Battle of Salamanca - Peninsular War Battle of Salamanca

Battle of Salamanca - Peninsular War Battle of Salamanca Battle of Salamanca - Conflict Date: The Battle of Salamanca was fought July 22, 1812, during the Peninsular War, which was part of the larger Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). Armies Commanders: British, Spanish, Portuguese Viscount Wellington51,949 men French Marshal Auguste Marmont49,647 men Battle of Salamanca - Background: Pushing into Spain in 1812, British, Portuguese, and Spanish troops under Viscount Wellington were confronted by French forces led by Marshal Auguste Marmont. Though his army was advancing, Wellington grew increasingly concerned as the size of Marmonts command steadily increased. When the French army matched and then became slightly larger than his, Wellington elected to halt the advance and began falling back towards Salamanca. Under pressure from King Joseph Bonaparte to take the offensive, Marmont began moving against Wellingtons right. Crossing the River Tormes, southeast of Salamanca, on July 21, Wellington was resolved not to fight unless under favorable circumstances. Placing some of his troops on a ridge facing east towards the river, the British commander concealed the bulk of his army in the hills to the rear. Moving across the river the same day, Marmont wished to avoid a major battle, but felt compelled to engage the enemy in some way. Early the next morning, Marmont spotted dust clouds behind the British position in the direction of Salamanca. Battle of Salamanca - The French Plan: Misinterpreting this as a sign that Wellington was retreating, Marmont devised a plan calling for the bulk of his army to move south and west to get behind the British on the ridge with the goal of cutting them off. In actuality, the dust cloud was caused by the departure of the British baggage train which had been sent towards Ciudad Rodrigo. Wellingtons army remained in place with its 3rd and 5th Divisions en route from Salamanca. As the day progressed, Wellington shifted his troops into positions facing south, but still concealed from sight by a ridge. Battle of Salamanca - An Unseen Enemy: Pushing forward, some of Marmonts men engaged the British on the ridge near the Chapel of Nostra Seà ±ora de la Peà ±a, while the bulk began the flanking movement. Moving onto a L-shaped ridge, with its angle at a height known as the Greater Arapile, Marmont positioned the divisions of Generals Maximilien Foy and Claude Ferey on the short arm of the ridge, opposite the known British position, and ordered the divisions of Generals Jean Thomià ¨res, Antoine Maucune, Antoine Brenier, and Bertrand Clausel to move along the long arm to get in the enemys rear. Three additional divisions were placed near the Greater Arapile. Marching along the ridge, the French troops were moving parallel to Wellingtons hidden men. Around 2:00 PM, Wellington observed the French movement and saw that they were becoming strung out and had their flanks exposed. Rushing to the right of his line, Wellington met General Edward Pakenhams arriving 3rd Division. Instructing him and Brigadier General Benjamin dUrbans Portuguese cavalry to strike at the head of the French column, Wellington rushed to his center and issued orders for his 4th and 5th Divisions to attack over the ridge with support from the 6th and 7th as well as two Portuguese brigades. Battle of Salamanca - Wellington Strikes: Intercepting Thomià ¨res division, the British attacked and drove back the French, killing the French commander. Down the line, Mancune, seeing British cavalry on the field, formed his division into squares to repel the horsemen. Instead, his men were assaulted by Major General James Leiths 5th Division which shattered the French lines. As Mancunes men fell back, they were attacked by Major General John Le Marchants cavalry brigade. Cutting down the French, they moved on to attack Breniers division. While their initial assault was successful, Le Marchant was killed as they pressed their attack. The French situation continued to worsen as Marmont was wounded during these early attacks and was taken from the field. This was compounded by the loss of Marmonts second-in-command, General Jean Bonnet, a short time later. While the French command was reorganized, Major General Lowry Coles 4th Division along with Portuguese troops attacked the French around the Greater Arapile. Only by massing their artillery were the French able to repel these assaults. Taking command, Clausel attempted to retrieve the situation by ordering one division to reinforce the left, while his division and Bonnets division, along with cavalry support, attacked Coles exposed left flank. Slamming into the British, they drove Coles men back and reached Wellingtons 6th Division. Seeing the danger, Marshal William Beresford shifted the 5th Division and some Portuguese troops to aid in dealing with this threat. Arriving on the scene, they were joined by the 1st and 7th Divisions which Wellington had moved to the 6ths aid. Combined, this force repelled the French assault, forcing the