Psychological Testing Research Paper

Measurement is a very critical aspect of any psychology topic or basically, in all psychology sub- areas. Every psychologist is usually concerned with measuring the children`s intelligence, creativity and also in measuring their moral development. The psychological tests are used to help the clients learn what careers are best for them. This is based on the interests and the abilities of the clients. Similarly, in this course, description of how learning occurred and how learning can be facilitated in the near future. Therefore, psychological testing is the use of psychological tests, which are ideally designed to be an objective and the standardized measure of a sample of behavior (Garber and Simon, 2017).

Psychological assessment is the main process of testing that makes use of a combination of techniques to help realize some given hypothesis about a person and their behavior, personality, and capabilities. From the description of psychological assessment, it has been defined as an act of performing a psychological battery on an individual. It is also the process of psychological testing (Garber and Simon, 2017). This research paper will, therefore, address different types of psychological tests, various theories in psychological tests and also a variety of standardized tests of intelligence, personality, achievement, interest, neuropsychology and several other areas of psychological testing as described in the Course description.

Psychological Testing Principles

Emphasizes the principles by which psychological tests are conducted is quite important. There are several contradictions when it comes to the use of psychological tests. Psychological tests should be well examined to ensure that, there is valid, appropriate and also the fair use of psychological tests.

There are key concepts that are discussed in this research paper and these include studying the importance of psychological testing (Garber and Simon, 2017). Psychological testing allows researchers and psychologists to make concrete decisions about people, early school placement, military job selections and also in other fields like college entry behavior. Secondly, based on our course teachings, psychological testing allows us to vividly describe and also understand an individual`s real behavior (Garber and Simon, 2017). Below are several other additional reasons for carrying out psychological testing/ assessment;

-It is a measure of a person`s personal attributes- Psychological testing helps the learner to understand an individual`s behavior. Understanding a person`s behavior is quite important since it helps researchers and learners realize/ judge a person based on his/ her way of behaving.

Psychological Testing
Psychological Testing

It is a way of measuring performance- Individual performance is quite important. People would often need to be assessed how they have performed within a specified period of time. Therefore, in this case, psychological testing would help us realize a persons performance in his or her field of specialty. This is one of the key reasons why psychological testing was devised and should be embraced.

  • Saves time. It is a time-saving means of evaluating an individual`s performance in a certain field.
  • It is, of course, the most economical means of achieving a person`s performance.
  • Similarly, the process of psychological testing is basically scientific. Therefore, testing is expected to have the best results in any experiment.

There are basic psychological testing terms that have been explored in this course. As part of the course objectives, it is important to define, describe and also identify these basic testing terms (Garber and Simon, 2017). Such terms include theory, assessment, attitude, personality, measurement, validity, reliability, operational definitions, statistics, average, central tendency, correlation, bias, battery, criterion, decile, standardization, derived score, Level of significance, sample, prediction, randomness, measurement scale, stratification, norms, distracters and factor.

As part of this research paper, definitions of some of these terminologies will be analyzed. For instance; -Theory- theory refers to an idea that is used to account for or even justify a psychological situation.

  • Sample- it refers to a set of collected data that is used for psychological testing and analysis.
  • Measurement scale- it is the basis that is basically used for the psychological tests.

This research paper also addresses uses and various varieties of the personality tests. The main aim of this is to determine which tool is the best for predicting and also measuring the behavior of an individual/ a person (Rappaport et al, 2017). Establishing the validity of the personality tests is again quite important in psychology. Personality tests are an example of psychological tests that have been handled in this course. It is usually used to measure and also evaluate the behavior of a person in school and several other social places. This test basically identifies differences in personality between persons who are being subjected to the similar test.

Personal tests are basically the best psychological tests to use according to a number of psychological researchers. Again in this research paper, the question, “which is a better tool to predict the behavior of an individual, is it the personality test or the projective test?” This is one research problems that have been identified in the course. The research problem can, therefore, be reviewed (Garfinkle and Richardson, 2018). This can be reviewed in terms of whether the personality tests, observation and also the inventories are more reliable and also predictive in determining the behavior of a person.

The hypothesis for this research paper is based on using personality inventories and the projective tests and determining which is better in assessing of a person`s behavior. Using research design and the descriptive correlational methodology is the best approach for the researcher. Descriptive psychological tests are therefore tools that are used to measure and predict the behavior of humanity (Garfinkle and Richardson, 2018). However, both personality tests and the projective tests are used to assess the personalities of individuals in different environments, for instance, school and community. Psychological tests can be applied in various instances. For example, organizations worldwide are busy striving to be successful in the best ways possible.

Aptitude testing is another form of testing that has been described in the course. It is the second widely used form of psychological test after the personality test. It can interchangeably be used with the term ability. The concept of ability in the aptitude test can be described as a general character of an individual that can ideally facilitate the learning of the various skills.

From aptitude definition, it is then easier to state that, psychological tests are basically standardized measures of a small sample of an individual`s behavior (Garfinkle and Richardson, 2018). For instance, a chemist can infer the characteristics of a large compound by only testing a few cubic centimeters of a liquid. Similarly, quality engineers only test a small sample of the finished products and not all of them. The same concept is applied by psychologists in coping with test results. They only base their work on a small sample to come up with results for a larger population.

