Gangs of Youth Essay Example for Free

Gangs of Youth Essay Tattoos, graffiti in the walls, foul language, drugs, guns and violence are the most popular notions for â€Å"street gangs†. Street gangs are prevalent ever since the 19th century, when there was a surge of immigrants in the United States. They are an identity, a fearful group of people who organizes a variety of delinquent activities. Though gangs have been widely used in popular culture, as observed in the invention of slang words, baggy pants, hip-hop and rap music, they are a threat to society. Gangs are not really cool as what is being portrayed in our television sets. The following questions, which were taken from GWC, Inc. [1997], provide us some ideas on how to assess whether our community or school is suffering from severe gang activity. 1. Do you have graffiti on or near your school? 2. Do you have crossed out graffiti on or near your school grounds? 3. Do your students wear colors, jewelry, clothing; flash hand signals; or display other behavior that may be gang related? 4. Are drugs available in or near your school? 5. Has there been an increase in physical confrontations or incidents of threats, abuse, or intimidation in or near your school? 6. Is there an increasing presence of weapons in your community? 7. Do students use beepers, pagers and cellular phones? 8. Has there been a drive-by shooting in your neighborhood? 9. Have you had a show-by or a display of weapons near your schools? 10. Has there been an increase in the truancy rate and/or daytime burglaries? 11. Are there an increasing number of racial incidents in your community or school? 12. Does your community have a history of gangs? 13. Is there an increasing presence of informal social groups with unusual names? If most of the answers are yes, then your community or school is definitely in need for an effective gang prevention program. But before doing so, I will first discuss about the proliferation of street gangs, its history and its impact to the society especially to the youth. I will also provide recent reports on the current statistics in some areas; then I can now dwell on the useful measures on how to fight and avoid gang activity. What are gangs? The Children’s Health Encyclopedia [n. d. ] mentioned that there are a couple of definitions of gangs, specifically, youth gangs. In general, they are a â€Å"loosely-organized association† who were formerly alienated by the society. They are headed informally by a leader. The members are usually between ages 12 to 24 and they have a gang name to identify themselves. The members of the gang share something in common in them. Usually they have the same race or ethnicity, same social class or some characteristic that are usually defined by some form of a symbol, usually represented by tattoos, graffiti, clothing or even hand signals. According to Safe Youth [2007], gangs are most of the time male-dominated and have their own territory. Such male members have experienced a loss of a male figure at home. For females, they often participate in gang activity during family crisis or drug addiction. They have been characterized to be run-away-from-home youths. Moreover, another characteristic of these gangs is that they may either be a subsidiary of a larger group of gangs. Some gang organizations have their respective mother groups whom they share similar attributes and culture. It is also common for such gangs to have their own set of rules and codes of conduct. Some even have weird rituals of their own. They treat each other as kin or family; since in the first place, they were formed because they felt some kind of alienation with their respective lives. Gangs can compensate and nurture the members a sense of belongingness. They also can gain power and influence especially when they cooperate to fight for their own endeavors. They gain confidence and self-worth especially when gang members are promised to be given protection or better yet a higher social status. They do organized crime activities in order to get what they want. These activities are violent and nature and such can threaten a lot of lives. According to the U. S. Department of Justice, groups must be involved in criminal acts before they are deemed to be called as gangs. Such acts, according to Johnson and Muhlhausen [2005], can vary from extortion, robbery, smuggling, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and defending their territory. Basically, there a two types of gangs, city and urban/rural gangs [Green, 1999]. In cities, gangs are situated in a particular â€Å"turf† or â€Å"hood†, unlike in urban/rural areas, gangs are dispersed and some needed to travel in order to be with their members. According to Green [1999], there three indicators of gangs: saggin’, flaggin’, and braggin’. Sagging is manner of dressing. Gangsters are usually wearing loose clothes like baggy pants and caps that are tilted in a different manner. Some gangs have a unique style, which makes them distinct from other gangs like hairdos and leather jackets. Flagging is the show of colors. Gangs have a branding color which represents them. Last is bragging, which is self-explanatory. They brag about being gangsters though they are very secretive about their activities. History Johnson and Muhlhausen [2005] stated in their paper, â€Å"North American Transnational Youth Gangs: Breaking the Chain of Violence† that youth gangs can be traced even as far as the end of American Revolution. They said that such violence was heightened during the immigration and population shifts during the early 1800s, 1920s, 1960s and in the latter 1990s. Though in Europe, gangs are already popular in the 14th Century. It was reported in the 1999 National Youth Gang Survey that gangs in the United States are composed of 47 percent Hispanic members, 31 percent African-Americans, 13 percent Caucasian, 7 percent Asian and 3 percent others. These can traced from the 10 to 12 million undocumented Hispanic aliens in 1970s and 1990s. The most popular Hispanic groups are Calle 18 and Mara Salvatrucha. They were the first gangs to accept members from other nationalities as well as recruit outside their own territory. Outside means that even the youth, as young as elementary and middle schools are involved in the use of weapons, stealing money and selling drugs. The GWC, Inc. [1997] believed that gangs use children because if ever they are caught, they will not go to jail. It was also said by Johnson and Muhlhausen [2005] that during the 19th century, Irish and Italian street gangs were greatly concentrated in the East Coast cities, while African-American gangs were mostly in Los Angeles especially during the 1960s and 1970s. When you migrate, most probably the neighborhood the family is exposed are much disorganized, thus leading to exposure to crimes and gang