterosexual counterparts (GL Census, 2005). These figures portray the homosexual community as a substantial market. There for an attractive target for the advertisers and a potential consumer base for the brands. A recent study addressing this issue investigates heterosexual and homosexual responses to ads containing heterosexual, implicit homosexual and explicit homosexual imagery (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005, p. 429). The authors of the study find that the conventional straight audience is alienated by explicit gay and lesbian imagery, but not by implicit gay and lesbian imagery. They also find that the homosexual audience responds equally well to both implicit and explicit gay and lesbian imagery, and therefore suggested using implicit homosexual imagery to reach this audience and at the same instance avoid alienating or worse offending the larger heterosexual population that makes up a far greater percentage of the market. However, In this study the use of implicit versus explicit gay and lesbian imagery in this study did not represent a deviation in the degree of intimacy, and may have caused a level of inaccuracy in interpretation of the results. The ad that represented the implicit im agery used was an actual beer ad containing the symbolism of a pink triangle, a rainbow flag and the slogan, â€Å"Another one coming out†, this add does have a implicit under lying message to it but does not really have a level of intimacy attached to it that was meant to be studied, whereas the supposedly explicit imagery showed a kiss on the cheek or the forehead with either a lesbian or a gay male couple, both images were taken from clothing ads. Neither ad primarily contained explicit sexual contact, and could have portrayed to be a non-sexual relationship.( Dotson M.J, et al. 2009) Based on the findings of Dotson M.J it is suggested that If narrow targeting is possible, it is preferable to the use of crossover ads. If ones primary audience consists of straight males, one might not wish to use ads with any homosexual themes. There is perhaps wider freedom with a straight female audience who may be more tolerant of ambiguous homosexual imagery. If ones primary audience is gay and lesbian, evident depictions of primarily gay males and lesbians, especially androgynous depictions, are recommended. If management wishes to use crossover appeals in a publication that appeals to both gays and straights, ambiguous subtle approaches would appear to be most appropriate (Dotson M.J, et al. 2009). Gender Gender is one of another tools that can be used for this kind of an advertising approach and plays an important role in how ads are perceived. Both the gender of the audience as well as the gender of the models presented in the ads (Oakenfull and Greenlee, 2005) is of equal value. The relations between genders may have important implications for marketers. Advertisers often place the same advertisement in multiple media outlets, and rely on it communicate a specialized message to each audience (Penaloza, 1996). This could be a problem or a gamble both at the same time. It may be a problem as all the media might not be aiming to the same kind of a consumer in terms of background and mental and emotional levels, therefore the message may be interpreted differently by the variance in the market that is being targeted. It may be a gamble as the advertisers are trying to reach out to a wider demographic with the same advertisement this could be a hit or miss situation depending on the typ e advertisement and the consumer it is targeting. Advertisers usually use gender stereotypes and gender-linked traits (a collection of psychological characteristics and behaviours characterizing men and women) and gender roles activities differentially appropriate for men or women in advertisements (An.D and kim S. 2007). Usually gender role depictions of women as dependent and emotional have been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes and having adverse effects on a wide range of behaviours (Bretl and Cantor, 1988). Specifically, Jones (1991) summarized instances of subtle stereotyping in advertisements: †¢ functional ranking – the ability to depict men in executive roles and as more functional when collaborating with women; †¢ relative size – the inclination to depict men as taller and larger than women, except in the case when women are clearly superior in social status; †¢ reutilization of subordination – an surplus of images of women lying on floors and beds or as objects of mens mock assaults; †¢ the feminine touch – the tendency to show women cradling and caressing the surface of objects with their fingers; and †¢ Family – fathers depicted as physically distant from their families or as relating primarily to sons, and mothers depicted as relating primarily to daughters. (An.D and kim S. 2007) In the past content analysis has been used as a major research method to investigate gender roles portrayed in advertising (Cooper-Chen, 1995). Since, there has been such high levels of research in this particular area, its is not fair to provide a complete review in a few paragraphs (for articles based on the review , see Courtney and Whipple, 1983; Furnham and Mak, 1999. In the first study of this particular subject, Courtney and Lockeretz (1971) reported that US magazine advertisements depicted woman for having a place only in the household, and also did not consider them of a great value to make important decisions, and thus highly dependent on the opposite sex for that matter. In the next few decades, quite a few studies based on the subject (McArthur and Resko, 1975; Belkaoui and Belkaoui, 1976; Whipple and Courtney, 1985; Gilly, 1988; Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Mazzella et al., 1992; Kramer and Knupfer, 1997; Furnham and Mak, 1999; Furnham et al., 2000) also portrayed and examine d this depiction of woman in US magazine and television advertising. This research implied the status of woman and their role to be more of a passive nature, secondary to men, and thus dependent on men, and not capable of making important decisions, depicting their lack of brainpower and authority, younger, appealing, self-enhancing, and ornamental. Such stereotyping in the portrayal of women has continued into the mid-1990s although percentage of women shown as professionals and managers has made modest gains since the late 1950s (Cheng, 1997). The role of women was also brought forward as for being an attention grabber in advertisements, women were quiet often shown as objects of sex (Soley and Kurzbard, 1986; Ferguson et al., 