enemy to begin a general retreat. Fereys division attempted to cover the withdrawal but was driven off by the 6th Division. As the French retreated east towards Alba de Tormes, Wellington believed the enemy was trapped as the crossing was supposed to be guarded by Spanish troops. Unknown to the British leader, this garrison had been withdrawn and the French were able to escape. Battle of Salamanca - Aftermath: Wellingtons losses at Salamanca numbered around 4,800 killed and wounded, while the French suffered around 7,000 killed and wounded, as well as 7,000 captured. Having destroyed his principal opposition in Spain, Wellington advanced and captured Madrid on August 6. Though forced to abandon the Spanish capital later in the year as new French forces moved against him, the victory convinced the British government to continue the war in Spain. Additionally, Salamanca dispelled Wellingtons reputation that he only fought defensive battles from positions of strength and showed that he was a gifted offensive commander. Selected Sources British Battles: Battle of SalamancaPeninsular War: Battle of SalamancaNapoleon Guide: Salamanca

How will climate change affect the trucking industry

How will climate change affect the trucking industry If you go into nursing or teaching, your career probably won’t be affected much by changes to the environment around you. After all, your job is contained within four walls, usually in a stable, temperature-controlled environment. Wild changes in climate or weather are unlikely to do much to your career in the long term. But what if you have a more outdoor-facing job, where environmental changes can impact what you’re doing, where you do it, and how you do it? That’s one of the reasons that climate change has the potential to make a big impact on the trucking industry in the years to come. It might seem like truck drivers won’t be majorly impacted by environmental changes- after all, freight will still need to get from point A to point B, regardless. But changes in climate, temperature, and even the trucks themselves are all likely to affect how drivers do their jobs. Although there is still a good deal of disagreement about the causes of climate change an d its probable impacts, let’s look at some ways climate change could potentially affect the trucking industry.Some types of trucking will become much more difficult.If you’ve ever seen an episode of the show Ice Road Truckers, you know that it involves transporting cargo in the far north’s most frozen, treacherous areas. According to Scientific American, the roads and routes used for this style of trucking are in serious danger if warming trends continue. It will be unsafe to create the roads that these truckers currently use, limiting the places these roads can go. And the season for driving in these arctic regions will be even shorter, affecting schedules and key routes, as well as truckers’ ability to get in and out.Fuel prices may rise.According to AllTrucking.com, this is one of the more immediate consequences of climate change and warming. For real-world examples of how this works, see how fuel prices have risen after major catastrophic weather even ts like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Many climate scientists expect that intense storms like these will continue to be more common and frequent as climate change progresses. This growing unpredictability means that truckers and logistics professionals should expect to see significant fluctuations in fuel prices. This has a direct impact on business for trucking companies and drivers themselves and will likely lead to more innovations when it comes to making trucks and transportation less expensive and more efficient.Trucks will need to become more fuel-efficient.To counter rising fuel prices and shortages, much of the trucking industry’s current focus is on creating more fuel-efficient vehicles for transporting freight. Emissions from vehicles, including trucks, are seen as one of the leading contributors to climate change issues. In order to make trucks have less impact on the environment and ensure that they’re using fewer resources to get the job done, that means ref ining engines, tires, and other truck components to maximize trucks’ efficiency. And it’s not just trucks themselves- drivers may need to adapt for fuel efficiency as well, adjusting speed and idling time to increase fuel economy and decrease carbon emissions.Trucks of the future will need sustainable technology.