The Effects of High Gas Prices Essay Example for Free

The Effects of High Gas Prices Essay Gas is an important productive resource in the world. Driving cars, heating buildings, producing electricity, people all need gas. Therefore, gas is directly related to peoples normal life and the global economy. Recently, due to the fights between Israel and the Hezbollah guerrilla, the Middle East political and economic situation has been deteriorating, which has led to the continuous hikes of gas prices. Since gas plays an important role in our economy, people should understand that the high gas price does not only mean people need to pay more for driving their cars, but it also leads the pervasive inflation, the change of peoples consumption habits, and more seriously, the recession of the global economy. First of all, the rising prices of gas, a critical input in almost all production processes, will trigger the price hikes of most consumer and industry products: the inflation. For example, after the gas price increases, the costs of transportations also increase. Raw materials need to be transported into factories before they become final products; all final products need to be transported to retail stores where consumers can buy them. Therefore, the increasing costs of transportation will directly be added in the prices of consumer products. Moreover, the high gas prices generally are led by the high crude oil prices, and the crude oil is the raw material of most important chemical products such as nylon and synthetic polymers, which are inputs of most industry products. Consequently, the hike of the crude oil price also leads the rises of the industry product prices. The pervasive inflation is inevitable. Influenced by the inflation caused by the high gas prices, peoples consumption habits will gradually change. With the rising gas prices, people will reduce the times of long-distance travel by driving their cars, and they will more rely on public transportation systems such as the metro and the bus to commute between their working sites and their homes. If the hikes of gas prices continue, people will stop buying luxurious and gas-consuming Sport Utilities Vehicles: a type of passenger vehicle which combines the load-hauling and versatility of a pickup truck with the passenger-carrying space of a van or station wagon, and they will even buy more compact and economical cars to retire their SUVs already owned. Moreover, facing more  expensive hydro bills at homes, people will change their electrical appliances to more energy-efficient ones and renew their insulation of their house to keep their house warm in the winter. More dramatically, people will opt to live in urban areas which are near their working places to reduce their commute distances to save gas. The most serious impact of high gas prices is the global recession, which was proved by the history in 1970s. The hikes of gas prices will lead chain effects and vicious economic cycles. First, the high gas prices will lead the pervasive inflation in the global economy. Facing the continuous rising prices of consumer products, people will consume less and demand high salaries. However, due to the rising prices of raw materials and workers salaries, entrepreneurs will reduce their production capacities and even layoff their employees. With more people unemployed, demands will decrease even more, so will the supplies. Finally, the global economy will step down unhealthy cycles. The political and economic situation in the world will become turbulent. This is what exactly happened in 1970s after OPEC increased the crude oil price artificially. In general, the skyrocketing of gas prices is not an isolated event. It will directly influence peoples normal life and global economy in ways of inducing inflation, altering peoples consumption habits, and making the global economy slipping into deep recession. For the interests of human beings, the international communities should immediately intervene in the conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah guerrilla and force them to reach a peace treaty. The peace of Middle East will eventually lead the cool down of gas prices.

Malaysian Attitudes Towards Counterfeits Of Luxury Brands

Malaysian Attitudes Towards Counterfeits Of Luxury Brands CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The first counterfeiting emerged in more than forty years ago, and it was only happened on highly priced and prestigious products like textiles, jewelry and accessories (Eisend M. Schuchert-Gà ¼ler, P., 2006). This phenomenon considered insignificant and less attention has been paid to eliminate it. Nowadays, this phenomenon has widespread globally and has become a significant economic issue. According to Eisend M. and Schuchert-Gà ¼ler, P. (2006) European Union has reported a 1000% rising of counterfeiting within six years, rising from 10million in year 1998 to 103million in year 2004. Meanwhile, United stated has reported that seizures of counterfeits have doubled since 2001. Many products have been counterfeited, ranging from CDs, VCDs, software, shirts, designer shoes, wallets, purses, handbags, watches, jewelry, perfume, sun glasses, accessories, apparel, books, pain relievers, auto parts, cameras, TV, toys, food and beverages, tobacco and personal care products also being counterfeit. Most all these products could be categorized under luxury goods which most consumers perceived as symbol of status. Among the counterfeit goods, luxury designer brands have become targets of counterfeit producers. Therefore, counterfeit of luxury goods is increasing in a dramatic growth rate. For counterfeit manufacturers, this market is very lucrative as it is low cost products that are easy to manufacture status symbol and easy to sell with no marketing effort required (Gentry et al., 2006). Counterfeiting has caused negative consequences to the economy. As estimated by The International Anti Counterfeiting has caused at least $200 billion per annum in lost job, taxes and sales. This is also an obstacle to the development of intellectual properties. Therefore, there is a need to look into the issue from different perspectives to prevent it from getting worse. 1.1 Problem Statement Counterfeit market is in growing rate although many countries have implemented anti counterfeiting strategies to curb and eliminate this illegal industry. However, studies were mainly focused on supply side, including discouraging counterfeit through trademark registration, regulatory action and protection strategies to reduce the availability of counterfeits (Wee et al, 1995). Unfortunately, all the efforts exerted seem ineffective as it failed to deter the consumers from purchasing counterfeit goods. By referring to previous studies, people from different country or cultural background seem to have different attitudes towards purchase intention of counterfeits. Therefore, to eradicate the problem, the factors that drive consumers in a specific nation favourable to counterfeit luxury products must be identified (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007). Therefore, we must find out why consumer purchase counterfeit? but not where they buy (Wee et al, 1995). By far, there is limited research on consumers attitudes toward counterfeits goods in Malaysia has been published. In fact, Malaysia