Relationship Between Childhood Well-being and Poverty

Relationship Between Childhood Well-being and Poverty Introduction This paper explores the relationship between childhood well-being and poverty. Using structural equation modelling a multidimensional picture of child well-being is developed which is linked to previous work on multidimensional poverty indicators at household level (Tomlinson et al. forthcoming). Following a brief literature review of childhood poverty and well-being research, there follows an analysis of several waves of the British Household Panel Study – a valuable source of data collected directly from children as well as adults in the same households. The paper attempts to map the experience of poverty at household level and relate it to the child’s well-being. Rather than seeing poverty as a facet of child well-being, as other researchers often do, this work conceptually distinguishes between the two and shows how they are linked. Following the literature review various structural equation models are estimated that measure different dimensions of child well-being. These dimensions are then related to other aspects of the child’s life including the experience of poverty, age and gender, household composition, income, parental education and employment status. The effects of poverty are broken down into more detailed dimensions and the relative impact of each dimension is discussed. Finally, the models are used to inform targeting strategies with respect to child welfare policy. Crucially the differential impact of various potential policy instruments is assessed through the models. Mainstream child poverty research Since New Labour took office and pledged to eliminate child poverty by 2020 a myriad of policy changes and political statements has been issued to address the problems associated with poverty and deprivation during childhood. Indeed the costs of child poverty and its immediate and future effects are becoming increasingly alarming. For instance, recent research has found that poor children are more likely to get into trouble inside and outside school and more likely to be involved in drug abuse (ONS 2002). The direct costs of this are estimated to be considerable. For example:  £6000 for a 6 month non-custodial sentence  £21000 for a custodial sentence of 6 months Cost of attending pupil referral unit:  £10000/year Drug programmes cost on average  £15000/person over a 4 year period (Source: Godfrey et al. 2004) Much of the literature relating to child poverty in the UK has focussed around two areas: first the identification of households where risk is greatest and second, the so-called ‘scarring’ of children and the transmission of disadvantage into adulthood. With respect to the former it is now well known that poor children in particular are more likely to come from the following types of household: Workless households Benefit dependent households Lone parent families Low income households Families with younger children are more likely to be poor Large families Ethnic minority households Those in rented accommodation See, for example, Hirsch (2006a), Lloyd (2006). In addition Bradshaw (2006a) has extensive breakdowns of poverty rates for different social groups with children; Platt (2007) has an analysis of ethnicity, employment and child poverty; large families are extensively discussed in Iavacou and Berthoud (2006) and so on. In other words it is no longer an issue of identifying which types of environment – from a household perspective – are important, but rather moving towards a measurement model that can assess the impacts of the various dimensions associated with poverty on the child and its well-being. This is the approach taken in this paper. With respect to the second set of literature on scarring and transmission, the impact of poverty on a child’s future life-chances has also been extensively researched. Moreover, these impacts appear to have increased as child poverty increased during the 1980s and 1990s (Fahmy, 2006). Gregg and Wadsworth (2001) have noted the increased polarisation of working versus non-working households and the effects that this has had on poverty rates. That is the growth of dual-earner versus no-earner households. Using cohort studies such as the British Cohort Study (BCS) and National Child Development Study (NCDS), a series of papers has shown that low income in childhood leads to poor educational attainment in later life. For example, see Blanden and Gregg (2004) which also provides a useful review of the US literature on this topic. Gregg and Machin (2000) and Glennester (1995) come to similar conclusions. Fahmy has also reviewed the literature with respect to youth poverty (youth being defined as being aged 16-25). The consequences of poverty identified for this group, referred to as ‘hazardous transitions’ into adulthood, include: A high probability of becoming a ‘NEET’ (not in employment, education or training – see Istance et al 1994 for an earlier study) A bad career track (Craine 1997) A reduced level of citizenship and civic participation (Dean 1997) A higher risk of homelessness (Smith 1999, see also Flouri and Buchanan, 2004) Stewart has also documented various consequences of child poverty in later life. Adding low self-esteem, low expectations, reduced educational attainment, benefit dependency and poor labour market outcomes to the list. See Stewart, (2005) and also Hobcraft (1998) and Ermisch et al. (2001). While all this work is very convincing and commendable there is relatively little literature relating child poverty in the here and now and its immediate impact on the life and environment of the child. It is almost as if this were less important than the future costs. However, there is also a growing interest in the current well-being of children and its measurement. Early literature on this is extensively reviewed in Pollard and Lee (2002). This covers definitions of well-being, the indicators developed and instruments used in the measurement process. Moreover, two recent special issues of Social Indicators Research (SIR, 2007a, 2007b) have already been devoted exclusively to the topic (and a third issue is on the way). Interestingly, one strand of this work relates to human rights which shows the level of importance now being attached to these issues. Bradshaw et al. (2007) discuss concepts of well-being which are predicated on the UN convention on the rights of the child (UNCRC). Essentially this accepts the multi-dimensional nature of well-being from at least four perspectives: first that it is non-discriminatory, second that it is in the best interests of the child, third that it relates to the child’s survival and development, and fourth that it respects the views of the child (Bradshaw et al 2007: 134). The link to poverty and deprivation is sometimes made explicit in this literature: for example, ‘child well-being and deprivation represent different sides of the same coin’, Bradshaw et al. (2007). On the other hand, US, and very recent British, research shows well-being to be related to, but not the same as childhood poverty (Land et al., 2006; Bradshaw and Mayhew, 2005) for reasons that are not well-understood, but which probably include protective behaviour by parents (e.g., Flouri, 2004) and individual resilience (e.g., Masten and Coatsworth, 1998, Masten, 2001). Thus there is