Tattoos becoming more and more popular form of body arts among human beings, including office worker. But today, there still have many companies prohibit their employee to have a tattoo or do not allow their employee to have a visible tattoos during their work. Such as, Walt Disney World, require its employee use opaque makeup or ware work-appropriate clothing to cover their tattoos. Wal-Mart specifies the tattoos are offensive or distractive, have to be covered by clothing. Some law agencies are more prevents about tattoos, like New York State Police, the rules states that if a anyone want to become a police officer, he or she can not have any tattoos or body art to display on their skin. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department claims that the officers with tattoo need to cover them up when they're on duty. Because of the officer’s tattoo, the rule came about a complaint from a woman who thought a parolee was disguised as a police officer. (All business, 2009). The tattoo was evaluated differently from workplace to workplace on a case-by-case basis. But here, the ethical question is whether the tattoo or body art should be prohibited in the workplace? In my essay, I will use two theories from ethics to answer this question.
The first approach to answer this question is act utilitarianism theory. It was found in the 19th century by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham as determine which laws were morally best. The principle of act utilitarianism is the act that it is morally right if, and only if doing things is likely to produce the greatest balance of substantive sustained benefits over substantive sustained harms to all affected by action than any alternative available. (Richardson, J. E. 2007). To analyze the moral action of whether tattoo or body art in the workplace is right or wrong, we look at 3 propositions. First, the things are to be judged wrong or right only by virtue of its consequences, nothing else matter. (Rachels, J. 2003). Act utilitarianism can be netter understood in a form of consequentialist moral philosophy. (Richardson, J. E. 2007). In this point of view, the consequence of actions normally evaluated in terms of the preferences of individuals, in some companies, the rule said that its employee can not have tattoos on their body if they are on duty or need to cover it up for the purpose of company’s image. Because if the customer saw their staff have tattoo, they might think that the company is not good, or they may think this staff is not a good guy, even they think that this staff is one of the reactionary gang. The tattoo probably damages the image of the company. The consequence is not as good as we expected. Therefore, in company’s preference, they have to force its employee to cover tattoos up during work time. Second, in order to assess the predict consequence, the right conduct we consider is solely on the greatest amount of benefits over harms. No tattoos or body art in the workplace or the tattoos is invisible, the company and its many other employee may feel happy and get benefits on their reputation. In our case, one alternative could produce the greatest happiness over unhappiness. Thus, act utilitarianism chooses to have no tattoos or invisible tattoos appear on the workplace. According to act utilitarianism’s doctrine, the only thing we desire is happiness as an end. Invisible tattoo or without tattoo, company will happiness, manager will happiness, almost employee will happiness, the greatest people will happiness, thus, happiness is what we desire. No tattoo in the workplace yields the greatest number of benefits over harms. The last proposition we look at is that each person’s happiness count the same. Form act utilitarianism’s perspective, individuals’ benefits or happiness are to be accumulated as evaluate in terms of their preference. (Baron, D. P. 2005). Hence, each individual utility is given equal weight. Accumulation is wanted because any actions the company taken would make some people better off and others worse off. However, since act utilitarianism is only concerned with greatest benefits or happiness, it does not matter how the individuals’ utility is distributed across every person. Taken our case into account, although the gain for the whole company and many other employees is greater than lose of minority employee, the act utilitarianism gives all people affected a same answer—no tattoos or invisible tattoos in the workplace. The utility is equally distributed across the individual. That is, each employee’s happiness or benefits counts the same. In total, the company and most employees have the best overall consequence in that rule, and unhappiness involved in this rule is merely or solely. In this particular case, the act utilitarianism conclusion, apparently, would be that without tattoo or invisible tattoos in the workplace is morally right.
The second important approach to answer above question has its roots in 18th century, from the German philosophy thinker Immanuel Kant. It is a very different approach compared to the first one. From Kant’s viewpoint, the only truly moral action is generated by a pure motive—the moral agent will do what ought to be done. Kant’ motive in this approach is based on what we called “categorical imperative”. The “categorical imperative” falls into 2 principles: the universalisability principle and the respect for people’s principle. (Rachels, J. 2003). For the first principle, Kant says that act only on the maxim which you can at the same time will to be a universal law. (Baron, D. P. 2005). In our case, the maxim is the rule or requirement that it says no one in the workplace can have tattoo or if he/she has, it must be invisible. To universalize the maxim, everyone must and will to follow that maxim, which means, once the rule becomes a universal law, everyone must believe it and willing to follow it. However, the “categorical imperative” rest on the belief in which human beings are entitled to equal consideration. (Rachels, J. 2003). In our case, the company’s rule is, obviously, not fair to every employee and dose not give an equal consideration to each of their employee. Moreover, the rule is not justice, because the rule is not the one that requires us to treat people fairly according to employee’s needs and merits. Tattoos is sometimes a needs of employee solely based on their culture belief, or other reasons. The rule set up by company is essentially the impartial in our case. Therefore, it can not be a universal law. The second principle holds that the morally right rule is always treat other human beings as “ends in themselves” and never merely as means to treat people. (Rachels, J. 2003). “As an end” means to recognize that the person has their own rights, just as you have. We must respect other person, treat other person appropriately, allow them to have a freedom of choice, and to behave in their own lives. But, in our case, the rule was violated some employee’s right, breached their liberty and destroyed their equal opportunity. The employee was forced to accept the rule against their will. The company’s rule does not premise employee to have their own rights and do not respect their own interest. The rule is inconsistent with the second principle in Kant’s approach to moral decision. Also, the rule dose not passes the first principle as well. Therefore, we can conclude that invisible tattoo or no tattoo in the workplace is morally wrong.
Act utilitarianism does not give adequate attention to employee’s right and freedom, which are considered to be our human fundamental needs or desire and is incompatible with the law of justice. The company does not accommodate and acknowledge their employees’ different cultures, backgrounds and needs. Nevertheless, another concern associated with act utilitarianism is that we judge the action to be right or wrong only depend on consequences, all the relevant action or consideration as regard to their effect on consequences. (Rachels, J. (2003). In deciding what right rule of the company, we must weighting up all the pros and cons of best promote the overall benefits over harms. In our case, we can not exclude minority employee’s wants, aspirations and opportunities, and we can not distribute overall benefits to each employee as well. For this reason, in my opinion, no tattoos in the workplace can not consider to be the morally wrong rule. Fortunately, some countries have been establish laws against the workplace discrimination, such as U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1970, claimed that the firm can not make unlawful discrimination in the workplace, otherwise, the firm commit to the Civil Rights Act or Fair Employment Practices Acts. (Beauchamp, T. L. 2004). As for Kant ethics, the criticism of his approach in our example is that it is not indicate specifically and sufficiently if it would be acceptable to violate the fairness or rights of employee in some special situation. In my opinion, some rule can not be universalized according to some particular situation. In our case, if the rule says that employee can have tattoos in the workplace, then, this rule would, in some circumstance, increase the burden of company and perhaps, damage the image of whole company. In spite of above two theories, the company must address a variety of complex issue. Rules based on dress code should take ethnic characteristics or different racial into account, and try to avoid setting standard that would deny an employees’ job performance.