has been listed on the IIPAs Priority Watch List from year 2003 to 2006. In year 2010, IPPA has suggested to remain Malaysia in the watch List as the counterfeits issues getting worse. In order to regain a good reputation to attract more international investors from luxury goods industry, government are urged to curb the counterfeits problem in Malaysia. Therefore, there is necessary to gain an insight into the main causes of the phenomenon of counterfeits in Malaysia. Particularly, we must understand Malaysian attitudes towards purchase of counterfeits. Undoubtable, counterfeits priced at much cheaper than genuine, as lower production cost and lower quality. Consumers who unwillingly to pay high price for genuine products are enticed to purchase counterfeits. Thus financial motives will be neglected in the investigation. Other antecedent motives of consumers attitudes should be examined as the analysis data may facilitate the marketing activities of genuine luxury brands in determining their effective countermeasures against counterfeiting. Meanwhile, there is critical to identify the underlying mechanism of intent to purchase luxury counterfeits. 1.2 Objectives of the Study This study aims to study the motives influence consumers attitudes towards purchase of luxury counterfeits. Theory of planned behavior was used as basis for theoretical framework development. Therefore relationship between three main factors: attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control towards purchase intention of counterfeit will be investigated as well. Seven motivations that influence consumers attitudes towards purchase of luxury brands counterfeit have been identified through review on previous studies. Motivation selected including status consumption, integrity, value consciousness, personal gratification, novelty seeking, materialism, brand conscious and product appearance. All these motivations will be investigated to identify the relationship between each of the motivation with the consumers attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands and the intention to purchase counterfeits of luxury brands. 1.3 Significance of the Study A review of previous research has indicated a need for further investigation on the determinants of counterfeits purchase intention. As according to Eisend M. and Schuchert-Gà ¼ler, P.(2006), previous studies have failed so far to integrate their results consistently into a more general framework because of lack of profound theory. The study also stated that culture has been seen significantly influence the purchase intention and behavior. Malaysia that consists of three main ethnic groups is expected to give a different result. 1.4 Scope of the Study In this study, definition of counterfeiting is adopted from Eisend M. and Schuchert-Gà ¼ler, P. (2006): Counterfeiting is mean that an original product with a remarkable brand value worth copying already exists on the market. Its characteristics are copied into another product, which is indistinguishable from the original, and is sold at a lower price as if it were the original. Nevertheless consumers are well aware of the difference between the two products. Meanwhile, luxury goods defined as products from four main categories: fashion, perfumes and cosmetics, wines and spirits, watches and jewellery (Jackson, 2000). CHAPTER 2 COUNTERFEIT MARKET Counterfeits were first found in luxury brands because of the high profit margin that provide attractive incentive to the manufacturing of counterfeit luxury brands. According to OECD (2008), a noticeable shift from luxury goods to common consumer goods was reported. Everything could be counterfeited, including household products, food and drinks, electronic devices, tobacco, books, toys, automobile parts, pesticides, cosmetics, tools, clothes and handbags to software and prescription drugs. Despite that other product categories are on the rise, the OECD (2008) has reported that luxury fashion items like accessories, clothing, jewellery and footwear still account for the largest part of counterfeit trade, which is up to 66,2% of all interventions by European Customs. 2.1 Luxury Goods Market As stated by Preiholt, H. Ha ¨gg, C. (2006) development of luxury goods market was believed contributed by three main factors: globalisation that helps more international designers to build up their worldwide reputation; the increase number of luxury conglomerates that are striving towards jewellery, accessories, wine, perfumes and cosmetics as complements to clothing. Last is the relational exchange was believed based on confidence and trust. Luxury goods market is in a dramatic growth rate. Luxury Institute had reported that luxury goods market has grown at a compounded two-digit rate in its 2008 luxury market report in past decade. According to the report, the phenomenon was attributed to three possibilities: wealthy are purchasing more luxuries, there are greater number of wealthy people and the middle and lower classes are purchasing luxury brands. Koehn (2002) stated more people aspiring to own luxuries will purchase luxuries more regularly than those economically affordable. This is due to consumers perceptions that luxury goods are symbol of status regardless of their economic situation (Vickers Renand, 2003). Some buyers are seems to be willing to pay a high price for a high-profile brand. 2.2 Counterfeit luxury brands Counterfeits are goods that similar or identical to genuine brands which like reproduction of trademarked brands (Cordell et al, 1996) but without the authorities of genuine brands owner. Staake et al (2009) defined counterfeit trade as trade in goods that, be it due to their design, trademark, logo, or company name, bear without authorization a reference to a brand, a manufacturer, or any organization that warrants for the quality or standard conformity of the goods in such a way that the counterfeit merchandise could, potentially, be confused with goods that rightfully use this reference. Staake et al (2009) also proposed to make a distinction with regard to consumers perception on counterfeits luxury brands. Research has identified two types of consumption of counterfeits. The first type is consumer that acquired without aware of the intellectual property infringement (deceptive counterfeiting) or unknowingly and unintentionally purchases the counterfeit that closely imitated the genuine brands (Staake et al 2009; Tom et al, 1998). Meanwhile another type is non-deceptive counterfeit, where consumer willingly to purchase the counterfeits (Prendergast et al, 2002; Staake et al 2009). It can also been defined as consumers recognises that the product is not authentic according to specific information cues such as price, purchase location or material used (Gentry et al, 2006). Consumers behaviour is different in these different cases. 