Saturday, October 5, 2019
Business Strategy and Development - Company Report Assignment
Business Strategy and Development - Company Report - Assignment Example GoPro is the worldââ¬â¢s leading activity image capture currently the highest selling wearable HD camera. Political instability in America has encouraged GoPro to carry out its operations smoothly through formulation of liberal laws and policies that do not affect prices and labor. Following recovery from financial crisis, American economy is currently stabilizing thus forming a good environment for operations of GoPro. Most athletesââ¬â¢ sound financial capabilities in extreme sports also enable them to acquire GoPro products so easily. Moreover, social factors that entails belief in new technology and love of capturing experiences has hugely boost the relationship between GoPro and the society. GoPro boasts of faster technological advancement that saw them beating the likes of Smartphones and therefore the significance of their advancement in their technology cannot be assumed (Mac 2013, n.p). It has embraced intense marketing in the social media which has been key in catapulting their sales. GoPro develops highly innovative cameras that are consistent with the customersââ¬â¢ needs of capturing videos and sharing online. The company focusses on the needs of the customer and satisfies them instead of just advancing the technology. Having mix of features is integral for the company especially those features valued by customers at an affordable price and great solution (One Network Enterprises 2013, n.p). Gopro is known to building products that concentrates on the needs of the customers such as ease of use, robustness and footage quality. Gopro targets specific market instead of broad mass market by targeting passionate performers of many sport genres (Barca et al. 2012. P.21).This is because the company believes that target group is more willing to adapt to new technology within capturing hence making it easy to address their needs and satisfy them. Additionally, GoPro encourages closeness to their lead users and this
Friday, October 4, 2019
Motorola Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Motorola - Case Study Example Furthermore, the increasing demand of products and services it offered from the start proves to be a remarkable opportunity in its part. This means that if this has to be applied in the present context, since Motorola has long been established in its industry, the opportunity is that it has the chance to cater the increasing and ever changing market needs. Another opportunity for Motorola is the vast demand for products and services it is in tune with at present. The existence of LG, Apple Incorporated, Nokia and other related companies is a proof that the industry where Motorola belongs is competitive and is a good venue to conduct business that will last for long. Apple Incorporated is known for its highly innovative products. This means that there are more things to be discovered in the industry where Motorola is engaged at present time. This means an opportunity for Motorola to discover and rediscover things on its own and introduce them to the market. The above mentioned opportu nities are very important for Motorola. However, there are also corresponding threats that move against it. The first significant threat is a struggling economy. The 2008 economic downturn proved to be a remarkable threat in the case of Motorola. Economic condition is outside the bound of Motorolaââ¬â¢s control and it definitely has significant impact on its part. Its financial stability has been quiet affected by this. This resulted to Motorolaââ¬â¢s struggling mobile device business which further frustrates its stakeholders at the bottom line. Another significant threat is Motorolaââ¬â¢s competitors. The varying strategic moves of Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, LG Electronics, Apple Incorporated and others have tremendously created varying competitive advantage in Motorolaââ¬â¢s industry. Each competitor is trying to create their own competitive advantage because they want to be a cut above the rest of the key players in the industry (Porter, 1990 ; Porter, 1998). For instance, the reason why Nokia was not completely harmed by the 2008 economic downturn was due to its ability to effectively use its strategic acquisitions, partnerships and industry leading in research and development. Apple Incorporated on the other hand is aiming to be the top and leading company of products in their latest innovation. LG anticipates customer needs. Samsung is very aggressive in its expansion into developing markets while enhancing strong brand awareness for its high end products. However, it did not overlook the fact that it needs to significantly manage its mid-to-low range products to cater a wide range of customers. It is important to consider that the competitors of Motorola are significant threats because they know what they need to do in the market and they are certainly good at creating strategies that will push them up to their competitive advantage. B. Describe the company's most prominent strengths and weaknesses. Motorolaââ¬â¢s strengths involve its ability to understand fully the entire industry and the changing needs of the market. This is due to the fact that it is the pioneering company in its industry. Thus, it has remarkable ideas that could be turned into profit. It has sufficiently created a name and has long been established compared to its competitors. In this, there is no way that it could not surpass the competition. Thus, what it needs to do now is observed what the competitors
