Effectiveness Of Online Marketing Tools Marketing Essay

Effectiveness Of Online Marketing Tools Marketing Essay The present research paper is looking into effectiveness of online marketing tools on B2C websites. In this section a background in e-commerce, online marketing and online customers is provided in order to give the reader an introduction. Background nnnnnnnnnnn 1.1.1. E-commerce The development of the information communication technologies has brought changes to the way of doing business and lead to the birth of electronic commerce. Chaffey (2006) defined E-commerce as both financial and informational electronically mediated transactions between an organization and any third party it deals with. By the nature of business transactions, e-commerce can be classified into business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), consumer-to-business (C2B), and intra-organizational e-commerce (Dou Chou 2002). Business to consumer (B2C), the focus of our research, is defined by Chaffey (2006) as, commercial transactions between an organization and consumers. E-commerce transactions have grown significantly during the past years (Grover Teng, 2001) and are expected to continue growing with double-digit annual growth rates (Daniels, Sehgal, Vogel, 2008). According to Mulpura (2008) Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce and online retail sales reached $175 billion in 2007 and are predicted to reach $204 billion in 2008, $235.4 billion in 2009, $267.8 billion in 2010, $301 billion in 2011, and $334.7 billion in 2012. One of the main reasons for the growth of B2C e-commerce is increasing number of internet users (Oppenheim, 2006). 1.1.2. Online Marketing Internet created new ways of doing business for the companies but Internet is not only a place for buyers and sellers to discover product information; it also plays a role of intermediary (Bailey Bakos, 1997). Ab Hamid (2008) states that; The emergence of Internet technology, particularly the World Wide Web, as an electronic medium of commerce offers new opportunities to industries to adopt the Internet as their alternative marketing tools (or as the only marketing channel). There is still no widespread agreement regarding the nomenclature used to describe marketing through internet and terms such as hypermedia marketing, digital marketing, online marketing and e-marketing, have all been used at one time or another (Dholakia, 2005). Online marketing term will be used in our research. Elley and Tilley (2009) described online marketing as promotional activity on the internet, including email that can take many forms, including search engine marketing, email marketing, online advertising, social media, and affiliate marketing. These online marketing tools became one of the important communication tools for the companies to promote services and products in todays economy. Shankar Batra (2009) states, Marketing communications through the online medium are growing rapidly and The role of online marketing communications in the marketing mix is constantly evolving Shankar and (Hollinger, 2007). These views are also motivated by Reedy (2000) and he says online c ommunications tools are started become an important ingredient in the promotional mix and its 1.1.3. Online customers The Internet is no longer a novelty in the minds of todays population as it is the access to it. In fact, the Internet and digital information have taken over many aspects of our lives from communication to information consumption to new ways of doing business. It has reinvented our vocabulary and gave new meanings to words in cyberspace, for example surfing, visitors, hits or navigate (Dobrowolski 2000). These changes in meaning can be discovered as well in the word user; it can mean a surfer or a visitor. Now, in the 21th century, borders represented by gender, occupation and education in using or navigating the Internet and other digital mediums have been sponged away by habit, supported by changes in system technologies. So surfing the Internet, texting a mobile message or reading an online magazine is opened and, in fact, used by elderly, children or unemployed and technologies have become more mobile, real-time and interactive to support those behaviors. (Nicholas and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. 2003) By now, it is a common knowledge that consumers of all ages shop online, but as Silverman (2000) and Seock (2008) point out, college students with ages between 18 and 22 are the hottest market and can be the main customers to generate revenue and growth for online sales. The common trait argued in Seocks (2008) research is that although college students are avid information seekers though the internet, the conversion rate to online buyers is very low, only 4,9 % from general online visitors buy also the products online (Kerner 2005). InternetWorldStats shows that, in 2010, 92,5% of Swedens population was using the Internet, making it one of the most developed Internet and broadband markets in the EU, a so called online nation  [1]  . All members of the age group 15 to 24 year old is using the Internet on a daily basis with an average of 155 minutes online per day  [2]  , but it is only the 3rd biggest age group that is actually shopping online, 72% of Swedish males aged 16 to 24 have purchased online in 2010, whereas 82% of the 25-34 female users have purchased in the last year  [3]  . The trends in connectivity and being online also differ with age group. According to Internetstatistik.se, 15 to 24 year olds are more avid consumer of social media (66%) than e-mail (44%)  [4]  , which just emphasizes even more the need of new insight into what Shop.org names as social commerce. The problem arises into how to blend new social media and other new technologies into an effective online marketing strategy in order to obtain the wanted conversion from online visitors to online customers. What comes after building a Facebook company account, twittering about the new promotion and optimizing your website? 1.1.4. Effectiveness New technologies have changed the ways customers and companies relate to one another and has challenged the traditional process of transactions and the way communications between consumers and companies are managed (Ozuem, Howell and Lancaster, 2008). When evaluating this new technologies, it is important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of traditional and new channels as well as, from a managers point of view, translate them into effectiveness (Danaher and Rossiter, 2011). Companies are not using the whole potential of online marketing tools although they perceive them as effective (Teo 2005). However, measuring marketing effectiveness poses numerous challenges due to the multitude of possible metrics for assessing effectiveness (Gray, 2006). Chaffey (2009) translates effectiveness as doing the right thing and from a practical point of view producing the required outputs and outcomes. Kierzkowski, McQuade, Waitman and Zeissler (1996) expresses 5 wanted outcomes from a marketers point of view attract customers, engage customers, retain customers, learn about customers and relate to customers. It is critical for companies to know; how do they attract customers to their website, engage them to turn into paying customers and also retain them to keep returning to your website. Chaffey 2009 states Online communications techniques used to achieve goals of brand awareness, familiarity and favorability and to influence purchase intent by encouraging users of digital media to visit a web site to engage with the brand or product and ultimately to purchase online or offline through traditional media channels such as by phone or in-store. As Teo (2005) has established in his research, effectiveness does not have to translate necessarily only into revenue, but it can be measured in building customer relationships, traffic on the companys website or another outcome that satisfies management. Our research will use the same 5 points outcome from Kierzkowski, McQuade, Waitman and Zeissler (1996) and will explore the different ways customers reach companies via internet. 