Types of Soil Essay Example for Free

Types of Soil Essay This is how one sixth-grader describes the way of playing video games. Such video games can seem like harmless fun, but what if the violence gets personal and addicts young teenagers, affecting their behavior and their view of reality? Some studies have shown that violent game players just do not leave it there on their game screens; they transfer the violent acts they get attached to, to the real world. Violent games have been shown to increase game player’s quest to experiment how all that stuff will look like in the real world. There is no doubt that violent video games have no effect on certain people, but for the most and especially in teenagers, the effects are negative and have led to fatalities and destruction of properties in certain instances. Although some parents claim that violence video games have bad effects on teenagers because they’re behavior changes, teenagers play too much violent games because they are very addicting. Some parents say that violent video games have bad effects on young teenagers. But most video- game players have normal lives. Most important, just because a player does not instantly take or follow violence found in video games does not mean the games will not have negative result on that player’s views and behavior. The violent games will have negative effects on teenagers. Young teenager’s behavior will have a big change. Because of this case, parents should be responsible for buying video games and should forbid young teenagers from buying those games that are violent. If parents do not take the responsibility than teenagers do not know what they are doing and what is good for them. Before teenagers take a big wrong step, parents should be there to take care of the situation. I have a little nephew in seventh grade and he loves violence video games. He loves playing call of duty. My aunt always gives him the money to buy any game that he likes. He loves the smell of money. She never checks to see what game he might have bought. Because of her not being responsible, my little cousin always gets into school fights with other children. So every parent must be responsible for their own child. Some parents say that violent video games have bad effects on young teenagers because a number of people claim that playing a violent video game does present a bad threat to user’s health. For an example, I have a younger brother who is seventeen years old. He loves playing violent video games. Every day, when he is home from school with his spiky brown hair, he starts playing the WrestleMania game. He does not eat anything and he talks to himself while playing the game. He does not realize that his behavior is changing by playing violent video games. One time, he tried to kick me in my stomach but a police man saw him and told him to stop. My parents made him quit playing violent video-games. Ever since he stopped playing violent video games his behavior has changed a lot. He now realizes he was out of control and it is all because of the violent video games. He sold his Xbox to one of his close friends. I am glad my parents took good care of it because it is their responsibility to look after their son. Some parents say that violent video games have bad effects on young teenagers because; there was a shooting in Colorado movie theatre. Twelve people were killed and fifty eight were injured by a graduate student. The guy who killed all these people was a very educated man. But he lost his sense of humor. He was out of control. People thought that the shooting was a part of the movie also. He was dressed up as the joker from the movie batman. Later the doctors found out he had some type of brain damage watching too much violent movies and playing games. So, he was not okay in his head. His behavior made so many people lose their lives. So many people lost their loved ones that day. And again violent community and games can damage people’s brains. Some parents say that violent video games have good effects on young teenagers because violent games can be new information to some teenagers, because it is something new and different from their daily lifestyle. They think violent games can help their child with memorization because it provides pretty text to look at. The video games have nice graphics for teenagers. It helps a teenager look at new information and advances them. Some parents think that teenagers learn better by looking at graphics and text that are provided by violent games. Parents think new and different inspires teenagers and games inspire them in a good way. But mostly business owner parents are saying this. But at the end of the day, it is every parent’s job to be responsible for their own child. Parents should pay more attention to their children while children are playing violent video games.

Social Work Management in Youth and Communities

Social Work Management in Youth and Communities 1.0: Introduction Youth work in the community, which is mainly performed by specially trained youth workers who work with youth at risk in group homes and community centres demands a high level of managerial skills blend with the skill in social work as argued by Mark Krueger (2000)[1]. The fact that the youth work is a non-profit approach makes it clear that the established management concepts were successful in profit-based organization need necessarily prove effective when deployed. In this report an overview of the theories embracing the management and social work with regards to youth and community work is presented to the reader. The report also demonstrates relevant examples from my previous experience in order to justify that the author of this report is ready to perform as an autonomous and reflective practitioner in the area of youth and community work. Furthermore, the report also presents a critical analysis on the British Social policies and the European Union perspective. A brief review on the global view on the youth work is also presented before concluding the report. 2.0: Overview of the theoretical concepts embracing youth and community work with examples This section commences with the overview on the management and historical content that reflects upon the youth work is presented to the reader. This is then followed by the analysis of the information and control system where the importance of the planning and information management is presented to the reader. The section is then concluded with an overview on the human resource management concepts embracing the youth work. 2.1: Management and historical content Peter F. Druker (1990)[2] says that management in the non-profit context is not only about effective performance and development but mainly embraces the idea of value addition to the society. The fact that the non-profit organizations are increasing in number with the support from government and public as argued by Robert F. Ashcraft (2000)[3]. This is not only because of the fact that the non-profit organizations are focused upon charity and fund raising but also involves the development of people at risk. The youth at risk development, which is of interest in this report, was given high level of importance only since the dawn of the twenty-first century even though it was emphasised by many researchers as early as 1978 by Paul Osterman (1978)[4]. As stated before, youth work in the community is a non-profit approach where the aim is to provide support and development to the youth at risk. This makes it clear that the nature of the work involved is varied and hence management skills that embrace the social work and value addition are essential than the effective performance managers who fair well in the profit-based organizations. Furthermore, it is also interesting to note that the youth work is not always about the social work to revive youth in danger but also to provide value-added service to the community in order to develop the youth of the nation through imparting culture and discipline. Alongside, it is also an intriguing fact that even through the youth work is a non-profit approach, the investment involved with the setting up and the running costs of the community work are relatively high with negligible or no income being generated. The support by the government and the local city council being the major source of the support financially, the management skills of the youth workers should not only embrace the efficient cost management methods but also focus upon developing the effective relationship strategy with the community in order to involve the neighbourhood to support the community work morally or even financially as argued by Mark Krueger (2000). The fact that youth work is predominantly involves the counselling, teaching and caring for the youth who come to the youth shelter having been abused, or in need of respite from home. In these cases the managerial skills of the youth worker should be more empathetic than focusing upon the development. The soft skills of the management like patience, proactive management to support people in need are the essential elements of management that should be demonstrated by a youth worker as argued by Mark Schoenhals (1998)[5]. This justifies that the effective management in the social work context is not about performance but mainly about the deployment of the soft skills to support the youth in need. Alongside it is also essential to mention that the youth worker’s management skills should not only reflect upon the development of the youth but also to focus upon the entire neighbourhood the youth worker is working at as argued by Mark Krueger (2000)[6]. The fact that the youth worker predominantly working in a volatile environment (i.e.) an unstable work place like the temporary youth shelter, working with the parents, foster parents etc as identified by Mark Krueger (2000) makes it clear that the youth worker management skills should be versatile to accommodate the changes in the environment effectively. The author’s experience from working with the Coventry Youth service has justified the aforementioned argument where the author gained experience of working with the Asian community youth in Hill-fields are of Coventry. Alongside, the student development programme conducted at Binley area which was focused upon the development of the youth through working with the parents and foster parents of the youth is another justification that the versatile management skills that embrace the soft skills is essential for the successful development of the youth work. It is also critical to state here that the author who led the youth development programme at Binley with a team of six youth workers accomplished the goals of the project (provide support and development opportunity to the youth in the community through working with their parents or foster parents) through the efficient deployment of the management skills discussed above. 