Price Competition Versus Non Price Competition Economics Essay

Price Competition Versus Non Price Competition Economics Essay When there is competition in firms on the basis of change in price, it is known as price competition. Price competition can involve discounting the price of a product (or range of products) to increase its demand. Various forms of market indulge in price wars in order to earn a large market share and a profit margin. As price of a product increases or decreases, it leads to fluctuations in the demand of the product of particular firms. So all the firms always keep a watch on the market forces of demand and supply, the derived equilibrium price, competition etc. in order to skim the market. Non price competition When there is competition in firms on the basis of factors other than price such as advertising, sales promotion, product differentiation, branding etc., it is known as non-price competition. Price competition vs. non-price competition Price Competition Non Price Competition Competition between the firms based on price where one firm tries to beat or match the price of the other. Firm tries to be the lowest cost giver for the product in the market. The firm must have the vision to respond to the strategy of other firm very quickly. High cross price elasticity must see more of price competition. Here the firms compete with each other with the strong factors like product differentiation, quality of the product etc. The firm tries to build consumer loyalty so that it can sell its product to the maximum number of consumers and increase its market share. They promote awareness in the consumer for the differentiation of their product. High own price elasticity must see more non price competition. Effect of price on Quantity Demanded Quantity Supplied An increase in price has an inverse relationship with the quantity demanded and a positive relationship with the quantity supplied i.e. an increase in price decreased the demand and increases the quantity supplied and vice versa. Determination of Equilibrium price The market forces of demand and supply determine the equilibrium price. This equilibrium price becomes the basis for firms in perfect or imperfect competition to charge a price for their product. Thus the firms make a cost minimising production function Figure 2: Equilibrium price: Supply and Demand forces Supply_curve_shift In the figure, equilibrium price is p0 and equilibrium quantity is QO i.e. when quantity demanded is equal to quantity supplied equilibrium is achieved. These points only show the equilibrium state but do not show the response of the change of quantity demanded and supplied with respect to price. Here comes the importance of elasticity of demand and supply. ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT MARKET SITUATIONS WHICH GIVE RISE TO PRICE AND NON-PRICE COMPETITION Elasticity and price and non-price competition play a vital role in determining various forms of market structure, their price, demand and supply, total revenue, shape of the demand curve etc. the market structure can be delineated as follows: MARKET Market Structure Imperfect competition Monopoly Perfect Competition Monopolistic Oligopoly Market is not merely a geographical expression but it can be any place where buyers and sellers are in regular contact and they have a perfect knowledge of price. BASIC FEATURES OF MARKET Very large number of buyers and sellers exist in a market. Both homogeneous as well as heterogeneous products are available in a market. Free mobility (movement) of and services goods in a market area. Firms are free to enter and exit. FORMS OF MARKET Perfect competition Monopoly Monopolistic Oligopoly PERFECT COMPETITION Perfect competition is a market situation where large number of buyers and sellers exist. In this market, firm is a price taker whereas Industry is the price maker. FEATURES OF PERFECT COMPETITION Large number of sellers and buyers exist in perfect competition. Homogeneous products are sold in this market where the price may increase or decrease but for the whole industry otherwise it will be a given price. In this market, price remains uniform for two reasons Homogeneous products Perfect competition Firms are free to enter and exit. Price = average revenue = marginal revenue because of price uniformity. Price has no role to play due to homogeneous goods. Price remains uniform but not constant. Example stock market. Non-price competition is not possible as the products are homogeneous, advertising, promotion and branding help the firms to differentiate and create niche in the market. D S P=AR=MR=D S D INDUSTRY FIRM Figure 1.1-Price determination under perfect competition MONOPOLY MARKET It is a market situation where a single seller exists with a large number of buyers and no close substitute is available of monopoly product. FEATURES OF MONOPOLY MARKET Single seller exists in monopoly market with large number of buyers. Close substitutes are not available of the monopoly products as it may work as an obstacle for the growth of the monopoly product. Entry of new firm is very difficult in monopoly market. The existing monopoly power will take all legal as well as illegal concepts to stop the entry of new firms. Price discrimination is one of the most striking features of a monopoly market. It may be defined as charging different price from different customers for the same product on the basis of