â€Å"Sustainability† is the buzzword that applies here. Trucking is a very fossil-fuel-heavy industry, relying on gas and diesel to power the logistics. And while it may seem silly to think of a big rig driving by with solar panels on top, this is a very real possibility in the future. â€Å"Green† transportation technology is growing more popular (think Tesla), and companies are trying to find ways to make existing vehicles like trucks run on hybrid power sources (like gas and electricity) or entirely on green energy sources like electric, clean domestic fuels, and maybe even solar power someday. The U.S. government’s Office of Energy Eff iciency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is focused on developing next-generation technologies that will make the trucking industry more sustainable.Supply chain logistics may change.It’s likely that trucking changes will happen as part of broader changes in the logistics industry. Warehouses, shipping hubs, and garages may see increased initiatives around recycling, environmental sustainability, emergency preparedness, and other policies that focus on reducing the carbon footprint of the industry. And depending on whether some regions become more prone to extreme weather, it could affect planned routes and lead to different travel patterns for truck drivers. And it’s not just trucking-specific concerns- disruptions in electrical power and communications in general can have sweeping effects on the transportation industry in general. As the transportation industry tries to compensate for these potential issues, the trucking industry will follow suit.Emergency preparedness wi ll be even more important.Truckers need to be prepared for anything that happens on the road- mechanical issues, traffic issues, blocked routes, the works. When something does go wrong, it’s often just the trucker and his or her rig stuck troubleshooting until they can get safely to the next place. And with a potential increase in extreme weather events, that means having solid emergency plans in place. Trucking companies and individual drivers will be tasked with ensuring that everyone is fully trained on how to respond to any event safely and efficiently.An example of this kind of step up in emergency planning is how the TSA has responded to security and terror threats, developing sophisticated screening and preparedness plans in case of emergency. Because so much of trucking depends on the weather and ability of the drivers to get from Point A to Point B, we could see the industry develop similar large-scale plans to compensate for weather disasters.Truckers may need more and different training.In order to become a truck driver, you already need a basic Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). On top of that, drivers have the option to get â€Å"endorsements,† or additional certifications for different kinds of driving. Right now, these endorsements include things like double trailers, passenger vehicles, tank vehicles, and hazardous materials. Some experts believe that in the future, with increased regulation and a global focus on environmental sustainability, there may be climate change-inspired endorsements related to environmental standards and contingency planning. Because each state has its own CDL program, they can tailor these standards to the environmental issues most likely to impact their state. For example, warming in Alaska would lead to different environmental concerns than, say, increased hurricanes in Florida or along the Gulf Coast, so any changes in state-specific CDL certifications would be connected to geography and likely possibilities.U.S. road infrastructure will change.Extreme weather like major storms and flooding can cause major damage to the infrastructure roads and highways that truckers rely on to keep freight moving around the country. Deteriorating roads can increase traffic, which means increasing fuel use and carbon emissions, not to mention throwing off scheduled and logistics. One of the more intriguing options for fighting this infrastructure erosion is self-fixing roads. It sounds super-futuristic, doesn’t it? But some materials scientists are already researching ways that common materials like steel wool can help roads â€Å"heal† themselves when they suffer damage from flooding or general deterioration. Better roads mean better day-to-day results for truck drivers, making it easier to transport cargo and reduce wear-and-tear on the trucks themselves. Improvements to infrastructure that compensate for future damage will help the trucking industry maintain efficiency (o r even improve on current levels of efficiency).Truckers will become data analysts.Truck driving will still never be that 9-to-5 job in a cubicle, but drivers may find themselves becoming better acquainted with environmental data- like emissions statistics and the impact of their truck and routes on the immediate environment in order to make sure they’re meeting set environmental standards while delivering their freight in the most cost- and time-effective ways.Innovation and flexibility will be key.The ability to adapt and change no matter what the environment throws at us is going to be crucial in every industry moving forward, but even more so in industries where the elements outside have a direct impact on the bottom line. Trucking is an industry that has the potential to align its environmental concerns with its business concerns and prepare for an uncertain environmental future. Even if some of the more dire climate change predictions never come to pass, this shift towa rd environmental responsibility and adaptability are still likely to affect the trucking industry in the years and decades to come.

