Main principles of industrial revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Main principles of industrial revolution - Essay Example According to North, "institutions change shapes the way societies evolve through time and hence is the key to understanding historical change"(1990:vii, 3). Poor economic performance is the result of inefficient institutional structures. The difference growth rates among nations are the result of different types of societal rules that nations have. The great progress made by England compared to Spain is the different institutional structure of the two countries. Spain adopted a conquest strategy while England used a commerce strategy. However, there are some who consider North's emphasis on the importance of institutions too naive. According to Donald Snooks, what determines the industrial climate and economic growth is not the institutions but individuals who are capable of making decisions (292). Ideal institutional framework alone cannot achieve success in economic progress. There should be the apt technology for the success of any economic revolution. The Industrial revolution in England was fuelled by great technological change. This may be called the dynamic strategy of technological change. The growth that England showed in the middle ages was slowly losing the impetus by the 16th century and resulted in gradualism. This continued for many more years and the English economy stagnated in the early 1700(Wringley, 1994:32). Only a big push could save the country from financial ruins. Luckily for England a combination of Technological strides coupled with matching strength of institutions came to the rescue of the nation. The commercial change of the industrial transformation was not connected with England alone. Even France was an ideal soil for a change. Certain combination of factors in England made it a possibility. A major chunk of these were technological leaps that England had made. The adequate institutions that England evolved were also a major factor. Transportation in England had the support of the railways and steam engines. Further steam engines reduced human factor in industry. The global markets became accessible due to navigation. England replaced the institution of regulation and encouraged the climate of competition. The central factor in the success of Industrial Revolution was the cheaper method of manufacturing products and cheaper ways of transporting them across the globe. There was adequate institutional support for these activities. The technology strategy replaced the need to conquer others and resulted in the realization that colonies are not necessary for economic growth but countries capable of entering into trade relations. Early in history England realized that economic growth is possible only if individuals worked through market. This realization helped England to form institutions based on laissez-faire policy. The English institutions were the individuals working through market. This resulted in legal system that protected the rights of the individual and private property. The political system gave enterprising individuals the chance to defend their sources of wealth. The educations system provided the skills required for cheaper production. In brief the system followed in Englan d for technological transformation was a system of freely operating market that gave the individual the ability to take decisions. So for the private individual to maximize returns on

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 30

Case Study Example 8). Children rights advocacy in the UK takes the efforts of many stakeholders. Besides the UNCRC, which is implemented in the UK, UK laws recognize the necessity to ensure full protection of children’s rights. A parent serves as the primary caregiver for every child in the UK. There are several organizations together with the government, which ensure that the children live stress-free life. The case entails stressful situations that I undergo as a 16-year-old girl. My mother is in a turbulent relationship that affects the entire family. I rarely contact my biological father. My three siblings belittle me. My mother serves as a nurse at a local nursing home and is rarely available to perform her responsibility as the family’s primary care-giver. Most of the time, I serve as the primary caregiver for my siblings in her absentia. Taking care of my siblings is a challenging task because I must report to the Youth Offending Office every day. The police arrested me for alleged robbery. Besides, I have other duties to perform. Although on a part-time basis, I must attend a specialist educational facility meant for young individuals who exhibit educational and behavioral difficulties. The office arranged for me to start attending a pupil referral unit. I have to balance between the referral unit and my statutory education. I intend to join a catering course after my GSC E, which I am due to complete. At home, I do not get sufficient time for sleep because the house has limited space for the family. I sleep on the sofa, instead. An adult recently raped my sister, Laura, and I feel it is a fundamental concern for me to sacrifice my commitments and help her through the hard times she is undergoing. I, however, have limited support and guidance to help my sister. As the victim, I need help from relevant groups of professionals. CRAE is a key institution mandated to implement the UNCRC and

Platos Cave Analysis

Platos Cave Analysis Imagine a subterranean cave in which humans are shackled by their necks to a single place. They have been held there all of their lives. Fires placed behind the group by unseen forces have left these prisoners to see their own shadows play upon a screen. Those held are not even aware that the images and shadows that they see are themselves. Yet, these shadows hold sway; the prisoners are fascinated. The illusion so effective, that the prisoners do not recognize their imprisonment and are satisfied to live their lives in this way. What would happen if one of these prisoners would be set free? The prisoner would be helpless, his eyes would be overloaded, and he could not stand up on his own. Inundated with sensory information, his mind would refuse to accept what the senses were submitting as true. It would not be surprising if anyone released from such a prison would wish to stay. Stay with the known. Stay with what is comfortable. Not for our prisoner though. Our prisoner, forced to turn away from the fire, begins a long uncomfortable journey through a tunnel toward a blinding light coaxed by the liberator toward the uncomfortable. The light is blinding. Finally emerging from the cave, eyes burning, senses raging, the prisoner soon finds a new, unimaginable world. No longer fascinated by shadow, the prisoner is free to learn about the world, and more importantly, themselves. This paper will explore how this story has been translated to modern audiences through the film, The Matrix (Wachowski Bros 1999). Platos cave myth has been a wonderful allegory for the quest for knowledge for 2,400 years. Plato published this cave myth in The Republic; the allegory of the cave is arguably the most famous section of this work. What may come as a surprise to many is that there are parallels to the cave myth in many of todays contemporary stories. One of which, is the tale of Neo in The Matrix (Wachowski Bros 1999). Who can forget the image when Neo wakes to find himself bound in a tube, he struggles free, released from his prison, he is made to grasp the truth of his life and the world. He finds that all of his life up to that point has been an elaborate illusion created for him to hide him from the fact that he been held prisoner his entire life. This paper will show that both of these stories reflect a Socratic search for knowledge and a deeper understanding of the good. The myth of the cave is an allegory in which we follow our prisoner on his quest for what Socrates, Platos teacher, referred to as the just life (Plato: The Republic). Socrates primary concern was that our souls be in the best condition possible (Plato: Phaedo). The way in which this is accomplished is through examination and questioning ones place within the world. The cave myth gives a literary account of the Socratic Method, as well an example as to the logic and approach of Socrates relentless questioning. In this way, we have a view into Socrates methodology, and furthermore, into Socrates notion for care of the soul (Plato: Phaedo). Socrates care of the soul is comprised of these four elements: beliefs in meaning, admission of ignorance, questioning of reality, and hope in an answer, or to put it another way, trust in the knowledge of the good (Plato: Phaedo). On this subject of care of the soul, there is a deep comparability between The Matrix (Wachowski Bros 1999)and Platos a llegory (Plato: The Republic). We can make a closer examination into the comparison between Neo and our prisoner on his quest for the care of the soul. Like the allegory of the Cave, The Matrix dramatically conveys the view that ordinary appearances do not depict true reality and that gaining the truth changes ones life. Using the ideas of care of the soul, we are asked to examine belief in meaning. Saying this differently we are asked to believe what we hold to be true. The prisoners can differentiate shadows and sounds, apply names to the shadows depicting things and even discern the patterns in their presentation. To this extent, they have some true beliefs and some false assumptions, but before the discussion regresses into a metaphysical exercise; whether or not a thing is a thing because we name it so, or whether or not the thing has its own inherent thingness it is safe to say that we can all hold some things to be true. However, there are things that are mysterious to all in the case of the cave and in The Matrix. In both stories, there is omnipresent image of the unseen hand at work; those who are responsible for the structure of the cave and the world in which the matrix exists. In an online posting, John Partridge, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College, explores the correlation between these two stories. He suggests that, Many contemporary readers recoil at the awful politics of the Cave. Who, after all, are the puppeteers? Why do they deceive their fellow cave dwellers (Partridge)? It is only through the understanding and realization that there is an unseen hand, or truths with which we had been oblivious, that we can fully come to learn the truth. For the prisoner, it is through his release that he comes to realize that his notion of truth is skewed. For Neo, he had been suspicious of his reality for some time and seeks understanding. The fascinating thing for Neo is that when his situation comes to a head and he finally meets Morpheus, his liberator and teacher, he is informed that he cannot be told what is untrue, he must be shown. Interestingly, Neo is afforded a choice, the path of ignorance in the form of a blue pill or the path of knowledge in the form of a red pill. The taking of the red pill is an admission of ignorance. In this way, the notion of admission of ignorance is forced on him in the form of a choice. The prisoner and Neo are similar, they must be brought into the light of knowledge, and into the admission of their own ignorance. The similari ties continue, they both share a common path to understanding that their notions of truth have been given to them and that reality itself is not what it seems. Conversely, there are some differences between the two stories by way of the coming to admission of ignorance and the understanding of truth. Neos path to understanding truth is one that starts out with him living comfortably with the sneaking suspicion that there is a something not quite right with the world. His quest to understand what is wrong with the world leads him inexorably into a very dark and dystopian reality filled with conflict and misery. Their only purpose is as food for the machines. Furthermore, it is a world with people forced underground. His quest literally leads him into the cave. By contrast, we have the story of the prisoner. The prisoner is released from bondage. He/She did not actively seek to understand their world or acquire new knowledge. He/She would have been just as happy watching shadows on the screen. The path to understanding may have been difficult and uncomfortable, but in the end, the prisoner is lead to the light of knowledge, a utopian world wi thin which the prisoner is now truly free. Neo, knowing what being a prisoner means, has his greatest fears realized when he discovers that he has always been a slave and is now relegated to a fearful existence. The prisoner, on the other hand, comes to the realization of what being a prisoner means, and is delighted with his/her new life. Thus, we have the juxtaposition of the objective versus the subjective. The next tenet of understanding Socrates care of the soul is the questioning of reality. Released from the illusory world, our prisoner is lead down the path of understanding. Socrates states, and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision, what will be his reply (Plato: The Republic)? What would his reply be? He would be drawn into questioning everything after he now believes that he had been mystified all this time. This is where we would find Neo brought back into the matrix for training by Morpheus, again we have an inverse of realities but the aims are the same. The prisoner is coming to question and understand the real world. Neo is coming to question and understand the unreal world of the matrix. Now we are diving into the world of the metaphysical. Discerning whether we can determine reality in either of these two worlds is a real problem. Partridge states, Since the real world and the simulated world are worlds in which the senses receive information, the practical problem is not that they are discontinuous, but that they are indiscernible (Partridge). This is a real problem for Neo; as we find after his kung fu training with Morpheus, when his teacher questions Neos understanding of reality, You believe your really breathing? He is later told, coming upon a child bending spoons with his mind in Yuri Gellar fashion, that he will only come to understand the real nature of the matrix once he comes to understand that in the matrix, there is no spoon (The Matrix). It seems as though the differences between the two tales on a metaphysical level does not inhibit them from sending a similar message. They both send the message of the unreliability of the epistemological information gathered through the senses. They stress a need to disconnect from the senses in order to attain genuine knowledge. The stories also wonderfully illustrate the psychological hardship that is placed on the characters having to do so. Thus, the question, by what means does Neo come to discover hope in an answer or trust in his knowledge of the good. For our prisoner, the question is answered very succinctly, Last of he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him (Plato: The Republic). For Neo hope in answer comes in a much more personal form. After many trials, the film climaxes with Neo coming to grips with the fact that he has been The One all along. Coaxed into questioning his reality by Morpheus, he is left to follow the path of self-realization on his own. In this way, he can develop his own care of the soul. He overcame the introduction of self-doubt in the form of the oracle. He overcame the overpowering force of the agents to become reborn, phoenix like, to the understanding of himself. This revelation would prove to be extremely transformative. Clearly, he has come to grips with his knowledge and belief in the good. Partridge claims, There is a single item the knowledge of which makes the knower more integrated and more powerful, and for Neo it is self-knowledge. The same message holds true for our prisoner. It is through the knowing of the true self, which causes the prisoner to become productive, a savior of himself and others. After the prisoners revel ation of the good, his first thoughts are of the others in the cave. They both have come to know of Socrates primary concern of care of the soul, trust in the knowledge of the good. Finally, we look to ourselves concerning what these stories tell us. It is the path of knowledge that is placed before us and the stakes are for the care of the soul. For Neo, his quest was to take him through the trials and hardships of self-realization that he would have to endure so that he might come to know for himself that he was indeed The One. Our prisoners quest mirrors this. Ultimately, we are drawn to Socratic questions; in what ways are we living diminished lives? Are we resting on our own ideas of knowledge? Are we even asking the right questions? It is through the stinging realization of our own ignorance that we are finally able to start our own paths toward the understanding of the good. Plato makes it plain when he uses Socrates to tell us that we are all prisoners in the cave. If any doubt this, recall the position we are in when go to see movies such as The Matrix itself. Imagine a dark world filled with people watching shadows on a screenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦

The Stamp Act :: essays research papers

The Stamp Act of 1765 was a tax put on the British American colonies, sponsered by George Grenville and was the first direct tax placed on them. Parliament needed means to help fund expensive costs of keeping troops inside the colonies, so they imposed a tax on all of the colonies everyday printed materials, such as pamphlets and newspapers, and all legal and commercial documents, which all needed to have a certain special stamp placed on it. Many agents of the American colonies that resided in London had suggested other methods to obtain the needed money but where ignored and the Americans where taxed. There were many Americans who did not elect members of Parliament and they greatly opposed the Stamp Act, for two reasons, because they didn't have enough money to pay for them and also it went against their new principle that said, " No taxation without representation." This new tax made many Americans very angered and their actions that came from this started the way towards the American Revolution. There was many forms of resistance, including the king and Parliament receiving many petitions, Americans boycotting the British goods, and printers and lawyers refusing to use the stamps for stamping documents. Another major point is that violence sparked up from the Sons of Liberty, and in New York rioters got so violent that the destroyed a British officer's house because he had said that he "would cram the stamps down America throats at the point of his sword." The Stamp Act Congress was the first conference that held multiple people from several colonies, and was formed of delegates from nine of the thirteen original colonies, which were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Ilsand, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Deleware, Maryland, and South Carolina. They met in New York over the dates of October 7th to the date of October 25th, and they created a

Favorite Brand Paper Essay

Sony is one of the leading if not leading technology Corporation within the technical business world today. This organization headquarters can be found in Tokyo, Japan. Sony business is focus on electronics, entertainment, and gaming systems, and it also has a financial service sector. The Sony organization mainly focus on electronics such as video games, and TV networking. With these elements it makes Sony a premier organization that deals with consumer satisfaction, and gives them a comprehensive identity within the technology industry. This corporation has many different brands to offer to the public. Yet, only one stands out in my opinion, and that’s the PlayStation 4. The PlayStation gaming system has been around for many years. Now in there are plenty of features that stands out. The price is one of the most interesting factors. Sony has dropped the price in the early stage of the PlayStation 4 to affordable price of $299.00. Making it’s a affordable gaming console that offers a wide range of different games. Another reason why I enjoy this gaming console it offers a built in wifi system with no extra cost. Other features that makes this brand stand out is the graphics and design of the console. With any type of computer like system the heart of it is the  central processing unit. This feature gives the PlayStation 4 an excellent graphic experience that causes individual to fall in love with its system. The gaming console controller is featured with gripped handles and easy to understand movements of the controls. Sony Corporation has established an excellent long-term connection with consumers worldwide. This organization is known for offering credit to loyal consumers across the board. By giving discounts as well as payback procedures. Sony risk management is one of the key reasons why their growth is superior within their industry. By developing consumer surveys that help enhance their product, and shows their loyalty by taking in account consumers opinions. In using this strategy Sony has now discover that consumers have a exceedingly high expectation when it comes to quality, the value of their money. Therefore, Sony gives a complete effort to make  consumers satisfied with their experiences using their products. The new Playstation 4 has a share of competition such as the Xbox 360 as well as his counterpart the Xbox One and as well is the Nintendo. In order to be competitive sony has to have compassion dealing with consumers by being compassionate with their prices. Microsoft gaming console’s are expensive at price of $100 more then the PlayStation 4. The other brands or somewhat cheaper but does not have the design and graphics the PlayStation 4 has such as the Nintendo. This gaming system has different devices, and they are very cheap with a price tag of $114.00 to $200.00. This is another japanese made product, but does not have the features as the PlayStation 4. Offering only the basic gaming experience. Another factor that makes the Sony brand stand out is that it offers an elite online gaming thats free. The Xbox 360 in the Xbox One has an annual price they charge for their online games, and individuals limited to games, as for the Nintendo it does not offer these feature. Individuals as well can play Blu Ray high definition DVDs on their Playstation 4. The competition is limited in this category offering only the basic views  dealing with DVDs & high definition games. With all these elements concerning the gaming industry. PlayStation 4 continue to outsell its competition. Which is the Xbox One as well is the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo. In turn makes it the number one gaming console worldwide. Sony has committed to cultivating it’s gaming system for the next generation to enjoy the product. Sony PlayStation 4 has no pressure with it status in the gaming industry with it significant prices, and design. With gives reasoning to buy the console. Therefore, marketing is all about identify as well as being committed to consumers needs. I have the pleasure of stating that this organization have successfully built a market that is loyal to their customers. Sony has alway created dissimilar products that allows them to build capital and become a leader within their respective industry. By working internally dealing with each divisional labor department to ensure correct research training as well as planning their marketing mix to serve the global community. Reference www.1 to 1 media.com/view.aspx?itemid=30928 www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2014/06/13/the-5-best-reason-to-buy-ps4/ http://www.playstation.com/en-us.

