India Super Power Essay

More than sixty years ago, in the summer of 1948, the Indian nation, then newly-born, was struggling for its very survival. India is a unique and unlikely democratic state because it is not constructed according to the classical European principles of â€Å" one language, one religion one common economy† .India contains an enormous diversity in language, religion and culture; and the state is not built on uniform nationalism, but embraces pluralism. Few Indians now alive know how uncertain our future looked in the summer of 1948. The question then being asked everywhere was ‘Will India Survive? . Now, sixty-four years down the road, that fearful query has been replaced by a far more hopeful one, namely, ‘Will India Become a Superpower?’. My vision as a citizen of India would be to make India a superpower, both in economic and military terms. The endeavour to be taken to herald this result would be tremendous and not without pain. One may wonder why India has not achieved this goal yet and what has prevented India from achieving this goal. Many reasons point back at us the root cause is paved by the citizens themselves. Too much focus is given on social and religious outputs which eventually lead to the election of leaders that are more focused on these aspects rather than on the economy and well-being of the country. On the other side of the coin, India faces more problems like proper infrastructure facilities, low agricultural output, high illiteracy rate and poverty. Major factors which act as a barrier for India to become super power are.., 1. Population: India’s increasing population is a big hindrance in India’s becoming a Super power. Rising population has affected the quality of life of the people for sure as imparting access of basic amenities and education to bigger population becomes more difficult. In the last several decades, fertility control policies in India have failed to promote a sustainable solution to the problem of overpopulation. India needs to take strict measures to counter the prevailing birth rate in the country. 2. Corruption: India is one of the most corrupt countries on the world map. Corruption in India has assumed such large proportions that public have come to believe that it is impossible to get rid of this malaise. We need variety of strategies to fight corruption, ranging from the simplification of rules and procedures and the application of information technology to specific steps such as trapping corrupt public servants. Open and transparent political systems are must at all levels. 3. Decline of public institutions: Key institutions like —politics, universities, judiciary, bureaucracy, police etc. are witnessing deterioration on the matter of accountability and productivity. In India, average incomes have risen fourfold and yet public institutions have not improved. Indian policy makers need to come up with number of public institutional reforms steps to counter this malaise. In India political parties are transformed into family firms in the past two decades. This result in nepotism; possibilities and success are dependent on one’s relationship with the ruling families. It causes the functional decline of public institution. 4. Naxal and Maoist menace : Extremism in the form of the Naxalite movement has to be checked. Stern and sincere steps should be taken to rein in the menace. Rehabilitation programme has to be launched to bring the Naxalites into the mainstream and at the same time police force should be given modern training and equipments to counter ultras. 5. Social inequality and Unequal distribution of income across society: India needs to address growing unequal income distribution and need to narrow the gap between the poor and rich .The impressive growth rates of the Indian economy reflect the growing industry and commerce. This produces a group of extremely rich people like Mukesh Ambani who recently commissioned a 2 billion 27 story house for his family of five. The rich do not seem to care about the dark side of their wealth. This disparity has only increased over the years. Economic policy makers need to work on this. The present global financial crisis is bound to make matters worse unless long-term structural reforms are adopted. 6. Environmental degradation: The social inequality is destructive nature; rural communities profit little from the economic growth and farmers in the country side are being forced from their land to make way for multinational corporations who exploit the soil and the forests. Economic development without environmental considerations can cause serious environmental damage in turn impairing the quality of life of present and future generations. The degradation is impacting people’s lives in very real ways, whether in the form of massive depletion of underground aquifers, chemical contamination of soil, death of rivers, loss of species etc. 7. Religious extremism : Current trends shows Religious extremism has risen sharply in Indian society and if not taken care of, they have potential to completely destroy the secular and democratic fabric of the nation. Religious riots, communal clashes and bombings in every nook and corner of the country are hindrance in the set up of secular fabric, scientific advancements, technological breakthroughs in the country. Matured democracy and vibrant, fast-growing economy like India  have to deal with this issue ASAP. 8. Media Apathy : In India most of the media belongs to the political parties, so they failed to cover all relevant and real issues revolving around our society.The media seem to have given in completely to the wealth and entertainment industry of the higher class. The media are financially dependent on the rich because of advertising and are therefore not critical of the corruption in the public domain and government. Since the 90’s journalists barely have any attention for issues like environment; most of them were retrained to be financial analysts. Media needs to come up with the coverage of real and main issues like social inequality and environment degradations. Media has to play an active role in spreading awareness among masses towards major issues of the society. 9. Political chaos : In the last two decades no single party has obtained an absolute majority.The political fragmentation across central and regional levels makes it very difficult to forge sustainable long term policies in the realm of health, education, infrastructure etc.Moreover, small parties choose the most profitable ministries for ‘short-term corruption’ . 10. Border conflicts: India’s unresolved border disputes, especially in Kashmir and the North East (Nagaland and Manipur) which indicates that there are parts of India that are not comfortable with being part of India. India needs to take proactive steps to resolve the conflict and fasten the development in these disturbed territories. I believe that India would make it to the top of the world as Indians are among the most intelligent people of the world. India has all the human and material resources that are prerequisite to become a superpower. It is only question of administration and supervision. The country proudly holds immense resource of experienced, high caliber professionals in all spheres of knowledge and technology. India is deemed as a â€Å"sleeping tiger† due to its capabilities in different fields like nuclear technology, space technology, agricultural research and software development. If provided with proper support, they would be able to implement any task that a developed nation may or may not be able to do.

Of mice and men †What u think happened in Weed Essay

It was getting dark; the hot humid winds blew from the starless sky over the heads of exhausted ranch workers in the quiet town of Weed. George, along with the rest of his team headed towards the cabin as Lennie, the friendly giant followed behind. Today had been a long day; every worker had been on the field for over twelve hours. Working overtime was the only way to make an extra few dollars which was crucial to many of the men. As they arrived to the cabin, one by one the men washed and prepared for the next day. The clock hit nine and the cabin went silent, the sounds of George snoring echoed as the others slept in peace. The limited hours of sleep ticked by and were soon over. The next morning arrived as the alarms went off, the sounds of tired men yawning whizzed from bed to bed as the men got up for a hard day of labour. Once again one by one they lined up for a wash and set of for the fields. As usual Lennie was last to wash and so once again George had to wait as George and Lennie were as one force. George stuck by Lennie throughout his life as he was the only form of family he had. Lennie’s lacks of knowledge lead to him being George’s responsibility and so George stuck by him throughout everything. However both men left the cabin and set of for the fields. The sun was blazing down, droplets of sweat poured down their faces as they arrived to the fields. Both men had arrived late for the third time this week; they got straight to work as the boss walked by inspecting how everyone was getting on’You late again georgy boy, carry on this way and u’ll be hitting the road and that goes for the big one too’ pointing his short crooked fingers to the direction of Lennie ‘Won’t happen again boss’ replied George hesitantly. The ranch workers were terrified of the boss, he was a mysterious guy, no one actually knew anything about him let alone his actual name. He would spend his whole day walking through the fields looking for someone in the wrong for him to pick on. George just kept out his way as he didn’t want no trouble just wanted to make the money and head off to buy a little farm house and live the American dream. The day finally came to an end, and on top of everything it was a Friday, looking forward to the two days off George and the boys decided to go into town. As the men headed of for the cabin Lennie followed walking half a mile behind the rest as usual singing to him self. ‘Go straight back to the cabin and go to bed, me and the boys gonna hit inta town so don’t stay awake’ instructed George to Lennie’Ok George’ replied the big fellow, repeating quietly the instruction from George. Lennie made his way back towards the cabin strolling through the muddy fields all alone denting gigantic footprints behind him. As he arrived back to the cabin all alone, he watched George and the other men making their way for a night out. Although Lennie never asked to join them he felt left out, he felt different and less important as he was the only man left behind. Feeling sympathatic towards himself he decided to go off for a walk instead of going back to an empty cabin. He started walking through the dark muddy fields, his boots covered with large bulks of mud making it hard for him to lift of the ground to take the next step, lost in his own thoughts he carried on walking until his leg finally got stuck so deep in the mud he dropped, his large figure fell to the ground with an impact leaving the ground surface all uneven. He layed motionless on the ground for a few second before deciding to get up. Finally he made an effort to get back to his feet when to his shock he realised a young women standing above him looking down at him offering her hand to pull him up. He gazed into her eyes, his head started spinning her beauty was undescribable her red lipstick shone aginst the moonlight as her long silky hair ran down her back. Shocked by her beauty Lennie just carried on looking into her eyes, she looked back into his with a confused smile flashing off her face ‘you ok there?’ the women asked politely ‘you want a hand getting up big man, didnt you see thea sign no walking through the fields at night! it’s there for a reason!’ Lennie was lost in her beauty, not listening to nothing she said he put out his hand to accept help from the women, she grabbed on to his enormous rough hand trying to pull him up using both her soft hands. She tried to pull the big man off the ground who made no effort to try get up himself, he just gazed into her eyes as if he was lost in them. She used all her strength to help him up but Lennie didnt move an inch. As she released the power, tired of pulling, Lennie gave a slight pull on her left hand. The women came flying down directly ontop of him but hitting her head against the mud. The women layed directly above him, Lennie’s heart beat increased as the women didn’t move, he gently turned her of him to his left. While moving her body of himself he realised droplets of blood on her forehead. Lennie’s heart rate increased, he started to take long deep breathes and got to his feet instantly. He stood above her to realise she had hit her head onto a rock which layed on the mud. Lennie’s panic began to increas now that he figured out the women was dead, he was now going to get into trouble once again and let George down. Feeling terrified and confused, Lennie made a run, he ran through the fields falling after every few steps as he realised a light being shone in his direction, it was his boss. ‘What you doing out here at this time big man’ shouted the boss curiously with his voice echoeing through the fields, however Lennie’s fear forced him to ignore the boss and carry on running. He ran and ran untill he finaly made it to the cabin. Lennie entered the cabin and went straight to his bunk where he sat up waiting for George. Hours went past and the men were not back, Lennie left the cabin and stood outside.The winds blew with force and a few minutes later Lennie saw George and the men walking back in the distance, George saw Lennie outside the cabin from a far distance and ran towards him. ‘What you doing up awake at this time, I told u I was going to be late’said George in a dim and tired voice and suddenly Lennie bursted into tears as he explained himself to George about what happened. After hearing the news George also began to panic ‘we have to leave Lennie now’ both men packed their bags as the other men fell into their deep sleep and left as they had no other choice. Although Lennie had meant no harm on th women Lennie’s life would be at risk, he would be blamed for murder and with no evidence to prove his innocence he would most likely be killed. The only way to avoid this was to go on the run so both men set off for the woods to get as far away from the town of weed as possible. Â  

Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior

Consumer Attitude Toward Mobile Marketing INTRODUCTION Starting from background of the research area and why this study is important, this section of the study will continue with necessary definitions of the terms which will be used in this research. Additionally, this section will present problem discussion to enlighten the reader about current situation of the study area. Finally outline of the thesis will be shown to inform the reader about what will be encountered in the upcoming chapters of this study.BACKGROUND After high penetration of the internet, mobile broadband subscription rate also increased dramatically. Subscriptions of mobile broadband outnumbered the subscriptions of broadband by 2008, which is indicating tremendous potential for mobile internet (International Telecommunication Union, 2009). Another research conducted by ITU (International Telecommunication Union, 2010) shows that 90% of the world population has internet access, and 80% of people who is living in ru ral areas also have internet access.Different reasons are playing a role in rise of mobile devices usage, according to Grant et al. , (2007) Improvements in mobile technology, and integration of data, video and audio context in one mobile device absolutely increased the usage of mobile devices. Flexibility in communication and information sharing became possible with improvements in mobile technology and integration of internet and computing in to mobile medium (Siau et al. , 2005). The possibility of reaching the information anytime and anywhere triggered the improvements of mobile devices lately (Deans, 2005).Grant also states that potential of interaction with consumer, target marketing and managing consumer relationship made mobile devices especially important channel for marketers (Grant et al. , 2007). Mobile services and marketing has become powerful source for marketing communication and distribution (Nysveen et al. , 2005). Backed up marketing activities with mobile devices provide companies an opportunity to directly communicate with consumers anytime, anywhere (Haghirian et al. , 2005).Internet has been used as an effective channel by companies for building and managing consumer relationship (Deans, 2005). With the mobile internet, marketing opportunities are defined by different authors like Ahonen, (2002) that when mobile internet subscriptions outnumber the broadband subscriptions mobile internet will have the larger potential audience. Marketing potential of the mobile devices also found by Friedrich et al. , (2009) as, probably mobile medium have more potential * Mobile TechnologyCertainly mobile technologies have a very crucial and important impact on today’s businesses (Haghirian et al. , 2005). As a result mobile technologies are providing many opportunities for marketing activities, especially direct communication opportunity with consumers anytime, anywhere (Haghirian et. al. , 2008). Latest improvements in an area of internet and w ireless technology during the late 1990s paved the way for unique telecommunication service mobile internet (Okazaki, 2005). According to Siau et al. (2005) Mobile technology holds great strategic importance, and it is integrating internet and computing into wireless environment, and improving the communication, information sharing and interworking. Even mobile phones and assistive networks seem to be dominant mobile commerce providers, other technologies and devices will probably have important role in mobile commerce soon (Balasubramanian et al. , 2002). For instance, there are new devices that combine mobile phones and personal digital assistants’ (PDA) features in one device (ibid). Guo et al. , 2010: â€Å"Mobile communication devices, such as cell phones, laptops, PDAs, etc. have provided people with new approaches to accessing web contents, emails, instant messaging, and commerce services in a convenient and flexible fashion which fully takes the advantages of mobilit y and timeliness of mobile communication technologies. † More information about mobile technology will be provided in chapter 2 (3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Software and Technology, SMS & MMS) * Electronic Commerce and Electronic Marketing Definitions of electronic business, electronic commerce, and internet commerce are gathered together under the same roof, and threated as the same term as electronic commerce (Elliot, 2002).Electronic commerce defined by Turban et al. , (2006): â€Å"The process of buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging products, services and/or information via computer networks, including the internet. † (p. 4). Providing interactive environment and personalizing the content of message enabling powerful digital marketing channel (mobile devices and internet) to interact with consumers (Strandvik et al. , 2006). There are four categories of electronic commerce identified, which are business-to-business (B2B), business-toconsumer( B2C), peer-to-peer (P 2P) and consumer-to-business (C2B) as it shown in figure 11 (rayport et al. 2004) in next page. And B2C defined by Rayport as electronic commerce refers to exchanges between businesses and consumer. Business originating from†¦ Business Consumers B2B| C2B| B2C| P2P| And selling to†¦Business Consumer FIGURE 1: Four categories of electronic commerce. According to Strauss et al. , (2006): â€Å"Electronic marketing, is the use of information technology in the process of creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers, and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders†.Chaffey et al. , (2009), also adds that electronic marketing is part of the digital marketing and have more aspects than internet marketing (wireless media, email) such as electronic CRM (Customer relationship management) and digital customer data management. * Mobile Commerce and Mobile Marketing Business experts are estimating potential of mobil e world without time and place boundaries (Balasubramanian et al. , 2002). Widespread usage of mobile phones accelerated the growth of usage of mobile devices to conduct mobile commerce (Xu, 2007).Haghirian et al. , (2005), (p. 32c): â€Å"In a mobile world, these activities (process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, services, and ideas to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals) are performed via mobile devices, such as cellular phones and pagers, cordless telephones, personal digital assistants, two-way radios, baby crib monitors, wireless networking systems, global positioning systems (GPS) based locators and maps†.Commonly mobile commerce is considered as part of the electronic commerce (Lian et al. , 2010). Currently there is no formal agreement of definition of mobile commerce, but widespread acceptance of mobile commerce is the use of mobile devices to interact with consumers and transacti ons that takes place on private or public networks (Balasubramanian et al. , 2002). By taking advantage of technology and applications, mobile internet become advantageous subsidiary channel for traditional electronic commerce, which is indicating big potential (Wang et al. 2010) Current improvements in mobile technology resulted in widespread usage and different functions of mobile devices, the mobile medium has turned into a powerful marketing channel, which allowed businesses to set up electronic presence alongside with their consumers without time and place boundaries (Toker et al. , 2010). The Mobile Marketing Association, (2008) defines mobile marketing as â€Å"The use of wireless media as an integrated content delivery and direct response vehicle within a cross-media marketing communications program. † Anyway, it is important to clarify mobile marketing and mobile advertising (Leppaniemi et al. 2004). Hence Leppaniemi et al. , (2004) defines mobile advertising as â₠¬Å"Any paid message communicated by mobile media with the intent to influence the attitudes, intentions and behavior of those addressed by the commercial messages. †(p. 93-97) which can be also inferred from definitions mobile advertising is part of mobile marketing. After stating two types of mobile advertising which are push and pull advertising, Leppaniemi et al. , (2004) explains it as following: Leppaniemi et al. , (2004): â€Å"Advertising that is â€Å"pushed† to the users’ devices is generally used in conjunction with mobile advertising.Push advertising may be unsolicited such as special promotions delivered by SMS to users within the context of an existing customer relationship, or it may be solicited where users agree to have certain services or promotions pushed to them at certain times (sponsored sports score alerts, for example). Pull advertising, on the other hand, is defined as an advertising that is attached to content or services that users requ est or â€Å"pull† to themselves. For instance, when a customer requests the local weather from mobile service provider, the content of the response, including any related advertising, is pull advertising. (p. 93-97) The increasing growth in the area of mobile commerce gives new dimensions to interactive marketing (Okazaki, 2009). Direct interaction with consumers is possible via mobile marketing without time and place boundaries (Dickinger et al. , 2005). Personal nature of the mobile phones provide an opportunity to understand buying habits and trends of individual consumers which is impossible in PC environment, that’s why marketers should see mobile internet as a powerful medium (Keefe, 2008). * Attitude According to Antonides et al. (1998), â€Å"Attitude is the individual predisposition to evaluate an object or an aspect of the world in a favorable or unfavorable manner. † (p. 197) More information about consumer attitude will be provided in chapter 2, wit h focus on marketing activities. PROBLEM DISCUSSION Lehmann et al. , (1998): â€Å"The most important phase of any research is the definition of the problem to be addressed. † Large variety of media channels increased the competition for drawing the attention of the consumer (Strandvik et al. , 2006). Mobile medium especially changing the marketing dynamics and pointing consumer needs and interests (Friedrich et al. 2009). In order to take advantage of mobile devices to establish marketing efficiency, it is important to understand how consumers perceive mobile advertising (Haghirian et al. , 2005). Mobile marketing allows marketers to immediately track success of their campaign and provide an opportunity to be more precise about place and how advertisements are conveyed to the consumers (Keefe, 2008). Mobile marketing is the only individual medium that enables interactive, direct interaction without time and place boundaries (Leppaniemi et al. 2004).According to Haig, (2002) The fact is that mobile phones are the most individual device we own and it is possible to interact and target individually (ibid. ). High potential of innovative and creative mobile marketing indicates that it is extremely important to understand and gain deeper knowledge in consumer behavior in mobile commerce medium (Haghirian et al. , 2008). Because of the innovativeness, consumer’s reactions toward mobile marketing become critical for the success of mobile commerce (ibid). To improve the personalization of the advertising, behavioral advertisers are profiling the mobile consumers and tracking them (King et al. 2010). Personalized advertising is adding more value and improving experience for consumers (Dickinger et al. , 2004). Mobile phones have started to commercialize (Wei et al. , 2010). Latest improvements in communication technology opened the way for mobile advertising to be crucial component of marketing mix (Leppaniemi et al. 2004). Mobile marketing is gaining po pularity with improvements in wireless technology and widespread usage of smart phones (Sun et al. , 2010). Despite the fact that mobile marketing increases quickly Haghirian et al. (2005) stated that Potential consumers didn’t have opportunity to express their feeling toward mobile marketing. According to Leppaniemi et al. 2004, even though a lot of research conducted in the area of mobile advertising, only few of these researches delivered useful knowledge to this area. Roach, (2009), (p. 124-138): â€Å"The fast pace of development within the mobile commerce industry has brought about a new field of academic research, in which studies have examined the variety of factors influencing the acceptance of mobile phone marketing from both consumer and organization perspectives.The current literature remains largely inconsistent and fragmented. † There is an accelerating growth of the articles in an area of mobile marketing since 2005, after some time it is stabilized arou nd 42% per year (Toker et al. , 2010). The distribution of articles by year is shown in Figure22. FIGURE 2: Distributions of articles by year. Even though correlation between attitude towards mobile advertising and mobile marketing adoption is indicated, there are several different research investigating the attitude and outcome of it (Toker et al. , 2010). According to Soroa-Koury et. al. (2010) there is probably a positive correlation between positive attitude towards mobile advertising and eagerness to accept mobile advertising. Consumers’ mobile marketing experience and usage frequency of mobile marketing is also another important issue. Some mobile device users may have experienced the mobile marketing, some may have not. One type of usage segmentation is ? Volume Segmentation? and it is explained by Goldsmith et al. , (1999) as; Volume segmentation combines two different factor (frequency of use and usage rate) to divide market into three different categories which are: heavy users, light users and nonusers.In order to understand the relation between frequency of usage and attitude Solomon, (2007) uses the ABC model of attitudes in order to draw attention to relation between components of ABC model of attitudes and usage segments: Solomon, (2007): â€Å"Most researchers agree that an attitude has three components: affect, behavior, and cognition. Affect refers to the way a consumer feels about an attitude object. Behavior involves the person’s intentions to do something with regard to an attitude object. Cognition refers to the beliefs a consumer has about an attitude object.We can remember these three components of an attitude as the ABC model of attitudes. All three components of an attitude is important, but their relative importance will vary depending on a consumer’s level of motivation with regard to the attitude object, whether they are light or heavy users, and so on. † (p. 237) General idea about internet advertising is rather entertaining or informative (Tsang et al. , 2004). Although the difference between internet advertising and general advertising is known, it is unclear how consumers feel about mobile advertising and the relation between attitude and behavior (ibid).There is a big potential for marketers, but there is still lot to learn about mobile marketing by investigating it further (Haghirian et al. , 2005). It is found that younger people are faster than older people about adoption of new technology (Leek et al. , 2009). Consequently highest usage of mobile phone is the 18- 29 years old age group (ibid). Researches indicate that mobile phone is the most common way of communication among young people who uses email more than traditional voice calls (Okazaki, 2009).As technology behind mobile phones improves more and increase their capacity to download and store video and music content, they are going to become more popular for young people (Grant et al. , 2007). As a result the reason why young people use mobile phones and how they use is topic worthy for researchers (ibid). The purpose of the research is to bring light and create understanding of consumers’ attitude formation toward mobile marketing, that’s why the following research problem is formulated: How is the young consumers’ attitude toward mobile marketing? RESEARCH PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONSBased on the problem discussion above to accomplish purpose the research is focusing on different factors that affecting consumer attitude toward mobile marketing. Basic aim of the research questions is to understand the effect of each factor on consumer attitude toward mobile marketing, whether positive or negative. Therefore; to increase awareness about the factors that influencing consumer’s attitude toward mobile marketing among young consumer;. Starting from available theories and models, the study will try to find important variables that affect consumer attitude toward mobile marketing.In order to understand the effect of content on attitude toward mobile marketing with the focus on youth generation, first question is formulated to analyze further if consumer form a positive or negative attitude when content is considered. R. Q. 1: How content of mobile marketing play a role in formation of attitude toward mobile marketing? The main aim of the second question is to investigate further of the effect of personalization of mobile marketing on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing. In order to understand the effect of this variable on consumer attitude, second question is formulated as following: R. Q. : How personalization of mobile marketing play a role in formation of attitude toward mobile marketing? The study conducted by Soroa-Koury et al. , 2010 found that perceived usefulness of mobile marketing predicted attitude towards mobile marketing, whereas perceived ease-of-use of mobile marketing did not predict attitude towards mobile marketing. Howev er situation may differ in mobile marketing context, hence the following hypotheses are developed: H. 1: Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing. H. 2: Perceived ease-of-use has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing.RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS Hypothesis 1: Perceived Usefulness Analysis of hypothesis 1 â€Å"Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing. † is presented for each case separately. Male All five of the male respondents agreed on that usefulness of mobile marketing has an positive impact on their attitude toward it, and they are more open to useful mobile marketing activities. According to Soroa- Koury et al. , (2010) perceived usefulness of mobile advertising predicts attitude toward it and positively influences consumer attitude towards mobile advertising.During the interviews all of the respondents found different reasons to feel that mobile marketing i s useful, their reaction towards useful mobile marketing was having positive feelings toward it. Female All five of the female respondents also stated different motivations to find mobile marketing useful. Usefulness of mobile marketing is directly correlated to reaction toward it, and all of the respondents underlined that usefulness of mobile marketing generates positive feelings towards provider and mobile marketing activity.At this point findings of Soroa-Kory et al. , (2010) with responds of interviewees are matching. * Hypothesis 2: Perceived Ease-of-Use Analysis of hypothesis 2 ? Perceived ease-of-use has a positive effect on consumer attitude towards mobile marketing is presented for each cases separately. Male During the interviews perceived ease of use not found to be as important as usefulness of mobile marketing. All of the respondents agreed on that easiness of mobile marketing doesn’t necessarily creates positive attitude towards it. In accordance with Soroa-Kor y et al. (2010) findings which is implying that perceived ease-of-use is not predicting consumer attitude toward mobile advertising, respondents also agreed that perceived ease-of-use is not effecting consumer attitude in a positive way and not a merit to measure consumer attitude toward mobile marketing. Apart from