2.2: Information and Control system Information and control in the youth work is a critical element in order to achieve the goal of providing development services to the youth. This is mainly because of the fact that the youth worker having to face a varied environment requires accurate and comprehensive information so as to effectively deploy the development plan. Mark Krueger (2000) argues that the information is a vital element for the successful planning of the development plan in a give youth and community work scenario. This is not only because of the need to effectively deploy the resources but also to accomplish the goal of the youth work that is projected for the day. Alongside, it is also essential to note that the control over the youth work is essential in order to accomplish the set goals of the project on hand without wastage of time and resources. Sara Banks (1998)[7] argues that the youth work in a community should be deployed in a controlled manner reflecting upon the ethical conduct and code of ethics mainly because of the fact that the youth work itself involves the deployment of self-discipline and control by the youth worker who strives to set an example of himself to the youth community he/she targeting to reform or protect. The fact that the control in the youth work is not the control of the youth but the stages of the programme being deployed makes it a critical that the information gathered is accurate and effective in nature. The information being the vital ingredient for the deployment of a plan in the youth work as argued by Sara Banks (1998) further justifies that the youth work should comprise effective background research on the community targeted prior to planning. Sara Banks (198) further argues that the information research and the planning can be accomplished effectively and successfully deployed through closely working with the city council and the local community centres by which the youth worker enjoys higher level of support and help from the community. Sara Banks (1998) also state that stating the objective of the youth work for a particular project is the critical element for the successful planning itself. This is also justified by the arguments of Abraham Daniel (1999)[8] who says that the objective of the youth work is the main element that attracts the community to participate in the youth development programme by the youth workers. Apart from the objective setting the factors of planning and evaluation are essential in order to deploy the resources since the plan of the youth work devised can be accomplished only through the effective evaluation of the information and plan in the light of the needs in the community targeted. The youth work participated by the author at Shotton in North Wales where the major barrier was the language because of the predominant Welsh population in the community. Alongside the cultural differences faced by the author and his team members along with the language barrier was overcome only through the effective information research on the community and closely working with the city council. The objective of the work being the rehabilitation of the youth who were under drug abuse was effectively planned through the effective information gathering on the activities of the youth in the community as well as the involvement of the local community centres to support the planning of the project. Furthermore, it is also essential to mention that the author who was the team member during the deployment of this project was given the opportunity of planning the work along with the team leader. It was clearly evident from the experience gained that the efficient planning is an essential el ement for the successful deployment of the youth work on hand. Alongside, the work at Shotton also provided valuable experience on the development of the controls around the project and the targets to meet in order to effectively accomplish the revival of the youth from drug abuse in the community. Since the project was initially misinterpreted as a rehabilitation project than support to the community, the marketing and communication of the project objective as a supporting element to develop the youth in the neighbourhood rather than a rehabilitation school. The process of working closely with the local community centres and the city council was highly supportive to achieve the confidence and support from the parents and foster parents of the youth. This is synonymous to the arguments of Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005)[9] who argue that the marketing communication is the vital tool for successfully reaching the target customers both in case of the profit-based and non-profit organizations. The discussions cited above comprise a vital example for the critical nature of the information and control in the youth work. 2.3: Human Resource management in youth work Human resource in any kind of work is indispensable in nature as argued by Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2003)[10]. This is apparently because of the fact that the effective performance of the personnel involved in the project is the kindling element for accomplishing the project goals. This is also evident from the arguments of Michael Armstrong (2003)[11] who emphasises the fact that the human resource especially in a non-profit scenario is the foundation pillar for the entire project itself. The fact that the motivation and encouragement in the youth work or in any other form of social work is only through the effective leadership skills of the team leader who has to consider that the motivation is purely moral in nature and does not always include financial benefits. This apparently means that the leadership skills of the manager managing the project should be exemplary and must also demonstrate flexibility along with the authority and control. This is essential because of the volatile nature of the community work and the continuous changes that can affect the performance of the team members in involved in the community work. Andrew Rothwell and John Arnold (2005)[12] argue that the human resource management in a non-profit scenario and mainly the performance management are dependent upon the level of authority and control exercised by the manager in deploying the resources. This is also because of the fact that the results are not easily measurable in case of youth and community work, which makes it critical to understand that the performance of the youth workers is predominantly dependant upon their adherence to the controls and effectiveness in deploying the plan. Alongside, the authority element as argued by Mark Krueger (2000) is also an element of management and influence among the team members mainly because of the fact that the managers in the youth and community work do not have direct supervisory control over the team members since they work in a dispersed nature within the community under consideration itself. This makes it clear that the effective management can be accomplished only through the effective exercise of the authority. Furthermore, the fact that the youth workers and the youth with whom they work comprise the overall project plan makes it a complex job to effectively manage the youth worker to demonstrate self-discipline and character so as to set an example in the youth community they work. This being an essential element for the success of the youth and community work project is the major element that attributes to the human resource management by the managers in the youth work. Unlike the profit-based organization the non-profit approach with the need to demonstrate empathy and maintain effective relationship with the community makes it further critical for the managers to deploy a structured approach to the management of the youth and social work as argued by Peter F Druker (1990). A structured approach will not only enhance the performance of the youth workers but also help accomplish the objectives of the project effectively. This is also evident from the need to effectively organize the resources in order to accomplish the objectives as well as establish effective relationship with the community. The fact that the relationship with the community can be effectively nurtured through the structured deployment of the project by the managers emphasises the importance of the structured approach and performance management in youth and community work. The learning development project by the author and his team members at Tividale, in Dudley port at Birmingham is a classical example for the aforementioned discussions. The author being the team leader not only faced the language and cultural barriers but also a level of non-cooperation by certain community centres. Since the population in the target community was of diverse origin the need for a structured approach was essential to accomplish the planning and information research stages itself. This is not only because of the structured deployment but also through the effective deployment of the human resource (i.e.) management of the team members. The team had an inherent advantage of inclusion and diversity since the members were of different origin working for the same goal. This was effectively utilised to liaise with the community centres and gather required information and involvement to the project. The management of the members through the exercise of authority for example t he emphasis on working for target by the author was the factor that contributed to the effective performance among the team members. Furthermore, the planning and deployment of the project through allocating each team member a team of youth and an attached community centre also proved successful to the youth work as well as motivating to the youth worker. The effective planning process, which provided effective management as well as accomplishment of the targets within the time frame agreed, helped to the success of the project greatly. From the above discussions it is clear that the author of the report has strived to demonstrate a clear understanding of the management theoretical concepts with examples from this experience gained through fieldwork. In the next section a critical analysis on the big picture of the British Youth policies and comparison to that of the European Union and a global perspective is presented to the reader. 