Facebook use benifits and risks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Facebook use benifits and risks - Research Paper Example These teenagers have brought with them the much needed attention deriving regime which is so very important for this age population in the current times. The benefits of using Facebook for the teenagers is that they remain busy in one chore or the other whilst being on a page, at a friend’s wall or even while viewing photos. The negative is that they find out just too much for their liking. The element of gossip within the teenagers is derived from the feed that they witness or post on the Facebook. Facebook is such a big phenomenon in their social circle that they cannot live without it. They believe that their whole life is dependent on the good and bad points that come attached with Facebook in essence. There is a good amount of research available that infers the fact that Facebook is creating waves for all the right and wrong reasons. Delving deep into the benefits of Facebook, one should understand that Facebook is a complete experience for the teens of today. They can gain so much from it that one can only fathom about. The positives are in the wake of understanding how they get to become friends with people they have just met in real life, and at times too when they have not even met an individual; they are connected in a virtual world through Facebook. The positives are endless and the bounties that come attached with it are aplenty. Facebook educates the users to have a smooth flow of the website which is indeed a social networking tool (Greenfield 2008). The Help section represents the manner in which steps are detailed in a sequential way. The step by step procedures are such that one can comprehend a great amount of knowledge and information from the manual that is embedded within Facebook. Also the amount of information that they receive with regards to their favorite eateries, products, events and servi ces is something that one can see as a major positive within the thick of things. Facebook educates,

What Is the Significance of Grading Sysytem Essay Example for Free

What Is the Significance of Grading Sysytem Essay With the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program, the traditional numerical values in the report cards of students will no longer appear. Instead, the Department of Education (DepEd) will be using a new grading system to assess and rate learning outcomes of students in public elementary and high schools. Effective this school year, DepEd said parents and student will no longer see numbers in the report cards of students from Grades 1 to 10. Based on DepEd Order No. 31, Series of 2012, or the â€Å"Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of Grades 1 to 12 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) Effective School Year 2012-2013,† Education Secretary Armin Luistro ordered public schools to implement the K to 12 BEC, particularly on Grades 1 and 7 which will be most affected by the new curriculum, and challenged schools â€Å"to implement the guidelines in creative and innovative ways for the curriculum can be localized without compromising the philosophy of total learner d evelopment. † â€Å"The new grading system seeks to measure the students’ level of proficiency at the end of each quarter,† Luistro said. â€Å"The assessment process is holistic and aims to ensure the quality of student learning with emphasis on formation and development,† he explained. DepEd, Luistro said, â€Å"will also release another separate order with more details on the new rating system.† In the new grading system, letter â€Å"A† will reflect as highest the grade; letter â€Å"P† as second highest; and letter â€Å"B† as the lowest. Luistro explained that the letters actually represent â€Å"levels of proficiency as abbreviated†. To rate the learning outcome of students, teachers will be giving a grade â€Å"A† (â€Å"Advanced†) to students with 90 percent and above rating; â€Å"P† (â€Å"Proficient†) to students with 85 to 89 percent rating; â€Å"AP† (â€Å"Approaching Proficiency†) to s tudents with 80 to 84 percent rating; â€Å"D† (â€Å"Developing†) to students with 75 to 79 percent rating and â€Å"B† (â€Å"Beginning†) to students with 74 percent and below rating. Luistro said that teachers will still measure students’ progress with numerical values, but their letter equivalents above will be used in report cards â€Å"so that the focus will be less on competition and more on achieving standards of learning.† At the end of the quarter, Luistro explained that the performance of students shall be described in the report card based on the level of proficiency. When the teacher gives â€Å"B† it means that the student â€Å"struggles with his/her understanding; pre-requisite and fundamental knowledge and/or skills have not been required or developed adequately to aid understanding.† Students given with â€Å"D† are those that â€Å"possess the minimum knowledge and skills and core understandings but needs the help throughout the performance of authentic tasks† while those given â€Å"AP† are students that have â€Å"developed the fundamental knowledge and skills and core understandings and with little guidance from teacher and/or with some assistance from peers, can transfer these understandings through authentic performance tasks.† Those that are given â€Å"P† are students that have â€Å"developed fundamental knowledge and skills and core understandings and can transfer them independently through authentic performance tasks† while students given with â€Å"A† are those that â€Å"exceeds the core requirements in terms of knowledge, skills, and understandings and can transfer them automatically and flexible through authentic performance tasks.† Luistro said that the assessment process to be used is holistic, with emphasis on the formative or developmental purpose of quality assuring student learning. â€Å"It is also standards-based as it seeks to ensure that teachers will teach to the standards and students will aim to meet or even exceed the standards,† he added. Luistro added that student performance will still be assessed at four levels, including Knowledge with 15 percent; Process or Skills with 25%; Understanding with 30%; and Products/Performances with 30 % with a total of 100%. The results of the student’s performance, Luistro added, will be summed up based on these levels to come up with a numerical value. â€Å"The corresponding level of proficiency will appear on the report card at the end of the quarter,† he explained. At the end of the four quarters, Luistro explained that the Final Grade for each learning are shall be reported as â€Å"average of the four quarterly ratings, expressed in terms of the levels of proficiency.† Also, he said that â€Å"the general average will be computed based on the final grades of the different learning areas, and will be expressed in terms of the levels of proficiency with the numerical equivalent shall appear in parenthesis.† Luistro also stressed that promotion and retention of students shall be by subject meaning those students whose proficiency level is â€Å"B† at the end of the quarter or grading period â€Å"shall be required to undergo remediation classes† after class hours so that they can immediately catch up as they move to the next grading period. â€Å"If by the end of the school year, the students are still at the ‘B’ level, then they shall be required to take summer classes,† he said. Meanwhile, some parents and students – particularly those who are grade-conscious – expressed reservation to the new grading system. When showed that sample report card to Mylene Cuevas, mother to fourth year high school (Grade 10) student Liza Mae, she was confused. â€Å"Kung ganito ang gagamitin na grading system, ano ang mangyayari sa ranking ng mga bata? Paano pipiliin kung sino ang magiging first at second honors? (If they will use this grading system, what will happen to the ranking of students? How will they choose who will be the first or second honors?)† she asked. Last school year, Liza Mae ranked second honor. This year, she is eyeing to be the first honor to increase her chances to avail of scholarships once she enrolls in college. â€Å"Kasi sa scholarship or discounts sa tuition, mas malaki ang coverage kapag first honor or valedictorian ka. Kapag ganito ang grading, (letters instead of numbers), mahirap ang ranking, (In getting scholarships or discounts in tuition, bigger coverage is given if you’re first honor or valedictorian. If letter grades will be used, ranking will be more difficult),† she said. The DepEd, on the other hand, said that when it comes to honor students, â€Å"they shall be drawn from among those who performed at the Advanced Level.† â€Å"We will come up with subsequent guidelines will be issued as basis for ranking of honors,† Luistro assured. Meanwhile, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY) Executive Secretary Fr. Conegundo Garganta called on the DepEd to look into the possibility of using idle buildings as a way of addressing classroom shortage. Garganta said the government can use idle buildings, such as those that have been sequestered by the government, to house additional classrooms. â€Å"Maybe the government can use their police power to ask permission to use these abandoned structures,† he said in a church-organized forum. (With a report from Leslie Ann G. Aquino)