In aptitude testing, there is a need to establish the difference between aptitudes and the abilities. Ability tests are basically given with an option of giving a dire prediction about a person`s future success in his or field of work, mostly occupational activity or even group of activities. However, it’s possible to use the term aptitude in place of the term, ability (Garfinkle and Richardson, 2018). There are several ways of describing aptitude tests. These include being described in the mode in which they are being presented and also be grouped based on their content.

Conclusion

Psychological testing and assessment are conducted for a number of reasons. For instance;

  • Detection of specific behavior- psychological tests are basically used to determine the abilities of a person.
  • Individual differences- Psychological tests are again used to determine the individual differences. This ideally shows the difference in a person`s ability. The person`s performance is also determined through psychological testing (Rappaport et al, 2017).
  • To diagnose by the psychological test- These tests are also used in clinical psychology. This can be used to diagnose mental disorders among individuals.
  • Legal classification- Psychological tests basically help researchers to identify people into different categories. These categories can be normal and abnormal, criminal and innocent, intellectual and mentally disabled and lastly, the able and the disabled.
  • Promoting Self -understanding- this is another function that psychological testing does. It, therefore, provides standardized knowledge about the person`s behavior, aptitudes and also capabilities.
  • Program evaluation- Psychological testing can be used for such measures as program evaluation (Kaplan and Saccuzzo, 2017).
  • Scientific research- psychological researchers use psychological testing for the purpose of research. It, therefore, provides knowledge about the person`s mental level (Chukhraiev, 2017).
  • Military selection- Psychological testing is used during military selection.

References

Chukhraiev, N., Zukow, W., Chukhraieva, E., & Unichenko, A. (2017). Integrative approach to reduction of excess weight. Journal of Physical Education and Sport17(2), 563.

Garber, B. D., & Simon, R. A. (2017). Individual Adult Psychometric Testing and Child Custody Evaluations: If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, Don’t Wear It. J. Am. Acad. Matrimonial Law.30, 325.

Garfinkle, M. S., & Richardson, S. L. (2018). Psychological Testing for Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Trends in Theory and Practice: The Second Century of the Talking Cure, 269.

Kaplan, R. M., & Saccuzzo, D. P. (2017). Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues. Nelson Education.

Rappaport, S. R., Gould, J., & Dale, M. D. (2017). Psychological Testing Can Be of Significant Value in Child Custody Evaluations: Don’t Buy the Anti-Testing, Anti-Individual, Pro-Family Systems Woozle. J. Am. Acad. Matrimonial Law.30, 405.

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Domestic Violence Rules Regulations

Domestic Violence – Fundamental concerns arising from domestic abuse is a major issue that is affecting most parts of the world. The reported cases and trends of abuse in relationships and within families are increasing despite the improvement in rules and regulations about domestic abuse . Despite the UK government enacting numerous regulations and rules, they have had minimal impact in reducing the rising rates of violence. The dissertation focused on rates and trends of domestic violence in the UK despite the changes in regulations and how the government can improve its operations to mitigate the high rates.

Furthermore, the dissertation found out the need for improvement in measures that the non-government organizations and the government have set in place to protect the victims of violence and reduce the cases of domestic abuse. The dissertation suggested that there is need to broaden the scope of awareness through educational programs. The government should adopt other measures that will aim at preventing the occurrence of such vices and safeguard the lives of victims. The main purpose of this dissertation was to develop an understanding of the various prominent cases of domestic abuse that exist in the UK over the past three decades.

The dissertation focused on the various case scenarios that are prominent with both men and women as victims of domestic violence. Thus, the dissertation highlighted multiple contexts of violence to show how men and women are victims especially women who are abused by their partners. The dissertation also found out the reason why women are the most affected in domestic violence, and most of them do to report such cases. The study made a comparative analysis of the various domestic abuse cases and state laws to safeguard the victims between the UK and the US. The comparison helped in understanding the steps taken by the UK government to stop and reduce the cases of domestic violence in the country.

View This Dissertation Here

Domestic Violence Dissertation
Domestic Violence Dissertation

The comparison was based on the United Nations standards, and this helped in giving a limelight on the legal structure of the UK and its initiative to reduce such cases. Many studies have focused on a comparison between the rates of domestic violence in other countries but have failed to compare the state laws in various countries and how they have reduced the rates of domestic abuse.

The main aim of the dissertation study was to focus on the rates and trends of violence in the UK for the past three decades despite an increase in the government efforts to enact more rules and regulations. The objectives of this study included:

  • To evaluate the impact of improved laws and regulations on the reduced cases of domestic violence in the UK for the past three decades
  • To analyse the most prominent and serious domestic abuse cases in the UK for the past three decades
  • To establish the differences in the way US has dealt with domestic violence cases better than UK government

Domestic Violence Dissertation Contents

1 – Introduction
Contextual Background
Research Problem
Aims and Objectives of Research
Research Questions
Dissertation Rationale
Significance of the Study
Structure of the Study

2 – Literature Review
Definition of Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence Theories
Critical Feminist Theory
Social Learning Theory
The Experiences of Men and Women as Victims of Domestic Abuse
Violence Against Women as the Minority Ethnic Group
Patterns of Recent Domestic Violence in the UK
Improvement in Federal Laws on Domestic Violence
Comparative Analysis of Domestic Violence in US and UK

3 – Methodology and Research Design
Research Paradigm
Research Approach
Investigation Type
Research Design
Research Strategy
Data Collection and Analysis
Research Limitations
Ethical Considerations

4 – Findings and Discussions
Rates and Trends of Domestic Violence in the UK
Explanation of Trends of Violence using Feminist Theory Explanation of trends and rates of violence using social learning theory
Changes and Improvements in the UK Laws
Effectiveness of the improved changes in the UK law
How changes could be done differently and adopting perspectives from US

5 – Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusion
Recommendations
Future Implications

Bibliography

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Consumer Behavior Decision Making L’Oreal

Consumer behavior is an important management field, the study and application of which can provide a lot of insight and value to the marketers. This research paper is based mostly on the existing theories and models of consumer behavior. The first part looks for external factors influencing consuming behavior at various stages and the second applies theories to a well known business organization, L’Oreal.