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Recess at school Essay Example for Free
Recess at school Essay Psychology helps marketers understand why and how consumers behave as they do. Psychological concepts such as motivation and personality; perception; learning; values, beliefs, and attitudes, and life styles are useful for interpreting buying process and directing marketing efforts. Motivation- is energizing force that stimulates behavior to satisfy a need. Personality- Refers to a personââ¬â¢s consistent behaviors or responses to recurring situations Perception- The process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world. Learning- refers to the behavior that results from (1) repeated experience, (2) reasoning. The way we perceive ourselves in relation to the rest of the world plays an important role in our choices behaviors and beliefs. Understanding social psychology can be useful for many reasons. First we can better understand how groups impact our choices and actions. Additionally, it also allows us to gain a greater appreciation for how our social perception affects our interactions with other people. Claustrophobia is an abnormal dread of being in closed or narrow spaces (Jeffrey, M. K., 2002). This paper will examine if the claustrophobia could have occurred through classical or operant condition or cognitive social learning. Most people who suffer from claustrophobia do not like being in tight, narrow places such as elevators or small rooms without any means of escape (Jeffrey, M. K., 2002). Studies show that most claustrophobic patients have had an experience when they were younger that have left an impression on them causing them to become claustrophobic when they became older. For example, an individual could have been trapped in an elevator for a period of time with no means of escape as a child. Individuals also have fears of being in small rooms with no means of escape and therefore do not like to close the doors to these rooms such as bathrooms (Jeffrey, M. K., 2002).
The Tea Party Movement
The Tea Party Movement Demetrius Zissimos Following the 2008 economic crisis, a wave of anger flushed throughout the U.S. creating to separate groups, both upset and both clamoring for a change. The Tea Party Movement, a movement founded by a large majority of elder conservatives, a conservative middleclass and large amount of upper class Americans disgruntled with government power and taxes, and the Occupy Wall Street movement, founded by a majority of a younger liberal crowd upset at the power of corporations and their control over the government, were born. Both ideologies gained a large following as they gathered in cities all over the U.S. and in the case of OPW (Occupy Wall Street) all over the world. Both demanded change, using social media and modern technology to their advantage. Yet although there may be a few similarities within their frustrations with the government, they are separated by vast differences found in their ideologies, methods, membership, approval rating, and overall impact within the political syst em. The Tea Party at its core claims to protest foremost the size and power of the government. It states that the government is too large and its taxing of the people has become out of control. These taxes, as a lot of the members within the Tea Party would argue, are only used to fund government programs that are really handouts given to those who are merely taking advantage of the system. Yet at the same time, a large amount of the Tea Partyââ¬â¢s population are elderly, and thus rely heavily on government programs like social security and Medicare. Itââ¬â¢s hard to understand how a group can argue against the government social programs, while taking advantage of such programs themselves. Their justification for what most would call a double standard also gives light into more topics that fit into the Tea Partyââ¬â¢s platform. They explain that they earned the usage of such social programs after working in the U.S. and paying taxes for so long. Their issue with the other socia l programs is that the government is helping people who do not benefit society, making illegal immigrants a large majority of the ââ¬Å"peopleâ⬠mentioned. This hostility towards illegal immigration amplifies a distrust against the Obama administration, who they claim to be way too lax on the issue. At this point, the hostility against immigrants attracts a certain kind of intense and overzealous crowd to the movement, one easily described as opinionated and very racist. The far right conservatives joined the movement, those who focused on certain ideas that are extreme to say the least. Such examples are the claims made by the Tea Party that Obama is a terrorist, was not born in the U.S., and is actually Muslim despite his public talks of being a Christian. This blind hatred is unfortunately a common theme, spurred on as government leaders like Sarah Palin speak as leaders for the movement. Including their blind allegations against President Obama, Tea Party politicians have a history of extreme and controversial thoughts that have given the movement a reputation of racist and extremist conservatives and served equally as a publicity stunt used to gain as much attention as possible. Especially concerning womenââ¬â¢s rights and rape, Tea Party politicians have been quoted making outrageous statements that cost them seats in government positions. The Tea Party has history of relying on extreme and insensitive statements to gain attention and gain a following of hardcore conservatives who blindly follow anyone that hits a particular point they feel to be underrepresented. Evidence is found in their ââ¬Å"15 Non-negotiable Core Beliefsâ⬠, which involve ââ¬Å"English is our core language,â⬠ââ¬Å"Illegal aliens are here illegally,â⬠and ââ¬Å"Traditional family values are encouraged.