Economics of Tobacco Sales :: Economics Essays

H1 States with Smoking Bans and Cigarette Sales Each year 440,000 people die, in the United States alone, from the effects of cigarette smoking (American Cancer Society, 2004). As discussed by Scheraga & Calfee (1996) as early as the 1950’s the U.S. government has utilized several methods to curb the incidence of smoking, from fear advertising to published health warnings. Kao & Tremblay (1988) and Tremblay & Tremblay (1995) agreed that these early interventions by the U.S. government were instrumental in the diminution of the national demand for cigarettes in the United States. In more recent years, state governments have joined in the battle against smoking by introducing antismoking regulations. In a research article by Gallet (2004), several aspects of the clean indoor-air laws were closely examined. Set apart from other literature on the same topic, Gallet (2004) proposed that the degree of enforcement of these laws was just as important as the laws themselves. States that maintained the most restrictive clean-air laws encouraged much more competition within the cigarette industry; hence prices were adjusted closer to marginal cost which caused the availability of supply to increase (Gallet, 2004). Conversely, Keeler, Barnett, Manning, & Sung (1996) concluded that the price adjustment closer to marginal demand could be explained as an attempt to compensate for the reduction of demand caused by the antismoking laws. Regardless of the opinions of the papers on this aspect of the clean indoor-air laws, both agreed that state regulations that prohibit or limit smoking in public places decreased the cigarette demand. Extraneous variables, excluding state smoking restrictions, may influence state cigarette sales. State cigarette sales may be influenced by â€Å"bootlegging,† identified as the crossing of state lines to purchase cigarettes in a state that sells cigarettes at a less expensive price (Gallet, 2004; Meier & Licari, 1997). Gallet (2004) identified â€Å"bootlegging† as Nprice, or the minimum neighbor state price ($). As stated previously, Gallet (2004) examined not only states with clean indoor-air laws, Clean1, but also the degree to which these laws were enforced within the individual states, Clean2. The consensus of the reviewed literature, those both including and excluding the extraneous variable, found that the institutions of state smoking bans affect cigarette sales. Discussion The results of this study are consistent with the overall literature’s findings (Gallet, 2004; Meirer & Licari, 1997) that states with smoking bans have a decrease in cigarette sales. However, caution is warranted in the true reliability of the data presented in this study, because of the nature of the data.