3.0: The big picture The British youth policies as argued by John A. Calhoun (2002)[13] is predominantly rehabilitation based (i.e.) the use of law and order to accomplish the youth development can be seen in the system. Although the youth development in the UK embraces the welfare of the youth, the stringent laws present on the Binge drinking and other anti-social activities that results in cash penalties and even imprisonment makes the youth policy a little overstated in the UK. Bill Katz (2004)[14] further argues that the policies adhered in the UK is not only the critical element for the successful deployment of youth and community work in the society but also establishes the need to establish trust among the public in order to gain their co-operation. The British youth policies in general even through as stringent laws is focused upon the overall development of the youth community in the UK in order to present an effective and sustainable environment for the future. This approach of the government is necessary because of the increasing diversity in the population in the UK. The interesting fact that the diversity in the UK population has not tarnished the support by the community to government’s strive to youth development but is also against the use of force and law against youth accused for anti-social activities. The need for self-discipline and control in the society as stated by John A Calhoun (2002) makes it clear that the need to use force when necessary to accomplish the aforementioned is inevitable. Furthermore, an insight into the Greater Manchester Metropolitan Police report (2004)[15] makes it clear that the use of force is the last used method to control anti-social behaviour by the youth involved in anti-social behaviour. This further makes it clear that youth policy both at the local and national level use force to control anti-social behaviour of youth as a last sought method rather than using it in the first instance. This justifies the youth policy of the nation, which is focused upon the development of youth and protection from abuse whilst exercising force when involved in anti-social behaviour. The youth policy proposed by the European Union is similar to the approach of UK except for the emphasis on the use of force on youth. The policy not only reflects upon the need to provide development and support to the youth but also emphasises upon the restricted use of force in by the authorities. Since the approach of European Union embraces the member states it is thus essential to emphasise upon the restriction on the use of force. This is because of the varied nature of the exercise of law and order across European Union member states thus making it essential to prevent the use of force on the youth. It is also intriguing to note that not only the western countries are involved in the youth development and support but also the countries in the Far East like China and India. The Chinese government approach to youth development as a critical element for the economic growth of the nation makes it clear that the Far eastern countries have realised the importance of youth development in order to sustain the economic growth of their nation. 4.0: Conclusion Thus to conclude this report, it is clear that the management of youth and community work by the youth workers and managers is a challenging role that requires versatile people skills blended with effective management and planning. The overview on the theoretical concepts and the examples has revealed the author’s understanding and knowledge in managing youth and community work. The overview on the big picture detailing the British youth policy and the European Union has also justified the extent of research conducted in order to establish as an autonomous and reflective practitioner in the area of youth and community work by the author. 5.0: References Books Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2003), Personnel Management HRM in Action, UK: Prentice Hall Michael Armstrong and Tina Stephens (2003) A handbook of employee reward management and practice, London Kogan Page Peter F. Druker (1990), Managing the non-profit organization: practices and principles, London: Butterworth-Heinemann Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005), Marketing Management 12e, Prentice Hall India Journals and reports Abraham Daniel (1999), ESTABLISHMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE UNITS. Annals of Public Cooperative Economics, Vol. 42 Issue 2, p169 Andrew Rothwell and John Arnold (2005), How HR professionals rate continuing professional development Human Resource Management Journal, 2005, Vol. 15 Issue 3, p18-32 Bill Katz (2004), Youth Policy: The Monthly Report on National Youth Program and Issues. Library Journal, 4/1/89, Vol. 114 Issue 6, p119-119 Greater Manchester Metropolitan Police (2004), Performance Statistics John A. Calhoun (2002), Claiming youth: A new paradigm in youth policy. New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising, Winter2002, Vol. 2002 Issue 38, p67-80 Mark Krueger (2000), Presence, Fear, Curiosity, and Other Themes in Community Youth Work. Applied Developmental Science, 2000 Supplement 1, Vol. 4. Mark Krueger (2000), Presence, Fear, Curiosity, and Other Themes in Community Youth Work Applied Developmental Science, Jun2000 Supplement 1, Vol. 4 Issue 3, p21-27 Mark Schoenhals (1998), The Educational and Personal Consequences of Adolescent Employment. Social Forces, Dec98, Vol. 77 Issue 2, p723-762 Paul Osterman (1978), Youth, Work, and Unemployment. May/Jun78, Vol. 21 Issue 2 Robert F. Ashcraft (2000), Where Youth Work Preparation Meets Higher Education: Perspectives From an American Humanics Campus Program. Applied Developmental Science, 2000 Supplement 1, Vol. 4 Sara Banks (1998), Codes of Ethics and Ethical Conduct: A View from the Caring Professions. Public Money Management, Jan-Mar98, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p27 Footnotes [1] Mark Krueger (2000), Presence, Fear, Curiosity, and Other Themes in Community Youth Work. Applied Developmental Science, 2000 Supplement 1, Vol. 4. [2] Peter F. Druker (1990), Managing the non-profit organization : practices and principles, London: Butterworth-Heinemann [3] Robert F. Ashcraft (2000), Where Youth Work Preparation Meets Higher Education: Perspectives From an American Humanics Campus Program. Applied Developmental Science, 2000 Supplement 1, Vol. 4 [4] Paul Osterman (1978), Youth, Work, and Unemployment. May/Jun78, Vol. 21 Issue 2 [5] Mark Schoenhals (1998), The Educational and Personal Consequences of Adolescent Employment.. Social Forces, Dec98, Vol. 77 Issue 2, p723-762 [6] Mark Krueger (2000), Presence, Fear, Curiosity, and Other Themes in Community Youth Work Applied Developmental Science, Jun2000 Supplement 1, Vol. 4 Issue 3, p21-27 [7] Sara Banks (1998), Codes of Ethics and Ethical Conduct: A View from the Caring Professions. Public Money Management, Jan-Mar98, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p27 [8] Abraham Daniel (1999), ESTABLISHMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE UNITS. Annals of Public Cooperative Economics, Vol. 42 Issue 2, p169 [9] Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2005), Marketing Management 12e, Prentice Hall India [10] Derek Torrington and Laura Hall (2003), Personnel Management HRM in Action, UK: Prentice Hall [11] Michael Armstrong and Tina Stephens (2003) A handbook of employee reward management and practice, London Kogan Page [12] Andrew Rothwell and John Arnold (2005), How HR professionals rate continuing professional development Human Resource Management Journal, 2005, Vol. 15 Issue 3, p18-32 [13] John A. Calhoun (2002), Claiming youth: A new paradigm in youth policy. New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising, Winter2002, Vol. 2002 Issue 38, p67-80 [14] Bill Katz (2004), Youth Policy : The Monthly Report on National Youth Program and Issues. Library Journal, 4/1/89, Vol. 114 Issue 6, p119-119 [15] Greater Manchester Metropolitan Police (2004), Performance Statistics

Brand Perception And Customer Buying Behaviour

Brand Perception And Customer Buying Behaviour In this chapter, concepts, theories and relevant models about branding, brand perception and customer buying behaviour will be discussed in detail. An individual who buys products for personal use and not for manufacture or resale is said to be a consumer. A consumer is someone who can make the decision whether or not to purchase an item at the store, which can be influenced by marketing and advertisements. Each and every consumer is influenced by their own brand perception and buying decisions which depends on various number of factors. 2.2 Branding Brand is the image that consumers have in mind (Aaker, 1991). It is also the unique characteristics that have been developed all the time in order to differentiate actual products from the competitors (Murphy, 1990). In addition, The American Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. A brand is thus a product or service that adds dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products or services designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be functional, rational, or emotional or intangible related to what the brand represents. Brand concepts must address customer interests and lifestyles. Factors that affect its brand image and brand perception among marketing communication program that implementing to the public to create brand perception, brand characteristic, brand image and bran d equity. De Chernatony and McDonald (1992) define a brand as an identifiable product, service, person or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique added values which match their needs most closely. There have been two basic values identified by de Chernatony (1999) that contribute towards the brand premium. One is the functional value such as the price, technology, design and store layout. This functional value is a distinct attribute that a customer adds to the brand and distinguishes the brand from the rest. The second form of added value comes from emotional value. This value is derived from notions like advertising, internal branding, translating the retail brand into consumer taste, and even the shopping experience itself at the retail outlet. 