2.3 Counterfeit in Malaysia In Malaysia, counterfeits market is active since decade ago. As reported by IIPA in 2006, counterfeiting of fashion, pharmaceuticals, batteries, computer accessories, tobacco, mobile phone batteries, food, electronics, petroleum products and toys was problematic in Malaysia. Among all products, entertainment software has constituted to 91% of the counterfeit trade in year 2004, resulting in a loss of US$74 million for local records and music industry (IIPA, 2005). The research has even reported that Malaysia was appeared as the most infamous optical disc entertainment software producer/ exporter in the world. Therefore Malaysia has remained on the Priority Watch List from year 2003 to 2006. In year 2008 and 2009, Malaysia has been removed from Watch-List but was suggested remain on Watch List in year 2010 as the issue remained problematic. Enforcement action was in declining since the removal of Malaysia from Watch-List. As a consequence, piracy goods like CD and DVD was re-emerged. Again, counterfeits were openly available in night markets that operating in different locations every night. Besides, counterfeits also available in fixed premises locations in Klang Valley, particularly in Bangsar, Sg Wang, Petaling Jaya, and Shah Alam; Perangin Mall in Penang; and Holiday Plaza in Johor Bahru (IIPA, 2010). Malaysian Government has collaborated with original vendor and local media in organising awareness campaign in attempt to make public aware of the severity of purchasing counterfeits. Unfortunately, all these efforts seem ineffective in deter consumers from purchase of counterfeits. Therefore, in order to develop an effective policy, there is a must to look into the problem from different perspective, especially demand side of counterfeit. CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW Numbers of study has been conducted to examine the emergence of counterfeit trade, from both supply and demand side. However focus was on the supply dimension; in order to develop appropriate policy to restrain this illegal activity the factors that drive consumer demand for counterfeits should be identified (Kim, H Karpova, E., 2010). 3.1 Counterfeits Demand The dramatic increase of counterfeiting trade is driven by the high demand from consumers. Many consumers knowingly purchase counterfeits. OECD (2007) has grouped the factors that drive consumers towards knowingly demand for counterfeit and pirated goods into three principal categories: first, is the characteristic of product; second the individual consumer, and lastly the institutional environment in which the individual consumer operates. All these factors as listed in Table 1 influencing consumers behaviour towards counterfeit. Among these three categories, consumer characteristics, including consumer financial status and attitudes towards counterfeits, will be the main concern in this study. Besides, many studies have been conducting to evaluate consumers intention and willingness to purchase counterfeit products. Numbers of variables and determinants have been identified in previous research but results were differing for various products and brands, and also in different nation, as per listed in Table 2 which adopted and adapted from Eisend M. and Schuchert-Gà ¼ler, P.(2006) ; Stake, T. et al. (2009). Description Albers-Miller 1999 Survey among 92 US students: selling price enhances willingness to buy a counterfeit above all for those who prefer counterfeits over stolen products; presence of friends who also buy an illicit good enhance willingness to buy, buying alone decreases the willingness to buy; perceived criminal risk has higher influence on buying stolen vs. counterfeit or genuine products. Ang et al. 2001 Survey on 3251 Singaporean consumers: positive correlation between attitude/ purchase intention; negative influence of normative susceptibility, integrity and personal income on attitude towards piracy; positive influence of value consciousness on attitude towards piracy. Bian and Veloutson 2007 Comparison of British and Chinese consumers who admit to have knowingly purchased counterfeit products. Demographic variables have not been found to significantly influence counterfeit demand. In both countries, consumers show a very low opinion on counterfeit products in general, but perceived their average quality as similar compared to non-logo products Bloch et al. 1993 A survey on 200 US adults at mall and flea market: demographic variables did not distinguish between the choice groups; less reliance on durability and brand image has a positive influence on the stated choice to purchase a counterfeit compared to purchasing a designer label or no logo; apart form good value, all evaluation items scored higher for the designer label compared to the counterfeit; self-image is partially significant, indicating that counterfeit consumers are less confident, successful, of lower status and less wealthy. Chang 1998 Comparison of the validity of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as applied to illegal copying of software. The results suggest that perceived behavioral control is a better predictor of behavioral intention than attitude Cheung and Prendergast 2006 Survey on 1152 adult consumers in Hong Kong, Shanghai Wuhan: middle and high income families, males, white collar workers, people with tertiary education, younger consumers and singles are more likely to be heavy buyers of pirated clothing and accessories. Cordell Wongtada and Kieschnick 1996 An experiment study on 221 business students in an Eastern metropolitan area: attitude towards lawfulness negatively related to willingness to purchase a known counterfeit only for knit shirts; expected performance positive related to willingness to purchase known counterfeit for knit shirts and 35-mm camera; branding and price concession positive related to willingness to purchase a known counterfeit for low investment-at-risk (knit shirts); retailer prestige positive related to willingness to purchase a known counterfeit for high investment-at-risk (camera). Gentry et al. 2001 Qualitative study on 102 international students, predominantly Chinese subculture from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia: counterfeits are purchase because of the brands; a a low-grade version with the intent to purchase the authentic product if trial is successful; counterfeits are an acceptable compromise and offer lesser value for lesser cost; counterfeits are purchased because they represent a brand (brand decision), not as a product decision; counterfeits provide novelty and symbolize ones travel experiences for tourist consumers. Hoe et al. 2003 Qualitative study on 20 UK consumes aged under 30: consumers use counterfeits as substitute for desired high value designer brands that help them to create their identities, to transfer the associated cultural meaning, and impress others but only as long as they can deceive the onlooker Jenner and Artun 2005 A survey on 202 German consumers in Turkey: the perceived quality difference between counterfeits and genuine brand reduces purchase intention for all product categories (textiles, leather accessories, CDs, sofrware, watches, perfume) Kwong et al. 2003 A survey on 306 consumers from Hong Kong: attitude towards piracy influence purchase intentions; female have lower purchase intentions, age is negatively related and past experience is positively related to intentions to buy pirated CDs. Parthasarathy and Mittelstaedt 1995 Survey among 205 US students: The willingness to engage in piracy to be strongly affected by the attitudes towards piracy, subjective norms, perceived utility of the software, and the willingness to seek help from others to reduce non-monetary cost. The opinion that the high prices of software are not justified did not appear to affect