Consumer Behavior

Hawkins (2008) says that the consumer decision making process is often the result of a single problem however, at other times consumption decision is based on a number of factors. The example provided by Hawkins (2008) to explain the difference actually helps the reader in better analyzing the types of consumption requirement. Running low on gasoline while driving leads to a single factor consumption decision whereas the realization of an aging automobile, growing feeling of inadequacy or low self esteem lead to a multi factor consumption decision regarding a commodity or a service.

For the marketers of an organization, it is important to take into consideration both the types of consumption such that the overall sales of that organization are increased. Consumers are the end point of the supply chain processes. They actually are the magnetic force for all kinds of manufacturing, production and retailing processes that are taking place in a market or in an industry. The stronger the magnetic force in fact, the better will be the overall processes of production, manufacturing and retailing. It is therefore important for the organizations to capture as much of that attraction of the customers as possible. One simple reason for that is that customers are the ones that provide revenue to the business. An interesting quote by Jeff Bezoz, the CEO of Amazon.com says that it is actually the customers of the organization that give the business the money to operate and not the competitors of the organization and thus, all the strategies that the organization makes to improve the business performance (or market capitalization) should be oriented towards the customers (Stockport, 2009).

This idea then forms the core of the field of consumer behavior. Consumer behavior, initially stemming out of the study of micro economics has actually gotten extensive and intensive enough to be termed as a completely independent study of management sciences and one that can have serious policy implications for a business entity.

Consumer behavior holds that the purchasing decision of the consumer can actually be analyzed through various models and theories and using those findings, a business can orient its market plan to gain competitive advantage in the market. A number of external and internal factors become a part of understanding how and why consumers making purchasing decision, using decisions and disposing off decisions and how preferences and tastes as well as norms, cultures, peer pressures and traditions become a part of this decision making process (Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, 2011).

Since it has now been established that a number of internal and external factors play a role in influencing the consumers in their consuming decision, the breakdown of each factor is possible. As far as a business organization and more precisely the strategic managers or the marketers of the organization are concerned, external factors are the ones which they have the power over and thus they can influence the attraction felt by consumers for the product being marketed. However, before the marketing managers can actually pin point the external factors and manipulate them, each stage of the decision making process of the consumers needs to be analyzed.

Analysis of how external variables are used by marketers to influence consumer decision making at the various stages of the consumer decision making model. Illustrations through examples

Nominal Decision Making Process

Hawkins (2008, p. 561) identifies the nominal decision making process and defines it in the following words,

“Nominal decision making, sometimes referred to as habitual decision making, in effect involves no decision per se….A completely nominal decision does not even include consideration of the “do not purchase” alternative. For example you might notice that you are nearly out of Aim toothpaste and resolve to purchase some the next time you are at the store. You don’t even consider not replacing the toothpaste or purchasing another brand.”

According to Hawkins (2008) then a nominal decision making process can be broken down further into brand loyal decisions and repeat decisions.

For the marketers, development of brand loyalty is another arena that is receiving significant attention mostly because of its importance that has been highlighted through the theories of consumer behavior. The more the consumer feels loyal to the brands, the lesser he or she will actually consider buying another brand and thus the number of secure sales for the organization will increase and in the longer run, the provision of stability of revenue for the organization will also be enhanced.

The example for the nominal decision making process has already been highlighted by reviewing Hawkins (2008) however to provide another example is the purchase of soaps, bottled milk, tea brand, coffee brand or sanitary pads. Mostly, for all of these products, the consumer mechanically throw these products into the shopping cart without even considering that just right to the brand that they picked lies another, probably better brand. Development of this behaviour in the consumers requires effort and strategy from the marketing manager of the business organization.

Five Step Decision Making Model

Next is the five step decision making process as studied by Lamb, Hair and McDaniel (2011). In this model, the first step is the recognition of need of a product or service by the consumers. The second is the information search, third the evaluation of alternatives and fourth the purchase of the commodity or service. Finally, the fifth step is the post purchase behaviour. In regards to the model however, the following has been said (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2011, p. 189),

“The five steps represent a general process that can be used as a guide for studying how consumers make decision. It is important to note though that consumers’ decisions do not always proceed in order through all of these steps. In fact, the consumer may end that process at any time or may not even make a purchase.”

However, this model does provide important steps that can be used by the marketers to create external influence on the consuming behaviours of the customers. Baker (2003) says that these five stages together are affected by a number of external and internal factors. These factors include the cultural, social, individual and psychological factors and are actually applicable to all the stages of the consumer decision making process. Therefore, if the customers are to use factors to influence the consumer decision making process, these factors are to be manipulated. For the purpose of this section of the research report, only external factors will be analyzed for each stage of consumption of the goods and services.

