A Comparison of Celebrity and Expert Endorsers on Advertising Effectiveness

Table of Contents Acknowledgement Abstract Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction 1. 1 Background to Topic 1. 2 Fashion Field and Skin care Product Chapter Two: Literature Review 2. 1Advertising Endorser 2. 1. 1Celebrity 2. 1. 2 Expert 2. 2 Endorser Credibility 2. 2. 1 Trustworthiness 2. 2. 2 Expertise 2. 2. 3 Attractiveness 2. 3 Advertising Effectiveness 2. 3. 1 Brand Attitude 2. 3. 2 Attitude towards advertisement 2. 3. 3 Purchase Intention 2. 4 Match-up Hypothesis 2. 5 Information Processing of the AdvertisementChapter Three: Chapter Four: Methodology. 4. 1 Quantitative Research 4. 2 Questionnaire Design 4. 3 Pilot Test 4. 4 Data Analysis Techniques 4. 4 Testing Credibility of Endorsers 4. 5 Testing the Product Match-Up Hypothesis 4. 6 Testing Advertisement Message Process 4. 7 Testing Advertising Effectiveness Chapter Five: Findings and Analysis 5. 1 Result of Reliability Test 5. 2 Results of Credibility of Endorsers 5. 3 Results of Testing the Product Match-Up Hypothesis 5. 4 Evaluation Impact on Advertisement Message Process . 5 Evaluation Advertising Effectiveness Chapter Six: Discussion and Conclusion Appendix References Chapter 1—Introduction Chapter 1—Introduction In designing an advertising campaign, an influencing persuasion is an important factor, product endorsers is significant towards the transmission of message between the brand and consumers and they often contribute to an advertisement's persuasiveness for many consumers. Advertising endorser is one of promotional strategies which are often seen in daily life.Its main purpose is to use a famous, professional or attractive endorser to grab consumers’ attention in a short period of time, in order to increase the effectiveness of the advertisement. It is important for endorsers to achieve the object of communication with consumers. Research finds that advertisements with a reliable endorser could attract consumers’ attention, raise brand awareness, and build uniq ue brand image (Zajonc and Markus,1982). If a business can select product endorser carefully to match up with product attributes, it can produce a model effect to a brand.Therefore, understanding how consumers perceived product endorsers, and knowing which types of endorsers would create the best effect to the advertisement is significant for marketers. This research will mainly focus to research on skin-care products endorsers by the measure of their credibility, and how they influence the advertising effectiveness. 1. 1 Background to Topic 1. 2 Fashion Field and Skin care products Fashion is a business of wide variety: from typical apparel business to beauty and health care products. The fashion field is highly segmented and overlaps with other fields, especially with the cosmetics and skin care roducts. Some of the household fashion brand names may not definitely correspond to the apparel business but other kinds of products. One of the characteristic of the fashion field is that it is constantly re-forming in strategic cooperation and alliances. Fashion companies such as Fendi, Polo Ralph Lauren, Kenzo, and Louis Vuitton are practicing the strategic integration. For example, Christian Dior is part of LVMH limited, which is the largest luxury company and group in the world, also include cosmetics products and skin care products in their brands.The structure of the fashion field is obscured mainly by licensing and franchising strategy; fashion companies may manufacture products which belong to a particular line in the structure. For example, Donna Karan International licenses its name to Estee Lauder, and Polo Ralph Lauren licenses the fragrances and skin-care products to L'Oreal. LVMH, Chanel and Prada have their own brand name lines in skin care products. Some skin care brands may belong to the same fashion organization, though the brands are in totally different names and management structure.The identity of the famous fashion company would give their pro ducts a competitive advantage, which are the symbolic exchange and the commodity exchange. It would establish, maintain or strengthen a brand identity. Skin-care products advertisements with endorsers is not hard to be seen in different media, household skin-product brands such as L’oreal, Neutrogena or Shiseido has spent numerous money on hiring different endorsers for the brand and new products. Generally, two types of advertisement endorsers have been mainly been used in these advertisements – celebrity and expert.There are number of studies can be found that how different endorsers influence the consumers in different fields. However, there are few studies to focus only at the relationship of different endorsers and skin care product brand. Skin care product is a special category compared with other different products. It is considered both hedonic and utilitarian product. There are different categories of skin care product, such as the aqua cream, hand cream or UV -protection cream. Therefore, the skin-care product is both attractive-related and health-related.Customer needs adequate information and sufficient expertise prove and advice for them to purchase these products. Research shows that the extent of audience-perceived skills and knowledge of the endorser in the source expertise would make positive influence to the advertisement, such as the skin care experts are critical to influence in advertising (Chawla,Dave, and Barr 1994); however, some research suggest the sources characteristic attractiveness, such as celebrities are important to persuasion (Kamins and Gupta 1994; Patzer 1983).Although the perspectives are diverse, source credibility which combined of both attractiveness and expertise is critical to make influence to advertisements towards the audience. Skin care product marketers would typically employ a product endorser with high credibility to advertise the product. Therefore, it is significant for marketers to know which typ e of endorsers and how endorsers would make an advertisement worthwhile and effective, in addition to this, whom could make good communication with customers.The purpose of the study is to explore whether endorser credibility has a positive effect on advertising effectiveness in the skin care product. This study would also explore which type of endorser in the field of skincare products would make more influence, and how they influence the consumers. Chapter 2—- Literature review 2. 1Advertising Endorser According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC), any advertising message reflects spokespersons' or endorsers' opinion, belief, character, and experience that make consumers believe is called endorsement.Advertising endorsers are often seen on TV, newspaper, magazine, or direct mail advertisements in daily life. Using the endorsers' popularity, it could present the benefits of the endorsed product and make consumers produce reliability on the product. (McCracken,1989) Using adver tising endorser to promote a product is a very popular marketing strategy. Researchers also found that the reliability of advertising spokespersons is one of critical factors to influence purchase intention, and the higher the reliability is, the higher the positive advertising and brand attitudes are (Laffery ; Goldsmith, 1999).An advertisement can catch consumers’ attention and increase brand awareness (McCracken, 1989), and transfer consumers’ feelings onto the product and produce a good impression (Biswas et al. , 2006). If spokespersons can express a positive attitude on the advertised product, it will create an intensive preference to consumers and connect the product with the spokespersons (Chen ;Chang, 2001). Study suggested that with a successful endorsement, the recall of product information and brand recognition would be enhanced, it would positive influences the attitude towards the advertisement and products. Liu et al, 2007) Different research proposed fo ur main types of advertising endorsers including celebrities, experts, CEO and typical consumers to test the effectiveness of communication between the endorsers and consumers through advertisement (Freiden, 1984; Wang, 2002). The outfit of the endorser is suggested to create positive attitude toward the consumers (Chaiken, 1979). McGuire (1985) also suggested that endorser which is familiar and likable towards the audience may bring persuasiveness to the advertisement. 2. 1. 1Celebrity EndorserSchiffman and Kanuk (2007) defined celebrities to public and famous figures. Celebrity commonly has a linkage with the source attractiveness. Research has found that there is a linkage between the celebrity attractiveness and attitude changes toward advertisements (Chaiken 1979; Caballero and Pride, 1984). Companies usually use celebrity to be the endorser of product in order to increase the popularity or attraction, making audience to have a positive attitude toward endorsed products, the br and and the advertisement. Research supported the celebrity endorser is suitable for different types of products.It is generally shows that celebrity endorser make positive contribution in different aspects like brand awareness (Till 1998), brand recall (Friedman 1979), attitude toward the advertisement [Kamins 1989; Frieden 1984; Tripp, Jensen,and Carlson 1994), and also purchase intention (Ohanian, 1991). Research also shows that celebrity endorser would generate positive attitude towards brand recall, attitude towards the advertisement, and also purchase intention (Wang 2002). Celebrity with high expertise tends to have higher level of sources believability and trustworthiness. Buhr, Simpson, and Pryor 1987). Studies found that celebrity endorser would be perceived higher values for likeability attribute by the consumer, comparing to an expert, CEO or customer endorsers (Freiden, 1984). However, in the same research, it did not show that celebrity endorsers have a significant adv antage when compared to other types of endorsers in the measure of expertise, believability, product quality and trustworthiness. Celebrity endorser would generally create a positive perception to consumers in sources attractiveness in terms of credibility perceptions.Researchers have found that celebrity endorsers have higher credibility to make the product be more desirable and also higher the image of the product quality; Consumers are associated with endorsers’ image when using the product while the endorsers’ image has been transferred to the product. (Ronald E. Goldsmith, Barbara A. Lafferty and Stephen J. Newell, 2000) Research also suggest that celebrity endorsement can increase brand and product recall (Clark and Horstman, 2003). 