Causality and New Town

Cause and Effect: Of Moving The effects of moving to a new town or city Nowadays, as a result of looking for better conditions of life many people have been moving from their own city to another city or country. People in all over the world are developing the necessity of find their happiness, education and a better work. Moving to a new town or city can bring some negatives and positives effects to the person who is moving. The first effect of moving to a new town or city can be found in educational life.Since people are looking to a better education, they move to a country that can give them the possibility of be a good professional. For example, in Angola my country, if you want find a great job; you have to have an international certificate. This means that the people who are living in another country have more possibility to achieve the work. Sometimes the companies on my country prefer consider people who are from another country. In short, I am the exactly example because I mo ved from my country to U. S.A to look for a spectacular certificate. The second effect of moving to a new town or city can be found in psychologist state of a person. For example, when I arrived here I had some mental problems because always I was thinking about my family that I left in Angola. A person who is homesick suffers the consequences alone and thinks a lot about the family that is away from her. In my opinion, think about the family who people left causes serious problem and the person cannot concentrate on her real objective there.In addition, people have to be strong and control all their feelings when they are in another town. The third effect of moving to a new town is that people spend a lot of money. To start a new life sometimes because of work or studies when people move they spend a lot of money with car, house, and school until adjust the new life with the new city. Starting a new life is kind of complicated because at first time you don’t have where buy a nd find everything†¦.

Frei Otto Munich Stadium

MUNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM//FREI OTTO//1972 gizem akgun/ nuria juanbaro sarret/kanaka raghavan _ADDA 2012-2013 GERMAN PAVILION// MONTREAL//1967//cable nets TUWAIQ PALACE//SAUDI ARABIA//1970// cable nets OLYMPIC STADIUM//MUNICH//1972// cable nets ORKS MULTIHALLE MANNHIEM //GERMANY//1975// grid shells JAPAN PAVILION EXPO 2000//HANOVER GERMANY//2000//grid shell German architect and research engineer 1957 // Development Center for Lightweight Construc on in Berlin. 1964// Ins tute for Lightweight Structures in Stu gart.Exhibited a special gi for crea ng lightweight tent structures Computer-based procedure for determining their shape and behaviour Alterna ve system of grid shell structures HE ARCHITECT /FREI OTTO HE LIGHTWEIGHT PRINCIPLE/tensile Tensile roofs/ every part of the structure is loaded in tension with no requirement to resist compression Cable nets/ grid of structural cables in tension forming the framework supports a weather shield. An clas c Surfaces/ tension forces are in equil ibrium, the centres of curvature are in opposite side of the membrane Synclas c Surfaces/ the centres of curvature are on the same side of the membrane n clas c curve hyper paraboloid hyper paraboloid/ minimum 4 pts with alteast 1 pt out of plane Less material and e? ort Remarkably large spans Combined tensile structure and biological research Only a few members,are under compression while all others, for instance, cables and membranes, are under tension For tension and rigidity, an clas c or saddle-like curvatures HE LIGHTWEIGHT PRINCIPLE UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /details SITE// Originally the se ng of a 1930’s air? eld,former training ground for the Bavarian Royal Army and the site of Munich’s ? rst civil airport. Ground had been used as a dump yard for ruined buildings’ rubble. 00m tall broadcast tower, s ll present today, a major landmark of the site. PROGRAM// 80,000 seats Smaller enclosed sports hall Swimming hall Warm-up arena Enclosed workout facility Housi ng for 3000 people UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /1972 Gunter Behnisch proposed light and open structures con nuous ? uid tent roo? ng resembling natural hills Frei O o’s Montreal Pavilion was the guiding piece The original system came from model studies where ladies stockings were used to simulate the tent’s surfaces al proposal CRITICAL STUDIES// Mast heights gave ghter curvature near the masts and leave the unsa sfactory ? t perimeter areas unimproved Increasing the pre-stress to ? at areas would provide the necessary stability, but only at impossibly high levels of tensioning UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM/ini Winner of the compe on for 1972 olympic park by GUNTER BEHNISCH ERMAN PAVILLION,MONTREAL/1967 Real masterpiece of lightweight architecture,Frei O l/Behnisch Ini al mode o UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /comparisons UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /inspira Dragon? y wings are one three-thousandth of a millimeter thick Up to 1,000 sec ons Compartmental structure, wings do not tear, withstand the pressure that forms during ? ght. Driving principle for design of roof on 7 saddle-shape cable nets Square meshes that form rhomboids to assume an clas c curvature UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /revised roof Subdivide roof into a patchwork of separate but coupled smaller canopies Support at many points and mostly curved to suitably ght radii. Nets do not extend to the tops of medium height masts, instead hung from very tall masts Masts placed outside the roof or suspended above ground on cables keeping the areas below column-free Roo? ng for the main sports facili esUNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /experiments 1:125 scale models exactly proportional both in geometry and in elasticity to the envisaged full sized structures UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /structure Interior cables Peripheral cables Cable joints Steel masts Concrete underground founda on Acrylic panel cover UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /cables Interior cables//11. 7 mm mesh, 19 heavily galvanised 2. 3- and 3. 3mm steel wires A lay length of 10 x the la y diameter Main cables//? ve strands of 37 and 109 wires each Edge cables//vary in speci? a on, typical example ,lockedsurface wire rope of 81 millimetres diameter Twin cables with concentric joints assume square meshes forming rhomboids forming an clas c curves UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /joints Cables arranged in pairs 75Ãâ€"75 cm mesh,reduced number of joints Clamps+screw,one bolt per joint,easy construc on 75 cm mesh Saddle connec ons Swaged clamp connec on Erec on/The cable nets completely assembled on ground, li ed to ? nal posi ons. Prestressing/suspension cables were put in posi on, geometry and stresses cables and masts checked Connec on to anchor UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /mastsTension founda ons / anchor the main cables down to earth Inclined slot founda ons (tent pegs ),gravity anchor founda ons (anchoring from self weight),earth anchor founda ons (support the masts) Temporary steel balls provided under the rubber pads to allow rota on during assembly Cylindrical masts welded st eel tubes up to 80 metres long and with a 50mN (5000 ton) load capacity. Transparent roof covering/ 2. 9 x 2. 9-metre acrylic panels , 4mm thk Bolted to the intersec on nodes and angles of intersec on change every 6 degrees Temperature moulding, panels on neoprene pedestals, allowing them to ‘? at’, and sealing the joints with con nuous neoprene pro? le clamped to the panel edges Discon nuous joints allowing movement UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /cover UNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM /conclusions Form ? nding experiments/solu ons for large spans simultaneously gave birth to the science of compu ng . Final form depends on – shape of grid,spacing,pa ern -the geometry of the suppor ng structure – the pretension applied to the cable net and its suppor ng structure Advantages/E? cient way of using material Lightweight Large spans Quick construc on

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen Essay

Henrik Ibsen writes realistically, meaning that he writes in a way which is relatable and constant to the time period and characters. He doesn’t get overly dramatic. There are multiple themes in Hedda Gabler such as Manipulation, Wealth, Reputation, and Death. Since it is a play, it does not have a point of view. Summary Hedda Gabler is a play that takes place entirely in the living room and another room off to the side in the fashionable side of Christiana, Norway, in 1890 or earlier. The newlywed couple of Jurgen and Hedda Tesman come back from their 6 month honeymoon and wake to find that Jurgan Tesman’s aunt Julle has come for a visit. This scene establishes Hedda’s disinterest in Tesman, as she is rude to his aunt and him. A woman named Mrs. Elvested arrives and informs the crowd that Tesmans rival, Ejlert, is back in town and she is concerned that being back in town will cause him to fall back into old alcoholic habits. Later, Judge Brack arrives and brings gossip from the town. He tells Tesman that Ejlert is a candidate for the professor position that he wants stirring up worry between Tesman and Hedda. Judge Brack and Hedda have a private conversation and decide to become confidants and Hedda confesses that she is bored with Tesman and unpleased with the house he bought her. Tesman arrives back and drinks with Brack while Hedda and Ejlert make conversation. Hedda is bored and decides to pit Ejlert and Mrs. Elvested against each other, causing Ejlert to start drinking again and upset Mrs. Elvested. Tesman, Brack, and Ejlert leave for a party that Brack is throwing. Mrs. Elvested is concerned but Ejlert promises to return to escort her home. Mrs. Elvested goes in another room to sleep when Tesman comes home. He announces to Hedda that he has Ejlert’s manuscript that he dropped when he was walking home and he intends to return in. Brack arrives and informs them that Ejlert got arrested. Brack leaves and then Ejlert gets there and tells Mrs. Elvested that he destroyed the manuscript, unaware that Tesman is in possession of it. He later confesses to Hedda that he lost it and is now suicidal. Hedda gives him a pistol and tells him to die beautifully. She burns his manuscript. Act four begins with everyone dressed in black for Tesman’s Aunt Rina’s death. Mrs. Elvested arrives and tells everyone that Ejlert is in the hospital. Then, Brack arrives and tells them that he is dead, a gunshot wound to the chest. Tesman and Mrs. Elvested try to reconstruct Ejlert’s manuscript and Brack tells Hedda that his death was messy and an accident. He also tells her that scandal will probably befall her. She goes into a side room and plays the piano for a bit before shooting herself. Conflict, Climax, Resolution The conflicts in the story are that Mrs. Elvsted is distraught and has left her husband, Ejlert could start drinking again, the Judge wants Hedda in one way or another, and Tesman has to compete for his professorship. The climax is when Hedda burns Ejlert’s manuscript and then aides in his suicide. The denouement is when the judge explains everything and Mrs. Elvested and Tesman work on reconstructing the manuscript. Character Analysis Hedda Gabler is the antagonist of the story, causing most of the conflicts. She was raised in a wealthy family and when she married Tesman she had to accommodate to much less fortune than she is used to. She is manipulative and cruel to most of the characters in the play. Jurgan Tesman is Hedda’s husband. Although he is vastly intelligent, he is oblivious to her cruelty. He tries very hard to please her and went to great lengths to buy her a house a support her and provide everything she needs. He was raised by his Aunt Julle. Judge Brack is essential to the story because he is Hedda’s closest confidant. He also brings news to the story; he serves as sort of a gossip source. He visits the Tesman residence often, as he is close with both Tesman and Hedda. Ejlert Lovberg is Tesman’s long-time academic rival. He is Tesman’s only competitor for a professorship. He is back in town and has a published novel with good reviews. He also has a manuscript for another novel. He once shared a close relationship with Hedda. Mrs. Elvested hired Ejlert as a tutor for her children but grew attached and now acts as his assistant/secretary and travels with him for his writing. She is concerned about his drinking problem. Mrs. Elvested also went to school with Hedda where she was bullied by her.