Customer Complaint Behavior

Consumers’ complaint behaviour. Taxonomy, typology and determinants: Towards a uni? ed ontology Received (in revised form): 16th August, 2003 Dominique Crie ? is Professor of marketing at the University of Sciences and Technologies of Lille, in the Business Administration Department (IAE). He manages the postgraduate degree course: statistical specialisation for marketing databases. He is also a marketing consultant and statistician, member of the Association Francaise de Marketing and of the Societe Francaise de Statistiques. ? ? ? ?His research focuses on the customer relationship, particularly in relation to satisfaction, loyalty and retention. Abstract Complaint behaviour is a set of consumer dissatisfaction responses. It is an explicit expression of dissatisfaction, but dissatisfaction is only one determinant of this behaviour. Complaint behaviour can be analysed as various types of response but also as a process. This paper proposes an integrated framework of the various theories of complaint behaviour leading toward a uni? ed ontology and to interpreting it from a new perspective. Dominique Crie ?IAE de Lille, 104, Avenue du Peuple Belge, 59 043 Lille Cedex, ? France. Tel: 33 (0)3 20 12 34 64; Fax: 33 (0)3 20 12 34 48; E-mail: [email  protected] com INTRODUCTION This paper reviews a concept still relatively rarely considered by companies: consumer complaint behaviour. Within the framework of the relationship paradigm, complaint behaviour is a powerful signal which companies should take into account. On the one hand, it gives an organisation a last chance to retain the customer, if the organisation reacts appropriately, on the other hand it is a legitimate and ethical act toward the consumer.Generally, but not exclusively, complaint behaviour is one of the responses to perceived dissatisfaction in the post-purchase phase. In the ? rst section of the paper, a taxonomy of response styles used by dissatis? ed consumers is proposed. Then consumer com plaint behaviour (CCB) is de? ned and situated with regard to these various types of response. Finally, after clustering ‘complainers’ and ‘non-complainers’, this paper tries to track down the main dimensions of the CCB taxonomy through a structuralisation of its determinants within a diachronic approach — the objective being to propose a clari? d conceptual and theoretical framework to integrate the large variety of works on the subject. The conclusion highlights a synthesis of this conceptual structure with regard to a uni? ed ontology. A TAXONOMY OF THE TYPES OF RESPONSE TO DISSATISFACTION A dissatis? ed consumer may adopt several types of response, classi? cation of which may be delicate. The taxonomy of responses ? rst requires a distinction between the notions of response and of action to be established. Indeed, the term ‘action’ implies a very speci? c behaviour, 60Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60â €“79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour Table 1: A taxonomy of the types of response to dissatisfaction Towards enitity Response type Behavioural Public (Sellers, manufacturers, of? cial organisations, associations, justice) Complaint Legal action Return of the item Request for repair No action, with or without modi? cation of the attitude Forget or forgive Private (Family, friends, relations) Word of mouth Boycott/leaving Non-behavioural hile the term ‘response’ contains several modalities which are not exclusively behavioural, notably change of attitude or inactivity. This distinction establishes a ? rst dimension. The second is represented by the entities towards which responses are directed: the public one includes sellers, manufacturers and consumer associations or legal action; the private one includes family, friends or relatives. Finally, responses show different intensities according to the two previous dimensions. Responses may vary from inactivity to legal action — either simply to express dissatisfaction or to obtain repair or compensation (Table 1).The heterogeneity of these various response types may be partially explained by the cause and intensity of dissatisfaction and by the nature and importance of the product or service of concern. On the other hand, consumers may mix or connect several response types for the same dissatisfaction. This aspect is relatively neglected by the literature, although Hirschman1 notes that complaint and exit are not two symmetric elements: when a customer leaves the company, he/she loses ‘the opportunity’ to use their voice, while if he/she uses the complaint ? rst, he/she is always free to leave later if the complaint does not succeed.So exit can be a substitute for and complement to a complaint. The more expensive and complex the product, the more consumers are inclined to initiate public action, however the greater likelih ood is that they will stay inactive or choose private action. 2–4 The authors of the ? rst stream of literature are numerous, but Hirschman’s work remains standard in the conceptualisation of responses to dissatisfaction through the model ‘Exit, Voice and Loyalty’. Exit is an active and destructive response to dissatisfaction, exhibited by a break of the relationship with the object (brand, product, retailer, supplier. . ). The verbal response (Voice) is a constructive response with an expectation of change in an organisation’s practices, policies and responses; it is characterised by complaints towards friends, consumer associations and relevant organisations. The third type of response (Loyalty) has two aspects, constructive and passive, the individual hoping that things will evolve in a positive way. For Brown and Swartz,5 it is especially a feeling of impotence that is the cause of this behavioural loyalty. ‘The neglect of the incident and the inherent inactivity’ can, however, be considered as evidence for loyalty.Research designed to explain the various types of response to dissatisfaction is limited. Scales have been created for this purpose by Day et al. 6 but they are without methodological and Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 61 Crie ? psychometric validation. Only Bearden and Teel7 have investigated the various types of response using a Guttman scale. The data are collected from ? ve items of increasing intensity: (1) family and friends warning, (2) return of the item and/or complaint, (3) contact with the manufacturer, (4) contact with consumer associations or of? ial organisations and (5) legal action, notably when the customer does not obtain satisfaction with the seller. 8 Empirically validated, this scale does not, however, take into account the non-behavioural responses highlighted by previous research, and a sin gle item relates to private action. 9 Of a rather formative nature, every item contributes in its own way to the development of the intensity of the responses. Day10 con? rms the relevance of the use of such a scale. The main aim of this taxonomy is to clarify the various responses a dissatis? d consumer could use, in order to track down more precisely those which the company can observe directly. DEFINING CONSUMER COMPLAINT BEHAVIOUR Among the various types of response to dissatisfaction, some of them more direcly concern CCB. The ? rst conceptual base of this phenomenon concerning post-purchase was stated at the end of the 1970s. 11 Jacoby and Jaccard12 de? ne it as ‘an action begun by the individual who entails a communication of something negative to a product (service), either towards the company or towards a third entity’. For Day et al. 13 it is the consequence ‘of a given act of consumption, following which the consumer is confronted with an experience gen erating a high dissatisfaction, of suf? cient impact so that it is, neither likened psychologically, nor quickly forgotten’. Fornell and Wernerfelt14 consider that the complaint is ‘an attempt of the customer to change an unsatisfactory situation’. Finally, Singh15 suggests that this behaviour, activated at an emotional or sentimental level by a perceived dissatisfaction, is part of the more general framework of responses to dissatisfaction which consists of two dimensions (see also Day and Landon16).The ? rst dimension, grounded completely or in part in actions initiated by the consumer (conveying expression of his/her dissatisfaction not only to the seller, but also to third parties, friends or relations17,18), is behavioural but does not necessarily entail action towards the company; it is essentially within this dimension that CCB should be considered. The second dimension refers to absence of action by the consumer, for example when he/she forgets a generati ve episode of dissatisfaction. 19,20 In this way, CCB must, rather, be conceived as a process, ie its ? al manifestation does not directly depend on its initiating factors but on evaluation of the situation by the consumer and of its evolution over time. So, CCB really constitutes a subset of all possible responses to perceived dissatisfaction around a purchase episode, during consumption or during possession of the good (or service). In fact, the notion of ‘complaint behaviour’ includes a more general terminology which also involves the notions of protest, communication (word of mouth) or recommendation to third parties21 and even the notion of boycott.This notion is conceptually inserted in a set of explicit demonstrations, generally towards the seller, of a consumer’s dissatisfaction. It seems then that it is necessary to include in the de? nition of CCB a set of responses, heterogeneous in their targets — the study of this behaviour not being separable from understanding of all the responses to dissatisfaction. 62 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour DISSATISFACTION Behavioural response Non-behavioural response Towards company Perceptible by the companyTowards market Not perceptible by the company Inactivity Change of attitude Complaint Legal action Leaving Negative word of mouth Repeat purchase or behavioural loyalty Simple complaint Repair compensation Figure 1: Responses to dissatisfaction and complaint behaviour In the rest of this paper, therefore, the term ‘complaint behaviour’ is used in the conceptual meaning of a public behavioral response to dissatisfaction. So, for a company, only part of these responses will be perceptible, including complaint in the sense described previously (Figure 1). On the other hand, it is the retailer who will be most affected by CCB.The manufacturer is se ldom sought out, so such crucial information reaches him only rarely, and often not at all. 22,23 A TYPOLOGY OF DISSATISFIED CONSUMERS Several authors have tried to individualise groups of consumers with regard to the type of response adopted in the wider framework of dissatisfaction. Most researchers offer a ‘normative typology’ within which the ‘complainers’ can be placed but without really distinguishing particular groups. These are opposed to the ‘non-complainers’,24–27 in this way these works are more concerned with responses to dissatisfaction than CCB in its strict sense.They are poor in terms of possible categories and are not grounded in a rigorous analysis of response styles. Certain typologies nevertheless allow a few speci? c behaviours in the expression of CCB to be extracted, for example the ‘irritated actives’,28,29 the ‘activists’,30 the ‘complainers’, the ‘irates’,31 th e ‘voicers’,32 the ‘slightly offended’ or the ‘champions’. 33 For Hirschman34 the complaint must be considered as feedback on the quality delivered by the company, the ‘complainers’ are called ‘alert customers’ (because they allow the company to improve the product or service) asHenry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 63 Crie ? Table 2: Main types of complainers Behaviour Complaint (prostestation) Public action Voicers Champions Complainers Authors Dart and Freeman Weiser36 Etzel37 Shuptrine38 Bearden39 Day40 Gronhaug and Zaltman41 Singh42 Keng43 Masson44 Warland45 Singh46 Weiser47 Pfaff48 Warland49 Singh50 Dart51 Lost in action Weiser55 35 Private action Slightly offended Irates Authors Weiser52 Dart53 Singh54Request for repair Measures of retaliation Active upsets Irritated Detractors Activists opposed to ‘inert customers’. Th e complaint is then a factor of enhancement for company performance. Taken as a whole the typology of dissatis? ed consumers overlaps with that of the responses to dissatisfaction and develops its structure at the same time as the intensity of the CCB modalities chosen by consumers, going from simple complaint to retaliatory measures in a register of public or private actions (Table 2).Generally speaking, the various typologies outlined do not allow retailers or manufacturers to appreciate the complexity and variety of CCB in order to respond in an effective way, but it is likely that certain behaviours will be more speci? c in a given situation. For example, within the framework of a dissatisfaction bound to durable goods (high price and high commitment), one would tend to observe among ‘complainers’ a stronger proportion of ‘irritated actives’ or ‘irates’. In a weakly competitive market they will tend to be ‘activists’.If the usu al quality level of products is weak, ‘detractors’ and ‘irates’ will be observed. Finally, within the framework of a well-established relationship a majority of ‘champions’ or ‘slightly offended people’ would be expected. TOWARDS A DIACHRONIC APPROACH TO CCB The literature does not propose a systematisation in the organisation of antecedents and determinants of CCB. This de? ciency is essentially due to the fact that CCB is regarded as an immediate act and not as a process. In fact, this concept lacks a clearly identi? ed theoretical framework which allows the rganisation of a heterogeneous set of factors that initiate and modulate it and which can take into account resemblances and differences that also comply with the more global notion of dissatisfaction responses. Indeed, an ambiguity in the study of CCB results from the fact that it should not include, by semantic de? nition, the non-behavioural aspect of responses to dissatis faction or customers leaving. The 64 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour iachronic nature of the phenomenon of complaint could probably explain similarities and differences which exist between these two concepts. The number of implied variables strengthens the idea that CCB is not an instantaneous phenomenon, it is the outcome of a process of preliminary evaluations under the in? uence of initiating and modulating factors. This approach also raises the question of the effect of time on a consumer’s initial impulse to complain. CCB occurs after increasing re? ection by the consumer. 56–57 and Stephens and Gwinner,58 offer the ? rst longitudinal approach to CCB on the basis of in-depth interviews.For them, CCB results from a double cognitive evaluation. 