segments of consumer, quantity to be purchased and degrees of elasticity of demand. Selling cost or cost of advertisement is negligible. Demand curve facing a monopoly firm is downward sloping but less elastic and MR is always less than AR. PRICE MR AR=D QUANTITY Figure 1.2-Demand curve under monopoly market Price leadership is present in monopoly as the firm can charge a high price and take the advantage of being a sole seller but they can charge a reasonable price because it helps in long run growth. In the long run, new firms may enter the market and the existing firms market share may fluctuate. So in their own interest monopoly firm charge a reasonable price. MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION It is a market situation where elements of both monopoly as well as competition coexist together and differentiated products are sold in the market. FEATURES OF MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION MARKET Very large number of buyers and sellers exist. This is a virtual market which exists in reality. Differentiated or heterogeneous products are available in this market. Each seller is selling different products from others creating a monopolist tendency. In this market, price always remains in a very close range as the commodities are perfect substitutes of each other. The demand curve facing the monopolistic competition market is again downward sloping but more elastic. In this market MR curve is always less than AR i.e. the additional revenue earned is always less than the average revenue. Firms are free to enter and exit. Price competition is there in monopolistic competition market. Because of the availability of close substitutes, a change in price of one product affects the demand of other product. Price AR=D MR Quantity Figure 1.3-Demand curve under monopolistic competition Non-price competition under this form of market is possible due to availability of close substitutes of the product. The firm in order to attract more customers and retain them would compete with each other on the basis of non-price factors on promotional front i.e. advertisement etc. However, the elements of price competition are also present in this form of market but the price always keeps in a very close range. Example, Once Coke increased its price from Rs.20 to Rs.22 in order to compete with Pepsi. OLIGOPOLY MARKET It is a market situation where few sellers exist with large number of buyers and both homogeneous as well as heterogeneous products are available. There is intense competition among them as far as price and output policy is concerned. FEATURES OF OLIGOPOLY MARKET The number of sellers are more than 2 and less than or equal to 10. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous products are sold. Both collusive as well as non-collusive form of oligopoly market exists. The demand curve in oligopoly market is very difficult to determine (Indeterminate demand curve). There is non-price competition in collusive oligopoly and price competition in non-collusive oligopoly. The demand of other firms is determined by the price variation of any of the existing firms. Until and unless the rivals reaction is not known when there is a change in price, the demand curve cannot be determined. Lets discuss the concept of elasticity so that we can know about the different degrees of elasticity in various forms of market. ELASTICITY Elasticity is the degree of responsiveness for a commodity to a change in its price. Elasticity measures the sensitivity of one variable to another. When a consumer is giving response to the price change he is more elastic whereas if a consumer is not giving response to the price change, he is less elastic. DIFFERENT TYPES OF ELASTICITY Price Elasticity of Demand Price elasticity of Supply Income elasticity of Demand Cross Elasticity MEASUREMENT Elasticity can be measured by following three methods Proportion method/percentage method Geometric method/point elasticity method Expenditure or total outlay method Terminology of elasticity Term Numerical measure of elasticity Verbal Description Price elasticity of demand(supply) Perfectly or completely inelastic Zero Quantity Dd(supplied) does not changes as price changes Inelastic Greater than zero, less than one Quantity Dd(supplied) changes by a smaller % as does price Unit Elasticity One Quantity Dd(supplied) changes by exactly the same % as does price Elastic Greater than one, but less than infinity Quantity Dd(supplied) changes by a larger % as does price Perfectly, completely, or infinitely elastic Infinity Purchasers(sellers) are prepared to buy(sell) all they can at some price and none at all at an even higher(lower) price. Income Elasticity of Demand Inferior good Negative Qty dd decreases as income increases Normal good Positive Qty dd increases as income increases Income-inelastic Less than one Less than in proportion to income increase Income-elastic Greater than one More than in proportion to income increase Cross Elasticity of Demand Substitute Positive Qd of some good and price of a substitute are positively related Complement Negative Qd of some good and price of a complement are negatively related COMPARISON OF MARKETS ON THE BASIS OF ELASTICITY Market forms Price elasticity of demand Perfect competition The demand in perfect competition is perfectly elastic which means with or without change in price, quantity demanded may increase or decreases to any