activities. Statistics As shown by the GWC, Inc. ’s Gang Guide [1997], the FBI thinks that there are around 400,000 youths who are members of gangs in the United States. Moreover, the Journal of American Medical Association believes that 94 percent are active gangs in the cities. Such cities according to the American Street Gang can include up to 40 different gangs. In the Children’s Health Encyclopedia, in between the years 1996and 2001, over 90 percent of the largest cities in America are reported to have gang activities in their area. Between 1998 and 1999, it was studied that there was a 27 percent increase in gang membership in the suburban areas while 29 percent in rural areas. Gangs do not only involve the minorities like the Latinos or the African-American, all nationalities or ethnic groups, despite economic class and geographical setting are highly involved in gangs. Earlier we said that males dominate that gangs and females are only involved usually when she experiences family problems and had run away from home. It was discovered by A. Campbell in his research that female gang members have experience a larger risk in gang membership. According to Johnson and Muhlhausen [2005], the reported gang activity in 1970 was 270, by 1998, it increased by whopping 800 percent with 2,500 cities. In a comparative study of gang members and youths-at-risk in Cleveland, it was found that 44. 7 percent of gang members were reported to committing auto theft, as compared to 4. 1 percent of non-members. Moreover, 40. 4 percent of gang members said that they have participated in â€Å"drive-by shootings†, while only 2. 0 percent of non-members have done so. Furthermore, 34. 0 of gang members have been reported to intimidate or assault crime victims or witnesses, compared to none from the non-members. 72. 3 percent of gang members acknowledged that they have assaulted rivals, compared to 16. 3 percent. More so, 17. 0 percent of gang members have committed robbery compared to 2. 0 percent of non-members. We can conclude in this study that being involved in gangs exposes one to be more at-risk even greater than those who are already at-risk yet non-members of gangs. According to Safe Youth [2007], recent studies reveal that member of youth gangs join before they reach 18 years old. In contrast to the notion of the public, such members do not commit to a long-term membership. In a span of one year, only one-half to two-thirds remain in their gang. To heighten our claim earlier that gang members are more at-risk than at-risk non-members, Howell and Decker [1999] revealed that youth gang members have higher drug usage rate than non-gang members. Moreover, Battin-Pearson, et al. [1998] said that delinquency rates are higher for gang members, which includes the use of illegal drugs, display of violent behavior and even the rate of being arrested. Between 1989 and 1995, it was reported by the United States Departments of Education and Justice that the percentage of gang activity doubled. This heightens the strong correlation of gangs with the proliferation of guns and drugs inside the school campuses. However, there is contradiction with the study. Chandler, et al. [1996] believed that gangs have not been the cause of victimization inside the schools although it was found to contribute to the dangerous atmosphere. Presence of gangs in school has even brought protection to students who are part of the minority groups. It was reported in the 2002 and 2003 National Youth Gang Surveys that 4 out of 10 large cities in the United States have experienced 10 or more gang homicides [Egley, 2005]. In Los Angeles and Chicaga, half of the reported 1,000 homicides were gang related. This also implies a frequent use of firearms. Risk Factors In the study of Johnson and Muhlhausen [2005], if the following risk factors increase, it was believed that the youth has higher probability of joining a gang: marginal neighborhoods, family, academic problems, peer groups, drugs and violence. Marginal Neighborhoods involve a more dangerous environment and most of these neighborhoods are highly exposed to drugs. Johnson and Muhlhausen [2005] said that those who are living in these neighborhood are thrice more likely to join gangs. More so, such neighborhoods who are highly exposed to drugs like Marijuana, youths are 3. 6 likely to join a gang. Youths with families headed by a single-parent are 2. 4 more likely to join gangs than those families who are headed by a complete set of parents. As mentioned earlier, those males who missed a father figure will seek out such companionship in gangs. More so, with a broken family, it is much easier for a child to acquire belongingness and love from a gang. However, as long as families promote violence, and there is low parental care and love in the family, a youth will be highly misguided, leading to gang membership. Academic problems lead to higher gang membership because as already mentioned earlier; gangs can lift low self-esteem individuals. Since academic failure contributes to low self-esteem, such youth are 3. 6 times more prone to join the gangs. When there is low commitment to study in school, a child is more likely to join a gang, since it can mean that he or she prefers other activities. Such activities as we know can be more violent in nature, and may or may not be done within the school premises. Peer groups are great motivators for the youth to join a gang. When you have friends who are members of such gangs, you are also twice as likely to join too. Peer pressure is sometimes very hard to resist because friendships are broken if you cannot do a favor for a friend. We know that people do need companionship especially in school and it is difficult if we do not have friends around. They are a source of protection as well. Drugs and violence can evidently trigger gang membership. Youths who already use Marijuana, are 3. 7 times more prone to join gangs. This is definitely true since where else can you get such drugs but from those gangs. To be able to get it easier, one should join them. Moreover, it was revealed that if the youth has been engaged in a violent behavior before, they are 3. 