The first step is the recognition of needs. This is actually the first and the most important step that the marketers can use to attract the customers and thus gain competitive advantage and even first movers advantage in the market. This is possible by making the customers realize the need for the product that the firm is offering. Hawkins (2008, p. 565) says that,

“Marketers often attempt to cause consumers to recognize a potential problem for which the marketer has a solution…this sometimes involves making consumers aware of problems well before they arise.”

The important word here is “potential”. The usual way through which the problem solving approach goes is to at first recognize the problem and then solve it. Providing external stimulus on the need recognition stage of the decision making process, marketers are actually making the customers create a problem in their head that they did not realize existed before. Obviously this can be both real and imaginary but there is no necessity that the consumer knew of the solution to the problem before. For example, the invention of diapers stimulated the need recognition stage of the decision making process. Before that for centuries, mothers and maids were using cloth and plastic panties for their babies and everything seemed to go fine. With the advent of diapers however, it became almost a necessity. Something without which bearing a child seemed like a serious problem.

Similarly, the marketers can influence the information search stage of the consumer decision making process by providing to the consumers the necessary information through various media. Nowadays, television advertisement, billboards and internet are the favorite sources of providing the consumers with the information about the product and how that product is the one that the consumers require in solving the problem. For example when proctor and gamble came up with the diapers, pampers, they needed to provide the useful information to the consumers about the product. So that the customers who have already realized this problem and were looking for a solution find it in the shape of pampers. This then can require free samples and other promotion techniques as well. As of today however, the techniques that remain dominant have been mentioned.

The marketers can influence the third step that is of alternative evaluation by allowing the customer, through efficient marketing strategies to realize that the product the firm is offering is the best one for the consumer.  The external factor used here can be the help of celebrities to promote a product. Knowing that a specific product works better than anything else for something well known and looked up to can actually lead the consumers to be inclined more towards the purchase of that product.

On the fourth stage of the consumer decision making model, prices are the factors that need to be considered and used by the marketers. The consumers should know that the price they are paying for the product is actually worth it. Here, the factor and consciousness of social class can play an important role. The effect of social class on consumer behavior, apart from the direct relationship of income levels and value of consumption, there is also a direct relationship till the upper class between the realization of social class and the desire to mobilize in the social class hierarchy and the value of consumption (Loudon, 2007). It has been noted that the upper, upper middle and the middle class seriously dreams of being recognized as the elite (how o not really care about the prices but about the quality) make more expensive purchases of the products or services to reinforce their social class image in the society.

Select a company or not-for-profit organisation that you are familiar with and critically evaluate how a specific consumer behavioral theory or model can aid in understanding consumers’ actions. Demonstrate how this then guides the practical implementation of marketing strategy in your chosen organisation.

The Organization

The business entity selected for the purpose this section of the report is L’Oreal Paris. This is the largest beauty and cosmetics brand in the world. In 2009 L’Oreal completed its hundred years and recognizes its moves in the business world as that of being adventurous. L’Oreal (2011) notes that above and beyond that financial success that the organization has achieved, the journey of L’Oreal has been marked by a quest for innovation, a quest for excellence, a question for the purpose of actually existing in the market and finally a quest for diversity in regards to the range of cultures, preferences and tastes of women around the globe.

Consumer Behavior Decision Making L’Oreal
Consumer Behavior Decision Making L’Oreal

This organization has actually celebrated beauty around the globe. L’Oreal has a huge international presence and operates in five continents of the worlds excluding Antarctica and Australia from the list. By the global 100, this beauty brand was actually ranked amongst the world’s 100 most sustainable business organizations. Moreover, this organization in 2011 has been presented with the best financial performance by the Boursoscan (L’Oreal, 2011).

The overview of the organization notes that for a century the organization has been pushing back the boundaries of science to invest and meet the aspirations of millions of women and men (L’Oreal, 2011). L’Oreal seeks to provide the best cosmetics to the world in terms of quality, safety and efficacy. In 2010, the business had consolidated sales figure of 195 billion Euros. Currently, the organization is managing 23 global brands in 130 countries of the world and registered 612 patents in the year 2010 (L’Oreal, 2011).

Theory of Consumer Behavior

Behavioral School of Thought: Classical Conditioning

In regards to the core behavioral theories, Schiffman (2008) notes that there are a number of routes through which the conditioning of consumers to buy a particular product can be done. The first route is the classical conditioning in which the consumer links a certain response to a product. For example, in regards to L’Oreal, classical condition will be that using the Voluminous Mascara introduced by the organization, the eyelashes will actually look darker and prettier and the result will be similar to what Ashwariya Rai puts on her eyes. The conditioning stimulus here will be the darker, more volume eyelashes like the ones that Ashwariya Rai appears with. Through the advertisement then the unconditioned response of the consumer who needs to buy mascara turns into a conditioned one.

Behavioral School of Thought: Cognitive Associative Learning

Next, Schiffman (2008) studies the cognitive associative learning behavior. According to this view, the relationship or (congruity) between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus influences the expectations which in turn influences the behavior of the being. This theory believes that the actions that occur after certain stimuli have been provided are in fact learned and occur because of the increase in knowledge. For example in the example above, the purchase of mascara would occur because knowledge about the qualities of the product has been gained. Unlike the cognitive associative behavior however, the classical conditioning believes that the reaction that occurs is actually reflex.