Acquisition of Major Competitors and Pricing Essay

Acquisition of Major Competitors and Pricing - Essay Example Many people would be against the acquisition of competitors because it is one of the ways through which monopolies can be created. This is because when a major player in an industry acquires their competitors, they end up accumulating the market share that was previously under the control of their competitors. As a result of such marketing strategies, big corporations have the luxury of controlling market prices without having to fear being out-priced by their competitors. In such scenarios, it can always be said that the consumers are the people who are most affected. A thing might even get worse in a scenario where an organization acquires a competitor then increases prices of products or services that they deal in while at the same time do very little to enhance the quality or even offer products or services that are of a lower quality than they used to before. In some cases, it will be seen that an organization has just acquired their main competitors but not all the competitors. The point in acquiring their main competitors is that even the minor competitors will not be able to go into a price war with them (Engelbeck 2002, p. 137). For instance, the proposed acquisition of Times Warner by Comcast will mean that Comcast will have more than 30% of the total broadband market share in the United States of America. This does not imply that they will gain total control of the broadband market in the United States of America. It will mean that they will gain majority shares of the market and the remaining shares will be divided among other organizations that do not have the resources that can put competitive pressure on them (Haws & Bearden 2006, p. 307). Even if they decide to increase their prices the other existing companies will not be in a position to take advantage of this and compete for the market share. In such a scenario, it is highl y possible that they will even offer lower quality services and still charge higher than they used to do before.

Plato and Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Plato and Cinema - Essay Example The way Plato looks at art should be understood within the context of his larger enterprise, the Republic, where his views on aesthetics are located. What exactly is the status of art for Plato? The Platonic view of art is rather pessimistic. He believes that the state should be governed by reason, in the same way, that an individual if s/he is to be a just individual, should have the â€Å"passions and the appetites governed by reason† (Albert et. al., 1980, p.25). Considering how the ideal state is conceived as one where everyone and everything must work for the good of society, art, in general, is conceived as being subservient to the state in that sense. If art is to be practiced or engaged in at all, it must be in a form that promotes a just society. In discussing how a person acquires knowledge and skills, Plato argues that from childhood, a person learns through imitating that to which s/he is exposed. As such, if the state is to raise up guardians, then these guardians -to-be need exposure only to those that promote the virtues, and not to those that arouse negative or ill attitudes. In the Republic, Plato states: If then we adhere to our original notion and bear in mind that our guardians, setting aside every other business, are to dedicate themselves wholly to the maintenance of freedom in the State,†¦ they ought not to practice or imitate anything else; if they imitate at all, they should imitate from youth upward only those characters which are suitable to their profession – the courageous, temperate, holy, free, and the like.  

Sakis Stories and the Impression they Create about Adult-Child Relatio

Saki's Stories and the Impression they Create about Adult-Child Relationships In order to answer this question I am going to be focusing on three of Saki?s stories; the story-teller, the lumber room and the open window. Children at the time Hector Munro (Saki) was writing these stories would have had very vivid imagination; this is shown in Saki's story 'The Open Window' when the niece makes up the saga of Mr Sappleton's death, illustrates how imaginative children can be, and that adults are very easily fooled. Fooling adults is a key theme in Saki's stories; another time when it occurs is in the story 'The Lumber Room' when Nicholas dupes his aunt into believing that he is somehow trying to get into the gooseberry garden, but instead has no intention of doing so but does sn...

Detergent Powder

Introduction Detergent is a material intended to assist cleaning. The term is sometimes used to differentiate between soap and other surfactants used for cleaning. The term detergent by itself is sometimes used to refer specifically to clothing detergent, as opposed to hand soap or other types of cleaning agents. Bangladesh has a detergent market of about 8. 