1 time more prone to join the gangs. Lonnie Jackson [1998], the author of Gangbusters: Strategies for prevention and intervention also provided a list of risk factors. It includes again the exposure to crime and violence during the â€Å"formative years†. Role models from a particular ethnic group can also increase the likelihood to gang involvement. It also includes lack of parental control. Moreover, the lack of equal economic opportunities can also be the reason for gang involvement. The lack of â€Å"social and recreational activities† for the children, few employment opportunities and unmet employment qualifications and skills can trigger gang involvement. Youth enticed to power, money and drugs are evidently more likely to join these gangs. Immediate gratification is very attractive for some youths and this encourages them to join the gangs. Moreover the lack of sense of belongingness and security, as well as powerlessness will lead the youth to those gangs. Another source of gang influence would be the popular media. Though there is no substantive evidence, violence seen in films, even song lyrics from hip-hop or rap music can increase pressure in joining gangs since gang life are usually being portrayed with such glamour and power that even kids imitate them. Kids these days are dressing up like gangsters even though they are not, and it can be reason why they join gangs. They think it so cool. Impact of Gangs in Schools Gangs in school will obviously increase the violence in schools, though we cannot directly blame the gang members for them. According to Trump [1993], students enrolled in schools with evident gang presence are twice more likely to fear of being victims of violence, than those whose schools without gangs. In an interview of Boyle [1992], he said that gang members perceive schools as evils and forms of incarceration. They see school as a place for gathering and hosting violent activities. What is worse is that, even gang members who are already suspended or kicked out from school can be found in the campus with their fellow gang mates. They use school as a form of a hang-out place rather than a place for learning. Burnett and Walz [1994] said that gangs can broaden its reach even influencing the youth in gang-free schools, causing a wider influence and greater involvement in criminal activities. According to Chandler et al. [1998], youth gangs are correlated with issues in delinquency especially during elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics [2005] have reported that most students in urban schools are most probably report the existence of street gangs in their school with 31 percent, compared to suburban students and rural students with 18 percent and 12 percent respectively. According to Thompkins [2000], security officers, security cameras, and even metal detectors can serve as a means of deterrence, yet these causes fear among the people on school, knowing that such security was brought about by the heightening of gang activity in the school. Impact of Gangs on its Participants Most of the gang members are already involved in delinquent acts even during the time that they are not still members of the gang [Burnett and Walz, 1994]. Most likely, such delinquent acts will be heightened. They will be frequently involved in drug abuse, as well as violence against their neighbor and a lot more. There are many consequences of being involved in such gangs. If ever they do not follow the rules of their gang leaders, most likely they will be victims as well, facing more punishments than those who are non-members. Also, if the gangs were discovered, they can be arrested and put into detention. When they grow up, they can be put into prison. Gang life distorts a lot of healthy relationships especially if it is for long term. The gangs have so much power over their members and can limit their own capacities. It can deprive them their own ambitions and aspirations. They bring chaos to the community and it can break families. It is more likely to happen that a youth can be dropped out early in school. When this happens, there is less chance for the child to be employable in the future, thus increasing unemployment rate together with crime rate. Moreover, it can also bring about early pregnancy or teen motherhood, which brings about an unstable family and lack of parental care. We already discussed earlier that such families are more likely to produce delinquent children. Thus, we see a cycle going on in here. If you expose your child to an unstable environment, most likely, he or she will carry it in the future. Economic impact of youth gangs There are in fact economic costs associated to youth gangs just like any other crimes. Medical expenses are actually large, especially to those who were victimized. In a year, $655 billion are spent in the United States because of crimes and it was believed that a huge amount can be attributed to gangs [Fight Crime: Invest in kids, 2004]. In Los Angeles Hospital trauma center, it was revealed that $5 million was spent to the 272 gang-related gunshot victims. It was also reported that youth gangs turned to be entrepreneurial organizations, involving hard core drug operations in various numbers of states. An example of which is the Black Gangster Disciples Nation [Burnett and Walz, 1994]. It actually has a hierarchy with several officers with specialized jobs. They have a chairman, with board of directors who are in charge in the drug trafficking in their areas. They have regents, who are in charge in the drug supply as well as in overseeing the â€Å"drug† stores. They also have area coordinators, who are in charge in collecting revenues from several spots. They have enforcers who are like their police and punish members who cheat. Last are the shorties, or the â€Å"interns† who composes the staff in the drugs selling spots. So evidently, such gang is already very organized and they have climbed their way up because of their wider influence and power. How to fight gang activity Gang activities are very serious issues that need to be addressed. A lot of youths are being misled to another path, damages their lives, the lives of the people around them as well as their future. But, it’s never too late to pull them out of their misery and prevent those kids who are about to be victimized. The National Education Association developed a â€Å"Safe Schools Framework† in order to aid schools and communities to pinpoint the gangs in their areas [Safe Youth, 2007]. They are recommending cooperation among schools, families and communities in developing strategies in alleviating gangs in their areas, as well as promoting safety and security in the campus. We adopt three components of the framework: prevention, intervention and suppression. Under prevention, we should aim to prevent the youth in getting involved in gangs, as well as in gang-related activities. This includes heightened awareness and education of the negative consequences of joining gangs, and testimonials from former gang members discouraging them to be involved. By intervention, we mean that we create possible alternatives for the youth in terms of their after-school or extra-curricular activities. More so, we provide counseling for those who are already in trouble, and promote part-time jobs for students. By suppression, we should use adequate measures in identifying, isolation, punishing and rehabilitating criminal offenders [Safe Youth, 2007]. In order to fight the existence of gangs in the schools, we should promote