Avon Calls on Foreign Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Avon Calls on Foreign Markets - Essay Example The brand name has also been changed according to needs, e.g. France. The logo appears on the Avon product. It uses celebrity in order to sell its products. Avon is for women and their needs. Foreign operation Avon was formed on 1886 and has changed its marketing strategy frequently. It did so in order to maintain its growth in the market (Alanfaya, 2006, p.1). Avon depends hugely on foreign markets .The reason was that since US market is full of retailers of beauty product there is no untapped market left where Avon can capture and increase its market share. Thus Avon decided to operate on less competitive market. The domestic market of Avon depends on the US market. The market comprises of less than 5% of the world’s population. Socio and demographic changes Avon showed a declining trend in the US market in the 1990’s. The percentage of people using make up went down drastically from 92% to 88%. The decline affected the age group between 18 to 24 years of people. They are the people who would spend money on trying new products. Yet market share dropped by 4% in 1996. One of the main reasons in the decline of demographic is the changing fashion (Dortch, 1997, p.1). Candace Corlett remarked that the youths like to look more natural. The growth in the cosmetic market is projected to grow for all age groups. From the above data, it can be analyzed that the US market is now growing. But Avon being a cosmetic organization, it is mostly preferred by women of all age group. The ratio of women is at a higher rate than males. This would prove to be beneficial for Avon as it’s mainly caters to women. The age group of 15 to 65 years is also dominated by women. Therefore this change could affect Avon in a positive way and generate more sales in US (CIA, 2011). When it comes to socio economic changes, Avon has established itself as a big brand. Avon categories itself as a global brand and caters to millions of women worldwide. Out of every 5women 2 wom en uses Avon product. Thus the socioeconomic changes would affect the business of Avon. The better economic rate of the people more business it would be able to generate. Global Recession The recession of 2008 did not affect much on the operation of Avon. But however if a recession hits again, the economy would experience a fall in real GDP which would lead to less spending of income. But Avon deals in cosmetic products and this industry is growing (Eucck, 2011). Customers demand more for a quality product and Avon is a brand which satisfies their needs. Avon’s strength lies on its direct sales. It provides recession proof employment. Thus a global recession would not affect the operation of Avon. Competitive Advantage Avon competitive advantage is that it brings products to its customers through direct sales. When the china market banned direct sales, Avon sold its product through small shops and malls (Parker, 2005, p.256). Avon has come up with an advantage business model, during the period of unemployment and recession. It provides economic advantage for most women in the world. Avon gives a better customer service than other companies. It provides the best direct sales, thus it would not be easy for its competitors to overcome such a difference and overtake Avon. It has got a wider geographic coverage. Avon is present globally; it is at a position where it can expand even more, which is also not possible for any of its competitors the product line is much more attractive than its

American Gothic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American Gothic - Essay Example American Gothic is a highly expressive painting which captures the spirit of an age. Depicting a Midwestern farmer and his daughter, the dour expressions of the faces of both father and daughter, their highly modest clothing and the conservatism which they exude, communicate the hardship of the times. Whether from the modesty of their clothing, the utter dourness of their expression or the plainness of the house in the background, the picture tells the story of an age. It is an age where people lived by their own labor and had to work long hours, leaving hardly any room for pleasurable pursuits, just to survive and make ends meet. Certainly, the picture does not tell a tale of poverty but it tells one of a life of work with no pleasure in order to satisfy the basic requirements of livelihood, decent clothing and shelter. The painting further provides readers with an understanding of male-female relations and roles during the age in question. In this picture, the farmer is pictured holding a large pitchfork and dominates the painting. His daughter is standing just behind him and while he is looking straight ahead, gazing at onlookers, her eyes are averted. The pitchfork is a symbol of the manual labor for which men were responsible and the fact that the daughter is standing behind the father is indicative of the subservient status of females. Added to that, the fact that the man is looking straight ahead and the daughter’s eyes are averted could be interpreted as evidencing the public role of men versus the private role of females. It is, thus, that the male figure is boldly looking at the painter and, hence, directly at us while the female figure is not.

Benefits and Limitations of Economic Analyses of Entrepreneurial Essay

Benefits and Limitations of Economic Analyses of Entrepreneurial Behaviour - Essay Example The researcher states that entrepreneurship consists in undertaking those activities which are generally not conducted in usual business routine. However, the entrepreneurial behavior in any country can be affected by economic analyses of a particular nation. The efficacy of entrepreneur improves if certain economic contexts such as political or governmental interference are less in a country. Several economists have defined the term ‘entrepreneur’ and their behavior in an economy. In economic theories, the knowledge of selection and decision making is essential for successful entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs demonstrate individual qualities which let certain persons make innovative decisions whose impact can be experienced in the long run. In every country, the entrepreneurial behavior is influenced by the suitability and setup of proper business foundations. For instance, political environment, economic environment, marketing aspects and technological aspects can significa ntly impact on the behavior of entrepreneurs. A stable, expectable and well-organized business environment with the strong governing system generally facilitates entrepreneurs to take innovative decisions. Entrepreneurs positively react to the environmental opportunities which in turn is related to economic analysis, because it can help to measure the benefits of opportunities identified. One of the most significant tasks of entrepreneurs is to discover and take advantage of opportunities. Opportunities for entrepreneurs can be defined by those environmental circumstances where products and services can be traded for the higher rate than the cost of production. Entrepreneurs typically decide when to utilize a market in order to support the discovery, and when to create a business to assist in facilitating the discovery. These decisions typically depend on the economic analyses of a country such as technological environment, marketing environment, and political environment. Before an entrepreneur earns revenue from an opportunity, he/she first analyze the worth of the opportunity. According to the discovery theory, there are two major assumptions which impact on entrepreneurial behavior.

Organization Theory and Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organization Theory and Design - Essay Example Things have never moved so fast and threats and opportunities have never been so immense. Competitors have to be efficient and different to survive and stay on the top. Daft continues and presents the most recent developments in organizations' design - structures and management methods that have only emerged lately in response to the turbulences in the environments and competition worldwide. The rise of an emerging managerial philosophy of efficiency, system, and process is, according to Daft, reflected in the forms of internal communication that serve as mechanisms for managerial coordination and control. These have developed as a product not only of changing organizational needs but also of the technologies available to support them. Forms of organizational communication can thus be organized into specific and recognizable 'genres' such as letters, memorandums, meetings, agendas, proposals etc. These technologies as used by principals and senior managers within colleges not only to account for, but also to promote and disseminate, specific leadership visions and objectives. The overflow of more general managerial philosophies into the realm of globalizations in recent years has included the need to demonstrate competence, compliance and effectiveness to a variety of audiences. Going with Daft's idea1, the purpose of my study would suggest that this need for visible competence is now a dominant theme, driven by external inspection, funding and governance mechanisms as well as the service culture expectations of users and other stakeholders. Such 'audit cultures' (Strathern, 2000) are increasingly common in both public institutions and private enterprise, reflecting the need to perform a new kind of accountability based around the twin goals of economic efficiency and good practice. The concept of the audit, previously constrained within financial applications, has now expanded to become a ubiquitous element of daily life, with the learning and skills sector being no exception. The result is a raft of 'technologies of accountability'. The pan-national corporation, with its inherently complex structure, is the organizational form most severely affected by globalization. It is therefore important for the management of such corporations to improve the control and coordination of the corporations' spatially dispersed subsidiaries. Information technology (IT) has been hailed as an important tool in changing traditional control and coordination processes in complex environments. IT is being used for changing the nature of the relationship between headquarters and subsidiaries in a manner that makes the pan-national corporation more global in orientation. This is occurring as operations and decision-making processes in subsidiaries are redesigned in order to improve global management and local responsiveness Technology serves to shape the manner in which leadership work is