Ipad Is The Best Tablet Computer Science Essay

Ipad Is The Best Tablet Computer Science Essay IPad a computer that is a type of a tablet, and it was developed by the Apple Company. Apple designed and marketed the IPad especially for the media which include books, periodicals, movies, music, and games. Another purpose of the Apple to design the IPad is to provide general web and email access. The size and weight of the IPad that are about 700 grams is contemporary among all the smart phones and the laptops. Apple introduces the IPad in April, 2010 and on this release Apple sold about three million IPads in the first eighty days. The operating system of the IPad is almost the same as the operating system of the IPod Touch and IPhone. As the I Phone the IPad is also managed and controlled by the multi touch display that is sensitive to the fingertip contact and up to eleven fingers. IPad is different among the previous tablet computers in a way that previous tablets used the pressure triggered a stylus on the other hand IPad can run not only the I Phone applications, but also ru n its own specific applications, but IPad can only run Apples approved programs and the programs that have in its online stores. IPad for the browsing of the internet, load and stream media and for the installing of software uses the Wi-Fi or a 3G mobile data connection. (Introduction of IPad, (2011)) Hardware Screen and Input: The display of the IPad is the liquid crystal and it touch screen is the about 25 cm. It has fingerprint and scratch resistant glasses the users can use their bare fingers to use it like the IPhones. The users of IPad cannot use the normal gloves and styli because they dont pass on the electrical conductivity, but in market special gloves and styli are available that can be used for the IPad. IPads display screen responds to the two sensors such as an ambient light sensor and 3-axis accelerometer that are respectively adjust the screen brightness and sense IPad orientation. The 3-axis accelerometer also used to switch between portrait and landscape mode. (Introduction of IPad, (2011)) Connectivity: IPad can use wireless or wired connection for the wireless purpose it can use Wi-Fi network trilateration from the skyhook wireless this provide the IPad applications location information the applications such as Google maps and for the wired connectivity it has a dock connector. IPad has a 3.5 mm TRS connector audio that provides the stereo sound for the headphones and two internal speakers. IPad has also a microphone for the purpose of voice recording and a built in Bluetooth 2.1 and EDR interface that not only allows the wireless headphones but also keyboard with all this connectivity devices IPad has 1024768 VGA video output that connect the IPad with the television or other external devices. (Introduction of IPad, (2011)) Power and Battery: The batteries that IPad used is from the Taiwan by Simplo Technology and Dynapack International Technology it is an internal rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery and its adapter is of USB 10 W power and it comes in three internal storage sizes flash drive that are 16, 32 and 64 GB it also have camera connection kit with an SD card reader but the problem is that this card only be used to transfer the photos and videos. (Introduction of IPad, (2011)) Software: As describe earlier IPad can only run the software that are available in the Apple online stores and these software written by the IPads developers theses developers have to pay for the license. IPad has a feature that it can run all the iPhones applications in it modified the screen resolution according to the program or applications. (Introduction of IPad, (2011)) Applications: IPad has many applications in it some of them are Safari, Mail, Video, YouTube, iPod, iTunes, App Store, iBook, Maps, Notes, Calendar, Contacts and Spotlight search and form these many application are the improved version of the iPhones applications. (Introduction of IPad, (2011)) Why IPad is The Best Tablet? IPad is the best tablet it can be seen from the fact that more and more companies are introducing IPads that have more and more extraordinary features in them. (Svensson, (2012)). As a report shows that when we talk about the tablet IPad is still the best tablet according to Chitika firm analytics when the people views for the tablet they mostly viewed for the IPad analytics report IPad page views have 87 percent share of the activity on the internet while searching for the tablet and it is for its features that it has. (Reyes, (2013)). IPad is the best tablet in a way that it consumes less power it has some features that is useful for the customer that is it has accelerator in it that horizontally and vertically adjust the screen and also a light sensor which prevent the human eyes from the rays. It is a multi-tasking device. IPad is the best tablet because it can be beneficial for the academics like the teachers, students use it as a paper replacements because by using the IPads the one can preserves the formatting and also use it to display the figures, diagrams, different images and different types of charts. The teachers can use it to describe different concepts that cannot be understood theoretically by giving the online examples in front of the Students. This not only clears the concepts of the students, but also enhance the capabilities in them and also the self-confidence. Students can use IPads to do work at nights easily because it is comes in approximately 10 inch screen and also less heavy than the traditional computers. IPads screen resolution also low because it has LED screen that is not harmful for the eyes. You can read the whole books on the IPads. (Golub, (2010)). IPad has the built in apps in them that is very useful for the people that use it like Google chrome, Facebook, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft outlook etc. These in built apps useful for all the people like office employees, students, and teachers. People can easily search the content they want and get connected with the people. IPad the best tablet because by using its store app one can have access to the television streaming and the movies. One can download the books easily and also can read the internet content when you are not online by saving the content in a reading list. It is a very useful app that can be used by the people. (Parkhurst, (2012)) IPad is the best tablet in a way that its different apps are very useful in the daily and tough routine of the peoples like in the tough working routine IPads video apps is a very useful app to refresh yourself by watching movies or listen to the good music in front of a tiny screen instead of the large screen obviously we cannot compare the TV with the IPad, but watching movies or your different shows on the IPad tablet making feel you closer and real. Many devices like Apple TV or the Xbox 360 helps to overcome the difference between the content that is on the internet and the TVs that you use in your living room but when you are getting use to of the device like IPad that have speed and convenience then it is difficult to switch off to the technology that is not as convenient and responsive. (Sintumang, (2012)). By using the different magazines and news apps the house wives can enjoy the fashion news, gossips and also keep pace with the world by updating their minds from the news apps. (Caplan, (2012)). The feature that makes IPad best tablet is because it is a device that has all the features in one. Its different apps for engineers and accountants are also a prominent feature. Its journal apps like My Own Diary HD, iJournaler and Max Journal for IPad is very use full for the offices employees. By using these apps you can easily enter the entries in the journal and after completion it is automatically update the date and the ease is that you can export it not only by emailing but also by the file sharing like text files, PDFs. (Wolfe, (2010)) Whenever you want to go anywhere for a long time and want to take all your necessary office items, your books and other things with you but you also want to reduce your packing then what is the way? One easy way is that you can use your IPad. By using the IPads you can have all your books, your maps and also you can use your IPad as your travel guide if you are going for an outing. If you want to know the best places of the country you are going to then by using IPad you can search the latest reviews about the countrys best hotels, finest places and it is not only a time saving process but also more timely and reliable. (Rawlinson, (2011)) Conclusion: As the above discussion clearly shows that the IPad is the best tablet as the first paragraph shows describes the point that in different reports shows that IPad is still the best tablet when the people search for the tablet and thats why the companies are launching the new versions of the IPads and increase the features for the people convenience and for providing them all the ease that they can in terms of technology. First paragraph shows some outlook features of IPad that is its size, its accelerator and light sensor. The second paragraph shows the importance of IPads in the academics that is it is very useful for the student, teachers like the teachers and student can use it for the paper replacement they can use IPads to writing the notes and displaying the figures, graphs and charts. The teachers can use the IPads to explain the concepts to the students that cannot be understood theoretically. The third paragraphs shows that IPads have different built in apps in them like Micr osoft outlook, Facebook, Google Chrome that help the people to stay in touch with their loved ones and for increasing the social network. These apps are also useful for the people in the office to search the material they are looking for and to increase their working capabilities. Fourth paragraph describes that the store app of the IPad is useful to store the books and download them easily the people can also save the online content in a reading list and can read it even if you are not online. Fifth paragraph describes that the IPad can be used as a refreshment tool by watching movies and listening music on it as in the tough working routine IPad is very useful to refresh the mind. Sixth paragraph shows that the IPad app of magazines and news is very prominent app as the house wives and the office going people can keep them updated by the daily news. Seventh paragraph describes the apps for the engineers and accountant that they can use different apps to overcome their work load an d make the work easy for them. Eight paragraph shows that IPad can used as a tourist guide that it can help you to locate the different places and the best restaurant of the country you are going. You can use the IPad to reduce your bulk packing as it provides you the apps and features that helps you in all your way.

Side Effects of Prozac :: Antidepressants Depression Essays

Side Effects of Prozac Unlike earlier forms of antidepressants, such as MAO inhibitors, Prozac and other SSRIs tend to produce fewer and less severe side effects (Hockenbury, 200). According to Prozac's manufacturer, Eli Lilly (2005), side effects caused by Prozac may include nausea, difficulty sleeping, drowsiness, nervousness, weakness, loss of appetite, tremors, dry mouth, sweating, or yawning. Other side effects listed included a change in sexual desire or satisfaction and a formation of a rash or hives. Eli Lilly (2005) states that these side effects generally go away after a few weeks of usage and are not serious enough to discontinue use of the drug. Other side effects of Prozac reported by PDRhealth include abnormal vision, itching, flu like symptoms, gas, sinusitis, and sore throat. Less common side effects reported included abnormal taste, bleeding problems, chills, ear pain, fever, frequent urination, high blood pressure, loss of memory, palpitations, and ringing in the ear. The most common side effects reported in controlled study of patients receiving Prozac, and those receiving a placebo, patients receiving Prozac more frequently reported experiencing anxiety, dizziness, lightheadedness, nervousness, insomnia, drowsiness, fatigue, tremors, nausea, diarrhea, dry mouth, abnormal vision, decrease in libido, rash, sweating, and abnormal ejaculation (American Hospital Formulatory Services, AHFS, 2002). Of these patients, fifteen percent had to discontinue use of Prozac. The main reason reported for discontinuation was the onset of anxiety, nervousness, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and rashes. Fluoxetine tends to remain in the metabolic system for sometime, and because of this any adverse side effects may take a few weeks to dissolve after discontinuation (AHFS, 2002). Side effects reported by patients receiving the weekly dose of fluoxetine in delayed-release capsules, reported relatively the same side effects as those taking a daily dose. Although, problems with cognition and diarrhea were reported more frequently with the delayed-release capsules (AHFS, 2002). The percentages of patients experiencing adverse side effects of Prozac are as follows: twenty percent experienced headaches, nine percent felt anxious or nervous, fourteen percent experienced insomnia, four percent reported drowsiness or fatigue, six percent experienced tremors, and one to two percent reported adverse affects to the nervous system such as confusion, agitation, abnormal dreams, and sedation. The majority of these effects may be caused by the dosage a patient receives, and few patients in each group discontinued the use of Prozac (AHFS, 2002).

Advantages and Disadvantage of Total Instrument Operation

The first advantages is that total station can be a relatively cheap means of fast, high-precision measurements. -Total station needs line of site, but It does not need volleyball of the sky. Total station can be used Indoors, In a mine, or under tree cover that would not be suitable for GAPS measurement. -Third, total station Is suited to take ground measurements. Whereas GAPS Is best suited to grid or geodetic measurements, total station Is best at ground coordinates.Using GAPS to derive ground coordinates (and distance) requires use of an estimated call factor and a mathematic geode to approximate distances on the Earth's surface. -The final advantage to total station is that you don't necessarily need to occupy the point you are trying to measure. Using more advanced functions like offsets, resections, etc. You can measure a point indirectly though combinations of multiple angular and/or distance measures. Disadvantage -Firstly, line of sight is the principle disadvantage to opti cal measurement. GAPS does not need LOS. Secondly, (barring use of a robotic system) total station measurement requires at least a two person survey crew. GAPS only requires one person to survey. -Cumulative error is the third disadvantage. Human and machine error Is tattled with optical work. With each setup and stationing error is imparted to the measurements and subsequent setups and measurements accumulate the errors of previous setups. If you have a 5†³ gun, as much as 2. 5†³ of angular error Is Inherent to every shot. The error in gaps in not cumulative. Each shot has a â€Å"knowable† sphere of error that does not add up from shot to shot to shot. The final disadvantage Is that measurements are not geodetic. An estimated scale actor and correction for earth curvature Is necessary to make measurements relative to the ellipsoid, which Is the basis of the TM/State Plane grids. Advantages and Disadvantage of Total Instrument Operation By Bernardino -Total station needs line of site, but it does not need visibility of the sky. Total station can be used indoors, in a mine, or under tree cover that would not be suitable for -Third, total station is suited to take ground measurements. Whereas GAPS is best suited to grid or geodetic measurements, total station is best at ground coordinates.The final advantage to total station is that you don't necessarily need to occupy the point you are trying to measure. Using more advanced functions like offsets, -Cumulative error is the third disadvantage. Human and machine error is additive previous setups. If you have a 5†³ gun, as much as 2. 5†³ of angular error is inherent to -The final disadvantage is that measurements are not geodetic. An estimated scale factor and correction for earth curvature is necessary to make measurements relative to the ellipsoid, which is the basis of the TM/State Plane grids.