Reference
All Business. (2009).Understanding workplace discrimination. Retrieved November 15, 2009. from:
http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/workplace-health-safety-employment/1317-1.html
Pressel, D. (2009).Discrimination in the workplace: Ignorance is not bliss- know what awaits you in the work force. Retrieved November 20, 2009. from:
http://www.sfsu.edu/~career/Handouts_Forms/DiscriminationAtWork.pdf
Purcell, B. (2009). Workplace harassment and employment discrimination. Retrieved November 27, 2009. from:
http://www.braytonlaw.com/practiceareas/harass.htm
Rachels, J. (2003). The elements of moral philosophy. (4th Edition). New York. McGraw-Hill companies.
Baron, D. P. (2005). Business and its environment. (5th Edition). New Jersey. Pearson Education, Inc.
Beauchamp, T. L. (2004). Case studies in business, society, and ethics. (5th Edition). New Jersey. Pearson Education, Inc.
Richardson, J. E. (2007). Business ethics. (9th Edition). Dubuque. McGraw-Hill Companies.
Friday, 4 December 2009
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Kelly's Essay
Different Views on Narrowing the Gap Between Urban Areas and Rural Areas in China
With the development of economy, the gap between urban areas and rural areas has become a popular concern by many countries. Looking back to the past few decades, you will find out that because of the unbalanced income, the differences between urban areas and rural areas had appeared gradually, lots of rural young people went to cities to look for work and left the fertile lands uncultivated. Should we narrow the gap between urban areas and rural areas? There is a fierce controversy over this issue. Some one think there’s no need to worry about this phenomenon, while others stick the different opinions, they think that we should pay more attention on this gap. In this essay, I’m going to look at the different sides of the argument and give conclusion.
Some people hold the view that it is unnecessary to narrow the gap between urban areas and rural areas. They think the developed level of one place is related to its location, since the land was unequally distributed, the gap occurred. For example, coastal areas are usually richer than inland areas. To some extent, the gap is the result of the development of the whole society. We do not have to narrow the gap between urban areas and rural areas because we are not able to change the location of one place. Besides, narrowing the gap needs to invest quite a lot of money. The government has to spend money on a wide variety of things, and what we need to do now is to make effort on construction of infrastructures. Bridging the gap is not so urgent at the moment. However, this idea is usually not acceptable because the public awareness of the gap between urban areas and rural areas has raised in recent years, more and more people get to know the disadvantages of the gap.
By contrast, some people have different opinions about the former view which I strongly agree with. They think it is important for government to adjust its national income distribution system, and invest more money in the rural areas in China. Since the gap between city and countryside becomes larger, it is not good for stability and sustainment of the whole society. The distribution of wealth between urban and rural people is a huge issue of this problem, no one will be comfortable living in a impoverished area with poor education. It is said that the gap between city and countryside has become the biggest barrier to the development of economy. China Agricultural Minister Sun Zhengcai said the average income rate between city and countryside had gone up to 3.33:1 in 2007 (Zhou Yingfeng & Wang Fei, 2008). Although the government is making effort to solve this problem, we still need to pay attention on it.
Moreover, people who stick the opinion that the gap between city and countryside should be bridged because they think it can stop the migration from rural areas to urban areas. The migration of rural labour to urban areas in China since the mid-1980s has created the largest labour flow in the world history. A commonly cited figure puts the number of rural migrations residing in urban areas at 50 million in the mid-1990s (Zhao Yaohui, 1999). Lacking of labour force makes the farm lands abandoned and be left uncultivated. As is known to all, China owns a large population, it is difficult to feed so many people without enough farm lands. Besides, this also causes a big pressure to the lands in urban areas, the housing prices has gone up quickly during recent years. As a result, the Chinese government has to launch a policy to restrict migration from rural to urban areas. Hopefully narrowing the gap between city and countryside can slow the migration.
Last but not least, the gap between urban areas and rural areas contributes to the low education level in the rural areas. Because of poverty, many children lose the opportunity to go to school. The government invested more money in urban areas than in rural areas, so the educational facilities are very poor in rural areas, not so many knowledgeable teachers are willing to teach there, these lead to the low teaching standard in rural areas. As a result, rural students’ studying skills are not so good as urban students’. Many rural students have to leave school and start to work early in their lives to support their families. A recent research shows that urban students are better at reading, writing, math and they are able to deal with more complicated relationships than rural students (Pan Weibo, 2009). However, education is the prime force of productivity. Narrowing the gap between city and countryside is needed to provide equal opportunities to students in education.
To walk out of this difficult situation, the government has to take responsibility to bridge the gap between urban areas and rural areas. As I said before, they should gradually adjust its national income distribution system, and invest more money in rural areas. In 2004, Chinese government abolished the agricultural tax for which the farmers had to pay before. Although the government had tried to make efforts to solve this problem, with a large population, the achievement was not so satisfying. Besides, medical care in rural areas needs to be improved. Confirmed data shows that 90 per cent farmers had to pay by themselves when they went to see the doctors. Also, the government ought to pay more attention on educations in rural areas, and consummate the rural educational systems.
In sum, although investing money to the construction of infrastructures is important, I am convinced that the gap between urban areas and rural areas can not be ignored. With the increasingly large gap between urban areas and rural areas, many problems emerged, such as social instability, migration and education problems. The existence of the gap shows an unbalanced development through the past years, and the gap is getting larger. Individuals have already raised their awareness on this issue as well. Since the government has attached importance to this phenomenon, and made efforts to solve it, maybe the gap is going to be bridged not far in the future.
Bibliographies:
David S. Landes (1999) ‘Why are We So Rich and They So Poor?’, The American Economic Review, Vol.80, No.2, (eds) Papers and Proceedings of the One Hundred Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, pp.1-13.
Zhao Yaohui (1999) ‘Leaving the countryside: Rural-To-Urban Migration Decisions in China’, The American Economic Review, Vol.89, No.2, (eds) Papers and Proceedings of the One Hundred Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, pp.281-286.