policies like adapting a school uniform, implementing curfews to discourage delinquent activities at night, encouraging students to be punctual, as well as enforcing strict policies on underage drinking and bring of deadly weapons in schools. During the 1930s, the Chicago Area Project has already started in bringing about recreational activities and self-improvement campaigns in order to convert gang members [Johnson and Muhlhausen, 2005]. However, it only increased crime since they treated as gangs as a group. In other states, they have strict anti-gang laws but were not effective in enforcing laws. In states like California, Minnesota and Virginia, they have established gang task forces but it was observed that their success greatly relies on the sustainability of their efforts, a variety of strategies and strong political will. It is very difficult to do that for all the states. The U. S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has recommended several strategies like after-school activities, dropout prevention, parent-training programs, efficient tracking of former offenders, job programs and many others. However, many failed to reduce delinquency [Johnson and Muhlhausen, 2005]. Other programs were also seen to be ineffective, like the GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) which used police as instructors in schools on the dangers of gang participation. During their evaluation, the program has no significant effect on gang membership [Johnson and Muhlhausen, 2005]. Moreover, the on-the-job training provided by the Department of Labor had produced counterintuitive results. Instead of preventing the disadvantaged youth, it actually increased the arrests related to gang activity. It was suggested by Johnson and Muhlhausen [2005] that the following strategies must be used. First, they should foster stable neighborhoods. It is very important for the government to ensure the safety of the environment of the people. They know that an unstable neighborhood produces delinquent activities, thus by enforcing policies that could enable a more secure neighborhood will be of great help in reducing gang membership. Second, they need to reduce illegal immigration. We know for a fact that gangs were formed due to alienation and a sense of discrimination from the society. By requiring stricter requirements for labor and immigration, we are also ensuring the safety of these people and help the rise of gangs in the country. Third, there should be strategies to â€Å"deny time for gang activities†. Parents should be aware that they play a great role in forming the behavior of their children. They should help their children in avoiding being influenced by those groups by telling the possible dangers of gang membership. Fourth, there should also be an emphasis on the prevention on the individual. Counseling programs must be strengthened, helping students to overcome their family problems and encourage them to find happiness in other things, instead of resulting to drugs and violence. Last is to ensure that the suppression is a product of collaborative efforts of several different agencies. An enforcement of a policy will not be successful if people do not have a general consensus about it, or do not cooperate. Strategies must also be simultaneously be implemented in order to make the campaigns against gang violence to be systematic. We still have a long way to go in eliminating gang violence. However, if we start now at our own homes, we can prevent these children from being involved in such gang activities. There are various tools to assist them. We need to focus on the sustainability and effectiveness of those tools in order to ensure success. Bibliography Gang. (n. d. ). Encyclopedia of Childrens Health. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from Answers. com Web site: http://www. answers. com/topic/gang Howell, J. (2006). The Impact of Gangs on Communities. NYGC Bulletin. Retrieved April 22, from IIGC Website: www. iir. com/nygc/publications/NYGCbulletin_0806. pdf. Green, F. (1999). Street Gangs in School. Retrieved April 20, 2008 at Keys to Safer Schools Website: http://www. keystosaferschools. com/Newsletter%20Vol. %208%20pg%203. htm. Safe Youth. (2007). Gangs fact sheet. Retrieved April 20, 2008 at National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center Website: http://www. safeyouth. org/scripts/facts/gangs. asp. Burnett, G. and G. Walz. (1994). Gangs in the Schools. Retrieved April 20, 2008 at Eric Digests Website: http://www. ericdigests. org/1995-1/gangs. htm. Johnson, S. and D. Muhlhausen. (2005). North American Transnational Youth Gangs: Breaking the Chain of Violence. Retrieved April 20, 2008 at Heritage Website: http://www. heritage. org/research/urbanissues/bg1834. cfm.

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From Faulkner’s description, the story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, takes place after American Civil War in a period that the southern aristocrats are declining but many still stick to their old traditional ways of living. Also, the story shows that there are still many unresolved conflicts between the North and South. In my opinion, the setting of this story, including the time, the place and the culture is the necessary factor for the development of this tragedy. In southern society, the father is always the center of a family and has the final word. The story depicts a vivid picture about Emily and her Father, â€Å"Miss Emily, a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door†.(716) Her father represents the thought of patriarchy in this story; he controls Emily’s life; moreover, he imprisons her, in a figurative sense. I can image that he uses his horsewhip to drive away every young man who shows love to Emily. This is the reason that â€Å"none of the yo... Essay -- From Faulkner’s description, the story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, takes place after American Civil War in a period that the southern aristocrats are declining but many still stick to their old traditional ways of living. Also, the story shows that there are still many unresolved conflicts between the North and South. In my opinion, the setting of this story, including the time, the place and the culture is the necessary factor for the development of this tragedy. In southern society, the father is always the center of a family and has the final word. The story depicts a vivid picture about Emily and her Father, â€Å"Miss Emily, a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door†.(716) Her father represents the thought of patriarchy in this story; he controls Emily’s life; moreover, he imprisons her, in a figurative sense. I can image that he uses his horsewhip to drive away every young man who shows love to Emily. This is the reason that â€Å"none of the yo...