59 The ? rst is de? ned as a process by which the individual estimates how much in? uence a p articular situation, in a given environment, has on his/her well being. The second may be analysed as a problem resolution strategy. The CCB depends then on the situation and on the psychological resources of the individuals. Within this framework, it is then relevant to think that generally the intention to complain or protest must occur at the same time as dissatisfaction and under the in? uence of initiating factors.This primary intention is then the object of various distorting or modulating factors meaning that the ? nal outcome is often different from that intended, it can be highly altered or just not come about at all. This idea then leads to the consideration of a number of non-behavioural responses to dissatisfaction or responses not perceptible by the company (cf. Figure 1) as being in some way failed CCBs. It is thus relevant to analyse how this intention arises and changes over time. After a phase of initiation represented by the initial level of dissatisfaction, then a phase of re? ction necessary for the integration of its cause and for the evaluation of the possible responses, there follows a phase of decision and of action which will in fact re? ect only the residual dissatisfaction at the conclusion of the process. This remaining dissatisfaction can nevertheless be reinforced to reach a higher level than that of the initial dissatisfaction, for example if the consumer is strengthened in his/her decision, either by the problem worsening, by the salesperson’s attitude or by the encouragement of third parties. In that case, measures taken by the consumer can be more signi? ant than those initially intended. Nevertheless the process does not stop with the voicing of the complaint, it also includes evaluation of the company’s response and concludes with the ? nal behaviour which ensues from it (repurchase or exit). It is then advisable to restore, in a diachronic framework, various streams of literature whose main object is to explai n the result of this process. Indeed, when researchers take time into account in CCB, it is essentially the available time to protest that is considered60 and not the period separating the episode of dissatisfaction from the response to it.But, the procedural knowledges are connected in time. They echo information relative to processes, that is to say sequences of actions, or sequences of reasoning in the sense that they order, or at least structure, the progress of several operations, possibly several procedures. This cognitive approach to complaint behaviour places it totally within the framework of a decision process. TOWARDS AN INTEGRATION OF THE VARIOUS ANTECEDENTS AND DETERMINANTS OF CCB In a simplistic way and besides its diachronic aspect, it is possible to distinguish within the conceptual part of the literature related to the determinantsHenry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 65 Crie ? Psycholo gical sphere – Sociocultural factors – Frustration/assurance – Learning – Attribution – Attitude/complaint – Experiences – Educational level DISSATISFACTION Negative word of mouth Economic sphere – Structure of the market – Frequency of purchases – Interactions buyer / seller – Costs of the complaint – Probability of success – Expected profit – Incomes – Switching barriers – Equity – Loyalty – InformationTYPE OF RESPONSE Complaint Legal action Inactivity Leaving Ethical sphere Figure 2: Antecedents and determinants of CCB of CCB, three spheres of factors which interact with different weights to lead, eventually, to CCB or to other modalities of response to dissatisfaction such as de? ned above. The psychological sphere is made up of individual variables re? ecting the propensity to CCB. The economic sphere groups together elements of cost and exchange structu res. Finally, the ethical sphere incorporates transactional equity, concentrating on the erception of the value of the link with the company and on the accuracy and helpfulness of the information given, for example, regarding ways to resolve the disputes, etc (Figure 2). On the other hand, the diachronic approach to CCB requires its various antecedents and determinants to be anchored on two points: ? rst on the initiating factors and secondly on the factors modulating the mode of complaint. This point of view allows not only integration of the various explanatory theories and the synthesis described above but also for a short path to complaint to be distinguished from a long one.This distinction, notably, can take into account the role of time and of both types of factors on CCB. In a short path the in? uence of the modulating factors is less, the complaint occurring mostly at the sale point, almost simultaneously with delivery of the product or service. It is an immediate emotional reaction rather than an extended process. In a long, extended path, however, there are more modulating factors which seem to shape the type of response. (The variables of the ethical sphere work as initiators, those of the economic sphere have a modulator role and those of the psychological sphere can be classi? d as either type. ) On the whole, four entities are directly involved in CCB: the product or service, the customer, the supplier and the episode of dissatisfaction. These various actors allow, within the framework of a diachronic approach, the multiple antecedents and determinants of CCB (Table 3) to be re-ordered. 66 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour Table 3: Various determinants of CCB according to the stage and the actorStage of CB Actor Product/service Initiation of CB Dissatisfaction level Modulation of CB Structure of the market Alternative s Purchase rate Price, complexity of the product/service Attitude, Experience/CB Learning, Information/CB Loyalty Education, Age, Sex Ethnicity Way of life Secondary evaluation of response possibilities Absence of management of post purchase Ease of access to the company Switching barriers Switching costs Customer/seller interactions Size of the company, business sector Expected pro? t Transaction costs of CB Probability of success Importance of consumer organisations CustomerPerceived frustration Perceived inequity Assurance (self control) Will to act Primary evaluation of the dissatisfaction Supplier Quality defect Incident/product or service Episode Situation, circumstances Dissatisfaction attribution Time-spatial simultaneity of the dissatisfaction and response possibilities Initiating factors of CCB Several factors may lead to CCB. Introducing and determining, partly, a consumer’s choice of a given type of response to dissatisfaction, they allow on the one hand a better understanding of consumers’ motivation for CCB and, on the other hand, a forecast of what response will be the most likely to be adopted.Ordinarily consumers need to be dissatis? ed in order to complain but other variables are necessary to switch from dissatisfaction to complaint. Such variables may lie in attribution of the cause of dissatisfaction or in psychosociological characteristics of the individual consumer (see Table 3). Dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction is a necessary antecedent of CCB, but is often not suf? cient61,62 (see also Jacoby and Jaccard,63 Westbrook64 and Ping65 on the notion of complaint without dissatisfaction66). It is the activating factor of the process. 7 Besides, Oliver68 underlines the existing relationship between the intensity of the dissatisfaction and this behaviour. 69 Grandbois et al. ,70 Richins,71 Maute and Forrester72 prove that the gravity of the problem is correlated in a positive way with the various responses to dissatisfaction includi ng CCB. The more the dissatisfaction increases, the more the verbal complaint strengthens and the more the probability of leaving the company grows. For Singh and Pandya,73 the relationship ‘intensity-type of response’ is not linear and admits threshold effects.When the level of dissatisfaction exceeds a given threshold consumers tend to use either negative word of mouth or leaving or appeal to a third party. On the other hand, the relationship between attitude to the Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 67 Crie ? complaint and CCB itself can be modulated by the intensity of the dissatisfaction. 74–76 Attribution of the cause of the dissatisfaction Psychosociological factorsTo lead to CCB, the consumer has to identify clearly the party responsible for his or her dissatisfaction during a given consumption episode (Table 3). In numerous cases it is the consumer himself/herself, for ex ample when he/she judges he/she did not make the right choice. So, even if for Valle77 the attribution of responsibility for dissatisfaction operates as an intermediary between the confusion and the response which follow, it is advisable to classify it as an initiating factor of CCB. According to Weiner et al. 78 a success or failure can be attributed either to elements under the control of the individual (internal cause[s]), or to environment or situational factors (external cause[s]). On the other hand, the performance can be attributed to invariant factors (stable) or evolving with time (unstable). The type of attribution achieved by the consumer determines a priori the response that may be chosen. If an external attribution is necessary for a private type action, a legal action or a request for repair, in the case of an internal attribution it is especially inactivity which dominates. 9 Usually, consumers who perceive the cause of their dissatisfaction as being stable (the same problem may recur) or controllable (the individual thinks that the retailer could have prevented the trouble) are more inclined to leave the product or the company and to engage in negative word of mouth than those who think that the problem has little chance of recurring and that the supplier could not prevent it (see also Folkes80). Some individual characteristics are to be considered as initiators of CCB, although they can also play a modulating role according to the situation (Table 3).Fornell and Westbrook,81 according to Mischel,82 associate CCB with the feeling of frustration felt by a dissatis? ed consumer. Frustration arises not only when the objective assigned to a given behaviour is blocked or interrupted before its ful? lment, but also when the result achieved has a lower level than that sought, or when its realisation requires more resources than the consumer can, wants or expects to spend to reach the desired objective. This feeling is also present when the means to re ach the satisfaction, both at the resources level and at the wanted object level (product or brand), are reduced or suppressed.Along the same lines, frustration can arise in situations of purchase intention (unavailability of the product or of the brand) or in post-purchase situations (dissatisfaction of use or of ownership). The more substantial the frustration, the greater the risk of aggressiveness and CCB. For Stephens and Gwinner83 the stress of dissatisfaction adds to the daily stress and CCB is connected to a double evaluation of the situation during a cognitive process. Three constituents form the primary evaluation of the stress: (1) the level of modi? ation of the individual objectives; (2) the incongruity between these objectives and the incident; (3) the level of the person’s ego infringement (humiliation, self-esteem, ethical values). A second evaluation of possible response strategies is then initiated according to: (1) the responsibility attribution for the con fusion; (2) the possibility of solving the problem (capacities of the individual, probability of success); (3) the feeling that things will go better afterwards. If 68Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour the resulting stress of the primary evaluation can be reduced by a solving strategy (secondarily estimated), the probability of CCB is great. If, on the other hand, this strategy risks increasing the initial stress, the main probability turns out to be a non-behavioural response or a response towards the market (see Figure 1). Other individual characteristics may also in? ence the start of a complaint process,84 eg loyalty to the brand, product or supplier; the level of quality assessment, the educational level and tastes; the ability to detect quality differences (a function of experience) and the acquired level of information; perception of the ‘cost /pro? t’ ratio of the possible actions. For Lapidus and Pinkerton,85 the consumer–retailer relationship is one of social exchange and, therefore, equity theory may be applied in order to explain the initiation of CCB.The consumer compares his/her inputs/outputs ratio with those that he/she perceives to be received by the seller. Naturally this comparison can be biased according to the trend (positive or negative) of the revealed inequity. The complaint appears then as an attempt to reduce the perceived inequity (see also Blodgett et al. 86). Secondly, the costs inherent in the complaint and its perceived outcome can be considered as inputs and outputs of this theory. Finally, learning theory can also be mentioned: the inclination to CCB is essentially a function of past experiences87–90 and of their outcome. 1 Modulator factors of CCB Dissatisfaction can be organised around two congruent factors: the former is situational, the latter temporal. It can indeed occu r where the product is purchased or the service is delivered and thus be immediate, but it can also take place at a distance from the act of purchase. In the same way, the response to dissatisfaction can be either immediate or deferred. So the CCB can consist of rather a short path in the case of a dissatisfaction on the spot and of an immediate response, or a long circuit in the case of delayed dissatisfaction with regard to the purchase act or of a postponed response.It is then, especially in this last situation, that numerous variables can intervene to modify the consumer’s actual response, by moderating or aggravating it: ultimately the intensity of the CCB will thus depend on an evaluation of the situation during a temporal process. The market structure, sociocultural characteristics or evaluation of the various costs associated with CCB will act as modulators of the process outcome. The market structure The market structure can be regarded as an element in? uencing the response type choice adopted by a dissatis? ed consumer (see Table 3).For Hirschman,92 consumers are ready to voice their complaints in two circumstances: (1) the way they balance the certainty of leaving and the uncertainty of an improvement in the product or service quality and (2) the estimation they make of their capacity to in? uence the organisation by voicing their concerns. These two factors are far from being independent. Fornell and Didow93 situate CCB in the larger ? eld of rational choice — with the slight difference that choice in economic theory is in the pre-purchase period, while CCB is generally a post-purchase phenomenon.The objects of choice are also different: products and services in the ? rst case, type of response in the second. In this theoretical framework, they show that verbal action can be Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 69 Crie ? expressed as a preference functi on and as the possibility of purchasing elsewhere. Indeed, in a restricted competitive environment, verbal action will be the only possible action for a dissatis? ed consumer. 4,95 In contrast, when competitors are numerous, the customer’s leaving becomes the most likely reaction and his/her action is then situated at the market level (see Figure 1). Therefore, the market structure appears as a powerful determinant of CCB. On the other hand, and within this framework, sensitivity of the various customer segments, either to price or quality, shapes the dominant response type to dissatisfaction. Those sensitive to price may leave the company, those sensitive to quality are more inclined to complain. 