Tesla Motors Essay Example for Free

Tesla Motors Essay Strength 1. They developed 1st fully electric sports car â€Å"The Roadster†Ã¢â‚¬ ¨ 2. Also a strong supplier to other manufacturers like Toyota†¨ 3. Strong technological expertise in the area of electric transmissions drive train†¨ 4. Ability to develop vehicles completely in house including the sub-assemblies required 5. Their current platform developed for Model S has the ability to be used for their future crossover model or any other model they envision Weakness. 1.Since they fully develop the vehicles including their sub-assemblies this leads to higher costs of production as economies of scale are not achieved†¨ 2. The prices of their products are higher than their competitors who sell combustion engine powered vehicles Opportunity 1. The growing support by governments across the globe for environmentally friendly vehicles in form of exemptions from duties other support†¨ 2.Supports the Mercedes’ Smart car, which can lead to learning which will help them with their passenger cars which they plan to launch in near future†¨ 3.Improvements in the quality control processes can reduce these costs drastically Threats. 1.Tesla wants to be able to produce, distribute sell its cars to average which seems difficult to achieve due to their current business model†¨ 2. Their strategy for pricing (skimming) has not been used so far in the auto industry†¨ 3. They are currently competing against a technology which has been in use for over hundred years i.e. the combustion engines also their technology may take time for being optimal for use of masses Competition. Competitors 1. Chevrolet Volt 2. Toyota Prius 3. Honda Civic Hybrid 4. Toyota Rav4 Hybrid 5. Smart Car.

Effects of Cor and US on Taxol Production of Taxus x Media

Effects of Cor and US on Taxol Production of Taxus x Media SUMMARY OF PROPOSED RESEARCH INCLUDING KEY GOALS For scientifically qualified assessors: Taxol is a natural diterpenoid alkaloid first isolated from the inner bark of pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia (Wani et al., 1971) and widely use in the pharmaceutical industry as the antitumor agents. However, low taxol content, high cost of extraction and the destruction of yew trees spark a major environmental controversy and cause a problem to fulfil its growing demand. The application of plant tissue culture technique has appeared as an eco-friendly method and feasible approach for commercial supply, but the production rate of this secondary metabolite are still very low. Only 10% of taxol secreted in the extracellular medium of T x media suspension cultures (Wickremesinhe and Arteca, 1993). These problems prompted a great effort to discover and identify the alternative means to enhance the mass production of taxol in plant cell cultures. In this study, elicitation using coronatine (Cor) and ultrasound (US) will be used for synthesis and transport of taxol. Cor is a toxin produced by Pseudomonas syringae and can act as a plant growth regulator and stimulates the defence mechanism in plants. Meanwhile, Low-intensity US is a physical or mechanical stimulus that can enhance the cellular transporter activity and trigger the pathway of defence-related secondary metabolites. It is hypothesized that the taxol accumulation in Taxus x media culture is higher than control (unelicited) and single treatment after treated with Cor and low- energy US. The experiment will use two-stage suspension culture and longitudinally young stem as the explant. The effect of these two elicitors on biomass production and taxol production will be analysed. At the end of this study, it is expected that the taxol production and cell growth will show positive result after elicited with Cor and low-energy US. This study will be a significant endeavour in enhance the release of taxol through elicitation approach. For lay readers: Secondary metabolites are chemicals produced by plants and do not have any physiological functions, but use as flavour, food colours, fragrances and pharmaceutical study. Taxus species are one of the medicinal plants that can produce natural anti-cancer agents known as taxol. However, over exploitation of natural sources of taxol from bark, stem, roots and needles put yew trees as an endangered species. Besides, the low yield and slow growth of yew trees limit its potential as a viable source of taxol. Thus, it is important to find alternative method to increase the taxol production in Taxus sp. The production of taxol from Taxus x media can be greatly enhanced through elicitation. Elicitation is a method to stimulate the gene expression of enzymes responsible for the synthesis of secondary metabolites. The substance used in stimulating the production of exuded compound is called elicitor. Elicitor is formed inside or outside of plant cells and imitate as a stress to activate the pla nt defence systems and cause qualitative and quantitative changes in the secondary metabolite content. Two elicitors that will be used in this study are Coronatine (Cor) and low-energy ultrasound (US). Plants use Cor to build defensive compounds and as growth regulators. US, on the other hand can stimulated the cell membrane permeabilization and encourage the release of taxol to culture medium. Plant cell cultures will be used to retrieve the secondary metabolite on demand by maintain the growth of plant cells in aseptic condition with appropriate supply of nutrients. It is expected that the accumulation of taxol treated with elicitors is higher than the untreated culture. This study will provide a good understanding about the effect of elicitors in activate the chemical defence system in plants and directly stimulate the production of taxol. RESEARCH Outcomes / Products What is the proposed outcome of your project: It is expected that all treatments will give significant increase of taxol accumulation when compared with control. Combination between Cor and US exposure will improve the extracellular and cell-associated taxol production. The expected taxol production from the treatment of both Cor and US is 20 to 50% higher than control. Elicitation of Taxus x media using Cor and US also will enhance the cell growth. The use of suspension culture will be one of the reasons that improve the accumulation of taxol and can be a good strategy for the continous production of taxol. Why is it important? Taxol is well known anti-cancer drug derived from natural source of Taxus species. However, direct extraction from yew trees has subjected them as an endangered species. On the other hand, the process of extraction and purification of taxol is also time consuming and not economically feasible. Thus, plant tissue culture is a promising approach to obtain this secondary metabolite. However, one of the main problems in increase the taxol production is instability in the synthesis of secondary metabolite. In order to maximize the yield of taxol, the combination of biotic and abiotic elicitor can be a good strategy. Besides, the elicitation approach is also more economical beneficial compare with other methods such as precursor feeding, phytohormone regulation and biotransformation. US is a simple but effective elicitor while Cor is expected has the similar biological activity as methyl jasmonate (MeJA), the most common elicitor used in stimulate secondary metabolites. The results from th is study can provide a fundamental understanding of the effects of US in combination with Cor on the production of secondary metabolite and plant cell culture. Understanding how Taxus x media cell culture react with these two elicitors can provide a a beneficial in link the growth rate with the production of taxol. DETAILS OF RESEARCH PROJECT Introduction and Background: Taxus species are medicinal plants and members of the Taxaceae family that can produce taxol, a chemotheraphy drug used widely in cancers treatment. FDA approval of taxol in 1992 and a series of success of taxol in clinical test for various cancers led to massive demand for this active substance. The increase of demand was expected since taxol also useful to combact non-canceorus disorders, such as polycystic kidney disease (Woo et al., 1994). However, it is difficult to perform large-scale culture because of