Promotional and Advertising Strategies Essay

The author comes from Iran, with an ideological and religious fanatic government which owns and controls all of economical and industrial activities with an armed to teeth minority. In such countries they can produce and sell any low quality with any prices that they want, and actually customers have not many choices, and almost all of promotional techniques and strategies are meaningless! So here we are talking about free trade and free market countries like US. This paper review and scrutiny the circumstances surrounding the promotional and advertising Strategies for two automotive companies: TOYATA and HUNDAI. The author is very curious about those companies, because HUNDAI (1967) began car production almost 32 years after TOYOTA (1935)! But now, in all aspects both companies are equal in quality, branding, marketing, price and customer service, even HUNDAI is further! HMC (Hyundai Motor Company) was unknown brand with low quality and cheap price cars, but after it came in the US market converted its products to high quality and luxury quickly and stealing loyal customers away from many industry pioneers! But how was this late-moving car maker able to gain an advantage in this extremely competitive market? (Graf B, 2013) Introduction Definition of Advertising: The term â€Å"Advertising† first appeared in the 17th century. It has its root in the Latin word â€Å"advertere,† which means, â€Å"to make people notice or know. † It can be roughly explained as â€Å"to extensively notify the public. † According to the Dictionary of Chinese Etymology, the Chinese definition of advertising means, â€Å"openly announce to the public,† with the annotation of â€Å"such as putting up notices or publishing advertisements in newspapers. † (Yan Boqin, 1978) Definition of Marketing: â€Å"Marketing† is an economic term meaning promotion and distribution. Originally applied in agriculture, it drew more and more attention after the 19th century and spread rapidly. From economic, social, business and customers’ angles, the property of its definition can be determined (Li Zongru, 2004). For highlighting the brand in the eyes of public and attracting new customers, product promotion is one of the essentials. There are many channels to promote a product or service. Successful promotions strongly depends on believe and culture of people, style of living, income level, government policies and economical and industrial infrastructures. Some firms use multiple methods, while others may use different methods for various marketing purposes. Irrespective of the type of service or product, a strong group of promotional strategies can help position the company in a favorable light with not only current customers but new ones as well. The following are top ten promotional strategies: â€Å"1- Contests, 2-Social Media, 3-Mail Order Marketing 4-Product Giveaways, 5-Point-of-Sale Promotion and End-Cap Marketing, 6-Customer Referral Incentive Program, 7-Causes and Charity, 8-Branded Promotional Gifts, 9-Customer Appreciation Events, 10-After-Sale Customer Surveys† (Carl Hose. 2014; Small businesses; Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://smallbusiness. chron. com/top-ten-promotional-strategies-10193. html) Comparing the promotional strategies used by Toyota and Hyundai for a similar product Today almost all of carmakers have a lot of experiences and they have access to modern and new technologies. So they can produce good quality and good design cars and also offer good services to customers, especially in US, there is no way to sell any products with low quality and low customer service. In result the best promotional strategies are those that involve culture, attitudes and beliefs of the people. The following are some examples of such strategies. Green Environment: Increasing public awareness about environmental protection, governments forced to implement hard regulation and criteria for automobile firms. Toyota published on its website: 1. Diversifying energy sources: â€Å"Toyota is developing various new technologies from the perspective of energy saving and diversifying energy sources. Environment has been first and most important issue in priorities of Toyota and working toward creating a prosperous society and clean world. † 2. Fuel Cell: â€Å"By generating electricity from hydrogen, Toyota’s fuel cell vehicles are not only environmentally friendly they’re also highly energy efficient. With such eco-friendly characteristics, Fuel Cell Vehicles are the next step toward achieving sustainable mobility. † 3. Plug-In Hybrid: â€Å"Introducing the next step for eco-friendly cars; a combination of the proven engineering of current hybrids with home recharging. It has an increased electric range and produces lower emissions. † 4. Measuring environmental issues surrounding vehicles: â€Å"For more improvements in efficiency, Toyota proactively manages power train efficiency, reduces vehicle load, and controls energy management by integration of fuel-saving technologies such as charge control, idling stop, etc. † 5. Various vehicles: â€Å"Along with our emphasis of conventional vehicles and hybrid vehicles as fundamental core technology while pursuing further advancement. † 6. Alternative fuels: â€Å"Based on these core technologies, Toyota will develop next-generation vehicles utilizing alternative fuels such as gas fuel, electricity and hydrogen. † (Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www. toyota-global. com/innovation/environmental _technology/) Hyundai published on its website: 1. Blue Drive: Our Blue Drive ® technology gives you lower pollution and higher performance. Blue Drive is a philosophy that guides Hyundai in its effort to become the automotive leader in sustainability. It’s helped focus our engineers and designers on creating lighter vehicles, developing more efficient power trains and even inventing proprietary hybrid technologies. 2. Plug-in and zero-emission: In the future, Blue Drive will expand to include plug-in hybrid vehicles, zero-emission electric vehicles and fuel-cell vehicles that run entirely on hydrogen. Their only emission is water. 3. Electric hybrid: Hyundai introduced the first electric hybrid with electrifying performance. Our engineers have invented the industry’s most advanced hybrid vehicle. 