1.2. Problem Discussion What is the problem? (Borrowed or created) Today, companies realized the potential of e-commerce and most of them already started to make use of this technology. Ã…Â  Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ eulovs and Gaile-Sarkane (2010) state that, E-commerce has now become a key component of many companies in the daily running of their businesses. Thus, the e-marketing component of a companys marketing strategy has grown in importance; Baker (2007) states that, In a short period of time, e-marketing has become a facet of marketing that cannot be ignored. New developments on internet technologies enables new ways of marketing, communication, gathering customer opinions and experiences about products, services and firms, and also allows personalized one-to-one marketing (Li and Bernoff, 2008). Marketers are faced now with two important questions that they have to answer regarding: Which online marketing tools to use for the wanted outcome? Andrews, et al. (2007 cited in Ab. Hamid, 2008) point out that for firms the increased importance of Internet channels can be seen in its contribution to disseminating information, enhancing consumer value, improving consumer satisfaction, loyalty and retention as well as consumer perception which in turn leads to better profitability and expanded market share. How to integrate them in the overall company strategy? Baker (2007) noted that, marketers need to carefully assess the significance of e-marketing and assimilate it, as appropriate, into all aspects of marketing from strategy and planning to marketing research, objectives setting, buyer behavior, marketing communications and the marketing mix. Given that the Internet has not only changed the way companies do business, but as well consumers behavior to shop or to look for information, the matter of effectiveness of online tools arises. Online marketing tools need to be identified well by the companies and marketers should validate the economics of their promotional activities against their effectiveness ( McQuade, S. (1996). In addition, the specific characteristics of the world wide web (traditional barriers of communication are broken, information and competition just at a click away) often result in a question that we will try to answer in this research: Research question: What tools are effective in attracting, retaining and engaging customers? 1.3. Research Problem Questions that are developed from problem Which online tools are customers responding to? How effective is the online marketing tools to attract online customers? How effective is the online marketing tools to engage online customers? How effective is the online marketing tools to retain online customers? Starting from an existing study on digital marketing, we have chosen to apply a similar model into a quantitative research that is questioning students in Sweden about the effectiveness of digital marketing tools. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of online marketing tools of B2C websites in Sweden. 2. Literature Overview This section will present review of relevant literature relating to our research. We will identify the theoretical base on which our study will be built. What to base the study on? 2.1. E-commerce and B2C Digital technology, particularly the internet, has been described as an enabler of a global marketplace, characterised by equal access to information about products, prices, and distribution (Strauss et al., 2006). According to Chaffey (2009) e-commerce is all electronically mediated transactions between an organization and any third party it deals with. According to this definition non-financial transactions can be considered to be part of e-commerce. Chaffey (2009) Business-to-consumer (B2C) markets have made a significant contribution to the commercial development of the Internet encouraging wide-scale use of computer networks by a diverse and increasingly global range of consumers 2.2. Online Marketing Elley and Tilley (2009) defined online marketing as promotional activity on the internet, including email that can take many forms, including search engine marketing, email marketing, online advertising, social media, and affiliate marketing. McQuade, S. (1996) states that there are several success factors for companies to be able to successful in the online market, these five factors are Attract users. Engage users interest and participation. Retain users and ensure they return to an application. Learn about their preferences. Relate back to them to provide the sort of customized interactions that represent the true value bubble of digital marketing. e-marketing is the strategy that the agency or organization uses the modern communication technical methods to exchange the potential market into reality market. The e-marketing is that we can use internet making continuously services in the every step of products pre-selling, products selling and products after-selling. It runs in the whole process of business operating and includes searching for new customers, services for old customers. 2.2.1. Attracting McQuade (1996) states that the current clutter on the Internet virtually ensures that the build it and they will come model is insufficient to draw consumers, marketers need to actively attract users in the first place. Chaffey (2009+) Before an organization can acquire customers through the content on its site, it must, of course, develop marketing communication strategies to attract visitors to the web site. Reed (2010) states online marketing drives traffic to your site and he also mentions this is probably the single biggest reason for using online marketing. Baker (2009) states that; to bring in the customers, companies must ensure their website is visible to customers thats why companies first priority is to be ensure their website is Search Engine Optimized. Banner and display advertisement is another important marketing tool that generate traffic and increase the views of your website. Social media tools generate traffic to your website and its also very important tool to engage current customers. Baker (2009) states Social media can deliver new customers, but primarily is a terrific tool to communicate and engage current customers. Engagement is driven by good design and good content. The biggest explosion in this area has been the growth of online video to drive the message of business and products across in a dynamic way. A recent survey by Yahoo Pew has shown video can increase e-commerce purchases by up to 40 percent. According to Chaffey (2009) online marketing focus on three main activities; customer acquisition (attracting site visitor), conversion (generating leads and sales), and retention (encouraging the continued use of digital channels). Reed (2010) states online marketing is an important tool and lists why it works for companies: Online marketing drives traffic to your site: This is probably the single biggest reason for using online marketing. Creates new ways to connect with your market: companies will become visible to a new set of prospects. Builds trust: your clients and customers can get to know you through your online presence. Starts a conversation: A two way of dialogue with your customers and prospects is much more effective than a one-way broadcast of your marketing message. Creates value: If you can create a useful resource or interesting content targeted at your niche, they will keep coming back for more. Builds communities and relationships. Online marketing communications defined by Chaffey 2009 as Online communications techniques used to achieve goals of brand awareness, familiarity and favourability and to influence purchase intent by encouraging users of digital media to visit a web site to engage with the brand or product and ultimately to purchase online or offline through traditional media channels such as by phone or in-store. 