â⬠(2) These traditional family values normally involve stripping women of the right to control their own bodies, even under extreme conditions, and are a large attraction by the extremist, normally sexist conservative. These few examples of core beliefs show a movement that is so focused on gathering followers that it loses track of what the movement actually started as, toning down government spending, taxes and power. This creates a stark difference compared to Occupy who manages to keep a relatively focused mission of a few core beliefs, instead of casting a broad net to get any followers they can. Such extremism is a huge difference between the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street because although Occupy took extreme measures of showing anger, they first off never created a political party, and second of all are not quoted having such extreme view points as those in the Tea Party. Occupy consists of a membership made up mainly of a younger crowd than that of the Tea Party, with three general stereotypes used to define its membership, middle class liberal Americans, hipsters, and unemployed college graduates. These three groups find a common ground speaking out against the relatively light taxing of the rich compared to the middle class, the governmentââ¬â¢s inability to investigate and punish corporations and their executives that caused the 2008 collapse and speak for a reform of the system of financing in which politicians rely on large corporations in order to gain political power. Although Occupy is upset with the federal government like the Tea Party, their main enemies are large faceless corporations. These corporations are not being held responsible for their reckless actions that affect the ââ¬Å"99 percent.â⬠The movement claims to speak against the one percent of the population that holds a huge majority of the nationââ¬â¢s wealth, and rules unfairly over the rest of the country, coining the term the ââ¬Å"99 percentâ⬠or the majority of the people. This idea of the majority would likely align the movement with ideals of Millââ¬â¢s liberalism, although they also share similarities with Marxism in their conflict of the one percent, who could be seen as the bourgeoisie, and the 99 percent or the proletariatsââ¬â¢, and the small revolution they committed by publicly organizing and disrupting Wall Street. But ideologically, Liberalism is the best fit for Occupy as both speak for the rule by the majority the 99 percent. Also both see that the government has a role of protecting the majority, something that Occupy argues the government did not do. The Tea Party can also find similarities with Millââ¬â¢s Liberalism, in that both have government holding very little power. Although the Tea Party is not really considered with the wide majority, they do argue for certain ââ¬Å"libertiesâ⬠like gun control. Marxism however is a hard fit for the Tea Party, as both have very little in common. In regards to Fascism, both Occupy and the Tea Party are on opposite ends of the spectrum, as neither want a complete control by the government, and Fascism is strictly against the rule of the majority. Although Occupy Wall Street had an altogether more effective protest force than the Tea Party (Estimates put the largest protest for Occupy Wall Street at over 1.4 million people in 950 cities in 84 countries, and the largest Tea Party protest at 311,460 people in 346 cities.(1)), Occupy didnââ¬â¢t create its own political party like the Tea Party did. This hurt the movement, in that it became mostly focused as a movement and ideology, without much of a political impact. Even though the Democratic Party has shown small influences from Occupy in their speeches, very little can actually be proven to be done by the movement politically, while the Tea Party has had a more impactful political career. The Tea Party is credited to bringing more attention and energy back to the Republican Party after the 2008 presidential elections. Although the Tea Party didnââ¬â¢t gain any real traction in the government, it can be argued that the Republican party has adopted a few of the issues firs t argued by the movement, although those issues are very watered down, and try to avoid the extremist views of the Tea Party movement. But Occupy still holds a better public opinion, as 54 % of people have shown agreement with Occupy, while 20% of the population has shown agreement with the much more extreme Tea Party(1), a fact that can be explained through the extreme statements that the Tea Party used as a claim to fame. Yet to its benefit, Occupy Wall Street has a message that has reached not only a large population in the U.S. but also in other countries. It can be argued as well that Occupy never meant to gain a true political following, as they kept a relatively vague mission statement, and never had true leadership taking the reins. The 2008 economic collapse was an event that spurred an angry population into action, action that eventually involved millions of people, all of whom were unified by a common cause. Whether they were following the radical views of the Tea Party, or aiming for a more protected majority like Occupy, both movements have had everlasting effects, not only on the political spectrum but also within the people. Both movements while separate in following, ideology and overall methods both share the common ground of being vehicles to show displeasure against a government that has become distanced from those it is mean to protect. This cause at its core is admirable and American to its foundation as we are a country born of civil disobedience and protest against a government that takes advantage of its people. Work Cited: Brownsend, Jeremy. Occupy Wall Street (OWS) vs The Tea Party: A Brief Comparison. (n.d.): n. pag. Fact and Myth. 