piracy behavior. Peace et al. 2003 Extension of the theory of reasoned action by a factor of perceived behavioral control as posited by the theory of reasoned action, and punishment certainty/severity. In a survey among 203 students, the model was able to explain 65% of variance in software piracy intention. Penz and Stà ¶ttinger 2005 A survey on 1040 Austrian consumers: attitude towards counterfeiting and self-identity have a positive effect on purchase intentions, particularly at low price levels; normative pressure and perceived behavioral control have a positive impact on purchase intentions at low and high price levels; personality traits influence attitude towards counterfeiting and subjective norm price consciousness has no impact, access to counterfeits has a positive impact on purchase intentions; purchase intentions predict purchase behavior Phau et al. 2001 Survey among 100 consumers in Hong Kong. Those who less often purchase counterfeit clothing are younger, have a lower disposable income, and are less well educated Prendergast et al. 2002 A survey on 200 consumers from Hong Kong: quality and large supply enhances purchase intentions for high spenders compared to low spenders in case of VCDs; quality, material and friends/ family opinion enhance purchase intentions for low spenders compared to high spenders in case of t-shirts; for t-shirts, quality, popularity, ethical and legal issues are more important than for VCDs; overall the importance of criteria do not differ for low and high spenders with price being the most important criteria. Swee et al. 2001 Survey among 3600 Asian consumers who buy counterfeit goods. Counterfeit consumers regard the purchase of fakes as less risky and less unethical, are more value conscious, and have a lower average income compared to those who do not purchase counterfeit articles. Tom et al. 1998 A survey on 435 US consumers: importance of style has a negative influence, importance of price a positive influence on the preference for the counterfeit version of software; importance of brand, function, durability has a negative influence, importance of price a positive influence on the preference for the counterfeit version of t-shirt; importance of durability has a negative influence on the preference counterfeit purses; age and income is negatively related, as is education with the preference for counterfeit versions of a product preference for counterfeit product leads to more positive attitudes towards counterfeiting and greater satisfaction with the price, but less satisfaction with durability and quality. Wang 2005 A survey on 456 students from Taiwan: cost benefit enhance the intention to purchase a pirated DVD/VCD while performance risk, ethical concerns, and social norms decrease it. Wang et al. 2005 A survey on 314 Chinese students: positive influences of attitude towards piracy on purchase intention; negative influence of normative susceptibility, positive influence of value consciousness, novelty seeking and collectivism on attitude towards piracy; buyers have more positive attitudes towards piracy than non-buyers. Wee at al. 1995 A survey on 949 students and working adults in South-East Asia: attitude towards piracy is related to purchase intention for all counterfeit products; brand status, materialism, novelty seeking, and risk-taking have no influence; purpose is related to purchase intentions for counterfeit literature and software; quality is related to purchase intention for all counterfeit products; perceived fashion content is related to purchase intention for counterfeit watches; physical appearance is related to purchase intention for leather wallets/ purses and watches; image and durability have no influence; education is negatively related to purchase intention for all counterfeit products; household income is negatively related to purchase intention for counterfeit leather wallets/ purses. Woolley and Veloutsou 2006 Analysis of purchasing frequencies and underlying antecedents of software piracy among US students. Results indicate that students understanding and knowledge of copyright laws have increased since 1991, but this knowledge has not influenced software piracy rates Source: Adopted and adapted from Eisend M. and Schuchert-Gà ¼ler, P.(2006) ; Stake, T. et al. (2009) 3.2 Theory of Planned behaviour According to the Theory of planned behaviour (Azjen, 1985), an individual behaviour is guided by three kinds of considerations: attitudes toward behaviour, subjective norm and perceive behavioural control. In combination, these three considerations lead to the formation of a behavioural intention. Generally, a person who favourable towards the attitude and subjective norm, and with high level of perceived control, the stronger of his/her intention towards the behaviour. When opportunity arises, people are expected to carry out their intention, thus intention is assumes as the immediate antecedent of behaviour. 3.2.1 Attitude toward purchase intention of Counterfeits As per explained in Theory of Planned Behavior, consumers attitudes will direct influence their purchase intention and finally drive them toward purchase behavior. Past research has examined various motivations that influence the consumer purchase intention of counterfeit, including economic, quality, personality, social and ethical factors (Amatulli, C. Guido, G., 2011; Kim, H. Karpova, E., 2011; Kim, J. E. et al., 2009; Norum, P. S. Cuno, A., 2010; Perez, M. E. et. al, 2010; Phau, I et al., 2010; Phau, I. Teah, M., 2009). a. Status consumption Consumers perceived luxury brands as symbol of status, where they purchase, use and consumed a goods which will display their distinctive status (Eastman et al., 1997). Status consumption has been investigated in many studies in different countries but showing different result (Amatulli, C. Guido, G., 2011; Kim, H. Karpova, E., 2009; Phau, I et al., 2010; Wee C. H. et. al., 1995). Status seeking consumers those with low affordability tend to purchase counterfeits of luxury brands to satisfy their status seeking needs (Phau, I. Teah, M., 2009; Kim, H. Karpova, E., 2009; OECD, 2007). Luxury brands are used to project socioeconomic status, even though it is a counterfeit, consumer are hoping to convey their high society status that associated with genuine brand. Thus, the following hypothesis developed: H1a: Status consumption has a positive influence on consumer attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands. b. Integrity Integrity represents individual ethical consideration, self-control, responsibility and honesty that related to lawfulness (Wang et al., 2005). Research has found that consumers that are more lawful-minded possess negative attitudes towards counterfeits and less willing toward purchase of counterfeits (Cordell et al., 1996, Phau, I et al., 2009). This lead to the developed of hypothesis that: H1b: Integrity has a negative influence on consumer attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands. c. Value consciousness Consumers would like to purchase a luxury brands that associated with value, prestige and benefits but they might not willing to pay a high price for it (Cordell et al, 1996). Consumers who are value conscious are different from consumers that are price consciousness that only concern for products price. They tend to maximize