the difficulty to gain this active compound from natural source. Three mature, century-old yew trees would produce only 1 g of taxol. It is estimated that about 10 tons of bark or felling of 3000 trees was needed to yield 1 kg of purified taxol to treat 500 cancer patients. Besides, the natural source of taxol from yew trees is only about 0.01% to 0.06% (Sung et al., 2005). All these concerns have prompted extensive efforts in find the method that can increase the mass productio n taxol. Taxus x media is choose for this study since it is good starting materials for the taxol production via biotechnological technique. Besides, the amount of taxol produce by this cultivar is the highest among other Taxus species (Table 1). The elicitation approach has been one of the most promising strategies in improve the mass production of taxol and other secondary metabolites in cell cultures (Roberts ND Shuler, 1997). The idea of using elicitor arise from the defence pathway utilize by plant in deal with environmental stress, pathogenic microorganisms, insects and higher herbivorous predators by stimulate the production of offensive chemicals like secondary metabolites. One of the most commonly studied and effective biotic elicitor is methyl jasmonate (MeJA). However, the report that Cor resemble the biological activity of the jasmonic acid gives an idea that the mode of action between these two compounds could be similar. The chemical structure of Cor is more stable than MeJA because of the rigid cis-orientation in its bi-cyclic skeleton. This lead to the higher levels of induction in the production of secondary metabolites by plant cells treated with Cor when compare with those treated with natural JA. Although Cor stimulated paclitaxel production with less efficiency than MeJA, it resulted in higher paclitaxel excretion to the liquid phases of culture medium. Besides that, there are not many reports about the influence of Cor on the production of secondary metabolite in plant cell suspension culture. Table 1: Content (wt %) of selected taxanes in different species of Taxus plants (Lin Lidong, 2003) The combination of biotic and abiotic elicitor had synergistic effects to taxol production in many reports. Thus, it is expected that the combine use of Cor with a physical stimulus like US might increase the yield of taxol in the Taxus culture. Generally, the abiotic elicitors use in experimental studies is chemical agents, heavy metals and biochemical agents like polysaccharides and organic acid. The use of US to biotechnology is relatively new and not many reports can be found on the effects of US in increase the useful secondary metabolites. This simple and effective elicitor can activate cells or enzymes and induced plant defence metabolism by ultrasonic waves. High intensity US waves can bring detrimental effect to cells, enzymes and other biological materials. Meanwhile, low intensity US waves can change the cellular metabolism, improve the mass transfer of reagents and enhance the release of intracellular products from cultured cells by increase the membrane permeability. The use of US will not disrupt the culture process and allow continuous use of cell’s biosynthetic capacity (Kilby and Hunter, 1990). US deserve an extensive research regarding its effects in plant secondary metabolite due to its wide application in biological field. The combination of Cor and US has great prospect and economic benefits in enhance the taxol production at low cost. Until now, there is no study or information about the effect of Cor and US and their combination on the Taxus species. Work which has led up to the project: The production of taxol using cell cultures were first reported by Christen et al., in 1989. Cell suspension cultures can emit secondary metabolites into growth medium. For instance, the production of resveratrol in the medium was higher than in the cell (Zamboni et al., 2009). Work by Kajani et al., in 2010 on Taxus baccata L cell culture showed that 74.9 % of total taxanes was exuded to growth medium (5. 584 mg/ L). Roberts et al., in 2003 reported that suspension culture of Taxus canadensis secreted more than 90% of the total taxol to the medium after treated with cell wall enzymes. Cell culture of Taxus chinensis emitted 90% of the total paclitaxel in medium with chitosan (Zhang et al., 2007). Komaraiah et al., in 2003 reported that up to 70% of the plumbagin in Plumbago rosea cell culture were released into the medium. Taxol accumulate at high level (1.5 mg/L) in the second phase of growth Previous research by J. Wu and L. Lin in 2003 on the application of US as a physical stimulus and MeJA in increase the mass production of taxol in Taxus chinensis becomes a fundamental reference for this study. Their study showed that the taxol yield was increased about 1.5- to 1.8-fold with 2 minutes US exposure once or twice during a 4 week culture period. Meanwhile, the total taxol after treated with MeJA increase about 5-fold. The percentage of extracellular taxol and cell-associated taxol also showed significant increase. The taxol production from combination between US and MeJA treatment was 20 to 50% higher than each of the treatment used alone. Another research by Wu and Lin in 2002 found that low energy US can play a role as abiotic elicitor to trigger the plant defence responses and induce the production of plant metabolite in cell cultures. Apart from that, US also can increase the cell membrane permeabilization to increase the efficiency of intracellular product release. In their previous study, they found that the combination of US stimulation and in situ solvent extraction in a Lithospermum erythrorhizan cell culture led to 2 to 3-fold increases in the yield of shikonin. Tamogami and Kodama reported in 2000 that Accumulation of flavonoid phytoalexins in rice occurred when treated with Cor. This shown that the effect of Cor on flavonoid production was greater than that of JA or its precursor, 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA). Cor also gave positive result in the alkaloid production in Eschscholzia californica cell cultures (Haider et al., 2000). The previous work by also showed the greater increase in the accumulation of glyceollins, the phytoalexins of soybean (Glycine max. L.), in soybean cell suspension cultures after treated with Cor. Besides, the effect of Cor in induced the phytoalexin productin was greatly better when compared with JA and MeJA. (Fliegmann et al., 2003; Lauchli et al, 2002). Aims of the project: To study the biological and synergistic effects of Cor and US on the taxol production of Taxus x media cell culture. (d) Experimental design and methods to be used in investigating this problem: Cell culture establishment Approximately 1.0 cm long section of longitudinal young stem of Taxus x media will be wash with distilled water and soak in 70% (v/v) ethanol for 30 to 60 seconds. After that, the stem will be surface sterilized by immersion in 1.5% sodium hypochlorite with a few drops of Tween 20 for 20 to 30 minutes. After sterilization, the explants will be rinsed 3 times with sterile distilled water. Next, the longitudinally halved stem sections will be placed with the inner cut surface in contact with the solid Gamborg’s B5 media to induce calli. The media supplemented/ fortified with 3.0% sucrose (w/v), 0.8% agar (w/v), 1 mg/L 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 0.5 mg/L 6-Benzyladenine (BA), at pH 5.5. All of the cultures will be placed in darkness at 25oC for 25 days. To obtain a homogenous callus, several subcultures of calli will be done every 3 weeks. The snow, friable and massive callus will be used as the inoculums for cell suspension culture. Cor treatment The same media without agar will be used for cell suspension culture. About 10 g of fresh weight of callus will be used as the inoculums and inoculated into 300 mL conical flasks containing 100 mL liquid growth B5 medium and placed on orbital shakers (120 rpm) at 25oC in darkness. 1 uM Cor will be added to the shake-flask culture on day 7 post inoculation since the Taxus cell culture is expected to be in the middle of a rapid growth phase, which is usually a favourable time for elicitor treatment in most plant cell cultures. 