Saturday, January 25, 2020
Analysis of Product Packaging Design
Analysis of Product Packaging Design ABSTRACT 1 Introduction Product design and specifically product shape and looks have long been identified as factors that may contribute to product value and new product success. Design of products evokes both cognitive and affective responses in the mind of the observers and this can be used to tailor a more attractive product proposition. While a lot of excellent research has been conducted on the positive effect that industrial design can have on the perceptions of customers about the product functionality, embedding issues like utility, safety and comfort, the importance of the perceived value by a customer on judgements about product elegance and social significance have not been extensively studied until recently. reference In this thesis I am trying to test whether Yes please soup pot design not only communicates to the potential customer a series of qualitative attributes about its content, i.e. quality and healthiness, but also triggers positive emotional responses on the perceived beauty and difference with similar products and that can be leveraged by the company to command a price premium 2        NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCT DESIGN New product development processes are the subset of standardized procedures that companies use to manage the new product project phases that lead to the launch of new products in the market. The objective of these procedures is to implement a systematized approach to ensure the potential of new projects based on their financial and development feasibility while maximizing the value of new products as perceived by its target customers. 2.1        What is industrial design Industrial design is the set of activities within new product development processes that deal with optimizing the functionality and appearance of a product to maximize its value for both consumer and manufacturer (1). The ultimate objective of a product design is thus to align the set of attributes embedded within the product with the target customer preferences and to implement them in a way that they are actually perceived and valued by them. In order to achieve a successful design and implementation, companies engage in direct market research to elicit the target customer segment implicit and explicit needs (the voice of the customer) and align those with product attributes, using techniques such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD) which systematically links the needs the product must satisfy with technical specifications while also prioritizing them based on the level of importance to customers. At the same time, the identification of the customer segment preferences and the mapping of those within a perceptual map, comparing how well different products in the market fulfill the identified needs, allow for the design of specific product propositions that no other product does and thus achieving a unique positioning and successful product differentiation. The dimension of product design has been recognized by several authors (Cooper, Trueman) as being critical to the ultimate success of the launch of new products. The focus of design development is centered around the efficient implementation of the product features, ergonomics and quality form to maximize its utility to users, while at the same time embedding it with a pleasant appearance that is able to communicate positive attributes that contribute to the ultimate value proposition. (3) (4) Trueman: Design has the facility to improve product reliability and quality standards thereby raising the perceived value of goods and services in the eyes of the customer, allowing companies to increase profit margins As Trueman estates (6), A value proposition must successfully integrate a product within its own environment by combining and merging coherently the different attributes, aesthetics, price and quality so that they are aligned similarly and reinforce each other. Although mistaken by artists that only worry about the visual appearece of a product, or styling, successful industrial designers are able dig into such fields as engineering, Materials science, manufacturing, and marketing to embed new products with a set of attributes directly influencing new product success in the market.(2) (3) (4) (5) (6). Ultimately, the design of an object is the specific configuration of elements, materials and components that give its particular attributes of function, shape etc. and determine how it is to be made and used. (13) By embedding the design dimension into the processes, companies ensure that the final value proposition is increased as it contributes to the perceived value by the customer. A successful design increase the perceived quality of a product, ensures that is aligned with market and regulatory standards and thus increase the odds to satisfy customer expectations. A consistent Design strategy in new product development processes also contributes to build a product and company image and helps to pull together the dimensions of company identity with branding and promotion (Trueman). Also, by taking the design dimensions early on the NPD projects, companies can reduce the final time to market and product costs by simplifying the manufacturing processes and reduce the final costs of fabrication. 2.2        The contribution of Industrial design in the final product value proposition There are many design attributes that can be embedded into new products, roughly separated within ergonomics and aesthetics, being the former more related to the experience of using the product, while the latter is focused into the experience of seeing the product. Aestethics, embedding all product parameters that determine the way the product look, are a an essential element of the purchasing process since customers base their preference on products by the subjective perceptions elicited by the product on the potential benefits it can provide.