To find out whether consumer confidence in online purchasing has Essay

To find out whether consumer confidence in online purchasing has increased or decreased over the last few years - Essay Example n evaluating the trends of online buying (as identified through the empirical research made on the specific issue); even the indications regarding the consumer preferences around the world – regarding the goods/ services offered online – seem to present significant differentiations. In most cases, the motives that lead consumers to purchase online are not clearly identified; however confidence has been proved to be a quite important criterion on which the decision of consumers to purchase online is based. The above assumption is proved not only through the studies published in the literature but also through the empirical research conducted for this paper. More specifically, a high number of consumers (approximately 185) have participated in a survey that has been conducted online; the results indicate that when having to purchase a specific good or service, consumers think first its potential availability in the Internet; if the specific good/ product is available onli ne then it will be preferred by the consumers; of course the relevant decision is always based on specific criteria (quality of the product, price, availability and so on) but mostly on the confidence of the consumer on the particular firm; the development of this confidence through the last years is analytically examined in this study. The development of Internet around the world has offered a significant support to all commercial firms that have chosen to enter the WWW in order to promote their activities. The level of improvement of corporate activities because of the intervention of Internet cannot be precisely estimated – different levels of success have been noticed across the various firms in modern market in accordance with the preparations made by their managers towards the incorporation of Internet as a valuable strategic tool as well as the perceptions of consumers towards the relevant efforts. In other words, it is possible that operating through the Internet is profitable for the

Biografy of William Sharespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Biografy of William Sharespeare - Essay Example He must have formed his great love of literature from reading the classical Roman writers. Not much is known about Shakespeare’s teenage years but it is likely that the worked in some field connected with acting and the theater, and very possibly like modern actors had to support his acting ambitions with other odd jobs as he went along. It is clear from his later writings that he gained a lot of knowledge about many different trades and common people, and this suggests that he learned practical things as well as his literary skills. Thanks to surviving church records it is possible to establish the fact that during this period he also got married to a woman called Anne Hathaway. She was considerably older than William Shakespeare, and was already pregnant when the wedding took place in 1582. The first baby was a girl, and then there were girl and boy twins after that but Shakespeare abandoned his family in Stratford to seek his fortune in the much bigger city of London. Sadly the boy twin, Hamnet, died at the age of eleven and not much is known of what happened to the other children. By the end of 1592 Shakespeare was an established actor, performing in London and other towns with a group of actors called â€Å"The Chamberlain’s Men† who in those days were known as â€Å"players.† In this period in England theaters were often closed down because of plague, and Shakespeare therefore had time to gather and read books and plays which would later inspire his own writing. He appears to have been very successful a player: â€Å"There is proof that Shakespeare had performed with the Chamberlain’s Men before Elizabeth 1 on several occasions.† (Mabillard, section headed â€Å"Shakespeare the Actor and Playwright†). In the middle of his life Shakespeare began writing sonnets and non-dramatic poems and then he began to write historical plays, comedies and tragedies in the period from 1590 to 1612. Some of the exact dates a re difficult to pin down because the historical record is not complete. There are also several versions of some plays, and the authorship of some of these has been disputed over the years by scholars. The general consensus is that he wrote thirty seven plays but it is possible also that he wrote fewer than this, or that he wrote and collaborated on more than this. The majority are comedies, but some of his most memoral work like Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and Othello are tragedies. Even the tragedies and historical plays contain elements of humor in them also, and Shakespeare was well known for his ability to weave silly and serious plotlines together. Mabillard identifies four features which characterize Shakespeare’s literary style and guaranteed his popularity both during his own lifetime and in the centuries since his death: â€Å"Illumination of the Human Experience†¦ Great Stories †¦ Compelling Characters†¦ and the ability to turn a phrase.† (Mabillard: section entitled Why Study Shakespeare) He was quickly recognized as a man of genius, and his plays became a major part of English and later also world culture. His innovative use of language entertained the people of his own time but then also became part of the English language, as for example phrases like â€Å"band of brothers† and â€Å"the green-eyed monster† which we still use today. There is no firm evidence of the way that

