Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising

Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising 3. Research Framework 3.1 introductions In the research the factors will be considers as that entertainment credibility; irritation and informativeness are the significant factors affecting respondents attitudes toward mobile advertising. They use attitude as a dependent variable and consider the antecedents of advertising value as factors of attitude in their framework. (Chakraborty, Lala, Warren, 2003)Compared to other advertisings, personalization is very important in the Internet advertising. Personalization can ensure that visitors to location based service segment are to see the most appropriate and appealing Internet advertising and have positive benefits ranging from improved attitude toward the Website to purchase consider that personalization factors will come into play in the mobile environment. This factor may help further distinguish the mobile environment from traditional and Internet media. Specifically, I propose that personalization will affect respondents attitudes toward mobile advertising in addition t o those proposed by Tsang et al. Figure 1 depicts the framework of consumers perceptions on mobile advertising. These five factors are expected to affect mobile advertising attitude, and attitude will affect intention on using location based services in customer point of view. The attention refers to the plan of acting on the information presented in mobile advertising, such as going into a certain store to buy something after receiving a mobile advertisement from the store. Location-based services (LBS) are services that utilize knowledge about where a mobile device user is located. For example, the user of a mobile smart phone could be publicized ads exact to the region the user is travelling in. Location-based services exploit any of numerous technologies for knowing where a network user is geographically positioned. associated Business Intelligence estimates that the LBS industry will account for more than 80 billion in revenue by 2020 in Europe. Most telecommunications carriers plan to pursue either network- or handset-based location fixing technologies in their networks. The technology to pinpoint a mobile phones location is obtainable today and is of significant commercial value to businesses that want to aim their customers via mobile phones. Advertising that changes based on a users location (LBA Location Based Advertising) has been one of the much-talked-about capabilities of the wireless Internet, the idea being that an advertiser could reach a customer when he was most likely to buy. Opt-in possibilities could permit device users who are strolling in a shopping mall or urban area, for example, to signal their readiness for local offers. Location-based services (LBS) are services that exploit knowledge about where a mobile device user is located. For example, the user of a mobile smart phone could be shown ads precise to the region the user is travelling in. Location-based services take advantage of any of several technologies for knowing where a network user is geographically located. Allied Business Intelligence estimates that the LBS industry will account for more than 40 billion in revenue by 2006 in Europe. Most telecommunications carriers plan to pursue either network- or handset-based location fixing technologies in their networks. The technology to pinpoint a mobile phones location is available today and is of significant commercial value to businesses that want to target their customers via mobile phones. Adver tising that changes based on a users location (LBA Location Based Advertising) has been one of the much-talked-about capabilities of the wireless Internet, the idea being that an advertiser could reach a customer when he was most likely to buy. The advertising will be directed toward phone and PDA (personal digital assistant) users or passengers in public transport. Wireless advertising makes the most sense when delivered contextually through media on a geo-targeted basis. Opt-in possibilities could permit device users who are strolling in a shopping mall or urban area, for example, to signal their readiness for local offers.(Kà ¶lmel Alexakis, 2002) 3.2 Factors Contributing to Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising Mobile advertising has become one of the most accepted applications in mobile marketing, principally in the form of text advertising through SMS (Short Messaging Service). This research investigates and compares the attitude toward mobile advertising and advertising- in-general. The results, conducted on 571 Sri Lankan mobile phone users, indicate that (1) consumers hold positive attitudes toward mobile advertising and advertising-in-general, (2) perceived irritation, informativeness, and trust affect consumers attitudes, (3) mobile advertising and advertising-in-general dont irritate consumers and they perceive them informative. However consumers dont trust mobile advertising and advertising-in-general. (4) Consumers are more positive about advertising-in-general than mobile advertising.(Buckley, 2004). in advertising and information systems suggests that advertising in mutually conventional media and the Internet is either effortlessly ignored by the audience or is perceived with d iminutive value. However, these studies assumed that the audience was passive and failed to consider the motives of the users. In light of this, the present study measures consumers attitudes toward advertisements for different purposes/functions (Location building and directional) and different media (traditional and Internet-based). Literature suggests the following factors that contribute to consumers perceptions of ads: entertainment, irritation, informativeness, credibility, and demographic. We believe that interactivity is also a factor that contributes to consumers perceptions. By understanding consumers attitude towards advertising, designers and marketers can better strategize their advertising designs. A better understanding of interactivity can also help to improve the effectiveness of interactive media such as the Internet. A methodology for studying the factors that contribute to consumers perceptions of ads is proposed and implications for Internet-based advertising an d e-commerce is discussed.(Wang, Zhang, Choi, Eredita, 2002). mobile marketing and the permission and user attitude for acceptance of mobile services by consumers accessed mainly by mobile phones. The aim of this study is to analyze the factors affecting consumer attitudes toward permission-based mobile marketing (PBMM).(Cengiz, Tetik, Yuan, 2010) The LBA push approach amounts to the advertiser working with the carriers and delivery networks to send (push) ads to the user, determined by the devices location. Hypothetically, it could be targeted even more finely if other information is available about users (context, demographics, psychographics, etc.) Within the push approach, there are two further possibilities with which we have become unfamiliar in recent years as they pertain to e-mail advertising: opt-out and opt-in. Opt-out suggests that advertisers would send ads to whomever they wanted to until users asked that they not be sent ads anymore. In contrast, the opt-in approach involves users authorizing that messages be sent to them, a type of permission marketing(Godin 1999). As an example, the push approach was used when moviegoers walked near a kiosk at some theaters and received text messages letting them know they could download free content related to recent movie releases (Parry 2005). In this case, opt-in would mea n recipients would have previously indicated their interest in receiving messages from the theaters whereas opt-out means they would not have done so. The other approach to LBA is called pull and it occurs when consumers request some information or use some service on a one-time basis and in the process are exposed to commercial messages (MMA 2005a). In essence, they are seeking information (pulling) rather than the information seeking them (pushing). For example, a salesman visiting San Francisco could use his device to access a portal where one of the choices is Local Restaurants. After selecting that, the next alternative he may choose to pick is Chinese. Five restaurants are shown, all indicated to be within a half-mile of his location. He selects one of them and a map is provided as well as an offer of a free appetizer, good for the next hour. Because the user chooses the time and place to access the information in the pull approach, it is by definition opt-in. 3.3 Independent variables 3.3.1 Entertainment Entertainment is also a crucial factor for mobile advertising. It is essential that the message is concise and funny, and thus immediately captures consumers attention. As most people have a natural playfulness, providing games and prizes via text messaging (SMS) yields high participationà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Entertainment as defined by Ducoffe10 is the ability to ful ­fill an audiences needs for escapism, diversion, aesthetic enjoyment, or emotional enjoyment. Recent research has shown that entertainment has a noteworthy positive relationship with attitude and is deemed to be the most significant factor determining CATSA11-12,5,13-16. It has also been argued that SMS messages providing games and prizes yield high participation levels; thus is more suc ­cessful in attracting and keeping customers. Moreover, entertainment services can increase customers loyalty and provide extra value for the customer15. As peoples feeling of enjoyment associated with advertisements is very important in gaining their atten ­tion; it is essential that such messages are brief and funny. These attributes can contribute significantly in making consumers more unfamiliar with the advertised product as well as getting them involved in a more profound manner15. 