perceived utility or benefits to be acquired for their money. Consumers perceived that counterfeits have similar quality and function to genuine brands, thus they are more positive towards counterfeits which is much cheaper than genuine brands (Kim, H. Karpova, E., 2011; Phau, I. Teah, M., 2009). Therefore, this study propose that: H1c: Value consciousness has a positive influence on consumers attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands. d. Personal Gratification Personal gratification could be defined as the desire for self-accomplishment, social recognition and to enjoy finer things in life (Wang et al., 2005). Hence, consumers possess high personal gratification are conscious on products quality, appearance and trendiness. According to Bloch et al. (1993) counterfeits buyers perceived themselves to be less successful, less confident and low perceived status. Thus those with high personal gratification might have low tendency towards goods of inferior quality (Amatulli, C. Guido, G., 2011; Phau, I. Teah, M., 2009). Thus, this study proposed that: H1d: Personal gratification has a negative influence on consumer attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands. e. Novelty Seeking Novelty seeking consumers tend to try new and different brands to satisfy their curiosity (Wang et al, 2005). Counterfeits those in lower price may become their choices (Phau, I. Teah, M., 2009; Wee C. H. et. al., 1995). H1e: Novelty seeking has a positive influence on consumer attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands. f. Materialism For consumers with high level of materialism or materialist, they view that happiness come from acquisition of possessions. They consume prefer consume status products than general products (Wong, 1997). As similar to status consumption, for those who would like to gain a special identity from others but without the financial capacity, counterfeits that perceived as lower-priced branded goods will become an alternative (Kim, H. Karpova, E., 2011; Phau, I et al., 2010; Wee C. H. et. al., 1995). Therefore, H1f: Materialism has a positive influence on consumer attitudes towards counterfeits of luxury brands. g. Product Appearance Luxury brands always associate with fashion component thus product attributes play an important role in influencing consumer purchase intention. Consumers are willing to pay for physical attributes without paying for the associate quality (Cordell et al., 2006; Kim, H. Karpova, E., 2009). Physical will be one of the main concerns when consumers purchase a counterfeit (Wee C. H. et. al., 1995). Thus, H1g: Product appearance has positive influence towards purchase intention of counterfeit luxury brands. Most of the previous research has suggest that attitudes toward behavior are more accurate in predicting intention to purchase behaviour. Thus we hypothesize H2: Attitude towards counterfeit is positively influence the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury brands. 3.2.2 Subjective norms towards purchase intention of Counterfeits Subjective norms play an important role in influencing a behavior as people will share information, knowledge and experience with others. Consumer who has friends and family members who favourable in purchased counterfeits may influence them to have a tendency towards counterfeits. Thus, H3: Subjective norm is positively influence the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury brands. 3.3.3 Perceived Behavioural Control Perceived behavioral control reflects past experience, knowledge about products and expected obstacles. Consumers those think that their friends or family do not approve the possession of counterfeit goods may not carry out the behavior. Therefore, H4: Perceived behavioral control is positively influence the purchase intention of counterfeit luxury brands. CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4.1 Research Design Integration methodology will be utilized to investigate the research topics. Qualitative and quantitative survey will be conducted in two phases. First phase, in depth interview will be conducted as complementarity research to confirm the context for theoretical model. Second stage will be getting the conclusive data through quantitative survey. By far, most of the studies conducted are by quantitative research, limited qualitative research has been identified. Qualitative research is useful in exploring new elements and develops an initial understanding towards studied market (Amatulli, C Guido, G., 2010). 4.2 Phase One: In-depth Interview Integration methodology was used in many research with purpose of exploring viewpoints in early stage of research (McCracken, 1998) or to enhance the descendant quantitative research to be conducted (Greene et al, 1989: 259). Since there is limited research conducted in Malaysia, the main purpose is to gain initial understanding about consumers conceptualization of counterfeit luxury brands and to learn the language they used to describe it. Meanwhile, this research to be conducted to confirm the context for theoretical model developed based on previous studies. All finding hoped to support the motivations and factors that influencing purchase behaviour identified from literature review. 4.2.1 Target Group: In order to obtain the data to cover the whole population, 30 respondents from different age and sex categories will be selected. Selection criteria will be as listed in Table 4. 4.2.2 Questions Design: Research Question Interview Question Question 1: To what extend are the relationship between Malaysian consumers motivation and attitudes toward counterfeits brand? What brands do you consider as luxury brands? Have you ever purchase a counterfeit o

John Updikes A & P :: essays research papers

John Updike's "A & P" Do you remember the grocery store chain A&P? The letters stand for "Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company," and the store used to be one of the most popular in the United States. The third person narrator of a story (or poem, play, or novel) is not the same person as the author. The narrator of this story is named Sammy, which is a kid's or teenager's name; what we call Sammy's "voice," or his own particular way of thinking, comes through very clearly because he is the narrator. His "voice" reveals him to be a dissatisfied young adult male. Sammy is our first example of a narrator who is also a character. Sammy is what we call a 1st person narrator: 1st person: I am Plural: we 2nd person: you are Plural: you are 3rd person: he, she, it is Plural: they are A first-person narrator can present certain problems; e.g., he or she may have something to hide, and so may not be telling us the entire truth, or he or she may not know the entire truth. Do you see any problems in this area regarding Sammy? Judging by his tone of voice--the way he sounds--what kind of person do you think Sammy is? Is he a smart-ass? Is he just a bored kid? Sammy is bored. His entire world consists of the grocery store, which is artificially heated and cooled, and has everything one could ever need in the way of food and many other products. However, Sammy has been in his dead-end job for so long that he has contempt for his customers: he calls them "sheep." One day, when three girls walk into the store, Sammy is strongly attracted to one of them.