3) US treatment An ultrasonic cleaning bath will be used to sonicate the cells in Erlenmeyer flasks from the shake-flask culture (Lin et al., 2001). The bath will had a fixed frequency of 38.5 KHz and variable power levels. The bath temperature wwill be maintained at 25 ±0.5oC. The culture will be sonicated at level 2 US power (corresponding to 13.7 mW/ cm3 in the culture) once (on day 5, 9, or 16) or twice (day 5 and day 9) for 2 min each time (total US energy of each exposure = power x period = 1.64 J/cm3). The US power and exposure period will be selected based on the study by Lin et al., (2001) and Lin and Wu in 2002. Determination of cell density The cells in the shake-flasks will be separated from the medium by filtration through a Whatman filter paper under vacuum. The wet cell mass will be rinsed thoroughly with deionized water and then dried at 50oC in an oven to constant weight. Taxol extraction and determination The taxol content in powdered dried cell and medium in the culture flasks will be extracted by methods previously described by Wu and Lin (2003). The dried cells will pulverized and suspended in 10 mL methanol, filtered and air-dried. After that, the cells will be re-dissolved in dichloromethane: water (1:1, v/v) followed by centrifugation at 5000 rpm. Dichloromethane phase will be collected, air-dried and re-dissolved in 100  µL methanol (HPLC grade) and filtered passing through a 0.45  µm syringe filter, before being injected to HPLC. The taxol content in the extract solution will be quantified by HPLC system, equipped with a C-18 column of 25 x 4.6 mm dimension. Taxol will be eluted with a linear gradient of acetonitrile and water (45: 55, v/v)/ at a flow rate of 1 mL/min with UV detection at 227 nm. Identification of taxol will be accomplished by comparison of retention times with authentic standard. Statistical analysis The results will be analyzed statistically by one-way ANOVA analysis and Duncan multiple range tests. The data will be presented as the mean value  ± standard deviation (SD) of three independent experiments.

McDonaldization Essay -- essays research papers

People At Work Coursework Question   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To what extent do you consider this concept of the McDonaldization of society disturbing, expected or inevitable, for employees in the twentifirst century. Also the possible consequences for theories of human motivation and whether the concept applies equally to all jobs. In this paper I will be analysing the effects McDonaldization has on society and the employees of the twentifirst century. I will be discussing whether McDonaldization is to be expected, accepted, rejected or is inevitable. I will also be arguing that McDonaldization does effect employee motivation, and how it fits in the numerous theories on motivation. McDonaldization as defined by George Ritzer is â€Å"the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of society†. This concept originally stems from the concept of bureaucracy, which was a type of organisational structure that aimed to rationalise and standardise its products and services and the processes it took to produce them. McDonaldization differs somewhat from bureaucracy as it concerns itself with its five main points: Efficiency, Calculatability, Predictability and Control. For the emphasis to be on these points it has an effect on employee’s jobs. Often it involves the de-skilling of the employees, under McDonaldization employees do not need a wide range of skills, In fact just to be productive they only need to know how to complete a single task. This has numerous benefits for the organisation, primarily it cuts down on training costs as it does not cost much to train for low skilled jobs, and as these jobs are so low skilled employees can be paid minimum wage. It also leaves employees with little bargaining power as staff can be replaced so easily. Jobs often become standardised and continually repetitive and leave room for little or free thinking or initiative to be employed. Staff are often replaced or governed by technological changes. However it is argued that the effects McDonaldization has on employees depends on the many variables surrounding your job i.e. public or private, Blue collar (professional) or white collar (menial) jobs or simply the type of industry retail, service or tertiary. Public sector jobs tend to be as less affected by McDonaldization than pr... ...n, Supervision, Working Conditions, Relationships, Salary, Status and Security. As I outlined in previous paragraphs that McDonaldization has a negative impact on all these things. Herzbergs model also names motivators as being achievement, recognition, interest in tasks, responsibility and advancement. McDonaldization by design makes it more difficult to make big achievements and even harder to be recognised for them. With the standardisation of many jobs interest in the tasks are unlikely to play a big part in motivation. Increased responsibility, growth and advancement have also been negatively effected by McDonaldization and opportunities for either of these motivators is become bleak. Overall one can see that the effects McDonaldization have had on society and its employees tend to be negative ones. But the reason it is so widespread is because huge organisations rely on it as a means to maximise profit. But is the price too high for the rest of us to bear. It plays as a de-motivator, effects our everyday thinking. References George Ritzer ‘The McDonaldization Of Society’ Abraham Maslow Fredrick Herzberg Dr Ellen Langer Mullins Buchanan & Huczynski

Argumentative Essay: Gun Control Violates the Second Amendment :: Constituton Bill Rights Right To Bear Arms

Few issues incite americans more than the issue of rising crime and violence. This problem can easily be linked to the availability of guns."The debate over whether guns are a hallowed tradition and a right guaranteed by the Second Ammendment of the U.S.constitution or whether they are a fearful danger contributing to crime and violence." ("gun control") Due to the outbreak of violence in our society, some people feel that repealing the Second Ammendment would solve the problem. These people feel that repealing the Second Ammendment would solve the problem. These people feel that there are two reasons for the repeal; One is the rising of violence among teenagers, the second reason is their interpertation of the Second Ammendment which could be considered a strict one. The side opposing these views use arguments like how it would be immpossible to repeal the Second Ammendment, and a long western civilizations history with a right to bear arms. Finally one can see the conflict of views dealing with the Second Ammenment, but one would also see that repealing the ammendment wouldn't solve the problem facing our society. The contriversy of this issue that has the potential to pulverise this country is why it is such a good topic to discuss, people should be better informed and make a decision based on fact and not fiction. Many advocates of the limitations of guns can quote numerous examples of increasing violence and homicide crimes. But the area which hits the closest to home is the issue of violence among the teenagers of our society. The years have changed on how students deal with their problems "Twenty-five or thirty years ago, when teenage boys got into a fight... it usually meant a fist fight. In more and more neighborhoods... it now means a shoot out" ("Gun Control"320). Violence like that is a major problem on our streets and even in our schools. Almost everywhere now "youngsters are packing weapons, Some are involved in drugs or gangs; others carry them for self-defense... One study says at least one in every three male juveniles is armed"(Muller 2). Now more than ever before an "increasing number of children under the age of 18 arrested each year for murder has jumped 55% in the past decade,... Juvenile arrests for aggravated assault are rising dramatically" (Henkoff 2). The results of this rising trend in violence has led to the release of a "center for disease center reports that since 1988, American teenage boys have been more likely to die from gunshot wounds than from... All other natural diseases" ("Gun Control" 83).