3.3.2 Credibility Credibility of advertising is an important predictor of attitude toward the advertising. Advertising credibility is consumers perception of the truthfulness and believability of advertising in general (Barclay et al., 1995) Credibility of an advertisement is influenced by different factors, especially by the companys credibility corporate credibility is defined as the extent to which consumers believe that a firm can design and deliver products and services that satisfy customer needs and wants and has been found to have direct positive effects on attitude toward the ad, the Location , and purchase intent. On the other hand, due to declining advertising Credibility, marketers continually search for innovative ways to communicate their messages. Credibility is considered the base of the consumers trust. The relation between the consumer and the Location is highly influenced by trust and it is a common finding that consumers in general do not trust advertising due to issues of false ma rketing efforts36. As risk is well associ ­ated to trust; hence it should be kept to its minimum, not only by gaining consumers trust but through sustaining it by means of hard work. Credibility is believed to be achieved in numerous ways; for instance listing key features and communicating to the consumer in a trustworthiness manner; since con ­sumers will reject receiving ads to their mobile phones, if they cannot trust the advertiser37. Hence, creating a well-established basis of trust for mobile marketing has to be a key objective for all advertising companies. In order to do so ads providers can make advantage of referrals, suggestions and positive associations to gain trust among consumers38. Moreover, credibility can be perceived posi ­tively if a spokesperson or organization is employed to sponsor an advertisement, but only if done correctly. A recent study38 has confirmed that the use of celebrities as spokespersons or endorsers can additionally enhance the level of credibility. Thus, making use of referrals or celeb ­rity endorsements it is pretty common by advertisers. The level of credibility could substantially depend upon the ad source, which means that if the source is well known for its experience and proficiency in the subject advertised for; it is most likely to be perceived as trust ­worthy. Expertise comes from knowledge acquired in the subject, whereas trustworthiness refers to the honesty of the source39. Ohaninan40 has further confirmed that the consumers willingness to accept an ad message can be influenced by the source credibility and hence many advertisers use positive characteristics of the source, such as an 3.3.3 informativeness Information delivered to customers through mobile devices requests to demonstrate qualitative features like accuracy, timeliness, and usefulness for the consumer. Apart from this, users need quick access to the information they are looking for in their current content of use. There is even the possibility that the information may be delivered automatically to the consumersà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Informativness has been defined numerously; A definition provided by Waldt et al.5 and Ducoffe10 states that informativness is the ability of advertising to inform consumers of product alternatives so that purchases yielding the greatest possible satisfaction can be made, while Oh and Xu17 has defined it as the ability to success ­fully give related information. Both definitions focus on the ability of informing the consumers of the products relevant qualities. Literature shows that there exists a sig ­nificant positive relationship between informativeness of the mobile advertising and CATSA12, 15-16. One key objective of advertising is creating awareness and illustrating the uniqueness of the advertised product or service provided18. Higher information quality percep ­tion is typically yielded if accuracy, meaningfulness and timeliness of the information provided are ensured; since Informativeness is reliant on the match between content provided by the mobile service and the subscribers infor ­mation requirements16. In the contemporary technological world, informa ­tiveness (content) and entertainment (form) are characteristically entwined with each and hence could be included into a single construct19,10. This correlation is believed to create a positive CATSA, based on consumers requirements and expectation to how these should be met. 3.3.4 Irritation When advertising employs techniques that annoy, offend, insult or are overly manipulative, consumers are likely to perceive it as unwanted and irritating influence(Ducoffe, 1996). Mobile advertising can provide an array of information that confuses and distracts the recipient as well as overwhelms the consumer with information. Consumers may feel confused about them and react negatively. . The tactics advertisers use when competing for consumers attention can be annoying to the audiences. Irritation as defined by Ducoffe10 is the tactics used by marketers in advertisement that are annoying or against the consumer attitude or may insult consumer dignity and is perceived negatively by customers or irritates con ­sumers. Hence irritation is a phenomenon pretty much similar to reactance, where the consumer is more likely to reject advertisements perceived as intrusive. This ideol ­ogy has been supported by Tsang et al.16 and Ducoffe10, as both has stated that annoying, insulting or o verly manip ­ulative tactics used by advertisers are one of the primary sources of irritation. Perceived irritation has been illustrated to be dependent on numerous factors including number of messages, the frequency of ads, the messages contend and their timing12,20-21. Moreover, overlapping, confus ­ing information provided by SMS advertisements has also been proven to cause consumer annoyance and generate negative impact towards mobile advertise ­ment22. Additionally, privacy defined as the right ofan individual to control the information held about them by third parties23. It is an essential factor affect ­ing mobile advertisement acceptance. The personal nature of the mobile can lead to the opposition of SMS advertising since its potentially perceived as threatening their privacy. Burner and Kumar24 has confirmed that personalization can create a situation where a company gathers too much private information (such as the users whereabouts, without getting his/her consent) and uses this knowledge to provide geographic specific advertise ­ment, thereby generating a feeling of intrusion for the consumers. Based on the previously discussed, irritation has shown to yield considerable negative impacts toward SMS advertising, in contrast with both informativness and entertainment which generate positive impact25. Recent research has indicated various ways to reduce irritation caused by SMS advertisement. One of the most straightforward ways to tackle the irritation issue is permission-based SMS advertising26-27. In the context of SMS advertising a beforehand notification is sent to the consumer-prior to sending advertisements- to ask for permission to send SMS ads and to convince con ­sumers to opt-in; in which case a simple registration ensures sending relevant messages to the interested audi ­ence. In other words, consumers require a certain degree of control to achieve favorable acceptance towards such advertisements. This can refer to control over when, where, what and how much advertising to receive through mobile, which in turn generate acceptance towards SMS advertising28. Furthermore, language employed in SMS advertisement should be understood by the target group, since its a major determinant of the CATSA29. Mobile advertising should as well be concise and straight to the point t o yield acceptation30-31; since reading from mobile devices may take more time due to space limitations. Finally, SMS advertising should also disclose how to stop receiving further messages. 