Discuss Research Into The Breakdown Of Romantic Relationships

One piece of research into the breakdown of romantic relationships is from Duck (1982). According to his phase model of the breakup of a relationship, it all begins with the breakdown of the relationship where there is dissatisfaction within the relationship. These dissatisfied partners then begin to consider all the problems within the relationship, thinking mostly about the relational ‘costs’ which develops a resentment for the relationship. This is known as the intra-psychic phase.Once a threshold of being unable to withstand the relationship anymore, the dissatisfied partner expresses their uncertainties about the relationship and so the dyadic phase has been reached and the couple will re-assess their goals, possibilities and commitment. If this is not successful, the social phase has been reached where the decision to leave the relationship is made and is publically discussed between third parties. Next, self-justifications and version-makings of the breakup are of fered, which is known as the grave-dressing phase.Finally, the individuals will attempt to recreate a sense of their own social values, by preparing for different types of future relationships and knowing what they wish to get out of them, known as the resurrection process. The evolutionary perspective on relationship breakdown is another explanation into the breakdown of romantic relationships. Perilloux and Buss (2008) have developed an explanation of why evolution might have shaped the behaviour of rejecters and rejectees differently. Their research is based on four main predictions.The first prediction is the costs related to emotional investment. In a relationship, women will consider the costs of losing the stability of a relationship whereas, if a male has high emotional investment in a relationship, he is more likely to share his resources. However, if the relationship breaks down, the male may leave his children unsupported. This highlights the importance of a males resourc es to the female, who will experience higher costs associated with the loss of emotional investment from their male partner.The second prediction is increasing commitment as a response to the threat of a break up. A woman will value emotional commitment highly in mates, especially to ensure the survival of any offspring, so males threatened with relationship breakdown may employ strategies to exploit this, possibly increasing their commitment for example, by suggesting marriage. The third prediction is infidelity. This may be a deliberate attempt to break up a relationship with a relatively poor-quality mate, in order to make way for a higher-quality mate.The final prediction is managing reputational damage where a rejecter may be perceived as being cruel and heartless by peers, whereas the rejectee is frequently perceived as the victim. In order to prevent any reputational damage, the rejecters will be motivated to minimize any reputational damage and make efforts to be seen as rea sonable and compassionate rather than cruel and heartless. A strength of Duck’s phase model is that it is supported by observations of real life break-ups.Researchers Tashiro and Frazier (2003) surveyed undergraduates who had recently broken up with a romantic partner and they reported that they not only experienced emotional distress, but also personal growth. These students reported that breaking up with their partner had given them new insights into themselves and a clearer idea about future partners. Through grave-dressing and resurrection processes they were able to put the original relationship to rest and get on with their lives.However, a weakness of this study is that Tashiro and Frazier surveyed undergraduates, meaning that they may not have been in a relationship for a long time so therefore would not experience the stages of breakdown as such because they are much younger so therefore may not take into consideration the loss of costs so this therefore weakens the validity of their study. Another strength of Ducks phase model of breakdown is that the model stresses the importance of communication in relationship breakdown.Paying attention to the things that people say, the topics that they discuss and the ways in which they talk about their relationship offers both an insight into their stage and also suggests interventions appropriate to that stage. If the relationship was in the intra-psychic stage for example, repair might involve re-establishing a liking for the partner, possibly by re-evaluating their behaviour in a more positive light. In the later stages, different strategies of repair are appropriate such as in the social phase, third parties may be able to help the partners patch up their differences.This highlights the positive implications of the model, and how it can help couples amend the relationship, despite reaching later stages. However, a weakness of Duck’s phase model and research into rejecters and rejectees is that there are ethical issues within the breakdown research. When carrying out research in this sensitive area, it often raises issues of vulnerability, privacy and confidentiality. For example, a woman in an abusive relationship may fear recrimination from her abuser should he discover her participation in the research.Ultimately, the researcher faces a choice of protecting a participant’s safety or pursuing this valuable information. Therefore, it is hard to measure the issues which led to the breakdown effectively. A limitation of the evolutionary perspective on relationships is that it is deterministic. The evolutionary perspective neglects personal choice and environmental influences, claiming that human behaviour is influenced by adaptations that developed in the Stone Age. This makes sense only if the environmental challenges remain static over evolutionary time.However, if the environment is dynamic rather than static, then the only human that would be adaptive is one tha t is flexible and responsive in any social and physical environment they are in. In some environments, it may be adaptive for males and females to act in the ways suggested, but not in all. For example, nowadays, due to changes within our environment it has enabled women to be less dependent on men for their resources. This therefore challenges the claim of these being universal human behaviours as it has ignored the dynamic nature of relationship breakdown.Another limitation of the evolutionary perspective on relationships is that is gender biased. Researcher Hollway (1989) argues that gender differences evident in the relationship behaviour of males and females reflect less the role of evolutionary forces and more the shared cultural discourses of the different sexes. These discourses are patterns of thinking and communication that are common within one gender but not the other within a particular culture. For example, with the ‘male sexual drive’ discourse, a man may be more likely to report greater infidelity.However, Holloway claims this is not because they are like that by ‘nature’, but because there is a cultural discourse that instructs him how to act on the basis of his sex. In the case of breakdowns, gender differences in how an individual reacts may be less determined by our adaptive biology and more to do with what males and females believe is the appropriate way to behave given that they are products of gender-specific socialization within that society. Overall, evolutionary explanations of sex differences in this area represent a gender-biased representation of how males and females behave during relationship break-ups.