extent. Monopoly The demand in monopoly market is less elastic. A change in price will not affect the demand by much. As there is only single seller in monopoly market, buyers do not have much options in front of them therefore the demand is less elastic. Monopolistic The demand is more elastic in monopolistic competition. It simply means that as soon as there is a change in price, there will be a greater change in quantity demanded. The demand curve facing a monopolistic competition is downward sloping but MORE ELASTIC. Oligopoly In oligopoly market, the demand curve can be both more elastic and less elastic depending upon the rivals reaction to change in price. CONCLUSION In current market scenario, most firms compete on the basis of non-price competition. Though there are some discrepancies in the prices charged by different firms, firms most often prefer and follow non-price competition because it leads to consumer welfare as well as firms profit in long run. PART II I visited Reliance Fresh (a departmental store) in order to conduct a research on floor cleaning detergents. As I entered the store I observed that on the left hand side there is a rack with five shelves on which all the toiletries items are displayed. Floor cleaning detergents are kept on three upper shelves of the rack. Adequate space is provided for the floor cleaning detergents and they can be seen easily from both sides of the rack. Glass cleaning detergents are also put along with floor cleaning detergents. On the topmost shelf, DOWSIL which is the in house brand of reliance chemicals is putted. The store is promoting DOWSIL because the profit margin is high as compared to other brands as it is a product of reliance chemicals. And they are giving a complementary floor cleaning brush with DOWSIL in order to attract larger number of customers. It is priced lower than other brands available. BRANDS I saw six floor cleaning detergent brands that were available. They are: LIZOL DOMEX CIF Easy off bang Mr Muscle DOWSIL perfumed floor cleaner(phenyl) COMPANY FLOOR CLEANERS VARIANT QUANTITY AMOUNT (Rupees) RECKITT BENCKISER LIZOL BLUE 975ML 99.00 BLUE 500ML 52.00 PINK FRAGRANCE 500ML 54.00 LEMON EXPLOSION 500ML 54.00 BEACHPOWDER (LIQUID) 500ML 50.00 HINDUSTAN UNILEVER CIF 500ML 78.00 250 ML 53.00 120ML 27.00 HINDUSTAN UNILEVER DOMEX WHITE 500ML 54.00 WHITE 1 LTR 108.00 HINDUSTAN UNILEVER DOMEX 2IN 1 BLACK 500ML 50.00 SC JOHNSON MR. MUSCLE (floor cleaner) 500ML 50.00 RECKITT BENCKISER EASY OF BANG 400ML 65.00 RELIANCE CHEMICALS DOWSIL PERFUMED 1LTR 66 2LTR 149 3LTR 250 I asked consumers some questions such as How do you choose your floor cleaning detergent? Do you go by advertisement, if yes what are the features that attract you the most? This helped me to come to these inferences: People go by experimental ads i.e. the ads which actually show how their product is different from others and the offers that they are getting such as buy 2 and get 1 free. Price, packaging and product quality matters for them but they dont know much about the ingredients. Here the demand of floor cleaners goes on increasing with the cost, packaging changes and the attractiveness of the advertisement. In my observation I can say that the floor cleaning detergent market is an oligopoly market structure because there are only 6-7 main players present in the market while considered individually. Entry is relatively easy but each brand is a different product in itself, hence even though firms are competing with each other each one is a monopoly by itself. ECONOMIC CONCEPTS BASED ON OBSERVATION Price and non-price competition All the brands compete with each other. The competition is price and non-price depending upon the elasticity. The brands mainly compete with brand differentiation. The different brands fight with packaging, new innovation and advertisements. So here we can say the floor cleaning market is having mainly non price competition as the prices are relatively same. On the other hand, local in-house brands are competing on price; they are placing themselves relatively cheaper than others in order to increase their sales The competition here determines the place and position of the firm which is named as producer. Elasticity of demand The demand in floor cleaning detergents market is more elastic i.e. if one brand increases its price, demand for other brand increases as it is consumers behaviour to shift to substitutes when price of a particular product increases. Packaging and product quality The market share depends upon the amount of work the firm puts on in differentiating its product from the other ones. For example when seen the differentiation LIZOL and DOMEX are coming in many variants which gives consumers a wide choice of variants according to their need. They are focusing more on packaging and product quality. This helps in increasing the demand of a particular brand. So we can say that here DOMEX has created its monopoly in the market till the time another firm gets into this very idea i.e. responds to it with its product with some new innovation in this segment of the consumer to challenge its monopoly When this happens the players in the market get into competition again introducing new product with some new difference. Pricing strategy Big brands such as DOMEX and LIZOL are following price skimming policy as they are relatively charging high prices than other brands in order to skim the market. On