2.2.2. Engaging 2.2.3. Retaining 2.3. Online Marketing Communications There are several online marketing tools to attract customers and each tool must be chosen and applied carefully by the companies. online marketing tools available for b2c companies Developing the capability to create and maintain an effective online presence through a web site is a key part of Internet marketing. Effective means that the web site and related communications must deliver relevance to its audience, whether this be through news content for a portal, product and service information for a business-to-business site or relevant products and offers for an e-commerce site. At the same time, effective means the web site must deliver results for the company. 2.3.1. Social Media Social media is defined as a group of Internet-based applications such as blogs, social networking sites, content communities, collaborative projects, virtual game worlds and social worlds that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content (Kaplan Haenlein, 2010). The social media marketing connects service providers, companies and corporations with a broad audience of influencers and consumers (Weinberg 2009, 2-3.). Frick (2010) states that, When you share content on social profiles and your network of friends in turn share it as well, the potential for reaching huge numbers of people with little effort and in a small amount of time could be construed as a tangible business transaction, at least in terms of its marketing potential. Increasing usage of social media and networks created new ways of marketing of products and services. According to Black, Harrison et. Al. (2010) the uptake in use of social media tools is currently rising extremely quickly, Facebook now has over 400 million users and Twitter over 50 million. With these high potentials companies realized the importance of social media and social media started to become a new way to reach potential customers. Kaplan (2010) states that each Social Media application usually attracts a certain group of people and firms should be active wherever their customers are present. A research done by Digital Brand Expressions indicates that 78 percent of client companies actively utilizing social media (sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) and only 41 percent of the respondents strategic social media communications plan  [5]  . 2.3.2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) 2.3.3. Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of identifying and fine-tuning elements and keywords of a Website to improve the traffic in order to reach the highest possible visibility from search engines. Hernà ¡ndez et al (2009) states that, SEO tool tries to capture users who are actively looking for information about a product related to the firm, which converts them into potential clients openly expressing their needs. So SEO is the first thing to tick on your list and its worth remembering that 50 percent of all online purchases start with a search. SEO is a great tool to create brand awareness and increase the website visits. Highest ranking in search engines can attract more visitors to the website. According to Evans (2007) more than half of all visitors come from a search engine rather than from a direct link on another web page. 2.3.4. Mobile Marketing Shankar and Balasubramanian (2009) define Mobile marketing as a two- or multi-way communication and promotion of an offer between a firm and its customers using a mobile medium, device, or technology. Marketing through mobile devices can be used to attract new customers or to retain them. Lubbe and Louw (2010) states that, Mobile devices create an opportunity to deliver new services to existing customers and to attract new ones. Shankar et al. (2010) states that is improving the acquisition and enhancing the retention of customers is an important challenge in the mobile marketing context and the retailers need to better understand social networking to attract and retain customers. Mobile marketing is taking off as more consumers are increasingly becoming dependent on their mobile device for their day-to-day needs, including music, voice and data communication, and photography (Shankar and Balasubramanian 2009). 2.3.5. Affiliate Marketing Chaffey (2009) defines affiliate marketing as a commission based arrangement where referring sites (publishers) receive a commission on sales or leads by merchants (retailers or other transactional sites). He also states that Web site traffic can be developed through online partnerships such as affiliate marketing which involves partners being paid commission for each sale or lead. Affiliate marketing programs help firms to increase their reach and acquire other firms customers when the firms agree to refer their customers to the third parties (Akà §ura, 2010). 2.3.6. Display (Banner) Advertising Display ads are paid ad placements using graphical or rich media ad units within a web page to achieve goals of delivering brand awareness, familiarity, favourability and purchase intent. Many ads encourage interactioÄ ±n through prompting the viewer to interact or rollover to play videos, complete an online form or to view more details by clicking through to a site. Chaffey 2009 2.3.7. Permission E-mail marketing A wide variety of e-commerce marketers are using permission-based e-mail communications to notify prospects of promotions and services, acquire new customers, increase sales, and, most importantly, develop and nurture an ongoing dialogue and relationship with their customers. LOrà ©als brand Lancà ´me uses email newsletters to keep in touch with customers and hence strengthen their brand loyalty (Merisavo and Raulas 2004). The consumers exposed to e-mail marketing recommended the brand to their friends. E-mail also activated consumers to visit retail stores, buy the brands products, and visit the brands site on the internet via links. Brand attitudes were also positive among consumers who had received e-mail. The data show that consumers with higher brand loyalty appreciate regular communication from the brand more than the less loyal. From this we conclude that e-mail offers marketers an opportunity to further strengthen the brand loyalty of already loyal customers by keeping in frequent contact with them. 2.3.8. Online PR Subscription and Feed tools. RSS etc. Social Media Membership Dynamic content 2.3.9. Viral Marketing Viral marketing for the real world. Chaffey and Smith (2008) states that Viral marketing harnesses the network effect of the Internet and can be effective in reaching a large number of people rapidly in the same way as a computer virus can affect many machines around the world. With viral techniques, traffic is built either through using e-mail (virtual word-of-mouth) or real-world word-of-mouth to spread the message from one person to the next (Chaffey and Smith, 2008). BLENDTEC CASE STUDY 2.3.10. Permission E- mail Marketing E-mail is most widely used as a prospect conversion and customer retention tool using an opt-in house-list of prospects and customers who have given permission to a company to contact them (Chaffey and Smith, 2008). For example, Lastminute.com has built a house list of over ten million prospects and customers across Europe. 