Dispute Resolution in Oil and Gas Contracting Essay

Dispute Resolution in Oil and Gas Contracting - Essay Example The tribunal authority comes from the parties’ agreement on overcoming their argument through mediation. Various statute and international conventions reinforce this approach making it to be a preferred method in determining cross-border viable disputes. This approach has many benefits associated to civil litigation because it is enforceable, malleable, unbiased, reserved, and personal and the involved parties select their preferred arbitrator. UK is the most conspicuous Centre, which applies arbitration in dispute resolution. Most of the UK parties involved in disputes agree on their disputes decided in accordance with the enacted law by the Arbitration Act 1996 6(p.159). This Act has been operational in UK since 31 January 1997. In disagreement resolution amid the oil and gas contracting, an arbitrator has permission to rule a substantive jurisdiction. According to the Arbitration Act 1996, all the parties involved in oil and gas dispute have a prospect to file all their cas es in order to avoid unnecessary delays and find resolution to their problems. The arbitrator has fundamental tools, jurisdiction and powers to accomplish his/her responsibilities efficiently. Purpose of arbitrator’s dominion is beneath either the Arbitration Act or the arbitration guidelines. According to the arbitration act 1996, the arbitration reports should succumb in a concluding writing article on the contract among the parties. The agreement offered before the arbitration is in writing in order for it to be confirmation before both parties and the arbitration. On confirmation that the contract is an applicable statute, all the jurisdiction authorities are of consideration to the arbitrator13 (p.682). The Arbitration Act underwent some changes thus providing the arbitrator with powers to rule according to his/her individual authority. This boosted the arbitrator’s supremacy because previously, parties challenged the arbitrator’s jurisdiction through forwa rding the case to the court, which restrained the arbitrator from proceeding with the ruling. This led to different unwanted expenses and delays in the proceedings until another rightful authority is in place to continue with the hearing. To resolve this, the experienced arbitrators welcomed the statutory approach, which significantly promoted the manner of conducting arbitration progression11 (p.33). According to the Act, the arbitrator may decide on substantive jurisdiction whether there is a lawful agreement or not, whether the hearing is appropriately established or not and whether the type of troubles acquiesced to arbitration is in agreement with the arbitration contract or not 11(p.33). Considering the above three, the situation where there lack lawful mediation contract, the Act states that such matters lack both the arbitrator and the arbitration so, whoever decided on the validity of the agreement was not the required arbitrator; therefore, that person who decided had no p ermission to make verdicts. Upcoming of such situations leads to the problem at hand be solved by the court and the ruling of the case derived from the statute and not arbitration agreement. Under section 30 (1) (a) of the Arbitration Act 1996, Arbitrator’s power to claim whether he/she has powers comes from the

Response Paper Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Response Paper - Article Example war forced her and her mother to live a desperate life; in a refugee camp in Pakistan and later in a foreign land Chicago, Illinois- America a place where everything was new and different from what they were used to. Thirdly, the war took away Farah’s personal friends and more so her family members. Her dad and other siblings had perished in the war. Her cousins, uncles’, aunts and even her grandmother were no longer alive. The only member of family she was left with was her mother. Farah had to live the rest of her life wishing that the war never erupted. She felt broken after being separated from her family and the only thing left was endless dreams and vivid imaginations of how the life would have been with her father and her brothers and sisters. Life in America was far much different from the life Farah and her mother had in Kabul- Afghanistan. In spite of their peace and safety, a good house and good foods, Farah and her mother still struggled to adapt to the American lifestyle. Everything had suddenly become new and they had to learn from scratch and through the hard way. This was a bit challenging since Farah and her mother spoke very little English. The issue of language difference was quite a challenge to Farah and her mother and in different situations Alyce a friend Farah had met while in the camp regularly chipped in to help them out. Alyce had readily helped Farah and her mother navigate through the medical system before she was sent to Germany (Ahmedi & Ansary, 2005). Of course, in Kabul there never used to be carnival rides. At first Farah thought that the other girls were screaming out of fear of falling from the ride. She without hesitation found herself screaming out loudly when the machine emitted sparks whic h was a part of the entire carnival ride game (Ahmedi & Ansary, 2005). Her mother on the other hand spent a lot of time in the house following her illness. She was really depressed and she had not met any new friends in Illinois. This

Work Package Essay Example for Free

Work Package Essay What approach would you take to identify the activities needed to complete the work package? A work package is a portion of the WBS that allows project management to define the steps necessary for completing the project. (Ultimate Resource for PM) In my opinion, the activities should be divided into different levels. We should try to pick the most important activities and try to avoid the less-important ones. Put the feasible activities on the list and delete the impractical ones. How would you know that you have identified the right level of detail? To identify the right level of the details, we have to start from the first level. The first level should be a general idea of the activities and the main steps. The second level is the expansion of the first level. So is the third level. Form the top-down structure, the top level is always the conclusion and the basic level is the details. How would you prevent identifying ‘too much’ detail or too many activities that would it very difficult for you to manage? By identifying the details, we should try to take the details that build up the structure and work for the project. It should be a blueprint for the project manager to identify the activities clearly. So we should just keep the main steps on the list and try to avoid the unnecessary activities. Can you give an example of a Work Package or something similar (it can be a real life example) where you decomposed the deliverable (what is needed) into the activities that are needed to complete the deliverable? When I was in the former class, our team was to finish one project called developing new IPhone 5 market. So we tried to develop our WBS and the deliverables. Our team had thought of 3 main deliverables of producing, advertising and customer service. But we found out that actually, we needed to decompose the producing into producing, packing and transportation. Mailing new iPhone to different customers and stores is still a big activity we need to pay attention to.