Economic Theory of Consumer Behavior

Apart from these theories, one consumer behavior theory that actually stems out economics more than psychology is the theory of consumer behavior. Irwin (2005) says that the consumers according to the model provided in this theory consumes at a point where there occurs an intersection between the consumer indifference curve (the choice curve of the customer where combinations of consuming two alternative goods achieve the same level of utility or satisfaction to the customer) and the budget constraint of the individual (as understood mostly by the current income levels of the person or the saved up income from a previous period).

This model assumes that the consumers are rational individuals who are responsive to a price change of products and who also have complete information about the product and the alternatives. Also it is assumed that the individual under question is subject to a budget constraint and that he or she has to manage more than one thing in a given period of time speaking financially.

Attitudes in Consumer Behavior

Perner (2011) however studies the theory of consumer behavior which says that the problem solving approaches of the consumers are actually internal (made up of the memory and thinking process of the individuals) and external (made up of the word of mouth, the media, the store visits and the trials amongst others). In this theory then, the evaluating behavior of the individuals are made up either compensatory, non compensatory, hybrid or abandoned strategy. The first one is the decision based on overall value of alternatives. The non compensatory evaluation requires that the consuming decision meets at least one important criterion and the hybrid is a combination of compensatory and non compensatory evaluation types. Finally, the abandoned strategy is when the consumer finds the initial criteria unrealistic and proceeds to a less desirable solution to the problem. Next, Perner (2011) notes that the consuming behavior of an individual is seriously affected by the attitudes of that individual; and that in turn attitudes are affected by the intentions, the beliefs and the feelings about a particular brand.

 As far as L’Oreal is concerned, consumer behavior can be understood critically through these four theories and the findings can be further used to design a strategy to expand the consumer market and the competitive advantage of the market.

Recommended Marketing Strategies

Starting with the attitudes of the consumers, L’Oreal can be added by understanding what beliefs individuals have about the products and services that the brand itself and that the competitors of the brand provide. This can be measured and analyzed through the attitude measure developed by Perner (2011). Next, the feelings of the consumers can be understood through this attitude model. For example, a fan of Ashwariya Rai, or Penelope Cruz (the brand ambassadors of L’Oreal) will feel a push for consuming the product after aggressively understanding how they feel for the product. Also, being there for a century, this brand is also a name through the generations. Understanding those feelings of the consumers will help steer the marketing plan of the organization towards a greater organizational performance overall.

Next, the theory of consumer behavior includes the importance of prices of the product. This is actually one of the core consumer behavior theories and is the most detail about the behaviors of the individuals. In this regard the organization can use the theory to understand what effect a price change of the products and services has on the sales of the organization and the demand of the consumers. Make up, after a certain limit is usually a luxury for individuals and L’Oreal is an expensive brand.

To keep up its market share and to not lose to organizations which are charging a lower price for similar products through the substitution and the income effect it is important for the management of the organization to carefully consider the underpinnings of the theory of consumer behavior. For this purpose, if the price of the good is actually not that far away from the actual investment put into the product in terms of research and development and manufacturing, the organization can actually use the coin of high quality. The perception of consumer about the quality of the product is a vital asset when an organization is designing its price and marketing policies. The better the consumer perceive the quality of a product to be, the more he or she will be willing to spare for that product because they will know that the money is being well spent and that there will be no hazardous consequences of using a particular product.

Conclusion

Nelson (1970) studies that the consumers are continuously busy in the choice making between different products however, the consequences of these choices are dimly known by them. One of the reasons is that they lack full knowledge about the price and quality of the product. The marketers of a business organization then can utilize the consuming behavior and the attitudes of the consumers for the purpose of attracting the maximum share of revenue for the organization.

This research paper studied how the marketers can actually use external factors including the social class, peer pressure, celebrity following and fashion trends to influence the consuming behavior of the consumers.

The second part of the research report analyzed the various theories of consumer behavior. Those theories then were in critically used to apply for the case of L’Oreal Paris, one of the largest multinationals in the world. Dholakia et al (2010) says that in the case of multimedia and multi channel organization like L’Oreal, the analysis of consumer behavior is different than the usual analysis. Finally, for the applied consumer behavior theories, a number of marketing strategies were recommended for L’Oreal.

References

Baker, D. (2003) Consumer Decision Making. 4th Ed. USA: South Western.

Dholakia, H. et al. (2010) Consumer Behavior in a Multichannel, Multimedia Retailing Environment. Journal of Interactive Marketing, Volume 24 (2), Pages 86-95.  

Hawkins (2008) Consumer Behavior. 6th Ed. India: Tata McGraw Hill

Irwin (2005) Theory of Consumer Behavior. USA: McGraw Hill.

Lamb, C., Hair, J. and McDaniel C. (2011) Essential of Marketing. 7th Ed. USA: South Western.

L’Oreal. (2018). L’Oreal Website

Nelson, P. (1970) Information and Consumer Behavior. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 78 (2), pp. 311-329

Prener, L. (2011) The consumer Behavior: The psychology of marketing.

Schiffman, L and Kanuk, L. (2007) Consumer Behavior. 9th Ed. India: Pearson Education Inc

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Big Data Strategy Decision Making

Big Data Strategy and Its Use in Decision Making

The today’s highly competitive and fast moving business environment is only favorable to businesses that make the best decision. This is due to the fact that with big data intelligence at hand, businesses, such retail business industry, are able to come up with any type of data visualization which comprises of dashboards, info graphics amongst other types of data visualization. According to Krish Krishnan (2013) the volumes of data available in varying degrees of complexity, generated at different velocities and varying degrees of ambiguity, that cannot be processed using traditional technologies, processing methods, algorithms or any commercial off-the-shelf solutions.” Huge volumes of data which can give insights about data that was or it has been produced in an identifiable form can be accessed by big data and for this reason various businesses can use this form of technology in coming up with different processes of decision making.