2.3.11. Online PR Maximising favourable mentions of your company, brands, products or web sites on third-party web sites which are likely to be visited by your target audience. (Chaffey, 2006). According to Chaffey (2006) online PR include: Communicating with media (journalists) online: setting up a press-release area on the web site; creating e-mail alerts about news that journalists and other third parties can sign up to; submitting your news stories or releases to online news feeds. Link building: A structured activity to include good quality hyperlinks to your site from relevant sites with a good page rank. Blogs, podcasting and RSS: Web logs or blogs give an easy method of regularly publishing web pages which are best described as online journals, diaries or news or events listings, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an extension of blogging where blog, news or any type of content is received by subscribers using the systems mentioned above. Podcasts are related to blogs since they can potentially be generated by individuals or organisations to voice an opinion either as audio (typically MP3) or less commonly currently as video. Managing how your brand is presented on third-party sites As part of online PR it is useful to set up monitoring services. It is also necessary to have the resources to deal with negative PR as part of online reputation management. Creating a buzz online viral marketing. member get member 2.4. Online customer This section will present a short story of developments in digital interactive environment with regards to digital user definition and behavior in this environment and will present the new digital player characteristics that is said to be transformed into the Google generation Starting with the term of end-user which was pushed by scholars in the late 1970s to define the persons that would finally benefit from the usage of information, the growing number of users (we refer to tens of millions) in the coming 20 years after that have given birth to the term consumers, as recognition to their new found (economic) powers  [6]  . Nicholas D. and Dobrowolsky T. (2000) argue the over-usage of the term user in reference to the Internet and name it a tired, over-used, cheap and misused word, which provides the information profession with a debased currency. It does not reflect the close and complex engagement that takes place between a person and todays interactive information systems  [7]  . Instead they introduce the term player as a new name for the information consumer and characterize information seeking behavior as interactive, recreational, social and competitive with nuances depending on individual online engagement. According to their following research in 2003, the digital players characteristics are  [8]  : Enormous and unprecedented numbers; we have gotten used to see and speak of website traffic in millions. All powerfull; power given by numbers, by huge choice possibilities and backed-up by governments. Personal characteristics; they cover all age groups, education groups and gender. More then that, the research has revealed that the Internet, initially a male dominated domain, now reflects the gender balance of the general population  [9]  that needs a new demographic profiling in consumer behavior. Huge choice is premonitory (not sure if it is the right word) of the next 2 characteristics: Promiscuous users short attention spans and short visits; Nicholas and Dobrowolski refer to users as bouncers. Online consumers bounce from website to another due to short attention spans, running against homepages they do not like, huge choice of websites, etc. Promiscuous; consumers visit a lot of sites online, but purchase from just a few. (more explanation needed?) Untrusting; all electronic media is two-dimensional and the information provider can be everyone. cited in Seock 2008 Consumers across the age spectrum shop online, but college students aged 18 to 22 have been identified as the Internets hottest market and a prime source of future growth in online sales (Silverman, 2000). College students yearly expenditures reach near $200 billion (as cited in PROMO Xtra, 2003). They are heavy users of the Internet and have more access to this medium than most other population segments (Jasper Lan, 1992; Kim LaRose, 2004; U.S. Department of State, 2002). According to Harris Interactive (2002), 92% of college students own a computer and 93% access the Internet. Their online spending exceeds that of any other demographic group in the U.S. (ODonnell Associates, LLC, 2004). Roemer (2003) noted that U.S. college students online purchases came to $1.4 billion in 2002 following a 17% increase over the previous three years. In this vein, it is important for retailers and consumer educators to better understand college students online shopping behavior. Chaffey (2009), Age can affect levels of access to technology, computer literacy, and eventually, the extent to which individuals use the Internet as part of their shopping routines. Chaffey (2009), At the higher end of the educational spectrum (university and college graduate) the internet is considered as essential if not indispensible. However , the digital divide is persistent and internet access is lower in areas with poorer educational achievement and lower-income schools.d Share of persons who use the Internet at least once a week By age groups 16-74 years of age, shares in percent. Year 2010 Share of persons who ordered goods or services via the Internet during the last twelve months By age groups 16-74 years of age, shares in percent. Year 2010. Orders made for private purposes 2.5. Effectivenes online However, measuring marketing effectiveness poses numerous challenges due to the multitude of possible metrics for assessing effectiveness (Gray, 2006 ). The analysis of advertising channel effectiveness and consumer behavior has emerged as a key concept in the marketing discipline for researchers and practitioners because it bridges consumer behavior and marketing strategy (Woodruff, 1997; Overby et al., 2004). The operational and management processes of e-marketing Online and offline communications techniques for e-commerce There are different marketing communicati

Computers in Life :: Essays Papers

Computers in Life A man wakes up in the morning to the sound of his digital alarm clock and immediately checks his e-mail. He turns on the television, which has a V-chip to keep his children from watching what may be violent. He gets dressed, gets in his car, and drives to work where he works as the network administrator at a local steel company. It is amazing all of the things this man uses in the morning alone that would not be possible if it were not for computer technology. From his alarm clock to his e-mail even to the job that pays his bills it has all been made possible by computer related technologies. This is the same situation with many people in American society today. Everything has to do with computers. The very first things that we consider "computers" were nothing more than adding machines. "Perhaps the first example of this is the abacus, known in the Orient at least as early as 600 B.C."(Nunz 517). The abacus consists of a frame with rods that hold beads which depending on their posit ion represent a different number. It is usually made of wood and the rods that were thought to one time have been made of bamboo. Users can add, subtract, multiply, and divide just like modern calculator (Fernandes). It all started with calculating machines and has advanced to the fast microprocessors we have today. People use computers everyday in many forms from the computer that's in a car to a home PC. Computers have changed everyday life in the way society drives, communicates, and relaxes. Society has changed because of computer technology and it will probably never go back. One thing that is very important to most people, especially in this area, which in most cases involves a computer, is the car. This is due mostly to the lack of effective public transportation in the area. Cars get people where they need to go from the mall to work and back home again. For those fortunate enough to have year 2000 model cars there are some pretty amazing almost futuristic features. One of t hese is "adaptive cruise control" which monitors the car in front of the driver and brakes accordingly. This feature is in more expensive BMWs and the Mercedes-Benz S class (Car Go to the Store... 8). This should make it a little easier for those people who have to commute a great distance to and from work everyday.