that one of the respondent doesn’t find mobile marketing easy to use while four of the respondent found mobile marketing easy to use and interact with. Female Three out of five respondents highlighted that mobile marketing is not easy to use and interact with.All of the respondents underlined the fact that easiness of mobile marketing is essential and not an extra, consequently outcome of easiness doesn’t found to be positive by respondents. Findings of Soroa-Kory et al. , (2010) also approves that easiness of mobile marketing is not necessarily predicts the consumer attitude. During the interview one of the respondent highlighted that easiness is not carry ing as LITERATURE REVIEW The previous chapter provided background and problem discussion to the study area of this thesis. This chapter will present the review of earlier studies and literature related to this research purpose.Aim of this chapter is to deliver relevant literature about mobile marketing and attitude towards it. Firstly attitude patterns of the consumers towards mobile marketing will be presented, and secondly mobile marketing enabling technologies will be described. Finally review of the theories concerning the factors that affecting mobile marketing will take place. * Enabling Technologies & Types of Mobile Marketing Improved technology in mobile devices allowed us to surf the internet, find the location with GPS (Global Positioning System), tweet with friends or chat with them, watch movies and play games and so on (Liu et al. 2010) This part of the study will deliver information about technology that making mobile marketing possible and present types of current mo bile marketing applications. * 3G and Wi-Fi The term 3G is one of the latest broadband mobile communication system that uses internet and variety of multimedia communications (Bao, 2010). Zeng et al. , (2009) explains the benefits of 3G by stating that; 3G enabled better data and voice transfer rate, and it is providing various different services like web browsing, video conferencing, e-commerce applications (Video, voice communication, online media, Mobile TV and etc. and personalized information services. Large variety of 3G mobile services transformed mobile devices from traditional voice phones to entertaining, life and business media (Yang, 2010). When we compare surfing on the internet via computer with via 3G there is some advantages of 3G can be seen like without time and place limitations, which are becoming an opportunity for mobile commerce to go further (Zeng et al. , 2009). And if special services can be introduced to people, it can accelerate the improvement of mobile commerce (ibid. ).These days Wi-Fi is becoming more and more popular way to connect to the internet, people are taking advantage of connecting to internet without wires in hotels, at the university campus, in the office, and Wi-Fi is becoming synonymous with WLANs (wireless local area networks) allowing access to the internet (Hayes et al. , 2009). Currently Wi-Fi is available through wide range of mobile devices as a default function (Henry et al. , 2002). Wi-Fi hotspots are providing free internet access to everyone who is carrying a device with Wi-Fi function (ibid). * Mobile banner advertisingDevelopments in mobile screen technology increased the resolution and provided an opportunity for advertisers to implement higher quality images and banners on mobile devices (Mobile Marketing Association, 2007). Consequently advertisers can produce more efficient advertisements with higher quality, richer and bigger (ibid). Example of mobile banner advertising is shown in Figure 43 in next page. FIGURE 4: Example of Mobile Banner Advertising. * Location based marketing Location based services are tried to be produced by many marketers; the main value proposition is the location (Becker et al. 2010). However, location is not the main goal it is an instrument that empowering the services like mapping, advertising and search to be more valuable (ibid). Location-based services are very beneficial for local advertising campaigns: for example consumer may receive short message about the nearest restaurant or bus station with directions (Dickinger et al. , 2004). Location-based advertising utilizes the location by using individual consumers to target consumer in particular location (Tsang et al. 2004). Location based advertising is time sensitive in a way that advertisement can be sent to signed up client when this client pass through a certain point of purchase (Dickinger et al. , 2004). By tracking mobile devices technical address it is possible to detect local position o f the user in the environment of mobile commerce (Lee et al. , 2007). As an example Telia (Swedish company), one of the biggest telecommunication company in Europe, applied real-time SMS game by using mobile devices osition to allow users to interact with each other while playing (Dickinger et al. , 2005). Contextual marketing is also possible with location based marketing. Example for contextual marketing, information or coupon about a specific product can be sent to consumer via mobile device while consumer is in the department store to buy specific product (Lee et al. , 2007). * Bluetooth According to Groten et al. , (2009): â€Å"Bluetooth is a radio interface for short-range connections between electronic devices† (p. 1134-1138).If Bluetooth is enabled, any user with a mobile device can download rich content like graphics, video, sound, wallpaper, text, and software (Leek et al. , 2009). Interaction within mobile devices is possible via Bluetooth, mobile devices can conn ect to other mobile devices with Bluetooth if it is in range (Groten et al. , 2001). * Bluetooth wireless proximity based marketing The proximity path is the use of Bluetooth to interact with consumers which is called proximity marketing, or the local delivery of the content to mobile devices (Becker et al. 2010). The Bluetooth path is the usage of Bluetooth on mobile devices as a communication channel (ibid). Bluetooth technology provides a powerful opportunity for marketers to use location specific areas to reach consumers with rich content, and it is also cheaper and less complex than SMS (Short message service) and MMS (Multimedia message service) (Leek et al. , 2009). Bluecasting is the use of Bluetooth for mobile marketing purposes (Becker et al. , 2010). According to Becker et al. (2010) Bluetooth marketing can be explained as the placement of Bluetooth access point in any public place like airport, train station or any live event, and when consumer walks by this device and t he Bluetooth is enabled on mobile device access point request automatically request interaction with mobile device. If user accepts the request Bluetooth access point sends rich content like game, ringtone sound, picture or any other form of content to users phone (ibid). As an example of this, rock group Coldplay (English famous rock group) used Bluetooth marketing when launching the new album X&Y, 20,000 people ownloaded content like sample tracks and clips from main rail terminals in London for two weeks (Tsiandar, 2006). * Software and Technology Mobile applications are available for mobile devices like enterprise digital assistants, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA) (Ho et al. , 2010). Latest advances in mobile technology let mobile phones to have big memories, convenient internet connections and faster processers (Liu et al. , 2010). Lately mobile application market improved dramatically, number of content providers, application developers and advertisers inc reased which improved the mobile services and or functions (Ho et al. 2010). Example for large mobile application platforms are Google Android Market, Microsoft Windows Market, BlackBerry Application World, Nokia Ovi and Ovi Store etc. (ibid). Ho et al, (2010): â€Å"Mobile communication follows the development trend of internet, users can link with mobile software stores through internet, and download all kinds of applications, which has provided human beings with more diversified information application forms, and gradually changed people's living habits and operation mode. It is indicated by research reports that growth rate of global smart phone in 2010 is as high as 78. %, showing that smart phone gradually becomes the mainstream in mobile phone market. Smart phone has the function of installing applications, provides users with more diversified mobile value-added services and will change the use habits in the future† (Ho et al. , 2010). * Application marketing Mobile ap plications can be used to create rich software experiences for consumers and can be provided to mobile devices like Ipad or smartphones (Becker et al, 2010). Mobile applications are similar to computer programs which are installed on mobile devices, and applications can serve in many ways like bank account balances, games (ibid).Mobile applications can be used for branding and advertising purposes and can be sold to get money (Becker et al. , 2010). According to Mobile Marketing Association, integrating advertising into mobile applications generates new revenue streams for service providers, application developers and distributors. Mobile telecommunication companies already started to provide mobile television and digital video services in many places (Ograd, 2006). Mobile television is also another type of application that holds great potential for advertising, Ograd, 2006 explanes the mobile TV as:Mobile TV will provide users an experience that they are already familiar with tradi tional broadcast television, and allow them to choose content (Ograd, 2006). With several multimedia options like camera, music player, radio and video recorder mobile TV will offer more interactive, active and individual experience than traditional broadcast TV (ibid). * QR Codes Another type of mobile marketing is Quick Response (QR) codes which is defined by Hirakawa et al. , (2009) as a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code).Flat surface advertising like paper and cyber media already become popular around the world (Hirakawa et al. ,2009). New method of flat surface advertisement is developed which is cooperating with URLs or QR codes (Quick response code) (ibid). Figure 54 in next page shows the example of QR code. FIGURE 5: Example of QR code. * Interactive Voice Response Interactive voice response is providing and option to send or receive voice calls with people and communicating with them without any live person is involved on the other side of the communication (Becker et al. , 2010). * SMS ; MMSShort Message Service (SMS) defined by Taylor et al. , (2008) as a service enabling to send and receive short messages (up to 160 caracter) via mobile phones. According to Dickinger et al. , (2004) SMS is first and most prosperous type of mobile data transmission. MMS (multimedia message services) is the improved version of short messaging service which allows users to send combined video, sound and pictures (Okazaki, 2005). * SMS ; MMS marketing Personal nature of the mobile phones accelerated the usage rate of SMS and MMS in many parts of the world as a marketing channel (Taylor et al. 2008). Even tough MMS is used less than SMS, rapid growth in mobile technology will increase the rate of usage of music, videos, sounds and visuals in near future (ibid). SMS marketing can provide advantages like lower cost than other media channels, since the main expanse is buying mobile phone numbers (Dickinger et al. , 2004). According to Dickinger et al. , (2004) ther e are several different types of text messaging applications exists which are; information services, mobile couponing, mobile CRM (customer relationship management), branding, entertainment and product launches.Mobile couponing is one type of specific promotion tool wich integrates classic couponing with mobile communications (Wehmeyer et al. , 2005). â€Å"Advertising funded information services include news, weather, traffic, market rates, horoscopes, or songs just played on the radio† (Dickinger et al. , 2004, p. 159-173). User may pay little or nothing for this kind of services and information (ibid). Companies are changing their focus from mass marketing media to more targeted personal media and replacing them with more personalized media (Leppaniemi et al. , 2008).CRM is supported by text messages by allowing registered consumers to receive newsletters, special discounts, prizes and coupons (Dickinger et al. ,2004). According to Dickinger et al. , 2004 mobile marketing is such a tool that enables branding. Wella, one of the world’s leading cosmetic company, with special campaign they sent SMS messages to registered consumers with a kiss and consumers positive feelings about this campaign resulted in word of mouth by forwarding messages to friends (Dickinger et l. , 2004). Entertainment included marketing activities are capable of increasing the customer loyalty and add value (ibid). Attitude Attitude is a major factor in information systems and marketing researches (Tsang et al. , 2004). Attitude is outcome of what we say, feel and know (Mooij, 2005). For Solomon, (2009) â€Å"Attitude is a lasting general evaluation of people (including oneself), objects, advertisements or issues. † (p. 237) It is important to highlight that attitude toward mobile advertising refers to consumers’ attitude toward advertising in general rather than one specific type of advertisement (Haghirian et al. , 2008). Our feelings about product advertis ing are directly effecting how we feel about the product itself (Solomon, 2009).General public attitude toward advertising has been a main concern and focus for a long time (Tsang et al. , 2004). Consumer attitude toward mobile marketing has been popular among different researchers, especially focusing on mobile advertising (Tsang et al. , 2004; Xu, 2007; Haghirian et al. , 2008; Brackett et al. , 2001; Dickinger et al. ,2005). According to Shavitt et al. , (1998), even tough old studies show that there is an unfavorable manner toward advertising among consumers; some researchers found that there is favorable view of advertising.However, situation in mobile marketing and advertising may differ. According to Dickinger et al. , (2004) mobile marketing is â€Å"Using interactive wireless media to provide customers with time and location sensitive, personalized information that promotes goods, services and ideas, thereby generating value for all stakeholders† (p. 159-173). Accord ing to Xu, (2007) it can be expected that mobile advertising is more valuable for consumers when considering location based services and time sensitive events.Xu, (2007) also stated that personalization of mobile content can change the negative attitude of the public toward advertising. * Factors That Affecting Consumer Attitudes This part of the study will present current theories and models in the relevant literature to discuss different variables that playing a role in consumers attitude toward mobile marketing. The effect of personalization and content on attitude toward mobile marketing will be presented (Xu, 2007). Xu’s model of factors contributing to Attitude and intention toward mobile advertising is shown in Figure 65 below.Entertainment Informativeness Intention Attitude Irritation Creditability Personalization FIGURE 6: Factors Contributing to Attitude and Intention toward Mobile Advertising. * Personalization and Content According to Xu, 2007 by personalizing the mobile advertising message consumer attitude can be improved. There is a direct correlation between content (Informative, irritation, credibility and entertaining variables of the content), of mobile marketing and personalization with consumer’s overall attitude (ibid). * PersonalizationMobile commerce holds a great potential for personalization, because of the nature of mobile devices they provide personal information of users (Lee et al. , 2003). Personalized advertising improve the experience for companies and consumers (Dickinger et al. , 2004). By allowing mobile advertising providers to collect data about demographics and location of the consumers, personalization improves the quality of mobile commerce and turns it into important medium (Xu, 2007). The impact of the message can be increased by personalizing the message (Dickinger et al. 2004). Success of the target marketing is based on well-structured and maintained databases (ibid). Marketers are gaining the advanta ge of personalization of the message and collecting consumer feedback and their choices, this is improving customer relation by enabling companies to communicate with them in very individual way (Haghirian et al. , 2005). Personalization of the message is not only making consumer more favorable about the mobile advertising, it is also improving the consumer attitude by turning unfavorable attitude to favorable attitude (Xu, 2007).It is obvious that privacy concerns of the consumer is crucial and must be taken into account (Taylor et al. , 2008). Permission for personal information can be gathered but in some situations this information may be gathered without consumers will (Wei et al. , 2010). Barnes and Scornovacca, 2004 as cited in Leek et al. , 2009, personalized marketing messages are adding value to information service, and there is also a potential of decreasing the negative reaction of the consumer. * Content There are several researchers argue the importance of content in m obile marketing (Leppaniemi et al. 2004; Dickinger et al. , 2004; Haghirian et al. , 2005; Xu, 2007; Rebello et al. , 2009). According to Xu, 2007 personalization, entertainment and informativeness are the attributes of content that have positive effect on overall attitude, but irritation has negative impact on overall attitude. Attributes of the content is defined by Haghirian et al. , 2005 as entertainment, informativeness, credibility and irritation. According to Leppaniemi et al. , 2004 content of the message is crucial in all type of advertising and it is also valid in mobile advertising.In order to communicate properly and efficiently with consumers, underlying factors of mobile advertising must be identified (ibid). Information and entertainment are found to be the most important acceptance attributes of mobile marketing (Bauer et al. ,2005). * Entertainment Customer loyalty can be increased with entertainment services, furthermore extra value can also be created for costumer s (Haghirian et al. , 2005). Informative and entertaining messages with creativity is holding potential to generate positive attitude toward mobile marketing activity among consumers (Bauer et al. 2005). Entertainment of the mobile advertising message is highly important (Haghirian et al. , 2005). According to Tsang et al. , 2004 Entertainment is the most important attribute of the content that has an impact on overall attitude. Loyalty of the consumer can be increased with entertainment services and extra value for the customer can also be created with entertainment services (Haghirian et al. , 2005). Research conducted by Tsang et al. , 2004 found that entertainment is the major attribute that affects consumer attitude towardmobile advertising. Informativeness Assuming the mobile platform as a relatively new marketing channel, marketing centered activities like content and information sharing are main motivations for consumer acceptance of mobile marketing (Sultan et al. , 2010). The user needs easy access to the information that he or she is looking for (Haghirian et al. , 2005). The main difference between personalized mobile marketing with informativeness is that personalization highlights the individual preferences and adjusted to personal needs and interests (Xu et al. , 2007). * CredibilityAdvertisement credibility is defined by Lutz et al. , 1989 as how consumers perceive the brand is truthful and believable, which mentioned in the advertising. Credibility of the advertisement should be considered as an important variable when determining the attitude toward advertisement; in addition to that attitude towards advertisement and mood should be ignored when considering the impact of them on attitude toward advertisement (ibid). There are no academic findings about the impact of the credibility that delivered to mobile devices (Haghirian et al. , 2005). * IrritationAccording to Haghirian et al. , 2005 Confusion among consumers may cause negative reaction toward mobile advertising. Complex mobile advertising message can cause irritation among consumers, and this disturbance decrease the value of the advertising for consumers (ibid). According to Tsang et al. , 2004 there is a negative relation between attitude toward mobile advertising and irritation. * Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use Several different researchers found that there is a powerful relation with user behavior and perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use (Davis, 1989).Perceived ease-of-use and perceived usefulness are important variables when considering consumer adoption process of technologies (Soroa-Koury et al. , 2010). From different perspectives, perceived ease-of-use and perceived usefulness are significantly influential on consumer’s decision to adopt information technology (Davis, 1989). Theoretical model of Soroa-Koury et al. , (2010) shown in Figure 76 below. FIGURE 7: Theoretical model. Perceived usefulness Misperceptions Pluralistic Ignoranc e False consensus False uniqueness Attitude toward Mobile AdvertisingPerceived Ease of use Intention to Adopt Mobile Advertising FIGURE 7: Theoretical model. Individuals’ acceptance is explained by Davis, 1989 with Technology acceptance model, and main drivers of this model are perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are examined by Soura-Koury et al. , 2010 as predictors of attitude towards mobile advertising. * Perceived usefulness Perceived usefulness is defined by Davis, 1989 as â€Å"The degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job erformance. † (p. 319-339) There is a positive correlation between perceived usefulness of mobile commerce and consumer satisfaction in mobile commerce environment (Lee et al. , 2007,). The study conducted by Soura-Koury et al. , (2010) also found that perceived usefulness is one of the key variable for prediction consumer attitude to ward mobile advertising. * Perceived ease of use Perceived ease-of-use Is the evaluation of the user of how easy for him or her to interact with technology or particular information system (Zhiping, 2009).Perceived ease of use, in contrast, refers to â€Å"the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort† (Davis, 1989, p. -319- 339). It is also claimed by Davis, 1989 easier applications have bigger potential to be accepted by users. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter will deliver information about research methodology, and selected type of research will be presented which suits best to this study. This chapter will start with defining the purpose of the study and continue with describing the research approach.After that this chapter provides information about: Which strategy is chosen for this study, sample selection methods, how the information will be gathered for research, and analysis method and quality aspect of the study. * Res earch Purpose According to Chisnall, (1997) there are three main commonly accepted research design techniques listed as descriptive, exploratory and casual. These classified methods differ depending on research questions, research purpose, certainty of hypothesis that are presented and data collection method that employed (Aaker et al. , 2004).When seeking insights to general problem of the research and relevant variables exploratory research technique is commonly adopted (Aaker et al. 2004). According to Lehmann et al. , (1998) exploratory research is used to identify basic information about the research area and formulating the hypothesis. Exploratory researches are focuses on identification of main nature of the research problems and formulation of hypothesis (ibid). â€Å"Descriptive studies, in contrast to exploratory research, stem from substantial prior knowledge of marketing variables† (Chisnall, 1997).Descriptive research is largely used in marketing research studies (Aaker et al. , 2004). The main aim of descriptive research is to search for different aspects of the market environment (ibid). According to Lehmann et al. , (1998) descriptive studies are playing a bridge role between exploratory and casual studies. This type of studies is assuming the different variables as known facts and hypothesis are of general (ibid). Casual studies investigates the market behavior and evaluation of the relationships and interactions of market behavior and factors that affecting them (Chisnall, 1997).For instance the relationship between demand elasticity and the degree to which advertising efforts may affect the sales (ibid). Casual studies are assuming not only the different variables, they are also assuming that how is the relation between them (hypothesis) (Lehann et al. , 1998). The purpose of this study is to seek insights in to the study, hence it is exploratory, but this research also aims to test different hypothesis which makes it partly casual.Si nce casual studies concerned with hypothesis, and exploratory studies are good for seeking insight into general problem and investigatingthe relation between different variables to gain deeper understanding, this research is primarily exploratory and partly casual. * Research Approach There are different choices of research approaches are available, either the qualitative or quantitative research approach. Qualitative data is most used method when collection method of the study uses or generates non-numerical data (Saunders et al. d, 2007). one main purpose of the qualitative research is to seek insights into research problems (Hair et al. 2006). By asking questions to relatively small samples of respondents and observing respondents behaviors, qualitative data mainly focuses on collection of primary data with details (ibid). Qualitative data was perceived by different authors and researchers as less powerful and pure than quantitative data some time ago (Lehmann et al. , 1998). But recently, advantages of qualitative data is taking attention like cost saving feature, and realization of that truth is not necessarily correlated to size of sample made qualitative research more popular for marketing research (ibid).According to Lehmann et al. , (1998): â€Å"Exploratory research tends to be qualitative and is very important in that it prevents preconceived notions from excluding potentially useful results† Since purpose of this study is to provide deeper understanding of the relation between consumer attitude and factors that effecting attitude, qualitative research approach found to be more convenient. Because qualitative research is more useful in terms of providing insights to research problem as Lehmann et al. , (1998) mentioned. * Research Strategy According to Saunders et al. (2007) there are several types of research strategy exists, which are presented as: survey, case study, grounded theory, experiment, archival research, and ethnography. â€Å"C ase studies are exploratory research that involves intense investigation of one or a few past problem situations that are viewed as similar to the researcher’s current problem situation† (Hair et al. , 2006). According to Hair et al. , (2006) If case study strategy is employed in research it requires in-depth examination of the facts of interest. These facts could be salesperson, customer, store, market area, film, and so on (ibid).Case study strategy have good ability to answer questions starting with ? why , ? what and ? how , and case studies are also good at answering questions like ? how? and ? what? (Sounders et al. , 2007). Because of this reason exploratory and explanatory researches most often employ case study strategy (ibid). According to Sounders et al. , (2007): â€Å"A case study strategy can incorporate multiple cases, that is, more than one case. The rationale for using multiple cases focuses upon the need to establish whether the findings of the first caseoccur in other cases and, as a consequence, the need to generalize from these findings.Case study strategy can be very worthwhile way of exploring existing theory. † (Sounders et al. , 2007) Case study is employed in this study as main research strategy. Since research questions of this study starts with how and case study deals very well with ? How questions, case study found to be most appropriate strategy for this study. Exploratory research approach of this study also requires case study as main strategy. In order to improve the quality of the research, the study incorporates with multiple cases, which are male case and female case. Sample selection Probability sampling is mostly used in cases of survey-based research techniques where it requires interferences from sample about the general population to answer research question(s) or objectives (Sounders et al. , 2007). Whereas non-probability sampling has ability to provide information-rich case study that explores th e research question (ibid). Hence non-probability sampling is chosen as sampling strategy in this study. Purposive or judgmental sampling is one of the non-probability sampling that identified by Sounders et al. 2007 and described as it gives an option for researcher to use their judgment to choose cases which is most appropriate for researcher to answer research question and met the objectives of study. Research targets are exchange students and master student who are studying at Lulea university of Technology and who have experience in using mobile devices and aged between 18- 29. Master and exchange students are coming all around the world, by choosing respondents among exchange students and master students; this study is trying to collect broader data without restricting respondents to one particular country.After starting to collect data ten students found to be sufficient to meet with research objective. Five male and five female respondents has chosen among students to be int erviewed, which makes the number of respondents of each case equal. * Data Collection Interview is defined by Chisnall, (1997) as: â€Å"Interview is concerned with a purposeful exchange of meanings, and it is this interaction between interviewer and the respondent which contributes so much to the success of the interview† (Chisnall, 1997).Valid and reliable data can be collected through interview which helps researcher to answer research questions and meet with research objectives (Sounders et al. , 2003). Hence this study employs interview technique to collect data, by doing so as Sounders et al. , 2007 stated, interview technique can be very handy in answering question ? how? and highlight on exploring ? why? this method found to be most appropriate technique, since this study aims to answer ? how questions. Required data has been collected by using semi-structured interviews. According to Sounders et al. (2003) in Semi-structured interviews have different types of themes and questions to be answered during the interview, and these may differentiate from interview to interview. In order to explore relationship between different variables in exploratory study semi-structured interviews may employed (ibid). Following Table 27 shows different types of interview in each of main research categories. As it can be seen from Table 2 below: Semi-structured interview technique suits best to this study by providing precise data for exploratory and explanatory research. One arrow in the table 2 means less frequent and wo arrows mean more frequent. ExploratoryDescriptiveExplanatory* Structured| | * | * | Semi-Structured| * | | * | In depth| * | | | TABLE 2: Uses of different types of interview in each of the main research categories. * Analysis Four dominant analytic techniques stated by Yin, 1994 which are: pattern-matching, explanation building, time series analysis, and program logic models. Each one of those technique is appropriate for bot single and multipl e-case studies (ibid). For case study analysis, one of the most appropriate strategy is to use pattern-matching logic (Yin, 1994).For case studies which are explanatory, there may be correlation between patterns and dependent or independent variables of the research (ibid). According to Sounders et al. , 2003: â€Å"The process of qualitative analysis generally involves the development of data categories, allocating units of studies’ original data to appropriate categories, recognizing relationships within and between categories of data, and developing and testing hypotheses to produce well-grounded conclusions† (Sounders et al. , 2003). In order to approve validity of the assumption gathered data from sample and mean of sample is calculated (Aaker et al. 2004). Within case and cross case analysis will be employed in this study to reduce the data and compare the data. Comparison between male (case 1) and female (case 2) respondents will be presented during the cross ca se analysis. Youth generation chosen as main target group, and for mobile marketing personalization found to be one of the concerns. But it is also important to understand if there is any difference between any gender to be more precise in personalizing the message and targeting the consumer. Finally findings of the analyses will be presented. Validity and Reliability â€Å"Reliability and validity are crucial aspects of research practice and the importance of these criteria should be full recognized by all who are engaged in survey work of any kind† (Chisnall, 1997). Reliability and validity are not completely separate terms, these terms are interconnected and in some degree they overlap with each other (Chismall, 1997). According to Sounders et al, (2007): ? Reliability refers to extend which your data collection techniques or analysis procedures will yield consistent findings? (Sounders et al. 2007). Taking as more as operational steps in research is the most common way to handle reliability problem (Yin, 1994). All the processes of research (questionnaires, interviews etc. ) conducted under control of supervisor of this research Hakan Perzon. Before conducting the interview on main respondent group, questions are tested on two representative respondents to improve structure and layout of the questionnaire. According to Sounders et al. , 2007 validity is about the reality of findings, whether the findings are actually what they seem to be.Documentation of the fieldwork when conducting qualitative research is highly important in establishing validity effectively, which allow others to examine and check the validity of the research process (Hair et al. , 2007). Hence during the interviews, all the answers and opinions of respondents will be saved in written format to be able to establish validity. Respondents are chosen among students that have prior experience in using mobile devices that enables them to have appropriate knowledge in research area, ex tra information is also provided to respondents to enlarge their idea about mobile marketing.To prevent misperception of mobile marketing and mobile advertising, respondents are also informed about this situation. Average time spend on each interview was around 50 minutes. CONCLUSIONS Based on analysis and finding, variables of content have different effect on consumer attitude. Some of the variables carry more importance than other variables and some of them have negative effect on attitude. For instance informativeness of mobile marketing perceived by both of the cases as most important factor in content of mobile marketing, whereas entertainment and credibility found to be less important than informativeness.Irritation of the content is negatively correlated to overall attitude toward mobile marketing. It is highlighted by respondents that dominant irritation factor of mobile marketing message is permission. It can be concluded from findings that reaction toward disturbance is ma inly negative whereas positive feelings generated positive outcome. Collected data from both of the cases shows that permission is very crucial in mobile marketing especially in personalized messages. Collected data bout permission, privacy and personalization is indicating that if permission is granted privacy must be assured for consumers to feel comfortable about personalized mobile marketing activities. Unpermitted mobile marketing activities that taking place without consumers will is creating inconvenience among consumers, and reaction toward this type of marketing messages are mostly negative. REFERENCES [1] Aaker D. A. ; Kumar V. ; Day G. S. ; Marketing Resarch (Eight edition), John Wiley ; Sons, Inc. , 2004 [2] Antonides G. nd Fred van Raaijd,Consumer behavior: A European Perspective, John Willey ; Sons Ltd. , (1998), pg. 197, 555 [3] Balasubramanian, S. , Peterson, R. A. and Jarvenpaa, S. L. , Exploring the Implications of MCommerce for Markets and Marketing, Journal of th e Academy of Marketing Science 30(4), pp. 348 – 361. 2002 [4] Barnes, S. J. , and E. Scornovacca. â€Å"Mobile Marketing: The Role of Permission and Acceptance. † International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2, 2, 128-39, (2004) [5] Bauer Hans H. , Stuart J.Barnes, Tina Reichardt, Marcus M. Neumann, driving consumer acceptance of mobile marketing: a theoretical framework and empirical study, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL. 6, NO. 3, (2005) [6] Becker M. , Arnold J. , Mobile Marketing For Dummies, Wiley publishing Inc. (2010) [7] Bao Xin-ren, 3g based mobile internet in china: A service marketing research, Management and Service Science (MASS), 2010 International Conference, (2010) [8] Brackett Lana K. , Benjamin N. Carr, Jr. , Cyberspace Advertising vs. Other Media: Consumer vs. VIature Student Attitudes, Journal of advertising research, (2001) [9] Chaffey D. , Fiona Ellis-Chadwick, Richard Mayer, Kevin Johnston, Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implement ation and Practice (Fourth edition), Pearson Education Limited, (2009) pg. 9 [10] Chisnall P. M. , Marketing Research (Fifth edition), Peter M. Chisnall, (1997) [11] Davis, F. D. , perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information techlonogy, MIS quarterly 13(3), pg 319-339, (1989) [12] Deans P. Dancade, E-commerce and M-Commerce Technologies, IRM Press (an imprint of Ideal GroupInc. , (2005) pg. 1-32 [13] Dickinger A. , Jamie Murphy, Arno Scharl, Diffusion and success factors of mobile marketing, Elsevier B. V. (2004) p. 159-173 [14] Dickinger Astrid, Arno Scharl, Jamie Murphy, Diffusion and success factors of mobile marketing, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 4 (2005) 159–173 [15] Dickinger Astrid, Parissa Haghirian, An Investigation and Conceptual Model of SMS Marketing, Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, (2004) [16] Elliot S. Electronic commerce: B2C Strategies and Models, John Wiley ; Son s Ltd, 2002 pg. 2 [17] Friedrich R. , Florian Grone, Klaus Holbling, Michael Peterson, The march of mobile marketing: New Chances for Consumer Companies, New Opportunities for Mobiie Operators, Journal of the Advertising Research March 2009 [18] Goldsmith Ronald e. , and Stephen W. Litvin, Heavy users of travel agents: A segmentation analysis of vacation travelers, Journal of travel research, vol. 8, november (1999) [19] Grant I. , Stephanie O? Donohoe (2007), Why young consumers are not open to mobile marketing communication, International Journal of Advertising, 26(2), pp. 223–246 [20] Groten, D. ; Schmidt, J. R. ; Bluetooth-based mobile ad hoc networks: opportunities and challenges for a telecommunications operator, Vehicular Technology Conference, (2001), (p. 1134-1138)