So as the operations of the business to become efficient and effective, the businesses can also use big data. With this technology, the businesses will be able to compete effectively without the fear of being kicked out of the context. There is improved performance with this new technology as it has increased the speed, flexibility and the ease of measuring the quantities of various data automatically. When compared to the traditional technologies of data processing, the data technology due to its ability to process architecture and measure quantities of data, the data technology is found to be of more benefit and thus more advantageous.

Through the big data analytics and the newly advanced computing technology, even the complicated and the most challenging problems that are associated with various businesses are now easy to solve. Therefore, the process of finding out the useful information, hidden patterns and unknown correlations so as to come up with better and productive decision can simply be referred to as the extraction of big data analytics (Chen , et al., 2012). With this kind of technology, the best decision making and even driven innovation amongst other relevant and important steps of a business can be made by any organization’s top management can be made as a means of survival and development. This is because with this technology, with it the application of high performance tools for data mining, optimization, text mining, forecasting and relevant data extraction is much simpler and even faster.

So as to optimize funnel conversion, the data intelligence can play a very big role to ensure the management makes the decisions that are important and vital to the company business. Other roles that can be played by the data intelligence includes prediction of security threats towards the business, predicting the support the company may land, it can also detect fraud, optimization of prices and carrying out an analysis on the available markets for business and also the big data intelligence plays a role in behavioral analytics. It is noted that when it comes to a right decision making, it is very essential to adapt business intelligence in such a highly competitive and an economy that is growing worldwide so fast.

This type of technology is applicable in various situations i.e. in a data repository, customer relations, integrated marketing strategies or even identifying and weighing the constantly changing industry trends. Mobility, social collaboration, cloud and big data are a few but examples of the areas that are influenced by the industry trends  thus the business intelligence is an important aspect as it is the one that keeps the industry trends going (Chaudhuri & Narasayya , 2011). So as to achieve their motives i.e. raising the market reach, increased profits and better performance of finance, the organization groups of various sizes and companies target their customers use these data that is collected from these sources.

The structured or unstructured data in a business environment that is experiencing completion at global level and is at risky position is capable of provision of trading, assets, price related detailed information and industry related trends to an organization thereby enabling the organization to plan ahead of other competitive industries. Thus such data is very crucial to any industry that needs to grow and work for the best of its objectives in a very competitive business environment.

Big data and customer segmentation

All over the world, for the companies to compete effectively, they have had to find out and identify what their customers want .i.e. the customers’ opinions, reviews, customers’ preferences in their day-to-day needs and these companies are also putting in contest the other factors that affect their businesses as an added advantage for their co-existence in the business world. All these information after being collected, it is analyzed by the company’s experts so as to reach conclusions that will aid in their decision making.

A better decision making will put the company at a position to win the price by shooting at the target as per the objectives and aims that the company had put in place earlier. Such important information can be collected from various social media sites, official websites, interactive sites and various search engines. This is achievable when the companies that are in need of such information retrieve the information from the customer’s purchase history, search items made by the customer, the customer’s history of transaction from the data.

A company with such vital information is able to come up with a strategized marketing form of a message that is composed of customized and personalized contents that exhibit certain features that interest a specific group and thus becomes customer specific.

Retailing analytics

In the process of monitoring, to identify and to measure the extent at which the customers are influenced by the products and services offered by the company, the retailers collect the information that is customer related through the built-in data repository globally from public data and social data so as to know the opinions of their customers. Apart from the individual’s opinion on the products and services offered by the company, the data that is gathered by the company is also composed of the opinion of other people i.e. the friends’ opinions and even other parties’ opinions that are found in the sites of social media.

Data warehousing

Through the collection of data, a large quantity of structured as well as unstructured data keeps on piling and very important and valuable information about the customers is extracted from these piles of data by the companies that are seeking the information. In businesses that are retail oriented, big data intelligence and analytics is used to identify and target the relevant customers i.e. as Walmart does. Other relevant tools for customer preferences and needs are used by Walmart.

Due to continuous piling up of data, a huge data is created as a result. To most businesses this huge data pose a challenge as it becomes tiresome in the event of scanning of products at POS as well as some data also piling from the surveillance cameras etc.  A lot more value can be achieved by a business through proper management of data and thus the business processes can be improved by a large extent which as a result can cause the whole business to succeed. This value can also lead to a good decision making which can as well transform the methodology and value tools for undertaking the business activities. By using Enterprise Data Warehouse concept in any operations of the business, for decision making, any business enterprise is capable of transformation of raw data into knowledge that is quite useful.

Data bases and business intelligence

Big data has been declared by Forbes as the greatest weapon for business prosperity for sales and marketing of various products and this is because with data at hand, the businesses are transforming all over the world since the various businesses have sought to find the actionable insights from the unstructured data that is highly piled. A database that consists of data taken from e-commerce sites, customer call records, customer history and social media sites has been put forward by Walmart. This kind of data presented by Walmart is not structured data but is an extensive and complex data that is accumulated in its data repository which in order to mine, collect and manage needs the tools for data analysis and specialized software.