6 It also seems that buyer–seller interaction frequency (ie purchase rate) plays a part in the preference for verbal action. 97 The more frequent these interactions the fewer the public actions. 98 On the other hand, Barksdale et al. 99 report that the lower the level of purc hase at the same supplier, the greater the tendency to CCB. New purchases lead to more complaints and the usual suppliers receive more complaints than the new ones. For Weiser,100 the degree of ease of access to the company and the willingness of the customer to complain are determining elements in the choice of a response type. In a more speci? way, Andreasen101 emphasises, within the framework of nearly monopolistic markets or markets perceived as such, that the response type is a function of the: perceived heterogeneity of the offer quality; level of knowledge; level of perceived switching costs; probability of success of a verbal action both for the individual and the community; supposed complaint level of other consumers; and the degree of loyalty to the product, brand or supplier. The attractiveness of the alternatives or the availability of substitutable goods shows a strong relationship with the response type adopted by the consumer. 02 In the same way, the more important th e company the more the number of complaints. 103,104 Day et al. 105 classify in three categories the factors which can in? uence the propensity to CCB: (1) the circumstances de? ning the interests at work and evaluation of the costs and likely pro? ts of a search for compensation; (2) the characteristics of the individuals or the situation surrounding the costs and the purely psychological pro? ts of alternative actions, as well as the general tendency of the mediation interventions; (3) market conditions and the legal climate.For Day et al. , this latter category determines the probability of a favourable outcome to the action taken. Generally speaking this type of action will also depend on the nature of the product or service, the usable channels of complaint and the third parties which could intervene. On the other hand, for Andreasen and Best,106 the inclination of consumers to perceive problems depends on the nature of the exchange. For services this propensity is greatest, be cause they are, by nature, more dif? cult to assess (see Shuptrine and Wenglorz,107 Bearden and Masson108).But there is also a unit of time and place during service delivery which favours CCB. Referring to the attribution theory, Zeithaml and Bitner109 consider that because the customer is an actor in service delivery, the customer appropriates more willingly a part of responsibility in his/her dissatisfaction and tends to protest less often. Sociocultural factors Some sociocultural factors have to be acknowledged as modulators of the complaint process (see Table 3). For Day 70 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003)Consumers’ complaint behaviour et al. ,110 (1) the standards of life and the effectiveness of the marketing system, (2) the degree of regulation and control of economic activities and marketing practices and (3) the availability of information to help consumers make their choice or to know where to complain, represent three groups of characteristics to be taken into account for a cross-cultural approach to the phenomenon. Richins,111 within the framework of an international comparison, shows that in the USA the factors most correlated to CCB are price, the dif? ulty the consumer faces in resolving the confusion by himself and the attribution of the cause of dissatisfaction. In the Netherlands Richins found the correlating factors were price, responsibility for the damage and its felt intensity. The most determinative variables remain the attribution of responsibility and the perceived consequences of a complaint, two variables less correlated to CCB in the American sample. Cornwell, Bligh and Babakus112 clearly highlight that ethnic origin plays an important role in CCB especially through values and the way of life.Webster113 also ? nds an in? uence of ethnic factors when the effect of social variables is controlled. Furthermore, women generally have a grea ter inclination to complain and people living in rural areas are more prone to negative word of mouth. 114 For Farhangmehr and Silva,115 educational level is a determining variable; the higher it is the more consumers tend to complain in a dissatisfaction situation (see Gronhaug,116 Morganosky and Buckley117). In their study, the reasons for silence on the part of the consumer are: the effort and waste of time involved (44. per cent) which can be compared with the expected gain; the feeling of not being understood or that the problem will not be resolved (30. 3 per cent); and not knowing where and how to complain (21. 1 per cent) which is related to the consumer’s information level. Obviously these proportions can vary with the opinion that consumers have about the possibility of resolution of their problem according to the sector or company concerned. 118 Gronhaug and Zaltman119 show that economic indicators such as income have only a weak explanatory power and that it is th e same for demographic factors. 20–123 For Singh124 the ‘complainers’ tend to have superior incomes, a higher educational level, are still working and are younger (also Bearden et al. 125). Laforge126 indeed shows that elderly people complain less, this in agreement with the sociological theory of learned helplessness which makes the individual passive because he/she perceives the situation as uncontrollable. The costs of the complaint In reference to the works of Landon,127 the pro? t of a complaint is a function of the result minus the cost of complaint.This result is itself estimated with regard to the importance and the nature of the damage sustained. The consumer’s preference for verbal action is then related to the expected value of the complaint outcome (connected with the importance of the dissatisfaction) minus the associated costs. 128 The latter depend notably on the image of the company, especially in the resolution of disputes, on the consumer ’s experience of CCB and on the nature of the dispute. An arbitration is thus achieved between cost and pro? of every possible action so as to gain maximum utility. 129 Gronhaug and Gilly130 use transaction costs theory131 in order to explain the various consumer responses to dissatisfaction. Three dimensions of this theory (speci? city, uncertainty and exchange frequency) can be invoked to Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 71 Crie ? explain CCB. Does approaching the distributor or manufacturer entail speci? c costs? Generally, CCB requires time and effort thus generating a mixture of ifferent types of costs, eg opportunity cost of the elapsed time, deliberation costs, transportation costs — these can be called CCB transaction costs. These costs are speci? c to the envisaged response type whether it is actual or not. They cannot be paid off afterwards, at best they could be used as a l earning stage in order to reduce them during a later complaint. Uncertainty arises from any transaction (ie complaint) and the consumer looks for information to reduce this uncertainty to a bearable level. Finally, the complaint frequency has a direct in? ence on its organisation, possibly becoming a ‘routine’, thus reducing the associated costs. This theory thus explains more frequent CCB when consumers have superior educational level: they know their rights so the level of uncertainty associated with the complaint is reduced and there is, therefore, a global decrease of the perceived costs of a complaint. Nevertheless, as a general rule, the majority of dissatis? ed customers do not complain. Kolodinsky132 insists moreover on the assessment, by the consumer, of the temporal cost of the choice of an appropriate response.Furthermore, as the search for a new product or supplier also generates numerous costs, it is often the case that the dissatis? ed consumer refrains fr om any action. 133,134 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR HANDLING COMPLAINTS Businesses are, too often, completely hopeless at dealing with complaints, although complaint management has become an important issue for many companies. Some elements of the various theories mentioned above allow managers to understand better the complaint process in order to cope with it better.First of all, and within the framework of relationship marketing, complaint management is a major strategic issue. On the one hand complaint management has a retention function in the sense that where a customer satis? ed with the treatment of his/her complaint gets a second-order feeling of satisfaction his/her con? dence with the company is strengthened. Thus companies that respond to consumer dissatisfaction and complaints with appropriate recovery strategies and satisfactory complaint resolution can turn dissatis? ed consumers into satis? ed ones, positively in? uencing repurchase rates (eg Bearden and Oliver135).To decrease the effect of dissatisfaction and the incidence of further negative actions, companies need to show, at the least, that they are responsive to legitimate complaints. But, if problems are resolved poorly, they are only the beginning of a multitude of ‘hidden’ actions which do not come to the attention of the business. So, proper handling of customer complaints improves repeat patronage intentions and reduces negative word of mouth. 136 Finally, in dealing with complaints, truly marketing-oriented companies must examine not only the costs of the remedy, but also the cost of not settling the complaint.The usual rationale is that complaints represent valuable feedback to companies that allows them to take corrective action vis-a-vis the defective product or ` service as regards either the critical incidents137 or adjustment of the offer to match customer expectations. Both actions are of strategic nature: the ? rst is concerned with customer relationship managemen t and retention, the second with an equally long-term strategy, ie continuous improvement of the product or service in order to ? t customer expectations. 72 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy ManagementVol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour From an operational point of view, the complaints handling process begins before the customer addresses his/her complaint to the seller or manufacturer. All must be done in order that the various costs associated with this behaviour are reduced, so that complaints are encouraged, facilitated and even solicited in order for companies to take corrective action. Kotler138 suggests that the best thing a retailer can do is to make it easy for a customer to complain.For example, Saint Maclou, a French nationally-advertised carpet manufacturer and retailer, indicates on each bill the name of the person to contact if a problem arises and, if the trouble remains unresolved, th e name of a more empowered executive is given. Access to the company thus has to be multichannel. The customer must be assured that he/she will be listened to and that his/her problem will probably be successfully resolved. Lastly, and according to justice theory, the consumer must be conscious that the failure will be corrected fairly, that is to say with impartiality, transparency, effectiveness and fairness.As the majority of dissatis? ed consumers leave the company without complaining, managers have to overcome customers’ natural disinclination to complain. Thus this process is concerned with service recovery, that is to say, the recti? cation of mistakes or compensation of customers. Service recovery is de? ned as the response a provider makes to a service failure;139 service failure usually requires dissatisfaction on the part of the customer. It begins with thanks for the approach by the customer: salespeople or staff need to learn to use ‘complaint welcomingâ₠¬â„¢ procedures.Then the complaint must be listened to. Psychologically speaking it is important for the customer to cope with his/her frustration through a kind of debrie? ng by oral or written expression of the trouble. For instance, complaint letters to Railtrack in the UK rose to an all time high in 2001, without the writers realistically expecting any immediate bene? t other than the ability to articulate their frustration. Complaint, especially voice, gives the customer an opportunity to ‘tell their side of the story’ which serves as a kind of reward for the customer. 40 Furthermore, Levy and Weitz141 argue that a salesperson’s willingness to listen can be an important source of consumer dissatisfaction and complaint intentions. A salesperson’s willingness to listen has been described as the degree of attentiveness a person shows. 142 According to Palmroth,143 a salesperson must ask questions until s/he understands the full nature of the complaint wi thout appearing to place blame on the customer. These salespeople should be seen as trustworthy, friendly, expert, honest, helpful and concerned.The third step is concerned with the acknowledgment of the failure, if justi? ed. (If not, it is necessary to explain why and, according to the attribution theory, to gently point out the misuse of the service or product. It should also be noted that some consumers may complain not out of dissatisfaction but in an effort to gain fraudulently from retailers or manufacturers. ) This is, however, related to the salesperson’s familiarity with the product and awareness of any possible problems with the merchandise in question.Apologies are the next step and empowered contact employees must be able to offer immediate redress where possible or advice on the way to proceed, always in order to reduce customers’ costs and frustration. Indeed, of customers who register a complaint, about 60 to 75 per cent will do business with the provid er again if their complaint has been resolved, and this Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 73 Crie ? gure goes up to 95 per cent if the customer feels that the complaint was resolved quickly. Furthermore, providing compensation is a common response to customer complaints. In addition to the tangible bene? ts received, customers typically see the compensation as a symbolic expression of regret by the provider. 144 In a word, courteous and fast treatment by front of? ce personnel can enhance favourable post-complaint responses145 and staff must persuade the customer that all will be done to ensure that the trouble does not recur. Other authors provide some rules of thumb.For example, Davidow146 presents a model framework that divides the organisational responses to complaint into six separate dimensions: timeliness, facilitation, redress, apology, credibility and attentiveness. Nevertheless, according to Mitchell,147 a study shows that 51 per cent of his sample who had complained about a service and 23 per cent about products were less than completely satis? ed with the responses they received. The importance of regulatory authorities in determining how complaints should be managed in a marketing sense, and their active involvement in researching this area and etting standards should also be noted. Generally speaking the legal analysis assumes that it is important that companies are involved in ? xing problems with consumers. But more often, sector-based organisations are proactive and promulgate codes of conduct or of deontology in order to provide a conventional frame for a wide range of business activities, including complaints. For instance, Consumer Complaint Form (CCform; coordinated by the Federation of European Direct Marketing) is a European Commission Information Society Technology funded project to reach a consensus between business, consumers, academics and egulators on new, more ef? cient and transparent processes for complaints management. The CCform project aims to develop an online, multilingual complaint form and a best practice business process. With CCform, consumers will be able to make complaints in their own language, and then the form will be translated into the companies’ preferred tongue. Note that cultural norms appear to change the way people react to dissatisfaction and so the response type. Consumers will be able to track the progress of their complaint, and, if necessary, escalate their grievance to a dispute resolution service or regulator.CCform can be used by any company doing business by e-commerce, distance selling or local retail operations. 