Differences between Child and Adult

Differences between Child and Adult In recent days, using of Internet has totally changed the environment in which where we live, learn and work. Simultaneously, children are frequently using the Internet and all are always accessing the online. Notably, children have limited knowledge for browsing the information what they want and more difficult to search and retrieve the results than the adults. So, young children are being forced to manage the designs that require complex typing, accurate spelling, advanced reading skills, and understanding of abstract concepts or content knowledge that lies beyond their still-developing abilities (Moore and George, 1991; Solomon, 1993; Walter et al., 1996). Based on Jakob Nielsen et al. (2010), the differences between children and adult in applying the design are the children use Internet for entertainment although the adult is used for communication with people and their communities, children usually use 12, 14 point and adult use 10 point (up to 14 for seniors) for font size, ch ildren have slowly typing and poor mouse control than the adult who can do like as expert, children like animation and sound effects for their design but adult mostly disliked and age-targeted design is importance between child groups but not necessary for adult. 1.2 Investigating preferences of children According to Dina Demner et al. (2001), children use computers and Internet for different purposes and functions which are depend on their like, dislikes, ages, interest, behavior, characteristics and habits. The group of children can be classified into four groups: 3-5 years old pre-readers (only memorize the data that they learned before a day), 5-8 years old beginning readers (start to play cooperatively with other people), 8-12 years old children (become more concentrate on connection between people) and teenagers (willing to analyze the new things but usage of Internet is less than the adult person). Currently, developers who designed for children do not consider the childrens skills and preferences. As a result, the applications may not be easily learned and used by children who have rare knowledge (Hutchinson, Bederson, 2005). Besides that, majority of the tools available are for the expert users which are not suitable for novice users like as children particularly for children who have very limited knowledge in computer. The interactions of children with the technologies depend on their age levels. Based on (Acuff and Reiher, 1997), the children between 8 and 12 change their interests from fantasy to reality. They start to understand more abstract terms, longer terms and more complex terms. Researcher (Inkpen, 2001) studied that the children who ages from 9 to 13 like point and click rather than drag and drop. Moreover, (Read, J.C., MacFarlane, S.J., Casey, C, 2001) discussed the various kinds of text input techniques for children. This research is restricted and compared to t he corresponding research for adults. In addition, colour preference is also one of the key issues to investigate the preference of children. Colour has a great impact on our live from early childhood onwards. Colour alters, evokes emotions, and affects our perception. Besides, preferable colour can increase the cognitive processes (Boyatzis, C.J., Varghese, R. 1993). An experiment (Chung, H. Y., et al. 2009) implemented the colour preferences among children revealed that boys preferred vivid colours for yellow, red, and blue, and bright light tones for yellow, green, and purple. On the other hand girls preferred light tones for yellow, green, and purple and pale tones for red and blue. Design should be based on its targeted users rather than emphasize on discussion with users and the children are not interested in the User Interface design guidelines (Shneiderman, 1998). Therefore, designers should be focused on searching the useful designs which will provide for childrens preferences such as development, health, socia l activities. 2.1 Why sport important for children Exercise can reduce stress that the children who has stress, depression, anxiety as adult have. However, sport, not exercise, encourages growth and contributes to improve physical and emotional health. Sport psychologist: (Dr. Glyn Roberts of the University of Illinois) emphasizes that sport is an important thing to learn the environment for children. Besides, sport provides various kinds of functions and can attain valuable things that can apply in their life. They learn to work hard for winning, study how to cope with life if face with problems, how to continue after failing, learn to listen, to stay concentrated, to obey rules and regulations and many things that can help them to grow into mentally healthier persons. Another benefit is emotional development which contains how to cope with winning and losing, how to try again if it is fail. In addition, team sport also provides the friendship skills that mean if the children want to win, he or she must help other members to finish their part of work and that can help to success in their daily life and also future life. Sport provide healthy, physically and socially growth of children as well as emotionally and social skills. Moreover, the attitudes and behaviour taught to children in sports carry over to adult life. Participation in sports can get many benefits from being physically active for children. It can improve health, develop quality of strong bones and muscles and reduce obesity to maintain a healthy weight, reduce obesity to maintain a healthy weight, improve cardiovascular fitness, provide friendship among people, reduce stress and help relaxation, improve self-esteem. 2.2 Sport sites for children Sport sites in Internet are very useful for children because every child can contribute from its contents. Besides, it does not need to have materials that support for sport and can play just only have computer and broadband internet connection and developing mobile services. There are many available sport sites for children in Web. In our paper, we address some useful sport sites for children called http://www.nflrush.com and http://bettersoccermorefun.com. These websites are official sites and made especially for children. It contains about the positions for football, how to play them, information about fun facts, getting advices and tips. Figure1: Main Form of nflrush website Figure 2: Main Form of Bettersoccermorefun website 3. Design a sports site for children 3.1 Usage of internet by children With the ubiquitous internet access, children have more opportunities been exposed in the light of internet and carried out various online activities. According to Livingstone and Helpsper (2007), the amount of children accessing the internet has continuously increased and internet has become an indispensable tool for them to acquire information and communicate. Comparing with traditional resources, web source is more preferred and used by children (Bilal, 1998). Some data about childrens web use has been analyzed, for instance, one survey (Johnson, 2010) investigated among children whose average age is 10.7 revealed that most children prefer playing online games and visiting websites in a community place like peers house. 3.2 Sports sites for children The fun and learning opportunities that provided by the Web sites is the big concern of children between 6 and 14 years old according to Baumgarten (2003). Besides, a good site should also consider expanding somewhat extent of complexity to meet childrens self-recognition and different developmental levels (Demner, 2001). Therefore, a high quality sports site can go far beyond providing sports related knowledge and skills, actually, it has much to offer to children, for instance, fun, relaxation, chances of communicate and collaborate with peers and develop their interests. This perspective may give a guideline to the designers and help them understand better about the users tasks and adjust design to meet their goals. Therefore, understanding our users, testing and maximizing the degree of usability of the site is critical. After analyzing the particular aspects of children and their unique features, all these should been given high consideration when designing the sports sites. Based on the data (Livingstone Helpsper, 2007) collected among Britain children between 9-19 years old, it has been found that generally boys and young-age teenagers use the internet more often and spend more time on it when comparing with girls and older teens. Another widely accepted fact is that boys spend more time in football games ( ), thus as the main users of the site, the site design should cater for their favours, while at the same time not ignoring their female counterparts. Thus the features of boys should be the focus of designers. 3.3 Usability of web sites As the definition of usability (ISO 9241), it presents the effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction with which specified users achieve specified goals in particular environments. Brinck et al. (2001) has proposed some features that a successful web design should include, it should support independent exploration and communication, encourage the users accomplishing their objectives in a fast, efficient and easy way. All these features can also be considered when trying to design a sports site for children. Many existing studies have adopted participatory deign with children, which means the children actively and directly involved in the design process and act as design testers and partners, have found productive results (Read, 2002). The usability engineers in Microsoft (Hanna, L. et.al, 1999) have researched in usability testing by working with groups of children, and have concluded several design guidelines of computer products in the criteria of activity, instruction and screen design. For instance, the activities provided should be interesting and constitute some reward scheme to encourage children to interact with, and supportive instructions should be easy to comprehend. All these can be adopted for planning a sports site for children. Considering the inhibited reading skills and comprehension ability of children, web contents transferred through intuitive formats like animation and audio is necessary. An experiment (Kà ¤hkà ¶nen Oyaska, 2006) implemented among children has revealed that children are more likely to learn from animation instructions, as they expect to explore the functionality and have fun from the site. However, according to their research achievement, a combination with simple textual instructions is also important, as children may confused and feel lose something if only animation can be shown. 3.4 Interaction and collaborative learning of web sites In a survey (Jonson, 2010), researchers have found that, respectively 60.7% and 62.9% of investigated children prefer to visit web sites and play online games in peers houses. Allen (2003) also pointed that the social motivation, sense of attachment, winning friends and recognition, for instance, is a vital factor for sports involvement of children in teenage. In addition, football is a team sports, most children may seek online role play games together. Therefore, entertainment feature of collaborative learning and interaction of the site is another essential matter before beginning the design step. Based on the research approach of a collaborative learning project (Ivan Michal, 2006), maintaining connection among participants, recording their characters and behavior, and then establishing efficient communication tools for them is the premise for formulating an effective collaborative online environment. Just putting this into practice, a football site for children may construct me mbership scheme to attract participation, diverse role play games which can arouse enthusiasm, intuitive interactive activities, in addition, a corner for children to communicate with each other, like discussion boards, online chat rooms are also praiseful. 4. Childrens online behaviour 4.1 childrens online seeking behaviour From the perspective of designers, identifying how children use the internet and their online behaviours is crucial as all these things will directly influence the design issues. Many studies have been done in this area, for instance, in one investigation carried out among British children between 9-19 years old, Livingstone and Helpsper (2007) have found that, the frequency and time spent of internet using by boys and young-age teenagers is much higher when comparing with girls and older teens. Another finding is that boys accessing to the internet in more places than their female counterparts. During the research process of childrens online behaviour, Bilal (2000) has found that invalid switches (e.g. frequently shifting back and forth, visiting sites), continual looping and minimal navigation are the prevalent problems encountered among childrens using of the sites. The main reason has been attributed to the abstract and complex representation of the web information. In this context, straightforward icons and childrens familiar metaphors can be used to alleviate frustration of iterate actions and support their efficient navigation in the site, as well as a good arrangement of content categories. According to the outcome released by another experiment (Kà ¤hkà ¶nen Oyaska, 2006), researchers found that due to the limit learnability of help function, most children rarely use this part in the web sites. However, considering the cognitive capacity of children and their levels of computer experience, a useful help function is necessary and it is a critical part for their acceptance of a sports site. Thus, for this special group, the help part should be provided in a directive and intuitive way, long and tedious texts, abstract concepts, ambiguous categories should be avoided. Besides, effective real time help is more helpful. 4.2. Participation of Parents Parents participation is very important for children, according to the Eccles expectancy-value model (Eccles Harold, 1991), parents influence their child choices by providing differential levels of support for activities. They also proposed that the level of support is based on expectations of the likelihood that their child will be successful in that area, and the personal beliefs about the value of success in that domain. The degree of involvement of parents in their children sport activities is also important. Most of the parents under involve and most of the parents over involve in their children activities. Under involvement means parents watch on sidelines and they do not actively participate in their children programs. Over involved parents excessively involve in the running program of their children. They emphasize on winning and motivate their children to get success in their running programs. Parents participation in their children sport make the child to get competitive a dvantage, the children can actively involve and can do happily their activities with the support of their parents. (include features for the participation of parents , teachers, interactive games, information the site provided) 5. Design Principles for Children Since designers design the system, they must know clearly Who are the users using the system? If the system is for various users who have different knowledge about it, they need to focus on from different perspective like what are the user needs and interests depending on users profiles and personas.(children) Norman (1988) defined user-centered design as a philosophy based on the needs and interests of the users, with an emphasis on making products usable and understandable. He added that easy to understand and easy to use of the products are pointing out the user to let them know what to do and the user can clearly understand what is going on. According to the Rubin (1944), user-centered design is techniques and procedures for designing usable systems with the user at the centre of the process. User-centered design principles place increased attention on developing products that are ease of use and ease of understand by focusing on the user throughout the design process (Dumas Redish, 1993; Eason, 1988; Gould Lewis, 1985; Shackel, 1991). If users are elderly, text font size should be larger than usual as they cannot see the small font size clearly, voice output should be provided more longer than as usual or instead of voice output, text output with large text font should be used as the elderly may be lost in hearing.For users with disabilities, the system designers need to use more flexible computer software in order to support special tools for them. For low vision or blind users, voice output should be provided instead of message output. For the users who have trouble in hand function, using mice and trackballs can be a problem for them. Instead of using these input devices, speech recognition device like voice input can solve the problems for disabled children. There are many important interaction design principles and there are many way to apply those principles. As our paper focuses on children, we will describe some of the principles and point out what designers should take into account when designing the interface design for children. According to the (Heim, 2007), two main categories can be used to present the principles in a systematic and structured way: namely effectiveness principles and efficiency principles. He defined efficiency as a design that enable users to accomplish their tasks in the easiest and quickest way as much as possible without having to do overly complex or extraneous procedures. Efficiency and effectiveness are the principles that support usability. According to the (Usability), the term usability means The level of ease with which people can employ a particular device in order to attain and increase usability. There are many design principle that are applied in human computer interaction. There are three main d esign principles which support usability such as learnability, flexibility and robustness. Under each of these categories, there are many sub principles that affect them (usability). Among these principles, the principles that are required for children will be discussed. Learn ability is the primary goal of the user interface design and it is the very important design principles for children. It they do not know clearly how to use the system and if it is very difficult for them to use, they can get confusion and they will not use this system anymore. For example, if too many clicks are required to complete a task, children cannot memorize at once and it can get them confused. Next time they visit back, they will not be sure how to go through to complete their tasks. Responsiveness is also one of the design principles in which the response time of the system should not take long as users are children. If system response time is slow, they may think that the system cannot provide what they want and it cannot work properly. Children cannot memorize many things at one time like the adult. They can memorize well only one thing at a time. For example, when installing the software, many steps are required to finish. Users need to click on Next button to move forward and need to choose location to place the installed softwares icon. After all the steps have been done, users need to click Finish button. Software installation process should not be different. It should be consistent. If installation process for different software is not the same, it can be problems for users to memorize what should they do for this software to install and what should they perform for other software. If the installation process is similar for different software, users can predict how should they move on by calling memory on past interaction history. As the focus users are children, the designers should know the characteristics of children and should design the site to allow them ease of use and should provide required functionality. From the examples of Heim (2007), the design for a drawing program should enumerate all of the tools required to create digital drawings, another example is that in a website, all the information must be provided that are required by the visitor in order to accomplish his or her goals. For the children who are less than five year cannot read the instructions in the form of message. Designers need to consider this factor. Instead of displaying instruction in the form of message, audio, video, animation should be used to let them know what should they do to complete their tasks. For younger children rather than older children, Sears Jacko (2008) stated that To eliminate the need for mouse clicking, the cursor is transformed into a big yellow star with room for five small stars inside it. As the mouse is held over a target, the small stars appear once at a time. When the fifth star appears, it counts as clicking on that target. If the child does click, the process simply moves faster. For the adult, double-clicking is not a problem for them. For the kids, they do not know the action of double-clicking. Single click action should be provided instead of double clicking. Conclusion The following are design issues for children that should be considered when designing the system for children. Multiple navigations should be avoided because it can be a problem for children and they can get confusion on it. In sport sites, if text font size of guideline instructions such as rules and regulations for each sport is 12, they cannot focus on it. So, text font size should be larger than as usual. Youngest kids do not know how to scroll up and scroll down. This is the big problem for them. Instead of using scrolling, multiple pages should be used. Radio buttons and checkboxes should not be used as they do not have ability which option to choose. Search box should not be provided. They do not know how to search and they are slow in typing. Instead of search box, the required functions should be put together on the screen.