(7) In that line, the Lens model first introduced by Brunswick (?), states that the potential customer makes a mental bundle of the information it receives about the product and from there triggers a set of perceptions that will ultimately lead to a set of preferences and choices. The ways a specific design can lead to a positive perception and thus to a choice of preference vary and are entangled with other sources of information the customer receives and which align the propostion to the customer already decided preferences. The perceptions that a product can evoke are immediately related to past information received and allow the person for example to relate it to a certain corporate and brand identity, a process that many companies have followed by implementing a sustained design strategy on their products. Brand identity allows to ultimately link the products observed to perceptions on company values and overall level of attributes of the products and has been used as means of effective product differentiation. (9) (10). In different industries, companies tend to emphasize different attributes in their communication to be aligned with their specific company positioning and customers most importance preferences, like tastiness and safety in the food industry and reliability and environment friendliness in the car industry. The physical form of a product has been researched to have an important impact in the way customers judge it and has ultimately a strong correlation effect with the final product success in the market (). As Bloch (10) states the physical form or design of a product is an unquestioned determinant of its marketplace success. A good design attracts consumers to a product, communicates to them, and adds value to the product by increasing the quality of the usage experiences associated with it. 2.3        Which financial benefits can it provide Companies with an effective industrial design strategy achieve better perfoming products in the market in terms of several financial indicators as return on assets, return on sales and higher profitability, which can be linked to both the design differentiation factor as stated previously by Porter in the famous book Competitve strategy (1980) and to reduced costs due to more efficient use of materials and manufacturing processes. (14) Also, the study of Roy (13) in 1993 on 221 small and medium sized UK manufacturers which received a government subsidy to promote the active use of industrial design in the development of new or improved products showed that 60% of all projects and 90% of the implemented ones were commercially successful and profitable with payback periods averaging under 15months, which show that the effective strategic approach to include design in new product development processes can be implemented in firms of different sizes. Bloch in his research also collected previous studies that linked new product financial success factors with the inclusion of design as an inherent part of their NPD processes. He identified in a survey of senior marketing managers that, design was mentioned as the most important determinant of new product performatice by 60% of respondents by only 17% considered Price most important . Also and based on the work of cooper on the analysis of the performance of 203 new products identified that product design was the most important determinant of sales success . Most interestingly for the case of Yes Please foods product, which as will be explained later chose specifically a designer for the pot based on his previous award winning record, Some research has identified that the receipt of design awards is positively associated with profit margins above average and sales growth (Goodrich 1994; Roy 1994). 3.        The purchasing process and the visual effect of a product design 3.1        XXXXXXXXXXXXX The ultimate act of purchasing occurs as a result of a complex mental process where the information received is analyzed and weighted as per to measure to which extend the product satisfies the needs of the customer. A general categorization of customer needs has been frequently compared with the Maslow hierarchy of needs which states that once most basic requirements have been satisfied by a product, the emphasis on a customer shifts to satisfy other more intangible needs related to symbolic and aesthetic attributes. As a result of this the purchasing process is triggered by the fulfillment of the requirements for the intended use of the product but also by the satisfaction of more intangible needs like status, elegance or social significance. In order to understand the ultimate behavioral response of a customer triggered by the visual appearance of a product it is critical to assess the cognitive and emotional processes that result from the act of observing the item under evaluation. The cognitive processes take place when a customer uses his visual senses to observe the product and perceives certain information which mentally organizes to make some judgments about its attributes and which are influenced by previous visual references or similar product stereotypes, which suggest familiar usages of the product and ultimately help the observer to interpret the signals received. It has been described a number of different approaches on how to categorize the judgments that a customer does based on the perception of a product observation. Crilly (?) has summarized all previous approaches and identifies a total of three main categories of cognitive responses to product appearance: Aesthetic, Semantic and Symbolic. From those three, the semantic interpretation, the mental inferences that an observer does to judge whether a product is capable of performing the tasks for what is intended for, is the only processes where the tangible attributes of the product are assessed. During this process the practical qualities of a product like function, performance and efficiency are analyzed and mentally compared with other references to judge the utility a product will offer to the observer. In this category I include the information that is gathered by the customer when obtaining information from reading the label and which is directly processed to identify the physical attributes of the product. The emotional responses following this cognitive process are then aligned to assess the instrumental utility of the product which ultimately lead to satisfaction, when fulfilling the expected requirements, and dissatisfaction when the product is not fulfilling them. The two other described cognitive processes are used to identify intangible attributes of the product that may or may not be perceived as valuable for the customer depending on a number of different factors, like current positioning within the Maslow hierarchy of needs, consumers cultural context and personal characteristics. The symbolic association is the cognitive response that attaches to the product some socially determined symbolic meaning. During this process, as series of values are realized to be attached to the product and assumes that others must also associate them with it. As Crilly states This culturally agreed meaning will allow the customer project a desirable image to others, express social status or communicate its personal characteristics through it. Examples of intangible values that can be associated to the product through symbolic meaning are exclusivity as the identification with certain economic status and environmentally consciousness. Finally the aesthetic impression comprises all cognitive responses that are directed towards a perceived judgment of elegance and beautifulness. Even if still there is no unanimous consensus on what comprises beautiful objects, the perception of aesthetic attraction triggers positive emotional thoughts on the customer and contribute to attaching value to the product observed. 