Relation Between Law And Morality :: essays research papers

Factors Affecting Life In The Fourteenth Century   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By all accounts, humanity was faring pretty well in the period from the eleventh century to the thirteenth. The population was steadily increasing due to better farming methods that better feed the people in Europe at this time. Significant social and political changes proved to be making life more stable, and there were many advances being made in the intellectual community. This stability, however, was upset by some of the most sever calamities ever to affect modern society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Things began going downhill during the early thirteen hundreds, when Europe encountered what was latter termed to be a, â€Å"little ice-age.† This very subtle shift in economic patterns was enough to cause rampant malnutrition and even starvation in some heavy hit areas. Things were so bad that historians now believe that the famine may be responsible for a nearly ten percent drop in population in during the first half of that century. Although this is a staggering figure in itself, it is widely believed that it also had a hand in further reducing the population via the most terrible epidemic know to man; the Black Death, or the bubonic plague.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Black Death was the most lethal outbreak in recorded history. While different sources have conflicting figures, it is widely believed that the Plague wiped out up to fifty percent of the entire population. The plague itself was probably brought to Europe from Asia through trade ships or caravans, where it was spread through flees that lived on rats that co-existed in the cities and other urban areas. Lacking present day knowledge about bacteria and biology in general, the seemingly arbitrary spread of the Black Death completely baffled the early European, who attributed it to all sorts of things, such as Jews or the wrath of a vengeful God. The unfathomable amount of death had very negative effects on almost every human institution, such as the religious establishment and normal social behavior. It must have a terrifying era to live in, and is a situation that hasn’t been duplicated in nearly 700.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Probably owing partially to the examples already given, war and general social unrest were another evil that beset an already bewildered people. The most brutal and protracted single example would have to be the Hundred Years War between England and France. It was touched of 1337 when Philip VI, the king of France, forcefully seized the province of Gascony from the English.

Honda City Marketing Research

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The project in its present form and state would not have been possible had it not been for the able guidance and support of Prof. Sandip Anand whom we always looked up to, when faced with any difficulty and have disturbed him at all times and hours. We would also like to thank our seniors and classmates who provided us with references required for collection of data. No research would be successful, without the active involvement of the respondents and we take this opportunity to thank our various respondents for having patiently filled our response sheet. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND The first automobile was steam powered vehicle invented in 1672. Since the first car rolled out on the streets of Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1898, the Automobile Industry of India has come a long way. During its early stages the auto industry was overlooked by the then Government and the policies were also not favorable. As a result automobiles were not a common sight. However with liberalization policy adopted y the GOI, significant changes have been made. Today, India is one of the largest markets for automobiles in the world. Our research is concerned with the sedans. A sedan car or saloon car (British English) is a passenger car with two rows of seats and adequate passenger space in the rear compartment for adult passengers. The vehicle usually has a separate rear trunk for luggage, although some manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Tata, and Volkswagen have made rear-engined models. It is one of the most common body styles for modern automobile LITERATURE REVIEW We studied some current literature and news reports available on the growing mid segment sedan market in India. There is a huge shift that is currently happening as far the car market is concerned. Companies are now starting to believe in the â€Å"India Growth Story†, and changing their focus to lure high spenders and people who are connoisseurs of luxury and premium cars. All companies have either entered or planning to enter this segment. Some of the latest reports from the executives (or the company) of some of the leading players in the market are as mentioned below. Speaking to Business Standard, Fumihiko Ike, chief operating officer of regional operations, Asia Oceania, Honda Motor Company, said: â€Å"There will be multiple models coming out of the small car platform after its launch in 2011. We will explore a sedan, too, using the same platform to make maximum use of our resources. † While Japan's third largest auto company, Nissan, had stated earlier that it would also pull out a mid-sized sedan from the small five-seater car that it would launch this May. Toyota Kirloskar Motors will be launching a sedan based on the concept compact model, which it had showcased at the recent Auto Expo held in Delhi. Company officials decline to reveal the targeted price, but state it will be available in the same range as the Swift Dzire, which is Rs 4. 90-5. 5 lakhs. Czech-based car maker Skoda Auto is also working on a car which it is keen on positioning below the Octavia, a premium car sold above Rs 10 lakhs. Thus, this area presents a huge marketing opportunity for companies and so is an exciting subject for study as well. CATEGORY The brands this study would cover are Ford Fiesta, Maruti Suzuki SX4, Hyundai Verna, Fiat Linea and Honda City. Research Methodology Prime focus of the research: To find the value positioning of Honda City among the mid segment sedans. Target Group Since we were studying the mid and the premium segments there are three groups that we targeted in our study: Existing consumer who buy cars. Probable consumers who can convert into active consumers into near future. Consumers who shall be converting into such category in distant future. We basically studied the following categories of people for our analysis: Working professionals Youths in the age group of 25-40 with high disposable income Students and other youth about to join service or start up on their own First year students of XIMB were also considered for the study Methodology The attempt of this study was to cover the growth of the premium segment watches as a lifestyle statement, the coverage included quantifying or finding the strong and the weak attributes that pursues the sales of these watches hence the methodologies used are: Focus Group Discussions (2) In-depth Interviews Survey methodology (Sample Size = 101) While the group observation and discussion helped us to identify the qualitative aspect of the study at length the survey methodology helped us to reach to a various inferences related to percentage of people preferring the sedans, the primary drivers for the various mid segment sedans, the strengths and weaknesses of the brands, stochastic share of brands etc. which is discussed in detail in the report at a later part. Process Since we are targeting such diverse consumer group our survey has to extend beyond regional level. The focus of our survey shall be: Pan India Survey Respondents from metros- Prime target study Mini metros Class 1 towns Online questionnaire: We used this as our method for collecting data so as to reach customers from all possible segments and various cities. Sampling The traditional sampling approach, i. e. the sample was selected before data collection began and sampling without replacement was performed. The following techniques were used: Sampling Technique The traditional sampling approach was used, i. e. he sample was selected before data collection began and sampling without replacement was performed. The following techniques were used: For the qualitative analysis, i. e. in-depth interviews and focus groups discussion, subjects were selected based on the attributes and the parameters for buying the mid segment sedans mostly from students and working population. For the quantitative analysis, snowball sampling was adopted. Recent buyers helped to send the questionnaire to ot her people who were passionate