2.3 Brand Perception Perception is how we see ourselves and the world we live in. However, what ends up being stored inside us doesnt always get there in a direct manner. Often our mental makeup results from information that has been consciously or subconsciously filtered as we experience it, a process we refer to as a perceptual filter. To us this is our reality, though it does not mean it is an accurate reflection on what is real. Thus, perception is the way we filter stimuli (e.g., someone talking to us, reading a newspaper story) and then make sense out of it. Perception has several steps. Exposure sensing a stimuli (e.g. seeing an ad) Attention an effort to recognize the nature of a stimuli (e.g. recognizing it is an ad) Awareness assigning meaning to a stimuli (e.g., humorous ad for particular product) Retention adding the meaning to ones internal makeup (i.e., product has fun ads) Brand perception is consumers ability to identify the brand under different conditions, as reflected by their brand recognition or recall performance (Kotler Lane, 2006). Brand recall refers to consumers ability to retrieve the brand from the memory (Keller, 1993). According to the improvement of measurement for brand equity, consumer-based brand equity was described for four dimensions; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty (Pappu, et al, 2005). Brand awareness was defined as the consumers ability to identify or recognize the brand (Rossiter and Percy, 1987). It refers to the strength of a brand presence in consumers minds. Brand awareness has several levels starting from the less recognition of the brand to dominance (Aaker, 1991). Perceived quality was evaluated and decided by consumers. Perceived quality is another valuation of brand to push the customer to buy products. Brand building has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. The earliest signs of branding in Europe were the medieval guilds requirement that craftspeople put trademarks on their products to protect themselves and consumers against inferior quality. In the fine arts, branding began with artists signing their works. Brands today play a number of important roles that improve consumers lives and enhance the financial value of firms (Kotler Lane, 2006). Brand awareness and brand perceived quality as the significant factors to create and maintain brand equity. There are positive relationship among brand awareness, perceive quality and brand equity (Aker, 1996, Buzzell Gate, 1987). The marketing program has effect to improve the perceive quality of brand for different customers. Brand perception is consumers ability to identify the brand under different conditions, as reflected by their brand recognition or recall performance (Kotler Lane, 2006). Brand recall refers to consumers ability to retrieve the brand from the memory (Keller, 1993). According to the improvement of measurement for brand equity, consumer-based brand equity was described for four dimensions; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty (Pappu, et al, 2005). Brand awareness was defined as the consumers ability to identify or recognize the brand (Rossiter and Percy, 1987). It refers to the strength of a brand presence in consumers minds. Brand awareness has several levels starting from the less recognition of the brand to dominance (Aaker, 1991). Perceived quality was evaluated and decided by consumers. Perceived quality is another valuation of brand to push the customer to buy products. Brand building has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. The earliest signs of branding in Europe were the medieval guilds requirement that craftspeople put trademarks on their products to protect themselves and consumers against inferior quality. In the fine arts, branding began with artists signing their works. Brands today play a number of important roles that improve consumers lives and enhance the financial value of firms (Kotler Lane, 2006). Brand awareness and brand perceived quality as the significant factors to create and maintain brand equity. There are positive relationship among brand awareness, perceive quality and brand equity (Aker, 1996, Buzzell Gate,1987). The marketing program has effect to improve the perceive quality of brand for different customers. 2.4 Brand Equity Source: Aaker, 1991 Brand equity is the added value endowed to products and services. Aaker (1991) defined the brand equity as a set of brand assts and liabilities linked to brand that adds or detracts the product or service value based on the customers perspectives. This value may be reflected in how consumers think, feel and act with respect to the brand that consumers had perceive from marketing programs. Brand equity is an important intangible asset that has psychological and financial value to the firm. The value of brand equity depends on the number of same people who buy regularly (Aaker, 1996). The brand loyalty, brand awareness, and brand perceived quality are necessary to maintain the brand equity (Motameni Shahrokhi, 1998). There are two different perspectives of brand equity; financial and customer based. The first perspective evaluates the asset value of a brand name that creates to the business (Farquhar et al, 1991). Brand equity increased the discounted future cash flows and revenue com paring to the same product did not have the brand name (Motameni Shahrkhi, 1998). According to the second perspective, the premise of customer-based brand equity models is that the power of brand lies in what customers have responded, seen, read, heard, learned, thought and felt about the brand over time. In other words, the power of brand lies in the minds of existing or potential customers and what they have experienced directly and indirectly about the brand. The customer-based brand equity finally drives the financial return to the company (Lassar et al, 1995). The valuation of brand has been studied for different approaches, for example, marketing, premium pricing market value, customer factors, replacement cost perspective. According to the valuation based on consumer factors, the measurement of customers preference and attitude can be used to evaluate the brand equity (Aaker, 1991 and Kapferer, 1992). 2.5 Marketing Communication The marketing communication is considered as the strategic activities for brand managers to build and maintain the brand image of targeted customers (Duncan Mulhern, 2004). It is a significant driver of competitive advantage to create the ability of companies to attract, retain, and leverage customers (Kitchen, Joanne, Tao, 2004). Duncan (2002) explained that marketing communication is a process for managing the customer relationship that affects brand value lastly. Marketing communication programs are not only above the line activities such as advertising and sales promotions but also below the line activities such as public relations. Regarding recent concept of marketing communication, two-way communication as well as one way communication is a key determinant of brand strategies to stimulus the brand orientation process (Aaker, 1996 and Urde, 1994). 2.6 Consumer Behaviour Schiffinan and Kanuk (2004) define Consumer Behaviour as the behaviour that customers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. Consumer buying behaviour incorporates the acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining, using and disposing of economic goods and services including the decision process that precede and determine these acts (Huctings 1995). Lamb, Hair and McDartiel (1992) note that consumer behaviour is a study of the processes the consumer uses to make purchase decisions as well as the use and disposal of the purchased goods and services. It also includes the analysis of factors that influences purchase decisions and goods usage. Further more consumer behaviour is a process and purchase is only one step in that process. Santon,Etzel and Walker (1994) states that consumers are complex in nature and keep changing constantly. So it is a must for the marketers to constantly improve their understanding of consumers and understand what influences the needs of the consumers. In short, the understanding of the buying behavior of existing and potential customers is imperative for marketers (Lancaster 1998). It is also needed for the competitive survival. When the consumer is viewed in the proper perspective, the outcomes could be quite positive for the manufacturer. Lamb,Hair and McDaniel (1992),claim that the knowledge of consumer behavior reduces uncertainty when creating the marketing mix. The field of customer behavior covers a lot of ground: It is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires (Michael, 2003). Earlier, the field was referred to as buyer behavior, which emphasized o n interaction between consumers and producers at the time of purchase. Now marketers feel that consumer behavior is not merely a consumer handing over money in return for a service or good, but it is an ongoing process. The exchange of a transaction in which two or more organizations or people give and receive something of value is an integral part of marketing. 2.7 Consumer Decision Making Mahatoo (1985) defines Consumer Behavior decision making process consisting of a number of steps that begin before the purchase and reaches beyond the buying act. He suggests that marketers have to go beyond the various influences on buyers and develop an understanding of how consumers actually make their buying decisions .The ability to create a good service and to persuade the market to buy this offering instead of its competitors offering depends upon the insight into the consumer purchase decision on the understanding of how the target customers arrive at their purchase decisions. Price is one of the dominating factors when it comes to making a purchase decision. It generally plays a vital role in determining consumers brand choice while selecting a product. Consumers look into the price while taking a buying decision and check whether it is within their affordable limits. This helps them to maximize their immediate utility that they gain from the purchase. The consumers give relative importance to both price and quality, so while choosing a brand they make a choice consistent with the relative importance attached to both attributes (Nor Khasimah Alimana and Md Nor Othman, 2007). It is also known that consumers look upon the additional services and freebies which come along with the product rather than looking on the price factor. Customers were believed to put different weights on every factor when it comes to the evaluation process. Analysis shows that customers who had experienced bad customer service tend to consider more thoroughly all aspects of the serv ice when it comes to choice of product (Tor W. Andreassen and Line L. Olsen, 2008). According to Kotler (2003), there are five roles people play during a purchase. They are Initiator: It is the person who gives the idea of buying the product or service. Influencer: It is the person who reviews or influences the decision. Decider: It is the person who makes the buying decision: what to buy, how to buy, when to buy and where to buy. Buyer: It is the person who actually makes the purchase. User: It is the person who consumes or uses the product or service. 