Celebrity Endorsement Essays

Celebrity Endorsement Essays Celebrity Endorsement Paper Celebrity Endorsement Paper SYNOPSIS It is a known fact that the best endorsements achieve an eclectic balance between the product (brand) and the celebrity. Giving a brand a face is more than just a marketing strategy to increase sales or gain market share, it is a decision that can change the future of the brand forever. Choice of the celebrity, hence, is of utmost importance and is usually done based on many different parameters appeal, looks, popularity or even just a fantasy figure to endorse a brand. In todays highly competitive markets, big brands are at logger-heads when it comes to products, each having a similar product to that of a rival. Where does one brand gain that quintessential advantage advertising, service, promise of trust, or even the all important price factors? Advertising seems to be the best platform where brands prefer to compete on right from hiring the best advertising agencies to getting the biggest celebrities. What would be the formula to success then? Well, a good creative agency, a large enough promotional budget and a huge star to endorse your brand would definitely ensure in the minds of a brand management team a feeling of security, success and a triumph over the competitors brand. The general belief among advertisers is that brand communication messages delivered by celebrities and famous personalities generate a higher appeal, attention and recall than those executed by non-celebrities. The quick message-reach and impact are all too essential in todays highly competitive environment. The different models applied by brands to achieve the full potential of such endorsements, highlight the need for a convergence between the theoretical and pragmatic approaches of brand building and effective advertising. The importance of a celebrity-brand match and the various roles played by them as brand-associates show the momentum this strategy has gained in the last decade or so. We put forward certain ideas like positioning by association, diminishing celebrity utility and the Multiplier Effect which show the triangular relationship between the brand, the consumer and the celebrity. India is a country where people are star-struck by film stars, cricketers, politicians, and even criminals. Why? Populations of 1 billion and ticking, everyday people need something or someone to look up to. A sense of security, admiration, comfort, familiarity, and above all, someone they aspire to be at some hidden level in their lives. And clever marketers leverage this very celebrity appeal and are successfully carrying out their jobs by giving the bottom lines of all the brands what they want profit, market share and even recall. But how much star power is too much? Does Amitabh really use Tide, asked a 6 year old to her mother. Her mother laughs and says, No way, just a gimmick. What does that do to the brand? Now, despite the potential benefits derived from celebrity endorsements, they increase a marketers risk manifolds and should be treated with full attention and aptitude. A brand should be cautious when employing celebrities to ensure promise believability and delivery of the intended effect. The growing importance of mythical characters as celebrities and their sway over the target segments are ample proof of public demand for icons to look up to. As the celebrities traverse from a mere commercial presence to public welfare message endorsements, a whole new dimension is added to this process and helps us in achieving a holistic view of the impact which celebrities generate in every sphere and segment through their well-versed endorsements. At the end of the day, do any stakeholders in a company (employees, contractors, customers, shareholders, communities the company supports with jobs) benefit from a celebrity endorsement? Does anyone buy a product because a Bollywood or TV actor/actress stands up and reads a script in somewhat convincing manner? Are their distinctions in how consumers perceive these types of endorsements and respond to them? What happens when a celebrity endorser gets involved in a public scandal, or worse, dies? Will the product lose consumer support or perish? The most important thing to remember is that putting a celebrity in an ad is not an idea in itself. Unfortunately, this is how most celebrities are being used in Indian advertising, where they just become a prop. Ideally, there should be an idea that makes the celebrity relevant to the product and the consumer. A celebritys presence in the ad should be contextual. Celebrity endorsement cannot guarantee fool-proof success. The celebrity endorsement strategy must be integrated with target market characteristics, and the other elements of the marketing mix such as product design, branding, packaging, and pricing. The message execution that will be mouthed by the celebrity must likewise be made clear and single-minded. You can do this cleverly by aligning the spirit of the brand to the product, or by using a celebrity because it ensures that people will notice you, and hopefully remember what the brand is saying. Smart associations are ones where the former happens. Before we go into analyzing success and failure stories of brands, we examine the title once again and try looking at it extremely minutely THE IMPACT As defined earlier, impact would be both short term and long term, but here the focus would be more on the long term implications of the brand. Measurement of this would be challenging and data would be difficult to obtain. The parameters on which impact could be measured would be on a comparative basis of the brand before and after the celebrity began endorsing the brand. Sales / revenue, market share, brand recall, level of repurchase, brand loyalty, trust, image and perception of the brand per say. In this trend of creative advertising, we see usage of celebrities of all walks in life particularly actors, film stars, models, sports persons, and the whole gamut. But the usage can always backfire if the choice of the star is completely contradictory in nature to the brand. Believability and association of brand to celebrity is important. Selection of celebrities can be done while they are at their peak or when they are destined for greatness in the near future. Again a risk that may go either way. What is important at some level is the value that a celebrity adds to a particular brand. The advertiser tries his best to make the celebrity and brand as analogous as possible. The celebrity endorser is seen to score quite well on dimensions such as trustworthiness, believability, persuasiveness, and likeability when tested for reaction from people. This is important to a marketer as if he can get a celebrity to make the masses follow, believe or listen to him, he has been successful. Article Jane Taylor could not have given a better cue with her immortal nursery rhyme* in the early nineteenth century, as the advertisers today discover Consumers like gazing at stars. Michael Jordan appears on the telly and eyes are fixated, Shahrukhs voice booms over the radio and ears perk up, Britney sashays across and heads turn. This is the power of celebrity advertising and it is what corporations across the globe pray to transform into ringing cash registers. The advertisers believe that brand images built through elebrities achieve a higher degree of attention and recall for consumers, eventually leading to higher sales. Undoubtedly, the potential benefits of using celebrity advertising to promote brand images and products are significant, but so are the costs and associated risks. Nevertheless, companies are willing to play the game. Love them or loathe them, celebrities have emerged as frontline warriors in the war of brands and competitive advertising. A central goal of advertising is the persuasion of customers, i. e. , the active attempt to change or modify consumers attitude towards brands. In this respect, the credibility of an advertisement plays an important role in convincing the target audience of the attractiveness of the companys brand. Pursuing a celebrity endorsement strategy enables advertisers to project a credible image in terms of expertise, persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and objectiveness. Marketers have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time. Across categories, whether in products or services, more and more brands are banking on the mass appeal of celebrities. As soon as a new face ascends the popularity charts, advertisers queue up to have it splashed all over. The success of such celebrity endorsements even encouraged political parties to hire celebs for rallies for gathering crowds in the last general elections. Star endorsement deals are big in every way. They are big on expenses and can have huge implications on the brands fortunes. Celebrities have an enormous potential to shape the destinies of the brands they endorse, albeit sometimes negatively. Therefore, marketers who use celebrities must do so prudently, thinking through the concept of such endorsements carefully before adapting it into the message strategy. The celebrity-factor phenomenon seems so simple and yet it is intricate enough to send millions of money washed down without as much as a blink. There is no doubt whatsoever after decades of strong evidence, that celebrities indeed deliver a premium in terms of impact and memorability, not only to the promotions direct audience but also to their related sets like friends and family. The use of celebrities is a testimony to their ability to cut through the clutter and reach the brands target audience immediately and effectively. But then, if this were the sole case, names like Michael Jackson or Md. Azharuddin would not cause many furrows. Hence, it becomes clear that any celebrity endorsement is a two-way funnel between the personality and the product wherein both take upon each others image and responsibility. This brings us to a delicate ground wherein we need to carefully assess the impact of celebrity cajoling on consumer perception and purchase behavior. The immediate question which comes to the mind is Why celebrities, when the same money can be used to promote the same brand in myriad ways through non-celebrity figures. Celebrities are people who enjoy public recognition of a large group of people. Celebrities may convey a broad range of meanings, involving demographic categories (e. g. , age, gender and status), personality and lifestyle types. For instance, people adore Sachin Tendulkar because he represents a middle-class Maharashtrian boy who made it big with sheer hard work. Likewise, Amitabh Bachchan for most is an icon of style, trust and dependability. It would do us well to realize that in this era of slick competition, speed is the key. Celebrities reflect the modern society, transfer their associated qualities to the brand and project a living, breathing image to the product as opposed to a faceless entity. This triggers a chain of social influence which allows the consumers to be in accord instantly with the communicated attitude. As discussed by Kelman (1961), the basis for the effectiveness of celebrity-endorsed advertising can be linked to this process of identification and internalization of the desired behavior. Price of fame may be high for the celebrity endorsed brands but they have both what the markets and the everyday common man want attention, power and star sizzle. In the same breath, the theoretical model hierarchy-of-effects suggests that for a purchase to take place, the consumer must be first aware of the product, then inculcate a liking towards it, and finally develop an intention to acquire it. This ascension is catalyzed by celebrity presence during brand promotion. Be it Rajnikant making a demographic connection or the new avatar of Amitabh Bachchan forging a psychological attachment, they carry a mass appeal and establish instant brand credibility while adopting a subtle persuasive approach. It is presumed that a personalitys dynamic qualities of attractiveness, likeability and appeal are superimposed on the brand image and lead it to acceptance by their fans and the general mass. We can now safely look at the various roles played by the celebrities in this vigorous exercise of name and fame sharing. Usually, the foremost character is that of an Endorser, accepting the product claims and signaling personal preference for the brand something like Beyonce and Beckham for Pepsi. The mantle of Spokesperson