Zhou Yingfeng & Wang Fei (2008) ‘the average income rate between city and countryside has gone up to 3.33:1’, http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-08/28/content_9730713.htm
Li Xiaohua (2009) ‘Income gap between city and countryside grows’, http://www.china.org.cn/china/news/2009-06/16/content_17956039.htm
He Limin (1998) ‘Narrow the gap in education between urban areas and rural areas’,http://space.30edu.com/04350323/ReadArticle.aspx?ID=de6e48ea-b449-4bd6-ab8a-70aa1998d1f2
Pan Weibo (2009) ‘A research on the gap between city and countryside in China’,http://www.12371.gov.cn/ShowArticle.aspx?MsgID=CA20091029195928584000412&PublisherID=000.012.001&Code=000.012.001
With the development of economy, the gap between urban areas and rural areas has become a popular concern by many countries. Looking back to the past few decades, you will find out that because of the unbalanced income, the differences between urban areas and rural areas had appeared gradually, lots of rural young people went to cities to look for work and left the fertile lands uncultivated. Should we narrow the gap between urban areas and rural areas? There is a fierce controversy over this issue. Some one think there’s no need to worry about this phenomenon, while others stick the different opinions, they think that we should pay more attention on this gap. In this essay, I’m going to look at the different sides of the argument and give conclusion.
Some people hold the view that it is unnecessary to narrow the gap between urban areas and rural areas. They think the developed level of one place is related to its location, since the land was unequally distributed, the gap occurred. For example, coastal areas are usually richer than inland areas. To some extent, the gap is the result of the development of the whole society. We do not have to narrow the gap between urban areas and rural areas because we are not able to change the location of one place. Besides, narrowing the gap needs to invest quite a lot of money. The government has to spend money on a wide variety of things, and what we need to do now is to make effort on construction of infrastructures. Bridging the gap is not so urgent at the moment. However, this idea is usually not acceptable because the public awareness of the gap between urban areas and rural areas has raised in recent years, more and more people get to know the disadvantages of the gap.
By contrast, some people have different opinions about the former view which I strongly agree with. They think it is important for government to adjust its national income distribution system, and invest more money in the rural areas in China. Since the gap between city and countryside becomes larger, it is not good for stability and sustainment of the whole society. The distribution of wealth between urban and rural people is a huge issue of this problem, no one will be comfortable living in a impoverished area with poor education. It is said that the gap between city and countryside has become the biggest barrier to the development of economy. China Agricultural Minister Sun Zhengcai said the average income rate between city and countryside had gone up to 3.33:1 in 2007 (Zhou Yingfeng & Wang Fei, 2008). Although the government is making effort to solve this problem, we still need to pay attention on it.
Moreover, people who stick the opinion that the gap between city and countryside should be bridged because they think it can stop the migration from rural areas to urban areas. The migration of rural labour to urban areas in China since the mid-1980s has created the largest labour flow in the world history. A commonly cited figure puts the number of rural migrations residing in urban areas at 50 million in the mid-1990s (Zhao Yaohui, 1999). Lacking of labour force makes the farm lands abandoned and be left uncultivated. As is known to all, China owns a large population, it is difficult to feed so many people without enough farm lands. Besides, this also causes a big pressure to the lands in urban areas, the housing prices has gone up quickly during recent years. As a result, the Chinese government has to launch a policy to restrict migration from rural to urban areas. Hopefully narrowing the gap between city and countryside can slow the migration.
Last but not least, the gap between urban areas and rural areas contributes to the low education level in the rural areas. Because of poverty, many children lose the opportunity to go to school. The government invested more money in urban areas than in rural areas, so the educational facilities are very poor in rural areas, not so many knowledgeable teachers are willing to teach there, these lead to the low teaching standard in rural areas. As a result, rural students’ studying skills are not so good as urban students’. Many rural students have to leave school and start to work early in their lives to support their families. A recent research shows that urban students are better at reading, writing, math and they are able to deal with more complicated relationships than rural students (Pan Weibo, 2009). However, education is the prime force of productivity. Narrowing the gap between city and countryside is needed to provide equal opportunities to students in education.
To walk out of this difficult situation, the government has to take responsibility to bridge the gap between urban areas and rural areas. As I said before, they should gradually adjust its national income distribution system, and invest more money in rural areas. In 2004, Chinese government abolished the agricultural tax for which the farmers had to pay before. Although the government had tried to make efforts to solve this problem, with a large population, the achievement was not so satisfying. Besides, medical care in rural areas needs to be improved. Confirmed data shows that 90 per cent farmers had to pay by themselves when they went to see the doctors. Also, the government ought to pay more attention on educations in rural areas, and consummate the rural educational systems.
In sum, although investing money to the construction of infrastructures is important, I am convinced that the gap between urban areas and rural areas can not be ignored. With the increasingly large gap between urban areas and rural areas, many problems emerged, such as social instability, migration and education problems. The existence of the gap shows an unbalanced development through the past years, and the gap is getting larger. Individuals have already raised their awareness on this issue as well. Since the government has attached importance to this phenomenon, and made efforts to solve it, maybe the gap is going to be bridged not far in the future.
Bibliographies:
David S. Landes (1999) ‘Why are We So Rich and They So Poor?’, The American Economic Review, Vol.80, No.2, (eds) Papers and Proceedings of the One Hundred Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, pp.1-13.
Zhao Yaohui (1999) ‘Leaving the countryside: Rural-To-Urban Migration Decisions in China’, The American Economic Review, Vol.89, No.2, (eds) Papers and Proceedings of the One Hundred Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, pp.281-286.
Zhou Yingfeng & Wang Fei (2008) ‘the average income rate between city and countryside has gone up to 3.33:1’, http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-08/28/content_9730713.htm
Li Xiaohua (2009) ‘Income gap between city and countryside grows’, http://www.china.org.cn/china/news/2009-06/16/content_17956039.htm
He Limin (1998) ‘Narrow the gap in education between urban areas and rural areas’,http://space.30edu.com/04350323/ReadArticle.aspx?ID=de6e48ea-b449-4bd6-ab8a-70aa1998d1f2
Pan Weibo (2009) ‘A research on the gap between city and countryside in China’,http://www.12371.gov.cn/ShowArticle.aspx?MsgID=CA20091029195928584000412&PublisherID=000.012.001&Code=000.012.001
Lance's work
Luxury Consumption in China, Necessary or Reasonable?
Luxuries, as a rare, useless and expensive image to people, traditionally, in China, they only belong to nobles or very rich people in the past. However, due to the dramatic economic development, the middle class has become the main consumer of luxuries; the image has become a symbol of rich and power. It is normal that a middle class wears a full set of luxury logos driving a posh car to work. Indeed, in the past few years, the pace of luxury consumption has kept increasing as 20% every year, even when the world is suffering the global financial crisis, it stood still. In comparison, Japan used to be the largest luxury market in Asia, the second largest in the world, and now, China had taken it over. Many luxury brands came to China to in order to expend their market share. Versace, a world famous brand, has declared that they had decided to shut down all the shops in Japan one month ago, and they are willing to double their shops in China which would possibly reach 44 next year.