2.8 Buying Behavior Buying behavior is a process in which consumers decide and act accordingly to buy certain products for their use. There are certain aspects which we need to understand. Why do consumers buy what they buy? What are the key factors for influencing consumers to buy the products? What are the changing trends in the society? Consumer buying behavior refers to what consumers buy at a certain point of time which involves their decision making. So it is important for any firm to keenly analyze on consumer buying behaviors as it has a great impact on the firms marketing strategy. It also plays a key role in the success of the firm. It is important for any firm to create a marketing mix that satisfies the customers. 2.9 Types of Consumer Buying Behavior There are few types of buying behaviors based on the type of products which needs to be purchased. Complex buying behavior is where an individual seeks lot of information about a high value branded product before purchasing it. Habitual buying behavior is where the individual buys the product out of habit. Variety seeking buying behavior is where the individual likes to shop around and experiment different products. Consumer buying behavior is determined by level of involvement in the purchase decision (Renjith, June 2004). According to Mahatoo (1985), the nature of the decision process varies depending upon the product and the consumer. The marketers need to determine the kind of decision making behavior that is involved with the particular product in order to understand the behavior of the consumer. Howard (1989) classifies consumer buying decision into three broad categories: Routine Response Programmed Behavior- A consumer generally uses a routine response behavior while frequently buying the low cost goods or services. These goods and services can be called low involvement products as the consumer spends little time on decision making and purchases easily. The consumer is familiar with different brands in this product category, but usually sticks on to one brand. The consumer usually skips many steps in the decision process as he buys the product out of habit. Limited Decision Making Buying product occasionally. When you need to obtain information about an unfamiliar brand in a product category. Requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering as it is compared with various brands. Acquiring information about an unfamiliar product category is called as limited decision making. Examples: books, clothes and cosmetics. Extensive Decision Making Consumers usually spend much time on extensive decision making with high involvement when they purchase an unfamiliar expensive product. This is the most complex type of consumer decision making as the consumers need a great deal of information to compare it with its alternate brands. Examples: cars, computers. Complex buying behavior involves three steps: The consumer develops belief about the product. The consumer develops attitude about the product. The consumer makes a thoughtful choice. Consumers usually engage in complex buying behavior when they are highly involved in a purchase, which usually happens when the product is expensive, risky, and highly self expressive. Many products do not carry features unless the buyer does some research. The marketer of a high involvement product must understand consumers information- gathering and evaluation process. According to this the marketer needs to develop strategies which will assess the buyer in learning about the products attributes and their importance. The marketer also needs to differentiate the brand features, motivate store keepers, and use proper print media to describe the brand and the buyers interaction to influence the brand choice. Dissonance-Reducing buyer behaviour According to Herbert (1965), the consumer sometimes gets highly involved in a purchase but see little differences in brands. The high involvement is due to the fact that the purchase is expensive, infrequent and risky. For this type of purchase the consumer will shop around to learn more about the product but purchase it quickly responding to the primary factors like price or convenience. After the purchase, the consumer might experience dissonance by hearing favourable things about other brands or noticing certain disquieting features. Now the consumer will alert the informants who support his or her decisions. For example, here, the consumer acted first then acquired new beliefs and ended up with a set of attitudes. Marketing communication should supply beliefs and evaluations that help the customer feel good about the brand of his choice. Variety-Seeking Buying Behaviour Henry (1987) states that some buying situations are characterised by low involvement but significant brand differences. Usually consumers do lot of brand switching. Take for example, cookies. The consumer has some knowledge about cookies, chooses them without much evaluation and evaluates the product during consumption. But next time the consumer may reach for another brand according to his taste. Brand switching occurs for the sake of variety rather than dissatisfaction. 3.10 Buying Decision Process The consumers engage in a decision process to deal with the marketing environment and make purchases. The consumer goes through a series of logical stages to arrive at the decision when he faces a problem which could be resolved through a purchase. A typical buying process consists of five stages. (Micheal and Elnora, 2000). 2.10.1 Problem Recognition The purchase process starts where the buyer recognises a problem or need. The need maybe triggered by internal or external stimuli. Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need (Micheal, 2003). People have unsatisfied needs and wants that create tension or discomfort, which can be satisfied by acquiring and consuming goods and services. Hence, the process of deciding what to buy begins when there is a need and it can be satisfied through consumption. Mahatoo (1985), states that when the consumer becomes aware of a discrepancy between the existing state and a desired state, a need is aroused. The existing state is the total situation of a consumer, the current needs, attitudes, motives. The desired state is the situation after the kinds of changes the consumer wishes. Both these states are the functions of consumers motivation, personality and past experience of cultural and social influences. Evans and Burman (1984), defines a stimulus as a cure intended to motivate a person to act. It can be social, commercial or non commercial. Need recognition shows a persons readiness to act by becoming aware of a need but does not guarantee that the decision making process will continue. Kotler (2003), suggests that by gathering information from a number of consumers marketers can identify the most frequent stimuli that triggers an interest in a product category, thereby developing marketing strategies that would create a spark in consumers interest. 2.10.2 Information Search When a consumer needs to gain knowledge about a product or service, he or she would be aroused to search for more information in the product category. Consumer information sources fall under four groups: Personal sources: Family, friends, neighbours Commercial sources: Advertising, sales person, dealers, display boards Public sources: Mass media, consumer-rating organizations Experimental sources: Handling, examining, using the product. The relative amount and influences of these information sources vary with product category and consumer characteristics (Peter, Daniel and Nancy, 1986). Customer decisions are based on a combination of past experiences and marketing information. Past experience is considered as an internal source of information. Greater the past experience, lesser the external information the consumer is likely to seek to make a decision. Baker (2000), states that if there is a sufficiently high level of involvement with the problem, the consumers are likely to engage in a complex and extensive information search. If the involvement level is low, they are likely to use a very simple information search. Kotler (2003), states that by gathering information the consumer learns about competing brands and their features. There will be lot of brands available to the consumer in a product category, in which only a few brands the consumer would be aware of (awareness set). Among these brands, few brands will meet consumers initial buying criteria (consideration set). As the consumer gathers more information only a few brands would remain (choice set). All the brands in the choice set might be acceptable. 2.10.3 Evaluation of Alternatives There is no single evaluation process used by all customers or by one customer in all buying situations. The consumers view each product as a bundle of attributes with varying abilities of delivering the benefits needed to satisfy them. The attributes of interest to buyers vary by product. Consumers will pay most attention to attributes that deliver benefits (Mary, James and John, 1997). Once a choice set has been identified, the consumer evaluates them before making a decision. The evaluation involves establishing some criteria against which each alternative is compared. The criteria that consumers use in the evaluation results from their past experience and feelings towards various brands as well as the opinions of family, friends, etc. (Stanton, Etzel and Walker, 1994). The product related attributes such as quality, durability, price, design, etc. Influence the buying decision of a consumer. A way to narrow down the products in the choice set is to pick an attribute and then excl ude all products in the set that does not possess that attribute (Lamb and McDaniel, 1992). Thus the choice which possesses all the required product related attributes can be selected. 