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Global Leadership and Influence - Essay Example From the discussion it is clear that  one method of improving global leadership effectiveness is to restructure the organisation to include more employee empowerment and autonomy in their individual job roles. This process is known as decentralisation where lower-level employees are free to express their opinions and innovations to assist in achieving business success. â€Å"Decentralised companies result in empowerment, provide more procedural fairness to employees and provide faster decision-making†.This study stresses that under Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions, there are collectivists and individualists who have radically different values. Collectivists value group loyalty and generally view themselves and the organisation as a family-oriented environment. Human resources leadership in the global environment must recognise this fact when dealing with workers from this type of cultural background and develop group focus and group rewards to fit these cultura l expectations. In a more individualistic society or when dealing with employees from this type of background, there must be a system in place that recognises individual accomplishment, such as through the annual performance appraisal and allow more room for self-expression in day-to-day business operations. A global leader cannot be effective without recognising these social and cultural norms and identify diversity initiatives to assist in building more competent staff. Also under Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions is an element of culture known as uncertainty avoidance, or the level to which an individual or group is willing to accept risk and the unknown. â€Å"People in uncertainty accepting cultures are more tolerant of conflicting opinions and try to have fewer rules† (Donnison, 2008, p.17). In opposite accord, people hailing from cultures with a more risk-averse mentality avoid unstructured decision-making and generally demand contingency plans before accepting risk. A global leadership regime must recognise these differences and develop an organisational structure to fit these attitudes and build human resources-backed policies to assist in promoting or accepting these varying values. A business culture with a high