It all seems that China is so rich that people are encouraged to purchase these rare and expensive goods which most people could hardly dare to think about. It is said that people should save their spending on luxuries as much as possible in order to fight against the economic crisis that the whole world is suffering. The aim of consumption is to stimulate productivity. Should this kind of consumption behavior which is considered to be unnecessary really be encouraged in China, or reasonable and sensible?
As a social value, only rich people could afford luxuries, which shows their wealth, and it’s unnecessary. However, more and more people in China could purchase luxuries without any hesitation, which suggests the economic development in China for the last 20 years is successful. One benefit of luxury consumption is to encourage rich people to share their wealth with others. More than 20 years ago, when China was about to process the economic reformation was to have a few people become rich first, in order to excite consumption, then the rests would be rich in future. Indeed, the millionaire club has kept increasing and the result is obvious. As a research shows (Mckinsey, 2009), there are 18 thousand billionaires, 4.4 thousand millionaires, 250 million middle class and 195 million of the population is able to afford luxuries in China as a result of the economic development during last 10 years. A consumption chain has formed, higher consumption rates lead a higher social need, which acquires more production, and then more welfare will be offered to the workers, and as time goes by, they may be rich one day. It seems all of these are good for the economic development in China, or is it?
KPMG had a investigation in China about the luxury market last year (China luxury consumers, 2008), which was collected as questionnaire in 15 cities, between the age of 20 to 44 and the average monthly incomes are above RMB 3,500. 59% of them are bachelors and 11% are masters, and 56% are male. This research shows the luxury market in China has become saturated since last two years. It is interesting that these consumers still keep a conservative and cautious attitude to credit consumption, which suggests that credit model was not the reason why luxury consumption has kept increasing. Additionally, it also illustrates there will be a steady growth in future. Another aspect that this report focuses on is the reason why Chinese customers are seeking luxuries, the result showed that to flaunt is the most significant consumption power rather than collection or enjoyment. And the goods that people prefer the most are watches, jewelries and clothes, rather than super cars or IT products.
However, most of those luxuries which are chasing by Chinese are more likely to be made in Europe or North America or originally from these areas. Most native brands of luxury are considered to be lack of competitive strength. Overseas brand are more attractive than natives, even they are made in China. When purchasing, these overseas brands are the first priority to be consider by consumers. In contrast, the native brands are impacted by such consumption behaviors, in other words, there will be no place for them to survive in the market. In this case, the purpose of economic innovation is missing; the great amount of wealth which supposes to share with other classes is going abroad. The living condition of other classes could hardly improve unless spending reasonable and sensible.
As a result of the global economic crisis, the global luxury market has kept decreasing; companies need to expend their market share in order to reduce the lost. Obviously, China is the best option. It is no doubt that the pace of economic development of China is the fastest in the world, which suggests higher consumption in order to improve productivity. However, this blind consumption behavior could only lead to a situation that the wealth which has obtained generation by generation may be lost soon. In addition, China also has the largest population in the world, when rich people spend money on goods unnecessarily, there are a lot of people are needy and suffering illness in the countryside. One of the traditional and basic principles suggests frugality. In another words, wealth should have been spent on other aspects which are more reasonable and sensible rather than on luxuries.
References:
Atsmon, Y, Ding, J, Dixit, V, St-Maurice, I & Suessmuth-Dyckerhoff, C (2009) ‘2009 Wealthy China consumer report’. Insight China, McKinsey&Company. Available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/chinasimplified/mckonchina/reports/mcKinsey_wealthy_consumer_report_cn.pdf [Assessed 19/11/2009]
Chinanewsweek. (2009) China will become the largest luxury market in the world. Available at: http://city.finance.sina.com.cn/city/2009-11-30/118029.html [Accessed: 30/11/2009]
Huicongzhengbaishi. (2009) The report of luxury consumption of Chinese citizen. Available at: http://info.huicong.com/2009/10/15142080323.shtml [Accessed: 7/11/2009]
KMPG (2008) China luxury consumers, KMPT CHINA. Available at: http://www.kpmg.com.cn/sc/virtual_library/Consumer_markets/ChinaLuxuryConsumers.pdf [Accessed: 18/11/2009]
Luxuries, as a rare, useless and expensive image to people, traditionally, in China, they only belong to nobles or very rich people in the past. However, due to the dramatic economic development, the middle class has become the main consumer of luxuries; the image has become a symbol of rich and power. It is normal that a middle class wears a full set of luxury logos driving a posh car to work. Indeed, in the past few years, the pace of luxury consumption has kept increasing as 20% every year, even when the world is suffering the global financial crisis, it stood still. In comparison, Japan used to be the largest luxury market in Asia, the second largest in the world, and now, China had taken it over. Many luxury brands came to China to in order to expend their market share. Versace, a world famous brand, has declared that they had decided to shut down all the shops in Japan one month ago, and they are willing to double their shops in China which would possibly reach 44 next year.
It all seems that China is so rich that people are encouraged to purchase these rare and expensive goods which most people could hardly dare to think about. It is said that people should save their spending on luxuries as much as possible in order to fight against the economic crisis that the whole world is suffering. The aim of consumption is to stimulate productivity. Should this kind of consumption behavior which is considered to be unnecessary really be encouraged in China, or reasonable and sensible?
As a social value, only rich people could afford luxuries, which shows their wealth, and it’s unnecessary. However, more and more people in China could purchase luxuries without any hesitation, which suggests the economic development in China for the last 20 years is successful. One benefit of luxury consumption is to encourage rich people to share their wealth with others. More than 20 years ago, when China was about to process the economic reformation was to have a few people become rich first, in order to excite consumption, then the rests would be rich in future. Indeed, the millionaire club has kept increasing and the result is obvious. As a research shows (Mckinsey, 2009), there are 18 thousand billionaires, 4.4 thousand millionaires, 250 million middle class and 195 million of the population is able to afford luxuries in China as a result of the economic development during last 10 years. A consumption chain has formed, higher consumption rates lead a higher social need, which acquires more production, and then more welfare will be offered to the workers, and as time goes by, they may be rich one day. It seems all of these are good for the economic development in China, or is it?
KPMG had a investigation in China about the luxury market last year (China luxury consumers, 2008), which was collected as questionnaire in 15 cities, between the age of 20 to 44 and the average monthly incomes are above RMB 3,500. 59% of them are bachelors and 11% are masters, and 56% are male. This research shows the luxury market in China has become saturated since last two years. It is interesting that these consumers still keep a conservative and cautious attitude to credit consumption, which suggests that credit model was not the reason why luxury consumption has kept increasing. Additionally, it also illustrates there will be a steady growth in future. Another aspect that this report focuses on is the reason why Chinese customers are seeking luxuries, the result showed that to flaunt is the most significant consumption power rather than collection or enjoyment. And the goods that people prefer the most are watches, jewelries and clothes, rather than super cars or IT products.