Difficulties in Developing Petroleum Industry in Vietnam

Difficulties in Developing Petroleum Industry in Vietnam by Nguyen Duc Anh Tuan Introduction Nowadays, in the developing era with fast pace, those agricultural countries, particularly Vietnam, might not only focus on improving the agriculture but also pay attention to developing the industrial area. More specifically, Vietnam has been concentrating on how to develop the gas and oil industry recently. However, the country is still facing a lot of difficulties. This essay will discuss in depth about what are the problems and point out the potential causes for those challenges base on three questions: What are the reasons causing difficulties for the development? What are the effects of these problems for Viet Nam? What are possible solutions to resolve these problems? Definition of oil and gas According to the Vietnam Oil and Gas Law (1993) Oil and gas means crude oil, natural gas and hydrocarbons in gaseous, liquid or solid in its natural state except coal, shale, bitumen or other minerals can be extracted oil. Oil and gas activities is active exploration, development and mining of petroleum, including direct service activities for these activities. There are many oil and gas activities dividing into different areas. Situation of petroleum industry in Viet Nam The petroleum industry contributed most amount of foreign currency to serve the economy as electricity and gas, gasoline and clean energy. Recently, the National Oil and Gas Group Vietnam (PVN) has provided nearly 35 billion m3 of dry gas production, 40% of national electricity production, 35-40% urea demand and supply 70 % of LPG demand for industrial development and consumer welfare. Raw oil export has a strong growth and stability, greatly contributes to country exports, especially in earlier periods, averaging about 15%. Currently, this proportion has decreased and only at about 7.5. Although total exports are declining but oil and gas industry is still keeping the unit contribution at about 18-22% of total national GDP. (tapchitaichinh.vn, 2012) Causes and effects causing difficulties for the development First of all, it can be denied that there has been a lack of technology which put gas and oil industry of Vietnam under difficulty. After a long time being an agriculture focus country, Vietnam has decided to change and transform into an industrial country. Obviously, that decision may lead to the fact that the country might lack skills and technology to adapt to this industry. One of the main weaknesses of our country is that the government might not have enough capital to invest into developing and updating technologies. Prices of various types of equipment, supplies, fuel and services primarily are related to production and business activities which make investments more complicated. Vietnam oil and gas industry today is quite young with limited human resource capacity to supply so that it cannot meet demand. Our country mainly exports crude oil and imports refined oil to serve local demand. There are some refineries that went into operation as the Dung Quat oil refinery, Nghi Son refinery but only supply about 35% of domestic demand. Meanwhile, demand for petroleum products is increasing, not only in the short term but in the long term due to the population explosion and the continuous growth of the industry, especially the acceleration of the transport sector needs to do more According to OPEC, demand for petroleum fuels is increasing rapidly, especially in developing countries, and by 2025, the supply will not meet the demand. Moreover, increasing oil prices also have a tremendous impact on the development of this industry Those reasons above have led to human resource in gas and oil industry became more expensive. That led to the significant increase in the number of people who wish to work in the oil and gas sector. Many students said that they are studying the oil industry not only because of higher salaries, simply because of the fact that oil industry is considered to be the solutions for the future of the energy industry. However, Vietnam labor market is a serious imbalance between sectors and areas. We have abundant unskilled labor and a lot of labor who have shortage of Technical Skill. According to Mr. Hoang Nhat Thong (Office of the General Department of Sea and Islands), the economy in general marine, oil and gas industry in particular, is a severe manpower shortage will affect only the maritime economy and coastal contribute about 53-55% of the total GDP of the country in 2020. Urgent solutions Oil and gas industry is the field has to combine all of those technologies and sciences like astronomy, tides, marine sciences, construction and installation of offshore structures such as rigs, pipelines, tanks, drilling into the ground, the work of geology, geophysics, exploration of the stratigraphy†¦ Therefore, the application of science and technology in the oil and gas activities can ensure high efficiency, save natural resources, enhance oil recovery factor and other resources saving as well as protect ecological resources. Therefore we have to build human resources management system according to international standards, which include the application of information technology systems, mapping capabilities, the standard title, system evaluation, payment regulation, bonuses, rules and criteria for recruitment to appoint the head, proper planning and appropriate building standards, criteria representatives and