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What does the 3rd space mean to you as a health professional - Assignment Example et al., 2010). In the context of this assignment, the third space was the forum where the aboriginals and the non-aboriginals gathered to talk and interact with one another away from their homes and places of work. There is a general agreement that social capital or what others would call cultural capital is not the only way to deal with the social exclusion menace. Aboriginals in Australia struggled for many years to be able to get the second and third space. It was actually hell to get the third space (Fenwick, 1998). They were at the periphery of service delivery in Australia for many years. They had health issues to deal with, and it was hard because they didn’t have the third space (Fenwick, 2001). A health professional finds the third space very important because it provides a forum in which they got to know about the health of the aboriginals, unlike the past where they would have health problems and nobody would care about it. The aboriginal health was in the past the hardest thing to understand because they lived in seclusion and felt unneeded because of their identity. It would be easier for health professionals to find ways to help the aboriginals with their health problems if informal settings are created in which the aboriginals and the non-aboriginals can sit together and talk, and just interact on a number of things touching on their lives (Eckermann et al. 2010).. There were certain social determinants of an aboriginal’s health and all of them touched on the social exclusion they suffered in the hands of the non-aboriginals, supposedly because they are viewed as an inferior race to the non-aboriginals. This made it hard to understand the health issues of the aboriginals. Third space creates an environment in which these two groups of people can interact. Through such interaction, it is no doubt that the health professionals will find it easy to understand the health of the aboriginals, and