about mid segment sedans. Sample Size Around 150 people were included in the study with the following rough breakup. Around 10 people for the focus group discussions and the in-depth interviews (Qualitative Analysis) Around 101 people for the Sample survey (Quantitative Analysis) Aspiring groups comprising of students, young working people and executives were considered. Variables Dependent Variable Independent Variables Now we have a look at the various independent variables that in turn have helped us to decide the preference of a particular mid segment sedan. Affordable Price – Whenever customers go to buy a car, some of them may have a particular budget in their mind while some may be willing to spend any amount. Many a times it happens that a customer goes to a showroom and asks the dealer to show cars with a particular price range while at times they are willing to spend any amount if they like a particular car. Hence this variable helps us in understanding the attitude of customers with respect to the price they are willing to spend when they go to purchase cars especially in the segment of 5 lakhs to 12 lakhs. This variable also helps us to understand very important factors like whether the customer is willing to compensate quality to save cost because if he is not willing to spend more if he is getting a better quality car in a price beyond his budget then it shows that the customer is strictly limited by his price range while making the purchase. Comfort – Comfort is one of the important aspects while deciding on the choice of cars. When a customer is willing to pay any amount over 5 lakhs for a sedan that means he or she is looking for a car which provides good comfort. Comfort in a broader aspect touches upon the experience of a customer when he or she is travelling in car. Sufficient leg space, seats and a good shock absorbing system are quintessential in determining the comfort of a car. Interior and Exterior looks – Aesthetics and looks are always an important criteria for purchasing a car. Sedans are typically considered as mid segment cars because of its superior exterior looks and good interiors. This variable helps us to determine whether people consider exterior and interior looks as one of the defining criterion while going for a sedan. Safety and additional Features – With increase in the options available in the market, many a time customers may want to look for additional features being offered in different mid segment cars. Air bags, power steering, alloy wheels, music player, central locking and multiple colour options are various other additional features which customer are looking for when they purchase a car. This variable will give us an idea as to how much priority a customer gives to these features. Mileage – Middle and upper middle class people always look out for a car which has a good mileage. As fuel prices are increasing year after year, mileage has definitely been a governing criterion for all car takers. This variable will help us measure the importance of mileage as one of the deciding parameters. Power – One of the most important features of a mid segment sedan is the power. There is a substantial increase in power from the small cars thereby giving more pick up and stability in the long run. This variable will help us to determine whether people perceive power as a criterion to select a sedan or not. After-Sales Service – Possessing a good car does not solve one’s purpose. Customers are looking for cars which not only are affordable, give good mileage but also which have good after sales service. Therefore, after sales service is very important in today’s competitive environment. This variable will give us an idea how important is after sales service when customers go for a particular brand. Status Symbol – India has been growing at a fairly fast rate which eventually has raised the per capita income. With the growth in income people have become more conscious about the kind of cars they possess. Therefore, status symbol is an important parameter when we go for a particular brand. This variable will tell us whether status symbol is one of the criteria to go for a particular brand. In addition to the above independent variables we have also gathered some demographic data of the people so that we can have a better understanding of the pattern of preference of people coming from different locations, belonging to different age group, having different annual incomes etc. Some of these demographic variables are listed below Name: Name of the respondent Gender: To find out the gender of the respondent Occupation: To find out the current occupation of the respondent Household Income per annum: To find the income group to which the respondent belongs. Price willing to pay for a sedan: To find out the price range which respondents are comfortable while going for a sedan. Qualitative Analysis Qualitative Analysis was carried out using focus group discussions to generate hypothesis about purchase decision of a car for people and how different factors affect their decision. Qualitative analysis will be helpful for getting a detail insight into the problem. Focus Group Discussions Honda City has been regarded as a prestigious brand in India since its launch in 1998. It maintains a significant market share in its class and enjoys a very high level of popularity. The luxurious sedan has a lot to offer to its potential buyers- new engine, new design, more grandeur, increased cabin space, and of course top notch performance. Objectives: To find out the perception of people about Honda City among the mid segment cars in terms of factors that affect the purchasing behaviour of customers. They are factors like: {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} To check the status of Honda City as compared to its competitors like Verna, Ford Fiesta and Linea in the sedan segment of cars. Target Population: Young Professionals in the age group of 22-35 years. Users of Honda City and users of other brands Non users of cars Students with no work experience and others with substantial work experience of 2-4 years. Content Analysis: Table 1 CONCLUSION BASED ON QUALITATIVE FINDINGS From the overall Qualitative Analysis, it seems that customers of premium watches are very conscious and careful buyers. For them the most important features are the Quality of the watch and are very particular about its Performance as well. They view it as a strong status symbol and an accessory, which adds to their personality. Also, people these days lay a lot of stress on the additional features like Embedded Jewellery, chronographs etc Quantitative Analysis Quantitative data analysis has been done in the following way. An Excel Analysis of the demographic profile was done first to understand the respondents’ background and to check the general attributes of the respondents. Then the Factor Analysis was done, the result of which has been explained below. Then the top 2 boxes scores were analyzed for various attributes based on respondent profiles. Then Jaccard Analysis was done to find out the primary drivers for the mid-segment car category. It was followed by stochastic share analysis and SWOT analysis. Then cross tabulation was done to measure Brand Preference with the top 2 boxes for all the important attributes. This is how an extensive quantitative analysis for our research was done. Demographic profile of the respondents Gender Profile {draw:frame} The gender profile of the respondent base is tilted towards the male category as they constitute 76% of the total base. Age Profile {draw:frame} Occupation {draw:frame} Of the total number of people surveyed, the service and self employed categories almost constitute 50% of the responses. All the respondents provided their employment status within these three categories and nobody opted for the â€Å"Others† category which was provided. A lot of respondents were from our institute making the student population half of the total responses. Students make the aspiring group and also form an important part for the emerging market. Total Household Income {draw:frame} Pilot Testing Initially a questionnaire was developed as per the requirements of the research proposal. This questionnaire was subject to pilot testing to find out the errors in it if any as per the attitude of the people. To find out if any question is confusing or not conveying the intended meaning it was done. For this we selected around 15 people according to the sample needed for the study. These people were asked to fill up the questionnaire. We noted down any possible problem that these respondents faced while filling up the questionnaire. After this we worked on such problems found out and the suggestions from these respondents with respect to the questionnaire. Some questions those were