1990; Klassen et al., 1993). While most researchers were mainly focusing and paying attention to the role of women, another research has observed the portrayal of men and women appearing in advertisements together (Wiles and Tjernlund, 1991; Klassen et al., 1993; Zotos and Lysonski, 1994) or male positioning solely (Wolheter and Lammers, 1980; Skelly and Lundstrom, 1981; Kolbe and Albanese, 1996). These studies generally implied that men are depicted in categorically dissimilar ways as authoritative, sovereign, professional, self-directed, outdoor, middle-aged, argumentative, practical, and pleasurable. Comparative studies showed that the difference in the portrayal of the two sexes was in the presentation (i.e. men were kept in the forground as the main focus as the women provided to be a back ground) of the type of products advertised (e.g. men were used for technical products or women for the purpose of household products). Other researchers (Soley and Kurzbard, 1986; Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Ferguson et al., 1990; Klassen et al., 1993) observed that the advertisers had made some development in the ways both the genders are advertised, mainly in the depiction of women in a less domesticated way (e.g. regular representations of women in more professional and corporate ways) perhaps due to the increasing feminine movements along with â€Å"raising† of feminist consciousness (Ford and LaTour, 1993). In this observation the cases studied the impact that the consumer psychology had on the way advertisers approach their advertising campaigns. This also suggested that the advertisers dont just use advertising to make people believe in things but at times use underlying norms prevailing in the society to structure the advertising campaigns in order to relate to the audiences and reach out to them. Hence leaving an impact on the way they view things. Celebrity Another key aspect that advertisers especially in the fashion arena use to impact and attract the consumers attention is celebrities. From the work of Langmeyer and Shank (1994), we can define this assemble not only comprise objective beauty, but also non-physical beauty, such as sportsmanship, charm, grace, intelligence and credibility. A good-looking celebrity is more likely to be a more powerful foundation of a brands image due to the advantage of their celebrity standing and their physical attractiveness (Kamins, 1990). In research that has investigated physical attractiveness showed that physically attractive celebrities have a positive effect on the products and brands with which they are linked to. As an example, after thoroughly reviewing the literature, Joseph (1982) states that physically attractive celebrities have a positive effect on the way the product is perceived and looked upon. In another study Kahle and Homer (1985) discover that the celebritys attractiveness can i mprove the way the brand is remembered, what the brand promises and the attractiveness of a brand. In an even more current study, Till and Busler (1998) bring to a close that the use of an attractive representative for the brand has positive effects, on the attitude of the consumers targeted, towards the brand. One of the findings from these observations is that the attractive sources tend to attract more attention than other less attractive sources. Therefore they are able to communicate the meaning with more effectiveness. Building on from these findings, we can say that the more attractive the celebrity, the more the image of the endorsed product will benefit. An example of an advertising campaign where the attractiveness-image of a celebrity has been linked with the image of the brand and used as a psychologically impacting tool for the consumer is the Star Ambassador campaign by a renowned watchmaker Omega. This ad champagne features supermodel Cindy Crawford and Formula One racing driver Michael Schumacher. Crawfords who is renowned for her beauty, and Schumachers for his outstanding driving abilities makes them extremely eye-catching and very noticeable in their professions and beyond. These attributes make these celebrities ideal ambassadors for Omegas products (see Omega, 2004). Considering this it is safe to say that celebrity attractiveness has a positive relationship with brand image (seno.d, et al 2007). In a study carried out by Klaus et al. It suggested that, women in particular responded more positively and had a more favourable attitude towards, celebrities in the advertisements.(Klaus N et al, 2008). This research also showed that male and female consumers responded more favourably to adverts with female celebrities, with male participants providing a more favourable response than female participants, but finds only limited interaction effects, in terms of differences between male and female participants attitudes, evaluations, and responses, to adverts with male and female celebrities.(Klaus N et al, 2008) This research observed the impact of this manipulation approach in advertising on male and female consumers. Goldsmith et al. (2000) define celebrity standing in the context of advertising as the extent to which a celebrity is â€Å"perceived as possessing expertise relevant to the communication topic and can be trusted to give an objective opinion on the subject†. This shows that the careful selection of a celebrity to represent a product is crucial, as the celebrity has to have some level of relation to the way the product is preceded by the consumer. It could be in terms of the trust that the consumers hold with the celebrity or the authenticity and the sincerity of the opinion of that particular celebrity on the subject of that product. Expertise and trustworthiness are the most important aspects of celebrity credibility. When consumers evaluate these aspects of a particular celebrity, they echo on the soundness of the pronouncements made by that celebrity. There is a level of trust between the celebrity and the consumer. The trust being that the consumer believes in the credibility of what the celebrity is endorsing (e.g.Hovland et al., 1953). The more the consumer is in favour of these celebrity credibility constituents, the celebrity endorser in turn is seen to be a more convincing source for the representation of that information about the product and also as an authentic representation for that brand (e.g. Ohanian, 1990). After a careful study of the literature on this area, Goldsmith et al. (2000) conclude by saying that the assumed credibility of a particular celebrity has a positive impact, in respect to convincing consumers and influencing consumer