comes next as the celebrity speaks of company vision and brand values. Who can forget Amitabhs open ranting about ICICI Bank? The spokesperson takes somewhat of a personal responsibility for the brand promises. And then, there is a coup. We talked all the while about celebrities helping the brand grow and reach new heights, but they have also proven their ability to pull the brands from dire straits and help them bounce back. The Cola companies and the chocolate major Cadburys successfully used their Trouble-shooter guardians to overcome product controversies in India. The final vista sees the celebrities personally get into the act themselves and go for Personality Branding. This strategic climb is still in its nascent stages in the Indian scenario but a rabid act abroad. Latino singer Jennifer Lopez, who released her first perfume Glow by J. Lo in 2002, is estimated to have grossed over $45 million in sales of this perfume, within four months of its launch! The stars really shine; on themselves. So is the celebrity endorsement strategy impeccable? Apparently not. Like any other strategic move in the warfield, it too suffers from its own flaws overexposure, cluttering, confusion and scepticism an all too familiar scenario. Only the brand managers are smart enough to keep changing their pawns timely. Brands employ a smart technique which can well be called positioning by association. The qualities attributed to the personality, rub-off on the brand image and become associated with it in the consumers minds. But the moment there is a breakdown, this position backfires in the first instant. Whenever the celebrity is out of line in his personal or social behaviour, he becomes liability as an advertisement device. We are all well aware of the George Michael fiasco or the O. J. Simpson cases where the brands instantly shunned them due to fear of negative publicity. It is pertinent for the brands to realize that two things should not happen at any point of their communication, if they are to sustain the streak of popular celebrity endorsements. First, while the brand should enjoy the positive vibes of the celebrity, it should be flexible enough to wriggle out of any undesirable situation that the endorser might present. Get a celebrity, create a hype and brand buzz, and fleece the surge and move on to the next. Second, under no circumstances should the celebrity be allowed to overshadow the brand never let him/her become your brand. Shahrukh Mayur Khan, Madhuri Dixit for Emami and Sunil Gavaskar for Dinesh Suitings are classic examples in this case. The moment you cease brand relationship with these over-portrayed endorsers, the euphoria is beaten and confusion reigns in the customers mind. Smart brands follow a strategy similar to the ocean-wave phenomenon Roll a big wave, generate customer delight, submerge his loyalty towards competition, and then, bring another huge one. Celebrity Endorsements Advertising experts concur that you must consider a celebrity endorsement if, and only if, the message strategy warrants it, not as a cover for a poor idea or bad product quality. And last but not the least, one should seriously consider the risks of associating with a well-known personality, and hedge against a future scandal by not relying on just one celebrity and instead linking the brands association with a broad theme represented by several celebrities. And if you cant afford many celebrities, then get your thinking caps on, and come up with a better, safer idea. That will ensure that youre in control of the brands destiny not the stars! Inertia is a potent force and consumers have that in plenty. Brand managers employ celebrities in the age-old AIDA model to counter that. The Celebrities draw Attention, generate Interest, evoke Desire and induce Action from the audience. Our safe assumption till now has been that there is perfect congruency between the brand, the celebrity and the target segment. Lets drop this for a while, to land on the practical ground and look into real-time decisions. An old Japanese proverb goes that Vision without action is a daydream but action without vision is a nightmare. Managements across the world need to realize that no matter how great the ad-spend and famous the celebrity, they cannot succeed if the core product offering fails to meet the consumer expectations. Every endorsed brand may garner some start-up euphoria and blind-spot sales, but to sustain its meteoric rise, it cannot afford product dissatisfaction. In such cases, the celebrities are also quick to dissociate themselves from the brand, as it hampers their carefully cultivated image of an infallible character. Again, not every celebrity works for every product. Each personality carries a set of perceptions attached to it and these have to be in sync with the perception the brand has or wishes to generate. Mercedes Benz would never hire a Govinda in India or Michael Jordan elsewhere, but these same men have simply worked wonders for respective brands like Navratan Oil and Nike. A clean, natural fit between the celebrities and the brand image enhances the latters value. Lux is a glowing example of being the beauty soap of film stars since the last fifty years! A well-managed celebrity endorsement has the ability to convey to the customers that the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, and they will too. Many endorsements fail because they use the celebrities like a prop in the advertisement copy. There should be an idea which makes the celebrity relevant, firstly to the product and finally to the consumer. The bottom line is that the celebrity endorsements work truly only when the commercial is provoking and original. Aamir Khans successful incarnations in the Thanda Matlab copies for Coca-Cola have added a new dimension to this assertion. It projected the brand as the star, being cherished by the celebrity and not the other way round. In addition, an effective endorser should not associate with many different products and fall in the trap of overexposure. Keep the consumers mind clear from confusion and do not let him feel that you are in it for the money rather than truly believing in the brand. The celebrity-brand saliency takes a beating if he is rummaging with several brands and distorts the brand image. The Law of Diminishing Marginal Celebrity Utility would further ensure that the return on such investment would be nothing short of negative. The ad-recall and celebrity association depletes rapidly in such clutter-cases and, hence, the utility obtained by the brand takes a pitfall. An increasingly popular strategy is the employment of the product placement tactic in the movies or television shows featuring the sponsored celebrities. Remember when James Bond traded in his Ashton Martin for a BMW Z3 in the Golden Eye or the looming presence of FedEx in the Tom Hanks super-hit Castaway. The brand believes that with such peripheral routes of communication, it will be able to initiate an alternative channel in the identification process with the consumer. Coca-cola presented this strategy on the Indian scene with its multi-million product placement deal in the movie Taal. It is so much like not in your face, and yet there, urging you passively. Research has again shown that the subliminal effects of such brand imagery tend to linger in the consumer memory for a longer time-period than the direct commercials. Brand, Celebrities Consumers Figure 1: Factors Impacting a Brand while being viewed by a Consumer in Media The model above shows the various factors that affect a celebrity endorsed brand while viewed by a consumer in the media (both TV and print). The central idea being the impact on brand. The three major parts to a brand being shown are: The Product Advertisement The celebrity endorsing it It is important is to study the relationship between these factors and how they together act for or against the brand. The product is important, of course, it may fulfill a need, want or a desire. Quality is quintessential and, hence, nowadays it is understood the product is of highest quality. So what next? The advertisement is important as a good product could see an early exit if the advertisement is handled badly, and otherwise, a mediocre product which is tastefully handled goes a long way. Lastly, the celebrity in the advertisement, recall, trust, familiarity are some of the reasons that they are used. Now consider the interactions of these individual factors. The best of superstars can be doing the advertisement but if the product is far from the image the star has, the whole advertisement is a waste. Imagine an Amitabh doing an advertisement for ad for youth apparel. Well, exceptions can be there but then again it depends on the way it is done. Believability is of vital importance, the TVS Victor advertisement shows us the bike being compared to the bat of Sachin and the strokes he plays. Classically executed advertisement with the bike and Sachin coming out as winners. The relationship between a product and its advertisement again can be either dependant or none. In that case, a shock value makes people remember the brand better and, hence, a possible long term loyalty. Selection of Celebrity Celebrity endorsements are not new. One of the earliest examples is Coca Cola who used Lillian Nordica, a Metropolitan Opera Star as their first model or endorser. She became a household name all across USA known as the Coca Cola Girl. Soon people forgot her as an actress but remembered her as the Coca Cola girl. She did wonders for the brand and this led the company to release a series of these advertisements for over 30 years. Relationship between a Celebrity a Brand To understand how consumers associate celebrities to brands is well documented by a research study by Anderson (1976); Collins Loftus (1975); Rumelhart, Hinton McClelland (1986). In their study, associative learning principles were based on a conception of memory as a network consisting of various nodes connected by associative links. In the research context, celebrities and brands both represent nodes, which initially are unconnected but become linked over time through the endorsement process. When a consumer thinks about a brand, the link with the celebrity node is animated to a certain level through spreading activation (Anderson 1983a). The joint activation of brand and celebrity provides a path over which ones evaluation of the celebrity has an opportunity to transfer to the brand. The key to the process is the simultaneous activation of the brand and celebrity nodes. Negative information about the celebrity activates the celebrity node, which then activates the brand node to some degree and allows reduced evaluation of the celebrity to transfer to the brand. Studies by Noffsinger et al. (1983) and Judd et al. (1991) provide empirical evidence demonstrating that attitudes can be affected in such a way. It is also important to view the consumer in their social and cultural setting to further see how celebrity endorsements increase sales and impact brands over time. Celebrities usually form a very good example of a reference group appeal. This is particularly beneficial to a marketer and a brand who can cash in on the success of the star and, hence, push his brand. People who idolize their celebrities, hence, have a biased affinity to the brand their favorites endorse. As time passes on, they believe that they by adopting the brand that their celebrity endorses are becoming more like them. Celebrities can be used in four ways namely: testimonial, endorsement, actor and spokesperson. Right now the current hot favorite in India is roping in celebrities for social causes like pulse polio, etc. This has shown to be having a positive effect on the people. In India, Bollywood and sport personalities rule the mind-space and airwaves. A recent study by FCB-ULKA was done on celebrity endorsements in India. Here, they discussed two parameters: Compatibility Index and Trait Index when it came to finding the relationship between a celebrity and a brand. Compatibility Index meant that the consumers saw a suitable match between the brand and the celebrity. Trait Index was based on the match between brand and celebrity personality traits. The numbers showed that Compatibility Index was more favorable than Trait Index. E. g. , Hrithik Roshan scored high on his Compatibility Index (100) as compared to his Trait Index with Coca Cola. But the end user being the consumer preferred him. The other startling fact was the high points 93 and 100 