148 Complainants may have recourse to a third party and an escalation in the process can result. In this sense, the complaint handling can also be seen as a dispute prevention mechanism. On the other hand, and from a customer relationship management point of view, CCB is an imp ortant early warning. Furthermore, Powers and Bendall-Lyon149 have shown that the number of complaints increased as a result of the introduction of a complaint management programme in an hospital context.Complaint management programmes enable organisations to receive complaint information in order to identify and accommodate dissatis? ed customers and identify common failure points in order to improve service quality. Each complaint either by phone, face to face, letter or e-mail, should be recorded in the database. The manager should be able to link each product, customer and complaint together. For example, a customer with an increasing complaint rate may be in a leaving phase and should be carefully monitored. Indeed, and although customer 4 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003) Consumers’ complaint behaviour relationship management aims to establish and maintain ongoing customer relati onships by focusing on the speci? c customer’s needs in order to deliver high levels of customer satisfaction and company loyalty, one major aspect of customer relationship management is the effective handling of customer complaints. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH This paper allows CCB to be placed and de? ed within the larger framework of responses to dissatisfaction and then suggests an integrating framework of diachronic nature. Until now research into CCB has taken a deductive approach, researchers trying to deduce its causes from contextual or individual elements without being really interested in the process taking place in a temporal space of variable duration. The various works of literature studied offer different explanations for CCB but few of them consider the sequence and interaction of initiating or modulating factors in a process.CCB is indeed essentially described in its immediate nature, that is to say as an instantaneous event. Nevertheless, the nature and i ntensity of response to dissatisfaction certainly depend on the type of experience and on the responsible product/service but they also involve two other actors (the supplier and the customer) in a diachronic framework. The variability of individual reactions, notably revealed by the lack of a clear typology of ‘complainers and noncomplainers’, results from a different weighting of constitutive elements of the process over time.The joining together and organisation of these elements, from which three large areas can be isolated (the utilitarian sphere of the economists, the ethical sphere of equity and the psychological sphere, notably represented by attribution), supply a synthetic approach by describing CCB in two stages: initiation and modulation. The initiation phase is related to the dissatisfaction level which determines the opening of the process. It is then followed by a search for attribution of the problem and by the perception of the inequitable character of the transaction engendering frustration or stress which the individual will try to minimise.It is during the evaluation of the problem resolution strategies that modulators, such as experience and attitude towards the complaint, personality of the individual and his/her sensitivity to quality, will or will not allow the process to evolve towards the actual complaint. Other factors of this type can be isolated, such as loyalty level and information level, the degree of nearness (commitment) in the relationship with the supplier, the market structure (particularly the possibility of choice alternatives) and ? ally, the hoped/expected utility of the complaint with regard to the perceived costs as well as the accessibility of the company for CCB. If CCB is taken to be a process it becomes easy to link together all the response types following an episode of dissatisfaction and this knowledge is helpful for complaints handling, eg in encouraging the customer to complain or in avoiding his leaving. The TARP study150 indeed indicates that 90 per cent of dissatis? ed consumers initiate no action and leave the product, brand or company.So, the managerial implications arise not only from contextual factors but also from the diachronic aspect of the phenomenon. Although initiators are only weakly accessible to action by the manager, except by avoiding dissatisfaction and by strengthening the perceived equity of transactions, some Henry Stewart Publications 1741-2439 (2003) Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 75 Crie ? modulators can be amended so as to lead the dissatis? ed customer to complain more frequently. Thus the company can contribute to the modi? ation of consumers’ attitudes towards CCB by: rendering more favourable the perception of previous experiences; restoring a feeling of equity after a complaint; decreasing the costs, particularly the psychological ones; and ? nally, establishing interpersonal relationships th at reduce the attraction of alternatives. It is necessary to reward customers who complain by including them in this step and by getting them used to this cultural change. It is necessary to insist on the urgency of a dissatisfaction communication to the company and to shorten the response delay (free phone number, speci? coupon, website, CCform. . . ) in order to minimise the negative constituents of the modulators. From a passive role of complaint reception, the company has to evolve towards a proactive stage in the genesis and the actual expression of CCB. It is then necessary to gather information about dissatisfaction as quickly as possible in order to divert a process which would otherwise probably lead to the customer leaving. So, complaints must be regarded more as a marketing tool than as a cost (better service to the customer and customer retention); they constitute a fundamental element of relationship marketing.This synthesis should encourage the number of research studi es into the diachronic side of CCB, in the sense that any dissatisfaction (of external attribution) requires that the consumer get in touch with the company. So, the relationship between dissatisfaction, complaint intention and actual response deserve to be clari? ed in connection with time. It is also advisable to analyse more exactly consumers’ expectations of complaints. It is indeed by satisfying these expectations that marketers can hope to increase the number of ‘complainers’. References 1 Hirschman, A. O. (1970) ‘Exit, voice and loyalty: Responses to decline in ? ms, organizations and states’, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. 2 Day, R. and Landon, E. Jr. (1977) ‘Toward a theory of consumer complaining behavior’ in Woodside, Sheth and Bennett (eds) ‘Consumer and industrial buying behavior’, North Holland Publishing Co. , Amsterdam, pp. 425–437. 3 Richins, M. L. (1987) ‘A multivariate analysis of re sponses to dissatisfaction’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 24–31. 4 Levesque, T. J. and McDougall, G. H. G. (1996) ‘Customer dissatisfaction: The relationship between types of problems and customer response’, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 264–276. 5 Brown, S. and Swartz, T. (1984) ‘Consumer medical complaint behavior: Determinants of and alternatives to malpractices litigation’, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Vol. 3, pp. 85–98. 6 Day, R. L. , Grabicke, K. , Schaetzle, T. and Staubach, F. (1981) ‘The hidden agenda of consumer complaining’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 86–106. 7 Bearden, W. O. and Teel, J. E. (1983) ‘Selected determinants of consumer satisfaction and complaint reports’, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 21–28. 8 Barnes, J. and Kelloway, K. R. 1980) ‘Consumerists: Complaining behavior and attitude toward social and consumer issues’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 7, pp. 329–334. 9 Singh, J. (1988) ‘Consumer complaint intentions and behavior: De? nitional and taxonomical issues’, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 93–107. 10 Day, R. L. (1984) ‘Modeling choices among alternative responses to dissatisfaction’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 11, pp. 496–499. 11 Day and Landon (1977) op. cit. 12 Jacoby, J. and Jaccard, J. J. (1981) ‘The sources, meaning and validity of consumer complaining behavior; A psychological review’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 57, No. , pp. 4–24. 13 Day et al. (1981) op. cit. 14 Fornell, C. and Wernerfelt, B. (1987) ‘Defensive marketing strategy by customer complaint management: A theoretical analysis’, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 337–346. 15 Singh (1988) op. cit. 16 Day and Landon Jr. (1977) op. cit. 17 Day (1984) op. cit. 18 Richins, M. L. (1983) ‘Negative word of mouth by dissatis? ed consumers: A pilot study’, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 68–78. 19 Hirschman (1970) op. Cit. 20 Day and Landon Jr. (1977) op. cit. 76 Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 11, 1, 60–79 Henry Stewart Publications 1741–2439 (2003)Consumers’ complaint behaviour 21 Mooradian, T. A. and Olver, J. M. (1997) ‘I can’t get no satisfaction: The impact of personality and emotion on postpurchase processes’, Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 379–393. 22 Kolodinsky, J. (1995) ‘Usefulness of economics in explaining consumer complaints’, The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 29–54. 23 Lovelock, C. H. (1996) ‘Services marketing’, 3rd ed. , Prentice Hall, New Jersey, pp. 473–480. 24 Day, R. (1980) ‘Research perspectives on consumer compl aint behavior’, Lamb and Dunne (eds) ‘Theoretical developments in marketing’, AMA, Chicago IL, pp. 11–215. 25 Shuptrine, K. and Wenglorz, G. (1980) ‘Comprehensive identi? cation of consumer’s marketplace problems and what they do about them’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 8, pp. 687–692. 26 Gronhaug, K. and Zaltman, G. (1981) ‘Complainers and non-complainers revisited: Another look at the data’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 8, pp. 83–87. 27 Bearden and Teel (1983) op. cit. 28 Masson, J. B. and Himes, S. H. (1973) ‘An exploratory behavioral and socio-economic pro? le of consumer action about a dissatisfaction with selected household appliances’, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. , No. 1, pp. 121–127. 29 Warland, R. H. , Hermann, R. O. and Willis, J. (1975) ‘Dissatis? ed consumers: Who gets upset and who takes action’, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 148–163. 30 Pfaff, M. and Blivice, S. (1977) ‘Socioeconomic correlates of consumer and citizen dissatisfaction and activism’, in Day R. ‘Consumer satisfaction, dissatisfaction and complaining behavior’, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, pp. 115–123. 31 Singh, J. (1990) ‘A typology of consumer dissatisfaction response styles’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 57–98. 32 Dart, J. and Freeman, K. 1994) ‘Dissatisfaction response styles among clients of professional accounting ? rms’, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 75–82. 33 Weiser, C. (1995), ‘Customer retention: The importance of the ‘‘Listening Organisation’’ ’, Journal of Database Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 344–358. 34 Hirschman (1970) op. cit. 35 Dart and Freeman (1994) op. cit. 36 Weiser (1995) op. cit. 37 Etzel, M. and Siverman, B. (1981) ‘A managerial perspective on directions for retail customer satisfaction research’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 124–136. 38 Shuptrine and Wenglorz, (1980) op. cit. 39 Bearden, W. , Crockett, M. nd Teel, J. (1980) ‘A past model of consumer complaint behavior’, in Bagozzi, R. P. (ed. ) ‘Marketing in the 80’s: Changes and challenges’, AMA Proceedings, Chicago, IL, pp. 101–104. 40 Day (1980) op. cit. 41 Gronhaug and Zaltman (1981) op. cit. 42 Singh (1988) and (1990) op. cit. 43 Keng, K. A. , Richemond, D. and Han, S. (1995) ‘Determinants of consumer complaint behaviour: A study of Singapore consumers’, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 59–67. 44 Masson and Himes (1973) op. cit. 45 Warland (1975) op. cit. 46 Singh (1988) and (1990) op. cit. 47 Weiser (1995) op. cit. 48 Pfaff and Blivice (1977) op. it. 49 Warland, R. H. , Hermann, R. O. and Moore, D. E. (1984) ‘Consumer and community involvemen t: An exploration of their theoretical and empirical linkages’, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 64–79.. 50 Singh (1988) and (1990) op. cit. 51 Dart and Freeman (1994) op. cit. 52 Weiser (1995) op. cit. 53 Dart and Freeman (1994) op. cit. 54 Singh (1988) and (1990) op. cit. 55 Weiser (1995) op. cit. 56 Kolodinsky (1995) op. cit. 57 Conlon, D. E. and Murray, N. M. (1996) ‘Customer perceptions of corporate responses to product complaints: The role of explanations’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 1040–1056. 58 Stephens, N. and Gwinner, K. P. (1998) ‘Why don’t some people complain? A cognitive-emotive process model of consumer complaint behavior’, Journal of The Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 26, No. 3, 172–189. 59 Lazarus, R. S. (1966) ‘Psychological stress and the coping process’, McGraw Hill, New York. 60 Kolodinsky (1995) op. cit. 61 Day (1984) op. cit. 62 Oliver, R. L. ( 1987) ‘An investigation of the interrelationship between consumer (dis)satisfaction and complaint reports’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 14, pp. 218–222. 63 Jacoby and Jaccard (1981) op. cit. 4 Westbrook, R. A. (1987) ‘Product/consumption based affective responses and postpurchase processes’, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 258–270. 65 Ping, R. A. (1993) ‘The effects of satisfaction and structural constraints on retailer exiting, voice, loyalty, opportunism and neglect’, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 320–352. 66 These authors mention the possibility of complaint by satis? ed consumers, either to try to obtain more from the company, or for fear of a future breakdown or because of doubt in the performance of the product or because of propensity to complain. 67 Singh, J. 1989)