conveying double meaning or creating confusion was omitted from the questionnaire. This edited questionnaire was then used as the final questionnaire and then the study was carried out. Bi-Variate Analysis Total Household Income Vs Amount Willing to Spend on a Sedan It can be inferred from the above figures that the people want to own a car mostly in the range of annual salary they earn. But majority of the people are willing to buy a car in the range of Rs. 5-7 lakh. It is interesting to find that a very few people want to buy a sedan in the range of above Rs. 12 lakh among the first four income groups. Still people having income below Rs. lakh have shown interest in buying such a sedan possibly due to aspirational reason. Total Household Income Vs Preference of Respondents for Various Brands It can be observed that for those people earning less than Rs. 300000, there is not much difference between the preferences for the different brands. Nonetheless, Honda City and Ford Fiesta are the winners with equal percentage of fan following. In the higher categories of to tal household incomes, it can be inferred that Honda City has a clear cut upper hand over the other brands. Only Suzuki SX4 comes close to it in some cases. This shows that people with higher earnings definitely would like to choose City over other given brands in the mid segment category. People with lower incomes are open to any brand FACTORING Factor analysis is a data reduction technique that aims at grouping the input variables, which have dependency with each other, into factors that underlie the input variables. Initially the total number of factors in the factor analysis is equal to the total number of input variables. But after the factor analysis the total number of variables in the study can be reduced by discarding the insignificant factors based on certain criterion. We have performed factor analysis on all the questions that we had in our questionnaire treating each one as an independent variable. The extraction method chosen for factor analysis was Principal Component matrix. This is the most popular technique for factor analysis, which determines loadings of variables on different factors by using the standard normal values of the observations of the original input variables. The rotation method used is Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. We have given the SPSS output as a separate attachment with the report. Extraction communalities are the variances of the variables accounted for by the factors in the factor solution. Large values of communality of all the variables indicate that they fit well with the factor solution, and thus should not be dropped from the analysis. Clearly all the fifty-two variables have fairly high value of extraction communality and thus should not be dropped from the factor analysis. Scree plot is the curve obtained by plotting Eigen values against their corresponding factors. The eigen value of a factor captures the variation in all the variables captured by it. The Scree plot above clearly shows that the slope of the curve falls after the fifteenth factor and also eigenvalue drops below Due to these only fifteen factors are taken into consideration. The total variance table also gives the details of the fifteen variables of the factoring output. The second column indicates that there are 15 factors for which Eigen value is greater than 1. The last column ‘cumulative %’ gives the percent of variance accounted for by all factors or components up to and including the current one. The fifteenth factor has a value of 82. , which indicates that all the fifteen factors till the current one total account for 82. 6% of variance. The following manifest variables were used for factor analysis: Price on mind while buying Price is the deciding factor Japanese cars of superior quality Warranty important Spare parts availability Serviceability Engine life After sales value Additional features 10. Mileage 11. Engine power 12. Performance feedb ack 13. Status symbol 14. Uniqueness 15. Investment source 16. Superior functionality of premium cars 17. Necessity 18. Affordability reduces attractiveness 9. Perceived as successful by colleagues when driving premium cars 20. Great interior and exterior looks KMO and Bartlett’s Test KMO test indicates if the sample size is adequate with respect to number of variables being considered. 0. 815 indicates that the sample size is adequate. We can also reach the same conclusion by multiplying the number of manifest variables by 5, which is 100 (=20Ãâ€"5) and that is less than 101, the sample size. Bartlett’s test has a chi square distribution and if significance is greater than 0. 1, then data is unimodal. But the high significance level here shows that the data collected is not skewed and has more or less a uniform distribution. Communalities Total Variance Eigen cut-off value has been set to one here. As we can see in the appendix attached, there are four factors which explain 60. 97% of total variance. {draw:frame} Screen Plot Scree plot shows how the Eigen value varies across factors. The points above the Eigen value of 1 in the scree plot constitute the factors. The first four factors have thus a steep value after which the slope flattens. Rotated Component Matrix draw:frame} The rotated component matrix shows all the manifest variables grouped together in various classes which are called factors. They are called latent factors because they are the underlying variables which determine the dependent variable. Also the first factor and the manifest variables under it explain the dependent variable more than the second and third factor. As can be seen from the rotated component matri x table below, eight manifest variables can be grouped under one factor. Another 5 variables under the second factor and so on. Each factor has been provided by a name. A list of the factors and the manifest variables involved is given below: Factor 1 – Features of car/sedan Warranty important Spare parts availability Serviceability Engine life After sales value Additional features Mileage Performance feedback Factor 2 – Social/Perceived Factors Investment source Superior functionality of premium cars Necessity Affordability reduces attractiveness Perceived as successful by colleagues when driving premium cars Factor 3 – Prestige Factors Japanese cars of superior quality Status symbol Uniqueness Factor 4 – Monetary Aspects Price on mind while buying Price is the deciding factor _ _Top of Mind Analysis {draw:frame} The above chart shows the percentage distribution of the various car brands which were provided by the respondents when asked for four various car brands which came to their minds in the mid segment. A total of 45 different car brands were given as response by them consisting of vehicles in the low, mid and the high segments. The most prominent brands were selected and the data concerning them was analyzed. It can be clearly inferred that Honda City enjoys a very good share of the respondents’ top of the mind with a share of about 27%. Maruti SX4 comes next with a share of 14% followed by Ford Fiesta at 11%. When asked about the first brand which comes to their minds, again Honda City was the clear winner by a large margin with about 37 respondents providing the brand name. Jaccard Analysis Jaccard analysis is used in market research to establish which attributes of a brand are important to the customers and the extent to which each of the attributes satisfies their expectations. Jaccard analysis is primarily done to find out the variables in order of their importance for their ability to govern groupability or similarity with the dependent variable. In our marketing research, we have used Jaccard scores to identify the attributes which are important for the brand category using five brands, namely, Honda City, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna, Fiat Linea and Suzuki SX4. These attributes will constitute the primary drivers of the brand. We calculate the Jaccard score as follows: The respondents are asked about their brand preferences in the category and their responses are noted down. Then they are asked if they associate a particular attribute with each of the brands under study and their responses are again noted down as follows: YY: If the respondent prefers a brand and associates with a particular positioning. YN: If the respondent prefers a brand but does not associate with a particular positioning. NY: If the respondent doesn’t prefer a brand but associates with a particular positioning. Jaccard Score = YY / (YY+YN+NY) We calculated the Jaccard score for each of the attributes and ranked the attributes from highest to lowest in descending order of the scores. That means in Jaccard analysis, higher the Jaccard score, better is the attribute. After they are ranked, the attributes with scores above a benchmark score are listed. These attributes are named Primary Drivers. The table given below gives the primary drivers for the brand category of Honda City: Based on a cut-off of 0. 