2.10.4 Purchase Decision From the evaluation process discussed about, consumer will reach their final purchase decision which is made up of five purchase sub decisions: Brand decision, Vendor decision, Quantity decision, Timing decision and Payment method decision (Joseph and Howard, 1987). After evaluation, the first thing in mind would be to purchase the product or not. If the decision is to buy, a series of related decisions must be made regarding the features, where and when to make the actual transaction, how to take delivery, a mode of payment and other issues. So a decision to purchase starts an entirely new series of decisions that may be time consuming and difficult. Selecting a source from which a purchase can be made is also a buying decision (Stanton, Etzel and Walker, 1994). A consumers decision to modify, postpone or avoid a purchase decision is heavily influenced by risk. The amount of risk varies with the extent of money at stake, the amount of attribute uncertainty and amount of self confide nce. Marketers must understand the factors that create a feeling of risk in the consumer, thereby providing information and support to reduce the risk (Kotler, 2003). 2.10.5 Post Purchase Behaviour Every customer after buying a product will experience either satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Hence the marketers job does not end when the product is bought; it must be monitored for post purchase satisfaction and post purchase actions. A very important stage of the consumers decision is the impact of current decisions on the future purchasing behaviour. Mahatoo (1985) says that three general outcomes are possible. They are: 2.10.5.1 Satisfaction Satisfaction occurs when a product performs according to expectations. The brand chosen has served to fulfil the customers needs and thus reinforces the response of purchasing the brand, which also means that beliefs and attributes about the brand are positively influenced and the likelihood of repurchase is increased. 2.10.5.2 Dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction occurs in the reverse situation, when the products performance is not up to the expectation it leads to negative belief and attributes about the brand. A dissatisfied customer is not likely to recommend the product to others. The results of satisfaction and dissatisfaction are recorded in long term memory and become inputs to the internal search of the firm. So the marketers must be careful in satisfying the needs and expectations of the customers. 2.10.5.3 Cognitive Dissonance: Cognitive dissonance occurs when the consumer experiences a feeling of doubt or psychological discomfort about the choice made. It is often felt right after the purchase when the consumer begins to have second thoughts about the product chosen. Dissonance is more likely to occur in complex decision making with high involvement purchases. Dissonance can come from a personal source from advertisement or from experience with the product. Post purchase evaluation is important to marketers because positive evaluation increases the probability of repeat purchases and brand loyalty. Negative or doubtful thoughts increase the probability that different alternatives will be considered next time when the need arises (Husted, Varble and Lowry, 1989). 2.11 Factors influencing the behaviour of buyers http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~market/380dir/cbinfluence.jpg Source: (http://blog.oneshotmarketing.com/2010/08/consumer-buying-behavior-the-laws-of-attraction/ accessed on 20/10/10 at 9.15pm) Consumer behaviour is affected by many uncontrollable factors. Culture is one of the factors that influence behaviour. Culture can be defined as our attitudes and beliefs. It is developed along with age in the society. For an individual growing up, a child is influenced by their parents, brothers and sisters. They learn about their religion and culture which helps them to develop opinions, attitudes and beliefs (Richard, 1976). These factors will influence a buying behaviour of the consumer, other factors like friends or people they look up may also influence their choices of purchasing a particular product. Culture is the most basic cause of a persons wants and behaviour. Culture is learned from family, church, school, peers, colleagues. It reflects basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviours. Cultural shifts create opportunities for new products or may otherwise influence consumer behaviour. Peoples social status plays an important role in the consumer buying behaviour. Social class distinctions allow companies to position their products to appeal to certain social classes. The easiest example is automobiles. Marketing for Mercedes Benz is completely different from the marketing campaign from Honda or Toyota because they target individuals from the upper class. Another powerful and easy factor that companies manipulate in their marketing efforts is the social factor. To be part of a group, or represent a certain lifestyle, you must have certain possessions. Personal and Psychological factors are very specific realms and the target market segment becomes even smaller. That means even less amount of people can use these products. This reflects in higher prices to account for the decrease in volume 2.12 Models of Consumer Behaviour The various models of consumer behaviour as per (Ramasamy and Namakumari, 1990) are stated as follows 2.12.1 The Economic Model According to the economic model of buyer behaviour, the buyer is a rational man and his buying decisions are totally governed by the concept of utility. If the customer has certain amount of purchasing power, a set of needs to be met and a set of products in a very rational manner with the intentions of maximising the utility or benefits. 2.12.2 The Learning Model According to the learning model, buying behaviour can be influenced by manipulating the drivers, stimuli and responses of the buyers. The model rests on mans ability at learning, forgetting and discriminating. 2.12.3 The Psychoanalytical Model According to this model the individual consumer has a complex set of deep stated motives that drive him towards certain buying decisions. The buyer has a private world with all his hidden fears, suppressed desires and totally subjective longings. His buying action can be influenced by appealing to these desires and longings. 2.12.4 The Sociological Model According to the sociological model, the individual buyer is influenced by society, by inmate groups as well as social classes. His buying decisions are not totally governed by utility, he has a desire to emulate, follow, and fit in with his immediate environment. Several of his buying decisions may be governed by societal compulsions. 2.12.5 The Nicosia Model Efforts have been made by marketing scholars to build buyer behaviour models from the marketing mans point of view. The Nicosia model and the Howard and Sheth model are two important models. Both of them belong to the category called the systems model where the human being is analysed as the system with stimuli as the input to the system and behaviour as the output of the system. The Nicosia model tries to establish the link between a firm and its customers, how the activities of the firm influences the consumer and results in the buying decision. The information from the firm influences the consumer towards the product, thereby he develops a certain attitude towards the product causing him to search or

Comparing Foreshadowing in Train from Rhodesia and Dead Mens Path Essa

Foreshadowing and Alliteration in Train from Rhodesia and Dead Men's Path Authors often use literary devices to appeal to their audience without their awareness. By doing so, certain parts of a story or book will seem more important, in a very private way. They won't scream for attention, but they will stick, for they are catchy. Sometimes, authors are not aware that they are using a device to persuade their audience, it occurs naturally. Common literary devices and elements are metaphors, similes, alliteration, perhaps even couplet rhyming. Though foreshadowing is not necessary a literary device, it is often an element that many authors use in their work as well. Foreshadowing through adjectives and alliteration are two devices used in both "The Train from Rhodesia" by Nadine Gordimer and "Dead Men's Path" by Chinua Achebe. "The Train from Rhodesia" by Nadine Gordimer shows foreshadowing elements through it's adjectives and other important words. It alludes to the end mood of the story through adjectives used throughout. At the end of "The Train from Rhodesia", there is an overwhelming feeling of emptiness, perhaps even a persistent sadness. Throughout the story, many of the adjectives point to that. The words "pale" and "dead" in the sentence, "...on either side of a uniform railway vase with it's pale dead flower." (p. 909) and even the word "uniform" points to the emptiness which will prevail toward the end of the story. "Empty" may seem like a word to describe "the empty sand." (p. 910) but it also points to the emotion of the girl at the end. Words that show uncertainty, basted in melancholy occur all over the book, like "waiting", "wandered", "faint", "da... ...more vibrant than a fulfilled smile, and the way a school should be run contains power within the statement. There is no doubt that Achebe did not use alliteration gratuitously, but to show the reader which elements of his story he feels are the most powerful-to serve a purpose. "The Train from Rhodesia" by Nadine Gordimer and "Dead Men's Path" by Chinua Achebe both employed foreshadowing through adjectives and alliteration in their stories. The use of these devices was not to be charming, or cute, but to instill purpose and meaning to their stories. A story without purpose is simply meaningless drivel, and a story with a purpose that cannot be remembered because of a lack of devices is also equally as meaningless. The devices used in both stories illustrate the author's point as concisely as possible. Both stories have maintained their purpose.