However, most of those luxuries which are chasing by Chinese are more likely to be made in Europe or North America or originally from these areas. Most native brands of luxury are considered to be lack of competitive strength. Overseas brand are more attractive than natives, even they are made in China. When purchasing, these overseas brands are the first priority to be consider by consumers. In contrast, the native brands are impacted by such consumption behaviors, in other words, there will be no place for them to survive in the market. In this case, the purpose of economic innovation is missing; the great amount of wealth which supposes to share with other classes is going abroad. The living condition of other classes could hardly improve unless spending reasonable and sensible.
As a result of the global economic crisis, the global luxury market has kept decreasing; companies need to expend their market share in order to reduce the lost. Obviously, China is the best option. It is no doubt that the pace of economic development of China is the fastest in the world, which suggests higher consumption in order to improve productivity. However, this blind consumption behavior could only lead to a situation that the wealth which has obtained generation by generation may be lost soon. In addition, China also has the largest population in the world, when rich people spend money on goods unnecessarily, there are a lot of people are needy and suffering illness in the countryside. One of the traditional and basic principles suggests frugality. In another words, wealth should have been spent on other aspects which are more reasonable and sensible rather than on luxuries.
References:
Atsmon, Y, Ding, J, Dixit, V, St-Maurice, I & Suessmuth-Dyckerhoff, C (2009) ‘2009 Wealthy China consumer report’. Insight China, McKinsey&Company. Available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/chinasimplified/mckonchina/reports/mcKinsey_wealthy_consumer_report_cn.pdf [Assessed 19/11/2009]
Chinanewsweek. (2009) China will become the largest luxury market in the world. Available at: http://city.finance.sina.com.cn/city/2009-11-30/118029.html [Accessed: 30/11/2009]
Huicongzhengbaishi. (2009) The report of luxury consumption of Chinese citizen. Available at: http://info.huicong.com/2009/10/15142080323.shtml [Accessed: 7/11/2009]
KMPG (2008) China luxury consumers, KMPT CHINA. Available at: http://www.kpmg.com.cn/sc/virtual_library/Consumer_markets/ChinaLuxuryConsumers.pdf [Accessed: 18/11/2009]
IBRAHIM M ALTOWAIJRI Essay
FINANCIAL CRISIS
INTRODUCTION
In the resent few years no one expected the current financial crisis will happen as occurred .Increasing demand on banking productions such as mortgages, currency exchange and investment in financial market prompted banks to offer several services to increase their profits by encourage people to join this marketing with poor regulation and large volume of risk by loaned them a high quantity of money. People around the world have been becoming more interested about business news which attracted people to pay attention who they growth their wealth or to get own house rather than rent a house. according to the( Wikipedia for the 2008-2009 crisis)" The term financial crisis is applied broadly to a variety of situations in which some financial institutions or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value". The question is what are reasons for the present recession crisis? And how we can came up of this crisis? Therefore, this essay will explain some reasons of current financial crisis and give a suggestions to solve this problem.
What are the reasons of the current financial crisis?
To explain some of the underlying reasons for the causes of the present recession crisis. The essay is based on predominantly two schools of thought carried and conveyed by two respective scholars.
Firstly, According to the( kabalistic2009) views, the ego of narrow personal interest for pursuit of wealth duo to internal conflict .Knock on effect by infectious collapse when some element happen in financial institutions infect others which we need to fortify our understanding of future to prevent repercussions of inaccurate predictions for make balance and harmony between all element means of deal with nature systems not with artificial systems.
Capitalism gave every one right to attain the wealth by any possible way with out impose enough regulation to protect macroeconomic from individual greed. Weaknesses in the law and financial regulation in capitalist countries and the lack of control on financial transactions stimulated the workers of financial institutions and individuals to focus on the increasing of their profit with out considerable the risk that may result from these measures .
Secondly, according to (Siejel at Knowledge Wharton in 2009), U.S stock market lose more than third of its value. The fatal flaw when the government allow banks to creating bundling for supply more mortgages and government encourage people who in low and middle income to buying homes which hence increased home price rabidly .Intervene bailing out Lehman Brothers by government cause crisis of confidence .The massive failure by traders and CEO about homes prices would go in just one direction.
Inaccurate analysis of the general trend of the market by traders and business managers, and competition to achieve the highest profitability ratios ignoring the fact that a bounce is the opposite may occur at any time, most of them pumping their savings to catch the largest possible proportion of the profits because of the continuing rise in the price of real estate and financial market, unjustified with low distributions and returns on these investment.
Solutions:
According to (Jakabovies:25/09/2008) has proposal for government to buy mortgages from the homeowners which can not be able to pay their payments to local banks that will lead to a good result by creating new money in home market. People and bank in this solution will be able to pay their payment for creditors which allow them to start again land money. The economy will increase and government can sell these houses again in new markets in Wall Street.
Also (Jakabovies: 25/09/2008) suggestion for government to impose new law and regulations the homeowners will going to pay their mortgages.
This proposal will work just in short time but not forever because of, when the banks start to make profit they will not commitment in this role any more. They try to avoid encumber to achieve their target of profit. New generations do not new about previous financial crisis as existing just like some thing from history they should new about it not they must learn from it to prevent it happen in other time. The crisis will occur in next time by the economic cycle and home price start to increase and demand for mortgages by young workers will rising and banks creating bound to exploiting this opportunities to make bagger of profitable with ignoring all crisis which happen on the past.
(Siegel : January 21/2009) offering to government to set up new banks to be able land money to new consumer and investors rather than give money to old banks which they lose confidence from people, who want to save their money or to invest in low risk investment. Also he support government to reduce interest rate to be near zero to avoid any demand dose not have enough security to make sure they will be able to pay money back.
Conclusion
To sum up all these reasons and solutions to solve this problem we have study this crisis from the roots not from the top and treat it to lead us be able to prevent next crisis to happen with out take painkillers as (Kabalistic) views .
Bibliography
What Really Lies Behind the Financial Crisis?: Knowledge@Wharton
(http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2148_02/12/2009)
http://www.kabbalah.info/engkab/kabbalah-worldwide/ynetnews#a-kabbalistic-interpretation-of-the-economic-crisis_02/12/09
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis
Real Solutions to the Financial Crisis
Andrew Jakabovics September 25, 2008
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/09/real_solutions.html_02/12/09
Afghanistan war and history (Essay)
Afghanistan war and history
Afghanistan is a country of more than 5000 years of history. This country has been developed of several different cultures, traditions, religions, and has huge civilization & education background. Its first name Ancient was Ariana, later named Khurasan and now THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF AFGHANISTAN. Arians were the first people in the world that established cities. Also developer of 3 different Religions in the region as Buddhism, Brahman, & Zurdashat, and finally after hardship introduced to Islam. Afghanistan for its geo-political location, rich natural resources, wonderful beauty been many times under attacks of conquerors, like Alexander the great, British, Russians & others. Sometimes it had been part of another territory or a large part of other territories added to Ariana/Khurasan territory. A country with freedom and peace loving people, but always struggled for their rights & freedom. Never accept any foreign rule or occupation.