Feminist Criticism of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby Essay exam

Feminist Criticism of The Great Gatsby The pervasive male bias in American literature leads the reader to equate the experience of being American with the experience of being male. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the background for the experience of disillusionment and betrayal revealed in the novel is the discovery of America. Daisy's failure of Gatsby is symbolic of the failure of America to live up to the expectations in the imagination of the men who "discovered" it. America is female; to be American is male; and the quintessential American experience is betrayal by woman. Fetterley believes that power is the issue in the politics of literature. Powerlessness characterizes woman's experience of reading not only because her experience is not articulated, clarified and legitimized in art, but more significantly because to be universal in American literature is to be not female. The Great Gatsby is an American "love" story centered in hostility to women. The vision of love is played out as a struggle for power in an elaborate pattern of advantage and disadvantage in which romance is but a strategy for male victory. Gatsby's imaginative investment in Daisy is evident in his description of her as the first 'nice' girl he had ever known. The quotation marks around "nice" indicate that the word is being used not as a reference to personality but as an index to social status and that Jay Gatsby's interest in Daisy Fay lies in what she represents rather than in what she is. She is for him symbolic rather than personal: he later remarks to Nick that Daisy's relation to Tom was just personal. Gatsby thinks of Daisy in relation to the objects that surround her. He cannot separate his vision of her from his vision... ... Gatsby, in the eyes of a feminist critic, is based on a lie of a double standard that makes female characters in classic literature not persons but symbols. It makes women's experience no part of that literature's concern. The male romantic imagination wants women to remain outsiders so that they can be forever available as occasions for the heroic gestures of men and as scapegoats for the failure of men's dreams. Works Cited Feminist Criticism. http://www.cumber.edu/engl230/femcrit.htm Fetterley, Judith. The Resisting Reader: A Feminist Approach to American Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978. Lee, Elizabeth. Feminist Theory - An Overview. http://ursula.stg.brown.edu/projects/hyp...t/landow/victorian/gender/femtheory.html Meese, Elizabeth A. Crossing the Double-Cross. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986.

How Much Land Does a Man Need Essay

The main character of â€Å"How Much Land Does A man Need?† is a clear example of an insatiable desire for possessions and wealth which at the end destroys the person. Pahom was living a life â€Å"free from anxiety† as his wife said and â€Å"without time to let any nonsense settle in his head† according to Pahom’s words. As the story develops it reveals Pahom’s real problem was inside him because he was never content or please with the land and the possessions he had. At the beginning of the story, Pahom was a peasant without land of his own, working daily to support his family and thinking â€Å"Our only trouble is that we haven’t land enough. If I had plenty of land, I shouldn’t fear the devil himself†; when in reality the avarice within Pahom lied dormant and he was not aware that his desire to obtain â€Å"plenty of land† will inevitably awaken the monster inside him that could never be satisfied. The first time Pahom had a land of his own was a farm of forty acres. â€Å"So he became a landowner, plowing and sowing his own land, making hay on his own land, cutting his own trees, and feeding the cattle of his own pasture. When he went out to plough the fields, or to look at his growing corn, or at his grass meadows, his heart would fill with joy†. This farm seemed to him unlike any other land, fulfilling his dreams until he heard the story of a better place where he will be able to have more land of his own. At this moment the greed in him began to blind Pahom to the simplicity of his life and to be grateful and fulfilled for what he had. The second farm he acquired had 125 acres and Pahom, â€Å"had three times as much as at his former home, and the land was good corn land. He was ten times better off than he had been. He had plenty of arable land and pasturage, and could keep as many head of cattle as he liked.† Obviously greed does not have limits and it is a part of our human nature some posses a greater level of greed than others but nevertheless greed holds no boundaries and the word plenty has no meaning at all. I wonder what Pahom’s wife was thinking now because in the conversation she has with her sisters, she was more concerned with the temptations of the surrounding towns but did not consider the avarice lying inside her husband that once, fed leads to ruin. Pahom had it all but Pahom was not happy, he was not content, he was not satisfied with the land he had. His greed lead him in to a path of destruction that is best described by the dream he had the night before his death. â€Å"He thought he was lying in that same tent, and heard somebody chuckling outside. He wondered who it could be, and rose and went out, and he saw the the Bashkir Chief sitting in front of the tent holding his side and rolling about with laughter. Going nearer to the Chief, Pahom asked: â€Å"What are you laughing at?† But he saw that it was no longer the Chief, but the dealer who had recently stopped at his house and had told him about the land. Just as Pahom was going to ask, â€Å"Have you been here long?† he saw that it was not the dealer, but the peasant who had come up from the Volga, long ago, to Pahom’s old home. Then he saw that it was not the peasant either, but the Devil himself with hoofs and horns, sitting there and chuckling, and before him lay a man barefoot, prostrate on the ground, with only trousers and a shirt on. And Pahom dreamed that he looked more attentively to see what sort of a man it was lying there, and he saw that the man was dead, and that it was himself! He awoke horror struck.† Pahom never had enough land, he always needed more to feed the insatiable greed that controlled his life. The following excerpt from the poem Who Am I? written by Dietrich Bonheoffer describes better the condition of Pahom’s struggle: â€Å"Who Am I? This or the other? Am I one person today and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? Or is something within me still like a beaten army? Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine.† Time after time Pahom was not able to enjoy the fruit of his hard work as a result of the avarice consuming him. As the proverb says: † A greedy man hasten after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him† Proverbs 28:22 Pahom died seeking more and more land of his own and at the end â€Å"his servant picked up the spade and dug a grave long enough for Pahom to lie in, and buried him in it. Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed†.