2. 1. 2 Expert Endorser Expert endorser is perceived as a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field.Expertise is the extent of the communication source which has relevant knowledge and skills. The trustworthine ss attribute is an significant source for the expert endorsers, which makes the consumers to have a perception that the advertisement is believable. (Hovland, Janis, and Kelley,1953). Hass (1981) suggests that the expert endorsers have an advantage on source credibility in terms of the expertise and trustworthiness. Research suggests that endorser who has higher level in expertise or trustworthiness, would be more effective when compared to low-expertise sources (Hass 1981; Dholakia 1978).Research also finds that expert endorsers would be more persuasive when compared to the endorsers who have less expertise in the persuasion theory. (Ohanian 1990; Stemthal, Phillips, and Dholakia 1978). The degree of influence of the expert endorser is moderated by variables such as message comprehension (Ratneshwar and Chaiken 1991), placement of the expert source in relation to the message arguments, (Homer and Kahle 1990; Stemthal, Dholakia, and Leavitt 1978), and fit between the expert source a nd the product (Till and Busier 2000).An endorsement from a credible or expert endorser would influence the perspective, also the consumers’ behavior and attitudes (Belch and Belch 2004, p. 169). The receiver is motivated to have a positive and objective sense toward the products and brand when the endorser is an expert, since the audiences believe the message from the endorser is accurate and positive. Till and Busier (1998, 2000) manipulated the expertise of a fictitious person and the fit of the product, the result shows using expertise would create a significant positive relationship towards the brand attitude and purchase intentions.The research shows expertise source is significant when compared to the attractiveness source in different advertisements and products. 2. 2Endorser Credibility According to Ohanian (1990), endorser credibility can be defined as â€Å"as a communicator's positive characteristics that affect the receiver's acceptance of a message†. It i s also a way that can enhance the message of an advertisement. (Anderson, 1970) Dimensions can be found in the previous studies of endorser credibility.Typically, endorsers’ credibility can be separated as three dimensions: trustworthiness, attractiveness, and expertise (e. g. , Homer and Kahle 1990; Ohanian 1990, 1991; Stemthal, Dholakia, and Leavitt 1978). The credibility would show how effective of an endorser in terms of the personal attributes towards the consumers. Goldsmith, Lafferty, and Newell (2000) found that endorser credibility positively influence the attitudes toward the advertisement, and also brand attitude. A high credibility of an endorser is considered significant in influence acceptance.A consumer is more likely to accept the content of the advertisements with a credible endorser (Sternthal, Phillips, and Dholakia 1978). Danwshvary and Schwer (2000) also suggest that in an advertisement with a high credible endorser, purchase intention would be positively affected. According to Khatri(2006) , high credible endorser would also enhance the recall of the product. Research found that higher levels of endorsers’ credibility would have a significant association with attitudes toward the advertisement and purchase intention (Craig and McCann, 1978; Woodside and Davenport, 1974).The dimensions of attractiveness and expertise have generated additional interest to determine how these attributes in an endorser individually enhance advertising effectiveness (e. g. , Homer and Kahle 1990; Kamins 1990; Maddux and Rogers 1980; Patzer 1983; Till and Busier 1998, 2000). 2. 2. 1Trustworthiness Trustworthiness is the level of consumers’ trust toward the endorser and advertising message (Hovland et al. 1953). It also means the general believability of an endorser. Research has suggested the trustworthiness of the endorser would affect the advertising effectiveness.Miller and Baseheart (1969) found that when the endorser was perceived to b e trustworthy, the advertisement would be more effective to influence consumers’ attitudes. McCinnies and Ward (1980) find that the expertise and trustworthiness would influence endorsers’ credibility and persuasiveness. They indicated that the endorser with both expert and trustworthy would generate the opinion change of consumers. Trustworthiness moreover refers to the honesty, believability and integrity of an endorser (Erdogan 1999).Therefore, honesty is in the trustworthiness attribute in this study. 2. 2. 2Expertise Expertise is one of the fundamental dimensions of source credibility and is the knowledge sources are perceived to possess about the product they are endorsing (Homer and Kahle 1990; Ohanian 1990). Recent studies on source expertise indicates that the expertise attribute has a positive influence on attitude change (Maddux and Rogers 1980; Till and Busier 1998, 2000) and purchase intention (Till and Busier 2000). 2. 2. 3 AttractivenessIn terms of attra ctiveness, it represents that advertising endorsers can catch consumers’ attention to a product (Ohania, 1990; Miciak ; Shanklin, 1994; Goldsmith, Laffery, ; Newell, 2000). Research shows that the marketers prefer to use attractive endorser in order to gain the likability and positive attitude toward the advertisement. Some of the research may group attractiveness attributes in source attractiveness itself, however, attractiveness can also be as an attribute of source credibility in advertisments (McCracken, 1989; Ohanian, 1990).In the research of Maddux and Rogers (1980), likability is considered to be a test variable of attractiveness attribute in endorser credibility. Therefore, likability would also be tested as attractiveness variable in the study, it is employed as the measure of homological validity of attractiveness. Advertising Effectiveness Generally, advertising effectiveness is the attributes of brand attitude, attitude towards the advertisement and purchase inten tion attributes. (Gurel Atay, Eda, 2001; Friedman, Hershey H, 1976; David Strutton, 2008)Numerous researches have proved the direct and significant relationship of brand attitude, attitude towards the advertisement and purchase intention attributes. (e. g. , Goldsmith et al. 1999; 2000; 2002; Goldberg, et al, 1990; Mitchell et al. 1981; Mackenzie, Lutz, and Belch, 1986). However, research also can be found to group these three variables together in order to test a more macro view towards the effectiveness of the advertisement. (Gurel Atay, Eda, 2001; Friedman, Hershey H, 1976; David Strutton, 2008) 2. 5 Purchase IntentionAccording to Shamdasani (2001), purchase intention can be defined as the possibility of a customer buying a product or making a recommendation for product. ) It is also a process of the demand for product information, purchasing, evaluation, consumption, and disposal of a product or service. Purchase intentions also means the choice that a consumer would probably ma ke in future course of action. (Bagozzi,1983). According to Fishbein and Ajzen model, higher purchase intention will lead higher purchase willingness. According to Zeithamal (1988), perceived value will influence purchase intention. . 6 Brand Attitude Brand Attitude can be defined as evaluation of the brand from the consumer. It may consist an emotional motivation toward a brand and its product. The motivation could be cognitive or logical toward the particular brand. In recent researches, it has proved that using of endorsers credibility has a positive influence on brand attitudes of the consumers (Seno and Lukas, 2005). Agarwal and Malhotra (2005) have also defined that brand attitude is a general evaluative judgment of a brand. It contains the process of the brand product, reputation and the benefits. 2. Attitude towards advertisement Attitudes toward the ads can be generally defined as a â€Å"predisposition to respond in a favorable or unfavorable manner to a particular advert ising stimulus during a particular exposure situation† (MacKenzie, Lutz and Belch, 1986). Attitudes toward the ads would contain affective reactions and evaluations. (Baker and Lutz, 2000). Research shows that attitudes toward the ads are influenced by a process set of brand or non-brand. (Biehal, Stephen and Curlo, 1992; Hastak and Olson, 1989; Madden, Allen and Twible, 1988; Gardner, 1985; Homer, 1990). 2. 8 Product Match-up HypothesisProduct Match-up Hypothesis can be defined as the match-up theory between an endorser’s and a product’s attributes. McCracken (1989) and Kahle (1985) suggest the celebrity endorser create better inherent match and congruency effect than other types of endorsers by having higher level of attractiveness. Researches based on the matchup hypothesis find that attractiveness is a significant determinant of advertising effectiveness. (Kahle and Homer, 1985; Till and Busler, 1998) suggests that its importance is limited by the degree to w hich attractiveness â€Å"fits† well with the advertised product (e. . Kamins,1990). The product match-up hypothesis is focus on product-endorser fit based on endorser attractiveness. Research suggests that the attractiveness of a celebrity endorser is more favorable attitudes to related the product which is attractiveness-related . Product match- up is the congruence between endorsers and product. The match-up hypothesis (e. g. Kamins, 1990) suggests that endorsers are more effective there is a â€Å"fit† between the advertising endorser and the endorsed product. 