3.3.5 Personalization Mobile advertising has gained significant attention because of the unique attributes, such as personalization (28), that offer new opportunities to advertisers to place effective and efficient promotions on mobile environments. In order to achieve the competitive advantages consistently, real time personalization will most likely be required through the use of personalization technology. Mobile commerce holds a great potential for personalization, because of the nature of mobile devices they provide personal information of (T. Lee Jun, 2007). Personalized advertising improve the experience for companies and consumers By allowing mobile advertising providers to collect data about demographics and location of the consumers, personalization improves the quality of mobile commerce and turns it into important medium (Dickinger, Haghirian, Murphy, Scharl, 2004)The impact of the message can be increased by personalizing the message. Success of the target marketing is based on well-structured and maintained databases (ibid). 3.4.1 Mediator Perceived value (PV) behavioral intention relationship examines the direct effect of Perceived value to intention to use the technology The idea is that people form intentions toward using regardless of whether they have positive or negative feelings toward the behavior. Perceived value is defined by Davis, 1989 as The degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance. (Fred D Davis, 1989) There is a positive correlation between Perceived value of mobile commerce and consumer satisfaction in mobile commerce environment (Lee et al., 2007,). The study conducted by(Soroa-Koury Yang, 2010) also found that Perceived value is one of the key variable for prediction consumer attitude toward mobile advertising. Consumer may intend to check the usefulness of the app and its advertistments inorder to make their mind set use LBS services. What causes people to accept or reject informa-tion technology? Among the many variables that may influence system use, pre vious research sug-gests two determinants that are especially im-portant. First, people tend to use or not use an application to the extent they believe it will help them perform their job better. We refer to this first variable as perceived usefulness. Second, even if potential users believe that a given ap-plication is useful, they may, at the same time, believe that the systems is too hard to use and that the performance benefits of usage are out-weighed by the effort of using the application. That is, in addition to usefulness, usage is theo-rized to be influenced by perceived ease of use. Perceived value is defined here as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance.T his follows from the defini-tion of the word useful: capable of being used advantageously.W ithina n organizationalc on-text, people are generally reinforced for good performance by raises, promotions, bonuses, and other rewards (Pfeffer, 1984). A s ystem high in perceived use-fulness, in turn, is one for which a user believes in the existence of a positive use-performance relationship 3.4.2 Moderator Location unfamiliarity People often consume products in a variety of different situations. For example, one might eat breakfast at Home, at a hotel, or at an airport. In making consumption decisions in these different situations, consumers must first recall from memory a set of products that may fulfill their needs and then make their final choice from this set.(S. Ratneshwar, Cornelia Pechmann, 1996).Location ununfamiliar defined as the knowledge about some locations. Location based advertising can be highly promoted when the consumer doesnt have an idea about the location. If the consumer has more information or consumer has many other options to use at a given location, it would be wasted decision to use LBS softwares to get services. Most of the customers willing to use LBS when the situation is unfamiliar. Such as updating market in China, consumers are more likely to use LBS, because of the lack of knowledge of the location. Location ununfamiliar can be defined as when the consumer doesnt have idea about the location and its products and services. As its a important moderator from customer point of view, i t will be use as a moderator in the research frameworkà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ (Campbell Keller, 2003) conducted in which ad contentand repetition were carefully controlled and only the ununfamiliar of the Location sponsor was varied. These provideconsistent evidence that ads for ununfamiliar Locations wear outfaster, showing decreased effectiveness at lower levels ofrepetition relative to ads for unfamiliar Locations. The results alsoprovide insight to the consumer psychology underlying theeffect of Location ununfamiliar on ad wearout.Across both studies, processing of the ads was seen todiffer with repetition depending on the ununfamiliar of the Locations. Ads for ununfamiliar Locations were processed more extensivelywith repetition than were ads for unfamiliar Locations.Just as a marketers focus is often on building market knowledgefor new Locations and on maintaining presence for familiarLocations, consumer focus may be on learning aboutununfamiliar Locations but also on updating exi sting knowledgefor unfamiliar Locations. Increases in processing because of repetitionand Location unununfamiliar lead to more negative andfewer positive thoughts. Additionally, the studies provideevidence to suggest that at higher levels of ad repetition,consumers may use more extensive processing to considerthe inappropriateness of advertising tactics for unfamiliarLocations. Tactic inappropriateness was seen to mediate theeffects of ad repetition and Location ununfamiliar on messageeffectiveness. Finally, the results demonstrated that attitudetoward the ad had a greater influence on attitude toward theLocation for ununfamiliar Locations compared with familiar Locations 3.4.3 Customer innovativeness By innovativeness we mean the predisposition of a consumer to adopt a product earlier han most others. Various studies have shown that across product categories, innovators tend to be: opinion leaders, risk takers, more likely to obtain information from mass media than through word of mouth, open to new ideas and change, relatively young etc. Marketers want to identify the segment of the market that is most likely to adopt a new product when it is the first introduced. This article describes we ask some key questions about the nature of innovativeness and try to make a correlation between characteristics of the innovators and innovativeness.(Dobre, Dragomir, Preda, 2009) 3.5 Consumer attitudes towards LBS / Purchase behavior /rejection behavior Attitude toward advertising is defined as a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner toward advertising in general. Consumer attitudes toward advertising tend to affect their attitudes toward specific advertisements (Pyun James, 2011)Many researchers around the world have developed many models that point out determinants of attitudes toward advertising.. Factors underlying consumers attitudes differ among various forms of advertising and a variety of other factors. which is most appropriate and applicable to the context of the study, three perceptual antecedents (Informativeness, Entertainment and Irritation) influence how consumers assess the value of web advertising. Additionally, the findings of this research also noted that consumers assessments of value have a significant impact on their overall attitudes. Therefore, Informativeness, Entertainment and Irritation are factors that should be considered when examining attitudes toward mobi le advertising. and tested to show that it strengthened this model. This research will focus on four hypothesized factors: Informativeness, Entertainment, Irritation and ,Credibility..Personalization according to Lee , The primary aim of this study is to investigate the factors influencing audience attitudes towards such location-based advertising. The results indicate that entertainment, personalization and privacy concerns all have direct impacts on consumer attitudes, with situational context moderating the impacts of these factors on such consumer attitudes. conclude by offering some practical suggestions for mobile operators and advertising agencies.