confusion about the relationship between well-being and poverty. Sometimes poverty is cited as a specific dimension of well-being, and sometimes as a separate concept entirely. For example, Bradshaw et al. (2007) have developed an eightfold classification of child well-being and generated one composite summary indicator from internationally comparable data. The eight dimensions being: Material well-being Housing Health Subjective well-being Education Relationships Civic participation Risk and safety These are measured by standardised scores which are added together to form the individual indices and an overall summary index which is then used for international comparison. There is then no accepted or uncontroversial measure of child well-being. The general thrust of the debate is that child well-being must be measured along several dimensions and poverty (or particular dimensions of poverty such as material deprivation) is sometimes included and sometimes not. The approach taken in this paper is somewhat different in that the two concepts are kept completely distinct as explained in more detail below. The measurement of poverty and well-being The approach here uses two sets of measures reflecting two aspects of the situation of children living in British households. First of all we measure poverty at the household level using structural equation models. This is done along several dimensions using data from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) and is discussed in Tomlinson et al. (forthcoming). The dimensions are: financial strain, material deprivation, the environment, psycho-social strain, civic participation and social isolation. These are combined into an overall weighted index referred to as the Poverty Index (PI). Second we use structural equation models to measure various dimensions of childhood well-being. We are restricted in the questions that are asked and cannot include all the dimensions listed by Bradshaw et al. (2007). However, we measure four different aspects of child well-being including ‘home life’ which relates to family relationships and parental control (similar to Bradshaw’s ‘relationships’ dimension), ‘educational orientation’ (again similar to Bradshaw et al.), ‘anxiety’ (based in part on Bradshaw’s subjective well-being indicator) and ‘delinquency’ (which also relates to risk and safety). However, a crucial difference with our approach is that we treat dimensions such as material well-being and housing as aspects of household level poverty rather than childhood well-being. Thus we keep poverty and well-being conceptually distinct and analyse the relations between the two. It is the association between these four measures of child well-being and the numerous measures of poverty already developed that is the ultimate focus of the paper. In summation we take a multidimensional approach to both well-being and poverty and we examine the correlates of poverty with a child’s current well-being. In this way we can assess the impacts of poverty on the child’s immediate social environment and state of mind rather than what the future might hold. Models which can link together different aspects of poverty with various aspects of children’s livelihoods will assist in developing strategies to alleviate some of these problems. In other words we identify which aspects of poverty have the most serious impacts on the child (and hence will probably affect their future life chances to the greatest extent). Using structural equation models (SEM) There are now many academics using more advanced statistical techniques to measure poverty from a multi-dimensional perspective (e.g., Jenkins and Cappellari, 2007, Tomlinson et al., forthcoming, Whelan et al. 2007a, 2007b). These techniques, such as item response theory, structural equation modelling and latent class analysis, can be used not only to analyse which families with children are actually in poverty, but also which particular aspects of this poverty are more intense (such as bad housing, material deprivation, financial strain and so on). This is the approach taken in this paper with respect to the measurement of poverty and the measurement of child well-being the two being linked together within a coherent methodological framework and then related specifically to policy and policy targeting. Like the more traditional method of factor analysis, a SEM reduces a large number of observed variables to a smaller number of factors. However, in a SEM the variables are conceptualised as observed manifestations of an underlying or ‘latent’ dimension. Each observed variable in a SEM also has an error term associated with it, allowing measurement error to be isolated and controlled for in a way that is impossible with factor analysis. But, most importantly, a SEM requires a strong theoretical justification before the model is specified. Thus the researcher decides which variables are to be associated with which latent unobserved factors in advance. There are two fundamental types of SEM used to measure or test the validity of latent concepts – first and second order confirmatory factor analysis models (CFAs). We use first order CFAs below to measure child well-being. A first order CFA simply attempts to measure preordained underlying latent concepts. The left side of figure 1 shows a simple CFA which has two latent unobserved variables: L1, material deprivation; and L2, financial strain. L1 is measured by the observed variables V1 to V4 and L2 is measured by variables V5 to V7. The single headed arrows represent coefficients or loadings in the model and are usually shown in standardised form much like beta coefficients in regression analysis. The covariance between material deprivation (L1) and financial strain (L2) is represented by the double headed arrow. The associated error terms are shown as the circles labelled e1 to e7. Using statistical techniques such as maximum likelihood estimation and making assumptions abou t the distributions of the variables and error terms in the model, the coefficients and covariances can be estimated. In all SEMs a variety of fit statistics is available to assess the validity of the models constructed (see Klein, 2005, Byrne, 2001). Usually it is assumed that the observed variables in the model are continuous and that the distribution of the variables is multivariate normal. More recently available software is beginning to allow the explicit modelling of categorical, binary and censored variables (such as MPlus which is used in this study). Models of this kind can be made as complex as necessary to describe real-world situations and employ many latent variables and various interactions between them. Covariates or controls can also be applied to the overall measurement models to assess differences between groups or to assess the impact of a particular variable on the latent concepts under consideration. Furthermore, scores can be generated for the unobserved latent variables. These scores are analogous to the factor scores obtained using factor analysis. The BHPS and the measurement of childhood well-being The analysis that follows utilizes data from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) and follows the methods discussed in Tomlinson et al. (forthcoming). The BHPS commenced in 1991 with an initial sample of around 10,000 individuals resident in some 5,000 households. These