by Salman Khan. But Thums-Up had to drop him after Salmans accident. But people still associate Thums-Up with the Khan. The other important factor is unaided association and Salman scored higher than other competition. But in the long run, to protect the brand image, Salman was dropped. So what is important is the way the customer perceives a brand and the celebrity, so if the celebrity is favored, it does have a positive influence over the brand. The other factor is the sheer image or popularity of the star, if the stars image is larger than life, for example, for Amitabh Bachhan or Sachin Tendulkar, the Compatibility Index seems to be a natural collorary. Taking the millennium superstar Amitabh Bachan, as an endorser, he fulfills all the FRED objectives, namely, Familiarity (target market is aware of him, finds him friendly, likeable, dependable and trustworthy); Relevance (which says that there should be a link between the endorser and the product as well as between the endorser and the audience); Esteem (the polio endorsement, for example, is successful as the masses see him as a credible name-face-voice); Differentiation (in all his projections, he is seen to be one among the masses, and yet he towers above them. He is different). His appeal is universal; lesser mortals merely cater to specific niches. While there may be different reasons, depending on the category, the lifecycle stage in which the brand is, and the particular marketing mantra being the flavor of the moment, the main reason is to make the brand stand out and to facilitate instant awareness. For example, in the much talked about Shah Rukh Santro campaign, the organization wanted to overcome the shortcoming of an unknown brand, Korean at that. The objective of the company was to garner faster brand recognition, association and emotional unity with the target group. The Santro ad showed the highest recall amongst auto ads, despite average media spends for the category. Reason being simple star power paid off. Another example was the launch of Tamarind by S. Kumar, they reckoned they spent 40-50 per cent less on media due to the sheer impact of using Hrithik Roshan who was riding on the Kaho Na Pyar Hai wave of Success. Ad recall was as high as 70 per cent, and even the normally conservative trade got interested (so while a new brand would normally take 8-10 months for entry into a Shoppers Stop, Tamarind was prominently displayed within 20 days of launch). But now looking at the long term effects of Hrithik, his movies began to flop and it may seem a sheer co-incidence that the Tamarind brand died out as well. Looking on the flip side, the biggest concerns from the advertisers point of view is that of vampiring the celebrity being bigger than the brand. Consider the 1980s when Dinesh Suitings chose Sunil Gavaskar as their brand endorser. Soon it was seen that Gavaskar completely overshadowed the brand. A similar case was that of Shah Rukh and Mayur Suitings, where post termination of the contract, the corporate had to vest crucial monies in a campaign where the sole objective was to wean the brand identity off Shah Rukh Khan. So having a celebrity who may outshine your product is not such a viable idea is the common consensus. The other problem is that of duration of endorsement, and a possible mismatch between the celebritys life cycle and that of the brand. Owing to unavailability of dates, sometimes long-term contracts are signed, but the celebritys life might be over soon. Multiple endorsements are the other problem. There is unfortunately a limited pool of celebrities who can resonate with consumers. So you have the same celebrity endorsing several categories, as in case of Shah Rukh and Sachin, who are completely over-exposed one would assume a fair degree of confusion and little room for credibility, and hence, a possible devaluing amongst customers. Studying TV and print advertisements, one will realize that either some celebrities are endorsing several brands or a specific brand is endorsed by different spokespersons. These concepts are called multiple brand endorsement and multiple celebrity endorsement respectively. The question is, does this special form of celebrity endorsement affects consumers brand attitudes? Following Tripp et al. (1994), the endorsement of as many as four products negatively influences the celebrity spokespersons credibility (i. e. , expertise and trustworthiness) and likeability. They further add that these effects are independent of the celebrity, i. e. , the perceptions of even well-liked stars can be influenced. Reasons may be found in the lack of distinctiveness, with one famous person endorsing several products instead of concentrating on and representing one specific brand. Though these findings may be valid, it does not automatically mean that the concept of multiple product endorsement is useless. Further, research is suggested on potential positive effects, like transfer of positive brand images, and on the shape of consumers response when more than four products are endorsed. Facts over the Years Approximately 60-70% of all television commercials feature famous people. Aishwarya Rai had once endorsed Fuji-Film camera rolls. The company made an agreement with her to endorse their camera rolls. But, Aishwaryas magic did not work there and they had to terminate the contract. Amitabh Bachchan (AB) was seen endorsing Marutis Versa Car. The AB factor worked wonders as far as generating curiosity was concerned but the actual product couldnt meet the expectations of people, and hence, the endorsement strategy didnt work. He has been used very effectively by Parker Pens, ICICI Bank and Cadburys to name a few. Bata’s sales doubled soon after they ad opted Rani Mukherjee as their brand ambassador. Magic Johnson lost his endorsement deals when he announced in 1991 that hes HIV-positive. It wasnt until July 2003 that he landed his first endorsement deal since the announcement. Ticket sales at Wimbledon are known to have shot up significantly for all matches featuring the latest sex-symbol on the circuit Anna Kournikova. An average player who is yet to win even a single tennis tournament, Anna is known to have earned far more from endorsements than her tennis career could ever have given her. The Argument for Celebrity Endorsements The need for brands to use luminaries in advertising is most felt when the concerned brand has very close substitutes available; when there is a need to create a unique and clear differentiation for the brand, and when the brand has to make an impact at its introductory stage. Marketing people use celebrity endorsements for very good reasons. Research has indicated that target prospects are more likely to choose goods and services endorsed by celebrities than those without such endorsements. Celebrities facilitate instant awareness and immediate attention. In this era of sound bites, channel surfing, visual orientation and quick newspaper scanning, there is great demand for peoples time and focus. Studies have shown that some of the attributes associated with the celebrity are passed on to the brand. For instance, if a motorbike is associated with a celebrity who connotes performance then one need not hunt for the reassurance required to make the down payment. The idea, thus, is to convince people of the utility lying in your brand. For instance, if I want to say Victor motorcycle has high performance and it is hard to convince a priori, then its easier to say: Sachin says Victor is great and Sachin is a high performer; therefore Victor is a high performer too. The brand, therefore is riding piggyback on the celebrity. At a rational level, everyone knows it is a paid endorsement, and there is no immediate, conscious association. But at a subliminal level an association occurs the attributes of one rubs off onto the other. Thats why you wouldnt use a Prem Chopra to promote ICICI Bank. The resounding success of Aamir Khans antics in Coca Cola ads can be seen in the catchy phrases that have become a part of everyday life because the communication entertained consumers. It is not hard to figure out that Coke has chosen to associate itself with Aamir Khan, the trendy face of India, which is Cokes professed personality. Likewise, Santro is using Shahrukhs personality, not his functionality to make their uncool-looking car look cool. Celebrities can provide testimony for a product or service particularly when the product has contributed to their status. Consumers will more likely try Cadburys chocolate endorsed by Amitabh Bachhan since he has openly stated that he regularly eats it. This kind of relationship can increase a consumers belief and trust in the product and its benefits. Charismatic celebrities can also define, refresh, and add dimension to the brand image. Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) and Amitabh Bachchan (AB) worked ecause of the fit factor; KBCs implied proposition was this is a show that an average person can come on and win. Viewers watched people like themselves talking to AB, being hugged by him and so on. Those who have been on the show said they felt like crorepatis even if they didnt win! But the biggest outcome of KBC was that people felt endeared to AB again. Brand Image Celeb rity Research has shown that there are three aspects that influence a customers attitude and, hence, the long term impact on the brand Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and Expertise. The matrix below shows us the images and the celebrities: Aspect of BrandImageCelebrityProduct Attractiveness Elegance Renuka Shahane Whisper Beauty Madhuri Dixit Emami Classy Saif Tiger Pataudi Asian Paints-Royale Stylish Fardeen Khan Provogue Amitabh Bachhan Reid Taylor Trustworthiness Honest Tarun Tejpal Tehelka Reliable Sachin Tendulkar TVS Victor Expertise Knowledge Sachin Sehwag Reebok Qualified Naina Balsavar Shampoo Hence, we see depending on the product and aspect of brand, the choice of the celebrity is important so that the celebrity can reflect that and not go against the brand. Getting back to the basic of branding after such exhaustive examples can make us reflect on our choices of celebrity and the impact on the brand. We talk about Brand Equity, Brand Identity and Position. It is worthwhile to see the effect of a celebrity on these critical elements. Brand equity essentially made up of loyalty, awareness, perceived quality, associations, and other proprietary brand assets. The celebrity should be chosen in such a way as to reinforce and strengthen the brand in all these elements but the question is, can he? Take an example of another star Fardeen Khan, who endorses Provogue. Snazzy fashionable apparel from an Indian manufacturer with the backing of a star son was a great idea for the brand image. It was able to attract new customers who were fashion conscious but unable to afford high price international brands. Awareness of the brand was phenomenal as fashion shows, print and media advertising was booming and Fardeen and Provgue had become a national phenomenon. Quality was given utmost importance and, hence, from the manufacturer side, the commitment to the customer was complete. Competition was present but sales figures showed Provogue reaping handsomely. Then the image of the so-called Bad Boy Fardeen emerged with the drug and brawls in night clubs. This did lead to a certain discontent amongst fans of the star and the brand. But remarkably not much effect on sales. It seemed that the consumers had forgotten Fardeens issues and remained loyal to the brand. Today Fardeen is still the mainframe picture of every advertisement and the brand has not lost any of its shine. The Argument Against Celebrity Endorsements The argument against it uses two questions as its premise: 1) Does it work? ) Is it too expensive an idea given the returns it delivers? The marketing enquiry as a corollary to this then asks: 1)How will it work for my brand? 