representatives of Petro Vietnam stake in the oil and gas activities in the country and foreign pilot who runs accordance with the Law on Enterprises. For tax policy should define equality between domestic service with service by foreign companies perform as VAT, import duty, †¦ It should have clear policies and encourage oil and gas activities in the deep water offshore exploration and exploitation of natural gas tax policy should be adjusted based on the refinery and in the planning to compete with imported products, policies for gas and electricity prices should approach the market mechanism . Have appropriate policies related to arrange key capital projects through: Grant, loan guarantee and ensure currency converter to facilitate in arranging loans for major projects the state level, support preferential loans from the Development Bank minimum of 20% to 30% of total investment projects focus on oil and gas.(Pvcfc.vn, 2014) Evaluation Obviously, to develop gas and oil industry, it is important to fully invest in all areas however, all of those solutions have pros and cons themselves. All of the above mentioned solutions usually take long time and a lot of money to consider, improve and implement, especially investing in technologies and human resources. However, once those two are on set, they will have a great impact on this industry. Besides that, probably they do not take as much time as changing the country’s policy since it is much harder to change the whole country’s system. Finally, maybe gas and oil industry should go with technologies first since it is mandatory for such an industry. Regarding to human resources, we recently identified human resource as one of the most important factors to make decisions in production and business activities as well as drive force development of any society, particularly in the oil and gas industry it is also reflected in the work environment , in terms of general science, technology, international environment and different cultures. Conclusion Even though it is clear to say that gas and oil industry is still facing a lot of challenge if the government of Vietnam wants to develop this kind of industry more. In that case, they should consider about how to raise enough capital to invest in equipment, to cover potential loss and to recruit right people. However, it cannot be denied that this area of industry is very attractive for investor therefore Vietnam can also hope for big investment from foreign country to develop gas and oil industry. References: moj.gov.vn (1993), Luà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­t dà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ §u khà ­ năm 1993 (online). Available at http://www.moj.gov.vn/vbpq/Lists/Vn%20bn%20php%20lut/View_Detail.aspx?ItemID=10817 [Accessed 24 Dec 2014] Nang Luong Viet Nam (2014), Ngà  nh Dà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ §u khà ­ Vià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡t Nam trÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºc thà ¡ch thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c an ninh năng lÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £ng quà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœc gia (online). Available at http://nangluongvietnam.vn/news/vn/dau-khi-viet-nam/nganh-dau-khi-viet-nam-truoc-thach-thuc-an-ninh-nang-luong-quoc-gia.html [Accessed 19 Dec 2014] Pvcfc.vn (2014), Chià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n lÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c phà ¡t trià ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™n ngà  nh Dà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ §u khà ­ Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿n năm 2020: Nhà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯ng già ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £i phà ¡p cÆ ¡ bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £n (online). Available at http://www.pvcfc.com.vn/article-detail.aspx?id=41 [Accessed 18 Dec 2014] tapchitaichinh.vn (2012), Ngà  nh Dà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ §u khà ­ Vià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡t Nam: Tià ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ m năng là ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºn, tăng trÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã… ¸ng cao (online). Available at http://www.tapchitaichinh.vn/Chung-khoan/Nganh-Dau-khi-Viet-Nam-Tiem-nang-lon-tang-truong-cao/14143.tctc [Accessed 19 Dec 2014] tiasang.com.vn (2007), Khà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ §ng hoà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £ng năng lÆ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £ng là ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ §n thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ © 3 [online]. Available at http://tiasang.com.vn/Default.aspx?tabid=62News=1648CategoryID=7 [Accessed 23 Dec 2014] tuyendungthuyenvien.com.vn (2014). Ngà  nh dà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ §u khà ­ và   vià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡c tuyà ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™n dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥ng thuyà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n vià ªn tà  u dà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ §u (online). Available at http://www.tuyendungthuyenvien.com.vn/2014/10/nganh-dau-khi-va-viec-tuyen-dung-thuyen.html [Accessed 24 Dec 2014]