individuals have subsequently been re-interviewed each year and the sample has also been extended to include more households from Scotland and Wales and to embrace Northern Ireland (although Northern Ireland is excluded from this analysis). The data can be weighted to provide an accurate picture of life in Great Britain at different points in time. The analysis here covers the period 1997, 1999 and 2001 (i.e. BHPS waves 7, 9 and 11) and draws on information concerning the following topics for the measurement of poverty: income, finances and benefits; stress; material deprivation; general housing and neighbourhood characteristics and social exclusion and civic participation. The level of poverty at household level is measured by the responses given by the head of household and calculated as detailed in Tomlinson et al. (forthcoming). Each individual dimension of poverty as well as an overall score (the Poverty Index) is computed via a SEM for each household with children. Households with heads under 18 years of age or over 64 years of age are excluded from the sample analysed to calculate poverty scores. We also use a unique data resource available within the BHPS and consistently applied across the three waves. Children aged between 11 and 15 within these households were also asked to complete a separate questionnaire which forms the basis for the measurement models of child well-being. Questions included relate to home life, schooling, anxiety and psychological aspects of life, social isolation and delinquent behaviour. Estimating a structural equation model of childhood well-being As with the measurement of our multi-dimensional poverty index we attempted to create measures of multidimensional childhood well-being using 1st order CFAs based on the responses given by the 11 to 15 year olds in the BHPS panel for the years 1997, 1999 and 2001. The models have been estimated separately for all three waves. Questions change significantly in other available waves and these waves have not been included in the present analysis. The four dimensions of well-being are estimated using the following variables (which are all measured as ordinal scales except the variable relating to suspension from school which is binary): 1. Home life is a measure of the children’s relations to their parents and family and how much control the parents have over them: How much children talk to their parents How much control parents exercise over TV How much the family share meals together 2. Educational orientation is a measure of how well the child is doing at school and their attitudes to teachers and so on: How much the child likes his/her teachers Whether the teachers ‘get at me’ General feelings about school Whether the child is doing well at school 3. Anxiety is a measure of the child’s psychological health and feeling of self-worth Whether the child feels unhappy Whether the child has lost sleep How useless the child feels How much of a failure the child feels Whether the child feels no good The extent to which the child feels lonely The extent to which the child is left out of activities 4. Delinquency is an attempt to measure aspects of criminal tendencies or anti-social behaviour: Whether the child has ever been suspended from school How often the child plays truant How much experience the child has with smoking cigarettes Whether the child vandalises property Whether the child has friends that use illegal drugs (there is no direct question about the respondent’s own drug use) A first order confirmatory factor analysis model was estimated to measure the four dimensions (see figure 2 for an example from wave 11) and further models developed with controls for gender and age of the child and the overall Poverty Index of the head of household. We attempted this with each of the three waves of the BHPS, but all three models gave similar results and good fit indices. The model estimation was done using MPlus 4 with the observed variables being treated as ordinal rather than continuous where appropriate. Results and discussion of the basic model The first order models produce a good fit to the data (see Table 1) and the coefficients on the observed variables are all in the expected direction and all statistically significant at the 1% level. Some error terms were allowed to co-vary as illustrated in the figure based on very high modification indices in the initial modelling attempts. Examining the latent constructs themselves and the correlations between them reveals the relationships between the various dimensions of well-being. That is educational orientation is strongly associated with parental influence and negatively associated with anxiety and delinquency. Delinquency is also positively associated with anxiety etc. (Table 1). Table 1Fit statistics and correlations for the simple models (wave 11) Fit statistics: (N=1201) Without controlsWith controls Chi-square 426.959 (79 d.f.)639.104 (130 d.f.) CFI0.9370.902 TLI0.9550.921 RMSEA0.0570.057 Correlations between latent variables in controlled model (all significant at 1%):   Home life Educational Orientation Anxiety Educational Orientation +.54 Anxiety -.18 -.36 Delinquency –.63 -.54 +.22 The controlling variables are also salient. Girls are more anxious than boys, but have better educational orientation and relations with their parents. There is no significant difference between girls and boys with respect to delinquency. The age controls show that home life diminishes with age, while delinquency increases. Children of 11 and 12 also have stronger educational orientation than their older peers. However, the most striking result is that poverty (measured by our composite multidimensional index) has a highly significant and detrimental effect on all four of the well-being dimensions. That is it contributes to anxiety and delinquency and detracts from educational orientation and home life. Thus we can show that poverty has a serious debilitating effect on child well-being in the here and now. The relative importance of poverty for each dimension of well-being is also evident. The strongest effect appears to be on home life (–0.22) followed by educational orientat ion (–0.13). The impact on anxiety and delinquency is less strong (both at 0.10), but still highly significant. Thus we can show that the overall impact of the experience of poverty appears to affect home life and education the most while still having an effect on anxiety and anti-social behaviour. However, one of the issues we wish to deal with (not least from a policy targeting perspective) is to see which sub-dimensions of poverty are the most salient with respect to child well-being. For example, as we have measured poverty in a multidimensional way, which particular dimensions have the biggest impact? In our previous measurement work we developed several indicators of multidimensional poverty. Namely the poverty index is a weighted summation of several sub-indices: financial strain based on bad finances and missed housing payments material deprivation based on the levels of material possessions in the household and whether the household could afford to do certain things the environment which is based on a combination of housing and neighbourhood characteristics social isolation based on lack of social support civic participation based on participation in civic life psycho-social strain based on