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 4 Nov. 2014. About Us Tea Party. Tea Party. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2014. Skocpol, Theda, and Vanessa Williamson. Perspectives on Politics. The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism. 1st ed. Vol. 9. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. N. pag. Mar. 2011. Web. 4 Nov. 2014. Ray, Michael. Tea Party Movement. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 12 June 2014. Web. 4 Nov. 2014. Sledge, Matt. Reawakening The Radical Imagination: The Origins Of Occupy Wall Street.The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 02 Nov. 2014. Murray, Mark. The Tea Party, Four Years Later.NBC News. NBC News, 16 Apr. 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. Sorkin, Andrew Ross. Occupy Wall Street: A Frenzy That Fizzled.Occupy Wall Street A Frenzy That Fizzled. New York Times, 17 Sept. 12. Web. 05 Nov. 2014.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Emerson Essay -- essays research papers fc
In Emerson's Self-Reliance we see the crowning work of the transcendentalist movement. In this piece Emerson explains his belief in the innate divinity of man and defines our "Self-Reliance" as the broad identity in which we personally participate. Emerson challenges his readers to not conform to traditional practices in a variety of realms. However, he punctuates just four aspects of these challenges to tradition and they are: religion, education, art, and society. I found these passages to be the best representatives of Emerson's ideology due to their poignancy and numbered paragraphs. He talks of these challenges to man as revolutions due to a greater self-reliance. The profoundness of thought in this piece is surprising to me given the historical period Emerson was bathed in. His thoughts on genius are the means of conveyance for his ideal about nonconformity and originality. Also, the personal and emotional connection with which Emerson uses to convey original thoughts and ideas is apparent in his evaluation of great minds of the past. The first passage regards the challenge to revolutionize religion; and more importantly, to discount the practice of prayer and creeds. He says, "Prayer that craves a particular commodity, anything less than all good, is vicious" (Robinson 102). He is basically announcing his contempt for the pious nature man has come to have and his belief that we should not pray for things we can achieve ourselves. He goes on to say, "But prayer as a means to effect a private end is meanness and theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness" (Robinson 102). He is equating prayer with begging to God and believes it is not needed when you become one with God and therefore can see prayer in all productive actions. Prayer for Emerson creates a distinction between himself and God and does not allow for the self to become one with nature and consciousness. He also critiques man's practice of creeds and he believes the practice of one negates all others and vice versa. He says creeds are "a disease of the intellect" (Robinson 103). Whereas prayer is a disease of the will, creeds perform a habitual complacency in the life of man which allows only for the teachings of one particular idea. This is intellectual death for Emerson. To not only have to beli... ...hat is known is not valuable and not beneficial, and what is unknown is original, daring, valuable and great. The greatness resides inside of us and we must excavate it through constant reevaluation of our principles and virtues, without regarding foreign influences. In conclusion, I believe Emersonââ¬â¢s applicable challenges can be identified as his leading arguments when concerned with individual and personal revolution. His views on religion, education, art, and society are explicated through his gifted intuitional understanding and reason. By reasoning to the reader through vivid examples which are apparent and self-evident, he creates the proof for his understanding of reasonââ¬â¢s uses to question what we are perceived to know. The personal connection to Emerson is clear in his engaging emotional remark in which we can simply recognize as his affection for the original, misunderstood, and individual contributions great minds of the past have made. RALPH WALDO EMERSON Self-Reliance WORKS CITED Robinson, David M. The Spiritual Emerson, Essential Writings. Ed. David M. Robinson. Boston: Beacon Press, 2003. Emerson Essay -- essays research papers fc In Emerson's Self-Reliance we see the crowning work of the transcendentalist movement. In this piece Emerson explains his belief in the innate divinity of man and defines our "Self-Reliance" as the broad identity in which we personally participate. Emerson challenges his readers to not conform to traditional practices in a variety of realms. However, he punctuates just four aspects of these challenges to tradition and they are: religion, education, art, and society. I found these passages to be the best representatives of Emerson's ideology due to their poignancy and numbered paragraphs. He talks of these challenges to man as revolutions due to a greater self-reliance. The profoundness of thought in this piece is surprising to me given the