(Y. C. Lee, 2010).buying behavior of the customers can be depending on the attitude towards location based services. If the attitude is positive , consumer may have a positive Purchase behavior , if the attitude is negative it can be rather differ. Meanwhile both purchase behavior and reject behavior will be depend on the attitude w hich create by the consumers mind. LBA opportunities. The majority (87%) of the consumerinterviewees in this study expressed ununfamiliar with SMS andmobile application forms of LBAs. They oftenreceived LBAs and promotions from well-known food and beverage vendors. Arecent survey in Singapore found perceived utility of advertisingas a strong predictor of mobile phone users affectiveattitude towards LBAs(Bruner Kumar, 2007)). In this study,more thanhalf (53%) of the interviewees perceived benefits of LBAs asconvenience (searching for deals) and time and money saving(purchasing products). Some interviewees viewed LBAs ashooks to encourage them to do shopping or attend eventsnearby. Three-fifths agreed with LBAs short-term effects toattract foot traffic by giving incentives (e.g., vouchers anddiscounts) but felt dubious about LBAs capabilities to giveadvertisers long-term benefits, particularly customer loyalty.Based on consumer interviews, a pull approach of LBAs wasmore acceptable than a push approach, indicating thatapplication-based LBAs are favored more compared with SMSads. Two-fifths of the interviewees thought application-basedLBAs gave them more control over receiving LBAs. Respondent 4 (personal communication, 19 March 2013) pointed out theimportance of allowing consumers to have choices: I justwantto be given the option to decide when I want or dont want it. 3.6 Technology Acceptance Model The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) explains how a new technology and the various aspects of it are received and used by the user. Though many models have been proposed previously in the field of Information Systems to describe the relationship, it is this model which has been widely acclaimed and used. The TAM was initially proposed by (Fred D Davis, 1989)It comprises two beliefs, the perceived utilities and the perceived ease of application, which determine attitudes to adopt new technologies. The attitude toward adoption will decide about the adopters positive or negative behavior in the future concerning new technology. A model developed to study the acceptance of the technology by an individual taking into account, basically, both the perceived ease of use and the usefulness of the technology. One of the most frequently employed models for research into new information technology acceptance. the TAM suggests that when users are presented with a new technology, a number of factors determine their decision about how and when they will use it. This is a theoretical framework designed by Davis (1989) that proposes a relationship between users acceptance of a new IS and the users perceptions of the ease of use and usefulness of the IS. A causal model hypothesizing that actual inform ation technology system use is affected by behavioral intentions that themselves are affected by attitudes toward use. Beliefs about the system, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use in TAM directly affect attitudes toward use In the TAM model, people who perceive technology as useful and easy to use will accept it more readily than those who do not, with usefulness more important than ease of use. A theory of innovation developed by Davis (1986) in which the main elements are perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward using technology, and behavioral intention. Theoretical framework developed by Davis in 1989 which identify perceived usefulness, ease of use, and cultural orientation of the decision maker as key drivers of technology an information systems theory that models user acceptance. The model includes two main factors influencing individual IS use: Perceived value (will the system enhance my job performance?) and perceived ease-of-use (how difficult will it be to use the system?). TAM has been extended to include social influence and normative beliefs of others (TAM2). a model of individual acceptance of IT, stating that an individuals adoption of IT is dependent on the perceived ease of use and Perceived value of the technology TAM is a model of user acceptance of information systems technology based on the theory of reasoned action. Two variables Perceived value and perceived ease of use lead to attitude toward use, behavioral intention to use and use of the system. Is one of the most widely used theories in IS literature. Two bel iefs (Perceived value and perceived ease of use) predict attitudes, which in turn influence intended use of a technology. This intention then consequently impacts behavior of actual system usage. Perceived value is the degree to which a user thinks a technology would enhance performance or productivity in the workplace. Perceived ease of use is the degree of lack of effort required by the user in adopting a given technology. Perceived ease of

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens Essay -- Nicholas Nickleby Charle

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens Chapter 13 effectively encourages the reader to resent Squeers and see him as the villain, whereas Nicholas is portrayed as the hero and Smike and the other bays are lavished with sympathetic feelings. The chapter starts with a depressing description of the boys sleeping conditions, Dickens uses words like: feeble, ragged, and dull, to describe it, this powerful description makes the reader feel-strengthening hatred toward Squeers. Squeers is the headmaster at the boarding school "Dotheboys Hall"where Nicholas was sent to work by his uncle after his father's death. His father had only a small amount of money so he left it to his brother, and trusted him to look after his family, consisting of Nicholas's mother and Sister Kate. Nicholas's uncle is a hard remorseless man and sends Nicholas and his sister to work to earn their keep. The family are moved into a small dirty flat and given little money to live on. During Nicholas's time at Dotheboys Hall, he meets one of the boys "Smike" and befriends him. Smike has no parents to speak of so he is kept on as a servant to the family. Nearing the end of the chapter Nicholas inspires Smike to run away, unfortunately he is caught, resulting in the chapters climax. Squeers is about to beat Smike but then Nicholas steps in and following a fight, they make off together. Throughout the chapter Dickens enhances the reader's negative feelings towards Squeers. Dickens use of verbs to describe Squeers's actions ads, a greater depth to his character, using words like retorted, bounced and feasted. These words show the rage in Squeers's character, and the way he goes about daily life, they give the reader a sense of his disrespect... ...can be hard going to read Dickens's work, his highly expressive and intricate style of writing, can become incredibly engaging to the reader, as it does to me. You become almost used to it after a while .This stile gives the reader a sense of emotional involvement with the characters in the book. It makes the reader more in touch with the characters moods and personalities, giving the book a better dramatic influence on the reader. A favourite quotation: "`Which no doubt you would have been devilish sorry to do,' said Squeers in a taunting fashion." This line sums up Squeers's character as, the conniving villain that he undoubtedly is, but when said out loud in the proper style, this quotation can start a passion to read more writing in this style and explore the character from whose lips those word were said, rejoined, retorted, demanded, or even sneered.

Toni Morrison Essay examples -- essays research papers

Toni Morrison The issue of abandonment and the will that it takes to survive the hardship of it is a reoccurring theme in Toni Morrison’s writing. Tar Baby, Sula and Paradise all deal with the issue of abandonment and how it relates to the characters in her stories. â€Å"Through her fiction, Toni Morrison intends to present problems, not their answers† (Moon). Her stated aim is to show "how to survive whole in a world where we are all of us, in some measure, victims of something." (Morrison) Morrison's broad vision extends beyond the individual to one that explores self-discovery in relation to a "shared history." In order to dramatize the destructive effects of this kind of dependency, she intentionally exaggerates to find the limits. In a film interview, Morrison has stated, "I suppose that in many of my novels I tend to discuss one's dependency on the world for identification, self-value, feelings of worth. The abandonment that it takes for one to gain th ese qualities is prominent in my writing.† Toni Morrison has been consistently insightful and helpful critic of her work. With regard to her novels, she has indicated that her plan was to take love and the effects of its scarcity in the world as her major themes, concentrating on the interior lives of her characters, especially those of an enclosed community. Born Chloe Anthony Wofford, on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio. The daughter of George Wofford, a shipyard welder, and his wife Ramah, Morrison was schooled by her parents in the richness of her African-American heritage and the joys of great literature. When she entered first grade, she was the only black student in her class and also the only child who had already learned to read. Since many people couldn't pronounce her first name correctly, she changed it to Toni, a shortened writing". version of her middle name. She joined a repertory company, the Howard University Players, with whom she made several tours of the South. She saw firsthand the life of the blacks there, the life her parents had escaped by moving north. After graduating, Toni was offered a job at Texas Southern University in Houston, where she taught introductory English. Unlike Howard University, where black culture was neglected or minimized, at Texas Southern they celebrated black heritage with Negro hist ory week and introduced to her the idea of b... ... of her birth, to marry, to raise a family, to become a pillar of the tightly knit black community. The other, Sula Peace, rejects all that Nel has accepted. She escapes to college, submerges herself in city life, and when she returns to her roots, it is as a rebel, a mocker, a wanton sexual seductress.†(Back Cover) The relationship between the young women throughout a certain portion of their lives was put on hold due to the distance between them. Sula chose to move away from Ohio when she was young and therefore somewhat abandoned the life that the two girls had in previous years. When reunited with Sula, Nel expresses her thoughts on the abandonment of herself by her friend: â€Å"[Sula] said doing anything forever and ever was hell. Nel didn't understand it then, but now in the bathroom, trying to feel, she thought . . . "Sula was wrong. Hell ain't things lasting forever. Hell is change." Not only did men leave and children grow up and die, but even that misery didn't last. One day she wouldn't even have that. This very grief that had twisted her into a curve on the floor and flayed her would be gone. She would lose that too†. (Morrsion, 108)