Different Mujahadeen warlords occupied different cities and regions of the country. Burhanuddin Rabbani, the same Northern Alliance warlord who recently took Kabul from the Taliban, was the warlord who ruled over the city from 1992 until his ouster in 1996. During his reign over 60,000 people were murdered and thousands of women were raped. Current Northern Alliance warlord Rashid Dostum who is in control of the city of Mazar –E – Sharif, also ruled over it from 1992 until his ouster in 1997. Similarly the warlord Ismail Khan again rules the city of Heart, which he also ruled from 1992 to 1995; and warlord Yunis Khalis is back in control of Jalabad, which he ruled from 1992 to 1996. Once in power the Taliban sought to create a theocratic state based on their interpretations of the Koran (John Willam Kaye, “History Of The War In Afghanistan”). Though already severely repressed by the various Mujahadeen warlords, the plight of Afghanistan’s women was made even worse under the new regime. The veil became the law of the land, and women were forbidden from attending school or holding employment outside of the home. Television was banned and an effort was made to purge the country of any signs or remnants of secular or Western influence. The country became politically and diplomatically isolated. Then came the current war. Following the September 11 World Trade Center bombings the United States accused Osama Bin Laden of the crime. Bin Laden, who had left Afghanistan following the defeat of the Soviets, had returned after falling out of favor in Saudi Arabia, and being pressured to leave his first nation of refuge, the Sudan. Within a few weeks the United States began bombing the impoverished country, as well as providing active support to the Northern Alliance warlords (Kenneth Katzman, “CRS report for Congress”, July 11, 2008). Following weeks of devastating bombing, and several failed offensives, the Northern Alliance succeeded in breaking out of its northern enclave, seizing the city of Mazar – E – Sharif, and then moving on to take Kabul. This set in motion a series of defeats for the Taliban, which began surrendering and abandoning almost every major city in the country, and retreating into the mountains. The U.S. meanwhile has continued its bombing campaign, and now has Marines on the ground hunting for Bin Laden. All the while the people of Afghanistan continue to suffer.
The Taliban resistance in Afghanistan is a threat to American freedoms and the US military presence in Afghanistan is necessary for America's national security. The controversial issue is whether or not a U.S. military presence is necessary in Afghanistan. The history of the war in Afghanistan is the Taliban's presence and influence in the area. The armed forces of Afghanistan are weak and ill-equipped to deal with the Taliban. The threat posed by the Taliban's alarmingly large support base and is a popular hide-out for high profile Taliban commanders (AFGHANISTAN’S NARCO WAR: BREAKING THE LINK BETWEEN DRUG TRAFFICKERS AND INSURGENTS, August 10, 2009).
I have strong opinion that there is undeniable evidence on the topic that can prove the Taliban resistance in Afghanistan. The first argument in opposition to the Taliban emergence maintains that the Taliban insurgents are defeated and that the overall situation could be classified as stable. There are numerous facts and events that show the emergence of the Taliban as a fighting force. The average number of violent accidents per month in Afghanistan has increased by 529 deaths per month from 2003 to 2008. This is followed by an increase of casualties inside the US and British forces deployed in the country. The US forces have seen an increase of 218 casualties per year from 2003 to 2008 and the British forces have seen an increase of 64 casualties per year, which is Britain's highest casualty rate since the end of World War II. These numbers are a proof of the escalation of the fight in Afghanistan and also of the Taliban's improved skills in operational planning and executing (Tim Dyhouse, “Afghanistan: ‘The Forgotten War’”).
It’s hard to say how much longer the Taliban will continue to fight, or when the U.S. will end its war. Currently Northern Alliance warlords, southern Pashtun warlords, opportunistic emigre politicians, and even supporters of the aging deposed autocrat King Zahir Shah, are arguing about who will be the exploiter-in-chief of the devastated land. Most likely they will come up with some sort of coalition government that will perhaps hold the different factions together, perhaps not. In the end it matters little, since none of the figures involved represent the people of this country, and none of them seem to have ever had their interests at heart. The most immediate thing would be for the United States government to end its bombing, withdraw its troops, and respect the Afghan people’s right to self-determination. And while this alone would not end all of the bloodshed and the fighting, it would create a situation where the workers and farmers of Afghanistan would be more able to cast off the warlords and petty feudal tyrants, take control of their destinies, and create a society that is based upon cooperation and solidarity. Towards that end let us redouble our efforts to stop the U.S. bombing, to stop the U.S. war on the people of Afghanistan.
Bibliography
1. John Willam Kaye, 'History Of The War In Afghanistan'.
2. Kenneth Katzman, 'CRS report for Congress', July 11, 2008.
3. AFGHANISTAN’S NARCO WAR: BREAKING THE LINK BETWEEN DRUG TRAFFICKERS AND INSURGENTS, August 10, 2009.
4. Tim Dyhouse, 'Afghanistan: ‘The Forgotten War'.
Afghanistan is a country of more than 5000 years of history. This country has been developed of several different cultures, traditions, religions, and has huge civilization & education background. Its first name Ancient was Ariana, later named Khurasan and now THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF AFGHANISTAN. Arians were the first people in the world that established cities. Also developer of 3 different Religions in the region as Buddhism, Brahman, & Zurdashat, and finally after hardship introduced to Islam. Afghanistan for its geo-political location, rich natural resources, wonderful beauty been many times under attacks of conquerors, like Alexander the great, British, Russians & others. Sometimes it had been part of another territory or a large part of other territories added to Ariana/Khurasan territory. A country with freedom and peace loving people, but always struggled for their rights & freedom. Never accept any foreign rule or occupation.