stress, mental health and anxiety The most desirable way to test the effects of the various dimensions on well-being would be to include them all as covariates in a measurement model similar to that shown in figure 2. However, because the various dimensions of poverty are highly correlated with each other this presents problems for the estimation (that is there is a multicollinearity issue). Rather than attempt to do this, individual models have been estimated with each sub-dimension of poverty included by itself in place of the overall poverty index in a similar fashion to the model in Figure 2. The relative sizes and significance of the coefficients relating to the individual sub-dimensions of poverty will allow an assessment to be made as to which elements of poverty are the most serious with respect to the child’s welfare. The results are summarised in figure 3 (this is a diagrammatic summary of results from wave 11 (2001) and shows only the significant effects). The results show that different aspects of poverty have different effects on the various aspects of well-being. For example, the financial dimension affects all the aspects of well-being whereas material deprivation only affects two (being detrimental to home life and increasing delinquency). A poor environment in terms of bad housing or neighbourhood results in reduced quality of home life, increased anxiety and delinquency. By using these results it becomes clear that policy aimed at poverty reduction could in principle be targeted in particular ways that would have different benefits as far as the diverse dimensions of child well-being are concerned. Improving the environment of children – both within and outside the household – may well have a greater overall impact on well-being than improving material deprivation. On the other hand if educational performance is the main criterion then financial strain, and civic participation of the household become the key areas. If home life is seen to be the main issue then finance, material deprivation, the stress of the parents, the environment and civic participation would be the key foci. This policy dimension is returned to below. It is also interesting to note that social isolation (a measure of social exclusion) of the head of household has no bearing on the four well-being indicators. However, there are also other controlling factors that can be incorporated in the models determining child well-being besides poverty, age and gender. Using the structural equation framework with covariates allows several alternative model specifications to take into account different offsetting factors with respect to child welfare. There is already evidence from the UK that certain situations in childhood can ‘buck the trend’ in reducing the negative outcomes of child poverty. For example, Blanden (2006) has shown that parental interest (mainly the father for boys and the mother for girls) has a positive impact on adult educational outcomes. She also shows that higher educational attainment early in the child’s life has a positive impact later on as does the school’s characteristics and the social mix of the child’s school. So research has shown that there may be mediating effects (such as parenting or living in a good neighbourhood) that offset the deleterious impact of poverty and deprivation. For example, McCulloch and Joshi (2001) found using the National Child Development Survey that although poverty and living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods does correlate with lower test scores at school, the family environment and family support can offset this effect. In the US the extensive work of Aber and his colleagues has also shown that there are negative effects on child specific outcomes from poverty and material hardship and that cognitive and emotional outcomes are affected by low income and material hardship (e.g., Gershoff et al, n.d.), but that this is mediated by parental characteristics. With this idea of mediation in mind several alternative models have thus been estimated to take account of the following factors which are included as further controls in the models: Household composition (such as the presence of other children and single versus multiple adult households) Educational attainment of the household head Employment status of the head of household Income rather than multidimensional poverty indices The household composition model will enable an assessment of family relations and its impact on well-being. The education model will assess the impact of parental human capital irrespective of other considerations. While the employment and income models can be usefully compared with the Poverty Index model (in other words can income or employment status merely substitute for poverty)? These results are summarised in table 3 for wave 11 (2001). The models were essentially the same as shown in figure 2, but without including the Poverty Index as a control which confounded the income and employment status models (again because of multicollinearity). Household composition was tested by including a variable indicating whether the household was a single adult household (versus other types) and dummy variables representing the number of children in different age categories. The results show clearly the influence of adults is significant when it comes to home life and delinquency (whereas being a single adult household has no effect on anxiety or educational orientation). Single parent households are therefore at a possible disadvantage when it comes to controlling their children. Even when a control for income is included in this model in an attempt to separate out the impact of low income from single parenthood the single adult variable is still significant in the same way. The presence of other children or siblings appears to have no impact on the child respondent’s well-being. Education of the head of household also has an impact on home life and educational orientation of the child, but only where the household head is educated to a higher educational level (that is degree level). The models for employment status included variables for self-employed status, unemployed and non-employed (i.e. not working and not actively looking for a job). Clearly the household head not having a job has an effect on the child’s well-being (although this is also correlated with the Poverty Index). In the case of being non-employed (which includes housewives, the disabled, and other economically inactive people) this has an impact on all four well-being dimensions to the detriment of the child whereas being unemployed only affects home life and delinquency. Self-employment has no effect. One possible explanation for the difference between unemployed and non-employed effects might be a reflection of the impact of long-term poverty and deprivation on children. That is t hose household heads that are not economically active for one reason or another and classed as non-employed rather than unemployed may well suffer from longer periods of chronic financial hardship, whereas the unemployed may be intermittently working and thus have experienced periods where they were no longer poor. Table 3Effects of various controls on the basic well-being model with various controls in addition to age and gender of the child (wave 11). Significance level is 1%. Standardised coefficients shown.