attitudes, towards the products with which the celebrity is associated. One such example of a celebrity whose credibility coincides with that of a brands image is John Travolta (actor). He endorses the Australian airlines (Qantas). John Travolta as an individual has a passion for airplanes and aviation. He has a commercial pilot license and also owns a Boeing 707. Considering all this, John Travolta is therefore considered to be a convincing aviation expert. Therefore, the Australian airline (Qantas) values John Travolta as a celebrity endorser for their brand (Gotting, 2002). From what has been discussed above, it could be said that celebrity credibility has a positive relation to the image of the brand. As brand image has a positive relation to brand equity, It can be said that celebrity credibility has an indirect but yet a positive effect on brand equity (seno.d, et al 2007). This research emphasises and proves the importance of such kind of an advertising approach and its positive appeal to not only the brand image but also the brand e quity. Importance of consumer behaviour Consumer behaviour can be defined as ‘the study of the process involved when individuals or groups, select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Solomon et al., 2002). From a marketing perspective, an understanding of consumer behaviour can help marketers to come up with marketing strategies that successfully aim the group being targeted while fulfilling their business objectives. In order to come to a decision the consumer processes the information conveyed to them which in turn triggers a response including feelings and emotions. These messages, usually in form of images, ‘ either present and attractive personality for the product or indirectly suggest to the consumer that they can acquire a certain style by using a particular brand (Duncan, 2002). As an affect of the advertisements consumers relate products and brands to lifestyles or quality. The emotional experience is becoming a crucial part of advertisin g in todays world marketing communicators require a good understanding of these responses and implications in order to be able to foresee the effectiveness of brand messages (Ducan,2002). Cultural diversity in the UK At present marketers supporting ethnic communities are building brand awareness by using central symbolisms to reach ethnic consumers (Holland and Gentery, 1999). The marketers tend to use the stereotypical image of the ethnic minorities as a base for their advertisements. The inevitable stereotypical portrayal of ethnic minorities in intercultural communications results in a wide range of emotional responses and attributes regarding the motifs of marketers (Holland and Ball, 1995). At the same time the negative responses feared as a result of stereotyping regardless of the intention, may be one of the reasons as to why marketers are slow to catch on the ethnic marketing practices (Burton, 2002), also the uncertainty of marketers in how to approach ethnic consumers (Gooding, 1998). From the literature already discussed shows that the advertisers have put quiet a lot of effort in studying the consumer psychology as a whole and in the past have proved to be helpful to the marketers, ho wever very little effort has been put in the past to study the diversity of the market in terms of ethnicity. One such study lead by Holland and Gentry (1999:67) suggested that irrespective of the degree of acculturation of an ethnic individual, they still tend to ‘ maintain expressive symbols of ethnicity and cultural traditions, whilst..adapting or renegotiating them to fit into present day society. The study of these attributes can open a new window of opportunity for the advertisers to reach out to such individuals at a more personal level. In this context the expression to be used goes beyond the symbolic expression, whereas ethnic individuals hand pick parts of their cultural past with the intention of adopting them to the present day society or in other words come up with a hybrid between the two cultures that they coexist in at the same time at more of a psychological level. The strength of ethnic identification is shown to have a significant effect on audience evaluation of advertisements (Greg, 1997), and in turn is more likely to influence the way the information in the advertisements is perceived and subsequently the implications it may have on marketing related decisions (Green, 1999). Donthu and Cherian (1992) discovered that the measure of ethnic identification may be of great significance to the consumer purchase behaviour. Whittler (1991) suggested that individuals with a high ethnic identification had strong cultural attitudes attached to them, therefore are more likely to be affected by the race or origin of the model. Green (1999) discovered in his study that African Americans were more probable to have a positive assessment of an advertisement featuring models from the same race. Advertisers in their attempts to market a product look for the target markets approval for that particular advertisement though when targeting ethnic minorities they should emphasise more on the use of cultural symbols that are closer to that of the target audiences (Holland and Gentry, 1999). Koslow et al. (1994) observed that using Spanish language in advertisements was linked to positive consumer perceptions towards the advertisers sensitivity towards the Hispanic culture. Therefore it could be said that strong ethnic identifiers are likely to trigger a stronger emotional response to the advertisements that depict some sort of cultural attributes (Holland and Gentry, 1999, Green, 1999). Greens (1999) research findings suggested that ‘the individuals feelings towards advertisements depend on the degree of identification with their ethnic group. The proposition of this study would be to the advertisers that there should be a great deal of emphasis on the media strategy which w ould imply that the main focus should be on their target audience rather than on the creative strategy i.e. the use of black/white models. Green (1999) suggested that advertising in the local publications was more effective in regards to national publications when advertising to an ethnic minority. It was also observed that the Asian markets responded better to the ethnic based advertisements irrespective of the type of media (Kinra, 1997). On the other hand the representation of ethnic actors has increased greatly in the media that there is now an over representation of the ethnic minorities in the media as compared to their proportion in the society (Taylor and Stern, 1997). Thi