2. 4 Information ProcessingAccording to Kahle ; Homer (1985), consumer usually sees the information as relevance when it satisfies their need. The ELM is a persuasion model to predict the influence information process of the advertisement of different types of endorser. (Petty ; Cacioppo, 1981a, 1986a, 1986b) suggests that there are two route, the central route and peripheral route, whereas the peripheral rou te is more likely to prove that endorser relationship with the information processing of the advertisement. ELM posits that a source cue does not serve as a simple acceptance or ejection cue but may be considered together with all other information in the recipients attempt to assess the merits of the arguments and the advocacy. Studies have found that endorsers’ credibility has a significant relationship toward ELM and information processing of the advertisement (Homer ; Kahle, 1990; Petty ; Cacioppo, 1981b, 1986a, 1986b; Petty et al. , 1991). Mehta (1994) also found that the celebrity endorser would influence consumers to have more thoughts about the endorsers, however, and the fewer toward the product and brand.A different type of endorser such as experts would influence consumers to generate fewer thoughts about the endorser but led to more thoughts about the brand and product featured Chapter 3 : Research Hypothesis and Conceptual Framework 3. 1Introduction According to research purposes and literature reviews, the study proposes the research frame as shown in Figure 1. 3. 2 Research Hypothesis H1: Endorser credibility would significantly affect advertisement effectiveness Celebrity vs ExpertH2: Celebrity endorser has a better performance in the general measure of â€Å"Endorser Credibility† than expert endorser H3: Celebrity endorsers has a better performance in the measure of â€Å"attractiveness† attributes than expert endorser H4: Expert endorser has a better performance in the measure of â€Å"trustworthiness† attributes than celebrity endorser H5: Expert endorser has a better performance in the measure of â€Å"expertise† attributes than celebrity endorser Product Match-UpH6: Endorser credibility would significantly affect product match-up hypothesis H7: Celebrity endorser would generate a better match up effect towards the product than expert endorser Information Process H8: Endorser credibility would significantl y affect information process of the advertisement H9: Consumer is more likely to process the information of the advertisement when the endorser is an expert, than a celebrity H10: â€Å"Product match up† and â€Å"Information Process† would positively moderate the relationship between endorser credibility and advertising effectiveness Conceptual Framework Chapter 4:Methodology . 1 Questionnaire Design In order to assess the relative advertisement effectiveness between celebrity and expert endorsers, two advertising executions were tested across print advertisements for two different type skin-care products: an aqua cream and hand cream with body emulsion. A celebrity advertisement and an expert advertisement represented each product. In this research, the celebrity is person who is publicly recognized and could direct and communicate to consumers by their reputation in the advertisement. On the other hand, an expert is a person represents expertise of the product and s kin care.The experts who appeared in the advertisement sample has been noted a â€Å"professional doctor of skin care† and â€Å"dermatologist†. They have no public notoriety but appear in an advertisement for representing the authority of the product. The samples are based on real print advertisements (see appendix 1 and 2), in order to increase the authentication. Famous Hong Kong singer Kandy, a member of the band Sugar Club, is the endorser of the aqua cream advertisement; on the other hand, famous model Gaile is selected as endorser of the hand cream and body emulsion cream.The expert endorser is from the real print advertisement of Neutrogena, however, for the expert endorser, we created a fictitious endorser, as the names and their scope of profession have changed to fit this sample research. The use of a created endorser offers a benefit of controlling the experiment. Although endorsers are usually well-known, there can be a significant amount of variation in s ubjects’ knowledge and attitude toward any given endorser.By using a created endorser, we minimize the amount of variation in subjects’ knowledge thereby strengthening the statistical power of the analysis. In order to avoid brand perception of the audience, the products in the sample advertisements has used the brand name â€Å"Super† which does exist in the reality market, instead of the real brand names of the products. The research selected two categories of skin care products: aqua defense cream and hand cream and body emulsion. In order to minimize brand familiarity effects, a fictitious brand name, â€Å"super† was used. 4. 1. Questionnaire Structure and Details The questionnaire used for this study consisted of five parts targeting different aspects of information about consumer’s attitude on different endorsers’ advertisement and the influence of advertisement effectiveness. The aim of this study was stated in the beginning and foll owed by a notes explaining the terminologies used in the questionnaire. For the scale of data measurement, five-point Likert scales were used in the questions of part A and part B sections for measuring the attitudes and quantifies the opinion of the consumers.Likert scale is a set of statements that ask respondents to express their level of agreement or disagreement of a five-point scale (Churchill, 2005). For the remaining parts, they were consisted of single and multiple selections of answer. 1=Strongly Disagree| 2=Disagree| 3=Neutral| 4=Agree| 5=Strongly Agree| 4. 1. 3. 1 Part A of the Questionnaire The first part of the questionnaire aimed to obtaining data about the respondents’ purchase experience on skin care products as well as their knowledge and experience about current practice of different types of endorsers’ advertisement, the source of information is also included.The respondents are required to indicate how they receive the information about endorsement and which type(s) of endorsers were familiar with them. 4. 1. 3. 2 Part B of the Questionnaire This part is aimed to focus on the aqua cream advertisement, which represents the skin care product type which is attractive-related. Two â€Å"super† aqua cream product print advertisements were shown in this part. This advertisement is a real advertisement from the brand â€Å"Garnier†. This first advertisement is endorsed by famous Hong Kong singer Kandy, a member of the band Sugar Club, who is the actual endorser for â€Å"Garnier†.The second one is endorsed by a fictitious expert endorser, named as Albert Li, noted as a â€Å"professional doctor of skin care†. The context of the advertisement contains the product features of the cream, and comparison with other brands in order to show the effect of the cream. The content of two advertisements are exactly the same, however, only the endorser is changed in order to test the effect of these two types of endor sers. There are 17 questions for each advertisements, it is a set of statements regarding the attributes of the endorsers, and the attributes of the advertisement.The attributes were based from the source credibility models, product match-up hypothesis, and advertising effectiveness which were suggested by previous studies regarding advertisements with endorsers. 4. 1. 3. 3 Part C of the Questionnaire This part is aimed to focus on the hand cream and boy emulsion advertisement, which represents the skin care product type which is health-related. Two â€Å"super† aqua cream product print advertisements were shown in this part. This advertisement is a real advertisement from the brand â€Å"Neutrogena†.This first advertisement is endorsed by famous Hong Kong model Gaile, who is the ex-wife of Hong Kong famous singer Leon Lai. The second one is endorsed by an expert endorser, named as Robert Kwon, noted as a â€Å"dermatologist†, who is the actual endorser for â₠¬Å"Neutrogena†, however, in the actual advertisement, the endorser is a a regional director of professional marketing. The context of the advertisement mainly contains the product features of the hand cream and the body emulsion. The content of two advertisements are exactly the same, however, only the endorser is changed in order to test the effect of these two types of endorsers.The structure of the questions is the same as part B section. 4. 1. 3. 4 Part D of the Questionnaire This was the final section of the questionnaire, four questions were asked in order to find out the demographic information of the respondents. Respondents were required to provide their gender, age, educational level and income. The information would be used to test the difference response from different demographic group, mainly the educational level and income, since the target group is selected to be young female adults in generation Y. 4. 2 Questions Analysis and Discussion Guide The survey is se t in two main sections.One scale is used to assess endorser credibility, including the aspect of attractiveness, expertise, image, likeability and trustworthiness. The survey also included questions related to the advertising effectiveness in aspects of brand attitude, attitude toward the advertisement and purchase intention. Message processing and product and endorser match- up issues would also be included in the questions. The questions were grouped in order to analysis the relations between variables. Each respondent was shown two print advertisements of different skin care product and were asked to complete the questionnaire.In each case respondents were exposed to advertisements for of two products including a celebrity, and an expert endorser. 