the other hand, there are some local brands such as DOWSIL which are competing with other brands on price. They are following price penetration policy. As compared to other brands, these brands are relatively cheaper. CONCLUSION This floor cleaning detergents market actually is a good field to study the economic concepts like market structure, elasticity and competition, and cost factor. According to me, this segment of the market is catering to the high income consumers, there is non-price competition. Since here consumers are less-price sensitive and are affected by the advertisements or product development undertaken by the firm. Hence, we do not see much price competition in this segment. But there are some local players who are competing with other brands on the basis of price. Instead firms catering to this segment only try to price themselves as cheaply as possible to attract the maximum number of consumers. In this survey, I have tried my level best to touch up on the different economic aspects that are prevailing in the floor cleaning detergent market.

The Economics Of The Clean Air Act Essay -- Impact of Clean Air Act on

"The health effects of air pollution imperil human lives. This fact is well-documented." -- Eddie Bernice Johnson Air is a part of all of our lives. Without clean air, nothing we know of can exist. The debate over clean air, it's regulations, their teammates and opposition, and the economic factors coming into play into this ever-more recognizable problem is a widespread and ever more controversial one. Like a long countdown to eventual disaster, the pollution effecting our world has no doubt made increasingly more impact on our daily lives, and has increased the intensity on Washington and other countries to solve the problem. The Clean Air act is a step in the right direction, but with every answer there comes two questions and likewise more and more people taking sides. There have been long debates not over the effectiveness of such regulations, but the lack of opportunity such regulations and deregulations provide for other companies. Global warming has increased the tension over the economics of cleaner air, but with little the government can do to limit the use of cars, the production of necessary coal-fired power plants and other such human resources, the topic just turns into another fog for debate and argument over stricter regulations and the impeached right these sources have to operate. The continual power struggle of such economic and social issues and the debate over the effectiveness of stricter, present or more lenient regulations has turned into a smorgasboard of prectical solutions, with opponents quickly changing minds and becoming supporters and vice-versa. The expenditure of about 20 billion on the part of companies since 1990 to clean up such hazardous pollutants as cars, factories, and thousands of other measures have reaped about 400 billion in saved hospital costs, lost workdays, reduced productivity, and other conditions while at the same time theoretically helping to reduce smog and pollution. The findings of a report on experiments done for the Clean Air act was passed into law in 1970. The Enviornmental Protection Agency has recently come under attack by critics however, and Washington has threatened to cut the agencies' budget citing high costs of enviornmental legislation, even while their is solid proof that the agencies' measures are paying off. Congress is skeptical of reports that the wh... ...economic, political, and diplomatic challenges. Many developing nations such as China are dependent on coal-generated power to drive their economic growth over the next several decades. U.S. utilities uses coal to produce more than half of the nation's electricity. Plentiful U.S. coal supplies have also meant power for many U.S. companies where coal is plentiful. Air and water are concrete parts of all of our lives. With the destruction and continual pollution being pumped into our ecosystem, who knows how long it will be before the whole world is contaminated to the point where we can no longer live in it. The bureaucrats in Washington don't have all the answers, neither do the unions, or the big corporations. The idea and impact of pollution is like a time-bomb waiting to explode, and the end draws nearer and nearer. We cannot look back on our world after we have destroyed it and comment on things we should have done differently. Sources Consulted http://www2.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-air-act http://www.cleanairtrust.org/cleanairact.html http://www.cleanairtrust.org/nepa2cercla.html http://www.c2es.org/federal/courts/clean-air-act-cases

Aviation Essay -- essays research papers

There are several factors that enabled Wilbur and Orville Wright, two high school dropouts, to produce a successful airplane controlled by a pilot. The Wright brothers were self-educated and very experienced with several types of technologies when they began their efforts to produce an airplane. Having worked as bicycle mechanics, they understood the importance of several technologies working together to create one particular design, as well as the significance of balance. The brothers worked well together, learning from past attempts at aviation, and drawing from other’s findings, in addition to discovering many of their own. One of the most distinct differences in their attempt from other aviators was that the brothers began by first learning to fly and control the airplane in glider fo...