4. New battery: Unlike other hybrids on the market, ours uses a patented Lithium Polymer battery. It has 40% less volume; it’s 25% lighter and 10% more efficient. The battery also has a longer life-span-it comes with a lifetime warranty guarantee. So you can feel good about preserving the environment for the life of your vehicle. (Retrieved December 2, 2014 from https://www. hyundaiusa. com/new-thinking/environment. aspx) Slogan: â€Å"An advertising slogan is usually a short tagline – less than five words — that tells potential customers the benefits they can expect when choosing your product or service, or establishes your company brand. † (Kristen Hamlin, 2014; Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://smallbusiness. chron. com/ importance-ad-slogans-31343. html) 1. Toyota’s ownership slogans: marketing efforts in North America have focused on emphasizing the positive experiences of ownership and vehicle quality. The ownership experience has been targeted in slogans such as â€Å"You asked for it! You got it! † (1975–1979); â€Å"Oh, what a feeling! † (1979 – September 1985, in the US); â€Å"Who could ask for anything more? † (September 1985 – 1989); â€Å"I love what you do for me, Toyota! † (1989–1997); â€Å"Everyday† (1997–2001); â€Å"Get the feeling! † (2001–2004); â€Å"Moving Forward† (2004–2012); and â€Å"Let’s Go Places† (2012–present). 2. Hyundai’s Brand slogan: â€Å"NEW THINKING. NEW POSSIBILITIES. †; reflects the will of Hyundai Motor Company to create new possibilities to benefit the world and its people by encouraging and developing new thinking. All members of Hyundai have the brand slogan deeply engraved in their hearts as they move forward in their effort to provide new values and experiences desired by today’s customers through innovative ways that are unique to the brand, driven by new thinking about customers and cars. ( Retrieved December 3, 2014 from http://worldwide . hyundai. com/WW/Corporate/Corporate Information/BrandSlogan/index. html) New Compact Vehicle Strategy: According to the Ford India President, compact car sales are expected to double by 2018 from around one million units in 2013. This surge in demand in expected to be fueled by rising disposable incomes in the second most populous country in the world, and also owing to the increasing demand for fuel-efficient smaller cars due to rising fuel prices. ( Trefis Team ,2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014 from http://www. forbes.com/sites /greatspeculations/2014/06/13/tata-motors-looks-to-improve-passenger-car-sales-by-penetrating-the-compact-segment/) 1. Toyota: The automobile market in emerging markets is growing each year in tandem with the economic growth of each country. Within those markets, there has been marked growth in the sales of compact vehicles, so Toyota is promoting a new compact vehicle strategy that emphasizes the compact vehicle lineup and seeks to meet the needs of consumers in emerging markets. 2. Hyundai: The South Korean automaker ranked seventh among mass-market brands in the this year’s U. S. Initial Quality Study by J. D. Power and Associates, topping such brands as Toyota, Infiniti, Audi and Lincoln. Hyundai’s Accent compact and Elantra small car were named among the top three cars in their segments. (Hans Greimel, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www. autonews. com/article /20101206/RETAIL03/ 312069982/hyundai-plans-new-brand-strategy) Financial Services Strategy: Every year, millions of people around the world transition out of poverty in any number of ways—by adopting new farming technologies, investing in new business opportunities, or finding new jobs, for example. Effective tools for saving, sending, and borrowing money and mitigating financial risks can help people weather setbacks and achieve greater financial stability over the long term. (Retrieved December 4, 2014 from http://www. gatesfoundation. org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Financial-Services-for-the-Poor) 1. Toyota: Toyota Financial Services has constructed a global network that covers approximately 90% of the markets in which Toyota sells its vehicles. Mainly concentrated on auto loans, leases and Toyota dealer floor plan requirements, TFS provides auto sales financing to approximately 5. 4 million customers. Thus effectively helping them in making their own cars more affordable to their potential consumers all around the world. Again being a strategy that helps them a stronger competitor in the market. 2. Hyundai: Through our service brands, Hyundai Motor Finance and Kia Motors Finance, we provide financial products tailored to meet the needs of Hyundai and Kia dealerships nationwide, including dealer inventory and facility financing. And, through these dealerships, we provide indirect vehicle financing and leasing solutions to over 1 million retail customers. Our subsidiary, Hyundai Protection Plan, Inc.offers vehicle service contracts and other vehicle protection products under the Hyundai Protection Plan and Power Protect brands. (Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www. Hyundaicapital america. com/hca. aspx) Two uses for consumer-oriented promotions that could assist a company in both the short and long term for the carmaker companies What are consumer-oriented sales promotions? There are two points of view: 1- Retail Promotions consist of inducements offered by retailers to consumers includes retail coupons, price discounts, double coupons, special displays, features etc. 2- Consumer Promotions consist of inducements offered by manufacturers to consumers includes manufacturer’s premiums, bonus packs, coupons, samples, rebates, etc. There are some reasons for the importance of the sales promotion. First, the growth of retailer power in distribution channels has led to an excess in consumer promotions. Sometimes, manufacturers make special offers to consumers because a powerful retailer insisted that they do so. Another time, as a way of neutralizing retailer power by intensification the bonds of loyalty consumers may feel toward the brand. Either way, retailers frequently serve as the driving force behind consumer promotions. Second, the type of competition has converted significantly during recent years resulting in ever greater consumer price sensitivity. The growing of brands and brand extensions, intensity segmented consumer markets, and lower brand loyalty have combined to make consumers much more aware of price given that many product categories are populated by several competitors. Third, price deals have become the rule rather than the exception for many products. Rebates on certain brands of automobiles, department store sales, and coupons on many grocery items are only a few areas where consumers have grown to expect price breaks. Indeed, the expectation is more than, when possible, many consumers will wait for promotional offers rather than buy with no deal. Fourth, advertising clutter has forced marketers to find new ways of getting consumer attention. Product benefits alone frequently prove insufficient to prompt consumer action much less get their attention. Thus, marketers increasingly look to sales promotion to find ways of breaking through to customers who face a constant bombardment of promotional messages. Eventually increasing of consumer promotion can also be attributed to more pressure on marketing management for short-term results. Investors want to immediate bottom-line results rather than the long-term health or stability of the companies in which they invest. Sales promotions are tools to increase near term sales. However, as their use becomes more common, their costs become regular and recurring and therefore potentially self-defeating. (Retrieved December 5, 2014 from www. udayton. edu/†¦ /Consumer%2520Promotion. p) The strategic manner in which the leading car company has made its pricing decisions by using one or more of the four pricing objectives â€Å"The four Ps of marketing is the combination of product, price, place (distribution), and promotion. Marketers develop strategies around these four areas in marketing to enhance branding, sales, and profitability. â€Å" (Ross Gittell, 2014, Retrieved December 5, 2014 from http://catalog. flatworldknowledge. com/bookhub/reader/3157? e=gittell_1. 