historical period Emerson was bathed in. His thoughts on genius are the means of conveyance for his ideal about nonconformity and originality. Also, the personal and emotional connection with which Emerson uses to convey original thoughts and ideas is apparent in his evaluation of great minds of the past. The first passage regards the challenge to revolutionize religion; and more importantly, to discount the practice of prayer and creeds. He says, "Prayer that craves a particular commodity, anything less than all good, is vicious" (Robinson 102). He is basically announcing his contempt for the pious nature man has come to have and his belief that we should not pray for things we can achieve ourselves. He goes on to say, "But prayer as a means to effect a private end is meanness and theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness" (Robinson 102). He is equating prayer with begging to God and believes it is not needed when you become one with God and therefore can see prayer in all productive actions. Prayer for Emerson creates a distinction between himself and God and does not allow for the self to become one with nature and consciousness. He also critiques man's practice of creeds and he believes the practice of one negates all others and vice versa. He says creeds are "a disease of the intellect" (Robinson 103). Whereas prayer is a disease of the will, creeds perform a habitual complacency in the life of man which allows only for the teachings of one particular idea. This is intellectual death for Emerson. To not only have to beli... ...hat is known is not valuable and not beneficial, and what is unknown is original, daring, valuable and great. The greatness resides inside of us and we must excavate it through constant reevaluation of our principles and virtues, without regarding foreign influences. In conclusion, I believe Emersonââ¬â¢s applicable challenges can be identified as his leading arguments when concerned with individual and personal revolution. His views on religion, education, art, and society are explicated through his gifted intuitional understanding and reason. By reasoning to the reader through vivid examples which are apparent and self-evident, he creates the proof for his understanding of reasonââ¬â¢s uses to question what we are perceived to know. The personal connection to Emerson is clear in his engaging emotional remark in which we can simply recognize as his affection for the original, misunderstood, and individual contributions great minds of the past have made. RALPH WALDO EMERSON Self-Reliance WORKS CITED Robinson, David M. The Spiritual Emerson, Essential Writings. Ed. David M. Robinson. Boston: Beacon Press, 2003.
Culture and Body Modification :: essays research papers fc
The African Bushmen: Driven Out of the Bush and into the Industrial Era? à à à à à 4.)à à à à à à à à à à Technology and Culture have both influenced each other equally. Technology has been directed as an improvement in our lives, but on the other hand, Culture has been present in every invention, noticeable or not, and advancement in our evolving society. Technology is becoming focused upon more and more everyday, but culture is the determining factor that decides if there is a necessity for an improvement. There are endless views and perspectives that this situation can be viewed from, but without a doubt, technology and culture shape one another. Culture has been a part of our society, and way of life, forever. It is almost impossible to come up with an idea that isnââ¬â¢t influenced by culture. Picture our lives without cars, television, and computers. This would be an example of everyday life without technology. People could function happily in that type of atmosphere, but technology has changed our lives forever. Technology has also cha nged our pace and perspective on education. Students previously would have to go to libraries and spend a lot of time researching to find out information for class assignments, but with technology students can find almost anything on their home computers and by accessing the internet. Technology has definitely become the authoritative factor in our lives, but culture has shaped technology. Technology is made and used in such a variety of ways because many people who use the technology of today come from all walks of life and have different necessities, so to compensate for that, technology must adapt to all different cultures. à à à à à Technology in all of its forms, and in recent times with its rapid improvement and advancement, seems to push itself upon us and our culture, and the same can be said for the rest of the world. Cultures that have never been exposed to technology are now using it in small forms, or have adapted to it quite fondly. These cultures realize the supposed importance of technology in their lives, or may enjoy the simplicity of a new tool that frees up spare time and can get objectives accomplished faster and possibly in a better way than previous endeavors.à à à à à à à à à à Of course, there are cultures than ours who do not so easily embrace technology. This decision on a cultureââ¬â¢s part may represent its wish to retain customs, or may just as easily represent its fear.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Legalising Prostitution: Debate, communication model and evaluation