Alchemy, Compare Paracelsus Essay

Neither Francis Bacon nor Paracelsus claims to be a professional alchemist, however, they both portray a strong defence as to why it is imperative to divulge the mysteries of nature. Both readings assert alchemy as a way of discovering the true forms of things. Paracelsus uses alchemy as a reference point of the past in defence for his use of medicine, whereas Bacon asserts through inductive reasoning that this ‘art of logic’ is how ‘we conquer nature’ (Bacon 1620). What they both get right is their concept of alchemy as an art, and how it is seen as ‘the art of discovery’ (Dawkins 1999). f the divine power. Bacon has two readings that both discuss the matter of alchemy, however, in diverse ways. Firstly, let us acknowledge his insisting on inductive reasoning. Essentially, Bacon presumes through inductive reasoning several interpretations of nature; he chooses this argumentative approach because of his inferences of the unobserved patterns of the future from particulars observed in the past. He suggests an entirely new system of logic, which is based on induction, rather than on syllogism. In fact, Bacon rejects proof by syllogism as it ‘operates in confusion and lets nature slip out of our hands’ (Bacon 1620). Through alchemy, we can conquer nature; overcome the ‘difficult and dark things’ (Bacon 1620). What’s more is the role he suggests of observational experiment as prerequisites for the construction of scientific theory (Bacon 1620). Paracelsus, on the other hand, convinces us that alchemy is ‘nothing, but the art, which can separate the useful from the useless, and transmute it into its final substance and its ultimate essence’ (Paracelsus 1951). He deduces that, without alchemy, there would not be medicine. So we can conclude that when he defends alchemy, he defends medicine, rather than the revelation of the mysteries of nature. In his guide, Bacon discusses how we can teach our minds to be receptive to truth and how our minds can invoke illusions, perceptual illusions – idols of the tribe (Mulder 2000)that are inherent in the nature of the intellect itself. Our senses are how we inspect and analyse the nature of this real world (Bacon 1620), and it is within our subconsciousness that we devise things in certain ways. Our senses affect the way in which we perceive shapes, colours and metals. Whereas Paracelsus talks about physical changes, like from lead to gold. Did he then consider himself to be a ‘natural magician’, who explored the secrets of nature(Gal 2013)? Moreover, he notes the mysteries of nature and how alchemy attempts to reveal and ‘brings to light’ (Paracelsus 1951) what is hidden. There is physical transmutation, an experience, which leads to the unveiling of truth and disproves mystery. What we also should take into consideration is the role of God and how His influence has affected their respective analysis In Bacon’s The Making of Gold, he addresses the negative view on alchemy due to incorrect implementation. He notes that if done in a proper manner with axioms, then it would work and people would be more accepting of it. Similarly, Paracelsus believes his medicine is the only way to recognize and overcome diseases. ‘Physicians who say that the prescriptions (he) writes are poison’ (Paracelsus 1951), are lacking in understanding of natural forces. The mysterium of nature created by God is implemented through alchemy. As a consequence, are alchemists seen to be meddling with God’s creation? If they are, it is supposedly both futile and heretical, and we’ll say: dangerous. Indeed God tasks man with completing his natural creation, for ‘man is nature’s agent and interpreter’(Bacon 1620), however, can we say the transmutation of base metals to gold is a way for mankind to alter the ways of God’s creation, perhaps even replace God’s intentions? For example, the ‘spirit of metal be quickened, and the tangible parts opened’(Bacon 1627) leads to the revelation of gold, hence the alchemist reveals great virtues that ‘lie hidden in nature’(Paracelsus 1951). Here, Bacon presents us with two types of worlds in his Guide to the Interpretation of Nature; nature, free and unconstrained, and nature, confined and harassed when forced from its own condition by art and human agency (Bacon 1627). Essentially, Bacon argues that nature is more likely to reveal its full potential through the ‘harassment of art’, rather than in ‘her own proper freedom’(Bacon 1627). Although Paracelsus asserts that alchemy is indispensable, Bacon accepts the understanding of nature that upheld the theoretical principles of alchemy (Linden 1974). He embraced a similarity of sorts, but one divested in the tremendously complicated system of analogies (those referencing God, included) adopted by Paracelsus and the magicians.

Mead Johnson Ipo Analisis

Perfil de la Compania Mead Johnson Nutrition. Mead Johnson Nutrition es, segun se describen a si mismos en su pagina web, un lider global en la nutricion de neonatos y ninos. Son mejor conocidos por sus familias de productos Enfamil ® y Enfalac ® de alimentacion infantil, asi como por sus productos regionales Enfagrow ®, Enfapro ®, Enfakid ®, EnfaSchool ®, y Sustagen ® en Asia, y Choco Milk ® y Cal-C-Tose ® en Mexico y America Latina. Sus ventas a 31 de Diciembre, 2007 han sido de aproximadamente $2. billones, destacando los siguientes puntos: Lideres globales en ventas de formula infantil, basado en ventas retail. Lideres en US, basado en el share del mercado estadounidense. Lideres en el mercado asiatico, la region de mayor crecimiento en la industria de la alimentacion pediatrica, en ventas de formula infantil, basado en ventas retail. La venta de la formula infantil represento un 67. 2% y un 69. 4% de las ventas totales en los nueve primeros meses de 2008 y en e l ano 2007 respectivamente. draw:frame} Durante los ultimos anos han lanzado al mercado continuos productos innovadores, por ejemplo: La fabricacion y distribucion se gestiona mediante la cadena de logistica totalmente integrada. Initial Public Offering El 10 de Febrero de 2009, Mead Johnson Nutrition Company anuncio el pricing de su salida a bolsa en $24. 00 por accion. El tamano de la oferta fue incrementado de los iniciales 25 millones de acciones a 30. Segun un comunicado de Bristol Meyers Squibb el dia de salida de la IPO: ‘Con su propia accion publica en trading, Mead Johnson va a ser mucho mas capaz de acelerar su crecimiento. Esta oferta tambien permite a Bristol Meyers Squibb fortalecer su estructura de capital, asi como incrementar el enfoque en el portfolio de negocio de BioPharma, logrando aun otro punto de la estrategia en el negocio de la Sanidad que anunciamos hace poco mas de un ano. Nuestra direccion esta de acuerdo en que esta IPO es una fantastica noticia para los empleados de ambas companias. ’ En lineas generales, los terminos de la Oferta Publica Inicial fueron: Distribucion por subscriptores. Entre los Global Joint Bookrunners y los demas subscriptores, la distribucion de acciones fue la siguiente: {draw:frame} Distribucion Geografica y por Inversor Aunque los datos oficiales no se han hecho publicos, diferentes fuentes nos pueden dar una idea de la evolucion geografica y del reparto por inversores entre tramo institucional y el retailer. En primer lugar observamos que el Greenshoe se ejercio en su totalidad, y que la oferta inicial de 25 millones de acciones fue ampliada con posterioridad a 30 millones, podemos suponer que la demanda institucional fue solida. Sin embargo, sin datos mas solidos todo lo que podemos hacer al respecto es especular. Respecto a la distribucion geografica nos encontramos ante un escenario muy similar. Se sabe por fuentes cercanas a la empresa que el roadshow estuvo repartido entre Estados Unidos (siete dias) y Europa (dos dias), y que sin embargo, segun fuentes del Wall Street Journal (articulo de Heidi N. Moore), casi la mitad de los ingresos vienen del mercado europeo, donde la demanda de titulos fue alta.