0-ch06_s02#). Price is the only revenue generating element amongst the 4ps, the rest being cost centers. Pricing objectives or goals give the company direction to the whole pricing process and consider the following: 1- Survival; 2- Get competitive advantage; 3- Financial, marketing, and strategic objectives of the company; 4- Enhance image of the firm, product or brand; 5- Hold price leadership; 6- Increase market share; 7- Consumer price point and elasticity; 8- Available resources; 9- Catch target of return of investment and sales; 10- Prevent new entrants; 11- Match competitors prices. Toyota gets credit for being the most known brand on the market; however the Corolla comes up nowhere in the competitor charts in terms of price, model distinction, or performance (TrueTrends, 2012). Providing a competitive advantage for the Corolla requires differentiating the car in pricing, quality, service, innovation, brand, convenience, and anywhere else that makes it more desirable over its competition (McCrimmon, 2008). How Toyota as a leading company can offer lowest prices? i. e. $89 a month for lease! The answer is: by maintaining its lowest costs. Along with differentiation Toyota also uses low cost to try and gain a competitive advantage in the automotive industry. â€Å"Toyota is (or was at the time) the low cost producer in the industry. Toyota achieves its cost leadership strategy by adopting lean production, careful choice and control of suppliers, efficient distribution, and low servicing costs from a quality product. †(Michael E. Porter, 2013) This quote from Michael Porter sums up how Toyota achieves this low cost strategy. Through research, it is evident that Toyota is still the low cost leader in the automotive industry. Societal trends have moved away from an individualistic culture—which identified social status and hierarchy based on material possessions—to an environmentally aware society (Grewal & Levy, 2012). With consumers’ minds wrapped around things like fuel mileage, cleaner emissions, and hybrid technology we find them moving further away from SUVs and trucks (Farooq, 2012). However, the 2013 Corolla is foreshadowed to be outshined by the Dodge Dart, as it loses some of its competitive edge in pricing and other award winning features (TrueTrends, 2012). By 2012 Toyota is planning to have more than 20 models that use batteries to extend fuel economy just like their Prius (Krolicki). Although they have not been as aggressive in the electric car market recently, like their competitors, they are planning to release a rechargeable version of their Prius by June 2012 (Krolicki). This re-chargeable version will position Toyota to attempt to take over as a low cost leader of hybrid technologies within the market, which supports Toyota’s overall strategy of low cost (Krolicki). Two actions that other car companies may take in order to differentiate themselves and gain a competitive advantage Hyundai rightly understood the consumer motivations to create magnetic products, price them strategically, position them sharply and keep making the magnetism more potent. Having understood the finer differences in consumer motivations, it opted for sharp arrow ‘reasons-to-buy’ differentiation over the ‘blanket-all approach’ taken by most of the other players. It is an aggressive marketer. It focuses on medium and low price products. Hyundai has also started premium products range to capture the growing market. (Anshuman goyal, pricing strategy of Hyundai, 2007; Retrieved December 9, 2014 from www. hyundai. com) The segments are based on type of customer like age group, attitude, end use of product, demographic behavior and purchasing power, status of the people of the region. Each competitor has its own strong point and value and position there product so as to attract maximum number of customers. (Kottler, Keller, Jha, Koshy, 2007, Marketing Management) Hyundai brand continues to dominate the market for premium cars, despite increasing competition. The firm should first consider the competitors price. If the company i. e. Hyundai contains features not offered by the nearest competitor, it should evaluate their worth to the customer and that value to the competitor price. Competitors are more likely to react when there is high competition. In case of Hyundai, many products are there such as Sonata, Santro, Hyundai i10, Accent etc. Hyundai continues to provide stiff competition to Honda in all the segments and poses an even bigger threat to expansion plans of Hyundai. (Anshuman goyal, pricing strategy of Hyundai, 2007; Retrieved December 9, 2014 from www. honda. com) Two examples of the most effective advertising medium for a Car company The TV advertising have been having the largest audiences in all ages, but car buyers are specific ages who have not enough time to watching TV even less than one hour per day, because they are too busy in today competitive era. Instead the internet via smart phones and computers is like a ghost became as a inseparable part of their life, at any time more than 15 hours a day, and even when they are eating, showering, walking, sporting, biking, swimming, and in any place even in high mountains and deep forests, roads and villages! Another reason for effectiveness of internet rather than TV is: new intelligence algorithms via data mining analyze the behavior of customers and put proper Ads to the web pages related to the target customers with very lower advertising costs. As a most important subject which advertisers should also pay attention to it is cultural differences, they have to be careful since cultures vary in different countries, they must understand the local audience culture before releasing new commercials, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. Another internet related way for advertising can be the online promotional games, such as Toyota’s use of MSN commercial games to promote its products, for instance. There are two interactive contents focusing