Marketing †Luxury Watch Marketing Plan Essay

1. Executive Summary This report contains a marketing plan strategy for a new luxury watch entering the luxury watches market. The new product that will be launched on this market is a exclusive luxury watch. Exclusive luxury watches are defined as the ones sold above $9999. The watch for which we are drawing the marketing plan is a gold and platinum watch with white diamonds. The use of innovative and unusual styling is become an increasingly important feature of the luxury watch market. The unique feature of the watch is the possibility of customization and therefore personalization of this watch. The report is composed of four parts. To begin with, we have done a context analysis to discussion the various macro and micro environmental factors that impact the relevant market dynamics such as market size and growth, positioning of existing brands etc. Then we have come up with the demographic and psychographics description of the target market. | | Pocket watches offer a different kind of experience for consumers. Some use it for its novelty and style whereas others find it more functional than wristwatches. A lot of people also use wristwatches and pocket watches alternately. Regardless of one’s preference, using a pocket watch at this day and age is still a very welcome sight. | 2. Main Report 3. 1. Context Analysis The marketing environment for Perkupoldies exclusive watch market represents overwhelming opportunities. It also contains some challenges that the firm believes it can meet successfully. The macro environmental factors are extremely encouraging. a) Economic environment: The number of people in the Forbes’s billionaire group and Merrill Lynch/Capgemini millionaire group are steadily increasing over the past decade. The number of billionaires has increased by more than 250 percentages. According to Merrill Lynch/Capgemini report the World’s High Net worth Individuals (HNWI) population has also grown to 9. 5 million with their assets rising to $37. 2 trillion. | Number of Billionaires| % Increase in number of billionaires| Billionaires combined net worth (in trillion dollars)| % increase in Billionaires group| 2012| 1226| 257. 56| 4. 6| 328. 57| 2003| 476| | 1. 4| | b) Social – Cultural environment: Wealthy people are driven by views of oneself. They spend money for acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power. Sociologically, to the conspicuous consumer, such a public display of discretionary economic power is a means either of attaining or of maintaining a given social status. i. Developed Economies ii. Emerging Economies c) Technological environment – Product innovations, groundbreaking developments in mechanical and atomic watches enable extreme engineering and personalization of watches possible. Additionally, the below situation analysis details the context for Perkupoldies marketing efforts. Here we take a closer look at the internal and external factors that influence our marketing strategy using SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis The above SWOT analysis combines the external (opportunities and threat) and internal (strength and weakness) analysis. 3. 2. Market Analysis with Porter’s Five Forces a) Threats for New Entrants: The presence of profits in an industry will attract new firms willing to take advantage of these profits. Over time, too many new entrants will drive down these profits, decreasing at the same time the attractiveness of the industry. The presence of various barriers to entry can minimize this threat. b) Bargaining power of buyers: If the brand is very famous, successful and appealing to customers, there is no obvious difficulty for distributors to sell the products: the marketing and communication efforts done by the brand will drive customers easily into the jeweler’s shops. Jewelers are usually not especially risk takers and if they have no guarantee that the brand is a hit and will be easily sold, then one might have a hard time trying to convince them to buy ones products. All the power is in the hands of the distributors; with no distributors, the way to the customers is locked. What is more, distributors might be pressured by actual players to refuse to distribute new brands. Therefore, as we mentioned earlier, distribution is an important barrier to entry. c) Bargaining power of Suppliers: The luxury watch industry is dominated by mechanical technology; as a result, the procurement of mechanical movements is the high end brands’ main concern. Qualified manpower can also be an issue that should not be neglected; the number of watchmakers able to produce some of the most intricate complications is very small. d) Threat of substitute products: Counterfeit is a phenomenon that needs to be mentioned because it represents a non-negligible threat for the luxury watch industry. Secondly, in a larger sense, other luxury products can also be considered as a substitute. Now if we think about a legal substitute, which could be fought with conventional marketing weapons, the issue is more complicated. While in a narrower sense substitute could be confined to jeweler, in a broader sense we have to include all the luxury goods available on the market. a) Jewelry b) High end Pens (e. g.:- Mont Blanc) c). Cars Some customers could buy a watch while others would rather travel to tropical and exotic countries, or buy luxury cars or furniture. Therefore, because the range of substitute products we can include is so broad and difficult to define clearly, it is rather difficult to assess accurately how serious the threat is. e) Rivalry among Competition: Concerning the large trends, the past years, big groups were fighting over brands: each group wanted to increase its brand portfolio by taking over independent brands. 3. 3. Pocket watch Industry Background. There was a time that no gentleman felt well-dressed without his pocket watch. Pocket watches, which originated in the fifteenth century among the upper class nobility, reached their heyday in the mid-17th to early 20th century. At one point in time, no middle or upper class gentleman would dream of leaving home without his pocket watch. Among the working class, pocket watches were more than a sign of status. They were, for many workers, an important work tool. Railroad workers, in particular, relied upon their pocket watches to time their duties. By the middle of the 20th century, with the advent of inexpensive wristwatches, the popularity of pocket watches began to wane. From full hunters’ case watches to ladies’ pendant watches, pocket watches are making their way back into the popular fashion scene. Their renewed popularity may have begun within the youthful goth culture, especially the Steampunk segment of Goth culture which esteemed all things Victorian and mechanical clockwork objects and items. If there’s any modern day item that embodies the spirit of Victorian Steampunk culture, it’s the pocket watch. While the popular comeback of pocket watches may have begun with the underground steampunk movement, it has quickly become a new fashion status symbol, popular with youth from the club scene to the stock market floor. Today, advances in glass mechanics and structure have created a new style of pocket watches transparent, scratch-resistant cover so owners can see the time without opening the case. Popular styles of pocket watches today include replicas of antique pocket watches as well as more contemporary styles that fit with today’s men’s and women’s fashions. 