4, we find that the following attributes are the primary drivers in the brand category concerned: Exterior/Interior Looks Comfort Affordable Price Power SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is done to find the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a particular brand with respect to other brands in the same category. When studied along with the help of Jaccard analysis, it becomes a powerful tool to identify the areas of strengths and weaknesses. In SWOT analysis, strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are external to the organization. A positive SWOT score indicates strength and a negative SWOT score indicates a weakness. It is also observed that the SWOT analysis works on the principal of zero-sum game. A gain on an attribute of a brand is counterbalanced by a loss in another attribute. SWOT scores are calculated as follows: SWOT SCORE = (Brand Attribute score – Attribute Average) – (Brand Average – Grand Average). Here, Attribute’s average is average of all brands’ scores for that particular attribute (Row Average) Average of Brand’s scores on all attributes being considered (Column Average) Grand average of scores (Average of row averages/column averages) The following table is generated for the SWOT scores of different attributes and brands: We have categorised the scores on the basis of the above table. As shown, the attributes with a SWOT score of more than 2 are identified as strengths and are shown in dark green colour. Attributes with SWOT score between 0 and 2 are weaknesses and coloured red, those between 0 and -2 are threats and coloured yellow. Lastly those attributes with SWOT scores less than -2 are labelled as weakness of the concerned brand and coloured red. Now we focus on the brand under question – the Honda City. The attributes of the brand based on SWOT scores can be summarised as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the table given below: Honda City STOCHASTIC ANLYSIS When we are talking about the strength of a brand there are few parameters using which we judge the strength of the brand based on the share it has like: Share of Market This measures the hold of the brand of the market. The problem with this kind of analysis is that it tells the strength of the brand today it reflects no projections and possibilities for future. Share of Mind and Heart is the one that highlights the prospects of the brand in the coming future. It tries to capture what the consumer thinks and believes of a particular brand and thus helps us to determine the prospects of the brand in future based on present perceptions. While conducting the market research for Honda City we have resorted to stochastic share analysis, to see the strength of the brand Honda City relatively to other brands in terms of share of mind The analysis has two parts: Preferred set size of the brand Stochastic share of the brand Preferred set size analysis This part of the analysis hovers to procure the data regarding the preference of the brands in the market. It is the simple process in which the respondent has been asked for preference for the brand from the given choices. Respondent’s response for each brand is treated as a unit for each brand; he can prefer more than one brand. All the brands for which the respondents has respondent in affirmative get allocated a unit i. e. if the respondent says he is aware of Honda City and Fiat Linea, both of them will be appended to the column of Honda City and Fiat Linea. In the end summation of the response is taken and the preferred set size is calculated. Of a brand = ————————————————————————————— Total no of respondents that has a preference for that brand Following table has been extracted from our analysis OBSERVATION The preferred set size for all the brands lies between 1. 38 and 2. 41. Honda City has the value of 1. 38 which essentially means people are pretty clear when it comes to Honda City than any other brand. In fact the total data exhibits far lower preferred set size. If see the preferred set size of the other sedans, we can see that they are pretty well distributed which means preference of a particular brand are clearly visible. Inference The ideal score for any preferred set size is 1 which means this is the only brand preferred by the respondent. This sends a very strong message that there is no close competitor to the given brand, when we are talking in terms of preference set of consumer. For the given analysis we observe that some of the sedans have a preference set greater than 2 and some have a score significantly less than 2. The scores which are less than 2 are a good signal because the customer has more clarity and Honda City enjoys higher preference as compared to its competitors. Stochastic Share Analysis This is the second part of the analysis here we approach the core of the analysis. Taking data from the preferred set size analysis we proceed to calculate the stochastic share of the brand The number of respondents that have responded in affirmative for any brand represents the set, which can become the buyer of the brand hence they represent the future market share for the brand and today’s share of mind this is calculated as No of respondents who responded in affirmative for the brand preference __ Total set size of the respondents considered Now this is the market share of the brand but as we have analyzed before the brand is preferred alongside other brands as well so this share of the mind includes the respondents who prefer other brand as well. Thus to get the actual % representation of a brand in the market we calculate Proportionate market share = % of market calculated earlier ——————————————————- This is now the actual share of the brands but this is not the actual share of mind of the brands that is represented by the share of the brand among he brands considered for study. Proportionate share of the brand Stochastic Share = —————————————————————————- ? Proportionate share of all the brands in the consideration set Fol lowing is the table from our analysis Observation There has been a conformance in the data pattern from that noted in the Preference set analysis. Honda City has the least preferred set size, and has the stochastic share of 56. 40% where as the other sedans have stochastic share between 8% and 17%. Inference This reiterates the fact of the preferred set size analysis where Honda City had the lowest preference set score, thus Honda City could be a leading brand in the market. This analysis emphasizes that Honda City is the brand with the highest share of mind of all consumer. This would or already has translated into highest market share in the segment of sedans, as people are all for this brand when it’s up against the other considered brand. Unparallel attributes that are highlighted by the brand Honda Aggressive marketing effort, which has left a lasting impression on the respondents Precaution in adaptation of analysis The analysis has been done based on the respondents and following points have to be kept in mind The analysis has been drawn on the basis of the respondent set thus depending on the response for the sample set the analysis is done. The competitor set size has been defined with deliberate efforts but the share output could vary with the competitor set. Conclusion Honda City definitely enjoys a good top of mind share in the mid segment cars. So, it shows it is enjoying a good position in the sedan segment. But the pricing is obviously becoming a deciding factor in a small city like Bhubaneswar. Most of the people are willing to spend around 5-7 lakhs on Honda City and not more than that. The most important factors that people look for while purchasing a car are features present in the car, prestige issue linked with the purchase, factors like after sales service, availability of spares, etc and of course monetary factors. Comfort, looks, status symbol and maintenance are the strengths of Honda City. But there are other things like after sales service where Maruti SX4 is the leader. It is also lagging behind competitors like Hyundai Verna, Ford Fiesta, and Maruti SX4 in areas like power, mileage and additional features that people expect to be present in a sedan. Honda has got a high stochastic share which means that it has a large potential market. People want to go for it but are not doing so presently due to some factors. So, Honda should try improving on its weaknesses and keep its strengths intact. It should also be alert for new threats in the market. This can lead Honda to be the market leader in the Sedan segment.