3. 2. 1 Testing Credibility of Endorsers To test the credibility of endorsers, the attributes by previous studies are adopted. The attributes would be attractiveness (DeSarbo and Harshman 1985), trustworthiness (DeSarbo and Harshman 198 5;), expertise (DeSarbo and Harshman 1985; Simpson and Kahler 1980-81; Wynn 1987), likability (DeSarbo and Harshman 1985) and believability (Simpson and Kahler 1980-81; Wynn 1987).In the questionnaire, 5 statements would refer to 5 different attributes from the source credibility model. â€Å"The endorser is attractive† is to test the attractiveness variable, â€Å"The endorser is trustworthy† is to test the trustworthiness variable, â€Å"The endorser is professional† is to test the expertise variable, â€Å"The endorser is honest† is to test the believability variable and â€Å"The endorser's image is positive† is to test the likability variable. These 5 attributes would be grouped to be the â€Å"Credibility† level of each endorser in the followed analysis. 4. 2. Testing the Product Match-Up Hypothesis As the product match-up hypothesis is not the main focus of the research, only two statements in the questionnaire was asked to test the h ypothesis, â€Å"The endorser in the advertisement makes good match with the product† and â€Å"The endorser helps to understand the function of the product† was asked to figured out if the audience considered the endorsers made good match with the product and helped them to understand the function of the products. The result of this hypothesis would be tested if it is a factor to influence the advertising effectiveness. . 2. 3 Testing Advertisement Message Process One statement was asked to understand if the respondents would read the content message of the advertisement, besides the endorsers’ image. The result of this part would be analyzed with if different endorsers have influence for the audience to process the image, and this question would also analyzed with the advertising effectiveness attributes to see if there is a relation between audience process the advertisement message and the effectiveness of the advertisement. . 2. 4 Testing Advertising Effect iveness Three attributes were combined to consider the effectiveness of the advertisement: â€Å"Brand attitude†, â€Å"Attitude towards the Advertisements† and â€Å"Purchase Intention†. 4 statements were set to test the brand attitude towards the advertisements, which were â€Å"The endorser enhances my ability to recognize the brand†, â€Å"This advertisement projects a good brand image†, â€Å"This advertisement helps to recall the product features† and â€Å"This advertisement helps to recall the brand†.Another 4 statements were also set to test the attitude towards the advertisements, which were â€Å"This advertisement projects a sense of good quality towards the product†, â€Å"This advertisement projects a pleasant feeling†, â€Å"This advertisement is reliable† and â€Å"This advertisement is persuasive†. In addition, 1 statement was set to test the purchase intention of the audience towards the a dvertisement and endorsed product, which was â€Å"This advertisement increases my intention to purchase the product†. These three attributes would be the dependent variables to combine as â€Å"advertising effectiveness†.They would be analyzed with the credibility of different endorsers, product match-up hypothesis and advertisement message process. 4. 3 Research Objective The quantitative survey is focused on the young female adults as the interviewees, which is in the demographic of generation Y. The age range of young is between 18and 30 years old, which are mostly in the student segment. In this group of people, they tend to be attracted by ‘advertising’, ‘brand’, and ‘fashion’. They are more familiar to celebrities and advertising from different types of media.In the meanwhile, they have more comprehensive understanding and relative matured self-norms. 4. 4 Pilot Test A pilot test was done in advance of distributing of the q uestionnaire for gathering information, this is to ensure the format and design of the questionnaire were effective and capable of obtaining required information for the researching objectives. Another important function of the pilot test to this study is that the sample population was asked to rank a set of selection criteria of celebrity and expert endorsers in order to refining the selection attributes for a more efficient analysis. 3 questionnaires were distributed and 20 questionnaires were returned with comments on the questionnaire design. Some amendment and adjustment was made to the questionnaire after reviewing the feedback of the sample population, the modification included adjusting the layout of the questions, use of question’s wordings, segmentation of demographic data of respondents, and elimination of repeated questions. 4. 5 Distribution of the questionnaire Data were collected from a total of 203 respondents on the internet survey instrument.The survey is sp read by social network requests and e-mail request, which ensures that the target group of people could reach to the survey, and avoid people who is not in the target group doing the survey. The internet-based survey can also obtain the response from more population within a short period of time by not restricting by geographical constrain. 4. 6 Research process and design The research process follows the structure in figure. First, the problem of the research is fomulated, which is the comparasion of expert and celebrity endorsers towards the credibility and advertising effectiveness.Then, an exploatory research is at the second procedure, by reviewing literature. Research framework and data collection methods are determinated at step three and step four. The following is designing samples and collecting data by internet-based survey. The data will be analysed to be the results of the research. Suggestions and recommendations would be made in the references of the results. Chapter 5: Result and Analysis Respondents Profile In the following section, basic demographic data of the respondents, including age, gender, education level, occupation and personal monthly income level, were reported.To be more specific, these descriptive data were summarized and presented with pie charts. Gender of Respondents Since the target respondent in this study is female, the questionnaire is mainly distributed to female interviewee. Therefore, there are totally 199 female and only 4 male respondents. The 4 male respondents are all from the internet survey. The female respondents have 98. 03% of sample population, while male respondents only have 1. 97%. Distribution of age group of the respondents The majority of respondents were 22-25 years old, which has 117 respondents and occupied 57. 64% of the sample population.The following largest group was age between 18-21 years old; there were 51 respondents in this age group, with 25. 12% of the sample population. The percentage of t he respondents in the age group 26-30 was 17. 24%, there were 35 respondents in this age group. Educational Level Over a half of the respondents’ educational level is above bachelor’s degree. 110 out of the 203 respondents, which are 54. 19 % of the sample population, are at the educational level of bachelor’s degree; 68 of the respondents, having 33. 50% of the sample population, are at the tertiary (non-degree) educational level. 5 of the respondents (12. 32% of the population) are postgraduate level. Monthly Income The majority of the respondents’ monthly income is less than $5000, which is 89. 16% of the sample population (181 respondents). 16 out of the 203 respondents (7. 88% of the sample population) have the monthly income between $5000 and $10000. Only 6 of the respondents (2. 96% of the sample population) have the monthly income between $10001 and $20000. Purchase Frequency for respondents In the purchase frequency of skin care product, most of the respondents, with 48. 8% of the sample population (98 out of the 203 respondents) buy skin products 1 to 2 times a month. The following group is respondents who buy skin care product 3 to 4 times a month, with 35. 47% (72 out of the 203 respondents). 10. 84%(22 out of the 203 respondents) of the respondents buy skin care products less than once a month and only 5. 42%(11 out of the 203 respondents) of the respondents buy skin care products more than 4 times a month. In the question of asking which skin-care brands the respondents mostly buy, the result between brands is close. Shiseido Limited’s brand has the largest sample population, with 28. 8% of respondents (57 out of 203) claiming mostly buy their products; the following is the L’oreal Company’s products, having 23. 63% respondents (50 out of 203) that mostly buy their products. 18. 72% (38 out of 203) and 17. 73% (22 out of 203)of respondents mostly buy skin care products of P&G Company and the LVMH L imited respectively. Only 10. 84% of respondents (22 out of 203) mostly buy the skin care products of Estee Lauder. Information towards the skin-care advertisements For the endorsement in skin-care product, the respondents mostly notice the celebrity endorsers and model endorsers, which have 45. 2% (92 out of 203) and 25. 62% (52 out of 203) of the sample population respectively. 17. 24% (35 out of 203)of the respondents noticed the expert endorsers in the advertisement. The following is the real customer endorsers, 8. 87% (18 out of 203) of respondents have noticed their endorsement. Only 1. 97% (4 out of 203) of respondents noticed the CEO endorsers and 2 of the respondents in the survey haven’t noticed any endorsers advertising. The channels that respondents get the information of the skin care product advertisements were asked in the survey.Most of the respondents received the skin care product information from print media such as magazines and newspaper, which had 28. 