Hamptonshire Express Case Essay

1. a. The simulation indicates that 584 is the optimum stocking quantity. Daily profit at this stocking quantity is $331.4346. b. Using the newsvendor model, Cu = 1 – 0.2 = 0.8 and Co = .2. Cu /(Cu + Co) = .8. Using the spreadsheet, we found Q* = NORM.INV(.8,500,100) = 584.16. The simulation and newsvendor model give the same optimal stocking quantity. 2. a. According to the simulation spreadsheet, 4 hours of investment in creation maximizes daily profit at $371.33. b. Sheen would choose an effort level where the marginal benefit gained by the effort is equal to her marginal cost of expending the effort. To calculate the effort level, h, we equalize marginal cost and marginal benefit. Here (.8 * 50) / (2√h) = 10. Solving gives h = 4, or the same as the simulation. c. The optimal profit derived in this scenario is $371.33 per day, which is a $40 increase from the profit derived in problem #1, of $331.43. 3. a. Using the spreadsheet, Ralph’s optimal stocking quantity to maximize his profit is 516. b. The optimal stocking quantity differs from problem #2 because Ralph is incurring the cost of overstocking, which changes the critical ratio from .8 in problem #2 to .2. Because of the critical ratio change, Anna’s profit decreases as Ralph’s increases. This is consistent with the Newsvendor Model, which gives Cu=.2, Co=.8, for a critical ratio of .2. Using the formula in the spreadsheet, Q*=NORM.INV(.2,600,100)=515.837, gives the optimal stocking quantity of 516. c. Assuming that we only use whole numbers for her amount of time, Anna’s optimal effort is 2 hours with a profit of $261.93, a decrease from problem #2 of 4 hours. This is because Anna is now sharing her profit. d. If you decrease the transfer price, Anna’s effort level also decreases, and Ralph will increase his stocking quantity, adding to his profit. Anna’s effort level decreases because her profit decreases when Ralph buys the newspapers for less than $0.80. When the transfer price increases, the opposite occurs; Anna’s effort level increases and there is a decrease in Ralph’s stocking quantity and profit. 4. a. The optimal stocking quantity is 409 according to the spreadsheet in the simulation, which is a decrease from 516 in problem #3 because in the event that the Express stocks out, Ralph still makes a profit from 40% of  customers who will buy the Private. Therefore, because he makes more profit off of the Private, his risk decreases because of cost of understocking of the Express. b. For problems #1 and #2 there were no profitable alternatives to understocking, whereas in problem #3, Ralph has a profitable alternative for understocking since 40% of customers will buy the Private. The different critical ratios from each problem produce a different optimal stocking quantity. c. This decreases his optimal stocking quantity because Ralph is allocating $0.03 to the cost of each newspaper, making his cost of understocking now 1-.83-40%*.4=.01. Co=.83 Critical ratio 0.01/.83= 0.012 According to the data, the optimal stocking quantity is Q*=NORMINV(.012,500,100). 5. a. A lower buy-back price means a lower stocking quantity, because it affects the cost of overstocking. Ralph wants to stock a lower quantity in order to lower his risk of overstocking. The optimal buy-back price is $0.75, which gives a stocking quantity of 659 and channel profits of $369.80. b. The optimal transfer price is $0.99, giving a buy-back price of $0.988, and channel profits of $372.62. However, this is an unrealistic scenario because Ralph’s profits are negative at -$24 and Anna is making almost the full $1 price on each sale. The channel profit is very close to the $371.33 profit from problem #2. This is because the transfer price is almost the same as the selling price to customers of $1, eliminating Anna’s cost of under or overstocking. c. If Ralph had to pay a franchise fee, he would no longer have an incentive to understock. Anna’s effort would remain the same because the marginal benefit of her effort would not change given the additional fixed profit from Ralph’s fee.

Consumer Attitudes and Purchase Intentions in Relation to Organic Foods

Research Proposal Consumer Attitudes and Purchase Intentions in Relation to Organic Foods in Peninsula Malaysia Abstract The aim of this study is to find out the three (3) significant variables forming the positive attitude towards the buying the organic food in Peninsula Malaysia, which eventually lead to the ultimate intention in buying the organically-produced food. The different variables are focused on demographic characteristics on household income, product attributes and lastly the perceived value to the customers. This study shows that the household income is seemingly appeared to be an important predictor among the targeted segmentation in consuming organic food. Organic food attributes such as pricing, availability and environmentally friendliness of such organic food may influence consumer buying decision. Lastly, the perceived value from the customers towards organic food on its health effects, sensory appeal, nutrition-worth and belief of perceived benefits, often play an important role in cultivating the intention towards buying organic food. Introduction and Background of the Study Over the last two decades, there has been a remarkable increase in demand for organic-produced food or products. Organic food is often seen and marketed as health-conscious food which contains fewer contaminants, more nutrients and most importantly having a positive effect on the environment. It is known that some of these attributes are difficult to quantify, with the contrary that some of researcher has proved that they may cause such potential harm during the organic production. The organic market back in 80’s, while remaining a niche sector, has grown to be able to grab a share from the total spending on food in some countries in the recent years. Organic fruit and vegetables are amongst the products which have been expanding in the rapid production. The demand for organically-produced meat and dairy products has undergone the same rapid progress, with a corresponding increase in the need for organically grown forage and feed crops. This has led to a fast growth in consumer demand whereby the organic food sales have managed to gain a significant market share in the conventional food industry. The market for organically produced crops and commodities has become more structured, looking at the increased number of countries which have adopted uniform standards for organic food production. The standardization has also applied in the organic certification and labelling. While both the production and the marketing of the organic cultivation of temperate crops have developed, there is a trend to be seen whereby the developing country’s farmers are actively involved in the organic farming. Problem Statement and Importance of the Research Organic agriculture industry, no doubt, has offers most of the developing countries a wide range of economic, environment, social and cultural benefits. Certifies organic products have now been growing fast and in the mist of entering the global market. Malaysia, on the other hand, is still in the starting spark-point in adapting the organic-food consumption while the developed countries such as North America and Europe have already gained the biggest market share in this newest industry. Due to expanding markets and attractive price premiums, Malaysia should invent and invest in organically-produced food, taking into consideration of various significant variables which may form the consumer behaviour towards organic food. We would like to highlight that the ultimate goal of this study is to understand consumer’s motivations behind organic food products purchases in order to enable organic producers to develop a more effective strategic marketing plan. The results could be used for the marketing planning of organic food products to enable proper marketing strategies, a proper sales channel and promotion to be targeted to these groups of consumers. Research Questions The present study aims to answer the following questions: †¢ What are demographic characteristics of organic food buyers? †¢ How do demographic characteristics affect consumer attitudes towards organic foods? †¢ How product attributes effect consumer attitudes towards organic foods? †¢ How consumer perceived values influence consumer attitudes towards organic foods? What is the relationship between consumers’ attitudes towards organic foods and their intentions to purchase? †¢ How can results of the study be applied by managers and marketers? Research Objectives Regarding to the significance of the growing market of organic foods in the world, and to the previous studies on consumer attitudes towards organic foods and its effects on purch ase intentions in several countries (e. g. Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Denmark) we intend to carry out such similar studies in Peninsula Malaysia with objectives as the following: To report the descriptive analysis on the organic buyers’ demographic characteristics †¢ To identify the effects of demographic characteristics (specifically level of households income) on consumer attitudes towards organic foods †¢ To determine effects of product attributes on consumer attitudes towards organic foods †¢ To investigate the relation of consumer perceived values to consumer attitudes towards organic foods †¢ To determine the relationship between consumers’ attitudes towards organic foods and their intentions to purchase †¢ To clarify implications for managers and marketers Literature Review Demographics Based on findings from previous research, demographic characteristics were evaluated as one of the major predictors in gaining intention to purchase the organic food in Peninsula Malaysia. According to Robinson R. and Smith C. (2002), the demographic of consumers consist of various characteristics namely the gender, age, household income and education level. Each element has been contributed in forming the valued attitudes towards buying the organic products. Hence, the demographic characteristics, especially on household income is seemingly significant and being the focus in this research. This will eventually lead to the desired intention in buying such products for daily consumption. Level of Household Income Whilst referring to the studies done in the US, it is seemingly apparent that the