3.2        The Aesthetics Dimension As researched by several authors (?) the definition of what makes an item beautiful or aesthetically pleasant is not conclusive. It has been described though that cultural and social forces have an influence in the preferences for specific forms. Specifically, it has been described that a specific culture values and preferences may influence the acceptance of a particular style. Also seems to be proven that cultural norms may overwhelm an individual inner preferences and help shape its perceptions towards the acceptance of a specific design form. (blaich, Bloch) Thus, and although cross cultural differences stay in the way of having an unified view of what can be considered as aesthetically pleasant, the current era of advanced information technology is working towards unifying the concepts that influence the perceptions of the soft values within a product design and thus working towards a more globalized and uniform set of criteria. The cognitive processes described triggered upon the observation of a product lead to a series of emotional responses that will ultimately lead to the final decision on the purchasing process, being the most important the attraction or disgust towards the aesthetics, the satisfaction or dissatisfaction towards the fulfillment by the product of instrumental requirements for its use, the surprise or indifference based on the perceived product novelty and the admiration or indignation towards social significance. 4.        DESIGN IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY In the food industry, Tauber (8), collected through extensive market studies an exhaustive set of problems related to food products. By doing so, he was trying to identify potential opportunities for new products while also providing with a thorough analysis of the basic needs to be fulfilled by this kind of products. From that list it can be identified a series of attributes that the product under study is fulfilling and thus achieving a specific positioning. Some of them, like low calorie content, convenience of transport and preparation and adequacy of the serving size are efficiently communicated through the information contained in the label. Others like healthy, tasty, and high quality can only be perceived by the customer through the design of the pot and label and by some previous information it might have received. Moreover, as Berkowitz researched, the shapes and images that have a more natural looking are associated with products that are fresher, taste better and have a better texture, and are ultimately more preferred by customers. At the same time, he found that aesthetic appealingness of the product, defined by bloch (10) as the ability to evoke positive beliefs, positive emotions and sympathetic with consumers aesthetic tastes, and by Crilly (11) as the sensation that results from the perception of attractiveness (or unattractiveness) in products was not of any specific interest to food products customers. 5.        The Yes Please! Foods Company, products and market The trigger for the writing of this thesis has been evaluation of the influence that the design of the Yes Please! Foods soup product packaging may be having in its market performance. Yes Please Foods is Germany based company that entered the chilled organic convenience food German market in 2007. Although belonging to the generally mature food industry, both the organic and convenience sub segments have been growing at an average rate of 12% in the period 2003-2008 in Germany (15). Yes please foods can be considered to be positioned in the Premium priced range of offers within the segment as its Price its on average 33% more expensive than that of the competitors. The company started its operations in the Berlin area and has been enjoying a high growth rate in volumes sold ever since (the actual numbers can not be disclosed in this paper as they are covered by a confidential disclosure agreement). The company is currently planning to expand its operations throughout Germany and is about to close its first round of external financing. Based on the information provided by the company, it is know that the customer profile of this kind of products is that of mid to high educated people, working full time, with above average income and health conscious. It is inferred from the information provided by the company that the product is intended to fulfill the need of high quality healthy food that can be prepared and ready to serve within a short period time frame. The motto of the company portrays this positioning of healthy convenient to prepare food for customers that do not want to spend time in the kitchen as good food for busy people The design of the pot, as explained by the company owner and general manager, Gemma Michalski, was the central part of their strategy to build a company identity and resulted in one of the biggest expenditures incurred during the initial company launching. The design was commissioned to Willimas Myurray Hamm from London which used the artwork of Berlin based illustrator Martin Haake. As explained by Ms Michalski, they were specifically chosen to perform the design task because of their previous record of award winning product designs that resulted in highly successful products in the market. (16) 6.        