2) What will that achieve for me in terms of market share? The ever-expanding universe of mega-brand hopefuls is running out of mega celebrities to brandish their products. How many brands does Amitabh Bachhan endorse? What about Tendulkar? The fact that a handful of celebrities are enrobed in labels is a symptom that the endorsement arena is too cluttered. Implicitly, hiring an overused celebrity will probably yield unsatisfactory results. Make no mistake: the law of diminishing marginal celebrity utility is at play no matter how larger-than-life a celebrity may be. A study conducted by Business World showed that over 80% of the people who remembered seeing Amitabh Bachhan in a paint ad thought it was for Asian Paints. For the uninitiated, it was Nerolac. Likewise, the Hutch ad featuring a dog and a little kid did a better job of brand building than Coke with Hrithik Roshan. Of course, defining clearly what you hope the celebrity endorsement will achieve is the key to managing and assessing the return on investment. Is it merely brand awareness? Stronger recall leading to brand consideration? More credibility? Purchase preference? And can these media-made gods achieve these with one deft dialogue in a 30-second spot? Add to that the fact that celebrity advertising increases the marketers financial risk. In a report released by the Cyber-Journal of Sport Marketing, it was revealed that Pepsi paid Shaquille ONeal US $25 million to endorse the popular soda brand. Tiger Woods received US $40 million from Nike to support the companys youth marketing campaign. We wonder what the figure is for Michael Jordan. However, the assumed acceptance of celebrity endorsement amongst an audience is a common advertiser fallacy, congruence of the celebritys image with the category the celebrity is promoting is imperative. Nothing wrong in using celebrities, but they should add a finishing touch. Instead if the whole story is the celebrity and you are just looking at making noise than building your brand, then the brand slinks away into a quiet corner. For instance, Preity Zinta for Godrej refrigerators was a disaster. She just looked pretty but it was useless because she couldnt do anything for the brand! Whereas, the Whirlpool mum is clearly loveable and modern, and comes across as a superwoman and does lend identical attributes to and about the brand. Celebrity endorsements have inherent flaws. Excessive information has resulted in consumers knowing too much about celebrities. Consequently, any act deemed unethical in which a celeb is involved is likely to affect the perception of your brand. Consumers are likely to assume that its the red duty-free Ferrari, and not the economy TVS bike, that makes Sachin smile. Likewise, the sales of Thums Up were known to have been affected post Salman Khans indictment in the black-buck poaching case. When a negative image of the celebrity is portrayed, a tainted picture is also painted for the company or brand, making it difficult to gain consumer trust to support the organization or buy the product. Although there is no way to guarantee that detrimental incidents like these wont occur, some situations may be prevented by evaluating the proposed celebritys personal and professional behavior to determine if they may be vulnerable to negative situations. Measuring a Celebrity Endorsement It becomes very important to measure the effectiveness of a celebrity (or determine the worth of one). Few of the methods of measurement that are in practice are: The Q-SCORE Method The FRED Principle The Q-SCORE Method There is a way to measure the credibility, believability, popularity, and like-ability of a celebrity. Its called a Q-Score, and you can purchase the Q-Scores of the candidates youre considering. Consider both sides of the deal for a client who wanted to use a celebrity endorser, and for a celebrity who was looking for an endorsement opportunity. Once youve defined the kind of endorser you need (e. g. , athlete, actor, male/female, young/old, etc. , its well worth going through the Q-Score exercise. Evaluating the contribution of the endorser after youve already made the decision is not nearly as straightforward. One time, many years ago, a company actually shot a commercial with a well-known (high Q-Score) endorser for national use, and it shot the same commercial with a good actor, not so well-known. The company ran a limited market test for 6 months with the unk nown actor (cutting in the commercials locally, over national network schedule) so could quantify the sales impact of the celebrity. By the way, the celebrity was worth every penny of his outrageous fee. It ended up using him for years, and he helped the brand reach market leadership almost entirely on the strength of the commercials in which he appeared. The FRED Principle This concept is seen as the foundation of a successful endorser selection. F is for Familiarity. The target market must be aware of the person, and perceive him or her as empathetic, credible, sincere and trustworthy. R is for Relevance. There should be a meaningful link between the advertised brand and the celebrity endorser, and more important, between the celebrity endorser and the defined target market. The audience must be able to identify with the person. If consumers can immediately associate with an endorser, they will feel more predisposed to accepting, buying and preferring the brand to competition. E is for Esteem. Consumers must have the utmost respect and confidence for the celebrity. Amitabh Bachhan Tendulkar have these. So do Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Kapil Dev among others. The public respect them because of their distinguished careers and unassailable salesmanship. D is for Differentiation. The target consumers must see the endorser as a cut above the rest. If there is no perceived disparity among celebrities, then the strategy will not work. Michael Jordan is an example of an international celebrity that rises above the clutter. This proves to be a huge contributory factor to his effectiveness as an endorser. The Fred concept is not a guarantee to success, but it can serve as a guideline when selecting a spokesperson. Each organization and its objectives are different, and should be evaluated on an individual basis. Conclusion Celebrities have always been the easiest way for a new product launch (consumer goods) and will remain to do so in the near future on account of their mass appeal and a world full of star stuck loyal fans. But the impact on the brand is much greater than just an advertisement showing a celebrity. We have seen that the correct choice of a celebrity can surely increase sales but when it comes to long term loyalty and impact on the brand. The effect is yet somewhat debatable. In the end, the product must deliver for the customer, no matter who endorses the product, if the customer does not see himself getting value from his purchase, he will not buy it. But yes, celebrities over time can influence the loyalty and make a person friendlier to a brand. Brand and celebrities are here to stay for a long time and in this age of slick advertising and mass media and unthinkable budgets, celebrities are having a field day charging huge amounts and making more money than their mainstream professions. But then do they really care about the brand? Or is it just the money? But the bottom line, celebrity endorsements are here to stay. Let us accept one thing the world of advertising and brand building does not believe in the Laissez-Faire principle. Unless you reach out to the customer, make him think and nudge him that little bit, you will fall short of your targets and that is a cardinal sin, given the competition. The brand managers work on an extremely sleek, thought-controlling process which may be propounded as the Multiplier Effect. They are smart, pragmatic people and know very well that Mr. Singh, sitting in his cosy home in Delhi and watching his favourite action hero driving the brand new LX car model, would not walk up to the car showroom next day and book one for himself. They offer simple feelers like concept and lifestyle to him, which are inherent to the product advertisement, with or without the celebrity endorsement. With the use of the celebrity, this effect is shrewdly magnified so as to allow the consumer to equate the personality and the brand together. Hence, whenever the consumer is watching the several images of her favourite actress alone, it conjures up multiple impressions of her sipping the XY brand of coffee, each time. The brands ultimate goal is to be at the top of her choice bracket and it achieves this goal by being omnipresent in her memory through related celebrity imagery. Does it justify the obscene amounts of money paid to these celebrities? For firms with annual turnovers in excess of Rs. 1000 crores, an endorsement deal of Rs. 5-6 crores for such a response would indeed be a smart deal. In a Synovate/Blackstone Market Facts Survey in India in late 2003, almost 47% respondents affirmed celebrity influence on their purchase behaviour. Thats a lot of people influenced by celebrity endorsement! Talking about successful switchovers by celebrities among competitive brands, Aamir Khan had a 78% top brand recall with Coke. But such transitions are rare and involve a lot of hard work behind the scenes to dab any leftover effects of the celebritys previous liaison with the competitor. While speaking of celebrities, we should be very clear as to who this term connotes to and the powers they carry. Fido Dido for 7-UP, the Amul Girl or Tony the Tiger for Kelloggs Frosted Flakes are as much a celebrity as any breathing face. They reach their target consumer, they move the product, and they carry the brand. Thats what counts. Of course, the gestation period is higher in the case of such creatives, but in the event of a hit, the comparative risks are minimized. After all, they cannot get drunk, attract a controversy or commit a crime, as long as the management wants. In short, they are safe floaters vis-a-vis their unpredictable human counterparts. Undoubtedly, there are many advocates for the clamp down upon the commercialisation of consumer emotions and money-making attitude of endorsers. But the celebrities have circumvented these allegations by appearing in non-commercial advertisements. When Aishwarya Rai appeals to the nation to donate their eyes while she personally pledges them, she strikes a chord with millions of viewers. Shabana Azmi inspires a sense of tremendous awe and respect while being shown as visiting HIV patients. This reverence is what is later harnessed by the brands in the commercial angle. You grow in stature with the person. No matter how much we raise a hue and cry over one celebrity being all over the place and marketing just about everything, it still works for most of us. Indeed, the premise that celebrity advertising has the power to propel a brand and drive the sales can be argued. The Pareto Principle is widely debated and the 80-20 rule does not have many takers in the advertising industry. That, 20% of advertising creates 80% of demand or sales, may or may not be true. In either case it does not help. The word remains that for a scintillating endorsement, you need much more than a glowing face and aesthetic advertising. You should back it up with your operational and communication skills. Using a celebrity in advertising is no panacea and the success of this process depends on several factors as discussed above. The careful selection of celebrity, matching the target segment and brand values, should be inherently stressed upon. The advertisers can use the Q Score, developed by a U. S. based marketing research agency, which considers two factors awareness and likeability, while evaluating the celebrity. Another important factor is the flexibility with which the companies can go in for hedging the risks associated in hiring a celebrity. They choose personalities from various fields or even appealing to various consumer perceptions, so that they can minimise the damage in cases of negative publicity due to any celebrity mistake. The cola brands spread their endorsements across a wide variety of celebrities such that even if one falls, the others are still holding the fort. In terms of the future, celebrity endorsements are here to stay. Their ability to cut across the classes, caste barriers and apprehensions are simply too important to be sidelined. They have been time-tested and delivered results repeatedly, given good hands. One could continue to wonder if these celebrity-hawkers are worth the money and the tantrums, but in a world of brand clutter and product muddle, celebrities seem to hit the nail on the head, more often than not. And to be honest, lets look around ourselves, why only Jane, arent we all in a little appreciation of those stars gazing back at us! Appendix BrandCelebrityUnaided AssociationComptibilty IndexTrait Fit Index Thums-up Salman Khan93 93 100 Coke Hrithik Roshan83 100 50 Adidas Sachin73 85 25 Samsung Tabu54 68 25 Source: Cognito FCB ULKA 2002 Table 1: Compatibility Index Trait Fit Index of 4 Brands