Prisoner’s Education Essay

Should prisoners be allowed access to online education at community colleges?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Distance education for prisoners is a good solution for instructional problems that were noted among prisoners. Lack of education would mean lack of the basic skills to create a better life and find a better paying job. Lack of education would mean lack of information and understanding about economics, business structure and social or community life. Failure to understand the environment will most likely result to challenge behavior. And that challenge behavior will grow to worst if one’s situation won’t change from worst to better in a given time. Access to education is very important to prisoners provided that the kind of subjects or coursework they are allowed to take will be limited and subject to higher approval.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Attitudes may change for the better but there is a big possibility that some prisoners may proved to be real problematic that a monitored coursework is better so access to education materials and information may also be limited and does not put the society or the police force at risk. It is advisable that a series of psychological test will be performed to the prisoners in order to assess and determine their potential and their ability to handle intellectual programs like distance learning. Internet access must also be limited to the sessions and all the homework will be done at the library of the correctional facility. Proper monitoring eliminates any potential risk in the system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although there are a lot of learning and training programs provided by community colleges, prisoners access and allowed opportunities must be limited and carefully studied. The offender’s attitude can be determined on how they take the distance education delivery system. This formal education will make them earn a degree while in prison. What is important is that they get out of prison with a diploma (Wilson & Ruess 173) and is ready to face the challenges of the labor market. Lower educational level does not compel these people to commit crime but it is indeed a great factor that influenced the person’s decision making process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I firmly believed that prisoners are victims of their own environment and experiences. People and environment interaction have the ability to make and unmake people. Education will attempt to enhance basic skills and their ability to learn and assess certain situations that may be good or detrimental to their being and the well being of their community. Know that a person of limited options has much to tackle within himself in terms of self confidence or low regard to self, frustrations to alleviate life and the absence of voice in society. A person who does not understand the pathology of addiction and experience what acceptance to society and good life is will never grasp the meaning of being good to live a good life. He does not have any idea of what a good life is. He was so used to being bad he does not even know the meaning of good.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Yes, for me prisoners need to be given the chance to access distance learning education in a limited coursework and selected programs that involves no risk at all. Police work or study of law is simply a no go or they may be able to study the system well. Prisons and correctional institutions should take advantage of technology to educate their prisoners. Technology has just given correctional institutions a very flexible and easier channel for the education of its prisoners. The only way to bring a nation down is to stop educating its people. The only way to improve the economy of a nation is to begin educating its people and giving them the skills needed and required by the labor workforce.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I am certain that education is not to be regarded as their second chance. Education is to be regarded as the responsibility of the state and the community to help the person obtain the basic skills for survival and obtain comprehensive knowledge that will make him understand life, society and morality. The No Child Left Behind Act was very effective. Well then let us consider those who were already an adult when the Act was initiated. We are not to leave behind any member of the community. We are not to disregard their needs and discriminate them because of their challenge behaviors. They are a challenge to the state and to the society. And the only way I find that will bridge the gap of talking between an uneducated man and a moron is education. It helps sharpen the intellect to understand policies, law and their moral obligation to safeguard the well being of other people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We eliminate an enemy of the state by providing a structured online education. Structured is not brainwashing, structured means appropriateness of the courses that they are allowed to avail. Prisoners of higher age who are not adept to technology may be taught on how to make wise investments online. The process may be simpler and they only have to study the market fluctuations. Teach them to be