8 billion taka of which Unilever occupies a share of 48% making it the market leader. The major competitor brands in the detergent market for RIN are Keya, Chaka and Jet, Surf Excel.To fight this steep competition the above mentioned companies constantly run consumer promotion in hope to sell more than the respective competitors. Although this strategy worked well at first but with the passage of time, the intense consumer promotions have done little to prevent Unilever from loosing shares to its competitors. In 2004, Wheel (which is now RIN), Unilever’s largest detergent brand ran about nine consumer promotions where as i n 2005 it ran no consumer promotions at all. Consumer promotion over all is a very expensive affair.Unilever has the largest brands of detergent and so the cost of providing a consumer promotion offers is also large by the same proportion. Besides the competitor brands are known to involve in some unfair practices. They pay a very low wage rate to their labors so overhead costs are low, they under invoice their imported raw materials so that they can evade import taxes and other duties, so they save a lot of money in the process. They can then utilize this money for consumer promotion and other competitive activities that can earn them a higher share of the market.Therefore it is imperative that consumer promotions and other dependant elements have to be studied, to make sure that if a consumer promotion activity is implemented it is a highly effective one. This way, precious monetary resources have the minimum chances of being wasted. To understand the competition in the detergent market better price perceptions and product quality perceptions about the brands of detergent on promotion are also considered being worth studying. To look at market share issues, the brand loyalty element should also be explored. 1. 1 Brief Overview about the Detergent MarketThe use of washing powder started rising from late nineties after Unilever Bangladesh entered the market with its ‘Wheel' brand washing powder. Local brand Jet was the lone player in the washing power segment prior to Unilever's entry. Wheel Washing Powder (WWP) was launched in August of 1997 by leveraging the equity of the Wheel laundry soap. Wheel laundry soap was considered the best soap and stood for quality and care. The brand was initially launched and replaced the NSD powder brands of Unilever. WWP was launched with two stock keeping units (SKUs), 500g and 1 KG and achieved a volume of 2,280 tons in 5 months.Despite a price increase from beginning of the following year the brand showed a strong gr owth achieving the total annual volume of 12,700 tons; a third SKU of 40g was added to the brand during the year. 1999 a second price increase was taken for the larger two SKUs but the brand continued to show good growth, ending the year with a volume of 22,800 tons. A major re-launch was rolled out in beginning of 2000 for the brand, during the re-launch the packaging was significantly improved, the perfume was also improved and the proposition changed from lemon to Powerons.The innovation was a response to the launch of the competition Aromatic Washing powder. Prior to the re-launch, the competition was aggressively blocked with continuous promotion behind the brand. After the re-launch the brand grew and countered the competition in 2000, achieving a volume of 29,500 tons. In order to get an even faster growth in 2001 vs. 2000; the brand was aggressively promoted- which yielded in a growth of 43%; ending the year with a volume of 42,200 tons. With the explosive growth of WWP in 2 001, it attracted competition like Chaka and Keya, both of which entered the segment in beginning 2002.In order to contain competition and continue the growth of 2001, WWP maintained the high degree of promotions (free volume promotions) it failed to deliver any considerable growth as expected, however the volume sales increased to 46,500 tons. During the year WWP was re-staged with the ingredients changing from â€Å"Powerons† to â€Å"Powerfoam†. In 2003, WWP promotions were predominately cross-brand promos, with the cost born by the other brand. This resulted in good growth for WWP in 2003, ending the year with 48,000 tons.During the period of 2002 onward, the brand has been losing shares to competition and in order to differentiate the brand further a relaunch was planned in 2004 Q1. The RL involved incorporation of coloured granules to the powder and increase in incorporation of perfume by 25%. However there was no change in the formulation of the powder. Post the re-launch the share decline has not stopped, despite heavy support behind the brand. Unilever is now the leader in the market controlling half of the total washing powder market, the size of which was nearly Tk 450 crore in 2007, up from about Tk 360 a year ago. 1. 2 Market trendsToday’s consumer-oriented marketplace is characterized by a countless number of products and brands. Globalization causes increased competition, national borders disappear, consumers demand more and more, and the pressure on producers to efficiently and effectively live up to consumer’s expectations keeps increasing. For companies to survive these difficult circumstances and to secure their growth and market share figures, proper marketing techniques are of utmost importance. Besides printed and non-printed advertising techniques (such as TV and radio commercials, public relations and sponsorships), sales promotions try to attract consumers.Sales promotions can take many different forms and a distinction can be made between price and non-price sales promotions. 1. 3 Background Sales promotions have been studied very extensively over the past decades. The research findings from Blattberg, Briesch and Fox (1995) provide a perfect base to a short overview of promotional topics and generalizations regarding sales promotions. Nine generalizations regarding sales promotions are made that summarize sales promotion literature so far: – â€Å"Price promotions significantly increase sales – Brands with higher market share are less deal elastic Consumers’ reference prices are influenced by the frequency of deals – The more often a promotion occurs; the lower is the respective sales increase – Cross-promotional effects are asymmetric – The pass-through rate of retailers to consumers is less than 100% – Support promotions like displays and advertising that accompany a price promotion have a great impact on sales – Advertised p romotion can increase store traffic – Promotions affect sales in complementary and competitive categories† (Blattberg, Briesch ; Fox, 1995) Statement of the ProblemThere are many companies that are operating to serve the detergent markets; as a result the competition has heightened. Consumer promotions are being heavily used in the detergent markets to increase sales of each available brand. Consumer promotions, when implemented use up a lot monetary resources. Failure to implement the consumer promotion activity effectively may result in major loss of money. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between consumer promotions, price perceptions with product quality perceptions and brand loyalty in the detergent market of Bangladesh. LimitationsThere are vast amounts of information and write-ups relating to the topics of this research that are present in the internet and various other sources, but it were not possible to gain acce ss to many such information. So missing out some important aspect of the discussed topics can be a possibility. There is a major time constraint in doing the research work and preparing the report, a much larger pool of information could have been dealt with if there was more time to analyze them. A minimal sample size will be used for this research; if a larger sample was taken into consideration the research would have been more accurate.The survey will be conducted in Dhaka city which could be a possible reason for the people’s mind set to be similar and survey results not being very different from each other, the results could be different if people from outside metropolitan cities were brought under consideration. Literature Review Consumer Promotion Consumer promotion is thought to be a tool that helps manufacturers and retailers to achieve their objectives of generating sales (Alvarez and Casielles, 2004). Consumer promotion (e. g. oupons, samples, contests, sweepstake s, and price packs) is a part of sales promotion that is targeted towards the final buyers of consumer products (Kotler and Armstrong, 2002). There can be various types of consumer sales promotion some are incentive based while others are communicative in nature (Kotler et al. , 1999; Tellis, 1998). The incentive based promotions can be price – oriented promotion or non price-oriented promotion. According to Britannica (article 21279) advertising presents a reason to buy a product but consumer promotion offers a short-term incentive to purchase.Consumer promotions often attract brand switchers (those who are not loyal to a specific brand) who are looking primarily for low price and good value. Abraham and Lodish (1987) stated that many consumer goods categories sold 90% of their volume on special deals which is a result of consumer promotion. They also stated that the influence of sales promotions on the consumer will also depend on the consumer’s characteristics. Prom otions Price PromotionNon-price Promotion Promotion Packs Sampling POS Advertising Loyalty Discount Premiums DisplaysCoupons Sweeptakes Promotion Packaging Rebates Events Others From Sales Promotion by Gedenk; K. Neilson, Page- 34. Consumer benefits of sales promotions Benefits of sales promotions to consumers are numerous. Chandon, Wansink and Laurent (2000) for example distinguish six different types of consumer benefits regarding sales promotions: monetary savings, quality, convenience, value expression, exploration and entertainment. The first and most obvious benefit a consumer might encounter from a sales promotion is the monetary saving they provide.Second, consumers consider normally unaffordable products now to be in their choice set and therefore encounter the quality benefit. The convenience benefit, thirdly, is achieved by reduced search and decision efforts since sales promotions’ promotional status is advertised. Fourth, â€Å"sales promotions can enhance consu mers' self-perception of being smart or good shoppers and provide an opportunity to reaffirm their personal values† (Chandon, Wansink & Laurent, 2000) which is translated into the value expression benefit.The exploration benefit is achieved by the ever-changing shopping environment that provides stimulation for consumers’ information need. Last but not least, the sixth benefit consumers might encounter from sales promotions is the entertainment benefit. Sales promotions are often simply fun to see or to participate in (Chandon et al. ). Interesting to see is that consumers experience (either conscious or unconscious) more benefits from sales promotions than are often thought of. Price Perceptions According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2004) price perception is about how customers see a product’s price, as high, low or fair.They also stated that perception of price unfairness affect consumers’ perceptions of value and ultimately their willingness to buy a produc t. According to Moore et al. (2003) years of research concerned with price show both positive and negative perceptions serve as marketplace cues. Several studies have also portrayed the role of price perceptions as an attribute to success (Jiang and Rosenbloom, 2004). When the price perceptions are high this is a sign of positive quality, prestige and status (Moore et al. , 2003). The concept of reference price is related to price perceptions.Schiffman and Kanuk (2004) stated that reference price is the price the consumers use as a basis for comparison in judging another price. It is through reference price that the price perception of a brand of product is formed. When the consumer plans to buy a product, he or she will judge prices comparatively with the reference prices in order to determine whether the price is acceptable or not (Alvarez and Casielles, 2004). They