Toulouse Lautrec essays

Toulouse Lautrec essays The modern age of poster design first became popular in Paris in 1890s the 1900s, the technical innovation of this printing meant you advertise a number of things in a range of different colours. On the streets of Paris the effect this had was that they were lit up with all kinds of different techno colours, and they streets were a constant out-door art exhibition. For the employment of artists this changed because for the first time artists were working commercially, and the one artist who this as an opportunity for modern art was Toulouse Lautrec. Toulouse was born in Albi in France in 1864; he grew up on his family estate in Albi until he moved to Paris in 1872. He suffered from a genetic bone disease which made him vulnerable to fractures. By the age of thirteen his walking was aided by a stick, and he only grew to be 4ft 11inches tall. Unfortunately he died at the age of 36 in September 1901, but he made his mark on modern art poster design. Toulouses career really took off in 1890 when the scene in Paris was different and will be forever, the Paris worlds fair which for the first time was lit by electricity. Also it was the year of the completion of the Eiffel Tower; this was a very exciting time in Paris. All different innovations and ideas had come into progress. Japanism is the term used for the phase of art collectors, whos art is of Japanese origin this term was created by Philipe Burty. This was the main influence of Lautrecs work; he used Japanese wood block prints to get his flat shapes for poster designs. Most of his subjects for his posters were his friends who worked in the cafs and sketches. ...

Free Essays on Vertical And Horizontal Integration In Health Management

Distinguish between vertical and horizontal integration Discussion about the need for improved, integrated health-care services is sweeping the province in the same way that utilization review and management hit hospitals a decade ago. The two are also similar in that they have been driven by the same force - a desire to spend less money while improving, or at least maintaining, health outcomes. Many organizations have embraced the concept of vertical integration, where hospitals, physician groups and health plans are owned and operated by a single entity. The belief is that the integrated delivery system will be able to reduce costs, improve quality and increase market share by owning and coordinating components of the health care system. While certain benefits may be realized through vertical integration, this asset-based method of organizing health care delivery has some drawbacks. According to the Physicians News Digest (1998), purchasing the organizations that make up the system is very costly. Hospitals, medical groups and HMOs wil l have to spend, on average, the following amounts to purchase components that make up integrated delivery systems: independent practice associations/managed care networks- $ 1.2 million, physician-hospital organizations- $2.2 million, staff-model physician organizations- $7.8 million, management services organizations- $9.6 million, freestanding medical groups- $19.7 million, foundation-model medical groups- $20.0 million. (D. Zimba, 1998) Another way to look at Vertical Integration is the degree in which a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its down stream buyers. Because it can have a significant impact on a business unit's position with respect to cost, differentiation, and other strategic issues, the vertical scope of the firm is an important consideration in corporate strategy. Expansion of activities downstream is referred to as forward integration, and expansion upstream is referre... Free Essays on Vertical And Horizontal Integration In Health Management Free Essays on Vertical And Horizontal Integration In Health Management Distinguish between vertical and horizontal integration Discussion about the need for improved, integrated health-care services is sweeping the province in the same way that utilization review and management hit hospitals a decade ago. The two are also similar in that they have been driven by the same force - a desire to spend less money while improving, or at least maintaining, health outcomes. Many organizations have embraced the concept of vertical integration, where hospitals, physician groups and health plans are owned and operated by a single entity. The belief is that the integrated delivery system will be able to reduce costs, improve quality and increase market share by owning and coordinating components of the health care system. While certain benefits may be realized through vertical integration, this asset-based method of organizing health care delivery has some drawbacks. According to the Physicians News Digest (1998), purchasing the organizations that make up the system is very costly. Hospitals, medical groups and HMOs wil l have to spend, on average, the following amounts to purchase components that make up integrated delivery systems: independent practice associations/managed care networks- $ 1.2 million, physician-hospital organizations- $2.2 million, staff-model physician organizations- $7.8 million, management services organizations- $9.6 million, freestanding medical groups- $19.7 million, foundation-model medical groups- $20.0 million. (D. Zimba, 1998) Another way to look at Vertical Integration is the degree in which a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its down stream buyers. Because it can have a significant impact on a business unit's position with respect to cost, differentiation, and other strategic issues, the vertical scope of the firm is an important consideration in corporate strategy. Expansion of activities downstream is referred to as forward integration, and expansion upstream is referre...

John Grisham autobiography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

John Grisham autobiography - Essay Example In no way did I ever live a privileged life that would have exposed me to the beauty of writing novels. (Academy of Achievement â€Å"John Grisham†). Ever since I was a child, I would wake up at 6 or 6:30 a.m. , champing at the bit. Since my father had to wake up very early for work, my mother insisted that we all be awake along with him so that we could have breakfast together and get an early start to our day. For me, that meant heading out to the local baseball field and practicing a few hitters with the local kids. Just like any other child I fancied myself a fantastic baseball player and hoped to turn professional in the future, earning the big bucks along the way. But after my parents decided to settle down and lay down roots in Southaven, Mississippi in 1967 I came to realize that my aspirations of a pro baseball career were just that, dreams. I wasn't really athletic enough to see it become a reality. What I did concentrate on instead, thanks to the encouragement of my parents who did not get enough of a formal education, was my quest to earn a college diploma. (Famous Authors â€Å"John Grisham†) But just like any other person of college age, I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to major in. It seemed like such a big responsibility had been placed upon my shoulders after high school and my parents could not help me find my way. So I drifted for 2 years as a college student. Drifting seemed to be the logical thing for me to do having been exposed to a drifter kind of life with my family while my parents decided where and when we would lay down roots. I was never worried that I would not finish college. I knew that I would find my major once I settled into college life. (Academy of Achievement â€Å"John Grisham†). After some time in college, I knew that i had to pick a major, any major. That was how I ended up becoming a double major in college. I first earned an accounting degree from the Mississippi State University. (Miller, Erin â€Å"John Grisham Biography†) Since already had the background in taxes and accounting, I thought of taking further studies while I still had the college bug in me. That was how I chose to major in one of the most boring fields of law. I decided to become a tax lawyer. But after some time, the drifter in me kicked in again, so I shifted my major to criminal law, then again to litigation. After 3 path changes in college, I finally earned my law degree from the University of Mississippi. After that bit of life adventure, I thought it best to go back home to Southaven and set up a small practice. (Academy of Achievement â€Å"John Grisham†) It's funny how life leads us down certain paths that we never imagined for ourselves as a part of our journey of self-discovery. Imagine if you will, the kind of private law practice that I had which would eventually lead me into a local political career. I must have done something impressive in the service of my community since they chose me to serve in the House of Representatives in 1983. Eventually I became the Vice Chairman of the Apportionment and Elections Committee. (Famous Authors â€Å"John Grisham†) They say that life gives us catalysts for change. But we need to be able to recognize these triggers when it enters our lives. I seriously doubt I would ever have written the first story had I not been a lawyer. I never dreamed of being a writer. However, after I'd been a lawyer for about five or six years, I started

HR AND LEADERSHIP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

HR AND LEADERSHIP - Essay Example DuBrin (2011) have pointed out that organizational change is organic in nature, which means that leaders and managers need to ensure that the change process includes the employees in the organizational rather than banking on resource and process deployment. Hence, it can be surmised that change management is direction oriented process, which means that, managers and in some cases leaders need to take the responsibility to move the organizational change. On the other hand, research work of DuBrin (2011) shows that organizational change can be three types, 1- strategic- which is relatively low human resource driven, 2- tactical- which is relatively high human resource driven and 3- operational- which requires extensive amount of human resource involvement. Careful observation of the research work of DuBrin (2011) shows that, whatever the strategic orientation of change management, one thing remains constant that is the involvement of managers and leaders for giving the direction to the change. Research works of previous research scholars regarding organizational change and role of leaders have forced the researcher to raise a pertinent question, is there any strategic relationship between leadership dimension and success of organizational change management process? Well, throughout the essay, the researcher will try to find answer of this question with the help theoretical argument of various research scholars and in some cases taking help of real world business cases. At this point of the essay, one thing needs to be clarified that the essay will not use any subjective view to establish the relationship between engagement of leaders and success of change management rather the study will take conjectural view on the research topic. In the next part, the study will try to understand different aspects of change management process. It is essential to know why an organization changes in order to understand how leaders and managers can help the organization to incorpo rate the change. Understanding the macro dynamics of change can help the researcher to understand why some organizations implement successful change management process while others fail to do so. The question may arise that is there any magic formulae or special skill which bifurcate winners from losers in context to change management process. Tichy (1983) has identified that leader’s capability to cope with macro environmental challenges and use organizational learning concept in order to change the existing system. According to the research work of Tichy (1983), leaders and managers need to identify three forces such as economic forces, cultural forces and political forces in order to incorporate organizational change in accordance with the magnitude of these three forces. (Source: Tichy, 1983) According to the above mentioned triangular model, organizations develop three types of systems such as technical systems, cultural systems and political system in order to incorpora te change. Gone are the days when organizations can expect that it would achieve competitive advantage by using age old technologies. Organizations have understood the fact that they need to integrate state of art technology in order to deliver better value proposition to customers, decrease cost of operation, and achieve economies of scale etc. The study will use the example of Toyota

Virtual Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Virtual Community - Essay Example Phish fans wanted to be a part of Phish.net. They wished to share, listen, and receive information about the band. But, they also wanted to be connected to a larger "community" of people representing the ideas characterized by the band. Phish.net members established "norms to direct behavior in the larger Phish fan community" that carried beyond virtual boundaries into actual venues (Watson 112). Phish.net was able to "prove to record industry executives that as a group they were worth listening to because of the collectivity's large size and tight coherence" (Watson 127). c) Virtual communities have louder voices, are more capable of assigning principles, and are better equipped to influence change. But, there are also potential negative consequences associated with online communications. Online communities can become so large that they alienate the standards and ideas upon which they were originally founded. They require no commitment and little accountability. And, there is a general lack of the intimacy that binds off-line communities.