entrepreneurs and keep them busy with school work. The key is teaching them to adapt the new lifestyle behind bars. Education is an opportunity for change not only for the prisoners themselves but for the state. This way the state will be able to increase the population of its professionals even behind bars. Society is not to condemn prisoners but they are to help them out of compassion. Negative reactions would mean no acceptance and outright denial of their ability to seek for a better life. Negative reactions solicit rebellion and feeling of abandonment which will result to commission of more crimes. I certainly agree that the only way to eliminate crime is to educate the person committing the crime. Works Cited Page Wilson, David and Ruess, Anne. Prison(er) education: Stories of change and transformation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Winchester, UK: Waterside Press, 2000.

Comparing Classical and Operant Conditioning Essay

I will be comparing classical and operant conditioning by explaining fear of heights. Fear of heights is known as Acrophobia. The phobia part does not occur until a person is in an environment that most people would be relatively fine in, such as attending a theme park or being in a building such as a sky scraper for example. Most of the time when treating someone with acrophobia therapists will use graded exposure therapy. Any fear starts by learning, so if a person has a fear of heights it is most likely due to an event that happened early on in life that made a dramatic change in the persons every day behavior, such as falling out of a tree at a young age. If a person has a severe phobia to heights behavior can vary. For example, a person can faint or have extreme anxiety when in an environment around heights. Another example to discuss, research does in fact prove that a certain amount of reluctance around heights is normal for humans and animals. In the 1960’s research psychologists J. Gibson and R. D.  Walker, conducted an experiment known as the visual cliff. The two researchers placed thirty six babies, one at a time on a counter top made of half solid plastic covered with a checkered cloth and the other half clear Plexiglas. Each baby would ponder when crawling and rely on the mother’s facial expression a happy expression would give the okay to keep crawling and an alarming look would signal the babies to stop crawling. This study shows that when we are faced to make an emotional decision people can be like the babies in the study done, we can remain on the counter top until we are faced with uncertainty. This study shows how cognition can be manipulated by emotion. So, if a person has a fear like heights, Psychologists often use conditioning or classical conditioning to help treat a person, because the fear is a learning process, and a person has to relearn which involves repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with a response. Doing this produces stimulus until the neutral stimulus elicits the same response. The visual cliff example given, is a great example of a conditioned response. If a person is influenced or is given a negative response it can contribute to fear and through life if more traumatic experiences follow eventually a person can be manipulated by the fear. The more negative reinforcement is involved the bigger the fear develops. For someone having a fear of heights, if the person knows they have to go somewhere a meeting for example, and they have to take an elevator to the 50th , floor, in that persons mind they are going to be going crazy with negative thoughts and feeling overwhelmed with anxiety. But, if the person tells themselves after it is done with â€Å"well what was the big deal? What was I so afraid of? †. That negative reinforcement turns into positive reinforcement eventually. This is known as operant conditioning. Sometimes medication for anxiety may have to be prescribed by a psychiatrist if the fear is so excessive. Talking about the fear is a good start, a psychologist can then determine if the fear was learned possibly through observation or if the fear was through a learned experience. If fear of heights is affecting a person’s environment then a change needs to be made in order help treat the fear. By using positive reinforcement and determining if the person’s behavior from the fear was caused by learning through experience or observed environmentally, it can help determine how to further treat the person. But, if the fear goes untreated the anxiety and stress from it will only grow bigger creating more of an issue for the person and being able to live their everyday lifestyle. Psychotherapy is very helpful in treating anxiety disorders and phobias . In order to treat acrophobia a person needs to find a therapist who can meet their needs. Therapists ill help focus on the best way to treat the person with this disorder, the most common way is using cognitive behavioral therapy. Restructuring a person’s thoughts into positive thoughts is another helpful tip used, and talking about the fear and identifying what is causing the fear to become so out of control, and lastly meeting on a regular basis and determining if medication is needed and seeing what the person with this fear can do in their everyday lifestyle to make themselves more comfortable until they are eventually feeling like they have control over the fear and the fear is no longer controlling them.