You find a topic for me Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

You find a topic for me - Coursework Example It is crucially important for every individual to master the art and skill of writing particularly in the present age considering its tremendous use and application both in academic and professional domains. â€Å"Today, in the 21st century, people write as never before—in print and online† (Yancey 1). Some of the things that I learned in depth during this semester were the different styles of writing and citation, the strategies of effective interviewing, and the methodology of conducting literature review and conduct research. This semester will be one of the most useful episodes of education for me throughout my life given I intend to be a researcher whether or not my career is eventually academics or industry oriented. My rhetorical analysis project was â€Å"Mimicking the Sadness of Human Nature: The Monkey Painter Analysis†. As the title suggests, the painting that I analyzed in this project was â€Å"The Monkey Painter† by Alexandre Gabriel Decamps. The main idea Decamp wanted to convey through this painting was to elaborate the effects as well as solutions for the natural emotion of sadness experienced by human beings. This was a very interesting and thought-provoking analysis as I learned many interesting philosophical realities such as, â€Å"There are two types of people in the world: those who prefer to be sad among others and those who prefer to be sad alone† (Krauss). This assignment taught me how to make effective use of ego, pathos, and logos to make the writing convincing and appealing to the audience. My tendency to be biased in writing was a significant challenge I had to deal with in this project. The condition placed in the assignment that disallowed students to use first person language helped in making the writing unbiased to some extent because I was constantly reminded that I did not have to foster my personal views upon the readers as I write. This project taught

The Survival Lottery Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

The Survival Lottery - Research Paper Example It also offers another analogy that serves to counter the survival lottery. First, the assumption is that the lottery speaks about the traditional utilitarianism as there are other flavors of the same that have been considered less influential and yield different results. It is easy to put ones thumb on a scale whenever arguing concerning ethical status of acts under utilitarianism as utilitarianism takes no account of other things but the sort of things suggested. They seek to maximize pleasure, not simple hedonistic pleasure, but something that stands in for what people find desirable (Tittle 34). This includes moral sentiments, feelings and emotions. If the society finds the lottery unacceptable inherently, then there is bound to be displeasure and pain associated with its execution that could outweigh any good done in saving lives. ` This type of argument sidesteps the thrust of the thought experiment, but it aims at illustrating how acceptable it is to kill an innocent person under utilitarianism to save others. In isolating this point, the imagination could be that the survival lottery minimizes pain, maybe spearheaded by few people who are not known by the public as argued by Kuhse and Singer (67). Perhaps those selected are told they are selected for a heroic government mission so that if they do not return their families are left proud to be associated with the loss. Maybe the deaths of the selected are quick and without pain and the people are not pre-informed so as not to traumatize them. Maybe the recipients of the organs are never to be informed that someone was killed so that they do not feel guilt. This would make the public oblivious so that the only people that would be suffering from guilt would be the few who had to do the task. And maybe even this would be accomplished by sociopaths so that no one would feel the guilt at all. What then would the argument be? A utilitarian would seem to be forced to accept the

Is a global state possible or even desirable Make full use of the Essay

Is a global state possible or even desirable Make full use of the theoretical and empirical literature in your answer. (with reference to theories of realism, communism, liberalism and marxism) - Essay Example The rise in international organization which has emerged after the second quarter of the 20th century is one of the greatest and central features of global associations2. While some recommend that the world is witnessing the making of an international community, ruled by procedures, norms and processes involved in decision making. Others observe the global state as being formless and even as ethically suspect3 International organizations are imperative to explore since the most crucial problems in global politics currently-terrorism, poverty, disease, economic instability, climate shift, regional fight, proliferation of weapons, and numerous other issues-cannot be resolved without integration on multilateral level. Global politics is segmented by interdependence of security which implies that no one government, not even the most influential one, can handle these issues all by itself. The modern world scenario needs both non-governmental and governmental catalysts to integrate action through global organization to cater these problems. Interdependence of security needs global state, and international organizations become a vital element of global state. This research paper will address the factors related with the emergence of global state, its possibility or desirability with the help of a brief discussion through theoretical and empirical literature4. After the termination of the World War I, the political culture of Britain was segmented by optimism regarding the probability of developing international democratic harmony and peace with the help of international integration and gradual political in Britain. However this optimism faced a sudden termination by the 1930s5. This was the decade in which the trial of the Ramsay Macdonald’s state and League of Nations were both drastically exposed as unsuccessful, and the

How do fitness center customers percieve service quality of the Essay

How do fitness center customers percieve service quality of the fitness center - Essay Example Health care costs will reduce because of the decreased medical checkup indemnity bounties, contracted Habitual absence from work, decreased employee turnover rates, decreased employee 's recompense arrogates, decreased timing, less retentive hospital stays, etc. The condition of America's health care issues, matched with present time statistic characterizing human population alterations, endanger to not only exasperate the situation, but promote excessive worker productiveness as well. These environmental components copulated with the local private-enterprise position indicate a well-disposed chance in this market. Fitness for All is getting into their first year of business sector. The business organization framework has been well experienced and commercializing is particularly crucial to hold emergence and market place perception. Along with the offering up of physical fitness particular service Fitness for All's primary activeness is the creation and carrying out of health plans. Fitness for All allows for health schemes and program plans to business enterprise in the business district of United States. A health schemes is a long-run attempt, aggregating both health- advancement and exercise- concerned actions and designs planned to alleviate convinced life style alterations in extremities of a company's force of workers available. Fitness for All will figure out with a company's senior charge of running a business to help it come up with a mission statement for its health plans. The customer company's workers will be passedthrough health-risk psychoanalysis, following which each worker will be given the chance to meet with a health professional person to plan a individualized health plan. Finally, Fitness for All will supply workers build up accounts to senior management with which to carry through the inducement plan and broadly speaking keep an eye modifications on changes in the conduct of its manpower. Potential Customers B. Need for the study Fitness for All is allowing for their customers with a health care price management plan for workers that will increase workers productiveness and diminish overall business concern costs. Fitness for All looks for to carry out the following welfares that are significant to their clients: Specifications - Fitness for All will make available a completely custom-made method for each institution as well as each worker within the organization. Comfort station - Customers will not use the facility if it is not commodious. Fitness for All distinguishes this and strains to make their facilities as commodious as

Two Gender System Essay Example for Free

Two Gender System Essay Setting out this boundary denies one the ability to express their sexuality freely: this may result in the discrimination and subordination of alternative forms of gender that society does not deem as â€Å"natural†. In other words, individuals who do not classify themselves as belonging to the main types of gender systems may be socially neglected and their sexuality, frowned upon. This essay will illustrate what society deems as â€Å"natural† and how the concept of gender and sexual diversity vary across cultures and historical periods. In addition, this paper will argue that the two-sex systems embedded in our society are not adequate to encompass the full spectrum of human sexuality. The â€Å"two-gender system† is defined as the classification of sex and gender into two biological categories of masculine and feminine: a social boundary used to prevent people from crossing or mixing gender roles, where the society divides people into male and female gender roles (Larkin, June. From lecture oct. 3, 2012). This binary system forces an individual to fit into one of the two categories of male or female. This bipolar categorizing of sexuality however does not and cannot encompass the full range of human sexuality. According to statistical analysis, it is said that out of 1,000 children born, seventeen children are intersexual (Fausto-Sterling, 2010, p. 14). The 1. 7 percent, though it is an estimate, is not a small number: theses intersexual individuals will feel out of place and/or easily uncomfortable in society that imposes a two-sex system. In addition, children born with both male and female anatomies as well as genitals are more likely to develop grave psychological frameworks when forced to obey the socially accepted two-gender system. The genital ambiguity in newborns is seen to be a medical emergency and in most cases, the newborns undergo surgery. Psychologist Dr. John Money further highlights this argument by claiming that gender identity can be changed and enforced upon up to eighteen months after a baby is born (Fausto-Sterling, 2010, p. 15). In the case of John/Joan however, the sex reassignment was unsuccessful. The doctors performed the procedure on John, who then was surgically turned into â€Å"Joan†. The case, although codified as John/Joan, was actually about an adult male named David Reimer. David eventually turned to masculinising medication, rejected his female assignment, and committed suicide (Fausto-Sterling, 2010, p. 15). As one can learn from David Reimer’s case, children born with genital ambiguities are faced with confusion and psychological stress as they grow up. The two-gender system leaves no room for such people to freely express themselves and their sexuality. The patients in this case, upon being obliged to follow the decisions made by the physicians, are then expected to act â€Å"natural† in the gender that was chosen for them. It is clear that the gender system embedded in society is not holistic enough for all humanity to truly express their full spectrum of sexuality. To avoid such conflicts and controversy, society should implement a wider, holistic perspective on gender and sexuality so various forms of intersexuality can be recognized and accepted as a both natural and normal way of life. Science, taking a biological approach to the topic of gender, inserts that gender and sexuality is strictly determined by the innate biological organs that one is born with. Ajnesh Prasad, in an attempt to supplement this argument, claims that â€Å"sexual difference is commonly experienced as part of ontology rather than epistemology, as part of nature instead of culture† (Prasad, 2005, p. 80). Other scholars however, argue for both a cultural and a historical perspective in explaining this gender ambiguity. The cultural view is related to the historical perspective in that while colonizers took over these already domesticated societies, they enforced strict cultural gender roles and sexual relations in order to reflect what they deemed was natural. For example, when the English settlers invaded North America, they took it as one of their primary goals to colonize the way these indigenous people dealt with sexual relations and gender: â€Å"the western imperialism†¦governance of sexual relations was central in classifying the colonizer and the colonized into spheres of distinct human kinds while policing the domestic recesses of imperial rule† (Prasad, 2005, p. 81). The gender role that was enforced was one of heterosexuality: the argument that men should act masculine and females, feminine. Previously existing practices that did not reflect this Westernized notion of heterosexuality was heavily frowned upon and neglected. This ultimately led to the subordination of other such frameworks pertaining to gender and/or sexual relations. Historical events thus as evidence from the colonization of indigenous people, renders concrete that gender is not a concept that is biologically determined, but one that implemented and reinforced through culture. Moreover, the native settlers rarely linked, â€Å"biological† sex, gender, and sexual activity together. These Native cultures were not divided up between heterosexuals and homosexuals as contemporary â€Å"Western† societies were, and in their culture, cross-working and cross-dressing men and women belonged to the other gender or to a third gender that either combined male and female features: â€Å"Encounters [were made] with male and female ‘berdache’ [meaning prostitute]. These berdache were cross dressing, cross-working people who constituted a third gender of fourth gender in some of these indigenous cultures† (Kinsman, 1996, p. 92). There were not just two gender groups, but three or four gender groups for â€Å"biological† females, and these alternate-gendered people were seen as combining the spirits of the other two genders (Kinsman, 1996, p. 93). Furthermore, the societal notion of what composes a widely accepted gender and sexual relation is extensively dependent on the culture and the fabrication of historical intervention. In conclusion, the two-gender system advocates the individuals in society to be defined as either male or female and sets limitations for individuals who do not fit into specific categories imposed on them. As a result, intersexuals or individuals born with genital ambiguity face discrimination and is forced to accept what is widely accepted as â€Å"natural† gender in society. Moreover, taking a scientific approach to gender, many argue that sexuality is determined by nature, what genitalia one is born with, but taking on a historical and cultural view, the issue bag to differ. As seen from the indigenous people and the way how two-spirited gender roles work in their society illustrates that the concept of gender is not singular and is determined by culture and society one is exposed in. The two-sex system enclosed in society is not adequate to encompass various forms of sexuality, so rather than confining one’s view to society’s ways, we should raise awareness for wider perspective on gender and sexuality to allow various forms of sexuality can be recognized.