Childhood Influences in Great Expectations and the Kite Runner

Michael Dennedy – Word Count : 1944 How do Dickens and Hosseini present the influence of childhood experiences in their novels ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘The Kite Runner’? The influence of childhood experience is at the core of these novels as both of the main protagonists go through a rite of passage and change of character which is influenced by their contrasting childhood experiences. In Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’, the main character Pip grew up in southeast England with his harsh and blunt sister Mrs.Joe who raised him forcefully and often violently ‘by hand’ and her kind and loving husband Joe Gargery who is what many critics such as E. M Forster call â€Å"a flat character† as his personality and motives do not change throughout the novel. Despite later feeling that blacksmithing is below him, in the Victorian era, Pip would have been very lucky to have had an automatic apprenticeship due to Joe’s profession. In my opinion, two major events in Pip’s childhood affect him for the rest of his life: his fateful and terrifying meeting with the convict Magwitch, and his embarrassing and revelatory meeting with Miss.Havisham and Estella. The first life-changing event for Pip is when ‘a fearful man†¦ with a great iron on his leg’ named Magwitch approaches him in the graveyard where our protagonist’s parents lay. The Wordsworth Classics edition of the novel offers an illustration in chapter one by F. W Pailthorpe is provided which connotes that Magwitch is dark and frightful, although the illustrator used irony here as the criminal stands behind a gravestone which reads ’Sacred’; in my opinion this gravestone represents Magwitch’s true kind hearted nature.In these first chapters, we are introduced to the character of Pip who is the most important in the novel due to him being both narrator and protagonist. Despite his horror at mee ting such a fearsome man, he is kind and compassionate towards him, instantly showing that Pip is overtly, a ‘good’ character. This and similar traits – such as compassion and conscience – in Pip's personality define his character throughout the novel as they are the core foundations in his personality.By showing this, Dickens creates a bond between Pip and the reader that keeps us interested and concerned about the rite of passage Pip endures and the eventual outcome of the events he experiences throughout the novel. This kindness can be seen in chapter forty one when Pip remains careful and conscious of the good ‘Provis‘ and despite the utter shame and discomfort he feels throughout, Pip respects that proper treatment is due to his generous yet seedy benefactor and that he ‘must save him, if possible’.Pip constantly thinks back about his shortcomings and bad deeds, which drives him to be morally conscious of his actions. This tra it in Pip's personality creates the initial storyline of the novel and constitutes the theme of ‘gentlemen’, as it is Magwitch's secretive philanthropy towards Pip for his kindness which creates mystery, ‘Great Expectations' and false loyalty for Pip who is later sent to London to be schooled and turned into a gentleman. Throughout the novel Dickens uses the question of what makes a gentleman to create a social commentary.The materialistic Victorian mind-set saw gentlemen as being wealthy and aristocratic like the hateful Bentley Drummle however, a real gentleman is more like the altruistic and good Joe Gargery who is a ‘gentle Christian man’. The second event in Pip’s childhood which I think, is the key catalyst to his change in character as his meeting with a woman who was made of ‘waxwork and skeleton’, Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward Estella whose name means star; something for Pip to aspire to shown by his concupiscence.T his meeting introduces Pip to the theme of social betterment and class; it also introduces false hope and Miss Havisham's stratagem of creating hopeless aspirations and sham suspicions about the identity of his benefactor. In the Victorian era, a working class boy would never be permitted to marry the ward of a wealthy, upper-class woman. Miss Havisham’s manipulation of Pip’s emotions further exposes her bitterness and cruelty.I feel that Dickens uses Estella as Pip’s original motivation for wanting to become a gentleman and due to Estella’s contempt, Pip loses grasp of his humble and kind roots and steers away from being a ’gentle man’ in the process. In Hosseini’s ‘The Kite Runner’, the main character Amir has an almost totally contrasting childhood although he is haunted by one key personal event: the rape of his best friend and (unknowingly to Amir at the time) his brother Hassan, and another major event that affects the whole country of Afghanistan: the Soviet Invasion.Both of these events mark the upheaval of Amir’s life both emotionally and physically as he is forced to leave his lavish upper-class life in his homeland and find a new place as poor working class man within the alien ‘idea of America’. An almost immediate change can be seen in Pip once he has travelled from ‘town to the metropolis’. Pip’s new GREAT EXPECTATIONS, are quickly defeated as he arrives in Cheapside ‘just out of Smithfield’.This area of London was filthy in the era due to the largest meat market in Britain, Smithfield, being in close proximity and due to the ‘ugly, crooked, narrow and dirty’ streets which were commonplace in London at the time due to the inadequate sewer systems. This disappointment at arriving in a new lace are also expressed in ‘The Kite Runner’ as ‘it was living in America that gave Baba an ulcer’. The retur n of Magwitch is an example of how childhood has affected Pip’s attitude and opinions on social class.Dickens uses pathetic fallacy at the start of chapter thirty nine ‘It was wretched weather; stormy and wet†¦ mud, deep in all the streets’ this is used to foreshadow the upcoming events and to emphasise the horror and disgust Pip feels when realising that Magwitch is his benefactor. Hosseini also uses pathetic fallacy to great effect throughout ‘The Kite Runner’, one example of how the weather is used to create a tense and murky atmosphere is in chapter 7 shortly before the rape scene.Hosseini describes the area as ‘a secluded muddy road†¦ My boot squished in the mud’. Both authors have used this technique to foreshadow and prepare the reader for what is to come. ‘He took both my hands and put them to his lips, while my blood ran cold’ shows Pip’s horror as this kind act should not cause such a fearful react ion. Pip truly begins to appreciate the danger Magwitch has put himself into by returning to London as returning from transportation from Australia almost certainly meant death at the gallows in the eighteen hundreds.Childhood influences is shown in chapter forty-two as Magwitch was forced to become a thief after ‘a-thieving turnips’ to survive as a child and due to this harsh difficult upbringing, sympathy is evoked form the reader as the convict has ‘honoured his debt’ to the small boy. Throughout the novel Pip’s attitudes towards Joe and his home at the forge change constantly. Before Pip meets Estella the camaraderie and friendship can be seen as they were both ‘fellow-sufferers’ of Tickler and by the phrases and speech they use such as ‘ you and me is always friends’ and how Pip simply calls him ‘Joe’ unlike almost all other adults in the novel.This respect for adults and even parents was commonplace in Vic torian times however this example of not using ‘Mr’ shows how close a friendship they share in the novel’s opening. Respect for adults is a theme show dominantly in ‘The Kite Runner’. The term ‘agha sahib’ meaning lord, commander or friend is used throughout the novel. This term is often used by both Amir and Hassan when they speak to Baba or Rahim Kahn as they are both their elders who deserve the