What Are the Principle Strengths and Weaknesses of Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches to Personality? Illustrate You Answer with at Least One Theory Associated with Each Approach.

This essay discusses the major strengths and weaknesses of nomothetic and idiographic approaches to personality with the help of associated theories. Personality is defined as the psycho-physcial traits and mechanisms within an individual, influencing their interactions and adaptability to the ‘environment’. Nomothetic and idiographic approaches are two different methods used to provide an insight into and determine the personalities of people. While both approaches are meant to further ones understanding of personality in different situations, there are significant differences as well as advantages and disadvantages for, in addition to, each method as this essay will highlight. Falk (1956) defines the nomothetic approach as a method to illuminate the laws and principles that define behaviors of a populace by interpreting general patterns which emerge, and the idiographic approach as an in-depth exploration of a subject where the understanding achieved is unique and personalized to the individual. The nomothetic approach takes on the ‘history repeats itself’ attitude as expressed by Skinner’s radical behaviorism theory divulged by his experiments on rats, pigeons etc. (Smith and Woodward, 1996). The nomothetic approach’s greatest strength lies in its ability to distinguish certain trait behaviors of a population or community. This is efficent in determining an effective solution for individuals with identical behavior patterns based on the trait theory of personality. Cattell’s (1946) 16PF trait theories, large scale studies recorded as a score on a dimension is an example of nomothetic investigation of human personality by which an individual’s personality is able to be described and generalized, as well as group behavior of same scoring individuals predicted. Research such as Milgram’s experiment and the I. Q. test suggest nomothetic notions hold true for certain behavioral principals and can be used to a certain extent to generalize groups of people. The ‘Big 5’ theory in collaboration with nomothetic data is considered satisfactory to illustrate the features of personality. This method relies heavily on trait theories of personality to predict and establish behavioral personalities for a populace. On the other hand classification of a particular populace may not hold true for a particular individual due to specific individual traits and experiences suggests Gordon Allport (Nicholson, 2000). He stated that standardized testing would not be able to examine a greater part of an individual’s personality traits thus it required focused and customized study and observation. While the nomothetic approach is relatively accurate to determine personality of general communities, it is shown to only propose surface principle behavior, not an accurate personality detail of a person. Moreover a bulky sample has to be chosen accurately to determine emerging patterns of behavior; classification might not be precise for all the people in that particular generalization. Another evident disadvantage is the classification of a person or people based on their result such as I. Q. which is show in certain situations to create bias among the society they are in. The idiographic approach is highly focused on an individual under investigation and is mostly qualitative based as opposed to the quantitative nomothetic way. It is largely based on Freud’s theories of consciousness, that each person has an I,D. , ego and super ego and that it is unique to that particular individual. The study is comprehensive and long term, highlighting a complete understanding of the subject such as Freud’s explicit and long term clinical studies of his patients, catering to their specific needs and issues rather than a general assumption of their base persona (Gay, 1988). It is shown to be a more flexible and detailed study to gain valid knowledge about the subjects being studied; Piaget was also able to unambiguously determine his children’s behavioral patterns and psyches (Auger and Rich, 2007). Idiographic approaches focus on the understanding of the structure of the mental i. e. the conscious, the unconscious and the preconscious such as George Kelly’s repertory grid technique in addition to Carl Rogers’ Q-sort procedure (Mcleod, 2007). Data gathered from idiographic research allows the creation of unique and effective treatments. The key advantage of this method is the treatment offered after research will be efficient as it has been tailored to suit the particular individuals problem. On the other hand the results derived from idiographic approaches are highly specific and cannot be generalized; they’re