The Longest Journey :: Personal Narrative Africa Traveling Essays

The Longest Journey Have you ever wanted to do something so bad, you can’t wait and it actually seems the days and hours are getting longer as you get close? I hadn’t seen my father for three years and I wanted to see him so bad, I also wanted to the United States of America which had been my dream since I was a little child. My dad had left for the United States when his business failed and he had to find a job which was better than his business and after a few years he decided to move his family as well. I was exited and couldn’t wait until the last week I had to spend in Africa because then I realized what I was about to live behind, all my relatives and friends, my home, it was going to very hard for me to live the place I called home for fifteen years. It was very early in the morning when I got up, the sky cloud less, it had never looked so beautiful, the grass and bushes still filled with the early morning due. I got in my moms truck and we drove to my grandparents to say the final goodbye. It was about fifty kilometers from where I lived, deep in the African jungle where molt of the land in untouched by man. I kept my head outside the window most of the time enjoying the breeze and thinking about what I was about to live behind. I got to my grand parents palace which we used to call â€Å"the village† and as usual, my grand parents were so happy to see us. It is a very pretty cite, my grand ma singing very joyfully, my cousins rushing from the garden with fruits. I remember that day e had jackfruit, pineapples, mangoes, and lots of homey that my grandfather used to extract himself. After lunch which I didn’t eat because I had too much fruit, we headed home where I was very anxious to see my girlfriend who had skipp ed school to say goodbye but the ride took longer than I anticipated so by the time we got home, it was time to head off to the airport, the longest yet shortest journey have ever had to travel. It was like my heart was being ripped in half and also being mended at the same time because I was I had to live my home but I also wanted to see my dad who I hadn’t seen for a while, my mom was driving, me, my little brother and sister who I was to travel with sat in the back of the truck with a few of our cousins.

Mental Illness and POWs Essay -- Military

Any member of the Armed Forces who is held in captivity as a POW or as a hostage is more likely to be at a higher risk of mental illness like PTSD. This assumption goes against everything that was thought to be known during WWI, it was noted time and time again that both English and German POWs were somehow immune to war neuroses and only susceptible to the newly identified barbed wire disease which is the prisoner’s reaction to his environment during prison life. Interestingly though, up until this point in history no real data or studies had been complied on the post release effects after captivity. The repatriation of POWs and the new rehabilitation programs were designed to aid Armed Forces Service members to re-adapt back into to service life or if their enlisted was up to re-adapt back in to their former civilian lives. Disorders found in POWs were often explained in terms of a prewar predisposition to mental illness. Recent studies and those even conducted on the origin al WWI and later studies of POWs have discovered a higher rate of PTSD among veterans. The former POW who escaped or was released by their captors is also a veteran of war, but also a veteran of experiences totally different from their typical veteran counterparts. The POWs battle was not only one of daily survival, but also never ending battle against psychological intimidation, physical suffering, boredom, degradation, feelings of vulnerability, and sometimes depression. Also another noteworthy effect from being a POW was the â€Å"hero† recognition by the public and or Military community upon their honorable return from their capture followed by the attention they would received in the years following the return. The reintegration process back in to â€Å"normal... ...and their families, not all of the wounds are physical and they are not left behind in the cells upon return stateside. The Men who returned home from WWII were welcomed and more importantly celebrated by the entire nation as a whole, yet the efforts of those who returned home from Vietnam War did not reverberate as strongly within the country. The Vietnam POW was lightheartedly honored by our government, but the greater American populist struggled to separate their own personnel beliefs on their discontent with the war and unfairly placed the blame on those who had returned home after doing only what had been asked of them. The then President Nixon briefly spoke during his State of the Union speech saying along the lines that, they returned with honor and we can be proud of our courageous POWs for that they came home with their heads high, and not on their knees.