57 % (58 out of 203) of the respondents. 19. 7% (40 out of 203) of the respondents were getting skin care products information from TV, movie and internet. These two channels had the same population. 12. 81% (26 out of 203) of respondents were getting information from peer’s word-of-mouth. Direct mail and from outdoor billboard has the population of 9. 85% (20 out of 203) and 5. 42% (11 out of 203) respectively. The channel of radio, brands advertisements and sales personnel had the population of 2. 6% (5 out of 203 respondents), 0. 99% (2 out of 203 respondents)and 0. 49%(1 out of 203 respondents), which were the channels least respondents getting information from. 4. 1 Result of Reliability Test As a key factor to determine the quality of measurement instruments, reliability was very important for assessing the internal consist multi-item scales of endorser’s credibility and advertising effectiveness dimensions, Cronbach’s alpha was used. It provides the coeffici ent of inter-item correlations and measured the internal consistency of various items. Referring to Cohen et al. 2007), the reliability level was marginally acceptable at 0. 6 and highly reliable at 0. 8 or above, while according to Pallant (2007), the Cronbach’s alpha value above 0. 7 is considered acceptable and preferable when the values exceed 0. 8. Ohanian’s (1990) scale was used to assess the celebrity endorsers’ credibility. Items were chosen according to the item reliability of the scale. To measure credibility, the dependent variables â€Å"attractiveness†, â€Å"trustworthiness†, â€Å"expertise†, â€Å"likeability†, and â€Å"believability† were selected. In section A, the celebrity endorser Kandy has a Cronbach’s ? f . 962 towards the credibility. The Cronbach’s ? for the expert endorsers’ credibility is . 860 in section A. In section B, the celebrity endorser Gaile has a Cronbach’s ? of . 869 towards the credibility. The Cronbach’s ? for the expert endorsers’ credibility is . 860 in section B Based on studies addressing advertising effectiveness (Biehal, Stephens and Curlo, 1992;Craciun, Stephens and Madden, 2002; Gresham and Shimp, 1985; Spears and Singh,2004), brand attitude, attitude towards the advertisement and purchase intention were used to assess the effectiveness. The Cronbach’s ? or the brand attitude in section A are . 893 and . 824 The Cronbach’s ? for the attitude towards the brand in section A are . 806 and . 793. The Cronbach’s ? for the brand attitude in section B are . 831 and . 712. The Cronbach’s ? for the attitude towards the brand in section B are . 925 and . 908. Referring to Cohen et al. (2007), the reliability level was marginally acceptable at 0. 6 and highly reliable at 0. 8 or above, therefore, the items to be measured in this study is highly reliable. 4. 3 Endorser Credibility and Advertisement E ffectiveness IntroductionIn this study, in order to test H1: Credibility of endorsers significantly affects advertisement effectiveness, linear regression analysis is adopted in testing the relationship of dependent variable (Y), advertising effectiveness, to relate the independent variables(X), which is the endorsers’ credibility, for the prediction. The measures of endorser’s credibility consisted of 5 attributes, which are trustworthiness, expertise, believability, attractiveness and honesty. Meanwhile, advertising effectiveness contained 3 attributes, including brand attitude, attitude towards the advertisement and purchase intention.The attributes of credibility and advertising effectiveness had combined as the mean score in the analysis. In the following table, Credibility1 of celebrity endorser Kandy in part A; Credibility2 represents the computed results of expert endorser Albert in part A; Credibility3 represents the computed results of celebrity endorser Gail e in part B; Credibility4 represents the computed results of expert endorser Robert in part B. â€Å"EndorserAdeffectiveness† represents combined mean score of all endorsers’ advertising effectiveness. Coefficient of Determination R squareMujis (2004) had provided a guide to assess how well a developed model fit the data. The table would give a clearer interpretation of Mujis suggestion. 0. 5| Strong Fit| Result of Endorser Credibility and Advertisement Effectiveness Model Summary| Model| R| R Square| Adjusted R Square| Std. Error of the Estimate| | 1| . 756a| . 572| . 569| . 24445| a. Predictors: (Constant), Credibility1, Credibility2 Credibility3, Credibility4| To test the correlation of the endorser credibility and their advertising effectiveness, the coefficient of determination r2 is used.It is a statistical term that tells us how well one variable is at predicting another. Since the study is a small scale research, using adjusted R square would give a more accura te result. (Mujis ,2004). The dependent variable â€Å"EndorserAdeffectiveness† is the combined mean score of all endorsers’ advertising effectiveness, and the independent variable â€Å"Credibility 1† to â€Å" Credibility 4† is the mean score of celebrity and expert endorsers in part A and part B. In the table, the R square is 0. 572 and the adjusted R square is 0. 569, with the standard error of 0. 24445.As the adjusted R square is 0. 569, it indicated that the credibility of endorser explains 56. 9% of advertising effectiveness. According to the Mujis, when adjusted R square is >0. 5, it shows a strong fit of the model. Therefore, the correlation between endorsers’ credibility and advertising effectiveness is strong. ANOVAb| Model| Sum of Squares| df| Mean Square| F| Sig. | 1| Regression| 67. 671| 1| 33. 836| 404. 646| . 000a| | Residual| 16. 724| 201| . 060| | | | Total| 84. 395| 202| | | | b. a. Predictors: (Constant), Credibility1, Credibili ty2 Credibility3, Credibility4| b.Dependent Variable: EndorserAdeffectiveness| In the F test, a 95% of confidence level is adopted, the p-value is . 000, which is 3. However, celebrity perceived as more attractive than expert endorsers. Likability In testing the attribute â€Å"likability† with the statement â€Å"The endorser's image is positive†, the celebrity endorser has 3. 1 points and the expert endorser has 3. 52 points. The result shows that the respondents perceived both celebrity and expert endorser as likable, since their mean are ;3. However, expert endorser Albert had a slightly higher point than celebrity, while the celebrity is perceived as more attractive as shown above. Trustworthiness Attributes Trustworthiness In testing the attribute â€Å"trustworthiness† with the statement â€Å"The endorser is trustworthy†, the celebrity endorser has 3. 25 points and the expert endorser has 3. 42 points. Both endorsers perceived as trustworthy, and have a very close result.The expert endorser Albert received a slightly higher point than Kandy only. Honesty In testing the attribute â€Å"Honesty† with the statement â€Å"The endorser is honest†, the celebrity endorser has 3. 38 points and the expert endorser has 3. 54 points. Respondents graded both endorser scores that higher than the midpoint, which show that both endorsers are perceived as honest and believable. However, Albert still scores slightly higher point than Kandy in this attribute. Expertise Attribute Professional In testing the attribute â€Å"expertise† with the statement â€Å"The endorser is professional†, the celebrity endorser Kandy has 2. 0 points and the expert endorser Albert has 3. 80points. Differ from other variables in part A, the result shows significant difference between two endorsers, the celebrity endorser Kandy received a low score, which is lower than the â€Å"neutral† 3 point. The respondents disagree that Ka ndy is professional and has expertise towards the product. In contrast, the expert endorser Albert Li received a positive score, the respondents perceived Albert as professional and expert. Summary of Part A Part A: Endorser Credibility| | N| Mean| Std. Deviation| Std. Error Mean| Kandy| 203| 3. 26| . 892| . 063|Albert| 203| 3. 3113| . 67810| . 04759| Comparing the credibility attributes between celebrity and expert endorser in part A, which is for the attractive-related aqua cream skin care product from the brand â€Å"Super†, the celebrity endorser Kandy only has the advantage in the â€Å"Attractiveness† compared to the expert endorser Albert. On the contrary, the expert endorser has a higher grade in â€Å"trustworthiness†, â€Å"expertise†, â€Å"believability† and â€Å"likability† attributes compared to Kandy. Especially in the area of â€Å"expertise†, while Albert had 3. 54 points while the celebrity only had 2. 30 points.The result shows that the expert endorser Albert Li is having advantages in more attributes of credibility than Kandy. To conclude all the credibility attributes, Albert received a slightly higher mean score (3. 1113) than Kandy (3. 26), as shown in table. Results in Part B Part B: Comparison of Celebrity and Expert Endorsers| | Mean| N| Std. Deviation| Std. Error Mean| Pair 1| C:The endorser is attractive| 3. 44| 203| . 790| . 055| | E:The endorser is attractive| 2. 10| 203| . 605| . 042| Pair 2| C:The endorser's image is positive | 2. 72| 203| . 840| . 059| | E:The endorser's image is positive| 3. 0| 203| . 887| . 062| Pair 3| C:The endorser is trustworthy| 2. 80| 203| . 890| . 062| | E:The endorser is trustworthy | 3. 54| 203| . 749| . 053| Pair 4| C:The endorser is honest| 2. 77| 203| . 868| . 061| | E:The endorser is honest| 3. 57| 203| . 757| . 053| Pair 5| C:The endorser is professional| 2. 67| 203| . 840| . 059| | E:The endorser is professional| 3. 59| 203| . 852| . 060| Attrac tiveness Attributes Attractiveness As shown in table 3, for the statement â€Å"The endorser is attractive† this is to test the attractiveness in the credibility scale, from the 5 point Likert scale, the celebrity has 3. 4 points, when the expert endorser only has 2. 