Wedding Planning Needs Assessment

Wedding Planning Needs Assessment CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Wedding is once-a-life event in peoples life. For most of families, they are willing to spend a considerable amount of money to ensure the wedding is organized as perfect as possible. According to Howard (2006), wedding today is a $70 billion business in U.S., and the average cost of wedding is $26,000 per couples. As a spinoff the larger discipline of event management, the business of wedding planning will provide business to a broad array of supporting industries, such as hotels, retails, and catering service. Comparing with the other personal events, such as birthday, anniversaries, wedding is more complicated, because it involves friends and families and a range of related service activities covering from catering to entertainments (Shone Parry, 2004). In order to make sure everything goes smoothly in the wedding day, most of the prospective couples would like to plan the wedding in sometimes year in advance. Both brides and grooms put much effort into the wedding preparation including the venue selection, honeymoon booking and dress design etc. However, not all of them have enough time and energy and knowledge in wedding planning to arrange everything themselves. They need someone to assist them in wedding planning, budget preparation, planning detail checklists, venue arrangement as well as onsite supervision and coordination on the wedding day. Wedding planners, the professional dealing with all the details of wedding, provide a one-stop service to potential couples by charging some considerable consultant fee (Wikipedia org, 2009). The role of the wedding planners is to save time, look after details, make couples dream come true, stay on the budget and save money. Wedding planners have become one of the outsourced labours in modern society (Blakely, 2007). With the rapid development of the society in the last decade, more and more couples prefer to go to college and start their own careers after graduation. Marriage is happening later in brides and grooms life (Mayling, 2002). This means couples have more disposable income to afford the wedding expenses; and they are more likely to look for some special unique wedding styles, such as theme wedding, green wedding etc., which probably involves different elements, such as ethic, religious custom, family tradition, class identity, regional practice and individual tastes and preference (Howard, 2006). As a result, wedding planners, who are providing professional advices and assistance to the couples from the moment of distributing the invitations, arranging the style of cake ceremony, table setting, and setting for banquet, are necessarily needed and developed dramatically (Markby, 2006). 1.2 Wedding in China In traditional Chinese culture, marriage was creating alliances between families. Therefore, it was strictly arranged by parents or elder people in families. Wedding should be planned strictly according to the customs. For example, people should choose a good year, a good month, a good day as well as a good time for wedding ceremony; and use â€Å"red† in the declaration for everything with the purpose of auspicious. Wedding is also one of the ways for Chinese families to present their social classes therefore the families are willing to spend a large mount of money on wedding, and much of which were supported by parents or relatives. Because of the reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, nowadays, the living standards in China have been dramatically increased. According to the China Statistic Yearbook 2008 (2009), the GDP per capita in Mainland China is increasing steadily and has reached 18,934 RMB in 2007. At the mean time, the social culture is becoming diversified. More and more Chinese people, especially the younger generation who have better education, began to accept the western culture. Most of the prospective couples would like to experience different types of weddings that can make their special day more measurable. For example, some people choose â€Å"white† wedding instead of traditional Chinese â€Å"red† wedding; some may prefer destination wedding instead of having wedding at home, which may require more time and professional planning and organizing throughout the wedding preparation. Therefore, wedding planners, as a new business in China, has developed rapidly during the l ast decade. According to the ministry of commerce of the PRC (2008), wedding service today has become a big business in China covering about 76 industries, such as matchmaking business, wedding planning as well as banquets, tourism industries etc. where the photographer has the highest profit that is above 30% while the wedding planner is 15%. The average expenditure for more than 3.7 million new Chinese couples in 2006 was about 126,600 RMB. Based on the statistics of Ministry of Civil Affairs of the PRC (2009), about 11 million couples got married in 2008 with the growth of 10.8% than 2007. All the statistics above show that wedding business in China has a huge market and potential. This research will focus on Pearl River Delta, the most economically dynamic region in southern part of China. PRD covers nine prefectures of Guangdong province including Guangzhou, Shenzhe, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing; and has become one of the leading economic regions and a major manufacturing center of China, which accounted for 10.2% of Chinas GDP. People in PRD have more purchasing power than the other region. The per capita GDP in PRD ranges from 35,700 to 79,600 RMB which is much higher than the national per capita GDP (HKTDC, 2008). Because of the advantages of its location and open-door policy, PRD became the first region in China which allowed the foreign investments. Thus, apart from the economic strength, people in PRD were influenced by the western cultures earlier than the other places of China. 1.3 Research problem statements Due to the low entry cost in the wedding planning business, the number of wedding planners has increased rapidly in China in the last decade. Generally, two to three persons having relevant planning experience can establish a wedding planning company with around 100,000 RMB investments in China. They just need an office for meeting with clients and an official blog or website for promotion. Despite of the rapid development of the wedding business, the service/product offered by the wedding planners is similar. Comparing with the wedding photo service business, there is a lack of leading brand in the wedding planning business. With the growth of income level and education level, the couples in China are becoming more and more demanding towards the wedding service/products and face a problem that how to choose a suitable wedding planners who can provide excellent service/product. Thus, from the supply side, identifying and satisfying the important and unfulfilled needs of prospective c ouples is one of the ways for wedding planners to differentiate their products from the competitors, and make success in the competition. However, there is few studies indentifying prospective couples needs or attitudes toward products or service of wedding planner in Pearl River Delta even though in Chinese mainland, nor research about how well the wedding planners in China is meeting the needs of prospective couples. Therefore, this study will focus on the following questions to find out the needs of prospective couples (demand side) towards the wedding planners in PRD 1) Whats the reason for couples hiring wedding planners? 2) Whats the factors affecting the selection of wedding planners? Reputation? Price? Or other? 3) Do the needs of prospective couples toward wedding planners in Pearl River Delta vary according to the different demographical characteristics? 1.4 Research objectives: To find out the needs of prospective couples when hiring the wedding planners in the Pearl River Delta; To investigate the relationship between the needs for prospective couples and the choice of product/service offered by wedding planners in Pearl River Delta Region; To investigate how the needs of potential couples are influenced by their demographic profiles; To make recommendations to the wedding planners in Pearl River Delta. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, the previous studies related to wedding, wedding planners as well as the consumer purchase behavior will be reviewed. 2.1 Nature of wedding From the view of sociology, Edward (1987) defined that weddings are rites of passage, which belong to the class of rituals that everywhere mark the transition of a person or persons from one status to another. Wedding therefore becomes a private and highly-personalized event in peoples life. Event is held for a purpose that brings people together to share an experience and produce a measurable outcome no matter public or private, commercial or charitable, celebratory or commemorative (Silvers, 2003). Shone and Parry (2004) defined the wedding, together with the other personal events (e.g. birthday or anniversaries), as a type of special events. Their phenomenon arise from leisure, cultural, personal or organizational objectives which are set apart from the normal activity of daily life and their purpose is to enlighten, celebrate, entertain or challenge the experience of a group of people. The characteristics of special events include personal interactions, ritual or ceremony, intang ible, fixed timescale, labor intensive, ambience and service, perishability as well as uniqueness. Getz (2007) also defined wedding as a form of planned events because it is held in venues that cater to individual and small-group clients which may require professionals or be entirely arranged by the participants. From this point of view, Getz (2007) believed that the wedding is a multi-meaning experience in both personal and social aspects, and it is can be considered as celebrations in which a theme and emotional stimulation are essential. Although, wedding is usually defined as a type of small or personal events, it is still an area lack of study and research compared with meeting, exhibition, incentives or other events. There is quite a few academic book or journal devoted to the planning and design of weddings, parties or other private functions. 2.2 Wedding planners 2.21 The nature of wedding planner Arranging an event is complicated as it involves different elements such as the specialist sets, props, customers for participants or guests, and all the range of support requirements from special effects and lighting to music and entertainment. Event management companies are increasingly common in the events business in the last decades, which have specialized in providing of the complete event by careful planning and management. People can enjoy a number of benefits of having an EMC including the expertise, ideas and experience they can draw on (Shone Parry, 2004). Shone and Parry (2004) found that although there are some major companies in the event business, there are a wide range of smaller organizations and individuals that are willing to provide events-related service particular for the personal event market, which include the organization of parties, celebrations, weddings, anniversaries and many of similar events. Professional party planners or event organizers are those pr ofessional who deal with the nitty-gritty details of planning, organizing, operating and managing an event to ensure everything goes smoothly. According to Wikipedia (2009), wedding planners are the professionals who deal with all the details of the wedding, which includes planning, organizing, operating and management, to ensure everything goes smoothly and correctly. Ellis-Christensen (2008) defined that wedding planner as an event professional whose responsibility is not only to plan a memorable wedding, but also to give some professional advices to the couples including the venue selection, equipments preparation etc. They usually act as a wedding advisor, coordinator, supervisor, financial planner and mediator during the wedding (Brush Creek Weddings, 2008). Peters (2007) also stated that the range of service offered by wedding planner is widely. Some may prefer to offer consulting service only while some may prefer to provide comprehensive wedding package. At the meantime, Peters (2007) also pointed out that the global trend of the wedding business has been toward offering total coordination of the entire blessed even t from the beginning to the end, which includes identifying the needs of new couples, budget preparation, planning detailed checklist, venue arrangement, identifying the professionals (e.g. florists, photographers etc.) as well as on-site supervision and coordination on the wedding day. The consultant fee varies widely depending on different locations or different packages. The consultant fee may be higher in larger cities where disposable income of couples is higher than the other places. 2.22 The requirements of a wedding planner Having a strong organizational skills as well as an eye for details are necessary and basic requirements for a successful professional meeting planner because meeting process is both comprehensive and meticulous. Moreover, meeting planners must have the ability to work successful under pressure, to react calmly to constant change, and to make quick decisions (OBrien Shaw, 2002). Howard (2006) stressed that wedding planning is highly customer oriented as most of the couples are looking for special, unique and memorable wedding. Ethic and religious custom, family tradition, class identity, regional practice, and individual tastes and preferences certainly all played a role in shaping wedding consumption. Peters (2007) suggested that good communication skills, good organizational skills as well as good interpersonal skills are very essential for being a successful wedding planner, because wedding planners act as a middle person who deals with both clients and suppliers. The appearance of the professional wedding organization was an important benchmark in the rise of wedding planner business, indicating that wedding planning service today are more and more professional. These professional organizations help wedding planners naturalize particular customs and practices on a potentially national scale by sharing etiquette and customs. They provide some training course for wedding planners. Getting a certificate from professional organization has became one of the evidences for professional and made the customer confident with the service quality. Additionally, the organization also centralized and rationalized a consultants business, providing important resources and information regarding the markets as well as the trend (Howard, 2006). 2.23 Demand of wedding planners Wedding is an important event in peoples life that many people are willing to organize by themselves on the small and more intimate scale. However, not all of them have the time and wish to expend the effort on doing so and happier to pay a professional to come along and deal with all the details of planning, organizing, operating and managing to ensure everything goes smoothly (Shone Parry, 2006). According to Blakely (2007), the supply of commercial service increases dramatically along with the growth of demands for family jobs. Wedding planners are a form of outsourced labor in the modern society. These jobs which are transported from home to the public marketplace are responding to the time crunch produced by work-family conflict. From this point of view, Blakely defined wedding planners as commercial substitutes. Besides, Edwards (1987) conducted a research to examine the relationship between the weddings commercial development and its nature as a rite of passage. He found that the reason of the success of the wedding business was the convenience offered by the wedding planners and the demand from consumers for larger and more sumptuous celebrations. Consumers were looking for a wide range of wedding-related service (one-stop service) through a single organization. 