respect of children.Despite the closeness of the relation between Pip and Joe in the beginning. Joe’s visit is strained and awkward as he attempts to tell Pip the local happenings. For example Wopsle, for instance, has become an actor with questionable talent; this shows the Dickensian technique of hinting towards a characters future or traits by using an appropriate name. Pip is rude and ashamed of Joe however until he redeems himself with the mention of Estella to returning to Satis House and that she has asked to see Pip.Upon this re velation Pip becomes nicer to Joe, but he leaves before Pip can make amends. Joe’s visit to London illuminates the theme of social contrasts and guilt. This section serves by showing the awkward position between classes Pip has become and by showing the worry he that Joe will disapprove of his new life and that the aristocracy in his life will frown upon him, again showing Pip’s character trait of guilt. The life of Estella and the effect she has upon Pip is a very good example of how Dickens uses past experiences to shape and mould his characters.In my reasoning, I think that Miss Havisham brought Estella up for two main reasons: for her to punish Men and ’break their hearts’ and for her to give Miss Havisham a final chance of receiving love despite it not being romantic. As a child Estella is ‘very pretty, very insulting’ to Pip and to other men including Mr Pumblechook and she continues this behaviour throughout the majority of the novel u ntil the very end when she returns ‘bent and broken’ and humbled from the abuse given to her by her deceased husband Bentley Drummle.Dickens uses Estella as a tool to create a social commentary on birth rite and nature versus nurture. Unbeknownst to Pip for the earlier half of the novel, Estella is the daughter of a thief and a murderess adopted by Miss Havisham at the age of three. With her character, Dickens shows that money does not buy happiness even in the superficial Victorian era as Estella has ‘no heart’ due to the coldness displayed to her by Miss Havisham despite having all the material possessions she could ever want or need and due to this, many critics have stated that â€Å"Estella is the only realistic female creation of Dickens‘†.Estella contrasts heavily with the character of Soraya in ‘The Kite Runner’. Where Estella is cold and haughty, Soraya is kind, steady and dependable and despite her infertility she is the perfect wife for Amir although she often gives her negative opinions on patriarchal Afghan culture. Both Pip and Amir go through rites of passage in the novels as Humphrey House has stated that â€Å"it is a remarkable achievement to have kept the reader‘s sympathy throughout a snob‘s progressâ€Å".Amir starts ‘The Kite Runner’ as an arrogant, selfish, cowardly although loving boy and grows up with the guilt of the cowardice he displayed when Hassan was raped although he finds solace by returning to Afghanistan seeking redemption by rescuing Sohrab during two-thousand and one whilst the Taliban were engaged in Afghan – United Nations controversy.Pip’s character changes from the innocent, kind and timid child into a character similar to that of Amir as a child as he is arrogant and snobbish although he too begins to feel guilt for his actions during his period of snobbery and seeks redemption by returning to the forge and Satis House and the end of the novel to find forgiveness from Joe. The author’s of both novels use rites of passage as a means for character change and redemption however, Dickens puts Pip through a mental journey as he slowly unravels the traits and histories of those around him whereas Hosseini sends Amir on a physical journey to find ‘a way to be good again’.

History According to Goya Essay

There are perhaps few artists who can be held in the same regard as Francisco Goya of Spain, who is known both for his exemplary work and as a symbol of the old and the new, bridging the gap between the classics and modern art. But what ultimately makes Goya memorable and outstanding is his ideology of putting social reality onto canvas, which he did by infusing a great amount of interpretation born out of an acute awareness with the skills that had made him an icon in art and culture. Film director Milos Forman, known for his period movies, directed Goya’s Ghosts, which was released in 2006 and features Goya in his element as an artist, social commentator and chronicler of history. While the storyline is fictional, the historical background of the film, as well as the inclusion of known personalities, is authentic and accurate. More importantly, the portrayal of Goya and his relationship with his art and subjects give the audience much insight into the mission and creative philosophy of the artist, specifically during the Spanish Inquisition that marked nineteenth century Spain. Overall, though the film had not enjoyed significant commercial or critical success, it still showed the individuality of Goya that is evident in his most celebrated paintings in the context of the oppression and chaos of history. II. Connecting Art with History Many critics found Goya’s Ghosts sufficient in narrating history, albeit incoherent and distracted at certain points, but wanting in showcasing Goya and his works. In the film’s theme of power and hypocrisy, some saw Goya’s role as merely a connection between those in power and those abused by the former. True as this may be, it still creates a statement regarding the artist’s purpose and how he viewed his actual work; since the period was defined by a perceivable existence of extremes in social status which gave power to some, Goya did not just connect personalities and events but used his art as a means to convey the impressions and views of the Spanish society. The horrors that had ensued during the Spanish Inquisition, which punished those who exhibited any semblance of agreement with Judaism and other beliefs that went against Catholicism, were vividly illustrated in the prints created by Goya at the time. These were shown graphically throughout the course of the film, representing the work made by the artist outside of his commissioned portraits. This coincides with the opinion that classified Goya as a genius who was capable of illustrating doubts and anxieties, which was his way of responding to his country’s state of war, oppression, and poverty. He played the role of social interpreter, by artfully imagining symbolic images of the Church’s power, and how they represented the fears of the public. The disturbing prints Goya made, which troubled the Holy Office immensely, were to be later known as The Black Paintings. In recent times, this collection began to be shrouded with controversy, as some historians believe that they were actually by the hand of Goya’s son Javier who has not been given much publicity. Goya’s continued favor with the powerful was especially established in the film, mainly through his popularity as painter of royal portraits. Particularly, the film shows his work on the likeness of Isabella, Queen to Charles IV, which accurately showed her physical characteristics; ultimately, the portrait was not received favorably by the Queen. This incident underlines a major theme in the movie, as stated by the fictional character Brother Lorenzo: a person sees himself differently from how others see him. Such is the ideology of Goya, whose ability to capture life and nature in their entirety would leave no room for false depictions, even at his own expense. III. Relationships with His Subjects One of the film’s main characters is Ines de Bilbatua, the beautiful daughter of a rich merchant, who was tortured by the Holy Office on allegations of Judaism. In contrast to Goya’s impression of the Queen, Ines’ portrait was impeccable in its beauty, and even surpassed reality. Goya’s personal knowledge of the girl’s character figured considerably in the image in his mind and on