Pirates of Silicon Valley Essay

1.) What does this story tells us? What happens in the story? How does it relates us? The Pirates of Silicon Valley is a film about Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computers and Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft. This film historically traces the development of these two computer companies from the time these two gentlemen are college (the early to mid 1970’s) to approximately 3 months before Steve Jobs was fired by John Sculley, then CEO of Apple Computer in 1985. This story shows not only the development of these two computer companies, but also the rivalry between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. It highlights the computer giants of that time, who were Hewlett Packard, Xerox and IBM. However, the idea of the personal computer was just gaining speed and this is where both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates found their niche. What many people don’t know about these revolutionaries is that they worked together until Steve Jobs realized that Bill Gates developed Windows from software Apple had designed for their computers. Why is it called â€Å"Pirates of Silicon Valley?† The irony of this situation is that Apple stole the â€Å"windows concept† from Xerox; hence the title, â€Å"The pirates  of Silicon Valley†. Silicon Valley is an area of northern California where the computer development of the 1980’s and 1990’s surged. The button line of the story it relates the sad facts that Steve Jobs had disaffected so many of his former best friends that none of them wanted to toast him for his 30th birthday, in fact, three months later Steve Jobs was fired from the company he helped found. He was later re-hired in 1997 and became the architect of the second Apple Microsoft co-endeavor bringing the companies and the movie full circle. Even though Steve Jobs was fired from the company, it was then not a waste because he was happily living with his family. This film is a wonderful illustration of modern day entrepreneurs and gives us an inside look at the management style of both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.I would recommend this film to anyone, student or not. It is an enlightening depiction of the evolution of a true phenomenon, the age of personal computers. Even more so, this film shows the men behind the machines, a story that shouldn’t be missed. 2.) This tech-world biopic traces the fortunes of personal-computer companies Apple and Microsoft from their obscure dorm-room and backyard origins to their very public battle for corporate supremacy. Writer/director Martyn Burke follows the parallel lives of Microsoft founder Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall) and Apple co-founders Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) and Steve Wozniak (Joey Slotnick) — the former a crafty Harvard dropout, the latter a pair of hippies with jobs at Hewlett-Packard and a yen to sell miniature versions of corporate mainframes to small businesses and at-home enthusiasts. Much like the personal-computer industry itself, the action starts with Apple then gradually shifts to Microsoft. The former plot thread recounts how Jobs and Wozniak â€Å"borrowed† key concepts from a Xerox computer lab, eked out their success as countercultural businessmen, and finally fell out with one another over the pressure of success. The latter thread focuses on the way Gates learned from, then surpassed, the brains behind Apple and turned his company into the global powerhouse that it is today. Based on Paul Freiberger andMichael Swaine’s Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer, the film actually focuses only on that book’s final chapters. Produced for cable channel TNT, Pirates of Silicon Valley debuted June 18, 1999. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi 3.) The film opens with the creation of the 1984 commercial for Apple Computer, which introduced the first Macintosh. Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) is speaking with director Ridley Scott (J. G. Hertzler), trying to convey his idea that â€Å"We’re creating a completely new consciousness.† Scott, however, is more concerned at the moment with the technical aspects of the commercial. The film then flashes forward to 1997 as Jobs, who has returned to Apple, is announcinga new deal with Microsoft at the 1997 Macworld Expo. His partner, Steve Wozniak (Joey Slotnick), is introduced as one of the two central narrators of the story. Wozniak notes to the audience the resemblance between â€Å"Big Brother† and the image of Bill Gates(Anthony Hall) on the screen behind Jobs during this announcement. Asking how they â€Å"got from there to here,† the film turns to flashbacks of his youth with Jobs, prior to the forming of Apple. The first flashback of the film takes place on the U.C. Berkeley campus during the period of the early 1970s student movements. Jobs and Wozniak are shown caught on the campus during a riot between students and police. They flee and after finding safety, Jobs states to Wozniak, â€Å"Those guys think they’re revolutionaries. They’re not revolutionaries, we are.† Wozniak then comments that â€Å"Steve was never like you or me. He always saw things differently. Even when I was in Berkeley, I would see something and just see kilobytesor circuit boards while he’d see karma or the meaning of the universe.† Using a similar structure, the film next turns to a young Bill Gates at Harvard University, in the early 1970s, with classmate Steve Ballmer (John DiMaggio), and Gates’ high school friend Paul Allen (Josh Hopkins). As with Wozniak in the earlier segment, Ballmer narrates Gates’ story, particularly the moment when Gates discovers the existence of Ed Roberts’ (Gailard Sartain) MITS Altair (causing him to drop out of Harvard). Gates’ and Allen’s early work with MITS is juxtaposed against the involvement of Jobs and Wozniak with theHomebrew Computer Club, eventually leading to the development of the Apple I in 1976 with the help of angel investor Mike Markkula(Jeffrey Nordling). The story follows the protagonists as they develop their technology and their businesses. At a San Francisco computer fair where the Apple II computer is introduced, Gates (the then-unknown Microsoft CEO), attempts to introduce himself to Jobs, who snubs him. This is followed by the development of the IBM-PC with the help of Gates and Microsoft in 1981. It also follows Jobs’ relationship with his high school girlfriend (Gema Zamprogna) and the difficulties he had acknowledging the birth and existence of their daughter, Lisa. Around the time his daughter was born, Jobs unveiled his next computer, which he named, The Lisa. The Lisa was then followed in 1984 by the Macintosh, a computer inspired by the Xerox Alto. The main body of the film finally concludes with a birthday toast in 1985 to Steve Jobs shortly before he was fired by CEO John Sculley (Allan Royal) from Apple Computer. It also includes a brief epilogue, noting what happened afterward in the lives of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The movie ends with Steve Jobs returning to Apple after its acquisition of NeXT Computer, and Bill Gates appearing live via satellite at a MacWorld Expo in 1997, during Jobs’ first Stevenote keynote address, to announce an alliance between Apple and Microsoft. 4.) Summary: This movie showed the progression of the computer since the 1970’s. It also shows the competition between IBM. Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs. The movie gives a real life perspective of the struggles they faced in their personal lives and the struggles they went through within their companies. Jobs started constructing computers with his partner, Wozniak, in a small garage, while Gates began building computer software in a motel warehouse. Jobs became more successful than Gates in the beginning when he created the Apple Company and was making new computers almost every year. Although Steve Jobs had great marketing skills, he treated his employees horrible. They worked extremely long hours and when he got mad, he would take it out on them. Gates was a lot more laid back with his employees. Throughout the movie Gates and Jobs tried their hardest to make their companies better than the others. Apple was more focused on creating the computers themselves and Microsoft was eager to design the actual software and hard drives that were being put into the computers. At one point in the movie Bill Gates saw what Jobs’ was doing and wanted to make his prototype his own. He convinced Steve Jobs to let him work for Apple only later to find out that Gates stole the computer information and redesigned it to create his own computer and sell it to other marketers. After stealing Job’s ideas, Bill Gates became one of the richest men in the world. At one point in the career of Apple, Steve Jobs was fired only to return a few years later with an attitude adjustment. In the end, both companies became very successful but neither were able to gain each others full trust and merge into one large company. Thoughts: I liked this movie a lot because it was very informative but also very interesting. It was inspirational to see two different companies that started out as nothing becomes something so big. Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were incredibly intelligent people who had their own strengths and weaknesses. Though they were great marketers, I don’t think I would be able to work for either of them. Steve Jobs treated his employees so cruelly while Bill Gates was so brilliant he might be hard to keep up with. Steve Jobs took more risks and developed things more quickly while Bill Gates took his time and in the long run came out ahead. I think they should make a sequel to this movie and show how much farther computers have come today.