Comparison of Modonna and chil essays

Comparison of Modonna and chil essays Created during the early Renaissance, Madonna and child by Rogier Van Der Weyden did not appeal to me. Unlike the other Madonna and child paintings, this portrayal lacked the visual excitement, and dramatic action. There was nothing in Rogiers work to make the painting seem to burst out of the frame. In my mind, the painting did not give a composition of unity, continuity, flow and or rhythm. The painting was formed by oil, which has tendency to darken and yellow with age. The painting called, Madonna and child with Saint Jerome by Matteo Giovanni, intrigued me the most. Out of the other depictions of the Madonna and child in the gallery, Giovannis portrayal of Madonna and child was unique in a sense that he brought a form of early naturalist style of art. In Matteos painting, he strengthens the content of the structures by using the child as symbolic perspective. The posture and gestures of modesty of the characters show a harmonious resolution of the ideals of classical Greece and Rome. The positions of the hands and the peaceful smirk of Madonna gave a sense of inner feeling of readiness to be accepted. The angels created a strong emotion of supernatural vision. Giovanni portrayed his Christian subjects not as spiritual, but more with human characteristics. Human figures and their interior settings took on a new believable presence. Matteo Di Giovanni was a student in Sienese School of art. He originally came from Borgo San Sepolcro and he painted the wings and predella (Pinacoteca Sansepolcro) of the altarpiece of which Piero Della Francesca's Baptism of Christ (National Gallery, London) was the center panel. His style was elegant, linear, and decorative, revealing resemblance with Pollaiuolo. Matteo seems to have been one of the most popular and prolific Sienese painters of the second half of the 15th century. His major works include a large Assumption of the Virgin in the National Gallery, London. ...

A Slice of American Pie essays

A Slice of American Pie essays In its wake, it has mystified, thrilled, consumed, enlightened, and even prognosticated the future. American Pie, known to most as a song sung by Don McLean, is at heart something of an epic poem, which has been analyzed by millions for 30 years. It has been suggested by some that the song is an explanation of McLeans departure from Rock and Roll or as a warning from God to America. It has been translated into several parodies. The New Standard Encyclopedia defines an art epic poem as ... built up about some great theme or thought that is universal, or at least of national, importance. (E-190) Buddy Holly died on February 3,1959 in a plane crash, and, for a moment, the United States grieved. McLean once suggested that the song is biographical in nature and that it was a look at the death of Buddy Holly through his (McLeans) memories. However McLean had this to say about his song in his Starry Starry Night video in 2000, Ive never analyzed the lyrics to the song. Theyre beyond analysis. Theyre poetry. The language of the song is riddled with symbolism, imagery, and figures of speech. For over 30 years people have been analyzing, questioning, and seeking meaning in the song that McLean calls poetry and has not sought to analyze himself. One analyst, by the name of Saul Levitt, suggests, The song is McLeans justification for giving up rock and roll and turning to folk music. He had been touring for about a year with Pete Seeger...its evident that the song is about McLean giving up rock and roll since the death of such great stars... Another analyst, by the name of Roy Taylor, has a very different interpretation of McLeans song. Mr. Taylor suggests, American Pie, is a detailed prophecy, concerning Americas future, and a funeral hymn, written in a dirge foretelling America&apos...