Use of conjoint analysis to elicit the importance of attributes in the eyes of the costumers The first part of the field study I am going to conduct has been designed to measure a the potential correlation between price and design in the final willingness to pay expressed by respondents. Also I shall use the results to mesure the relative importance of each, for the whole of respondents and for potential segments I shall identify within the sample of respondents. The technique used, an empirical marketing research using conjoint analysis, was first introduced as an effective marketing tool during 1970s and has been validated as an effective means to identify the most relevant features of product, its key design attributes, and the degree of importance that customers attach to them. (17) The usefulness of the tool is extended by the ability to sort the answers from respondents to some specific criteria which allow eliciting the kind of different features preferred by different segments of consumers within the same market. At the heart of the technique, consumers are asked to rate as per their own preferences a number of different product prototypes that are embedding different features and levels of features. By doing so, the customer is making choices and trade-offs from those multi attribute alternatives based on the overall perceived utility or value of the product under evaluation. The statistical treatment of the data, using a multiple regression model, allows quantifying how much each of the single attributes is affecting the overall value of the entangled set of properties, as it is assumed that consumers have an implicit utility value for every single one of them. The first part of the technique is normally a consumer attitude survey were the general attitudes of the consumer towards the product are collected. One of the main outcomes of this part of the research is to determine which features of the product are relevant for the consumers. The aim of this first part is typically to find out why the products are purchased, which use they make of them and their attitudes toward them. Once the information is collected allows the design teams to elicit which features of the product seem to be more relevant for the customers and allows to potentially determine needs that still unresolved or problems existing with current products in the market. In this thesis I have overcome this phase since this part of the research is aimed at determining which physical features of the product are relevant, whether the focus of this thesis is aimed to the soft values attached to physical appearance. Thus, by assuming that the current most important features of the product for the target customer segment are actually satisfied by all products in the study, I have been able to focus any significance preference in the actual aesthetic value of the product and its potential relationship with the price they would be willing to pay. In order to communicate to respondents that all products evaluated had exactly the same features and were only differing in design and price, the following statement was introducing the questionnaire: The products you are going to see are all soup products. They contain just natural organic ingredients without any conservatives and must be kept in the fridge. The portions are all 500ml Generally, The second part of the conjoint process uses the information gathered to determine the whole set of attributes that define all of the existing products in a market and introduces new ones to test their acceptance by consumers. Also, different levels for each attribute are defined to obtain a meaningful representation of the different ranges within each attribute that are or could be available in the market. In order for the research to be significant, prototypes having different combinations of levels of all attributes have to be created to be ranked in preference by consumers. Typically, and due to the large number of possible permutations of attributes that can be created, a smaller sample is chosen to facilitate the consumer research study. It has been shown that eliminating combinations through an experimental design called orthogonal arrays or through judgment (those that are not possible physically i.e. by cost or conceptually i.e. by design), has no significant effect on the final outcome of the study (18) Since the research to be conducted for this thesis is aimed at identifying any preferred designs for a soup product and potentially monetary value attached to specific product appearances, I have chosen to study two sets of attributes, design comprised by the three levels, picture of natural ingredient, artistic draw and no draw and the attribute price, also with three different levels: â‚ ¬ 1,99, â‚ ¬ 2,49 and â‚ ¬ 2,99. Due to the small number of total possible combinations (32), the empirical survey shall ask respondents to evaluate all possible combinations. The rationale for choosing these type of designs has been based on previous literature on shape and images in food products (Berkowitz) and the need for the actual inclusion of the design of the Yes Please Food product to test its hypothesized perceived value on the design. The third design included no draw has been arbitrarily selected hypothesizing it to be a representative sample of an unaesthetic design. The three price level selected have been chosen on the basis of actual prices of products in the market for the picture of natural ingredient (â‚ ¬2,49) and artistic draw (â‚ ¬2,99) designs, while the third level price has been arbitrarily selected to represent a low price level within that attribute. The third part of the procedure gathers a meaningful sample of the product consumers and asks them to rank the different prototypes (combinations of the different levels of the selected attributes) based on their preferences. The aim of this part is to gather the structure of consumers preferences for different product features. In this part is important to define the question to be asked properly so it collects the opinion on consumers about the perceived value they attach to each specific product proposition. In my research I have chosen the sentence from 1-7 how likely would you be to buy this product at the stated price. One of the benefits of conjoint analysis is that it is able to achieve statistical significance on the results with a relative small sample of respondents. The aim of this research will be to achieve at least 33 respondents in order to be able to make some inferences about the direction of the proportional influence that design has in the final monetary value of the proposed prototype, being that either positive or negative. One of the limitations of my study shall be that the random sample of respondents to the questionnaire shall only be validated as actual consumers of soup products by one of the questions in the demographic profile, do you like soup? that is embedding three possible answers: no, sometimes is ok and love it. It shall be assumed that a positive answer to this question (all possible answers but no) allow to make inferences about their potentiality to be consumers of the product. That limitation is affecting jus this part of the study were the research is trying to elucidate whether design has a relationship with willingness to pay. For the second part where it will be researched the consumers perceptions about intangible attributes of the design, it will be assumed that cultural context and general profile of the respondents is similar to that of the consumers of fresh soups as explained before in the Yes Please Foods product and market chapter of this thesis. A segmentation of the respondents by any kind of useful criteria like demographics, type of usage, attitude towards the products etc will also allow to identify the preferred attributes for each type of customer segment. The final part is the statistical treatment of the results that tries to identify which attributes are preferred by consumers and which are considered to be of more relative importance to them, and thus to the final value of the product proposition. 