2.4 The trend Firstly, the wedding today tends to be more customized than before. According to Hensdill (1996), because of the cultural exchange among the global village, traditional wedding customs are giving way to the trends of Western societies. Some new styles of wedding exist, such as theme wedding, destination wedding and green wedding, because more and more couples are looking for unique wedding. Destination wedding is a new wedding style that a couple decides to hold their wedding in a location where neither one of them resides (Daniels Loveless, 2007). There are several top destinations for wedding in the world, such as Caribbean, Las Vegas, Hawaii as well as Maldives. Generally, some special theme may be adopted into the destination wedding. For example, hotel in Las Vegas has organized Italian-style wedding for wedding couples (Stratton, 2001). Moreover, the destination wedding often merges into the honeymoon (Daniels Loveless, 2007). Secondly, the internet and e-commerce has shaped the modern wedding consumption and gave it a new immediacy and flexibility. As a result, the wedding planners can target different segments of the bridal markets through developing website that advertised their goods and services and allowed consumers to make agreement or shop directly through their online site (Howard, 2006). 2.2 Consumer purchase behaviors toward wedding â€Å"Consumer behavior is defined as the behavior that consumers display in searching form, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. It focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources† (Schiffman Kanuk, 2007). 2.32 Factors affecting consumer purchases As people are willing to devote time and effort to the ritual occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving, some researches regarding the types of purchases associated with ritual occasions have been conducted by researchers in consumer behavior (Lowery, 1994). According to some market analysis, consumer purchase behavior is strongly influenced by social, cultural and individual characteristics. a) Social factors According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2007), consumer behavior is influenced by two major groups, namely the reference group and families. â€Å"A reference group that is perceived as credible, attractive, or powerful can induce consumer attitude and behavior change† (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007) Based on the traditional family life cycle, the prospective couples belong to the stage II, honeymooners, who have available a combined income that often permits a lifestyle that provides them with the opportunities of more indulgent purchasing of professions, which means that the honeymooners are happy to accept the professional products and service and willing to pay more money for them as they pursuit high quality of life. The reason hidden behind may be because they have more disposable income and more free time for themselves before the born of young children. Additionally, for the newlyweds, the advice and experience of other married couples (e.g. parents or friends) are likely to be important when they start-up their expenses to establish a new home (Schiffman Kanuk, 2007). â€Å"For many consumers their family is their primary reference group for many attitudes and behaviors. The members of a family assume specific roles in their everyday functioning; such roles or tasks extend to the realm of consumer purchase decisions. Key consumer-related roles of family members include influencers, gatekeepers, deciders, buyers, preparers, users, maintainers, and disposers. A familys decision-making style is influenced by its lifestyle, roles, and cultural factors.† (Schiffman Kanuk, 2007). Different social classes have different preferences in clothing, home decoration and leisure activities as well as saving, spending and credit habits. Based on the market study by Brides magazine, 20% of the buyers of the wedding products identified themselves as buyers of Brides magazine who were mainly middle class women employed in white-collar, professional and technical fields and had higher medium annual income, when combined with their future husbands. This means that the bride had more control over future consumer decisions that the couple would make (Howard, 2006). Another research about the division of wedding labor and its meaning for couples by Sniezek (2005) indicated that women complete the a disproportionate amount of wedding work just as women do more of kin-work, housework, childcare and managerial family work. He also pointed out that couples were not likely to label the unequal division of labor as unfair which may potentially put the relationship in a state of conflict. From this point of view, his statement highly support Blakelys study (2007) which stated that the wedding planning businesss targeted market is modern career women. Blakely also used the case study of wedding planning to confirm Hochschilds thesis (2003) that feminism plays and important ideological role in the expansion of the commodity frontier. However, after comparison of the emphases that brides and grooms place on artifacts selected for use in their weddings and reception, Lowery (1994) found out that the brides participating in the focus group had no difficulty describing artifacts that were important to them; while grooms had greater difficulty. They also suggest that the emergence of traditional or modern gender roles in wedding planning is partially determined by the attitudes of the bride and groom toward these roles. This is also proved by Schiffman Kanuk (2007) that wedding purchase is a joint-decision in the family where the couples may play different roles in the decision making procedure. b) Cultural factors â€Å"Culture is the sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to regulate the consumer behavior of member of a particular society.† (Schiffman Kanuk, 2007) When explaining how culture affects the consumer behavior, Schiffman and Kanuk (2007) indicated that all phases of human problem solving are directed and guided by culture, which includes various ritualized experiences and behaviors. For instance, in practice, rituals accompany with people throughout the human life cycle form birth to death, including a host of intermediate events such as confirmation, graduations and marriage. Besides the culture, subculture also plays an important in consumers behavior which includes nationality, religion, geographic, location, race, age and sex. For example, when comparing the husband-wife decision making between United States and China, Schiffman and Kanuk (2007) found out that there were substantially fewer â€Å"joint† decisions and more â€Å"husband-dominated† decisions for many household purchases in China. Even in the same country, another research showed that in larger city like Beijing, couples were more likely than rural co uples to share equally in purchase decisions. c) Individual factors Apart from the social and cultural factors which affecting the consumer behavior, individual factors play an important role when people make decision (Dholakia, 1979). Schiffman Kanuk (2005) explained the influences of the individual factors through several categories: motivation, personality, perception, learning as well as attitudes. As a driving force within individuals that force them to take actions, motivation is produced by a state of uncomfortable tension unsatisfied needs. Liking to our topic, hiring the wedding planner may be motivated by the needs of couples, such as lack of time for preparation, looking for professional service etc. Personality determines and reflects how a person responds to his or her environment. Generally, people are looking for the balance between the perceived self-image and their behavior including the purchasing products or service. Some may prefer innovative wedding style (e.g. destination wedding, green wedding) while the other may choose trad itional wedding. Moreover, each individual has its own process when he or she selects, organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. This process is highly subjective and is based on what the consumer expect to see. There are several factors that can influence the perception including physical appearance, stereotypes, halo effects, irrelevant cues, first impressions, and the tendency to jump to conclusions. 2.3 Theoretical foundation- Consumer decision making process This research is based on consumer decision making process, which is one of the theories of consumer behavior. Decisions are about the selection of an option from two or more alternative choices. According to Kotler, Bowen and Makens (2006), consumer decision process consists of five essential stages: 2.31 Need recognition From the moment that the consumer recognizes a problem or need, the consumer buying process starts. The consumers needs can be stimulated by both internal and external factors. Advertisements, word-of-mouth, social cues from families, friends and anyone within the families can influence the customers need recognition. In the case of wedding planner, potential couples, their internal stimuli probably is lacking of time for preparation, looking for some unique and special wedding while the external stimuli may be the advertisement in the internet, the promotional events held by wedding planners, especially by the friends or families who have previous experience. 2.32 Information search Searching information about their needs or problems is the second step of buying process. How much information a consumer looks for will depend on the strength of the drive, and the amount of initial information, the value placed on additional information. Linking to the wedding planners, couples will take some time for information searching. This is a stage that couples can decide if they would like to hire a wedding planners or if the products/service offered by wedding planner can satisfy their needs. 2.33 Evaluation of alternatives After searching the relevant information, customers will use the information to arrive at a set of final brand choices. At this stage, potential couples may set up a personal comparison system through different attributes such as reputation, price, theme etc., in order to identify which would be the most ideal brand. 2.34 Purchase decision Subsequently, consumer will buy the most preferred brand based on their evaluation in the previous stage. This is the stage that potential couples choose which brand, what kind of services and check if the product/service is available. This is also the stage that potential couples decide if they would like to hire a wedding planner or not. 2.35 Post-purchase behavior Based on the performance of the service/products, the final stage determines whether the consumer satisfy the service/products or not. 2.4 Summary After reviewing the previous studies related to wedding and wedding planners, we can find out that most of the studies were conducted in the developed countries such as U.S or United Kingdom, while there is a blank area regarding this field in China. Moreover, there is little study regarding the consumer purchase behavior towards the wedding planners conducted before. This research will based on the theories of consumer behavior to conduct three in-depth interviews to find out the reasons for potential couples hiring wedding planners; and the factors affecting their decision. Then, a quantitative research will be conducted to express the findings in statistical terms. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY This research will be designed as an exploratory, quantitative, cross-sectional investigation of prospective couples needs towards the service/products offered by wedding planners in Pearl River Delta. 3.1 Research Design The advantage of semi-structure interviews is that it can allow issues to be explored deeply while questionnaire survey is that it can collect information from a large number of people and express the findings in statistical terms (Jennings, 2001). As limited study regarding the needs of potential couples towards the wedding service has been conduced in China so far, for this research, the important variables are not clear and still need to be defined. In order to develop a more reliable questionnaire to conduct quantitative research at the second stage, the first stage is to explore the important variables through a qualitative research. In-depth interviews with three potential couples will be conducted, which will facilitate the identifying the different requirements made by potential couples when selecting the wedding planners. These in-depth interviews are critical for the whole research because the finding of these interviews will be used to develop the questionnaire. 3.2 Questionnaire design There will be four main parts in the questionnaire. The first part will be the screening questions with the purpose of screening the invalid sample through some questions. Then, the second part will include some questions regarding the prospective couples attitudes towards the service/products offered by wedding planners in Pearl River Delta. Respondents are required to indicate their personal opinions on each statement on a five-point Likert type scale: 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. In the third part, open-end questions will be included in order to examine the personal experience and intention of hiring a wedding planner. Finally, there will be a set of questions regarding the demographic characteristics of the respondents, which will include gender, age, income level, marriage status, and education level. In order to explain the purpose of the research to the respondents, a covering letter will be attached to the questionnaire. The covering letter will include the information that how the sample was selected, the time will take to complete the survey, contact person for questions and assuring the response would be kept confidential and only used for statistical purposes. 3.3 Sampling method The survey will use a convenience sampling method. Total 200 questionnaires will be distributed in 5 major cities in PRD, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan and Zhongshan. Both non-married and married couples will be the target respondents in this survey. In order to ensure that the relevance of information collected can reflect the populations opinion, females under 20-year-old (Minimum age of legal marriage for female in China) or males under 22 (Minimum age of legal marriage for male in China) will not be counted as a valid sample. 3.4 Data Collection The data will be collected from 5 major cities in Pear River Delta including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan and Zhongshan, through different ways including face-to-face interviews and self-completion questionnaires. 3.41 Face-to-face interviews In order to have higher response rate, in the first phase, the face-to-face interviews with potential couples will be conducted at the wedding service companies when they are waiting for the service or outside the Marriage Registries in those cities. 3.42 Self-completion questionnaires At the second phase, self-completion questionnaires will be sent out through e-mail or online survey link, which allows the participants to complete the questionnaires at their own space and at a time convenient for them. In order to secure respondent rate, 2 weeks later, a follow-up letter will be sent out. 3.5 Pilot tests Before the distributing the questionnaires to the targeted respondents, a