3. 4. Description of Product. The watch has several state of the art features which are meant to satisfy the below mentioned needs of the customers. a) Stated needs – To purchase a luxury product b) Real needs – A jewelry and accessory c) Unstated needs – An ever appreciating value d) Delight needs – Personalized e) Secret needs – An expression of status and exclusivity The features of the watch are as mentioned below: 3. 5. 1. Body Construction – The timepiece will be a beautiful handmade timepiece bearing the owner’s name. The watch may be made out of White gold, yellow gold or titanium depending on the specifications provided by the customer. 3. 5. 2. 1. Crystal – Swiss 3. 5. 2. 2. Glass – Sapphire glass with non-reflective coating 3. 5. 2. 3. Chain – Titanium/Yellow Gold/White Gold 3. 5. 2. Nature and Quality of jewels – The watch will have at least 100 brilliantly cut diamonds on the dial case. The chain will be made out of pure 22k gold with have around 200 cut diamonds. Though these specifications are given for the standard watch provided by our company. We will provide custom designed watches for customers that may have more diamonds. Proof of authenticity will be provided for all the diamonds on the watch. 3. 5. 3. Hand Crafted – Usually custom watches would require 4- 6months of manufacturing time depending on the availability of material. All watches will be hand crafted by highly skilled jewelry craftsmen. As each part needs to be fabricated, decorated, assembled, and tested, you can image that the process takes a long time. 3. 5. 4. Features – a) 26 cities world time (including Adelaide) b) Perpetual Calendar c) Radio controlled: Receives standard time radio waves across the world d) Daylight saving function (automatic in radio wave receivable zones, manual in other zones) e) Alarm, 12/24 hr.time f) Magnetic resistance g) 2000m Water Resistant 3. 5. 5. Limited Edition – The watch will be one of its kinds since the design will be custom made by our designers specifically for our customers. The design will be classic and superior that reflects the unique personality of our client and create everlasting value. 3. 5. 6. Warranty type: lifetime International Warranty 3. 5. Factors Considered while purchasing luxury watches a) Precious Metal Construction – It should go without saying that a high end expensive watch should be constructed from quality materials. This means the best possible metals and so forth, but it is also a good idea to ensure that the metals involved are inherently valuable. It also goes without saying that precious stones also are a desirable component given the style and variety of the watch. b) Nature and Quality of Jewels – The first thing to look at is the origin of the stones. The two major options are natural or manufactured. Natural stones are obtained the traditional manner – via often controversial mining methods. There is an inherent romance to the concept that a stone was derived from the earth, discovered, cut and polished, and then used on your luxury item. Aside from â€Å"recycled stones† (taken from older or unsold items), the alternative to natural stones are manufactured stones. c) Hand Construction – High-end watches are hand-made and assembled by master watch makers. Sometimes a team of people will be involved in making the watch, other times a single watch maker toils for as long as a year or more on a single watch. As each part needs to be fabricated, decorated, assembled, and tested, you can image that the process takes a long time. The longer it takes to make a watch, the more refinement and decoration will be found in an on it. There is no specific amount of time that you should look for as it depends on the company. d) Complications – High-end watches don’t just have beautiful mechanical movements, they have complex movements. Other complications effect how accurate a watch is or how interesting the movement is to look at while in operation (i. e. various types of tourbillon escapements). Other common complications in high end watches are perpetual calendars, rattrapante chronographs, sonneries, fusee and chains, moon phases, and multiple time zones along with world timers. e) Style- The best watch makers are skilled in making unique designs, but ones that are â€Å"instant classics. † The best designs will look good on anyone. Lastly, when looking at a designer look, you want to make sure it has enough unique qualities to justify the â€Å"exclusive† item you are thinking about buying. f) Limited Edition – The best luxury things in life comes in small quantities and are made in limited productions by dedicated people. Besides, having too much of anything cuts the value and the intrigue. So look for limited edition or highly limited production watches. Ask how many of a particular model has been made and whether or not there are 1000 or 100,000 of them out there. The more limited a watch is the more exclusive it is, which is a major component of true luxury goods. g) Appreciation of value – The lucky high-end luxury watch buyer will be able to afford a timepiece that has the potential to increase in value. 3. 6. Segmenting Targeting and positioning 3. 7. 7. Segmenting Market segmentation is vital for a company’s success. Without a clear idea of the nature of the target segments, the firm is forced to use a scatter? shot approach to marketing strategic decision making with little chance for success. It is necessary to identify target segments of consumers and tailor offerings to best meet the wants and needs of that particular group of consumers. 3. 7. 8. 4. Demographic criteria: a) Sex: The luxury market could also be segmented according to the sex criteria. Indeed men’s watches are quite dissimilar from women’s. There are differences on the precious metals used for the fabrication, on the size of the strap and of the dial. b) Income level: Naturally the income is a very important factor of the luxury market, because it determines the purchasing power of consumers which has to be very high. c) Geographic criterion: The luxury watches market could also be segmented according to geographic regions. People from different regions do not share the same culture of the purchasing power. 3. 7. 8. 5. Psychographic criterion Psychographic bass for segmentation center on perceptual issues. These segments are determined by combining individuals who are psychologically similar in their orientations. These distinctions are made based upon similarity of lifestyles, personalities and values. a) Lifestyle – it reflects the ways in which the individual chooses to live their lives. What types of activities they enjoy, what life settings they desire, and who they surround themselves with are all components of lifestyle. b) Personality – here the idea is to group people into roughly similar personality types with the underlying assumption that people will be more favorably disposed toward those of a similar personality profile. c) Core values – to try to match its core values with those of its customer segments building positive associations. The company stresses values in its products/services as well as in its corporate environment and culture, and the hope is that the segment will become loyal to the company because it embodies the core values of importance to the consumer. People have different reasons to buy luxury watches. Five motivations can be listed: * To be fashionable * To have a customized and unique product * To have an excellent and reliable product. * To have a product with the latest technology * To have a high standard of living 3. 