based on a limited sample of the population along with unreliable experimentation which makes the data gathered useless to define general characteristics of a group. The information analyzed is unique to the particular individual being studied and does not hold true globally in which case it is considered unscientific by psychologists. In conclusion, while nomothetic and idiographic approaches to personality each have their advantages and disadvantages, it is evident that the type of method used would be based on what the researcher is trying to record. To distinguish a general law of similar characteristic personalities a large, accurate sample from a populace would need to be nomotheticly studied with correlation factors as well as psychometric testing and other forms of quantitative research to drawn upon a fairly conclusive theory. While precise study of an individual, would use the informal, idiographic method to derive an acute understanding of their personality. The nomothetic approach to personality is mainly supported by the trait theories of personality and idiographic approaches to personality are backed up by psychodynamic theories of personality. The main advantages these methods have is they are predominant in their own introspective fields of research while their main downfall poses as long as they remain standalone theories.

Impact of Brand Personality on the Purchasing Decision Research Paper

Impact of Brand Personality on the Purchasing Decision - Research Paper Example During this period there were explosion of brands. Starting from mere cigarettes and soaps to luxury cars, a number of brands appeared which led human being to witness the modern form of marketing. Understanding the manner in which those marketing concepts evolved, will help to get better idea about why branded products are omnipresent nowadays. If we move back to the time when the concept of branding was unknown to human being, the theory of business was also very simple. The only criterion for being successful in trading was to manufacture superior quality products. For instance, if a company offered high quality coffee, bear or any other products, the customers were happy to buy those products. Moreover as long as the company maintained the same quality, repeat purchase was also common. It was also a time when consumers were more focused on the quality of products rather than the brand name associated with it. The report will primarily highlight the concepts of branding and the id eas related to it. In this context brand personality, brand value etc will be emphasized. Furthermore the importance and advantages of a brand will be also portrayed. The study will also analyze one of my recent purchases of a branded product. Finally the study will conclude highlighting the key areas and answering the question whether consumers often choose and use brands that have a brand personality or not. Brand & Brand Equity Traditionally the role of a brand was just about providing a name or an identity to the product (Baehrens, 2012). However presently eminent scholars such as De Mozota defined brand as the group of perceptions which is determined by both experience and communication. It can also be referred to as the addition of the characteristics of intangible and tangible which is used to make exclusive offers (DeMozota, 2003, Brand). A brand influences the perception of the customers about the company and therefore brands should be developed for its betterment (Adebola, Talabi, & Lamidi, 2012, pp.424-428). In addition, branding is also portrayed as the way by which an organization develops and delivers the propositions to the consumers. Nevertheless the assurance can be in the context of experimental enrichment, functional satisfaction or fulfillment of the aspirations (Baker, 2012, p.376). Usually, a brand is developed on the basis of 5 factors. They are design, positioning, customer relationship, storytelling and price (Healey, 2008, p.8). Some of the illustrious branded products are Nescafe, Marlboro-Clove, Kindle, Gucci, Apple, Samsung and Turtle among many others. In the similar approach brand value has also been identified as the biggest asset of the companies. It can be defined as extra cash flow earned by relating a brand with the goods and services (Aaker & Biel, 1993, p.69). Brand Personality Brand personality in simple terms can be defined as the way by which a brand speaks or how it behaves. It is process by which a brand is assigned w ith the human characteristics or personality traits with the brand in order to achieve some kind of differentiation to the product. These characteristics in turn signify the brand behavior with the help of its representatives. The representatives of a brand are the employees of the organization and packaging & advertisements of the company.