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) 3.1. Introduction GMP the building blocks for HACCP. In several years, producer, retailer and industrialist use Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) as appropriate method in order to produce good quality of food. Food producers keep on developing GMP regulations. Now, it uses as prerequisite program on HACCP system or food safety system. Good Manufacturing Practices should be selected and adopted before HACCP is implemented. Without the application of CGMP principles, an effective HACCP program cannot be conducted. Furthermore, GMP must be applied to the development of sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOP). Compliance with specific GMP should be included as part of HACCP. The areas that should be addressed through CGMPs are personal hygiene and other practices, buildings and facilities, equipment and utensils, and production and process controls. CGMPs should be broad in nature (Marriot, 2007). There can hardly be HACCP without Good Manufacturing or Management Practices (GMP). Briefly, GMP is a description of all the steps (which should represent good practice) in a processing facility, while HACCP is a documentation that the steps important to consumer health are under control (Arvanitoyannis and Theodoros, 2009) GMP application is also a basic part of Total Quality Management Program (TQMP). GMP application should be explain in briefly and clearly about problems and procedures on every stage on food processing. 3.2. Definition GMP and SSOP are interrelated and an important part of process control. CGMP are the minimum sanitary and processing requirements necessary to ensure the production of wholesome meat. GMP is one of supporting program for implementation of HACCP system. GMP make food product have a good quality and safety; it is also make product widely acceptable for consumers in domestic and international market. Based on Ministry of Marine Affair and Fisheries Regulation (2007), GMP is the guideline on good prerequisite and production procedures on fish processing unit. GMP is a combination of the production and quality control, to ensure that food manufacturers or processing are following the right step of its production line consistenly and spesifically. GMP refers to the regulation that firstly declared by the US Food Drug Administration (FDA) after being revised in 1986. GMP regulation is aimed to protect the consumer to avoid purchasing any dangerous or contaminated products. Its require a good quality approach of manufacturing and processing product to eliminate errors and failure. Nowadays, the function of GMP is getting more important as pre-requisite program of HACCP; therefore it has to be implemented prior the HACCP system together with the application of SSOP. 3.3. Scope According to Darwanto and Murniyati (2003), on operational processing unit, company management should be check on processing activities for evaluating: a. suitability, quality, and all input factor such as fish, food additives, ingredients, packaging, labeling etc; b. control suitability and condition of manufacturing namely construction, maintenance, sanitation, operation, and equipments that are use on fish processing; c. fulfillment of end products requirements are quality, safety, healthy, and also composition and grade of quality on product; d. staff checking on their health, hygiene and qualification. 3.4. GMP components 3.4.1. Location and Building Requirement 3.4.1.1. Location Seafood plant is consider of a suitable location. Some factors should be considered namely physical, geographical and infrastructure available. A plant must be adequate on a plot of adequate size, easy access on transportation by road, rail or water. An adequate of water should be available throughout the year. Seafood plants contain significant amounts of organic matter which must be removed before waste water is discharge into river or the sea. It also solid waste handling needs careful or appropriate planning, appropriate space, must be available. The immediate physical surroundings of a seafood factory should be landscape and present on attractive view to the visitor. Shrubbery should be at least 10 meter away from factory building and a grass free strip covered with a layer of gravel should follow the outer wall of buildings (Huss, 1994). In addition, the factory location should be large enough for expansion and should be attractively landscaped with natural features such as tree retained wherever possible. Paved or asphalt area are needed in factory, car pack should be situated at a reasonable walking distance from the factories to reduce fumes and noise (Forsythe and Hayes, 1998). 3.4.1.2. Building There are several requirements for fish factories buildings. The materials that used on building materials should be have the specific characteristics. There are specific characteristics such as non-porous, non-toxic, easily cleaned, rodent proof, smooth flat, etc. According to Huss (1994), on food processing industries should have the particular characteristics on materials which are use on food industries. Food factories should be designed and built for particular purposes with materials capable of withstanding various physical conditions. The principal factors to consider are heat, cold, humidity, and vibration. On fish processing, interior surfaces should be smooth, non-porous, easily cleaned and not vulnerable to chemical attack by modern detergents and disinfectants, or able to sustain biological/microbiological growth. Good natural light and screened electric light must be provided. Paints and other surface coats should be non-toxic and not flake; those that contain mould inhibitors must not come into contact with foods. Pipe work, drainage ducts, conduits for power supply and other channels should be tightly sealed where they pass through walls, floors and ceilings to prevent entry of vermin and insects (Huss, 1994). Overhead pipe work sometimes passes directly over process lines and water condensed on the pipes can drip on the underlying food and equipment (Forsythe and Hayes, 1998). Ventilation on fish factory have to efficient and ceiling should be constructed of and finished with materials that obviate condensation, paint flatting, and mould growth. The panel construction being made of various PVC, reinforced resins, PVC-faced plasterboard, PVC-foil-faced foam board or plastic-coated steels (Forsythe and Hayes, 1998). Walls should be constructed with durable materials and in certain situation. All wall angles, corners and junctions of walls and floors must be imperiously sealed and be rounded for ease of cleaning. Coving of the wall/floor junction of walls to a height of. C. 15 cm. Modern materials that are used on wall include polypropylene and different PVCs. Suitable polymers and glass-reinforced PVC can be layered on a thin metallic surface with a cladding of suitable insulating materials (Forsythe and Hayes, 1998). Floor is that surface should be non-slip and easy to clean and disinfect. The quality of the floor surface can be improved by topping the concrete with appropriate materials. These include epoxy, polyester or acrylic resins, chlorinated and styrene butadiene rubbers and bituminous paints and mastics. The resins have a number of advantages such as durable, easy to clean, good non-slip surface, smooth but became saturated and absorb water under water condition. Tiles can provide a relatively long lasting and impervious surface. However, there are weaknesses since they crack, lift to be under run by water, and are difficult to replace satisfactory (Forsythe and Hayes, 1998). Ideally, building have to impose no constraints on any process or plant layout. However, production line are sited in unsuitable buildings as an economic necessity. Construction of building can be based on reinforce concrete or steel frame. In the framed structure the external walls are essentially a skin design to protect personnel and equipment inside. It means that the external walls can be constructed of relatively light material namely aluminum (Forsythe and Hayes, 1998). 3.4.1.3. Plant layout Layout of food industries be laid out with clear, preferably ‘straight through lines of product flow. Final or intermediate processes must be separate to avoid cross-contamination by raw materials. According to Kotschevar and Terrell (1977) in Forsythe and Hayes, (1998), there are eight principle in efficiency flow of work in food service area are: function should proceed in proper sequence directly, with a minimum of criss-crossing and backtracking; smooth and rapid production; delay and storage of materials in processing should be eliminated; worker and materials should cover minimum distances; materials and tools should receive minimum handling, and equipment minimum worker handling; maximum utilization of space and equipment should be achieved; quality control must be sought at all critical points; minimum cost production should be sought. With eight principles, these layouts will minimize recontamination of fish process or raw materials. The preparation areas for all raw materials and all product should be physically separated by appropriate walls. The movement of operators between the separate processing areas should be use of allocated colored clothing and control by management. Facilities for washing hands with knee or foot operated hot water taps should be positioned at all pedestrian entrances in food factories as well as in the toilets. Suitable liquid unperfumed soaps, barrier creams and disposable towels must be provided at all times, with instruction given also their proper use. Floors should be durable, smooth, easily cleaned and carefully insulated; in addition, because of the problem of ‘frost heave where the subsoil becomes frozen to a depth of 1-2 cm causing weakening of the foundations, a heating walls and ceiling should also be durable, smooth and easily cleaned; material such as galvanized steel is particularly recommended. Design layout of cold stores should aim at keeping the environment as constant a possible. Thus the entry of warm air should be minimized by providing properly insulated double doors with an air lock and, as with chill rooms, sitting should be some distance form warm processing areas. 3.3. The examples of processing layout A = administration, EA = employee amenities, FPS = final products storage, L = laboratory, P = production area, RMS = raw materials storage (Forsythe and Hayes, 1998 re-draw by the authors) 3.4.1.4. Equipments There are seven basic principles for hygienic design agreed by the Working Party appointed by the Joint Technical Committee of the Food Manufacturers Federation (FMF) and the Food Machinery Association (FMA) in Forshyte and Hayes, (1998). The principle are: all surface in contact with food must be inert to the food under the condition of use and must not migrate; all surfaces in contact with food must be smooth and non-porous so that tiny particles are not caught in microscopic surface crevices and become difficult to dislodge; all surfaces in contact with food must be visible for inspection; all surfaces in contact with food must be readily accessible for manual cleaning; all surfaces in contact with food must be arranged that the equipment is self-emptying or self-draining; equipment must be design as to protect from external contamination; the exterior or non-product contact surfaces should be arranged to prevent harboring of soils, bacteria, or pest in and on the equipment itself as well as in its contact with other equipment, floors, walls or hanging support. With the above principle, materials are commonly used in food processing are Stainless steel, iron and mild steel, copper and its alloys, miscellaneous metal, plastics, rubber, glass and wood, and antimicrobial work surfaces (Forsythe and Hayes, 1998). Manufacturing equipment should be designed to prevent the entry of foreign materials, and the development of ‘out-of-sight dead spots, especially within the operation chamber and associated pipe work. Bolts and clips should be attached externally to maintain all internal product contact surfaces smooth and easily cleaned. For operator safety, all equipment should be made safe by electrical isolation during dismantling and cleaning. Table 3.1. Applications of materials-handling equipments Conveyors Elevators Cranes and hoists Trucks Pneumatic equipments Water flumes Direction Vertical up * * * Vertical down * * * Incline up * * * Incline down * * * * Horizontal * * * Frequency Continuous * * * * Intermittent * * Location served Point * * * * Path * * * Limited area Unlimited area * * Height Overhead * * * * Working height * * * * Floor level * * * * Underfloor * * * Materials Packed * * * * Bulk * * * * * * Solid * * * * * * Liquid * * Service Permanent * * * * * Temporary * * From Brenan et al (1976) in Fellow, P.J. (1990) 3.4.2. Operational Requirements 3.4.2.1. Receiving Raw Material Receiving raw materials should be consider some requirements such as the origin of raw materials, species and size based on product, quality of raw material and end-product. a. Indicators of Fish Freshness On the receiving materials area, sensory analysis is the main method of evaluating fish freshness. It enables differences in texture, flavor, and taste to be determined, and subsequently the usefulness of the raw material. Sensory properties change during storage from the desired very high standard, through neutral or average, and finally to undesirable or disgusting. It is generally assumed that prior to disappearance of desirable features the fish is considered to be fresh, while the appearance of undesirable or disgusting features disqualifies the raw material. The most difficult step is to determine an intermediate state in which the fish is not entirely fresh. Sensory analysis is thus carried out on raw fish and cooked fish. Flavor, appearance and state of abdominal cavity (for not eviscerated fish) are the main indicators of quality in the case of raw fish. For cooked fish, smell is the most important indicator (Hall, 1997). In addition, microbiological test on raw material is important parameter. In raw materials not only use sensory test but also use microbiological test. Particularly, on freshness test of tuna for sashimi, commonly use K value methods. K value is one of chemical methods based on ATP degradation. This method is commonly use on Japan to measure fish freshness. According to Anonymous (2002), checking the following at receipt will confirm seafood safety and freshness: product temperature (chilled seafood should be below 5oC but ideally between -1.5o and 2oC; frozen seafood should be below -18oC), package condition and use-by-date of pre-packaged seafood, hygiene and cleanliness of the transport vehicle, a record of the species, harvest date and location, and suppliers name, and visual quality criteria. Even if quickly frozen after catching, frozen seafood will not keep indefinitely. Bacterial activity ceases below about -10oC, but chemical and biochemical changes (enzymes, oil oxidation, and dehydration) will still occur. These changes may bring about slow irreversible changes in odor, flavor, and appearance. For long term freezer storage, it is recommended that a temperature of -30oC is maintained (this may only be achieved by commercial freezers). Seafood stored at -15oC (domestic freezers) will have a much-reduced shelf life. 3.4.2.2. Handling and Processing Fish and shellfish are considered to be among the most perishable foodstuff. To keep fish cool, packing in ice is used; this methods is avoids the possibility of the temperature dropping to low with the concomitant freezing of the flesh of the fish. During fish handling and processing in fisheries processing, it will retard the fish deterioration. Keeping fish I the cool thus extends the high-quality life (HQL) of the fish. Good chilling practices on board the fishing vessels and on shore result in better quality fish which, on landing (Garthwaite, 1997). Chilling delays and minimizes spoilage and the ideal chilling system cools fish rapidly to wet ice temperatures. It is essential to minimize bacterial contamination of the fish during all stages of handling. Dirt should be washed off the fish as landed and the surfaces with which the fish come in contact be maintained in a clean condition. Care must also be taken to wash the fish after gutting it, and to use clean ice. Fish properly iced will cool rapidly and will retain quality for 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the species. Ease handling, reduction of weight loses, and elimination of bruising are advantages to be considered in short-term storage in refrigerated seawater (Shapton and Shapton, 1991). Since shrimp live only a few minutes after removal from their natural habitat, microbial spoilage starts immediately through marine bacteria on the surface and in the digestive system, and through microorganisms which happen to contaminate the shrimp on the ships deck, in handling, and from iced used during their storage. The prevention of deterioration in the quality of fresh and iced-stored shrimp involves not only maintaining low microbial count but also prevention of oxidation (Shapton and Shapton, 1991). Temperature and time conditions at all steps from catching or harvesting to distribution is important to prevent growth of pathogenic bacteria, histamine producing bacteria and spoilage bacteria. Temperature and time also are important in preventing oxidation and chemical spoilage (Huss, 1994). 3.4.2.3. Additives and chemical materials Additives and chemical material commonly use on fish processing. It usually used on fish value added product. 1. Additives Additives can be divided into six major categories: preservatives, nutritional additives, flavoring agents, coloring agents, texturizing agents, and miscellaneous additives (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). a. Preservatives There are basically three types of preservatives used in foods: antimicrobials, antioxidants, and anti-browning agents. The antimicrobials are used to check or prevent the growth of microorganisms. The antioxidants are used to prevent lipid and/or vitamin oxidation in food products. They vary from natural substances such as vitamins C and E to synthetic chemicals such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The antioxidants are especially useful in preserving dry and frozen foods for an extended period (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). Anti-browning agents are chemicals used to prevent both enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning in food products, especially dried fruits or vegetables. Vitamin C (E300), citric acid (E330), and sodium sul ¬Ã‚ te (E221) are the most commonly used additives in this category (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). b. Chemical preservatives The action of maximum and minimum limit of chemical curing and preservative agents should be safe usage known (Betty and Diane, 1987). Propionic acid, sorbic acid, benzoic acid and shulphur dioxide are effective as a preservative. Propionic acid and its salts are mould inhibitors. Sorbic acid is useful fungistatic agent for use in flour confectionery, marzipan and cheese. Benzoic acid occurs naturally in cranberries and is added to many other foods. It is more effective against moulds and yeast than bacteria. These compound are most effective at the lowest pH values of food and ineffective at neutral pH. In addition, sulphur dioxide is being effective in inhibiting microbial growth, also helps to maintain the color of vegetable that are going to be processed (Betty and Diane, 1987). Nitrates and nitrites are used as a curing for meats. Due to toxicological concerns there has been a tendency to reduce the concentrations used in recent years. This imparts a red coloration to the meat similar to fresh meat (Betty and Diane, 1987). c. Nutritional Additives Nutritional additives have increased in use in recent years as consumers have become more concerned about and interested in nutrition. Vitamins, which as indicated above are also used in some cases as preservatives, are commonly added to cereals and cereal products to restore nutrients lost in processing or to enhance the overall nutritive value of the food. The addition of vitamin D to milk and of B vitamins to bread has been associated with the prevention of major nutritional deficiencies. Vitamin A, from liver cod, is essential for normal vision, growth, cellular differentiation, reproduction, and integrity of the immune system (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). In addition, Carotenoid on food can be functioned as function not only as color and nutrient compounds but also as antioxidants (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). Carotenoid can help to minimize oxidative damage and reduce the risk for age-related disorders by preventing the accumulation of free radicals (Rosalee and Michael, 2008). In addition carotenoid also found on brown algae (Miyashita and Masashi, 2008) Minerals such as iron and iodine have also been of extreme value in preventing nutritional deficiencies. Proteins or proteinaceous materials such as soya protein also are sometimes used as nutritional additives, although they are most commonly used as texturizing agents. Fiber additives have seen increased popularity in recent years with the increase in consumer interest in dietary fiber. Various cellulose, pectin, and starch derivatives have been used for this purpose. d. Coloring Agents Most coloring agents are used to improve the overall attractiveness of the food. A number of natural and synthetic additives are used to color foods. In addition, sodium nitrite is used not only as an antimicrobial, but also to fix the color of meat by interaction with meat pigments (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). There are two kinds of coloring agents natural coloring and synthetic coloring. Natural coloring made from plants and animals (Table 3.4.). Synthetic coloring made from chemical substances (Table 3.5.). e. Flavoring Agents Flavoring agents comprise the greatest number of additives used in foods. There are three major types of flavoring additives: sweeteners, natural and synthetic flavors, and flavor enhancers (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). Table 3.2. Chemical preservatives and their dose that are allowed for using in food processing (Indonesian Ministry of Health Regulation No. 722/Menkes/Per/IX/88) No Chemical Preservatives Kinds of Food Maximum dose 1 Sulphur dioxide Marmalade Tomato paste Sugar Powder Powder dextrose Sugar Vinegar Syrup Wine Grape Sausage Dried coffee extract Gelatin 100 mg/kg 350 mg/kg 20 mg/kg 70 mg/kg 70 mg/kg 70 mg/kg 70 mg/kg 200 mg/kg 450 mg/kg 150 mg/kg 1 g/kg 500 mg/kg 2 Potassium Bisulphate French fries Frozen shrimp Pineapple essence extract 50 mg/kg 10 mg/kg (raw); 30 mg/kg (cooked) 50 mg/kg 3 Potassium Metabisulphate French fries Frozen shrimp 50 mg/kg 100 mg/kg 4 Potassium nitrate Meat Cheese 500 mg/kg 50 mg/kg 5 Potassium nitrite Meat Corned 125 mg/kg 50 mg/kg 6 Potassium sulphate French fries Frozen shrimp Pineapple essence extract 50 mg/kg 100 mg/kg 500 mg/kg 7 Natrium Bisulphate French fries Frozen shrimp Pineapple essence extract 50 mg/kg 100 mg/kg 500 mg/kg 8 Na-metabisulphate French fries Frozen shrimp 50 mg/kg 100 mg/kg 9 Natrium nitrate Meat Cheese 500 mg/kg 50 mg/kg 10 Natrium nitrite Meat Corned 125 mg/kg 50 mg/kg 11 Natrium sulphate French fries Frozen shrimp Pineapple essence extract 50 mg/kg 100 mg/kg 500 mg/kg (Cahyadi, 2006) The most commonly used sweeteners are sucrose, glucose, fructose, and lactose, with sucrose being the most popular. The most common additives used as sweeteners are low-calorie or non-caloric sweeteners such as saccharin and aspartame. In most cases, flavoring agents are the same chemical mixtures that would naturally provide the flavor (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). f. Texturizing Agents These agents are used to add to or modify the overall texture or mouth feel of food products. Phosphates and dough conditioners are other chemicals that play a major role in modifying food texture. Lecithin and mono- and diglycerides as well as several synthetic derivatives. The primary role of these agents is to allow flavors and oils to be dispersed throughout a food product (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). Stabilizers include several natural gums such as carrageenan as well as natural and modified starches. These additives have been used for several years to provide the desired texture in products such as ice cream and are now also finding use in both dry and liquid products. Carrageenan found in red algae (Yuan, 2008). Phosphates are often used to modify the texture of foods containing protein or starch. These chemicals are especially useful in stabilizing various dairy and meat products. The phosphates apparently react with protein and/or starch and modify the water-holding capacity of these natural food components (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). Benefits of Additives There are obviously many recognized benefits to be derived from additives. Some of the major benefits are a safer and more nutritious food supply, a greater choice of food products, and a lower-priced food supply (Branen and Bragerty, 2002). Risks of Additives The indirect risks that have been described for additives are the converse of some of the benefits attributed to their use. Additives have also resulted in the increased availability of food products with a low density of nutrients. Of greater concern than the indirect risks are the potential direct toxicological effects of additives. Cancer and reproductive problems are of primary concern, although there is no direct evidence linking additive consumption with their occurrence in humans. 2. Chemical Substances Some chemical substances use in fish/food processing. They used on processing area and products. These substance have used based on government regulation. If they not used based on it the product will be danger to consumers. Several chemical substances are used on fish processing: Table 3.3. Organic preservatives and their dose that are allowed for using by Indonesian Government (Indonesian Ministry of Health Regulation No. 722/Menkes/Per/IX/88) No Organic Preservatives Kinds of Food Maximum dose 1 Benzoic acid Soy sauce Soft drink Cucumber pickle Margarine Pineapple essence extract Other foods 600 mg/kg 600 mg/kg 1 g/kg 1 g/kg 1 g/kg 1 g/kg 2 Propionic acid Cheese Bread 3 g/kg 2 g/kg 3 Sorbic acid Cheese 3 g/kg 4 Benzoic Potassium Margarine Pineapple essence extract Dried apricot Jam and jelly Syrup, tomato sauce Grape Other food except meat, fish, fowl 1 g/kg 1 g/kg 500 mg/kg 1 g/kg 1 g/kg 200 mg/kg 1 g/kg 5 Propionic potassium Cheese 3 g/kg 6 Sorbic potassium Cheese Raw cheese Margarine Dried apricot Cucumber pickle Jam and jelly Marmalade Pineapple essence extract 3 g/kg 1 g/kg 1 g/kg 500 mg/kg 1 g/kg 1 g/kg 500 mg/kg 1 g/kg 7 Benzoate Potassium Pineapple essence extract 1 g/kg 8 Methyl-p-hydroxyl benzoic Cucumber pickle Liquid coffee extract Tomato paste, essence Other food except meat, fish, fowl 250 mg/kg 450 mg/kg 1 g/kg 1 g/kg 9 Natrium benzoate Jam and jelly Soy sauce Soft drink Other foods 1 g/kg 600 mg/kg 600 mg/kg 1 g/kg 10 Natrium propionic Look at on propionic acid Look at on propionic acid 11 Nisin Cheese 12.5 mg/kg 12 Propil-p-hydroxyl benzoic Look metal-p-hydroxyl benzoic Look metal-p-hydroxyl benzoic Source: Cahyadi, (2006) Table 3. 4. Natural coloring agents characteristic Group Color Sources Solubility Stability Caramel Brown Cooked sugar Water Stable Anthosianine Orange, Red Blue Plants Water Sensitive to heat and pH Flavonoid Without yellow Plants Water Stable to heat Leucoanthocianine Colorless Plants Water Stable to heat Tannin Colorless Plants Water Stable to heat Bataline Yellow, red Plants Water Sensitive to heat Quinon Yellow-black Lichen Water Stable to heat Xanthon Yellow Plants Water Stable to heat Carotenoid Without yellow and red Plants Water Stable to heat Chlorophyll Green, brown Plants Lipid and Water Sensitive to heat Heme Red, brown Animals Water Sensitive to heat Source: Cahyadi (2006) Tabl