on entertainment: fun activities and downloads. Both of them were found in about one third of the 100 web sites, respectively. Fun activities were also utilized to promote the brand in the sites and they are not related to scores or performance. Activities for fun included virtual test drive (www. gmc. com), virtual plant tour (www. cocacola . com), virtual auto show (www. lexus. com), e-cards (www. saturn. com), a coloring sheet (www. wendys. com), a virtual skin beauty analysis (www. neutrogena. com), and so forth. Downloads promoting and affiliated with the company’s brand were also analyzed. Desktop images such as wallpaper and icons were the most offered downloads, followed by music (Seounmi Youn, 2001, Retrieved December 9, 2014 from http://list. msu. edu/cgi-bin/wa? A3=ind0209c&L=AEJMC&E =0&P=3326464&B=†¦ _&T=text%2Fplain;%20charset=us-ascii) For the carmakers, another impressive promotion method is â€Å"complete test ride†. The buyers are very keen to getting experience to drive with a brand new car and having the opportunity to really feel its advantages and disadvantages. For encouraging the customers to more participating in test drive activities, offering some gifts can always increase the interest and willingness of then. Getting the best result always does not correspond with the cost of the advertising. So carmakers should choose their advertising media in accordance with today era. However as always, inviting stars to speak for different models with different appeals will have so effectiveness to increasing the public awareness. Conclusion Some observers suspect that Hyundai’s recent successes may be anomalies, abetted by the difficulties that the company’s U. S. and Japanese competitors faced after the global economic crisis, the rise in the yen’s value, Toyota’s wave of recalls, and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and Fukushima nuclear disaster. Others say that the company’s highly protected home market has enabled its growth, allowing Hyundai to establish a global presence while its domestic competitors restrict themselves to tiny slivers of the Korean market. But the single factor that has made the most difference is the company’s own interest in building world-class capabilities. Starting in 1998, Hyundai’s leaders set out to develop the kind of prowess the company would need to become a global automobile powerhouse, able to hold its own in the United States and other fiercely competitive markets. Early on, that meant offering a comprehensive warranty and taking specific steps to dramatically improve its quality ratings. Once customers were convinced of the brand’s reliability, Hyundai added other capabilities, such as design, which led to a more diversified product line and more stylish features. Meanwhile, it developed a knack for getting the word out through clever, consistent marketing. The result is a coherent mix of quality improvement, design, and marketing that gives Hyundai a clear advantage over its industry competitors. Although these are required capabilities at all automakers, Hyundai has excelled at combining them over the past decade, and its sales numbers reflect this success. The company’s effort to become a world-class automaker is beginning to pay off, and it’s far enough along that its story can be credibly told. (Source: Strategy & Business. February 26, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2014 from http://www. strategy-business.com/article/00162? pg=all). References Anshuman goyal, pricing strategy of Hyundai, 2007; www. honda. com Anshuman goyal, pricing strategy of Hyundai, 2007; www. hyundai. com Carl Hose. 2014; Small businesses; http://smallbusiness. chron. com/top-ten-promotional-strategies-10193. html Hans Greimel, 2011. http://www. autonews. com/article /20101206/RETAIL03/ 312069982/hyundai-plans-new-brand-strategy Kottler, Keller, Jha, Koshy, 2007, Marketing Management Kristen Hamlin, 2014; http://smallbusiness. chron. com/ importance-ad-slogans-31343. html http://www. gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Financial-Services-for-the-Poor Ross Gittell, 2014, http://catalog. flatworldknowledge. com/bookhub/reader/3157? e=gittell_1. 0-ch06_s02# Trefis Team, 2014. http://www. forbes. com/sites /greatspeculations/2014/06/13/tata-motors-looks-to-improve-passenger-car-sales-by-penetrating-the-compact-segment/ Seounmi Youn, 2001, http://list. msu. edu/cgi-bin/wa? A3=ind0209c&L=AEJMC&E =0&P=3326464&B=†¦ _&T=text%2Fplain;%20charset=us-ascii Strategy & Business. February 26, 2013. http://www. strategy-business. com/article/00162? pg=all.

Fast Food Advertising Causing Obesity - 1916 Words

Fast Food Advertising Causing Obesity â€Å"I think America s food culture is embedded in fast-food culture. And the real question that we have is: How are we going to teach slow-food values in a fast-food world? Of course, it s very, very difficult to do, especially when children have grown up eating fast food and the values that go with that†(Waters). The fast food industry is controlled by many powerful companies who feel the need to keep costs low. This is because they believe that the lower the costs, the more consumers they’ll gain, which keeps profits high. Between 1960 and 1973, McDonald’s restaurants expanded from 250 to 3,000. The US is the most notorious for fast food, which is tied up with the first automobile before WWI. The†¦show more content†¦Fast food is also of, relating to, or specializing in food that can be prepared and served quickly. The United States has the largest fast food industries in the world, and also there are many fast food restaurants in over 100 countries all over the world. Fast food is a major health issue because it causes obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Fast food is a major health issue because it causes obesity. In the article, â€Å"Obesity and Fast Food†, Dr. Anaya Mandel claims, â€Å"It is well known that eating out may lead to excess calorie intake and increases the risk of obesity because of large portion sizes and increased energy density of foods†(1). This author is stating that restaurants such as McDonald’s can cause obesity. Thus, eating at any fast food restaurant can increase chances of obesity. Meals at these restaurants are cheap, therefore people in a rush or people who regularly consume fast foods will end up buying the cheaper and greasier meals. The â€Å"dollar menu† on many fast food restaurant drive in menus may seem like a â€Å"better buy† to customers, but, the cookies, sweets, and sandwiches are all what creates the fats in their bodies. It will eventually increase the calories in their body and cause them to gain weight and develop obesity. American psychological associa tion article states, in America, the rates of obesity have about tripled in children and youths(1). Younger people in America have started gaining weight