Verbal Abuse

Sabrina Minton Mrs. Laura Ahmed English 3A 10-25-10 Verbal Abuse The reason why I choose this topic is because I have been a victim of verbal abuse. Many people know or have heard of someone that has been verbally abused. Many people including myself be suffer in silence and feel isolated. Many parts of human action, include the mind and heart. â€Å"As he thinks within himself, so he is†. What does a person think in his or her mind, and heart will be reflected and his or her words or actions. In this paper, I want to address this very important issue in an effort to understand this phenomenon and provide answers.Verbal abuse and physical abuse result from a world view that is clearly not biblical. The difficulty of verbal abuse is that there are no visible signs. The majority cases; verbal abusers are often male and the victim is usually female. Kerby Anderson who wrote â€Å"Verbal Abuse† has many degrees. He has a B. S. from Oregon State University, M. F. S from Yale University, and M. A. from Georgetown University. And has authored many books (Anderson). Patricia Evan has written many books and has been seen on KTLA5THECW, FOX11 NEWS, Oprah Winfrey Show, Sonya Live-CNN and NEWS TALK.She has done over two hundred radio programs, and seventeen national television shows (Evans). Kerby Anderson says he writes his paper from an educated point of view but more importantly he is man. Men are most often the abuser in a relationship; with women being the victim. Mr. Anderson has several degrees and advocates that both the victim and abuser seek help and support within their religious faith. He feels that this behavior is often learned at home and that devotion to family and church and help train these abusers.He also suggests that godly men and women gather together to lovingly confront the person who is verbally abusing the victim. He suggests that the abuser confronts their sin and make an attempt to change with the support of the church. Patricia Ev ans does not have an educational degree but has written several books and established a foundation for support and workshops for people who feel that have been abused. Ms. Evans is a woman and has a very therapeutic point of treatment. She feels angry or critical words will destroy your confidence or self-esteem. She views verbal abuse s a boiling cauldron of pain and anguish in possibly millions of homes. She worries that a person who might cross from verbal to physical abuse is likely to show signs of an impending physical assault by launching intense and repeated verbal attacks, by indulging in rages or by becoming abusive in public. She tends to address the needs of the abuser with support groups, workshops and books to help identify behavior and help recognize and deal with abusive people. I wrote my paper with a personal bias, as I have been the victim of verbal abuse. I decided to compare two different authors based on approach, education and gender.Although only Mr. Anderson has degrees, both have written books and have excellent references. I really liked that both people had a written books. Often time’s victims are of low income and self help books can be a great resource. Mr. Anderson suggests the church as s support group and for many people this would probably be a workable option. I personally prefer a more therapeutic approach. I thought the establishment of workshops with people who had experienced similar situations and the added support of therapists and staff; would make for a better option to help stop the pattern of abuse.The workshops would seem to be the best way to educate yourself and learn the behavior skills to help assure you avoid future situations. I felt both authors had excellent information. Mr. Anderson's information was in a book  form with 7 pages that read like a textbook. Ms. Evans information was keyed to specific questions that a person would answer, according to their feeling and situation. Again there are que stions that redirect the reader  to another page with topic specific information with a set of questions to see if you needed more information; or had obtained the information you needed.The pages also linked to workshops, support groups, self help books, and videos. Mr. Anderson's advice and information may suit some people well and they may already attend a church. To be fair Mr. Anderson's information is relevant for anyone, just as Ms Evans would be appropriate for a religious person. If someone was looking for good information and options of the subject, either author would be able to provide that.Works Cited Anderson, Kerby. Probe Ministries Verbal Abuse. 14 July 2002. ;lt;www. leaderu. com;gt;. Patricia, Evans. Verbal Abuse Survivors Speak Out: On Relationship and Recovery . 1993.

Different Type of Programming Language Essay

1. Charles Babbage Charles Babbage, FRS (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered a â€Å"father of the computer†, Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs. Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum. In 1991, a perfectly functioning difference engine was constructed from Babbage’s original plans. Built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, the success of the finished engine indicated that Babbage’s machine would have worked. Nine years later, the Science Museum completed the printer Babbage had designed for the difference engine. 2. Ali Aydar Ali Aydar is a computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur. He is currently the chief executive officer at Sporcle. He is best known as an early employee and key technical contributor at the original Napster, the file-sharing service created by Shawn Fanning in 1999, and atSNOCAP, the digital rights and content management startup Fanning founded after Napster. He was also chief operating officer of imeem, which acquired SNOCAP in 2008. Aydar’s experiences working at Napster were documented in two books: Joseph Menn’s definitive Napster biography, All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning’s Napster, and Steve Knopper’s Appetite for Self Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. 3. Edwin Earl Catmull Edwin Earl Catmull, Ph.D. (born March 31, 1945) is a computer scientist and  current president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios. As a computer scientist, Catmull has contributed to many important developments in computer graphics. Edwin Earl Catmull was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Early in life, Catmull found inspiration in Disney movies such as Peter Pan and Pinocchio and dreamed of becoming a feature film animator. He even made primitive animation using so-called flip-books. However, he assessed his chances realistically and decided that his talents lay elsewhere. Instead of pursuing a career in the movie industry, he used his talent in math and studied physics and computer science at the University of Utah. After graduating, he worked as a computer programmer at The Boeing Company in Seattle for a short period of time and also at the New York Institute of Technology, before returning to Utah to go to graduate school in fall of 1970. 4. Joyce K. Reynolds Joyce K. Reynolds is a computer scientist.  Reynolds holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern California, United States. She has been active in the development of the protocols underlying the Internet. In particular, she has authored or co-authored many RFCs, most notably those introducing and specifying the Telnet, FTP, and POP protocols. Joyce Reynolds served as part of the editorial team of the Request For Comments series from 1987 to 2006, and also performed the IANA function with Jon Postel until this was transferred to ICANN, and worked with ICANN in this role until 2001, while remaining an employee of ISI. As Area Director of the User Services area, she was a member of the Internet Engineering Steering Group of the IETF from 1990 to March 1998 Together with Bob Braden, she received the 2006 Postel Award in recognition of her services to the Internet. She is mentioned, along with a brief biography, in RFC 1336, Who’s Who in the Internet(1992). 