Section 1: Group Discussion This section contains what was discussed during group discussion session. The general area of prejudice chosen for discussion was prostitution. Dubbed the oldest profession, there was unanimous observation among group members that prostitution is still loathed in the society, and commercial sex workers, mostly women, are still treated with contempt within our society. The common notion about prostitution is that whilst men are often ââ¬Ëbuyersââ¬â¢ of sex service from prostituting women, the latter are victims of exploitation. The term exploitation is used because women who engage in prostitution are seen to be compelled to engage in commercial sexual activities against their will. Whilst the common fact is that women who engage in prostitution see it as a source of income, and participate in it with their full consent without coercion, we observed that it is quite difficult to convince a person whose belief is entrenched in the moral dimension of commercial sex work that it is a normal activity. The prejudice against women is also entrenched by the belief that women who engage in this trade are of lesser social standing, even though this is always not the case. The other common belief is that while women prostitutes are looked down upon, men do not suffer any form of prejudice. In other words, men are often seen as the exploiters of sex workers, and hence do not enjoy any fair share of prejudice. On the other hand, both men and women engaging in prostitution are seen as morally repugnant, hence the common prejudice that come with it. The debate to legalise prostitution or not has been in the public domain for quite some time now. But it is the increased attention that it has received in the recent past that has invoked a lot of passionate debate in many legal jurisdictions as regards whether to legalise it or not. We may be all aware that one of the reasons why same-sex marriage has gained much currency today is because it is no longer viewed as socially unacceptable to the extent that it is not legal to hold gay couples in contempt in many countries. In recent past, it was not difficult to meet some strong views against marijuana user; with some even believing that the latter were losers who should be kept at the periphery of the society. However, criticism over marijuana use has waned in the recent past because of the recent revelation that it could be used to treat cancer. In addition, marijuana has also been used for pain relief for some time. This recent development has meant opposition to campaigns to keep marijuana illegal is at an all-time low. However, the same cannot be said about prostitution. The stigma associated with the sex trade remains strong, with women and men engaging in it seen as socially ambiguous individuals without moral standing in society. This kind of idea can promote dangerous conducts towards prostitutes. The fact that prostitutes are not regarded highly puts them at more risks to abuse including rape and murder. In addition, prostitutes are more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases, further endangering their lives. Decriminalising prostitution will not only protect women but will also improve their safety and their rights, because however much it is made illegal, the oldest profession is not likely to go away anytime. Section 2: Commentary and Rationale This section will cover commentary on the topic and discuss it based on the chosen model of communication, the heuristic-systematic model. The debate on whether to legalise prostitution or not has intensified in the recent past, with voices advocating for the latter increasing in number every day. Itââ¬â¢s no doubt that the stigma associated with prostitution is real, and remains strong amidst the growing knowledge that it will not stop any time soon. This is despite the rising evidence that decriminalising the trade has some significant health benefits. Research by two economists, Scott Cunningham and Manisha Shah (cited in Albarracin, et al., 2005, p. 78), looked at the situation in Rhodes Island when prostitution was accidentally decriminalised and found that cases of gonorrhoea had drastically reduced, as rape incidences. . Shannon et al. (2004, cited in Griffin, 2006, p.139) also confirmed this result when they conducted a study in Vancouver, British Colombia, and found out t hat decriminalising of prostitution can significantly reduce HIV prevalence by minimising its spread. Despite all the evidence showing the benefits of legalising prostitution, the benefits have not attracted the attention of the legislators. . In addition, many have argued that idea of legalising prostitution is unattractive to voters and therefore to politicians. There is need to focus on presenting arguments that provide options to the intended audience on the need to legalise abortion, and that is where the model for persuasive communication will be necessary in the subsequent section of this paper. The Heuristic-Systematic Model of Social Information Processing The concept of persuasion is an important aspect to not only convincing the people to accept an idea but also to drive changes of mind towards the accomplishment of the idea. The Heuristic-Systematic Model (Chaiken & Trope, 1999) recognises that people either use heuristics and short-cuts to decide on important issues, or use a systematic mechanism that processes the merits and demerits of an argument. The Heuristic approach suggests that the decision-maker asks questions such as of ââ¬Ëhow do I feel about this issue?