10 points. The result shows that the celebrity Gaile in part B is perceived as attractive, with the score higher than the midpoint. However, the expert endorser Robert received a respectively low score than Gaile. The respondents didn’t find the expert endorser attractive in this part. Likability In testing the attribute â€Å"likability† with the statement â€Å"The endorser's image is positive†, the celebrity endorser has 2. 72 points and the expert endorser has 3. 50 points. Gaile has the score lower than the midpoint, while Robert is perceived as likable in this part.Trustworthiness Attributes Trustworthiness In testing the attribute â€Å"trustworthiness† with the statement  "The endorser is trustworthy†, the celebrity endorser Gaile has 2. 80 points and the expert endorser Robert has 3. 54 points. The result shows that the respondents disagree that Gaile is trustworthy in this advertisement, while they found the expert endorser Robert more trustworthy than Gaile. Honesty In testing the attribute â€Å"Honesty† with the statement â€Å"The endorser is honest†, the celebrity endorser has 2. 77 points and the expert endorser has 3. 57 points.The result shows that respondents find that Robert is more honest in the advertisement than Gaile, since they graded Gaile a score lower than midpoint (2. 77). Expertise Attribute Professional In testing the attribute â€Å"expertise† with the statement â€Å"The endorser is professional†, the celebrity endorser has 2. 67 points and the expert endorser has 3. 59 points. The respondents graded a low score for Gaile in this attributes, which shows that they did not perceive Gaile as pro fessional and expert in this advertisement. On the other hand, Robert, the expert endorser is perceived as professional and expert.Summary of Part B Part B Credibility| | N| Mean| Std. Deviation| Std. Error Mean| Celebrity Endorser| 203| 2. 8828| . 68553| . 04811| Expert Endorser| 203| 3. 2197| . 62711| . 04401| Comparing the credibility attributes between celebrity and expert endorser in part B, which is for the hand cream and body emulsion from the brand â€Å"Super†, the celebrity endorser Gaile only has the advantage in the â€Å"Attractiveness† attribute compared to the expert endorser Robert, while Robert has the lowest score in this attribute, compared to other attributes.On the contrary, the expert endorser has a higher grade in â€Å"trustworthiness†, â€Å"expertise†, â€Å"honesty† and â€Å"likability† attributes compared to Gaile. In addition to this, Gaile has been graded relatively low points in these four attributes; all of t hese attributes are lower than the midpoint score. The lowest score is found at the â€Å"expertise† attribute, while Gaile only received 2. 67 point. To Combined the credibility attribute in part B, which is the comparison towards the health-related product hand cream and body emulsion, the celebrity endorser Gaile has an overall mean of 2. 828 points, compared to the 3. 2197 points of the expert endorser Robert, as shown in Table 4. The expert endorser Robert is perceived more credible than the celebrity endorser Gaile in this advertisement, in addition to this, the average score of Gaile is lower than the midpoint(3). The result shows that respondents disagree that Gaile is a credible endorser. Comparison between Celebrity Endorsers Mean Score of Celebrity Endorsers’ Credibility Attributes| | Kandy| Gaile| Attractive| 3. 87| 3. 44| Likability| 3. 51| 2. 72| Attractiveness Average| 3. 69| 3. 08|Honesty| 3. 38| 2. 77| Trustworthy| 3. 25| 2. 80| Trustworthiness Average | 3. 315| 2. 785| Expertise| 2. 30| 2. 67| Average Score| 3. 26| 2. 8828| In the table, it has shown the mean score of celebrity endorsers’ credibility attributes, combining part A and part B, which is Kandy and Gaile respectively. The average attribute score of each endorser is highlighted in the table. It can be seen that both of the celebrity received highest point in the â€Å"Attractiveness† attribute (3. 69 and 3. 08), on the other hand, thy both received lowest point in the â€Å"Expertise† attribute (2. 0 and 2. 67) among the other attributes. For the â€Å"Trustworthiness† attribute, Kandy received 3. 315 points while Gaile only had 2. 785, which was lower than midpoint 3. The result shows that the respondents perceived celebrity endorsers as attractive in the advertisements, making it the most significant attributes among the credibility attributes. However, respondents disagree celebrity is professional and expert in the advertisement, as the s core of the â€Å"expertise† attribute of the celebrity is both lower than the midpoint of the likert scale.The result also shows that Kandy has a higher credibility average score than Gaile, while Kandy has an average score (3. 26) above the midpoint. Kandy were all graded above the midpoint in the attributes of â€Å"Attractiveness† (3. 87), â€Å"Likability†(3. 51), â€Å"Believability†(3. 38) and â€Å"Trustworthiness†(3. 25), however, Gaile was all graded below the midpoint in the attributes of â€Å"Likability†(2. 72), â€Å"Expertise† (2. 67) â€Å"Believability†(2. 77) and â€Å"Trustworthiness†(2. 80) average score is below the midpoint level.Besides the â€Å"expertise† attribute, Kandy received higher points than Gaile among the other attribute. It indicated that the respondents perceived Kandy as a celebrity endorser who is more credible than Gaile. Comparison between Expert Endorsers Mean Score of Exp ert Endorsers| | Robert1| Robert2| Attractive| 3. 34| 2. 10| Likability| 3. 52| 3. 50| Attractiveness Average| 3. 43| 2. 8| Trustworthy| 3. 42| 3. 54| Honesty| 3. 54| 3. 57| Trustworthiness Average| 3. 48| 3. 555| Expertise| 3. 80| 3. 59| Average Score| 3. 3113| 3. 2197|As shown in the table, it indicated the mean score of expert endorsers’ credibility attributes, combing part A and part B, which is Albert Li and Robert Kwon respectively. The highest and lowest score of each endorser is highlighted in the table. It can be seen that both of the expert endorser received highest point in the â€Å"Expertise† attribute (3. 80 and 3. 59), on the other hand, thy both received lowest point in the â€Å"Attractiveness† (3. 43 and 2. 8) among the other attributes. Robert had a slightly higher point(3. 555) than Albert (3. 48) in the â€Å"Trustworthiness† attribute.The result shows that the respondents perceived celebrity endorsers as attractive in the advertiseme nts, making it the most significant attributes among the credibility attributes. However, respondents only found Albert is attractive. For Robert in the part B advertisement, the score of the â€Å"attractiveness† attribute was lower than the midpoint of the likert scale. There is a significant contrast between two expert endorsers toward this attribute. Despite of the contrast of the â€Å"attractiveness† attribute, the expert endorsers were graded above the agreement level and received a similar result in other credibility attributes.The average score of two expert endorsers is very close (3. 31113 and 3. 2197). The result shows that respondents perceived expert endorsers in these two advertisements as credible and most significantly, professional. Summary of Celebrity and Expert endorser | Credibility Attributes Between Celebrity and Expert Endorsers| Mean Score| Celebrity A| 3. 26| Expert A| 3. 3113| Mean Score| Celebrity B| 2. 8828| Expert B| 3. 2197| Average Scor e| 3. 0714| 3. 2655| Since the expert endorsers were grade a higher score in terms of credibility in both part A and part B.We can conclude that H2: Celebrity endorser has a better performance in the general measure of â€Å"Endorser Credibility† is rejected. Endorser Credibility to Particular Advertising Effectiveness Attributes As the â€Å"H1:credibility of endorsers significantly affects advertisement effectiveness† has been accepted, in the following section, the relationship of endorsers’ credibility and particular advertising effectiveness attributes –brand attitude; attitude towards the advertisement and purchase intention would be tested in order to gain a deeper understanding to the study.Celebrity endorsers to Advertising Effectiveness The celebrity endorsers’ credibility would be group as â€Å"CelebExpertise†, which is the mean score of endorsers’ expertise; â€Å"CelebTrustworthy†, which is the mean score of endor sers’ trustworthiness and â€Å"CelebAttractive† is the mean score of endorsers’ at

Legalizing Drugs: The Ultimate Alternative to Cease the Drug War

For years, the United States has constantly been in the midst of a war. As a matter of fact, it is a war that is extreme, costly, and very exposed. Not only is it fought within the U.S. boundaries, but also in foreign shores. This so-called war is the War on Drugs. No one can argue that drugs are like a plague in our society. However, as bad as the effect of drugs on our society is, the effect of prohibition is worse. Federal government has spent billions of dollars on the struggle to end this war. Even the state and local government have spent millions of dollars to cease this war. Local reformers also contribute to this war by generating their own versions of the war and by recruiting as many community groups and leaders as they can to further the effort, but it all seems useless because no favorable results have been obtained so far. The best way to cease this everlasting war is to legalize drugs. Legalizing drugs will help the community as a whole because it will save many lives, help reduce crimes rates, improve research for medicine, and increase the government’s income. By legalizing drugs, hundred of lives can be saved each year. Many of the deaths that are now categorized as â€Å"drug overdose† are, in fact, caused by drugs that are purer than the users’ accustomed dose. This will cause an overdose by merely taking the dose to which they are accustomed. Other deaths are caused by the drugs being â€Å"cut† or diluted with impure or dangerous substances. At present, drugs are cut with anything from relatively harmless