Different Mujahadeen warlords occupied different cities and regions of the country. Burhanuddin Rabbani, the same Northern Alliance warlord who recently took Kabul from the Taliban, was the warlord who ruled over the city from 1992 until his ouster in 1996. During his reign over 60,000 people were murdered and thousands of women were raped. Current Northern Alliance warlord Rashid Dostum who is in control of the city of Mazar –E – Sharif, also ruled over it from 1992 until his ouster in 1997. Similarly the warlord Ismail Khan again rules the city of Heart, which he also ruled from 1992 to 1995; and warlord Yunis Khalis is back in control of Jalabad, which he ruled from 1992 to 1996. Once in power the Taliban sought to create a theocratic state based on their interpretations of the Koran (John Willam Kaye, “History Of The War In Afghanistan”). Though already severely repressed by the various Mujahadeen warlords, the plight of Afghanistan’s women was made even worse under the new regime. The veil became the law of the land, and women were forbidden from attending school or holding employment outside of the home. Television was banned and an effort was made to purge the country of any signs or remnants of secular or Western influence. The country became politically and diplomatically isolated. Then came the current war. Following the September 11 World Trade Center bombings the United States accused Osama Bin Laden of the crime. Bin Laden, who had left Afghanistan following the defeat of the Soviets, had returned after falling out of favor in Saudi Arabia, and being pressured to leave his first nation of refuge, the Sudan. Within a few weeks the United States began bombing the impoverished country, as well as providing active support to the Northern Alliance warlords (Kenneth Katzman, “CRS report for Congress”, July 11, 2008). Following weeks of devastating bombing, and several failed offensives, the Northern Alliance succeeded in breaking out of its northern enclave, seizing the city of Mazar – E – Sharif, and then moving on to take Kabul. This set in motion a series of defeats for the Taliban, which began surrendering and abandoning almost every major city in the country, and retreating into the mountains. The U.S. meanwhile has continued its bombing campaign, and now has Marines on the ground hunting for Bin Laden. All the while the people of Afghanistan continue to suffer.
The Taliban resistance in Afghanistan is a threat to American freedoms and the US military presence in Afghanistan is necessary for America's national security. The controversial issue is whether or not a U.S. military presence is necessary in Afghanistan. The history of the war in Afghanistan is the Taliban's presence and influence in the area. The armed forces of Afghanistan are weak and ill-equipped to deal with the Taliban. The threat posed by the Taliban's alarmingly large support base and is a popular hide-out for high profile Taliban commanders (AFGHANISTAN’S NARCO WAR: BREAKING THE LINK BETWEEN DRUG TRAFFICKERS AND INSURGENTS, August 10, 2009).
I have strong opinion that there is undeniable evidence on the topic that can prove the Taliban resistance in Afghanistan. The first argument in opposition to the Taliban emergence maintains that the Taliban insurgents are defeated and that the overall situation could be classified as stable. There are numerous facts and events that show the emergence of the Taliban as a fighting force. The average number of violent accidents per month in Afghanistan has increased by 529 deaths per month from 2003 to 2008. This is followed by an increase of casualties inside the US and British forces deployed in the country. The US forces have seen an increase of 218 casualties per year from 2003 to 2008 and the British forces have seen an increase of 64 casualties per year, which is Britain's highest casualty rate since the end of World War II. These numbers are a proof of the escalation of the fight in Afghanistan and also of the Taliban's improved skills in operational planning and executing (Tim Dyhouse, “Afghanistan: ‘The Forgotten War’”).
It’s hard to say how much longer the Taliban will continue to fight, or when the U.S. will end its war. Currently Northern Alliance warlords, southern Pashtun warlords, opportunistic emigre politicians, and even supporters of the aging deposed autocrat King Zahir Shah, are arguing about who will be the exploiter-in-chief of the devastated land. Most likely they will come up with some sort of coalition government that will perhaps hold the different factions together, perhaps not. In the end it matters little, since none of the figures involved represent the people of this country, and none of them seem to have ever had their interests at heart. The most immediate thing would be for the United States government to end its bombing, withdraw its troops, and respect the Afghan people’s right to self-determination. And while this alone would not end all of the bloodshed and the fighting, it would create a situation where the workers and farmers of Afghanistan would be more able to cast off the warlords and petty feudal tyrants, take control of their destinies, and create a society that is based upon cooperation and solidarity. Towards that end let us redouble our efforts to stop the U.S. bombing, to stop the U.S. war on the people of Afghanistan.
Bibliography
1. John Willam Kaye, 'History Of The War In Afghanistan'.
2. Kenneth Katzman, 'CRS report for Congress', July 11, 2008.
3. AFGHANISTAN’S NARCO WAR: BREAKING THE LINK BETWEEN DRUG TRAFFICKERS AND INSURGENTS, August 10, 2009.
4. Tim Dyhouse, 'Afghanistan: ‘The Forgotten War'.
Nicole (Advertising)
Advertising
------ Good or Bad?
Advertising, we see and hear it every day, we talk about it all the time. It is a form of communication used to influence individuals to purchase products of services or support political candidates or ideas. (Advertising, Wikipedia) It is the main way for people to get to know about the goods they want to buy. Also, most of the companies use advertising to introduce their products. Advertising has become a very important part of people’s life. Even though, it still has many negative impacts to the society. This essay will talk about the different influence of advertising. It will first have a brief introducing of advertising and its three different roles in society which included economic role, information role and entertainment role (Sheehan, 2004). And then the essay will discuss about the positive and negative influence of advertising to the society respectively.
Advertising performs different roles in the society. More specifically, it plays economic role, information role and entertainment role.
The economic role of advertising in the society should be highlighted. One of advertising’s key economic roles is to help company to sell products. Advertising helps to sell product and services by providing consumers with ideas and styles of living that can be achieved by using the products and services. These ideas are often seen as superior to the consumers’ “status quo” (Nicosia, 1974 as quoted in Kim S, 2004). Additionally, advertising could advances competition between companies in the market. Then consumers can get reasonable price for the products and services.
As an information role, advertising has a great deal of influence on the customers. Generally, customers start gets to know a product through advertising. It provides information about the products which helps customers making decision. For example, customers can compare same products with different brand through advertising.
The final role is entertainment role. As we know, advertising normally be presented through the media, such as television, newspaper, magazine or internet. So companies will try to make the advertisement as attractive as possible to get more attention from customers. Therefore, most of the advertisements not only have their basic functions but also have become to entertainment. Moreover, there are many advertising competitions in the world which could improve the standard of advertising, for instance the one club which is an American organization who encourage good advertising (The one club, Wikipedia).
For most of people, advertising is the main way to know the products. Along with the development of advertising, advertisements are everywhere nowadays. People can find it on TV, internet, newspaper, shops, even in the bus, train and underground. Thus, it is very convenient for people to get information about the products or services they want to purchase.
The information provided by advertising also can help customers to make decision to buy products or services. Meanwhile, it could teach knowledge and guide customers a different life styles. A study by a research company, Wirthlin Worldwide (1999), found that 87% of respondents to a recent survey agreed with the statement:” Before I make a major purchase, I spend a lot of time finding out as much information as I can about which brand is best.” (Sheehan 2004)
Furthermore, advertising can promote market demand. A good advertisement can inspire consumer’s desire to purchase. Then the sales of the market will be increased at the same time (Lee 2008). That is one of the reasons why many companies are willing to pay big amount of money on advertising.