Love Story :: essays research papers

I was born into a non-Christian family. We thought we were Christians, because we used to go to church on Sundays. But we didn't know about the Bible verse that says we must be â€Å"born again† if we ever want to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Even if we'd heard it, we never stopped to think about how we could get â€Å"born again†. I got a job in a music store. Christine was a sales clerk there. She was one of the sweetest, most honest people I had come across up to that time. And she was open about being a Christian. I could see there was something different about her, and I was sure it had something to do with her Christianity. Her self-assurance, peace, and love for Jesus Christ made a strong impact on me. When I left the music store I got an office job. A young woman there, named Ruth, reminded me of Christine from my former job. It wasn't long before I found out that Ruth was a Christian too. I think these two young women were the only â€Å"born-again† Christians I had ever met up to that time, and they both stood out in a wonderful way. Ruth used to ask me about my beliefs, and I would ask her about hers. Whenever I asked her a question she didn't know the answer to, she said she would ask her pastor and get back to me with the answer. She always did. On the other hand, whenever she asked me a question I couldn't answer I would try to bluff my way through. I made some stupid comments to her at times, and looking back I don't know how she stopped herself from laughing at me. I guess it was her respectful Christian upbringing. I once told her that everyone in the world had been Roman Catholic until the time of Martin Luther. Ruth had no trouble demolishing that argument. In fact, she had no trouble demolishing all my arguments. Ruth was a happy person. She was always doing something exciting with her church youth group while I was doing little with my friends at all. Even after we both left that job, she kept in touch with me a few times, and made it clear that my spiritual life concerned her. Then events started happening in my life that kept me wondering whether I was missing something by not being a Christian.

Criticism of V for Vendetta

Criticism on V for Vendetta â€Å"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot† is the sentence that begins the film. â€Å"V for Vendetta† is a story of vengeance against the government in England. V is a man that was being held in a concentration camp and suffers from the experimentation by the hands of the scientists’ government. Then, he destroys and escapes from the facility and slowly hunts down his tormentors and gathers the citizens of England to form revolutionaries towards the totalitarian government (Armstrong, 2006).After that, he turns out to be a terrorist that wear dark clothes and a Guy Fawkes mask that murder and explode buildings with his tricks in order to achieve his goals. Then, he saves a girl, Evey, which is being abuse by the government’s rape-hungry secret police known as â€Å"Fingermen†. He made Evey to be his supporter and pr oceed his strategy on governmental destruction well by awaken and empower the people of England to form a revolution. He convinces the people by saying, â€Å"If you want to see who is responsible, look no further than a mirror,† he tells the country’s citizens. I understand, you were afraid,† he says by way of forgiving them. It’s the people who put Britain’s corrupt, hate-driven government in power, and it’s the people who must stop it. â€Å"People should not be afraid of their governments,† pronounces V, â€Å"governments should be afraid of their people† (Tyler, 2012). In fact, there are ideas in this film which relates to the mass society theory in terms of society and politics. For instances, V’s belief stated that, â€Å"People should not be afraid of their governments.Governments should be afraid of their people†. Hence, this film can be strongly influence the society to use the idea of forming a revolutio n to against the monarchs of their particular country. Consequently, the film director, James McTeigue, noted that, â€Å"We felt the [graphic] novel was very prescient to how the political climate is at the moment. It really showed what can happen when society is ruled by  government, rather than the government being run as a voice of the people† (Ott, 2010).Besides that, another idea that is being point out from this film â€Å"Politicians lie to hide the truth, artists tell lies to reveal it† (Tyler, 2012). From that sentence, it is assuming that politicians tend to cover up their wrongdoings by many lies meanwhile artists uses lies to reveal the truth in something. Thus, this may create a perception from all the audiences who have watched this film that politicians are not very trustable and deceitful. According to Ott (2010), he conducted a study on the role of political affect in cinema by analyzing â€Å"V for Vendetta†.He argued that, â€Å"Vendetta h as an array of visceral resonances, pulsations, intensities, and sensations to invites viewers to reject a politics of apathy in favor of a politics of democratic struggle†. Furthermore, he also mentioned that in this film it has a relationship with politics and mass. In political rhetoric, the film would urged audiences not to keep silent as their rights and liberties were being restrict and also empowered them to speak out against their government. In conclusion, â€Å"V for Vendetta† film is one of the true examples on how the society will be influence by the idea of the film is illustrating.By relating this film with the mass society theory, it has the significant connection between political and society. References Armstrong, A. (2006, March 17). V's Vendetta Can't Ground Freedom. Retrieved June 14, 2012, from Colorado Freedom Report: http://www. freecolorado. com/2006/03/vendetta. html Ott, B. L. (2010). The Visceral Politics of V for Vendetta: On Political Affect in Cinema. Critical Studies in Media Communication , 39-54. Tyler, J. (2012). V for Vendetta. Retrieved June 14, 2012, from CinemaBlend. com: http://www. cinemablend. com/reviews/V-for-Vendetta-1472. html