7. 8. 6. Segmenting on the basis of Demography a) Income group – HNWI, UHNWI, Billionaires b) Sex – Male, female 3. 7. 8. Targeting Targeting requires the firm not only to aim at but hopefully to hit its target segments. The final important aspect involves the establishment of an important perceptual position in the mind of the consumer. It involves the decision of the number of different segments to select and serve and the best action plans to reach the identified segments. Measuring Effectiveness of Target Segments a) Measurable – size of segment, income and purchasing power, and characteristics of the segment b) Accessible – reachable by the firm and able to effectively serve the segment c) Substantial – large enough and capable of generating sufficient profits d) Differentiable – truly distinct from other segments in terms of composition and response to marketing stimuli e) Actionable – marketing programs can be developed to effectively identify, attract and serve the segment Purchasing behavior of Customers. a) Kind of purchase: Most of the luxury watches are bought either by a person for themselves or for another person (as gift). The unit price of a luxury watch would deter much of the gift buying behavior except by the seriously wealthy or on a very special occasion. One typical example is â€Å"birthday† or â€Å"wedding anniversaries† that, in the latter case, help to promote sales from the late spring onwards. b) Decision Making: In this market, the Influencer is the person who hopes to receive a watch as a gift. For example, it could be a woman who incites her husband to buy one for a special event. The consumer is the one who uses the product. In our example, it would be the woman who asks her husband to buy one for her (the consumer is often the influencer). c) Duration of decision–making process: We can distinguish people who do not consider high price to be a deterrent and who make an impulsive purchase; and others who think about spending such money in a luxury watch for a long time. d) Length of buying process: There is a minority of people who are interested in such product. But those who are really interested have already taken the price into consideration and thus would buy our product relatively easily. e) Consumption process: Due to their high prices, luxury watches are an investment for a lot of’ people and that is why it is in average bought once in one’s life. Analysis of Demand a) Potential market – millionaires and billionaires b) Available market – HNWI (High net worth individuals) UHNWI (ultra High net worth individuals) and billionaires. c) Target market – UHNWI (ultra High net worth individuals) and billionaires Based on the above mentioned Segmentation, purchasing behavior and analysis of demand the firm Perkupoldies would be targeting UHNWI and Billionaires. 3. 7. 9. Positioning The last crucial step is placing of the product or service in a particular perceptual position within the mind of the consumer. The idea here is that there is a specific consumer segment in mind and a specific plan to reach it, and now the idea is to ensure that the target consumer has a clear and distinctive image in mind regarding the product offerings being aimed at them that is consistent and positive. a) Customer knowledge b) Ultimate social symbol c) Brand logo – crown d) Innovations in product line. e) Powerful brand ambassadors f) Sport and cultural events g) Philanthropic programs 3. 7. Distribution Distribution channel is key to the sales of Luxury products like Perkupoldies luxury watch. The central dilemma while choosing the distribution channel is generating sales in a dynamic market while maintain brand image and price. The steps to be followed while choosing a distribution channel are as follows: Step (a) – Analyzing customers desired service output levels: For understanding consumer needs the following 5 service outputs need to be viewed. (a) Lot size – usually one to two watch depending on whether its a single watch order or a couple watch order. (b) Waiting and delivery time – The basic product must have a very waiting and delivery time of less than 15 days for global delivery. The personalized versions will have a waiting and delivery time constraint of less than 45 days. (c) Spatial convenience – As a high end luxury product, it will be required to be available at key luxury outlets. (d) Product Variety – the assortment breadth of the marketing channel is very large as the product is highly customized. (e) Service backup – add-on services like credit, delivery, repairs and a high quality of service will be required by the distribution channel. Step (b) – Establishing objectives and constraints: The primary objective of the distribution channel is to provide easy availability at specific high end luxury retail outlets combined with the online purchase options for a highly customized product. Step (c) – Identifying and evaluating major channel alternatives: There are 3 major channel alternatives namely wholesale, luxury retail and online. There are three distribution channels options available for Perkupoldies luxury watch as mentioned below: a) Wholesale – These are sales through third parties. They may include various stores, boutiques etc. While this option offers growth for the product market there are several challenges associated with this distribution channel. b) Retail – These distribution channels are managed in-house. The sales are usually done through company owned or franchised branded stores. Company owned or franchised stores allow will allow Perkupoldies to have a better control over the pricing. For luxury products ‘Luxury Retail’ presents tremendous opportunities. Luxury Retail includes distribution channels like travel location and High-end hotels. c) Online – Sales and transactions are completed online. This distribution channel can operate as both retail and wholesale. Traditionally websites are operated by established retailers such as department stores and e-boutiques. There is an increasing trend towards luxury outlet e-stores, m-commerce, iPad applications, Social networking etc. Step (d) – Evaluating major alternatives: Based on the above analysis of distribution channel options and weighing their pros and cons it can be seen that the best option of distribution channel for perkupoldies is as mentioned below (a) Luxury Retail outlets in high end hotels and travel location (b) An online channel for customizing the product and ordering it. (1) Customize the Hands of the watch| (2) Customize the Body of the watch| (3) Customize the Body of the watch| (4) Personalize the watch e. g. engravings and pictures on the watch| Shown above online screens to enable customization of the Perkupoldies pocket watch|. 3. 