things such as baking soda, powdered sugar, lactose and corn starch to poisons like strychnine and arsenic. Legal drugs would fall under the supervision and standards of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), thereby insuring cleaner and purer drugs at consistent dosages. In addition, intravenous and intramuscular drugs could be packaged in single use syringes that are designed to be destroyed by the act of using them once. Thus, preventing the reuse and sharing of needles. This will reduce the spread of AIDs, hepatitis, and many other types of infections. Hence, more lives saved, as well as the reduction of burden on many public resources since many drug abusers cannot afford to pay for medical treatment. The government would have control of all drugs. Once the government has control over the drugs, private industries would be in control of the sale of the drugs. Society learned from the, prohibition of alcohol during the 1920’s, â€Å"private industry is much easier to control compared to public industry or the black market† (Prohibition of Alcohol). Legalizing drugs with the appropriate regulation and control would severely limit the access of drugs to children. Just as minors cannot legally but alcohol, they would not be able to walk into a state regulated drug store and buy drugs. Under the present conditions, drug dealers do not care if he customer is 5 years old or 50 years old. These drug dealers are only concerned on the amount of money that goes into their pockets. New laws would be imposed to the people who can but drugs, how much a person can buy, and where the person can buy drugs. Therefore, this would create a safer and more organized society. Legalizing and regulating drug production and sale will eliminate a plethora of drug crimes, as well as crimes related to drugs. Crimes such smuggling, producing and selling drugs would cease to be profitable. It will also limit the availability of funds to finance other crimes such as illegal gambling, prostitution, extortion and terrorism. Former Nobel Prize Winner for Economics, Milton Friedman states, â€Å"The legalization of drugs would simultaneously reduce the number of crimes and improve the respect for the law. It is hard to imagine any other single provision which could make a more significant contribution to the promotion of law and order (Legalization of Drugs).† Being one of the world’s leading drug-related crime nation, the United States needs to diminish the crime rate. The best option is to obtain this is by legalizing drugs or else like former U.S. Secretary of State, George Schultz says â€Å"†¦ will never obtain any results as long as we are unable to separate crime from the drug business and the incitement to criminality this causes† (Legalization of Drugs). Drugs will likely be cheaper. The supply would be relatively consistent. Market forces such as â€Å"supply and demand† will be less of a determining price factor. Nor will the risk factor to dealers and smugglers affect price. The cost of producing most illegal drugs is minimal, particularly in an industrial setting. Therefore, legalization will reduce crimes such as burglary, mugging, and prostitution. Legalizing drugs would be useful in the medicinal world. It is probably one of the prime reasons why drugs should be legalized because it will be helpful for medical-related research. There are numerous ways in which drugs could be used in the medical field. For example, marijuana helps relieve pain caused by glaucoma. Glaucoma is a â€Å"group of eye diseases characterizes by an increase in intraocular pressure (Garcia, Matthews) † in the eyeball causing damage to the optic disc and impaired vision which sometimes develops into blindness for many people every year. Medical researchers found that as the dose of marijuana increases, the pressure within the eye decreases by up to a 30%, thus, lowering the risk of suffering from such a agonizing and dreadful disease (Garcia, Matthews). Cocaine is another drug which can be used because it was the first effective local anesthetic (Spillane, 2000). However, in the late 1880’s surgical procedures using local anesthetics was replaced by a general anesthesia solution. Several countries South America such as Peru and Bolivia still use coca as both a general stimulant and for more specific medical purposes (Spillane 2000). There are, however, some recent and so far uncertain signs of reviving interests in cocaine from the medical institutions and even coca itself for other medical purposes to be used in researches as well as in diagnosis and treatments. Another illegal drug useful for medical usages is heroin. Heroin was once and is still used as a powerful pain-killer which is used to control intense chronic pains caused by severe diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis (Schaffer). Researchers have found signs showing that heroin is significantly less harmful than most of the drugs which are given in its place. There are other ways drugs could be used for medical purposes, however, due to its illegal status there has not been many in-depth studies into the possible uses of illegal drugs as was initially hoped for. Not only will legalizing drugs help the medical community but it will take the medical world into a new horizon with these drugs. The federal government does not know how to control the great amount of money that they have spent on the war on drugs, which still continues. Yearly, â€Å"the federal government spends around $20 billion dollars (Mann, 2001)† on issues related to the war on drugs. Not only does legalizing drugs help needy organizations, but it also helps the community. The money that the government annually spends on the drug war could be used for building rehabilitation centers for handicapped citizens, building more schools to educate people on drugs, or go into funds for a medical or scientific research. According to former chief of the Planning Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, Theodore R. Vallance, â€Å"the legalization of the now illegal drugs would result in a net saving of $37 billion annual savings for the federal government (Vallance).† The federal government will also benefit from the increase in income due to taxation and licensing of drugs. Just like cig arettes and alcohol, drugs would be taxed. The tax imposed on these drugs should vary on how the drug affects the individuals who take drugs. Marijuana’s side effects, which as â€Å"loud talking and bursts of laughter, lack of memory in conversations, and chronic redness of the eyes (Glantz),† should have a smaller tax rate because its side effects are less severe compared to cocaine and heroin’s side effects. By placing different tax rates on different drugs, according to their side effects, users would start using softer drugs and the usage of harder drugs would be less common because of its high cost. People would have to either start paying to obtain harder drugs or they would diminish their drug use. Drug sales are probably the largest untaxed markets in the United States and around the world, hence, if drugs were legalized, the money from taxing drugs would be used for more serious problems. In short, legalizing drugs will benefit the community at a larger extent. The overly fought, absurd Drug War has been, is, and will continue to be an absolute failure if the United States continues to struggle with it like it has done. Instead, actions needs to be taken and the ultimate alternative is to legalize all drugs. By doing so, a number of lives are saved in many ways. Legalization helps reduce crime, making the community a safer place to live in. Legalization also allows for the exploring or research in the field of medicine. Lastly, the government can save money, but its income will also increase. Works Cited Garcia, G., Matthews, L. â€Å"Laser and Eye Safety in the Laboratory.† New York: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1995): 102 Glantz, Meyer D. â€Å"Correlates and Consequences of Marijuana Use.† Washington D.C.: METROTEC (1984):37 Mann, Judy. â€Å"Money Spent of Drug War Could Be Put To Better Use.† Washington Post (D.C.) 17 October 2001: C12 Nadelmann, Ethan A. â€Å"An Unwinnable   War on Drugs.† New York Times. 26 April 2001: A23 Spillane, Joseph. Cocaine: from medical marvel to modern menace in the United States. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press (2000): 58-61 Schaffer, Clifford A. â€Å"Basic Facts About the War on Drugs.† Drug Reform Coordination Network.   

How Iceland Was Formed Essay

Iceland, situated on top of a hotspot experiences severe volcanic activity one of the most well known eruptions was in 2010 when Eyjafjallajokull erupted seriously disrupting European air traffic. Iceland is situated is situated in the mid Atlantic ridge a seam in the Earth’s surface under the North Atlantic Ocean where the Eurasian and North American plates slide apart. This island has more than 200 volcanoes which is thought to be what created this island. This picture shows that Iceland sits on a constructive plate boundary as the newest parts of the island are right in the middle of the island, in fact, the new parts are in such a way that you could probably make out whereabouts the boundary is in relation to island. This theory is also confirmed by the way that the oldest parts of the island are right on the outside of Iceland. This picture shows where island is in relation to the mid Atlantic ridge and as you can see it is almost right in the middle of it. This picture also shows that the plates are moving away from each other, suggesting that the mid ocean ridge is going to get bigger as time goes on. Which means Iceland could expand a bit as well. This picture shows an aerial picture of a fissure zone in Thingvellir, Iceland, that is a land exposure in the mid Atlantic ridge. To the right of the fissure is the North American plate pulling west away from the Eurasian plate which is to the left of the fissure.