Walmart focuses on implementing business intelligence and the other tools for data visualization like reports, charts and dashboards and maintenance of such information in in their database for easier retrieval and use when the information is in need. For the marketing manager at Walmart to retrieve the customers’ tastes and preferences, complaints, purchase history and opinions, they use the information from the data so as to divide their customers into categories depending on their characteristics. This is because this mode of characterizing enables Walmart to beat the competition as it is able to understand the competition completely.

Micro-segmentation

Through targeting the behavior and the attitude of the customer towards the products and services offered by a company aids the company to go through the decision making of the customer so that it becomes simple for the companies involved to measure and put into records the differences in products that seek to identify the market and those customers participating in the businesses.

Segmentation is where the company is able to come up with relevant a very message that is passed in media perceiving and in it having a greater ability to break through a broad region and generate a response that is desirable and in turn cause a desirable action or behavior on the target group and cause an engagement of that individual or group thereby resulting in their loyalty to the company thus achieving the expected objective. Therefore, the process of understanding the customer and their behavior and engaging them is the only key to micro-segmentation.

Fig I: Customer understanding and benefits

Activity-based data

From mobile data, history made from purchases, data from call center, queries concerning the products incentive responses, the search information and tracking that is made from various websites are some of the activities that enable Walmart to understand its customers. Social media sites like Facebook and tweeter among others have also been monitored and recorded to have given a pushing hand in marketing of products through the marketing messages that they bare. The information about the customer demand can also be provided by the collection of data from the tracking tools on the websites.

The social influence can also be as a result of sentiment data which are affected by the reviews and comments that are made online, the associated company, the involved product and the records that are made concerning the customer in terms of the services offered to such a customer or the products sold to that customer. This information is stored in the database as it can be of use in the future or may be used elsewhere. Through the various activities that leverage the efficiency and the effectiveness of insights that are of high value when it comes to decision making matters, the real cost of micro-segmentation is reached and known as soon as there is an identification of the target market and customers at large.

Master data management

To clean up the old data and create new, accurate, modern and a complete set of data that is necessary for carrying out management and also the growth of the business enterprise, master data management is fondly used. Very crucial and important information about the products, the accounts, relationships, suppliers and customers is exhibited by the master data and through it , the business enterprise is able to understand who it supplies goods and services to, the products or goods that it offers, the services it offers, the accounts it holds with its customers and its suppliers at large. The lack of such information to the enterprise lands it in a dangerous spot and therefore, the enterprise needs this information so as to operate usefully.

A business enterprise is able to allow changing needs in enterprise and also allowing the enterprise to form business processes through integration of data through the master data management which in turn allows the whole activity to go through. There are several advantages that are exhibited by the initiatives on the Master data management. These advantages include the naturally strategic initiatives, the master data management initiative have also affected a good number of business areas at Walmart at large.

The managers at Walmart have been able to solve a number of problems and issues pertaining to their customers, effectiveness of the products they offer etc. And all these are by the business intelligence practices and analytics combined with both the management and the IT involved processes. This is because the master data management has the phrases that direct the organization to the objectives. These phrases that made the master data management relevant include “single view of my customer”, “time span of introducing a new product”, “profitability report of this week” and “how long it would take to penetrate a specific market”. This has thus made Walmart a great competitor when it comes to big data and its management and as a result maximizing its profits and increasing its performance financially.

Big Data Strategy Dissertation
Big Data Strategy Dissertation

Fig II: Master data management at Walmart

IT process management and Big Data

For an organization to come up with good strategy for decision making in various occasions, both the big data and the IT process management must be involved as a single unit. This is because these two are very important in development and maintenance of the data repository which is composed of the information on the opinions, preferences, clients, orders, complaints and the information of many more factors.

The main objective of the IT data is to achieve the goals that were set on the area of business provided while the business analytics that is applied and the decision making process are used and for a good decision making be approached, the business intelligence process, the IT system and the enterprise solution system have to be done harmoniously. For collection and storage of information on an online customer and the transactions carried out, the information technology system is put into use. This information collected and stored can be further utilized during the process of decision making (Mayer-Schönberger, 2013) and therefore making it vital for categorizing of the clients to a given business enterprise.

Merging unstructured data with structured data

The middleware technology is an efficient and affordable and effective technology that is applied and used in the drawing of valuable information. The middleware technology is developed from the merging of both the structured data and unstructured data which is used in the business intelligence system. The various companies develop management systems and data integration and come up with the integration of big data- the integration used for the extraction of reports, data visualization and charts e.g. the Net-mark which was developed at NASA as one of these integrations and the management systems. This software can be scaled and be measured; it is cost effective and very efficient.

Once this software receives unstructured data, for it to be used for analysis or reports, the software cleans automatically and regulates the structure in it. (Mayer-Schönberger, 2013). These are some of its properties and it allows for merging of data as the enterprise involved would like the data to be represented.

Importance of social media in decision making

Social media has today become an important factor in the today’s world of business which is competitive. Social media has enabled various individuals across the world to share and communicate with each other over the internet. There are different activities and behaviors in various social networking sites with a particular trend. Businesses can therefore use the internet to monitor such behaviors and activities so that they can get information about the market trend and the preferences of customers.

Activities, likes, comments, recommendations, time spent on pages, feedback and online reviews about a given product on social sites can provide useful information that managers may need during decision making process. Companies such as Walmart can point out a trend of clothing and fashion that exactly match the needs of their customers (Leonardi, 2013).