Modern Myths

Modern myths still pervade North American societies. Many of these modern myths were the products of Indian folklore or pre-modern American society. Although many claimed that such myths were a form of religious fanaticism or fervor, it can be argued that they were the result of historical speculation of early North American societies of their immediate environment. These modern myths are nonetheless powerful and to some extent influenced the behavior of many noted American personalities. Here is an example of a modern North American myth.Urban Legend: Bloody Mary (Schlosser, 2006)There was a young woman who sleeps deep in the forest. Her livelihood was selling herbal medicines in a nearby village. The townspeople though regarded her as a witch; hence no one dared to approach her, even the hardest criminal in the area. Many believed that whoever talk or approach her would be cursed or sold to the devil. She was feared indeed. Then, little girls in the town began to disappear. No trac es of the girls were found. Families of the disappeared girls began to search; in the farms, barnyards, and even the forest. Some of the men went to the house of Bloody Mary, but altogether she denied all allegations.The men noted that Bloody Mary looked younger and more attractive. They became suspicious of Bloody Mary, although no proof cold be found. Then one night, the daughter of the miller rose from her sleep and began to walk outside as if following an incantation. The wife of the miller saw the incident and reported it immediately to her husband. The two restrained the girl indiscriminately in order to prevent her from breaking away. Many people were awakened by the cries of the couple. Then, a farmer shouted that the cause of the incident is coming from the woods.Then, some people saw Bloody Mary holding a magic wand pointed to the house of the miller. When Bloody Mary saw the angry townspeople, she fled to the woods. A keen shooter farmer loaded his gun with silver bullets and shot the witch in the hip. Bloody Mary was carried by the townspeople to the field, where a large bonfire was awaiting her death. As Bloody Mary burned, she screamed a curse. If anyone mentioned her name before a darkened mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge upon them for her death. Unmarked graves of the little girls were found by the townspeople. They learned that Bloody Mary used to drink the blood of her victims to make her young again. It was passed on from generations to generations that whoever chants Bloody Mary three times on a darkened mirror, this would summon the vengeful spirit and rips the body and soul of the person.Social Significance of the Myth (Bloody Mary)The social significance of the myth discussed above can be seen in the various movies and accreditation the myth received from the movie industry. The myth is a powerful tool of revenue creation as with this specific industry. In the past 30 years, there were about 500 versions of this myth, all foc using on the â€Å"horror† part of the film, that is, the darkened mirror and the chanting of the words â€Å"Bloody Mary.† It is of no doubt that because Bloody Mary films became successful ventures, it is right to assume that its basis, the original myth, still exerts considerable influence on the part of the audience.According to the Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature, urban legends and myths are usually defined as â€Å"apocryphal contemporary stories, told as true and usually attributed to as friend of a friend.† In most instances, the myth of Bloody Mary is perceived to be true by virtue of the fact that the story is assumed to be true by the storyteller. Although the story is non-existential or in short not real, the audience may find it true because of the way the â€Å"channel.† Because the channel presents the story as â€Å"true†, the receiver nonetheless assumes it to be also true.The channel here maybe defined as â€Å"the means of acquiring the information about the particular myth or urban legend (as in this case).† Movies and bonfire storytelling are the most efficient and effective means of transmitting the myth from one person to the other, without losing the track of credibility. It is no wonder that most Bloody Mary films are inconclusive, that is, they left the audience wondering whether the myth was true or not (to make a room for affirmation of the myth). Now it is safe to assume that even in North American societies, particularly in the United States, the myth of Bloody Mary pervades in some aspects of life.Children, particularly girls, are told of the story of Bloody Mary by their parents as a means for exacting obedience (negative reinforcement). For those in their teenage years, the story of Bloody Mary serves as a background check for their behavior.   They prevent themselves from going to forests without the guide of adult individuals. They also stay away from dark places with mirror s for fear that the myth may prove to be true. Although for them, the story of Bloody Mary is factual since there were individuals who reported that they saw Bloody Mary ripping the body of their friends.Going back to the definition of a myth or urban legend, the storyteller assumes that his/her story is true in order for the audience to feel its negative effect (affirmation of the story). There were reported cases when robbers were scared to their â€Å"pants† when they entered a house (without electricity) with a darkened mirror in the entertainment room. There were also reported cases when a man brushing her teeth in a nightclub and jokingly uttered Bloody Mary three times.A face appeared before him. He ran outside the club shouting that Bloody Mary did exist. He promised that he would never visit the nightclub. The woman who appeared to him was a prostitute, not Bloody Mary. This proves that even though the myth is not real, people usually perceives it as real. The primar y cause of such behavior is the channel that make the story real or â€Å"seem real.† The myth is as powerful as before. Although it can be assumed that its effects on the values of an individual may be accidental and in many cases derived from the characters of Bloody Mary films.ReferencesSchlosser, S.E. 2006. Bloody Mary. URL http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2009/10/bloody_mary.html. Retrieved September 19, 2007.1800 Myths, Legends, and Folklore Links. URL http://www.mysteries-megasite.com/. Retrieved September 19, 2007.