also stated that, a result of consumers’ comparison between the prices and the reference price, potential los ses and gains emerge.The consumer perceives a gain when the reference price is higher than the observed price. If the observed price is higher than the reference price, the consumer experiences a loss. Product Quality Perceptions Product quality perceptions represent consumer judgment about the superiority of a product, which the user-based approaches think is essential in describing quality (Forker et al. , 1996). Bundles of attributes together represent a certain level of quality, which therefore provide utility to the customer (Snoj et al. 2004). The benefits are measured through a perceived level of quality (level of working superiority), a bundle of attributes in comparison with the consumer’s expectations. Schiffman and Kanuk (2004) stated consumers often judge the quality of a product on the basis of a variety of informational cues that they associate with the product. They also stated that the cues can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic cues are related to th e physical characteristics of the product itself, like size, colour, flavour, aroma etc.The extrinsic cues on the other hand are related to elements that are put together with the actual product like packaging, pricing, advertising etc. The perceived quality of products and services is central to the theory that strong brands add value to consumers' purchase evaluations (Low and Lamb, 2000). Brand Loyalty Brand loyalty is the ultimate desired outcome of consumer learning (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004). According to Rawly and Dawes (1999) brand loyalty is the likelihood of positive attitudes and behaviors of consumers towards a particular brand, this could amount to repeat purchase and positive word of mouth.They also stated that a loyal customer base is an asset for a company and it reduces the need for seeking new customers. It is also a known fact that retaining current customers requires less money and effort than getting new ones. The strongest measure of brand value is the loyalty a company produces among customers (Aaker, 1996). Rowley and Dawes (1999) stated that to understand brand loyalty better the following components of attitude model should be considered: 1. Cognitive component – associated with a â€Å"rational† decision making based on informational determinants. 2.Affective component – associated with emotions and feelings about the product or service. 3. Co native components – associated with a behavioral disposition. Research Questions The following questions have to be addressed for the study: 1. Is there any significant relationship between consumer promotion and product quality perception in the detergent market of Bangladesh? 2. Is there any significant relationship between price perception and product quality perception in the detergent market of Bangladesh? 3. Is there any significant relationship between consumer promotion and brand loyalty in the detergent market of Bangladesh? . Is there any significant relat ionship between price perception and brand loyalty in the detergent market of Bangladesh? 5. Is there any significant relationship between product quality perception and brand loyalty in the detergent market of Bangladesh? Hypothesis The hypothesis that can be derived from the research questions are: 1. There is significant relationship between consumer promotion and product quality perception in the detergent market of Bangladesh. 2. There is significant relationship between price perception and product quality perception in the detergent market of Bangladesh. . There is significant relationship between consumer promotion and brand loyalty in the detergent market of Bangladesh. 4. There is significant relationship between price perception and brand loyalty in the detergent market of Bangladesh. 5. There is significant relationship between product quality perception and brand loyalty in the detergent market of Bangladesh. Development of Conceptual Framework * Consumer Promotion * Pr ice perception Product Quality Perception Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of research variables * Consumer Promotion * Price Perception Product Quality Perception Brand Loyalty Figure 2: Conceptual Framework of research variables Methodology Research design The illustrations of the conceptual framework Figure 1 and 2 above give a visual idea of the relationship and structure that exists among the study variables. The main purpose of the research is to assess the existing correlation among the variables. This research is about exploring and understanding the relationship that exists between consumer promotion, price perception with product quality perceptions and brand loyalty in the detergent market.Here in the figure 1the independent variables are assigned to be consumer promotions and price perceptions. The dependant variable on the other hand is product quality perception. In the second figure 2 the independent variables are consumer promotions, price perceptions and product quali ty perceptions, in this case the dependant variable is brand loyalty. So the researcher is attempting to find out, if any changes in the independent variable have a changing effect on the dependant ones as well, thereby proving that a relationship exists.The researcher also tried to find out the degree to which a change in the dependant variables has an impact on the independent ones, in other words the degree of relation is also explored here. Therefore the correlation study was chosen for this research. Sampling method The required data for this research was collected from the regular customers of detergents. There was no particular sample