Essay Sample on How to Solve a Financial Problem

Essay Sample on How to Solve a Financial Problem Problem solving forms part of thinking. Well thought-out the most difficult of all rational functions, problem solving has been distinct as advanced classify cognitive development that requires the accent and control of more routine or fundamental skills. It occurs if an organism or an artificial intelligence system does not know how to proceed from a given state to a desired goal state. Its part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem solving. (Engel, 68) Complex problems have some classic distinctiveness such as lack of precision of the situation where by one does not understand the problem. Some problems require numerous goals to be dealt with, thus become difficult to handle. Some are so complex that they are in large number of items, interrelations and require a lot of conclusion. (ibid, 78) For example when am faced with a financial problem, I always resolve the limitation by first identifying the nature of the problem. Despite the fact that I cannot solve a problem without knowing exactly what the problem is, many people try to do just that. When asked about their financial situation, most will say, the problem is I need more money. They jump immediately to attempting to solve a problem they have not yet clearly defined. In order to gain clarity about my overall situation, I gather all the facts and figures I need to answer the following questions: What is my net worth? What is my current income? What are my expenses? Exactly how much do I owe? What is my credit rating? What interest rates am I paying on loan balances? When are my payments due? Are my expenses higher than my income? How much money do I need? By when do I need it? Answering these questions may be the last thing I want to do, however most of the time I experience a sense of relief when I finish. I might even find things are not as bad as I imagined. (Frensch and Funke, 112) The second step is to come up with all solutions. I immediately engrave down all that comes to mind. I do not critic or critique my ideas because that could suspend my inspired flow. I therefore use my intelligence by letting it reach for new potential. (ibid, 121) The third step is selecting a resolution. Afterwards I go over my catalog and cross things off that do not appear realistic. I choose the solution that makes the most sense for the moment. With money problem solving, I may decide to act on more than one solution as long as the options I choose do not take me in different directions. (Frensch and Funke, 126) The fourth step is receiving achievement. In this point of the progression, I will have the energy curving in my support. I there fore follow through on the resolution or solutions I chose. If I find my self besieged with all the action items, I go back over my list and prioritize. In regular problem solving I would focus on one solution because scattering my efforts by trying to follow through on too many ideas at once can hamper my effectiveness. (ibid, 130) The fifth step is evaluation. If the problem is solved, I celebrate my success if it did. I use this experience to strengthen my commitment to utilizing my problem solving skills in other areas of my life. (Frensch and Funke, 132) If my solution or solutions did not work, I might not have correctly identified the problem. Identifying the problem is the most important step. Most people will want to go back to brainstorming more solutions, which will unavoidably lead to more frustration. Instead, I go back to step one, and focus on identifying the problem. (ibid, 133)