7.        Experiment 7.1        Objectives The objectives of the experiments executed were designed to validate and refute previous research about the influence that design have in the purchase decision making process and to elicit specific findings about the design of the soup product of the sponsor company Yes Please! Foods. In the first experiment, the objective is to validate whether a series of qualitative attributes about the product can be inferred from the customer just by looking at the design, specifically the respondents are required to rate each of the three designs as per their perception on how they consider them to be healthy, fresh, of high quality, different and beautiful. One of the objectives of this part of the experiment is to validate the hypothesis that the design of the pot of the Yes Please! Foods soup product has is somehow original that can be clearly differentiated from that of the competitors and that is considered to be an aesthetically pleasant design. Another objective of this part of the research is to validate previous research like that of Berkowitz (9), Bloch (10) and Trueman (6) which asserted that in mature markets, product form is one way to gain consumer notice and achieve a clear product differentiation. By assessing the responses about the attributes quality, freshness and Healthiness, it is pursued to validate the research of Bloch (10) and Nusssbaum (?), which stated that exterior appearance of a product is an important channel to communicate information to consumers, that Product form allows to generate inferences regarding other product attributes. Also this experiment will help to validate the research from Berlkowtiz () which found that natural shapes displayed in the packaging of food products help consumers to make assumptions about the product as being more fresh healthy and of higher quality. Finally I intend to validate the research of Trueman (6) which found that products that are considered to have a good design (which I shall relate to the weight of the responses on the attribute beautiful) are considered to be of superior quality, by checking whether products to be considered beautiful on my research are also considered to be of high quality. The inferences that I will try to make with the results of the second part of the research, a conjoint analysis of 9 different prototypes which result from the combination of three different design styles and three different sets of prices, will be dependent upon the results of the first part. If during the first experiment I am able to proof that some of the three designs are considered to be significantly more beautiful than the others, I shall be able to validate with the results of the second experiment are aligned with the results found by Bloch. Kotler and Nussbaum when they found that given two identical products in terms of features and price, the one with the most beautiful design is preferred by respodents. At the same time I shall try to validate whether a product considered to be more beautiful can command a higher willingness to pay, which is stated in the survey designed as the likeliness to buy the shown product. If that is proven to be the case, I will try to identify the reasons why those customers would be willing to spend more in such product by relating it to their perceptions on the other attributes of the same product, either being the subset of attributes regarding product utility, (higher quality, more natural or more healthy) , the subset of aesthetic attributes (more beautiful, more different) or both. Finally I shall use the results of the second experiment to validate the research of Berkowitz which found that products with natural shapes tend to be considered more natural, and healthy. I shall do this by specifically analyzing the results of one of the chosen designs which portrays a picture of a natural tomato on the label. Also I shall try to refute the findings of the same author which found in previous research that attractive designs where not of any specific interest to consumers in terms of aesthetic appeal. 7.2        Methodology 7.2.1        Sample The survey will be send to all recipients of the address domain [emailprotected], for which I expect a random sample of respondents within the employees of ESMT and all recipients of address [emailprotected], for which I expect a random sample of ESMT MBA 2009 students I believe this sample shall be repre Analysis of Product Packaging Design Analysis of Product Packaging Design ABSTRACT 1 Introduction Product design and specifically product shape and looks have long been identified as factors that may contribute to product value and new product success. Design of products evokes both cognitive and affective responses in the mind of the observers and this can be used to tailor a more attractive product proposition. While a lot of excellent research has been conducted on the positive effect that industrial design can have on the perceptions of customers about the product functionality, embedding issues like utility, safety and comfort, the importance of the perceived value by a customer on judgements about product elegance and social significance have not been extensively studied until recently. reference In this thesis I am trying to test whether Yes please soup pot design not only communicates to the potential customer a series of qualitative attributes about its content, i.e. quality and healthiness, but also triggers positive emotional responses on the perceived beauty and difference with similar products and that can be leveraged by the company to command a price premium 2        NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCT DESIGN New product development processes are the subset of standardized procedures that companies use to manage the new product project phases that lead to the launch of new products in the market. The objective of these procedures is to implement a systematized approach to ensure the potential of new projects based on their financial and development feasibility while maximizing the value of new products as perceived by its target customers. 