frame available for this research so convenience sampling was used, as it is also the cheapest and the easiest methods of sampling.The sample frame for this research consisted of shoppers (mainly house wives) at different shopping centers and stores etc, and also the parents of school children were included. In the shopping centers the researche r surveyed the people who seemed to be the most appropriate respondent for this kind of survey. The parents of kindergarten students, who spend time waiting for their kids outside the schools, were also surveyed, because they usually have a lot of time to spare and can give valuable inputs. Due to time constraints the survey was conducted in Dhaka city only. Over all there were about a 240 people who participated in the survey.Survey instrument A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire consists of different parts to gather information on the different variables under considerations. With questionnaires, no responses of the respondents can be missed out. It gives more time to the respondents to think and then give the answers. And it is a quicker and cheaper way to conduct the survey. Questionnaires can be conducted in any environment, with minimum influence of the outside environment. Questionnaires also have the advantage of keeping the personal details of the respondents confidential.MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS In which respondents have to choose one answer from many options. These questions gives a wide choice to the respondents so that they can give the most accurate and reliable answer. LIKERT SCALE Where the respondents are provided with a scale that has a number or brief description associated with each category. This scale is useful as respondents readily understand how to use the scale, making it suitable for almost all kind of surveys. Data Collection The data collection was done through both primary and secondary sources.The primary data was collected through questionnaire surveys and the secondary data was collected from the available archives of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, for addressing the research questions. Data Analysis This is a study of relationship of various variables. So after the data collection a correlation analysis was performed using the acquired data, to ascertain if relationship between the variables exist or not. For doing the data analysis SPSS 12 was used, because it is a very systematic computer program that can deal with a large amount of data and can give out accurate results.

Legal Battle between Toys R Us and Amazon - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 482 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/09/15 Category Advertising Essay Did you like this example? 1. Toys R’ Us vs Amazon. com This case was filled in May of 2004 because there was a 10 year agreement that amazon. com Inc. back in August of 2000 which according to Toys R’ Us was violated. The New Jersey Judge found that â€Å"Amazon had a duty to maintain its data in a format that would permit it to provide historical sales data for the sales of all products that allegedly should be classified as exclusive products, and Amazon did not maintain its data in a manner that would permit it to provide that information to Toys therefore, Toys was not provided with the data necessary for it to prove its claim if its legal contention is determined to be correct. † (Samson, 2006) Which means that the judge found its ruling to be fare because amazon. om did not have the necessary reports that were required to be given yearly to Toys r us as part of the agreement so after 2 years of battling on March 1, 2006 the Judge ruled against Amazon. com and gave Toys R Us the win and settled for 51 million. 2. One advantage would be vastly increasing product base and potential without having to recreate the e-commerce code that Amazon has developed. Amazon could also see a potential increase in crossover sales from consumers who go to Amazon to buy toys and discover other products. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Legal Battle between Toys R Us and Amazon" essay for you Create order One disadvantage Include that Amazon would be restricted from entering into potentially more lucrative partnerships with other toy dealers. As well as the financial success and reputation of Amazon would be tied to another company which they have no control over. (Schneider, 2009) 3. A recommendation that I would give would have to be that Amazon could offer to only allow zShops that sell toys that are not from Toys R Us. Because if this was the case then that would allow Amazon to honor the agreement that they have with Toys R Us. But Amazon would continue to realize profits from specialty toy retailers. Toys R Us would benefit from this because zShops would not be al to undersell on identical products. Consumers who go to Amazon to go search for a specialty toy may end up ordering a toy from Toys R Us instead. (Schneider, 2009) 4. Well there can be a possible reason that following the first wave of electronic commerce consumers may have been more likely to trust a relatively more established e-commerce company such as Amazon for making online orders. It is mostly due to Amazon status as a popular e-commerce portal which may have provided Circuit City access to a larger volume of online consumers. Furthermore, as consumers have become more comfortable with e-commerce the Circuit City brand has become more established with the benefits which may have been minimized. (Schneider, 2009) References Schneider, G. P. (2009). Electronic Commerce. Boston: Course Technology. Toys R. Us. Com. LLC vs. Amazon. com, C-96-04 (Superior Court of New Jersey March 1, 2006).