Waste Land Essay: Superficiality in The Waste Land -- T.S. Eliot Waste

Superficiality in The Waste Land  Ã‚   The Waste Land is concerned with the 'disillusionment of a generation'. The poem was written in the early 1920's, a time of abject poverty, heightening unemployment and much devastation unresolved from the end of WW1 in 1918. Despite this, or because of it, people made a conscientious effort to enjoy themselves. In doing so they lost their direction, their beliefs and their individuality. They were victims of the class system which maintained a system of privilege, snobbery and distrust. Advances in machinery brought new products onto the market, like cars, but the people were so disillusioned with the social turmoil caused by four years of war, that even the glamour of new possessions could not fill the spiritual and emotional void left by the war. The consciousness of a nation had been battered into submission by the horrors of the first world war that people now were living a shell of what was once life. People went through the motions of life but there was no feeling just a mecha nical existence. This kind of surface existence, the inability to see beyond the obvious, is portrayed throughout the Wasteland. The Wasteland is a soulless picture of a world deprived of fertility. Everything has become sterile in this barren landscape, people have nowhere left to look but to the outer shell because the inside is emotionally dead. As a result, the characters of The Wasteland are superficial in every sense of the word. Some are obsessed with appearance. Others are so far detached from the things that make life more than just breathing and looking good, that they perpetuate the destructive cycle that is slowly killing them and their world. They exist without hope, faith and spiritual enlightenme... ...t could bring life to the Wasteland, then there would be hope. Water of course becomes symbolic of faith. Eliot's message is if we had faith, then the world would begin to take root again. Eliot suggests that our superficiality is replaced by 'Datta... Dayadhvam..Dumyata' 'give, sympathise, control'. Our superficial nature has left us in an uncontrollable, unsympathetic, mean wasteland. In short, superficiality is portrayed throughout The Wasteland. Those who inhabit the land exist without faith and reject enlightenment because they are too concerned with appearances, money and other such inconsequential matters that they have lost the ability to recognize what is needed to make life better. 'Do You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember Nothing? Works Cited: Eliot, T. S. The Waste Land and Other Poems. Harcourt Brace & Company: New York, 1958.

Haircut by Ring Lardner Essay

In his short story, â€Å"Haircut,† Ring Lardner employs an atypical point of view style. Although the story is told completely from the point of view of a barber, what makes it unique is that the reader is a part of the story as the barber’s customer. Lardner makes use of the stereotype that barbers are very talkative while they do their work, and one can learn all the town gossip from them. The barber himself is very talkative by nature, inferred from when he says that he does not mind shaving corpses, except that he gets â€Å"kind of lonesome† with them because he cannot talk to them. He also seems unaware of his gossiping nature because, once, he actually stops himself by saying that he â€Å"shouldn’t ought to be gossipin’† even though he had been gossiping the entire time. This barber goes on with his stories with no input needed from the customer/reader, and so seems to skip from one topic to another, similar to the pattern of idle chatter. This random jumping of topics is actually essential to the story. Lardner builds his characters using little background stories that expose their personalities. This style involves so many characters and so many stories that a straightforward third-person story would not have been nearly as effective. One other importance of the barber’s point of view is that he makes no judgments as he tells his stories. He talks about Jim Kendall, who he has a â€Å"good ole boy† type of relationship with. From the stories, the reader can tell that Jim, the recently deceased funny barbershop patron, was in fact a rather bad man. Jim did not give his wife enough money to live on and cheated on her repeatedly, knowingly broke his children’s hearts, made fun of a mentally ill person, and almost assaulted a woman. Even knowing all these things, the barber still insists that Jim was a â€Å"good fella at heart. † Lardner uses the idle chatter of a friendly barber to tell the story of what was, most probably, a murder of a very unpleasant man.

Call Center Sample Sheet

Call Center and Online Advertising Offer Sheet Needed: Seeking Experienced Centers for the following offers: Reverse Mortgage – $12 per call and PayChex (B2B) $18 per call. If you can do these offers let us know and we’ll set the offers up on our network. Service Majic: WE ARE LOOKING FOR CALLERS INTERESTED IN BEING MATCHED UP WITH A HOME IMPROVEMENT CONTRACTOR. Various home repair areas of interest. Let us know if you have experience in this vertical. The Scooter Store: Live call transfer, pay per call campaign. The leading provider of power chairs and scooters for people with limited mobility, with a strong tradition of customer service.Payout: $12 per lead, 2 minute min call (120 seconds). Live Campaigns ready to go: The Scooter Store: Live call transfer, pay per call campaign. The leading provider of power chairs and scooters for people with limited mobility, with a strong tradition of customer service. Payout: $12 per lead, 2 minute min call (120 seconds). RateChec ker. com: Mortgage Refinance campaign. Exclusive Leads Only. Online Form: $15 per lead 24/7 operation, USA target, Refinance loan over $100,000. Good credit or better LTV less than 90% . Call Center (ftp voice files) or Web Traffic Leads Accepted.No Incentives No coregs Leads cannot be sold to other entities. Loan Modification Live Call Transfer Campaign: $15 per lead if call is longer than 1 min 30 seconds. Target: USA Hours: Mon-Fri: 9am to 9pm EST. Quicken Loans: Call transfer campaign. 24/7 operation, USA target. WE ARE LOOKING FOR CALLERS INTERESTED IN REFINANCE, HOME EQUITY OR HOME PURCHASE LOANS, WITH GOOD TO EXCELLENT CREDIT – MINIMUM CREDIT SCORE OF 620+. Payouts: Customer must be on the phone with Quicken Loans for at least 90 seconds. $11. 00 per call if duration > 1 min 30 sec.Note: There is no IVR, you are doing a live transfer to Quicken Loans. Payments are monthly net 20. 100DayLoans Pay Per Call Campaign: Live call transfer campaign. It's that easy! We search more banks, Financial Companies, and Payday Lenders for the highest loan amounts and the lowest interest rates available. Our automated system can search over 122 Credit Loan providers to lend you the funds you need. Payout: $5. 00 per call if connect_duration ; 90 sec. Hours: Mon-Fri: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (Arizona Time) Auto Insurance Quote: Fill out online form at StartAutoLoan. om: This car insurance quote campaign is pure lead gen. Call Center to make outbound call and get customer on the phone. Customer must be interested in getting free car insurance quotes from multiple companies that will compete for the business. Record calls for quality assurance and fill out the quick form online†¦. $4 per lead. Payments are Monthly, net 20. Auto Warranty Expired pay per call offer: Avoid Unnecessary Auto Costs! Is your manufacturers auto warranty about to expire or expired? Is Your Car Under 10 Years Old with Less than 100k Miles? CALL NOW to Get an Extended Auto Protection Plan!Payou t: $10. 00 per call if in_region and during_hours and connect_duration ; 1 min 30 sec. Devry University: pay per call campaign: Get customer on the phone and give them the 800# to call. Customer must call the 800# themselves†¦. this is not a live transfer, customer must dial the 800#. Payout: $15 per lead where customer is on the phone with Devry for at least 2 min (120 seconds) or more. Payments are monthly net 20. Hours: Mon-Fri 😠   Ã‚  8:00 am to 9:00 pm| (all times Central)| CollegeandTuition. com Education Call Transfer: Campaign 1 (Feb 20 Launch date): EDU live call transfer campaign.Get paid $15-$20 per lead. Each student could be submitted up to 4 schools so you get paid each time their information is submitted to a school. Overall you should average 1. 5-1. 