2.1        What is industrial design Industrial design is the set of activities within new product development processes that deal with optimizing the functionality and appearance of a product to maximize its value for both consumer and manufacturer (1). The ultimate objective of a product design is thus to align the set of attributes embedded within the product with the target customer preferences and to implement them in a way that they are actually perceived and valued by them. In order to achieve a successful design and implementation, companies engage in direct market research to elicit the target customer segment implicit and explicit needs (the voice of the customer) and align those with product attributes, using techniques such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD) which systematically links the needs the product must satisfy with technical specifications while also prioritizing them based on the level of importance to customers. At the same time, the identification of the customer segment preferences and the mapping of those within a perceptual map, comparing how well different products in the market fulfill the identified needs, allow for the design of specific product propositions that no other product does and thus achieving a unique positioning and successful product differentiation. The dimension of product design has been recognized by several authors (Cooper, Trueman) as being critical to the ultimate success of the launch of new products. The focus of design development is centered around the efficient implementation of the product features, ergonomics and quality form to maximize its utility to users, while at the same time embedding it with a pleasant appearance that is able to communicate positive attributes that contribute to the ultimate value proposition. (3) (4) Trueman: Design has the facility to improve product reliability and quality standards thereby raising the perceived value of goods and services in the eyes of the customer, allowing companies to increase profit margins As Trueman estates (6), A value proposition must successfully integrate a product within its own environment by combining and merging coherently the different attributes, aesthetics, price and quality so that they are aligned similarly and reinforce each other. Although mistaken by artists that only worry about the visual appearece of a product, or styling, successful industrial designers are able dig into such fields as engineering, Materials science, manufacturing, and marketing to embed new products with a set of attributes directly influencing new product success in the market.(2) (3) (4) (5) (6). Ultimately, the design of an object is the specific configuration of elements, materials and components that give its particular attributes of function, shape etc. and determine how it is to be made and used. (13) By embedding the design dimension into the processes, companies ensure that the final value proposition is increased as it contributes to the perceived value by the customer. A successful design increase the perceived quality of a product, ensures that is aligned with market and regulatory standards and thus increase the odds to satisfy customer expectations. A consistent Design strategy in new product development processes also contributes to build a product and company image and helps to pull together the dimensions of company identity with branding and promotion (Trueman). Also, by taking the design dimensions early on the NPD projects, companies can reduce the final time to market and product costs by simplifying the manufacturing processes and reduce the final costs of fabrication. 2.2        The contribution of Industrial design in the final product value proposition There are many design attributes that can be embedded into new products, roughly separated within ergonomics and aesthetics, being the former more related to the experience of using the product, while the latter is focused into the experience of seeing the product. Aestethics, embedding all product parameters that determine the way the product look, are a an essential element of the purchasing process since customers base their preference on products by the subjective perceptions elicited by the product on the potential benefits it can provide.(7) In that line, the Lens model first introduced by Brunswick (?), states that the potential customer makes a mental bundle of the information it receives about the product and from there triggers a set of perceptions that will ultimately lead to a set of preferences and choices. The ways a specific design can lead to a positive perception and thus to a choice of preference vary and are entangled with other sources of information the customer receives and which align the propostion to the customer already decided preferences. The perceptions that a product can evoke are immediately related to past information received and allow the person for example to relate it to a certain corporate and brand identity, a process that many companies have followed by implementing a sustained design strategy on their products. Brand identity allows to ultimately link the products observed to perceptions on company values and overall level of attributes of the products and has been used as means of effective product differentiation. (9) (10). In different industries, companies tend to emphasize different attributes in their communication to be aligned with their specific company positioning and customers most importance preferences, like tastiness and safety in the food industry and reliability and environment friendliness in the car industry. The physical form of a product has been researched to have an important impact in the way customers judge it and has ultimately a strong correlation effect with the final product success in the market (). As Bloch (10) states the physical form or design of a product is an unquestioned determinant of its marketplace success. A good design attracts consumers to a product, communicates to them, and adds value to the product by increasing