Universality and the Particular Essay -- Poetry Literature Authors Wri

Universality and the Particular â€Å"History,† Gilman writes, â€Å"is, or should be, the story of our racial life† (Gilman 216). Eliot is a bit less succinct, but perhaps he could be most pithily summed up as saying: â€Å"The business of the poet is not to find new emotions, but to use the ordinary ones and, in working them up into poetry, to express feelings which are not in actual emotions at all† (Eliot 1919, 23). It is not immediately evident what either author means by these statements, however, they both contain the core of the argument. Both authors have their individual aims and intents with their writings, however, in spite of the differences, their arguments find more common ground than disagreement. Their terminology is certainly different, but they see the purpose and aims of literature as by and large the same. Literature, according to Gilman, originated as the â€Å"legitimate child of oral tradition, a product of natural brain activity† (218). Implicit in this, and made explicit elsewhere, is that literature is inherently a form of communication. And, â€Å"since our very life depends on some communication,† Gilman indicates very strongly that literature, both in its ancestry and in its current incarnation, provides an extremely important role in our existence† (218). She elaborates on this notion of communication, however, and specifies that a â€Å"passionate interest in other people’s lives†¦is the most vital art† (218). To her, the expression of the â€Å"great field of human life† is the task of all literature and is crucial to the very existence of society (218). We can presume that there is some bias in her argument, as people tend to think highly of their chosen craft. The essential element, however, is Gilman’s focus on t h... ...e essentially expansionist, forcing the borders outwards to include women in literature. Eliot, on the other hand, seems to be moving inward and examining and rejecting a certain type of reader, a certain type of poet. However, both, ultimately see literature as capturing the entirety of the human existence. The mechanism for doing so in their arguments differ greatly, but the intent and the final goals are the same. Where one speaks of the human soul, the other speaks of impersonality and mean the same thing. Works Cited Eliot, T.S. â€Å"The Impersonality of Poetry.† Issues in Contemporary Critical Theory: A Casebook. Ed. Peter Barry. London: Macmillan, 1987. 23. Eliot, T.S. â€Å"Hamlet and His Problems.† Hamlet. Ed. Cyrus Hoy. New York: W.W. Norton, 1963. 180-184. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings. New York: Bantam, 1989.

This self-portrait is the last ever self-portrait painted by Vincent Es

This self-portrait is the last ever self-portrait painted by Vincent van Gogh before he died on the 29th July 1890 as a result of a self-inflicted bullet wound. This self-portrait is the last ever self-portrait painted by Vincent van Gogh before he died on the 29th July 1890 as a result of a self-inflicted bullet wound. The first thing I notice when I look at the painting is the amount of blue used to create the background, the jacket and also the darker, shaded areas on van Gogh’s face. I think van Gogh did this for a few reasons, * One reason could be to show the way that he felt while he was painting, which could of been sad or â€Å"blue†. This is a possibility as van Gogh was known for his sad lifestyle which would eventually lead to him mutilating his ear after an argument with the artist Paul Gaugin, becoming a voluntary patient at the St. Remy Mental Asylum and then finally, shooting himself in a suicide attempt and dying two days later. * Another reason for the exaggerated use of blue could be down the fact that van Gogh wanted to make the reader feel as if it was cold or icy in the painting. * One more reason could be to give the impression that van Gogh is standing outside and the blue is the sky in the background. I can tell that van Gogh is not at a happy time in his life as his expression is gloomy and miserable. I think that the odd swirls in the background could be seen as symbolic of his mental state at the time. Whilst van ...