Although advertising could help consumers make purchase decision, some people think that advertising encourages the customers to buy the products they do not really need. Besides some of the products are not as good as they promised in the advertisement. Take slimming pill as an example, some products make physically implausible promises such as “lose 10 pounds in 10 day” which could attract the consumers who are desperate to lose weight.
Advertising also has some unintended effects to the children. It could cause some psychological and physical problems. Some children are confused by the fact in the live and fiction in the advertisements. Some children may have stereotypical view of sex roles because of the influence of advertising. Experts suggest that babies ages are under 2 should not watch advertising. Because babies need human contact to develop socially and emotionally which include voice, image, touch and smell. But advertising only has voice and image (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1995 as quoted in Kim S, 2004). The children who watch TV more hours will have fewer hobbies. And advertising can make the children unhealthy such as obesity. They also could learn some bad things from the advertising like drugs, alcohol and early sexual activity. (Sheehan, 2004)
There always are some people complain about the advertising like deceptive advertising or its bad influence to the children. The customers have their own judgment. They have purchasing right to decide whether to buy the product or not. In addition, not all of the advertisings are bad for the children. Some of the advertisings are quite educational such as public-service announcement.
To sum up, advertising has a lot of negative influence. But generally speaking, advertising are still beneficial to the society. Apparently, it needs to be improved. There are a lot of rules and regulations about advertising. But the regulations system still not consummate. Along with the development of advertising industry, advertising will become better and much more helpful to the society.
Ruonan HAO (Nicole)
Bibliography
American Academy of Pediatrics (1995) as quoted in Kim Sheehan (2004) controversies in contemporary advertising, Sag Publications, Inc. P.173
Definition of Advertising, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising
Fuyu L.(23 Dec 2008). ‘guang gao dui she hui de ying xiang’, http://www.yewuyuan.com/article/200812/200812230046.shtml
Introduction of the one club, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Club
Kim S. (2004). ‘Advertising’s Roles in Society’, Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, Sag Publications, Inc.
Kim S. (2004). ‘Getting older younger: children and advertising’, Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, Sag Publications, Inc.
Nicosia (1974) as quoted in Kim S (2004) Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, Sag Publications, Inc, P.4-5
------ Good or Bad?
Advertising, we see and hear it every day, we talk about it all the time. It is a form of communication used to influence individuals to purchase products of services or support political candidates or ideas. (Advertising, Wikipedia) It is the main way for people to get to know about the goods they want to buy. Also, most of the companies use advertising to introduce their products. Advertising has become a very important part of people’s life. Even though, it still has many negative impacts to the society. This essay will talk about the different influence of advertising. It will first have a brief introducing of advertising and its three different roles in society which included economic role, information role and entertainment role (Sheehan, 2004). And then the essay will discuss about the positive and negative influence of advertising to the society respectively.
Advertising performs different roles in the society. More specifically, it plays economic role, information role and entertainment role.
The economic role of advertising in the society should be highlighted. One of advertising’s key economic roles is to help company to sell products. Advertising helps to sell product and services by providing consumers with ideas and styles of living that can be achieved by using the products and services. These ideas are often seen as superior to the consumers’ “status quo” (Nicosia, 1974 as quoted in Kim S, 2004). Additionally, advertising could advances competition between companies in the market. Then consumers can get reasonable price for the products and services.
As an information role, advertising has a great deal of influence on the customers. Generally, customers start gets to know a product through advertising. It provides information about the products which helps customers making decision. For example, customers can compare same products with different brand through advertising.
The final role is entertainment role. As we know, advertising normally be presented through the media, such as television, newspaper, magazine or internet. So companies will try to make the advertisement as attractive as possible to get more attention from customers. Therefore, most of the advertisements not only have their basic functions but also have become to entertainment. Moreover, there are many advertising competitions in the world which could improve the standard of advertising, for instance the one club which is an American organization who encourage good advertising (The one club, Wikipedia).
For most of people, advertising is the main way to know the products. Along with the development of advertising, advertisements are everywhere nowadays. People can find it on TV, internet, newspaper, shops, even in the bus, train and underground. Thus, it is very convenient for people to get information about the products or services they want to purchase.
The information provided by advertising also can help customers to make decision to buy products or services. Meanwhile, it could teach knowledge and guide customers a different life styles. A study by a research company, Wirthlin Worldwide (1999), found that 87% of respondents to a recent survey agreed with the statement:” Before I make a major purchase, I spend a lot of time finding out as much information as I can about which brand is best.” (Sheehan 2004)
Furthermore, advertising can promote market demand. A good advertisement can inspire consumer’s desire to purchase. Then the sales of the market will be increased at the same time (Lee 2008). That is one of the reasons why many companies are willing to pay big amount of money on advertising.
Although advertising could help consumers make purchase decision, some people think that advertising encourages the customers to buy the products they do not really need. Besides some of the products are not as good as they promised in the advertisement. Take slimming pill as an example, some products make physically implausible promises such as “lose 10 pounds in 10 day” which could attract the consumers who are desperate to lose weight.
Advertising also has some unintended effects to the children. It could cause some psychological and physical problems. Some children are confused by the fact in the live and fiction in the advertisements. Some children may have stereotypical view of sex roles because of the influence of advertising. Experts suggest that babies ages are under 2 should not watch advertising. Because babies need human contact to develop socially and emotionally which include voice, image, touch and smell. But advertising only has voice and image (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1995 as quoted in Kim S, 2004). The children who watch TV more hours will have fewer hobbies. And advertising can make the children unhealthy such as obesity. They also could learn some bad things from the advertising like drugs, alcohol and early sexual activity. (Sheehan, 2004)
There always are some people complain about the advertising like deceptive advertising or its bad influence to the children. The customers have their own judgment. They have purchasing right to decide whether to buy the product or not. In addition, not all of the advertisings are bad for the children. Some of the advertisings are quite educational such as public-service announcement.
To sum up, advertising has a lot of negative influence. But generally speaking, advertising are still beneficial to the society. Apparently, it needs to be improved. There are a lot of rules and regulations about advertising. But the regulations system still not consummate. Along with the development of advertising industry, advertising will become better and much more helpful to the society.
Ruonan HAO (Nicole)
Bibliography
American Academy of Pediatrics (1995) as quoted in Kim Sheehan (2004) controversies in contemporary advertising, Sag Publications, Inc. P.173
Definition of Advertising, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising
Fuyu L.(23 Dec 2008). ‘guang gao dui she hui de ying xiang’, http://www.yewuyuan.com/article/200812/200812230046.shtml
Introduction of the one club, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Club
Kim S. (2004). ‘Advertising’s Roles in Society’, Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, Sag Publications, Inc.
Kim S. (2004). ‘Getting older younger: children and advertising’, Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, Sag Publications, Inc.
Nicosia (1974) as quoted in Kim S (2004) Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, Sag Publications, Inc, P.4-5
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