British North America Secedes from the Empire Essay

British North America Secedes from the Empire - Essay Example Although such a question is necessarily broad and would require a thesis length response to capture the full depth and complexity exhibited therein, this brief essay will seek to establish the points as succinctly and efficiently as possible so as to provide the reader with a broad overview and analysis of key issues without becoming distracted by the sheer complexity that such an issue necessarily presents. In order to begin the discussion into the right of the people to secede and ultimately engage in violent struggle against their former government, the reader/researcher must first consider the situation throughout the rest of the British Empire prior to the outbreak of discontent and violence within the American colonies. Due to e very expensive Seven Years War, also known in the colonies as the French-Indian War, the British Empire found itself in a high level of debt. As with most governmental structures at that time, it was necessary for the British government to work to pay o ff this debt as soon as possible so as to give the Empire and the Crown a level of overall sovereignty and wealth (Cook 74). A little known fat with reference to the tax ratio in the colonies was the fact that it was in all actuality much lower than the tax rates of any other British possessions around the world. As a function of this, the royal review of parliament judged that it only made logical sense to add to the overall level of taxation within the colonies as a means of paying off this debt. As can be seen from history, this acted as a flashpoint of hardly subtle frustration that the colonists already harbored with relation to British rule. In this way, the political aspect of this taxation served to reignite the frustrations faced by the colonists at being what they termed as second class citizens. Whereas many historical interpretations have distorted the role that the taxes ultimately played in spurring the revolution onwards, the fact of the matter is that the taxes only served to provide the flashpoint upon which the other malcontents were able to focus their negative energies with regards to seeking to resist the British Empire and her influence over the colonies. Secondary and tertiary reasons for why the colonists decided to make the issue of higher taxation the proverbial line in the sand are concentric around the fact that the United States was a mercantile economy at the time and was highly dependent upon the British to continue to ignite the fire that kept the colony’s economies burning brightly. However, the situation appeared, at least to the colonists, to be one sided as they were forced to sell many raw materials and finished and unfinished goods back to the British without accruing any type of â€Å"clawback† tax; whereas, at the same time, the British were able to sell finished products within the American economy, as well as constrict the sale and transfer of â€Å"inter-American trade† by emplacing special taxes upon such goods (Porter 27). This of course led to a groundswell of anger that could only be channeled by the common derision and hatred for the increased cost of living that was passed along to all; both rich and poor. Adding insult to injury with

Social Networking Sites and Human Interactions Research Paper

Social Networking Sites and Human Interactions - Research Paper Example As such, young people can spend hours online without feeling bored or tired. This long time on the Internet is actually taken from the time that those young people may have spent with other people, experiencing social interaction. There are various scientists who realize that the time people spent online is ever increasing rapidly. In fact, most modern social studies concluded that "today, people spend more time using communication technology than they did twenty years ago" (Degord). Consequently, a heated debate has started to emerge about the possible negative effects of the Internet on the social interaction of young people. While some analysts undermine the effects that may be caused by the long time spent online, there are others who raise a serious warning about the deterioration of physical social interaction because of online activities. Despite the numerous benefits of the Internet, it can seriously hurt the physical communication process among young people, minimize social interaction, and push young people to live in isolation. The Internet has revolutionized people's lives in many positive ways. For young people, the Internet is an open window on the world, where they can do a variety of activities from the comfort of their own homes. Reading books and newspapers, searching for information about any topic, and involving in important discussions on billboards and newsgroups are some of the important activities young people can do online. Professor Thomas B. Riley, from the School of Law, University of Glasgow, argues that "the Internet is a revolutionary medium that has afforded the opportunity for millions of people to open themselves to a rich panoply of information and services" (Riley). In that sense, the Internet has become an important source of information for people. It enlightens navigators about any issue they research. If used adequately and insightfully, the Internet can widen the scope of knowledge for you people and prepare them for the ir future careers in life. In addition, online social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, help people socialize online, meet new people, and re-unite with their old friends. Actually, Facebook and Twitter are examples of the most popular online social networks over the Internet. The popularity of both programs increase rapidly as thousands of users join both of them daily. Preceding Twitter, Facebook has a started as a network for the students of Harvard and turned to be one of the most famous online social networks. Moderators of Facebook seem to have much to do. The network is in fact the second most visited site in the world. It knows no borders and can help spread the best and the worst. In that sense, the Internet and social networking sites may play important roles in enriching people’s knowledge and facilitating the process of online socialization. However, the overuse of the Internet by young people minimizes physical social interaction and promotes isolation and loneliness. Young people who spend hours and hours chatting with other online users over the Internet are not actually enhancing their social experiences (Snook). That's because they do not physically interact with other people and involve themselves in real life situations; rather, all what they do is to sit alone in front of their computers, using their fingers to type what they want to

Slavery During the Antibellum Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Slavery During the Antibellum Era - Essay Example He highlighted the agenda of the South to spread slavery to the rest of the nation. The standard of living of the Negro slaves of the South in real terms was good, according to him. Their family life was free from tensions and the aged and infirm were properly taken care of. Women could look forward to the protective umbrella of their masters against the highhandedness of their husbands. He made an interesting observation about the conditions of labor in the North. â€Å"We do not know whether free laborers ever sleep. They are fools to do so; for, whilst they sleep, the wily and watchful capitalist is devising means to ensnare and exploit them. The free laborer must work or starve. He is more of a slave than the Negro, because he works longer and harder for less allowance.†(George Fitzhugh)This line of thinking was his original contribution to the issue of slavery. Abraham Lincoln possessed the inherent capability to gauge the public opinion, one of the greatest traits of a successful politician. He had the good measure of the issues that divided the North and the South and personally he was not an abolitionist. He advocated that the nation cannot remain half-free and half-slave, on a permanent basis. Supreme Court Ruling, 1857 in the Dred Scott v. Sanford case sealed the fate of the black race. It read thus. â€Å". . . [t]here are two clauses in the constitution which point directly and specifically to the negro race as a separate class of persons, and show clearly that they were not regarded as a portion of the people or citizens of the government then formed.† (Roger B. Taney)The struggle for abolition slavery turned more intense with the legal position clarified by the Court. The court opined that Negro race was a separate class of persons. Denied of legal protection for getting equal status the Negro leadership and society turned cynical and began to adopt violent alternatives to secure their rights. Fitzhugh argued,

British North America Secedes from the Empire Essay

British North America Secedes from the Empire - Essay Example Although such a question is necessarily broad and would require a thesis length response to capture the full depth and complexity exhibited therein, this brief essay will seek to establish the points as succinctly and efficiently as possible so as to provide the reader with a broad overview and analysis of key issues without becoming distracted by the sheer complexity that such an issue necessarily presents. In order to begin the discussion into the right of the people to secede and ultimately engage in violent struggle against their former government, the reader/researcher must first consider the situation throughout the rest of the British Empire prior to the outbreak of discontent and violence within the American colonies. Due to e very expensive Seven Years War, also known in the colonies as the French-Indian War, the British Empire found itself in a high level of debt. As with most governmental structures at that time, it was necessary for the British government to work to pay o ff this debt as soon as possible so as to give the Empire and the Crown a level of overall sovereignty and wealth (Cook 74). A little known fat with reference to the tax ratio in the colonies was the fact that it was in all actuality much lower than the tax rates of any other British possessions around the world. As a function of this, the royal review of parliament judged that it only made logical sense to add to the overall level of taxation within the colonies as a means of paying off this debt. As can be seen from history, this acted as a flashpoint of hardly subtle frustration that the colonists already harbored with relation to British rule. In this way, the political aspect of this taxation served to reignite the frustrations faced by the colonists at being what they termed as second class citizens. Whereas many historical interpretations have distorted the role that the taxes ultimately played in spurring the revolution onwards, the fact of the matter is that the taxes only served to provide the flashpoint upon which the other malcontents were able to focus their negative energies with regards to seeking to resist the British Empire and her influence over the colonies. Secondary and tertiary reasons for why the colonists decided to make the issue of higher taxation the proverbial line in the sand are concentric around the fact that the United States was a mercantile economy at the time and was highly dependent upon the British to continue to ignite the fire that kept the colony’s economies burning brightly. However, the situation appeared, at least to the colonists, to be one sided as they were forced to sell many raw materials and finished and unfinished goods back to the British without accruing any type of â€Å"clawback† tax; whereas, at the same time, the British were able to sell finished products within the American economy, as well as constrict the sale and transfer of â€Å"inter-American trade† by emplacing special taxes upon such goods (Porter 27). This of course led to a groundswell of anger that could only be channeled by the common derision and hatred for the increased cost of living that was passed along to all; both rich and poor. Adding insult to injury with