Lotus Car Rental Essay

The Lotus Rental Car company is the world’s leading company in a multimillion dollar industry and can take this great opportunity to provide the consumer with alternative options in vehicles by adding alternative fuel vehicles to its fleet in Los Angeles, California, it would be a good move for this company because alternative vehicles like hybrids offer a less contaminated environment, better fuel economy, and the best in its money worth. Electric vehicles produce zero contamination, but are limited to the distance they can travel. Compare to gas powered vehicles offering lower mileage and higher emissions, which is a factor to the contamination of the air we breathe in. Also by adding the alternative vehicle can improve the company’s image and show that we as a provider do care about what we rent out to our consumer, and by providing that image the consumer would be motivated to drive a much cleaner vehicle that will protect the environment. With more car companies coming out with alternative vehicles this would be the right move to make in investing in alternative vehicles and gaining that momentum that would push this company over the top of all our competitors. The standard engine vehicle has come a long way; Conventional vehicles have only grown more reliable. And year after year they come out with more improvements for the vehicle’s engine. The gasoline car has improved from decades before, and in the past century. Modern civilization depends on automobiles for much of its daily existence, to travel to work and back. Gas stations are everywhere and it’s easier to go and fill up your car with gas, rather than go and sit and plug into a charging station. That being a one of pros to having a gas powered vehicle. However a growing disadvantage to having the gas powered vehicle are the gas prices rising. For every gallon of gas you put in your tank, only 1/5 produces mechanical energy that moves your car. The other 4/5 is lost as heat which is why the gas powered car has more engine parts (The Amazing Rate, 2012). The more parts help the gas powered vehicle in cooling down and maintaining power. The parts convert gas that is flowed through the motor into energy, and more parts to manage the excessive heat. Take a Honda Civic EX, for example, normally the Civic would get about 24 mpg around the city and about 36 on the highway, thanks to developments such as the VTEC valve train profiling system that adjusts as speed adjusts and keeps the engine working at optimal levels (Autos.com, 2014). The hybrid and electric cars that they have out for sale only make up one percent of 250 million sold in America. The maintenance of the car would add up after a couple years of having it, but would still cost you less than the alternative vehicle that would’ve got purchased over a gas powered car. The cost of maintenance is lower compared to hybrid vehicle. Spare parts and replacement kits are readily available on car service centers auto body part centers as well. The maintenance of gas powered vehicle is simple as regular oil changes, air-filter changes, and spark plug replacements, keeping the vehicle in good condition will better the emissions and lengthen the lifespan of the vehicle and improve the gas mileage of the car. For most vehicles now dealers offer you more mileage and better coverage on the vehicle of choice, take for example the Ford 150 it offers you a flex-fuel, Eco-Boost truck and the offer more warranty on the vehicle per miles and years. The point in that is for the company to lengthen the life of the truck and offer better gas mileage to the consumer. The gas powered car, truck, SUV all have the one thing in common and that is that they all run on gas and all vary on gas mileage. Maintenance would also vary, because it is not as cost effective as an alternative vehicle. The Gas powered vehicle has been the one vehicle around for decades and still will improve in making better and less cost effective vehicles for people to drive. Since the first electric car was made in 1900 by William Morrison there have been major technological advances throughout the century that have made today’s electric car a more popular choice for the American consumer (Berman, 2009). It was not until 1999 when interest in electric cars began to increase due to growing concerns about the environment and drastic increases in gas prices (Berman, 2009). The electric car runs on an electric motor and battery to increase a vehicle’s miles per gallon ratio and does not require gasoline. The reason Lotus Car Rental did not jump on to this opportunity was because at the time there was a $15,000 price difference between electric and gas engine vehicles. As of 2012 there is  only a $5,000 difference which is a more acceptable amount to consider and there are now electri c cars that are in the $15,000 to $20,000 range (Cars Direct, 2012). The positives of electric cars are that they require no gas and they can be charged by electric stations around Los Angeles and they do not emit pollution and that fact alone might persuade the consumer to rent an electric car (KBB, 2014). The average miles per full battery charge in the city are about 120 miles and highway about 100 miles in town. The maintenance of an electric car is extremely low because there is no longer a need to purchase gasoline and the company no longer has to do oil changes, air filter changes and emissions tests on a yearly basis thus creating a higher profit margin plus whatever major mechanical problem happens it will more likely be covered by the warranty provided by the dealer when buying the electric car brand new from the lot (Cars Direct, 2012). The average dealer warranty is about six year or 100,000 mile whichever comes first but because we are a car rental company, we will reach the mileage first. Insurance for electric cars are considerably low because they offer discounts for owing that type of car so it will be easier to pass on the savings to the consumer if they decide to purchase it (KBB, 2014). One problem with electric cars is that they are low on horse power which might be a problem for consumers considering that they are more than likely to want to exceed the speed limit on the highway and it might make it a difficult drive when going up on hills and mountains. Another problem with electric cars is that depending on the make and model, the average energy span only lasts about 120 miles before the consumer has to stop and recharge the battery. The main complaint among consumers is the amount of time it takes for the battery to recharge. The average charge time is about 4 to 8 hours if the consumer does not use a rapid recharge station which will charge the battery in between thirty minutes to an hour again depending on make and model (KBB, 2014). There are about sixty rapid recharge stations in and around Los Angeles but it more likely recommended that electric cars be used for in town usage instead of long trips because of the lack of rapid recharge stations. Although not considered as an alternative for the fuel vehicle, such as the electric, hydrogen, ethanol, and propane. The hybrid vehicle operates using advanced technology that combines the electric motor, fuel motor, and generator, to create a more efficient use of regular fuel.  Hybrids have become the new sensation of invention since slice bread. There are many reasons why Lotus Rental Car should add hybrid cars to their fleet. Consumer reports and background information backing up on the hybrid vehicle, it also shows how their popularity has grown among the world and the American population. Hybrids have their own unique way of operating, having an electric motor and a fuel motor, which makes them real fuel-efficient. Hybrids also offer a special braking system that allows the braking energy to be captured and stored in an onboard battery. Costumers report that this type of vehicle will offer a substantial savings in fuel costs because of the engine’s efficiency. Some cars typically getting 48 to 60 mpg, and offering 20% to 35% better fuel efficiency than a typical gasoline car. A typical car for example a Honda Civic only offers a range of 36 mpg on the highway. Costumers also report that hybrid vehicles have almost the same maintenance routine as regular vehicles. As, hybrid vehicles switch back and forth between an electric motor, and a traditional fuel engine depending on road conditions. This switch between power sources saves a lot of wear and tear on both of the motors, and increase the fuel range dramatically. The repair costs are high but repair is not as common as it is on traditional vehicles, and as long as maintenance is done properly these vehicles can outlast a traditional vehicle because the technology saves on wear and tear. The typical cost of a hybrid ranges from $19,000 to $25,000 price range. These prices are a quite pricey compare to those of a gas saver car, which range from $14,000 to $17,000. Even though that initial cost of these vehicles is more than the comparable traditional style car, over the long run all of these technologies will save money. When comparing both vehicles the hybrid is still the best investment, on average hybrids offer a ten-year/ 150,000-mile warranty on the batteries and power training, and a three-year/ 36,000 warranty on the rest of the vehicle. Hybrids batteries and motors do not require any more maintenance than any other car, hybrid brakes even last longer than those of a regular car. Hybrids also have tax incentives in the U.S., which can reduce the cost up to $3,400. After all the research we believe that hybrid vehicles are the best pick of an alternative energy vehicle for Lotus Rental Car Company fleet. Given all of this information on the multiple types of vehicles available we at Lotus Car Rental, Inc. have decided to focus on purchasing hybrid cars. The reason for  this decision is because the prices of the new hybrid cars are acceptable even though they are more expensive than regular cars but the price difference is more acceptable now than when it is compared to a few years ago. The cost of maintenance will not be an issue because by purchasing a brand new hybrid car the manufacturer warranty will be able to cover any major mechanical problems that will happen. This is an important factor for our decision because all rental companies including ourselves never keep vehicles for more than four years because the higher the mileage a car has the more likely that there will be mechanical problems that can happen. As soon a vehicle comes close to exceeding the manufacturer warranty that is when it will be put up for sale. Another reason is that we want to show the consumer that we care about their concerns for the environment and gas prices. Today’s consumer will more likely rent a hybrid car if the rental price difference is not a lot and the insurance fee stays the same. Eventually Lotus Car Rental, Inc. will switch over to electric cars in the future when the concept is upgraded with technological advances. What we mean by this is that the miles for a fully charged battery will increase as the years pass by and there will also be way more Rapid Recharge Stations throughout the United States. For now the focus will be on switching over to hybrid vehicles because this will show the consumer that this company is adapting to change and that we care. This will create an image that will to financial success. References Autos.com. (2014, April). Electric Power Car Vs. Gas Powered Car. Retrieved from http://www.autos.com/car-buying/electric-power-car-vs-gas-powered-car?&session-id=d1fa38119d76b5d16b7f062d6bf474f0 Berman, B. (2009, October 30). Timeline: History of the Electric Car. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/electric-car-timeline.html Cars Direct. (2012, March 08). Electric Car Costs vs Gasoline Cars vs Hybrids. Retrieved from http://www.carsdirect.com/car-pricing/new-electric-car-costs-vs-standard-gasoline-vehicles ConsumerReports.org. (2013, February). Hybrid/EV buying guide. Retrieved from