Australian Education Growing In University †Myassignmenhelp.Com

Discuss About the Australian Education Growing In University? Competitive business environment is significant for the business organizations regarding gain the competitive advantage. The main of this marketing plan is to analyse the marketing and competitive environment of the CQ University. Though, different external environment factors are considerable for the University for increasing the global presence towards the different competitors. At the same time, it may create the problem for the University brand while applying the competitive strategy for measuring the academic performance of the students. On the other hand, University analyses the different external factors for evaluating the marketing and environmental analysis like PEST analysis, competitor analysis, segmentation and targeting, SWOT analysis, value and brand positioning, marketing mix strategy, and budget allocation. Consequently, these external factors may help to improve the University performance and environment. CQ University is the one of the largest regional University of the Australia, which is situated in the North Rockhampton, Australia. Over more than 35000 students are registered in the University in various programs (CQ University Australia, 2017). Though, University provides more than 300 courses in 25 campuses in more than 20 locations. This indicates the goodwill of the University is strong in the Australian education sector. In doing so, University rejoices the 25 years anniversary as a regional University in the Australia. Moreover, it provides the flexible study environment to their students so that it can improve their learning’s and skills. On the other hand, University offers various academic courses like research, graduate, post graduate, and vocational courses. In order to provide better education and training, University amalgamate in 2014 with CQ TAFE. Moreover, University is also focused towards the research activities through collaboration and partnership with t he community and industry. In this manner, University achieved an award of Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) in 2015 (CQ University Australia, 2017). Instead of this, University future marketing plan is to conduct the various courses and research activities through distance learning. Marketing plan of CQ University is to enlarge the student skills and knowledge thereby; they can easily face the future global challenges. Similarly, there are different factors, which are increasing the demand of CQ University such as it provides the good learning to their students through the highly experienced tutors (Kassens-Noor, 2016). Concurrently, University supports in different online vocational courses, conduct training programs, and conduct various research activities. Here analyze the market summary and demand estimation of CQ University trend Above diagram depicts the student admission ratio in the CQ University. It shows the ratio of graduate and postgraduate students are continuously rising. It indicates that the enrollment of international and local students may get a rise in the future in different academic programs. Thereby, it helps to increase the market share of the University as well as it raises the opportunity for quality education in the Australia (Braun, et al., 2014). However, University facilitates to provide the good learning environment to their students, which will help to create more demand towards the different programs of University. At the same time, University provides the different research activities, online courses and vocational courses, which will quite helpful to attract more students towards them. CQ University is the leading regional University in Australia. In order to increase the academic courses, University should identify the people who have an interest in higher studies.   Further, the target market of the University should be domestic and meritorious students. Concerning this, University should conduct the advertisement campaign in their neighbourhood countries so that it can retain and attracts the more students (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2015). Likewise, University marketing plan is to achieve the target of 50000 students across the global. This can be done through the students studying in the school and other sources.   Moreover, Australian education sector is continuously rising. Thus, it can be said that University has sufficient space to spread the information across the Australia. Over the years, Australian education is raising thereby, many of neighbouring countries students are getting enrolled in the Australian universities. Concerning this, Australian Bureau of Statistics is also indicated that the no of admission is increasing over the period. Although, 14% Australian adults opting the further higher studies. Here use the PEST analysis for the CQ University in terms of analyzing macro environment of the University. Large no of international and local students are enrolled in the Australian University due to effective courses, research activities, and training. Political factor is quite effective for the CQ University, because the stability of the government is existing in the Australia, thereby, government is already invested the $200,000,000 amount annually in order to provide quality education to international as well as domestic students. For this, University can easily invest more in academic activities, social activities, and research and innovation activities (Ho, 2014). On the other hand, economic conditions of the Australia and neighbour countries have been improved. High employment rate is quite effective for the University in terms of large quantity of students registered in different courses (Feng and Liu, 2017). For this, students can easily get the higher education through loans. Australian people having a high living standard, which demonstrates the level of education is high. Higher education level enables the University to retain more students towards the different courses. Concurrently, high literacy rate would be helpful for the University regarding retain more students (Shabanova, et al., 2015). Concerning this, University grants the permission to their students in terms of making the unity inside the diverse classroom. Despite to this, Australian government invests the large amount in the research and innovation, and technology. This will be helpful for the University to spread the information in different campuses as well as it enhances the skills and knowledge of the tutor and students (Ab Talib, et al., 2014). Similarly, University slowly moves towards the digitalized campus. For this, it switches their different courses through the online gateway. This will significantly increase the student’s ratio in the University different campuses. Mean while, University facilitates to provide the Wi-Fi connectivity to their students and tutors in order to teach in a better way as well improves its productivity at the global level. CQ University has effectively provided the learning environment to their students. At the same time, there are different competitors of the CQ University, which provides same courses such as The University of Melbourne, University of Technology Sydney, The University of New South Wales, Victoria University, Western Sydney University, and Australian National University. Despite to this, some global competitors of CQ University is the National University of Malaysia, University of Tokyo, National University of Singapore, and RMIT University. Though, these universities are also competing with each other regarding same courses for gaining more market share in Australia (Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2015). In order to take a competitive advantage, University offers the distance education and research courses through online to their students, which can be helpful to increase the University feasibility (Hollensen, 2015). Similarly, highly qualified and globally staff would be helpful to increase the University presence in the different subject field like natural science, social science, media and communication, engineering and so on. Moreover, University also enjoys the competitive advantage through effective research activities. In the current environment, students of University are satisfied with different running courses. Though, University more focuses towards the social innovations, students empowering, which strengthens the student’s skill and knowledge. Thus, there are some other competitive factors of the University are learning environment, tutor support, effective R & D activities, and good corporate governance (Luxton, et al., 2015). CQ University is also tie up with di fferent universities and industry so as to fulfil the required skills. This can be helpful to increase the student’s employability. Apart from this, the aim of the Australian Universities is to overcome any issues, which may impact on the student academic performances and college campuses. Likewise, Competitors aims to provide every type of academic support and guidance to their students. The objective of the every University is to become the largest Australian University as well as to become the role model of other global universities. On the other hand, promotional marketing of the Universities is to promote the different courses through social media network and other promotional tools, which can be helpful to increase the University presence towards more people (Hubbard, et al., 2014).   Here analyzes the strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat of the CQ University as follows:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   High goodwill of the University  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Provide more than 300 courses on 25 campuses  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Award of Excellence in Research Australia (ERA)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tutors support in academic  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Harder to implement changes in different campuses at the same time (Bull, et al., 2016).  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Large competitors regarding same courses  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Different location creates the problem while implementing any new changes  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Australian government support the higher studies  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Local schools students may create the opportunity for the University in terms of retaining more students.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   University may face the problem related how student obtain visas for higher studies  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fear of losing academic faculty due to a good opportunity (Mackay, et al., 2016). CQ University is one of the largest Australian regional universities, which has created its own brand image across the Australia. Though, there are different factors, which are created the value for the University such as tutor’s support, quality education, learning environment, effective research and innovation, and more than 300 programs (Gengler and Mulvey, 2017). Similarly, University strengthens the skills and capabilities of the students through providing effective teaching methods and training.   In terms of value, University has five values, which underpins the students and staff regarding participation in different campus activities. For this, University design the effective study culture, which creates the develop opportunities for the students. Likewise, effective values enable the University to maintain the good relationship with its stakeholders (Sirianni, et al., 2013). CQ University should participate at a global level in terms of research activities in such a way that it presents good track record. Moreover, it should create the buzz towards its different courses so as to raise its marketing. In context brand positioning, University must create the positive learning environment in such a way that student can easily learn multiple things and raise its skills through other activities. As a result, it can be helpful to improve the quality education and productivity of University, which may positive impacts on the University brand positioning (Khanna, et al., 2014).  Ã‚   Further, CQ University increases the employability and capability of their students through collaboration with different colleges and universities. Thus, above values are significant to raise the brand positioning of the University. Though, effective research innovations and ideas have also generated the values for the community. This can be positive impacts on the brand position of the University. In the current education era in the Australia, the aim of the CQ University is to facilitate to offer the specialize education and conduct various training programs for enhancing the academic performances and students employability. Simultaneously, University has also an aim to coordinate with different sponsorship activities and its suitability, which will be helpful for the students regarding facing the global challenges (Eteokleous, et al., 2016). Moreover, University plan will align the high education programs and conduct the research seminars so as to improve the practical skills of the students. Likewise its plan is to invest the huge amount on extracurricular activities, which helps to raise the sustainability of the University.  Ã‚   On the other hand, promotional objectives of the University for 2018 are to spread the academic excellence of the University of the Australia. Concurrently, the future promotional objective of the CQ University is to attract the international students towards the different academic courses.   Another promotional objective is to build up the corporate image of the University around the world so that more students will enrol. University also reflects his promotional strategy by effectively using the social media (Stelnicki, et al., 2015). This can be helpful for the CQU in terms of his effectively academic excellence.   CQ University is largely based on the traditional approach, it has a large no of Face book followers. Concerning this, approx 62890 followers like the University page on Face book, which has a positive impact on the more people. Marketing mix strategy is significant for the companies while promoting the new products. There are different types of marketing mix strategy that can be used by the CQ University like price, place, promotion, and product (Huang and Sarigà ¶llà ¼, 2014). For this, product shows the different academic courses, which are offered by the University is like graduate, vocational courses, post graduate, PhD Courses, and research. However, pricing strategy of the University is different as per the local and international students. At the same time, University is also fixed the process of different courses through different aptitude exams like GRE, SAT, and GMAT. Further, there are different promotional tools that can be used by the University while promoting the di fferent courses such as a magazine, email, WebPages, Uninews, newspaper, Facebook, online ads, yellow pages, banners and leaflets, and digital signage (Fan, et al., 2015). Thus, these tools are effective to enhance the brand image of the University towards the more people. Similarly, above tools are also helpful to retain more international students in respect of the different academic courses. Along with this, University especially uses the social media for images, which can be helpful to reach out to more students. Further, University is located at North Rockhampton and its main aim is to provide the effective learning to their students in open environment. Thereby, University provides the online platform to their students for registering its name in different academic courses (Armstrong, et al., 2014).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As a result, this strategy is effective for the University while promoting the new academic courses. In terms of future marketing strategy, University should take participate in special fairs and college associations, which can be helpful for the students to getting learn more things in the future.   Competitive strategy helps the organization to gain the competitive advantage.   There are a different competitive strategy that can be used by the CQ University such as cost leadership, cost focus, differentiation leadership, and differentiation focus. Therefore, CQ University is used the differentiation strategy, because it helps to target the international and domestic students towards the academic excellence and different more than 300 academic courses. Along with this, it offers the different quality programs and vocational courses, which is significant to strengthen the competitive edge of the University (Santandreu, et al., 2015). This strategy creates the value for the University thereby; student gets attract more and enrolled them.   The following table summarises the media and budget allocation of the CQ University Media and Budget Allocation for 2018 Collaboration with industry and Universities Above table depicts that the media and budget allocation of the CQ University. This indicates the CQ University make the investment plan for future with the help of different media, it means it invest the $40000 in different academic and research activities in 2018. This can be helpful to raise the University presence at the global level (Zhang, et al., 2016). Consequently, it will be quite helpful for the university in terms of more students enrolled in different academic courses. Here analyses the current position of the CQ University through BCG Matrix Above diagram shows the four quadrants of the BCG matrix, this indicates that the CQ University offers the various academic and vocational courses, which comes from the cash cow quadrant. Because of this, University has low growth as compared to other top Universities in Australia. Meanwhile, the market share of the university is high. Though, it has the opportunity to grab the star through effective strategy related to providing the effective student's solutions (Shanbhag, et al., 2016). On the basis of above analysis, it can be examined that the CQ University is leading the regional University of the Australia. It can be analyzed that the more than 35000 students are enrolled in the different courses in 25+ campuses. Simultaneously, tutor support and effective courses would be helpful for the University in terms of attracting more students. It has also analyzed that the marketing mix strategy improves the University growth. Further, all external factors are quite effective for the University in terms of proving quality education as well as retain large students. University gains the competitive advantage through differentiation strategy. University constantly focuses towards the student learning’s and employability, which may help to increase the brand image of University at the global level.   However, it allocates the fixed budget of $40000 for 2018 in terms of more feasibility of University courses and its excellence.   Concurrently, values of Universi ty are quite helpful to maximise the brand positioning. Ab Talib, M. S., Hamid, A. B. A., Zulfakar, M. H., & Jeeva, A. S. (2014). Halal logistics PEST analysis: the Malaysia perspectives.  Asian Social Science,  10(14), pp.119. Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S., & Kotler, P. (2014).  Principles of marketing . Australia: Pearson. 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