the quality of the usage experiences associated with it. 2.3        Which financial benefits can it provide Companies with an effective industrial design strategy achieve better perfoming products in the market in terms of several financial indicators as return on assets, return on sales and higher profitability, which can be linked to both the design differentiation factor as stated previously by Porter in the famous book Competitve strategy (1980) and to reduced costs due to more efficient use of materials and manufacturing processes. (14) Also, the study of Roy (13) in 1993 on 221 small and medium sized UK manufacturers which received a government subsidy to promote the active use of industrial design in the development of new or improved products showed that 60% of all projects and 90% of the implemented ones were commercially successful and profitable with payback periods averaging under 15months, which show that the effective strategic approach to include design in new product development processes can be implemented in firms of different sizes. Bloch in his research also collected previous studies that linked new product financial success factors with the inclusion of design as an inherent part of their NPD processes. He identified in a survey of senior marketing managers that, design was mentioned as the most important determinant of new product performatice by 60% of respondents by only 17% considered Price most important . Also and based on the work of cooper on the analysis of the performance of 203 new products identified that product design was the most important determinant of sales success . Most interestingly for the case of Yes Please foods product, which as will be explained later chose specifically a designer for the pot based on his previous award winning record, Some research has identified that the receipt of design awards is positively associated with profit margins above average and sales growth (Goodrich 1994; Roy 1994). 3.        The purchasing process and the visual effect of a product design 3.1        XXXXXXXXXXXXX The ultimate act of purchasing occurs as a result of a complex mental process where the information received is analyzed and weighted as per to measure to which extend the product satisfies the needs of the customer. A general categorization of customer needs has been frequently compared with the Maslow hierarchy of needs which states that once most basic requirements have been satisfied by a product, the emphasis on a customer shifts to satisfy other more intangible needs related to symbolic and aesthetic attributes. As a result of this the purchasing process is triggered by the fulfillment of the requirements for the intended use of the product but also by the satisfaction of more intangible needs like status, elegance or social significance. In order to understand the ultimate behavioral response of a customer triggered by the visual appearance of a product it is critical to assess the cognitive and emotional processes that result from the act of observing the item under evaluation. The cognitive processes take place when a customer uses his visual senses to observe the product and perceives certain information which mentally organizes to make some judgments about its attributes and which are influenced by previous visual references or similar product stereotypes, which suggest familiar usages of the product and ultimately help the observer to interpret the signals received. It has been described a number of different approaches on how to categorize the judgments that a customer does based on the perception of a product observation. Crilly (?) has summarized all previous approaches and identifies a total of three main categories of cognitive responses to product appearance: Aesthetic, Semantic and Symbolic. From those three, the semantic interpretation, the mental inferences that an observer does to judge whether a product is capable of performing the tasks for what is intended for, is the only processes where the tangible attributes of the product are assessed. During this process the practical qualities of a product like function, performance and efficiency are analyzed and mentally compared with other references to judge the utility a product will offer to the observer. In this category I include the information that is gathered by the customer when obtaining information from reading the label and which is directly processed to identify the physical attributes of the product. The emotional responses following this cognitive process are then aligned to assess the instrumental utility of the product which ultimately lead to satisfaction, when fulfilling the expected requirements, and dissatisfaction when the product is not fulfilling them. The two other described cognitive processes are used to identify intangible attributes of the product that may or may not be perceived as valuable for the customer depending on a number of different factors, like current positioning within the Maslow hierarchy of needs, consumers cultural context and personal characteristics. The symbolic association is the cognitive response that attaches to the product some socially determined symbolic meaning. During this process, as series of values are realized to be attached to the product and assumes that others must also associate them with it. As Crilly states This culturally agreed meaning will allow the customer project a desirable image to others, express social status or communicate its personal characteristics through it. Examples of intangible values that can be associated to the product through symbolic meaning are exclusivity as the identification with certain economic status and environmentally consciousness. Finally the aesthetic impression comprises all cognitive responses that are directed towards a perceived judgment of elegance and beautifulness. Even if still there is no unanimous consensus on what comprises beautiful objects, the perception of aesthetic attraction triggers positive emotional thoughts on the customer and contribute to attaching value to the product observed. 