5. Willem Van Der Poel Willem Louis van der Poel (2 December 1926, The Hague) is a pioneering Dutch computer scientist, who is known for designing the ZEBRA computer. In 1950 he obtained an engineering degree in applied science at Delft University of Technology. In 1956 he obtained his PhD degree from the University of Amsterdam. The title of his PhD thesis was The  Logical Principles of Some Simple Computers. From 1950 until 1967 he worked for the Dutch PTT, and from 1962 till 1988 was (part time) professor at Delft University of Technology. He was also the first chairman of IFIP Working Group 2.1 on ALGOL, from 1962 to 1968. Van der Poel is primarily known as a Dutch computer pioneer, designer of Testudo, the PTERA, the ZERO, and the ZEBRA computer. He also contributed to Algol 68 and LISP for the ZEBRA. He is said to be the originator of the Zero One Infinity rule, which suggests that software designs should not impose arbitrary limits on the number of instances of a particular entity: if more than a single instance of it is to be allowed, then the collection size should be without fixed limit. 6. Max Overmars Markus Hendrik Overmars (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmÉ‘rk ˈÉ ¦Ã‰â€ºn.drÉ ªk ˈoË .vÉ™r.ËÅ'mÉ‘rs], born 29 September 1958 in Zeist, Netherlands)[1] is a Dutch computer scientist and teacher of game programming known for his game development application Game Maker. Game Maker lets people create computer games using a drag-and-drop interface. He is the head of the Center for Geometry, Imaging, and Virtual Environments at Utrecht University, in the Netherlands. This research center concentrates on computational geometry and its application in areas like computer graphics, robotics, geographic information systems, imaging, multimedia, virtual environments, and games. 7. Thomas Eugene Kurtz Thomas Eugene Kurtz (born February 22, 1928) is an American computer scientist who co-developed the BASIC programming language during 1963 to 1964, together with John G. Kemeny. In 1951, Dr. Kurtz’s first experience with computing came at the Summer Session of the Institute for Numerical Analysis at University of California, Los Angeles. His interests have included numerical analysis,statistics, and computer science ever since. Dr. Kurtz graduated from Knox College in 1950, and was awarded a Ph.D. degree from Princeton University in 1956, where his advisor was John Tukey, and joined the Mathematics Department of Dartmouth College that same year. In 1963 to 1964, Dr. Kurtz and Kemeny developed the first version of the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System, a time-sharing system for university use,  and the BASIC language. From 1966 to 1975, Dr. Kurtz served as Director of the Kiewit Computation Center at Dartmouth, and from 1975 to 1978, Director of the Office of Academic Computing. From 1980 to 1988 Dr. Kurtz was Director of the Computer and Information Systems program at Dartmouth, a ground-breaking multidisciplinary graduate program to develop IS leaders for industry. Subsequently, Dr. Kurtz returned to teaching full-time as a Professor of Mathematics, with an emphasis on statistics and computer science. 8. Andrew Ng Andrew Ng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, and Director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. He is also a co-founder of Coursera, an online education platform. His work is primarily in machine learning and robotics. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. His early work includes the Stanford Autonomous Helicopter project, which developed one of the most capable autonomous helicopters in the world, and the STAIR (STanford Artificial Intelligence Robot) project, which resulted in ROS, a widely used open-source robotics software platform. 9. Simon Colton Simon Colton (London, 1973) is a British computer scientist, currently working in the Computational Creativity Group at Imperial College London, where he holds the position of Reader. He graduated from the University of Durham with a degree in Mathematics, gained a MSc. in Pure Mathematics at the University of Liverpool, and finally a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh, under the supervision of Professor Alan Bundy. Simon is the driving force behind thepaintingfool.com, an artificial intelligence that he hopes will one day be accepted as an artist in its own right. His work, along with that of Maja Pantic and Michel Valstar, won the British Computing Society Machine Intelligence Award in 2007. The work has also been the subject of some media attention. Prior to his work on The Painting Fool, Simon worked on the HR tool, a reasoning tool that was applied to discover mathematical concepts. The system successfully discovered theorems and conjectures, some of which were novel enough to become published works. 10. David E. Shaw David Elliot Shaw (born March 29, 1951) is an American computer scientist and computational biochemist who founded D. E. Shaw & Co., a hedge fundcompany which was once described by Fortune magazine as â€Å"the most intriguing and mysterious force on Wall Street.† A former faculty member in the computer science department at Columbia University, Shaw made his fortune exploiting inefficiencies in financial markets with the help of state-of-the-art high speed computer networks. In 1996, Fortune magazine referred to him as â€Å"King Quant† because of his firm’s pioneering role in high-speed quantitative trading. In 2001, Shaw turned to full-time scientific research in computational biochemistry, more specifically molecular dynamics simulations of proteins. Different Types of Web Programming Languages Used for creating and editing pages on the web. Can do anything from putting plain text on a webpage, to accessing and retrieving data from a database. Vary greatly in terms of power and complexity. * HTML Hyper Text Markup Language. The core language of the world wide web that is used to define the structure and layout of web pages by using various tags and attributes. Although a fundamental language of the web, HTML is static – content created with it does not change. HTML is used to specify the content a webpage will contain, not how the page functions. Learn HTML at our HTML tutorials section. * XML Extensible Markup Language. A language developed by the W3C which works like HTML, but unlike HTML, allows for custom tags that are defined by programmers. XML allows for the transmission of data between applications and organizations through the use of its custom tags. * Javascript A language developed by Netscape used to provide dynamic and interactive content on webpages. With Javascript it is possible to communicate with HTML, create animations, create calculators, validate forms, and more. Javascript is often confused with Java, but they are two different languages. Learn Javascript at our Javascript tutorials section. * VBScript Visual Basic Scripting Edition. A language developed by Microsoft that works only in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser and web browsers based on the Internet Explorer engine such as FlashPeak’s Slim Browser. VBScript Can be used to print dates, make calculations, interact with the user, and more. VBScript is based on Visual Basic, but it is much simpler. Learn VBScript at our VBScript tutorials section. * PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (it’s a recursive acronym). A powerful language used for many tasks such as data encryption, database access, and form validation. PHP was originally created in 1994 By Rasmus Lerdorf. Learn PHP at our PHP tutorials section. * Java A powerful and flexible language created by Sun MicroSystems that can be used to create applets (a program that is executed from within another program) that run inside webpages as well as software applications. Things you can do with Java include interacting with the user, creating graphical programs, reading from files, and more. Java is often confused with Javascript, but they are two different languages. Learn Java at our Java tutorials section.