ââ¬â¢ despite the recognition that such questions can cause problems of understanding and choice, particularly when the person facing the decision dilemma mixes up the cause and the effect of their emotions. In other words, the Heuristic-Systematic Model recognises that in any argument there are a number of variables that are conceptually independent of the message quality and which are likely to influ ence people to act or agree with the proposed idea. Dillard & Pfau (2002) state that that these variables are able to qualitatively differentiate information processing, and give people more room to negotiate with their thinking process. It is important to recognise that people rarely process information in perfect conditions, because there are often environmental and cognitive constraints that tend to either limit the broadness of reasoning or curtail information processing. In this line of thought, people tend to process information economically; investing only in cognitive efforts when they feel motivated enough with a number of cognitive resources. In the prostitution decriminalisation debate, this can be said to affect that the way people reason, that is, arguments are likely to be based on strong environmental and cognitive influences entrenched by history, personal interest or fear, religious and cultural convictions. For instance, some arguments have emerged that prostitution should remain illegal because legalising it will mean women of loose morals will increasingly tempt men of good morals to increasingly betray their families. This kind of argument tends to make out that women who engage in prostitution a re the villains. The other belief is that women who engage in prostitution should be protected from being hurt against: sexually transmitted diseases, unruly pimps, and exploitation. The other argument would only be based on religion and historical cultural practices that prohibits prostitution as a trade. The three lines of arguments are motivated by different lines of thought, which can fall in either heuristic or systematic message processing mechanism. Ironically, the arguments against prostitution which include the view that women of loose morals prey upon upstanding men of good morals and lead them to betray their families has been accepted in some countries such as Sweden, which in 1999, criminalised the buying of sex but allowed individuals to continue selling it (Dillard & Pfau, 2002). Many proponents of this legislation argued that violence against prostituting in women is inherent, and that the best way was to reduce prostitution prevalence by limiting activities of the potential buyers. On the other hand, the State of Nevada, United States legalised prostitution to protect women from exploitation and abuse (Taleb, 2012). The Heuristic- Systematic model posits that people generally process persuasive information systematically only when they are fully motivated. When one is in a systematic mode, they tend to take into consideration all relevant pieces of information, elaborately analyse the information, and make a judgment based on the elaborated issues. However, whenever people are not adequately motivated or do not possess sufficient cognitive resources, they often resort to processing of information heuristically or superficially. People in a heuristic mode of thinking consider only a few or a single informational cue and come up a judgment based on the cues. Whilst decriminalising or legalising prostitution has attracted massive debate, its inability to pass the legislative hurdle or even attract attention of the political class has been overbearing for its proponents. In other words, legalising of sex trade has not been high amongst the priorities of many legislative agendas for many countries, i ncluding United Kingdom and United States (Taleb, 2012). The reason why the Heuristic- Systematic model can work towards pushing for the legalisation of prostitution is because of its dualism nature, which allows the message to reach different classes of people. The goal here is to get support for legislation that would see prostitution decriminalised, and protect the parties involved. . Expert advice backed by research findings are powerful tool to convince legislators, who may not take their time to scrutinise the quality of persuasive arguments, and mostly prefer quick fixes in making decisions. Packaging a message heuristically can allow the legislators to pick the cue, and avoid the difficult process of differentiating a strong and a weak message (Griffin, 2006). Reimer, et al (2004, p.81) observe that ââ¬Å"people who expect to discuss a persuasion message later are more affected by the number of persuasive arguments but are never affected by the attractiveness of the communicator.â⬠It is presumed that the importance of the message easily induce systematic processing of the message. By contrast, people who do not expect to discuss the message are often affected by how attractive the communicator is, and not affected by the number of persuasive arguments (Reimer, et al, 2004). Studies have proven that motivational variables affect the mode in which people process persuasive arguments. These variables include personal relevance of the message, importance of the task, attitude accountability and exposure to a personââ¬â¢s attitude (Chaiken & Trope, 1999). On the other hand, there are cognitive resource variables that affect the mode of message processing, which includes distraction, repetition of the message, creating time pressure, a nd modality of communication, knowledge and expertise (Griffin, 2006). Although it is important to recognise these modes of communicating the message in terms of communicating the value of legalising prostitution, it should not appear as though there is any form of dissociation of the variables at the early stage of the group means (Griffin, 2006). Similarly, heuristically communicating the message should be able to have direct effects on the attitudes of the target group. In this aspect, when the people agree in a