State with reasons the aims which you consider are relevant for Essay

State with reasons the aims which you consider are relevant for present day education. What social factors are likely to influence learners' achievements of these aims - Essay Example The various aims could be identified and compartmentalized under the following heads: 1. Development of cognitive skills: When a child grows up into an adolescent and later on into an adult, it has to be gradually trained to observe and understand various things, principles and aspects of life. The environment teaches many things but if the learner is not properly trained to understand things in the proper perspective, then s/he is likely to misunderstand many principles which ultimately may have an adverse impact on the entire life. It is here that education steps in and assumes a responsible role of helping the learner to observe and understand things in the proper perspective. Under Instructional objectives in any learning exercise the " cognitive objectives assume primary significance and these comprise, i. Knowledge ii. Comprehension iii. Application iv. Analysis v. Synthesis and vi. Evaluation "2 ( Rashid,M 1999) The main perceptive skills of seeing, hearing, and feeling have to be gradually developed to a mature level of understanding to make the learner's jud gment faultless and worthwhile. The various subjects he studies at school, the various exercises he is put under and the instructions given by his teachers greatly help to hone the understanding skills. This helps him to perceive different stimuli properly and assimilate their import properly in his memory file, and for later reference and judgment. The periodical tests and examinations aim at evaluating how well the learner has been developing his cognitive skills so as to understand the issues involved in various problems and come up with acceptable, if not entirely ideal, solutions. If this aim of education is achieved, full credit can be given to such an education and the educators. 2. Development of analytical skills: At every point in a grown-up individual's life, whether he is an adolescent or an adult, he or she is called upon to take decisions on various issues, affecting their lives as well as those of others. Unless he takes the right decisions, his further actions cannot be expected to bear favourable results. More often than not, problems crop up in different places, mainly because some of the concerned individuals are not able to analyse problems correctly, with the result, they take wrong decisions which have an adverse impact on all persons concerned. This can be avoided only if all the persons associated with a problem have a fairly good ability to analyze things in the proper perspective and arrive at a reasonably good decisions. This is possible only when the education they had received had equipped them with proper skills to study things with patience and concentration so that they don't commit any error in understanding the issues involved. Obje ctive analytical skills is based mainly on one's ability to take in things as they are and start asking relevant questions which are likely to bring out more information concerning the issues. This way a proper understanding of the entire problem is ensured. Understanding paves the way for solutions in many problems. This is what education trains in individuals when it coaches the students with a variety of mathematical and scientific problems, which form the training ground for developing the problem solving skills to

The effects that standardized tests have on america's students Research Paper

The effects that standardized tests have on america's students - Research Paper Example Consequently, many people and various organizations have used the term for a long time to advocate for as well as champion for their rights, thereby making the word very powerful. For instance, various women’s suffrage, Civil Rights movements, among others have fought for equality for the human race no matter black or white, male or female, rich or poor just to mention a few. In America, the standards – based educational reform introduced the standardized tests in order to raise America’s standard of achievement in the education sector. This has been part of American education system from the 1800s and its use increased in 2002 after enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that mandated yearly testing within the 50 states (McMeans 5). According to James Popham, former president of the American Educational Research Association, standardized tests refers to tests administered, scored, and later interpreted in a predetermined and standard manner (Higgins 12 ). The policy accorded high priority student performance with the aim of increasing student and school performance, thereby preparing American students to compete favorably for opportunities on the international stage. Proponents argue that standardized tests entail a fair as well as objective means of examining student achievement (Phelps 23). This makes schools and teachers more accountable to the taxpayers who are the parents. Therefore, standardized tests promote equality among students ensuring that all Americans pass a given tests in order to move to the next level. Despite the support and recognition given to standardized tests and the equality, it proves ambiguous since logically it is unattainable on earth. This is because when it is pursued beyond excellence or freedom, it can turn out to be very dangerous (Stahlman 242). The dangers of championing for equality beyond excellence are displayed in the story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†, written by Kurt Vonnegut. However, opponents of standardized tests claim that the tests are neither objective nor fair and that their use encourages a narrow curriculum as well as drill like teaching to the test situation (Visone & EdD 95). Moreover, the tests compromise the ability of America to produce critical thinkers and innovators. Vonnegut in his story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† clearly dwells on the theme of the dangers of total equity. He asserts that absolute equality is not a perfect and worth striving for by human beings (Dougherty 176). This is because it is a misguided goal that proves dangerous both in the execution and in its outcome. Therefore, the search for equality above excellence or freedom is very dangerous. This is because application of equality in some situations and in areas that it cannot and should not exist might restrict excellence as well as liberty (Harris, Bruce & Harris 56). This is because in life human beings are not equal in some things and will never be. According to Abraha m Lincoln’s speech during the Declaration of Independence, people are not equal in size, colour, moral development, intellect, as well as social capacity (Crossley 2). Therefore, the fact remains that human beings are different in various things, in both physical and mental realms, and thus it is impossible to achieve total equality. Thus, just like in the Vonnegut’s story, standardized tests promote absolute equality. This is dangerous due to several

Women in Sciences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Women in Sciences - Essay Example Other men and women scientists spoke from firsthand experience about the difficulties encountered by women scientists in the past and the present. Participants responded to working papers describing the current state of research on each subject and to an evolving plan for discussion. (Gerhard, 1995) Throughout, the principal objective was to identify questions, ideas, theories, and methods, which might contribute to a new research agenda on the subject of women in science, most likely in biological sciences. Biological sciences, today requires the contribution of modern women to think about the several critical aspects, which are never highlighted in such a manner, as they are highlighted today. Today's women are well aware of those facts due to which the importance of women in the field of "biology" urges women to contribute. The main reason apart from the predominating world of men lies in different aspects relating to women psychology which leads women to think in umpteen ways of criticism, the inferiority complex men has developed within women throughout the nations and the rejection of women appearance in several fields in the past. Today's woman has faced criticism while stepping in Biological sciences in many ways, criticism can be considered from two points of view. (Gerhard, 1995) Criticism, as an activity intimation connected with the pursuit of biology, one that is rendered necessary by the fact that biology is a growing subject, and its growth is not a simple matter of accumulation, but involves frequent readjustment between theory and observation. Women have suffered to be illiterate in the beginning of that era which was governed by men's superiority. Despite of the biological supremacy, which she possesses in the form of delivering not only an individual but also a personality, she has still suffered by not subjecting towards biological sciences. Today's women have understood all the crises for which she was not subjected to biology, so she is now passing a threshold beyond which gender no longer matters in determining career outcomes. Women biologists in this era are doing as well as their male counterparts. Among the younger women in the physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering, for example, the average academic status is almost one full rank below the men's. A partial explanation may be that women have achieved a "critical mass" in biology, where they make up a higher percentage of the population than in physics or chemistry or in any other subject. In addition, the attitudes and behaviors of female and male biologists may have created an atmosphere that is more hospitable to women, thus shrinking the gender gap. (Gerhard, 1995) The current status of women in science is a blend of decisive advance and unfulfilled promise, unfulfilled in the sense that the women in sufferance had always kept on promises for the last two decades, she had always prompted to bear the domination from men with

Planning for sustainable water quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Planning for sustainable water quality - Essay Example In the past, majority of ecological and human crises originate from inadequate access to, and mismanagement of water resources. Aquatic ecosystems, land, and community goals may be destroyed in the process of harnessing water. The growing population may increase water-related problems, and the state has to plan for sustainable water projects. Sustainability guarantees access to basic amounts of water necessary for sustaining human health and to sustain the ecosystem. Sustainability of water resources provides room for renewal of these resources ensuring a constant supply of water. Environmental planning agencies have to assess water quality changes associated with land use activities. The main factors influencing water quality are vegetation, farming methods, and soil type. Rain water contains dissolved gases and minerals (150). These minerals react chemically with the soil constituents when rain water reaches the ground. Land use alters the composition and texture of the surface soi l. The initial interference involved dumping of human and animal wastes into water systems. Improved farming techniques such as the use of fertilizers and pesticides interfere with water quality. Fertilizer and pesticides runoff increase the nutrient levels present in water naturally. Most of these pesticides contain harmful chemicals that cause water poisoning and chemical reactions in the water. Some of the chemicals are volatile and deposited in the air due to exposure to the atmosphere. Chemicals dissolved in water affect natural minerals in the water and they affect marine and human lives. Deforestation is popular in forests, which are also the catchment areas of rivers. Some farmers practice poor farming methods that loosen the soil structure. Activities such as overstocking and overgrazing deprive the land vegetation cover that cements soil particles together. Runoff from these areas contains sediments that are washed into water sources. Sediment loading increases the amount of soil particles and minerals in water sources. In urban areas, industries produce chemical effluent and gases that contaminate water pathways and the atmosphere (157). These gases dissolve in rain water to form acidic rainfall or increase chemical components in the water. Industrial waste washed into watersheds contains poisonous metals and chemicals that cause health complication in animals and humans. Planners must consider the effect of different land uses on the water quality. Minimizing effluent from industries and agricultural can improve the quality of water distributed to homesteads. The federal government passed the Clean Water Act that regulates discharges of pollutants into water bodies and regulates the quality standards for surface water. In this act, EPA has implemented programs to control water pollution such as setting wastewater standards for industries. According to CWA, discharging pollutants from a point source into navigable waters is unlawful unless a permit is acquired. Point sources are conveyances such as man-made ditches and pipes that carry water. The act also provides assistance to public water treatment projects that improve wastewater treatment (160). These projects convert wastewater to safe water that can be utilized by ordinary citizens. Industries cannot discharge waste water directly into public water treatments areas without prior purification. The pretreatment aims at reducing toxic wastes discharged into these treatment works. EPA has also