8. Brand â€Å"What Rolls-Royce is to car, Perkupoldies is to pocket watch† Here are five steps to build a luxury brand – (a) Identifying a niche segment One of the fundamental principles of effective branding is for brands to diligently select a lucrative segment that they can then target through an enticing positioning. Given the focus on highlighting symbolic value either through an overall brand experience or via exclusivity in offerings, price points or availability, luxury brands have a heightened need to identify the niche segment for which they have designed their offering. (b) Positioning based on high levels of differentiation Since all luxury brands follow a differentiation strategy, the main focus should be to aggressively differentiate the brand ‘experience’. Successful product differentiation creates a competitive advantage for the seller, as customers view these products as unique or superior. (c) Emphasizing symbolic value Symbolic value emanates from the social standing of the brand, that is, the extent to which the brand is perceived as being an elite offering aspired to by customers. As such, symbolic value reflects the extent to which the brand is endorsed and validated by the cream of the customers. (d) Creating perceptions of exclusivity Perceptions of exclusivity can be created by unattainable price, limited geographic availability, barriers to possession, or even limited supply. Clearly, it is the identity, which the brand confers upon the owner. (e) Uncompromising delivery on superior brand promise Not only do luxury brands need to consistently deliver on the promise of symbolic value, but they also will need to project consistency and continuity at every possible touch point. Maintaining focus on superior value and unique brand experience across time and space is an important part of uncompromising delivery of brand promise. 3. 9. Advertising Print advertising appeals to luxury target groups Luxury brands have to cultivate their image continuously and an important aspect of this is the choice of appropriate advertising media. Although, the two luxury-oriented target groups see advertising as being more credible than the population as a whole, there are significant differences between the individual media, parallel to the degree of receptiveness. For both luxury and for premium-watch buyers, magazine advertisements are the most persuasive with 40 percent of this target group according advertisements the highest level of credibility. Poster campaigns are also rated positively. Less well received is advertising in the electronic media, on television and, above all, in e-mails and on the internet. Premium-watch buyers are also characterized bya very great affinity to luxury. However, they are significantly less interested in fashion than luxurybuyers – precision timepieces are their passion. Premium-watch buyers are interested in watches for watches’ sake and not as part of their outfit. 3. Conclusion This marketing plan explains how an attractive combination of 4P’s can be offered by Perkupoldies to promote and sell the pocket watch. There is an existent market for this product. The ease of entry is very low as it’s primarily an online business with a few high end luxury retail outlets. The company is offering a value proposition by offering a high value item which has an everlasting value. 4. References.

Culture Shock Essay

Having been raised in a traditional Mexican family, I thought that growing up I had a good understanding about the Mexican culture and families. However, I was seriously mistaken upon returning to Mexico for a family vacation. I was expecting to go across the border and experience things similar to what we have in the States, but that was not the case. The experience is completely different and charmingly appealing. The infrastructure is nothing compered to what we have here, the family values are very different and how people would spend their time. When I first arrived in Mexico I was shocked at their way of living. Just seeing the buildings that they call home was enough. The roads were just as bad. Seeing these things for the first time was a he eye opener. The houses were practically falling apart. As we were driving through the town to get to my aunts house, I was thinking to myself â€Å"So this what my parents called home.† And at that moment I started to feel more thankful for everything I had back home. In Mexico I also realized that the value family over individualism. For example, after being at my aunt’s house for a while I asked my cousin if she ever planned to get married (that’s me knowing that she is already 32 years old). She replied to me â€Å"No I don’t, because then that would mean that I would have to move out with my husband and leave my parents.† I was completely shocked by this because I never thought of my parents in that way. In Mexico they find it shameful to put elderly people in nursing homes. This made me think â€Å"Would I be a horrible person if I dare to think of putting and older family member I a nursing home?† When I was in Mexico I was so surprised that I would have this part of a  culture shock. People in Mexico do almost the exact same thing that we do here for fun (depending on their money situations). They go to the movies, and parties and they go to the mall that they have there. Everyone in this world goes through culture shock at one point in his or her life. And it usually is with another culture completely different than theirs. Mine just happened to be the same as my culture. After experiencing this culture shock I felt like I wasn’t really connected to my roots and that I felt more â€Å"Americanized†. Just because I look ‘Mexican’ and speak Spanish and eat Mexican foods doesn’t make me like the people who live in Mexico. Seeing their infrastructure and the way they value family and how they spend their free time made the realize that its good to be different, because that way you can enlighten all kinds of people with your personal experiences.

Underwater Architecture - 2053 Words

UNDERWATER ARCHITECTURE Himanshu P. Patil B. K. P. S. College Of Architecture, Pune. Fourth Year B.Arch UNDERWATER ARCHITECTURE Himanshu P. Patil Fourth Year B.Arch ABSTRACT: To live below the water is very fascinating for the mankind. There are so many architects who had tried to build underwater structures but couldn’t succed, because the construction part is the most difficult part in these kinds of structures. Environmental conditions underwater will affect the form of the structure, provision for ventilation and services. Underwater structure is a place where people who do not dive or do not swim can actually†¦show more content†¦Before any structure is delivered to the underwater, steel piling will be driven into the sea floor at suitable locations. Then entire structure or part of that structure will be floated off and moved into its surface position and structure’s framework will be attached to the piles by specially fabricated steel hoops. In this way structure will get ready to use. Adjustable legs are used to position the structure horizontally on the seabed, and keep the structure above the mud line; these ad justable legs are ideal to account for neither a flat nor a horizontal seabed. The total weight of the structure is sufficient enough to firmly hold the structure in place. Construction Material: Even though there is an appropriate selection of the material as per the requirement it should be with the lowest costs. This will lower the total cost of the structure. When selecting the material for the appropriate suite size, it is important to ensure that the weight limit is not exceeded, the buoyancy is important. Acrylic is a remarkable material well suited for subsea applications. It is rough resistant with excellent weather ability and it is optically highly transparent. The material’s strength to weight ratio is equivalent to that of low carbon steel. 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