Project submitted in partial fulfillment Essay

Declarations I declare that the material contained in this project is the end result of my own work and that due acknowledgement has been given in the bibliography and references to ALL sources be they printed, electronic or personal. Abstract The current research is an investigation of contemporary literature on product placement and validating these against the results of the survey herein used. The latter involved 100 international students who are also movie-goers. Product placement has been investigated in terms of its benefits to its benefits before moving on to its history and how it has become to what it is today. The different facets of product placement were assessed in terms of its impact on movie goers. Moreover the current study made use of a questionnaire as a means of data gathering. The respondents have been randomly selected, and made to answer a product placement questionnaire focusing on the movie Transformers. The results of the survey suggest that product placement is an effective form of advertising regardless of its form. In addition, since the movie has longer life span than other types of advertisements, this makes product placement more desireable and more effective. Just in the case of this paper, a study of the movie Transformers reveal that indeed, many of those who were surveyed has seen the movie. Perhaps they have seen it in movie theatres. But even if its already not yet showing, some were still able to see it since it is available in other forms such as DVD and VCD. Most of the respondents were still able to recall one of the main characters in the movie – Bumblebee – suggesting that it is able to increase brand recall. When most of them say they would buy the brand they recalled and only very few said they wouldn’t because they do not trust the brand, it can therefore be said that indeed, product placement is very effective. In conclusion, product placement is an effective means of encouraging recall and raises the probability of an actual purchase. List of Tables    Table 4-1:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: Have you seen the movie â€Å"Transformers?† Table 4- 2:   Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: If you haven’t seen Transformers, to what extent are you familiar with it? Table 4-3:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: What type of car is autobot bumblebee? Table 4-4:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: What type of car was the evil decepticon police car? Table 4-5:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: Suppose you have no financial restrictions (i.e., you can buy any car   you want), rate the probability of you choosing the following car? Table4- 6:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: Name a brand you have seen in the movies recently. Describe how it was shown. (e.g. worn by a villain, advertised on film, actually used on film, you saw the logo) Table 4-7:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: How vividly can you remember the details of this brand? Table 4-8:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: How did this brand appear in the movie? Table 4-9:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Responses on Question: Was this brand at the center of the story? Table 4-10:   Ã‚   Responses on Question: Was there audio and visuals associated with this brand? Table 4-11:   Ã‚   Responses on Question: How long was its duration on screen? Table 4-12-1: Responses on Question: Did you actually purchase the brand? Table 4-12-2: Responses on Question: What could be the possible reason for not purchasing the brand which you purchased? Table 4-13:   Ã‚   Responses on Question: Did you notice anything new product from this brand after you have watched the movie in the billboards and TV commercials? Table 4-14:   Ã‚   Do you think you would have noticed it if you hadn’t watched the movie? Table 4-15:   Ã‚   How much did you enjoy the movie? Table 4-16:   Ã‚   Do you think advertising using product placement works

Bonfire of the Vanities essays

Bonfire of the Vanities essays I recently read the book Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. Mr. Wolfe holds a doctorate in American Studies from Yale University and is the author of many non fiction books such as The Right Stuff, In Our Time, and Clutter and Vine. Bonfire of the Vanities was his first fiction work. This book was published by Bantam Books Inc. and was I believe the theme of this book to be true to oneself and trust no one but oneself. It is show many times in this book that people will go below their morals simply for personal advancement. It is also shown that human nature allows for many changes of The main character in this book is Sherman McCoy. Sherman begins the story as a wealthy bonds salesmen living in a $3,200,000 apartment on Park Avenue. Sherman refers to himself as Master of the Universe many times throughout the story. This shows his feelings of superiority over the rest of the human race. Sherman was well brought up and from all the right schools. His father is a retired, wealthy, successful businessman that is well respected throughout the world. Shermans wife, Judy, is somewhat cool too him. She is very extravagant and gives the impression that she may be in the marriage simply for the money. Their daughter Campbell is six when the story begins and is very innocent to the ways of the world. Maria Ruskin is a young woman of about thirty who is married to Arthur Ruskin, a wealthy man of about sixty. Maria and Sherman are in the process of a drawn out affair when the story begins. This book tells about the events that occur in New York City over the course of a year. This story begins when Sherman and Maria go out on a date one evening and end up lost in the Bronx. As they are coming through a run-down neighborhood in Shermans black Mercedes, two African-American teenage boys approach the car. ...