How to Get Results from Email Marketing with Kim Courvoisier [PODCAST]

How to Get Results from Email Marketing with Kim Courvoisier [PODCAST] How’s your email marketing going? As one of the most effective ways to reach your audience, your outgoing emails are something to focus on this year. If you aren’t sure how to handle this essential part of your marketing strategy, you’re not alone! Getting it all under control can lead to more opens, clicks and conversions, so you’re not going to want to miss this episode. Today’s guest, Kim Courvoisier, is the director of content marketing and social media at Campaign Monitor. One of her specialties is designing successful email marketing campaigns, and today she is going to share her wisdom with all of us. If you’re hoping to build traffic and increase conversions, you’re in for a treat. Some of the topics you’ll hear about include: Information about Campaign Monitor and what Kim does there. Some great email list-building tactics that you can put into practice, what to focus on first, and why email blasts are a thing of the past. How to boost the chances that your target audience will open your emails and make a great first impression with your subject lines. Why personalized content and videos are important when your goal is to generate more clicks. An example of what the workflow looks like when creating email campaigns and how to keep your team organized as you carry it out. Powered by PodcastMotor Actionable Content Marketing powered by By 00:00/00:00 1x 100 > Download file Subscribe on iTunes Leave Review Share

Muhammad by karen armstrong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Muhammad by karen armstrong - Essay Example Hira outside Mecca where he frequented for meditation. He claimed to have been called to rebuke the pagans of Mecca who worshiped idols and engaged in unclean superstitions and rituals (Armstrong, p. 24). It is noteworthy that when he was growing up as an orphan with his uncle Abu Talib, he was a person of integrity in his business dealings and was truthful. It is said that in Mecca, he was known as Sadiq and Ameen meaning true and trusty respectively. The Quran also gives credit to his upright character by saying that in him there is a perfect example for people to follow in their conduct. The prophet had been sent to reform the pagans in Mecca who had no regard for even the most basic of human rights. They engaged in disputes and long battles over small matters. They did not treat women well and hated the birth of female children to the extent that they would kill or bury them alive. The poor people were voiceless and were exploited through loans that required payment of high interests. There was torture and killing of slaves with no consequence. The Prophet despised slavery. Abuse of human rights, social injustice and worship of the idols in homes and in the house of God built by Abraham, Kabah were the order of the day in Meca. Despite watching helplessly as all this was going on, he refused to bow down to the idols (Armstrong, p. 41). He married Khadijah, an affluent businesswoman for whom he had worked for some time. He was 25 when he married her, something that made him financial stability. He helped free Zaid ibn Harithah, a slave from Khadijah’s house, and adopted him. He paid for an African slave named Bilal and had him freed. Bilal remained with Mohammed for the next 22 years until he died. During all this time, Bilal would eat and dined with the Prophet and was given the role of the Muazzin meaning caller for prayers (Armstrong, p. 57). He always taught forgiveness and compassion. After his return from exile in Medina, he came back

Critically analyse approaches to market segmentation that can be Essay

Critically analyse approaches to market segmentation that can be applied to the fashion retail sector - Essay Example Besides, clothing for every season is being produced to suit every market and every generation. This enhances the importance of market segmentation in the fashion retail sector. This essay will critically analyze the approaches that can be applied to the retail fashion sector. The fashion retail industry in UK is turbulent as the fashion conscious consumers expect and thrive for constant change. This requires proper market segmentation so that retailers are in a position to satisfy individual customer needs. The fashion retail market is split into number of segments – luxury, high street and supermarket/out-of-town discounter (Bruce & Daly, 2006). With the supermarkets having entered the clothing sector, the fashion retail has been redefined. It enables the time-starved consumers to purchase cheap clothing instead of visiting high street. Different retailers adopt a different segmentation strategy depending on the market and the products they have on offer. Segmentation according to Bond and Morris (2003) can either be attitudinal or latent class segmentation. Consumers have different attitudes and these lead to different behavior but this does not apply to the retail fashion sector where customer preferences change by the season. Results on the basis of attitudinal segmentation have been very flat. Latent class segmentation differentiates people on the basis of the degree of their perception of brand, price promotion, sales personnel and product line. Segmenting on this basis gives a better cluster solution which is more robust than based on attitudes. Market positioning strategies are developed by retailers based on product, price and service provision. Store images assist the retailers in determining the positioning strategies (Birtwistle, Clarke & Freathy, 1998). The retailers project an image which matches the targeted customers’ self-image world, which increases customer loyalty. The store image is linked to customer