8 schools per lead. Call center to get customer on the phone and prequalify they have graduated high school. Payments are monthly net 30 Campaign 2: EDU live call transfer. Interested in Continuing Your Edu cation to Further Your Career, Get a Promotion, or Maybe Even Change Your Profession? Get a Free Education Counseling Session to Quickly Help You Find the Best School for Your Studies and Financial Situation.All online and Campus based schools, very large portfolio of schools for leads. Payout: $7. 00 per call if in_region and during_hours and duration ; 45 sec Target: USA, Calling Hours: Mon-Fri: 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, Sat:10:00 am-5:00 pm, (all times Eastern) Campaign 3: EDU live call transfer. If You're A High School Graduate and are Looking for a Better Paying Job, Getting Your College Degree will Help Increase Your Earning Potential. Our inbound transfers are focused on the following degrees and programs: business, criminal justice, IT, health administration (not Nursing), and medical billing. Online and Campus. Target: USA Payout: $9. 00 per call if connect_duration > 1 min. Hours: Mon-Fri : 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, Sat : 9:00 am to 2:00 pm (all times Mountain) Lawsuit Cash Advance Ca mpaign: People who are involved in a lawsuit but have not settled lawsuit. Great for subprime data. Get 5% of cash advance loan amount. Most loans are $2,000 to $5,000 and get funded within 72 hours. Paid weekly. Direct TV campaign: Outbound call then Live Call transfer to Direct TV, 24/7 operation. Base: $1. 00 per call if in_region and pressed[1] and connect_duration > 3 min Bonus: $6. 00 per call if connect_duration > 15 minBonus: $7. 00 per call if connect_duration > 20 min DIRECTV packages start at $29. 99/month for 12 months and a Free Whole Home Upgrade with a two year agreement. Free HD (requires choice Xtra package or above and auto bill pay. ) DIRECTV delivers satellite-based television and broadband services to over 18 million US customers in homes and businesses. With our electronic program guide, digital video recorder (DVR) services, interactive features, HD programming and quality customer service, DIRECTV continues to offer consumers a superior alternative to cable a nd a superior offering for affiliate partners.DIRECTV subscribers enjoy access to over 285 channels of 100% digital picture and sound, exclusive programming and the most comprehensive collection of sports programming available anywhere, including NFL SUNDAY TICKETâ„ ¢ To-Go and MLB EXTRA INNINGS ®. Payments are monthly net 20. DISH Network Campaign: Live call transfers. $7 per call if over 2 minutes. Take advantage of the best value in entertainment with DISH Network from DISH 2 U! Reach your customer base with all the latest promotions, including: FREE Movie Channels FREE Multi-Sport Pack Featuring Red Zone Blockbuster Movies IncludedFREE HD for Life FREE DVR FREE Installation up to 6 Rooms Switch to DISH Network and Save Over $800! With packages starting as low as $19. 99/mo and next day installs available, there is something for everyone from DISH Network! Payments are monthly net 20. www. iCheckLoan. com: payday loan outbound campaign, rev-share 70% to the call center. Get customer on the phone, give customer a pin number and have the customer go to iCheckLoan. com to complete the loan application. Payments are weekly net 7. www. 2500CreditLine. com: Get paid $10 per sign up. No credit checks and No turndowns.Payments are weekly net 7. Customer get a $2,500 shopping line of credit and a Dollar for Dollar Rewards Prepaid MasterCard. If customer put $100 on their MasterCard, they will get another $100 put on the card = $200!!! The instant credit line costs the customer $99. 95 one-time sign up fee. Credit line has 0% interest, no APR, no finance charges or late fees. Debt Settlement Campaign: No Up Front Fees to Customers. Inbound campaign†¦yes inbound campaign. Experienced Debt Settlement call centers only. Take our inbound live calls where customer is on phone and wants more info on Debt Settlement services.Get customer to eSign contract. $100 payout per customer who’s first payment clears. Commissions Paid Weekly. Psychic Live Reading Cam paign: $20 per sign up. Target is all English and Spanish speaking countries. Call center get customer on the phone and fill out form online. Customer then must check their email to confirm registration and minimum payment of $27. 99 to join. Payments are monthly net 30. Credit Repair: Call Transfer Campaign: customers have $10,000 or less in Debt, not considering Bankruptcy, typically have been declined for some type of loan recently.Payments are Monthly. Mon-Fri : 6:00 am to 10:00 pm Sat : 7:00 am to 2:00 pm (all times Mountain) Base: $3. 00 per call if duration >= 10 min and during_hours and in_region Bonus: $6. 00 per call if duration > 20 min and during_hours Bonus: $50. 00 per call if = â€Å"Funded Sale† Payments are monthly net 20 TheLawyerDirectory. com – Free Legal Case Review – $10 per lead for Bankruptcy, Divorce, DUI/DWI, Criminal Defense. $20 per lead for Personal Injury. Fill out forms online. Payments are monthly, net 20. The Car Donation Pay Per Call Affiliate Program: Base: $10. 0 per call if during_hours and in_region and connect_duration > 2 min and pressed[1] Bonus: $10. 00 per call if during_hours and in_region and connect_duration > 4 min and pressed[1] Bonus: $10. 00 per call if during_hours and in_region and connect_duration > 6 min and pressed[1] Call Transfer Hours: Mon-Fri: 8:00 am to 6:00 pm (all times Eastern) Target Regions: All US A car donation is one of the most effective ways to get the most value out of your old or disused vehicles. At Car Donations Charity we can help you maximize your tax deduction and make sure your car does the most good.The process is simple and convenient, and we will help you through every step of the process, from the pickup to the delivery of the tax deductible receipt. It’s never been easier to donate your car to a charitable organization. Payments are monthly net 20 Health Insurance Pay Per Call Campaign: Outbound call then live transfer. Let us find you the right insur ance plan. We are able to find the best rates from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Humana,   Aetna and other insurance providers. Payout: Base: $3. 00 per call if during_hours and in_region and connect_duration > 1 min 30 sec, Bonus: $15. 0 per call if connect_duration > 5 min 30 sec. Target Regions: California, Colorado, Nevada Hours: Mon-Fri: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm pst. California Home Insurance Pay per call: Let us find you the right home insurance plan. We are able to find the best rates from Mercury, Progressive, Safeco, Travelers, and other insurance providers. We are taking calls from California residents looking for homeowner's insurance. Payout: $10. 00 per call if connect_duration ; 2 min and during_hours Hours: Mon-Fri: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (all times Pacific)Target Regions: California Canda Life Insurance PayPer call: Call now to receive your free, no obligation, no medical exam life insurance quote! LSM Insurance is Canada’s leading provider of no medical life insurance. We have been in business over 18 years and work with the largest insurance carriers in Canada including Manulife Financial, Canada Life, RBC Insurance and BMO Insurance. Payout: $5. 00 per call if in_region and during_hours and connect_duration ; 1 min and pressed [ 1] Target Region: Canada Debt Collection Harassment Phone Verified Leads:Call center will fill out form online and submit leads during hours of operation listed. Payout: $5 per lead USA Residents Offers Coming Soon RateChecker. com: Complete Free Quote Portal offering all types of loans, insurance, and other types of financial information. Pure Lead Gen campaigns for online, offline and call centers. DiabeticCareTaker. com – Diabetic Medicare Lead Gen Campaign: Auto Warranty: Lead gen live call transfer. Call center makes outbound calls to potential customers who want to extend their auto warranty that is expiring or will expire soon.Payments are twice a month. Home Security Campaign – Lead gen live call t ransfer campaign where people are interested in getting a Free home security system installed. Customer only pays monthly fee, the equipment is free. Payments are once a month. Don’t see something you already have data for Please let me know 1. What campaigns you are interested in 2. I have the scripts and guidelines to assist with each program. 3. Send your company info as well for an Insertion order. Thank you, Scott Thompson, CEO Astoria Company, LLC. [email  protected] com Skype: affiliatescott