consensus that prostitution should be legalised, then it can be considered correct and valid for acceptance. An important factor which should be covered by any dual-process model is how the two processes interact or work together. Although one may argue that the two processes, heuristic and systematic are mutually exclusive or are competing concepts, in this case of legalising prostitution they should work together. The Heuristic-Systematic model posits that the two proc esses, heuristic and systematic, are indeed working simultaneously. Evidence of how these two processes can work is when arguments pitting two judgmental implications of both of them. For instance, an expert source delivering a message consisting of weak arguments can present a scenario where both systematic and heuristic processing of messages is done under different levels of motivation. It is also important to note that the heuristic-systematic model attenuates that wherever the two processes opposes each other, the implications the comes from systematic processing can ââ¬Å"easily attenuate the impact of heuristic given that people are sufficiently motivated.â⬠For example, Griffin, (2006).found out those highly motivated participants who were presented with consensus cue information that is inconsistent with the attributes singularly based their judgments on their own cognitive prowess in relation to the product attributes. This concept is applicable in the case of prosti tution legalisation debate, in the sense that legislators can use their own cues and decide on the legislative agendas that will legalise commercial sex work. Section 3: Evaluation Proposal Evaluating heuristic- systematic model effectiveness is an important part of this modelââ¬â¢s success towards ensuring the message to legalise prostitution is effectively passed. Effective communications needs evaluation, which helps to identify the impact of the efforts made in passing the message to the target audience. To effectively monitor the communication model, various tools shall be used in the process. Public opinion evaluation: Getting the opinions of the public as far as legalising prostitution is concerned is an important point to start from. Public opinion monitoring tool will be used to ask the public if they heard about the campaign to legalise prostitution from opinion leaders including legislators and non-governmental organisations. In addition, the questions will be directed to ask the public whether they agree with the manner in which legislators in support of the prostitution presented their messages or agreed with them in the context and reasons given by the leaders. For example, questions such as: Whose arguments made sense in the call to legalise prostitutionAnd whyThe questionnaire trackers will be recorded in terms of age, gender, work status, tenacity. The methodology to be used will remain consistent over time to allow for the tracking of metrics over time for comparison purposes. Evaluating media Evaluating the media response on how effective the proposed model will work, the formal process for evaluating the impact of the campaign in the media is to analyse whether it can be replicated and made part of regular campaign mechanism. Media Coverage Before Campaign (airtime/space) Coverage After Campaign (airtime/ space) % Increase in Coverage BBC National News BBC London ITV National News London Tonight Evening Standard Metro Radio 4 Times The table above will provide a guideline on how the media coverage has increased/ or decreased due to the campaign. This will be able to help bring depth to the understanding of our campaign, and if the media (both mainstream and tabloids) respond to increased debate. By monitoring how the media has changed the amount of airtime/ or newspaper coverage space in covering the legislative debates, it is possible to analyse the outcome of the campaign in ensuring the legislators continually discuss the possibility of decriminalising or legalising prostitution. The media monitoring will be conducted by assistants on everyday basis, and compiled in a weekly report for tracking if there is any change in trends. Each article or piece of broadcast coverage will be allocated points based on the following criteria: Positivity/negativity of the message (in favour of legalising prostitution): analysing the articles, opinions, newspaper columns and news coverage. Positivity/ negativity of the headl ines: positive mentions of the campaign groups, legislators; and Neutrality of opinions reported Finally, a range of stories will be typically evaluated and compiled on a daily basis, and tabulated on a weekly basis. Classification of stories will ensure the campaign program can be understood in the manner in which the media responds to the legislative debates, which is likely to translate into public debate as well. References Albarracin, D., Johnson, B. T., & Zanna, M. P. (2005). The handbook of attitudes. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers Chaiken, S., & Trope, Y. (1999). Dual-process theories in social psychology. New York: Guilford Press. Dillard, J.P. & Pfau, M. (2002). The persuasion Handbook: Developments in Theory and Practice. NY: Sage Publications. Griffin, E. A. (2006). A first look at communication theory (6th ed.). Boston, MA; McGraw Hill. Reimer, T., Mata, R & Stoecklin, M. (2004). The use of Heuristics in Persuasion: Deriving Cues on Source Expertise from Argument Quality. In Current Research in Social Psychology, 10(6), 69-83. Taleb, N. (2012). Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder. New York: Random House.
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