canvas, proving how his own emotions and opinions of people are reflected in his work. Particular in Goya’s portraits is his depiction of his subject’s mouth—which varies from grinning and smirking, like the Queen’s, to serene and graceful, as in Ines’. This contrast is ironic, since the pointed ugliness of the Queen made no effect on her social status, while Ines’ beauty still caused her to be imprisoned for fifteen years. More than the people he had been commissioned to capture on canvas, Goya is credited for graphically illustrating the brutality of the Peninsular War. While this was not explicitly shown in the film, the physical evidences that exist to this day prove Goya’s significant contributions in narrating the evils of the period. IV. Conclusion The legacy of Francisco Goya has been appropriated by several filmmakers in an attempt to convey the passions of the artist in the realm of art as well as social and political conditions of his time. Because of the requirements of film language, the more important aspects of Goya’s lifestyle and career are often sacrificed for drama in narration, particularly in Forman’s version. The graphic qualities and visual communication style that mark Goya’s work and philosophy are not always made the focal point, and, in this film, were simply made to act as a representation of history. In truth, the art of Goya indeed serve as historical symbols, yet it is his manner of capturing emotions, fears, evils, and beauty in a way both realistic and absurd that should make him not just a chronicler of history, but a historical figure himself. Bibliography C. Chocano, ‘Goya’s Ghosts’, Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2007, retrieved 18 October 2008, Goya’s Ghosts, dir. M. Forman, 2006. Xuxa Producciones, Spain, 2006. A. Lubow, ‘The Secret of the Black Paintings’, New York Times, July 27, 2003. Napoleonic Guide, ‘Goya’s Disasters of War’, retrieved 18 October 2008, L. Simon, ‘The Sleep of Reason’, World and I, retrieved 18 October 2008, D. Sylvester, About Modern Art: Critical Essays, 1948-1996, Henry Holt and Co. , 1997.

Global Economy Essay

Globalization is corporate driven; it’s the system which allows trans-national business and finance to invest what they want where they want; to produce what they want; and to buy and sell what they want, everywhere, with the fewest restrictions possible coming from labour laws, social conventions or environmental regulations. Globalization is also finance driven. Corporate-led, finance-driven globalization has been extremely successful (George 2008, p. 1). Globalization has been extremely beneficial to those at the top of various societies. The benefits of globalization for ordinary people have been problematic particularly in the mature capitalist countries. Those who advocate for neo-liberal globalization claim it thrusts the floor upwards for everybody an extremely debatable proposition in a world where a billion people exist with a buying power of a dollar a day and approximately half the world with less than two dollars a day (George 2008, p. 1). Multi national corporations, finance corporations and wealthy persons contribute less and less proportionally in taxation to national budgets. This means the ordinary people, consumers and local businesses pay more than their reasonable allocation (George 2008, p. 1). More and more people are doubtful as to whether globalisation has delivered on its promises and benefits. 57 % of the people recently interviewed in the G7 countries are of the opinion that globalisation has moved too fast in recent years. In twenty seven other countries, 64 % were of the opinion that the advantages and troubles of globalisation were unjustly shared. Only in ten out of the thirty four countries polled did the bulk of the people think of globalisation as a positive factor for local economic development (Falk 2008, p. 1). World Sourcing and Outsourcing In the corporate world, companies are exploiting the emerging markets in line with globalization. A company like Levono has its products, human resources and facilities in 160 countries around the world. Market trends such as outsourcing have created a time zone that universal. This means that the company can access the resources it needs from any part of the globe where the costs are lower at any time regardless of its time zone. It is a top-down strategy designed to save on costs by handing the non-core operations to a third party who offers the lowest price. World sourcing is a business strategy that influences the positive aspects of globalization to maximize on value and quality that the company delivers to customers globally (Walker 2008,p. 3). Companies in the global economy can source for everything where the best talent exists and like wise sell where the best market is located. Companies that practice world sourcing create value twenty four hours a day. The global distribution of resources such as talents and markets has created a nucleus of excellence strategy. A company in this case can have its marketing department in India, designing being done in Japan, its fulfilment centres located in North America and the manufacturing facilities located in China, Latin America, India and Europe. This distribution of resources also means as companies tap into the skills and talents spread across the globe, career choices then cease to be hindered by geographical boundaries (Walker 2008,p. 5). World sourcing as a globalization strategy is envisaged on the principle that brand cuts across nationality and geographical boundaries. The more a company extends to the entire world for the finest ideas, human resources and processes, the more it develops in the refined essence of its brand name. It is appraised not by nationality, but according to the excellence of its products, services, degree of corporate social responsibility, governance, environmental practices, transparency, and ultimately, the degree of value it conveys to customers globally (Walker 2008, p. 7). Global corporations that world source their products and services are exposed to the inquisitive light and censure from challenging consumers and government watchdogs in different countries. They can only build confidence by complying with the highest principles of governance, compliance transparency, and excellence (Walker 2008, p. 7). Global Networking Debate on networked economy began as early as 1865 in Paris. However it is the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that has turned the world into a truly global village. This means a global networked economy. By definition a global village or a global networked economy means that there is instantaneous relay of information from one part of the globe to another. The connectivity of the internet today has contributed greatly towards global connectivity (Tarjanne 1997, pp. 2-3). The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has played a vital part in networking based on global connectivity. The Radio Regulations, one of the inter-governmental treaties of which ITU is the guardian recognizes the electro-magnetic spectrum as a universal resource of humanity. A Recent development in this field is the advancement of satellite handsets, the Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS). Satellite systems will enable access to essential telecommunications from any part of the globe regardless of time zones and geographical boundaries (Tarjanne 1997, p. 4). However global networking is still not yet fully attained. Access to technology is largely influenced by wealth. Approximately 97% of all Internet hosts are based in the developed countries which represent 16% of the world’s population. There are approximately fifty countries that still lack an Internet host within their boundaries. One of the objectives of the ITU is to support the extension of the benefits of the new telecommunications technologies globally (Tarjanne 1997, p. 5).