demographic variables which herby refer as the income distribution, is significant predictors (Bartels & Reinders, 2009). The research on this particular subject has proven that income positively influenced buying behaviour which in turn may cause the perceived buying behaviour towards the organic food. A same result has shown in Germany as well (Bartels & Reinders, 2009). In Germany, demographic variables such as household income distribution have played an important role in developing significant effect on organic buying behaviour. However, the overall inevitability of the demographic characteristics was relatively different, taking into consideration of research carried in various Western countries. These findings verify the results of earlier studies by Clark & Goldsmith (2006) and Im et al. (2003) proven that the intellectual practice on using the demographic characteristics such as household income distribution and domain specific innovativeness will be seen as strategic tools for market segmentation. In the Western countries, research has identified that the demand and willingness in expenditure on organic goods often affiliated closely with various socioeconomic and demographic variables (Wier et al. , 2008). In addition, Menghi (1997) found that the majority households with middle and higher income levels showed a greater tendency in purchase and consuming organic foods. However, it is shown that almost all of these studies are based upon hypothesized future behaviour rather than observed behaviour in both Denmark and UK. Hence, studies have been carried out by researchers to further invent on the influences of demographic characteristics especially in household income in guiding the intention of buying the organic goods. Through the research it is revealed that higher disposable household income (approximated by total food expenditure) will lead to higher positive intention in purchasing the organic food. Consumers with a lower household income alongside with lower level of education are found to be least likely to have heard of organic agriculture (Roitner-Schobesberger et al. , 2008). On a contrary, those who have a higher income and hold an academic degree are more likely to be the target segmentation in purchasing organic products (Roitner-Schobesberger et al. , 2008). It is also mentioned that the correlation between the household income level is very much linked to the level of education as well. As mentioned by Robinson R. and Smith C. (2002), intended purchases of sustainably produced foods did not differ for demographic characteristics such as household annual income educational attainment. Through the research carried out by Ross NJ. et al. 2000), they have suggested that consumers with a higher earning incomes were more likely to have purchased locally produced food, mainly focus on the organic consumption by various segmentations. Their research and findings were supported earlier by Govindasamy R. and Italia J. (1998) whereby the same results applied. Groups with a higher household income tend to have purchased foods produced with reduced pesticides. In UK particularly, social group is employed as an indicator of income brackets (Wier et al. , 2008). Research has revealed that the tendency in urchase the organic goods seem to increase in accordance to the given social status. However, the highest organic budget shares are observed for middle class households whilst shares in the upper middle class being in fact lower. Quite captivatingly, a similar phenomenon is observed to be happened in Denmark as well. Organic Food Attributes Organic food attributes influence consumer buying decision. Several empirical studies have been performed on customer perceptions of organic food attributes and how they formed the consumer attitudes towards food. In the present research, among different product attributes, we have selected: price of organic food, environmentally friendliness of organic food and organic food availability. Price of Organic Food Organic foods are often of a price premium above conventional products. According to Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008) in Thailand the price difference between organic and non-labeled conventional vegetables in Bangkok varied between 50 percent and 170 percent and in some cases even 400 percent. However, in some countries such as Finland there were not significant premium prices for organic foods (Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005). As Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008) pointed out that despite the price difference of organic and non-organic food, nearly 60% of the ‘organic buyers’ said that the price of organic products was not a problem. In addition, ‘non-organic buyers’ ranked some other items as a reason of not purchasing organic food rather than higher prices. Chryssohoidis & Krystallis (2005) claimed that while 100 percent of people would prefer organic to conventional products with the assumption of similar price, this percentages dropped by only 20 percent when the same question was posed regardless the higher price of organic food. In other words, higher price is an important obstacle for a limited percentage of consumers. Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008) found out that in Bangkok men were more likely to purchase organic foods than women and concluded that it might be due to the reason of men being willing to pay a higher price premium for organic products than women. Similarly, a study in Klang Valey, Malaysia showed that women werre more likely than men to agree that they would purchase more organic foods if they were less expensive (Ahmed, 2010). Additionally, heavy users were on average stage whereby they are willing to pay higher price premiums than medium and light users (Wier et. al, 2008). Environmentally friendliness of organic food Consumers are getting more conscious and concerned with the consumption of chemical substance used in farming and preserving environment is becoming a strong attitude among consumers. According to Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005), subjective norms’ effect on attitudes has been mainly found in behaviors, that involved some kind of ethical decision, and also buying organic food can be seen as ethical decision reflecting environmental concern. In addition, perceived quality is associated with environmentally friendly practices (Ness et. al, 2009). The perception of organic food products as environmentally friendly was a common intuition and has been examined in several studies (Ahmed, 2010; Honkanen et. al, 2006). It is believed that when the consumers have more concern about their health and environmental protection, they will be more likely to have a positive attitude to organic foods (Ness et. al, 2010). Honkanen et. al (2006) found that ecologically oriented consumers were more likely to form intentions to purchase and consume organic food. In other words, the more people are concerned about environment, the more positive attitude they have towards organic food. Organic Food Availability Lack of organic food availability and variety in store is considered as one of the barriers to consumer purchase. Fresh vegetables (which include fresh herbs) were considered the most widely available organic product group rather than other organic foods (Roitner-Schobesberger et. al, 2008). Chryssohoidis & Krystallis (2005) stated that limited availability was the main factor that hinders organic purchasing. Although according to Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008), in Thailand, majority of organic buyers were satisfied with availability of organic products. Most of them reported that they would like to buy more organic products, especially a wider range of vegetables. Value to the Customer In every product that consumer purchased and used, they in turn are expecting value from it. Value can be defined as a benefit that consumer is receiving by using a product. Benefits here mean sensory appeal of the product, taste, fun, freshness, quality and healthiness of the products. These are some main reasons that encouraged consumer to purchase the organic food. The value may vary from one consumer to another; however there will definitely be one value that effect the buying attitude which motivate the buying intention of consumers. Health Effect of Organic Food Several perceptions contributed to health attribute include the reason of being good for health, good for children, not containing pesticides, high in fiber, natural and nutritious and safer to eat (Roitner-Schobesberger, et. al, 2008; Saher et. al 2006; Lockie et. al, 2002; Ness et. al, 2009). The perceived potential hazards of modern agricultural practices such as the use of pesticides and their residues in food were perceived to be associated with long term and unknown effects on health (Miles and Frewer, 2001;Wilkins & Hillers, 1994; Williams & Hammit, 2001). Saher et. al (2006) revealed that there is very little scientific support for the common beliefs that organic food would be more healthy or nutritious than regular foods, but the belief that they have these properties remains quite strong in consumer’s mindset. The claim is debatable whether marketers can use the health claim for marketing purposes because most of the research concluded that there was no evidence that organic food was healthier or more nutritious than conventional food (Honkanen et. al, 2006). However, most studies in this area suggested that consumer’s perception of organic food as a healthy nutrition is one the most significant motives for buyers. Lockie et al. (2002) pointed out that health was the one aspect consumers are least willing to compromise. Roitner-Schobesberger et. al (2008) in Bangkok, Thailand, examined the motives behind organic food purchase and pointed out that the most important motive was the expected positive health effects. Similarly in Malaysia, organic buyers believed that organic food was healthier compared to conventional grown food (Ahmed, 2010). In Thailand, the health aspect was closely associated with the residues from synthetic chemicals used in agriculture (Roitner-Schobesberger et. al, 2008). In fact, organic products often have a lower level of pesticide residues (Baker et al. , 2002). Lockie et. al (2002) revealed that although price was an important factor, organic consumers consider health has appeared as a more significant factor for purchasing organic food