Conclusion

The use of business analytics and tools in information technology management, big data technology, data warehousing, etc. has helps various businesses in the present business environment. Development and maintenance of database is today used to monitor and record customers’ behaviors such as purchases and transaction histories. Information from internet search engines, and comments, complaints, tastes and preferences can be used by companies to study their customers. Customer behavior and preferences can also be studied through information about their online activities and participation in internet campaigns.

Such information about customers can be used to make strategic decisions for the effectiveness and efficiency of the company. Business analytics and intelligence is not limited to decision making only but can be used also in marketing, operation and supply chain management among many other applications. Walmart has been using business intelligence in cross selling, segmentation, campaign, advertisement channeling, monitoring of customer behavior and sentiment analysis to study and know their customer needs.

Works Cited

Adamson, I., 2013. Relationship marketing: customer commitment and trust as a strategy for the smaller Hong Kong corporate banking sector.. International journal of bank marketing.

Chaudhuri , S. & Narasayya , V., 2011. An overview of business intelligence technology. Communications of the ACM, 54(8), pp. 88-98.

Chen , H., CHiang , R. H. & Storey , V. C., 2012. Business Intelligence and Analytics: From Big Data to Big Impact. MIS quarterly, 36(4), pp. 1165-1188.

Kumar, V., 2002. Customer relationship management.. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Leonardi, P., 2013. Enterprise social media: Definition, history, and prospects for the study of social technologies in organizations. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, pp. 1-19.

Mayer-Schönberger, V., 2013. A revolution that will transform how we live, work, and think. s.l.:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt..

Ryals, L., 2001. Cross-functional issues in the implementation of relationship marketing through customer relationship management. European management journal.

Rygielski, C., 2002. Data mining techniques for customer relationship management. Technology in society, pp. 483-502.

Sharda , D., Delen , D. & Turban , E., 2013. Business Intelligence: A Managerial Perspective on Analytics. s.l., Prentice Hall Press.

Zikopoulos, P., 2011. Understanding big data: Analytics for enterprise class hadoop and streaming data. s.l.:McGraw-Hill Osborne Media.

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Approaches for Research Dissertations

Qualitative or Quantitative?

Approaches for all research, whether qualitative or quantitative, requires interpretation and contextualization by the researcher. Narrative statements or a series of figures will not give the answer to the research question or statement (hypothesis) by themselves.

Therefore it is important to choose a research approach (or approaches) that will give the correct ‘type’ of data to answer your research question.

A number of approaches are available when gathering data, but these don’t have to be used in isolation. For instance a focus group can elicit viewpoints which may need exploring further will a larger research cohort using a closed question survey. For this reason, it is important to plan your approach thoroughly before you start, to ensure your research question can be answered and to let your respondees know what is expected of them.

Don’t forget that whichever research method is chosen, it needs to have a robust ethics form that has been approved before contacting participants and starting to gather data.

Approaches that can be used:

Focus groups

This is where a group of people discuss a particular problem, facilitated by the researcher. The group interaction and the sharing of ideas not only means that rich and meaningful data can be pulled out from the focus group but also during the course of the focus groups, ideas can be co-constructed between participants which can be used to further the depth of research.

Structured interviews

When using structured interviews, the questions are written beforehand and are strictly adhered to regardless of the answer.

Semi-structured interviews

Whilst pre written questions are also used in semi structured interviews, this approach allows for the researcher to spontaneously build on answers given, allowing the base question to be answered but also elaborating on any areas which may impact on the research answer.

Survey

Surveys are an excellent way to reach a large number of people. This approach works if there is a clear idea of the questions that will elicit research to support the hypothesis. A mix of qualitative (open text fields) or quantitative (set questions and answers) can be used.

Case study

This approach is valuable when more in depth research is required and allows the researcher to investigate the issues in the place or time that they occur. The researcher will observe the participant and often will have follow up meetings to clarify or build on the information gained.

Narrative enquiry

This method works on the ideology that it is less important what is said, then how it is said. The story a participant will tell may not be entirely factual but it will be their perception of what happened which gives greater in sight. This approach is linked to discourse analysis methodology.

Appreciative enquiry (AI)

AI shifts the traditional focus of looking for the negative impacts of an issue and instead approaches the issue from a positive perspective.

Ethnographic

Ethnographical methodology requires the researcher to embed themselves in the participatory groups own setting, for a sustained time in order to observe, talk and learn from participants.

There are a number of branches from the ethnographic methodology:

Auto ethnographic

More than just an autobiographical account, an auto-ethnographic researcher should reflect on events and use these to uncover meanings and feelings that a purely narrative account may miss.

Visual ethnographic

Using video, photos and artefacts as the main source of research data rather than supplementing it.

Netography

Researchers using this methodology are involved and participants or ‘lurkers’ in virtual groups and communities. Ethical issues need to be carefully considered with this approach.

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)

Instead of studying isolated issues, SSM is a holistic way of looking at and solving problems. These are often presented in mind map formats, making this a good research methodology for visual learners.

Questions to ask before choosing a research approach:

  1. Will we learn more about this topic using quantitative or qualitative approaches?
  2. Which approach will produce more useful knowledge?
  3. Which will do more good?

References

Taken from:  Cousin. Glynis, (2009) Researching Learning in Higher Education. Routledge. UK.

Research Approaches Dissertations
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