in Australia. These organic food consumers also believed that industrial methods of food processing constitute a threat to customer’s health. Another research by Schifferstein & Oude Ophuis (1997) illustrated that well-being was rated among all other motives by organic food buyers. On the other hand, Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005) by examining specific organic products (bread and flour) claimed that health consciousness did not explained the general attitudes towards organic food, although they believed this results might be different by examining different organic products. Sensory Appeals Sensory appeals of organic food are part of the factors that provides value to customer. Sensory appeals include the taste, odor and also the texture of the organic product (Prescott et. al, 2002). Sometimes sensory appeals of the organic food need to be combined with the non-sensory factors such as organic food related expectations to create a value to customer which will affect their attitude towards buying organic food (Prescott et. al, 2002). Sensory factors are also influenced by cultures and background of consumers. For example, consumers from Western countries eat less spicy food compared to those from Asia. Spicy organic food might produce high value to consumers in Asian countries compared to Western. Intrinsic cues or sensory appeal that are associated with physical characteristics of the product such as taste, size, color, appearance, smell, feel and flavor were commonly used as indicators of quality on the organic food (Schifferstein et. al,1997). Quality is also value that consumers experiencing by consuming an organic food. Better sensory appeal of organic food will portray a better quality which will influence the attitude of purchasing an organic food and later increase the intention of buying the organic food. One of the most prominent sensory appeals that yield more value to consumer is taste. According to Roitner-Schobesbergeris et. al (2008), taste was the third important motives that consumers purchase organic food (Roitner-Schobesbergeris et. al, 2008). Others studies also emphasized that many organic food buyers believed that organic food products taste better than conventional food even if sensory evaluations have yielded inconsistent results (Fillion and Arazi,2002; McEachern and McClean,2002; Zhao et al. ,2007). Perceived Value One of the studies conducted in eight countries concluded that individual attitudes towards buying organic food are primarily based on the belief about the benefits (Thogersen, 2000). Benefits or value to consumers such as healthy, taste better and environment friendly supersede all the other factors such as belief about the cost. The same proven in one of the study conducted in Klang Valley. Most of the respondents reported that they choose to buy organic food products because they perceived organic food as very healthy, fresher and natural (Bayaah Ahmad et. ll, 2010). As such, value of organic food towards customers’ effect their attitudes towards buying which will motivates their intention of purchasing the organic product. Consumers also value organic food as nutritional food since it is produced using traditional method whereby the original nutrition from the food is preserved. Nutrition belief was one of the reasons that made people appeared to have different food styles and often express themselves as having food adventurousness or pickiness (Chen, 2007). Organic food adds value to consumers who has such belief and it will influence their intention of consuming it by affecting the buying behavior. Besides, Chen (2007) points out that an individual’s personal interests or traits act a part in establishing personal food choice criteria through the values held by the individual. These values comprise nutrition beliefs, weight control concerns, and so on. For instance, people seem to have different food-styles and often express themselves as having food adventurousness or pickiness. Another important motive to purchase organic food as reported by Roitner-Schobesbergeris et. al (2008) is the consumer’s search for new, trendy and attractive food products. Attitudes towards Organic food and Intention to purchase Basically, consumer attitudes are found to be the most important predictor of intention to buy (Honkanen et. al, 2006). Several studies have found that higher perceived product quality leads to more positive re-purchase intentions (Bou-Llusar et. al, 2001; Hult, & Kandemir 2004; Tarkiainen & Sundqvist, 2005). Chen (7007) highlighted that if the consumer’s attitude towards organic foods is positive, the consumer’s attitude to purchase organic food will be more likely to be positive. This is also consistent with another study performed by Honkanen et. al (2006) indicating that relation between attitude and intention is positive and quite strong, indicating that consumers with positive attitudes towards consumption of organic food are more likely to form intentions to consume such food, therefore converting positive attitudes to intentions. Methodology Theoretical Research Framework [pic] Figure1. Theoretical Research Framework Hypothesis Development: Hypothesis 1: There is a relationship between demographic characteristics of consumers and their attitudes towards organic foods. Hypothesis 2: There is a relationship between organic food attributes and consumer’s attitudes towards the organic food. Hypothesis 3: There is a positive relationship between values of organic food to customer with attitudes towards buying organic foods. Hypothesis 4: When the consumer’s attitude towards organic foods is positive, the consumer’s intentions to purchase organic foods will be more likely to be positive. Research Design The questionnaires are only designed in English; since the respondents are assumed to be relatively high educated they will be able to answer the questions without any difficulties. Furthermore it will help to keep the original meaning and understanding that respondents perceived to have towards the questions. Types of questions in questionnaires are mostly closed ended question and only two open ended question. This will only consume little time for the respondent to complete the questionnaire which will encourage them to participate in this study. There are three main categories in the prepared questionnaires. The questions in the first category are more towards understanding demographic details of the respondent such as on the age, income level, ethnicity, religion and educational level. This is useful to confirm the background of the organic food consumers. There are also questions on the product attributes which the respondents are asked to identify what are the main attributes that attract the purchase and also to determine whether this factor have a positive effect towards consumer attitude on organic food. Last part in the questionnaires is designed to understand the value of organic food to customers. All these questions are to test four hypotheses of this study. Data Collection The target population consists of organic food buyers in Peninsula Malaysia. In order to carry out the sampling Peninsula Malaysia is divided in to 3 major regions namely Northern, Central and Southern region. Northern region will be represented by Penang, Central region will be Klang Valley and Southern region of Peninsula Malaysia is represented by Johor Bahru. These three areas are chosen based on the economic development and availability of the organic products. From each region shopping complexes and supermarkets that provide organic products are identified. By using random sampling, three shopping complexes and supermarkets in urban areas are selected. Since target respondent with higher educational level and purchasing power are scattered around these urban areas, these will be perfect places to conduct this research. Those three supermarkets and shopping complexes are ensured to be far from each other so that the collected samples will be more accurate in representing the population in each region. Total sample size comprises of 540 individual respondents is collected using convenience sampling and respondents will be approached randomly. Since this study is conducted in large scale, convenient sampling will be more cost effective compared to other types of sampling. Furthermore conducting other types of sampling will be time consuming and the accuracy of the collected samples to represent the actual population will be questionable. In order to collect the data, 60 self-administered consumer questionnaire surveys are distributed in each shopping complexes which will result in 180 uestionnaires from each region. Considering the validity of the data, we are expecting a total of about 500 questionnaires to be usable in the later part of data analysis. Although there is no way of knowing if those included are representative of the overall population, the survey is still expected to give a first overview of relevant issues and to allow to derive insights into the perception of organ ic food buyers in Peninsula Malaysia. Data Analysis After data is collected, data will be edited and coded. Editing data is very essential part of data analysis especially when researches involve open ended questions. Editing is done immediately after data is collected so that the respondent can be contacted if any clarification needed. The edited data are identified through usage of different fond and colors. Coding is done before data processing is conducted. Since most of the data collected involve ordinal scale, coding becomes prudent. By doing this data accurately keyed in and avoid wrong interpretation of data. Base on the three sections in the questionnaire, data is also coded in three main groups. Data processing is done using a software program called SPSS version 17. First of all the edited and coded data is checked and scanned through. Wrongly entered and coded data will be identified using the software through methods like identification of the maximum value. Values like variance, standard deviation, mean and range are used to understand the effectiveness of the questions asked in the questionnaire and how respondents reacted to the questions. The reliability and validity test is done to check the credibility of the data. The reliability test also conducted to test the relationship of the variables through the reliability coefficient. 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