3.2        The Aesthetics Dimension As researched by several authors (?) the definition of what makes an item beautiful or aesthetically pleasant is not conclusive. It has been described though that cultural and social forces have an influence in the preferences for specific forms. Specifically, it has been described that a specific culture values and preferences may influence the acceptance of a particular style. Also seems to be proven that cultural norms may overwhelm an individual inner preferences and help shape its perceptions towards the acceptance of a specific design form. (blaich, Bloch) Thus, and although cross cultural differences stay in the way of having an unified view of what can be considered as aesthetically pleasant, the current era of advanced information technology is working towards unifying the concepts that influence the perceptions of the soft values within a product design and thus working towards a more globalized and uniform set of criteria. The cognitive processes described triggered upon the observation of a product lead to a series of emotional responses that will ultimately lead to the final decision on the purchasing process, being the most important the attraction or disgust towards the aesthetics, the satisfaction or dissatisfaction towards the fulfillment by the product of instrumental requirements for its use, the surprise or indifference based on the perceived product novelty and the admiration or indignation towards social significance. 4.        DESIGN IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY In the food industry, Tauber (8), collected through extensive market studies an exhaustive set of problems related to food products. By doing so, he was trying to identify potential opportunities for new products while also providing with a thorough analysis of the basic needs to be fulfilled by this kind of products. From that list it can be identified a series of attributes that the product under study is fulfilling and thus achieving a specific positioning. Some of them, like low calorie content, convenience of transport and preparation and adequacy of the serving size are efficiently communicated through the information contained in the label. Others like healthy, tasty, and high quality can only be perceived by the customer through the design of the pot and label and by some previous information it might have received. Moreover, as Berkowitz researched, the shapes and images that have a more natural looking are associated with products that are fresher, taste better and have a better texture, and are ultimately more preferred by customers. At the same time, he found that aesthetic appealingness of the product, defined by bloch (10) as the ability to evoke positive beliefs, positive emotions and sympathetic with consumers aesthetic tastes, and by Crilly (11) as the sensation that results from the perception of attractiveness (or unattractiveness) in products was not of any specific interest to food products customers. 5.        The Yes Please! Foods Company, products and market The trigger for the writing of this thesis has been evaluation of the influence that the design of the Yes Please! Foods soup product packaging may be having in its market performance. Yes Please Foods is Germany based company that entered the chilled organic convenience food German market in 2007. Although belonging to the generally mature food industry, both the organic and convenience sub segments have been growing at an average rate of 12% in the period 2003-2008 in Germany (15). Yes please foods can be considered to be positioned in the Premium priced range of offers within the segment as its Price its on average 33% more expensive than that of the competitors. The company started its operations in the Berlin area and has been enjoying a high growth rate in volumes sold ever since (the actual numbers can not be disclosed in this paper as they are covered by a confidential disclosure agreement). The company is currently planning to expand its operations throughout Germany and is about to close its first round of external financing. Based on the information provided by the company, it is know that the customer profile of this kind of products is that of mid to high educated people, working full time, with above average income and health conscious. It is inferred from the information provided by the company that the product is intended to fulfill the need of high quality healthy food that can be prepared and ready to serve within a short period time frame. The motto of the company portrays this positioning of healthy convenient to prepare food for customers that do not want to spend time in the kitchen as good food for busy people The design of the pot, as explained by the company owner and general manager, Gemma Michalski, was the central part of their strategy to build a company identity and resulted in one of the biggest expenditures incurred during the initial company launching. The design was commissioned to Willimas Myurray Hamm from London which used the artwork of Berlin based illustrator Martin Haake. As explained by Ms Michalski, they were specifically chosen to perform the design task because of their previous record of award winning product designs that resulted in highly successful products in the market. (16) 6.        Use of conjoint analysis to elicit the importance of attributes in the eyes of the costumers The first part of the field study I am going to conduct has been designed to measure a the potential correlation between price and design in the final willingness to pay expressed by respondents. Also I shall use the results to mesure the relative importance of each, for the whole of respondents and for potential segments I shall identify within the sample of respondents. The technique used, an empirical marketing research using conjoint analysis, was first introduced as an effective marketing tool during 1970s and has been validated as an effective means to identify the most relevant features of product, its key design attributes, and the degree of importance that customers attach to them. (17) The usefulness of the tool is extended by the ability to sort the answers from respondents to some specific criteria which allow eliciting the kind of different features preferred by different segments of consumers within the same market. At the heart of the technique, consumers are asked to rate as per their own preferences a number of different product prototypes that are embedding different features and levels of features. By doing so, the customer is making choices and trade-offs from those multi attribute alternatives based on the overall perceived utility or value of the product under evaluation. The statistical treatment of the data, using a multiple regression model, allows quantifying how much each of the single attributes is affecting the overall value of the entangled set of properties, as it is assumed that consumers have an implicit utility value for every single one of them. The first part of the technique is normally a consumer attitude survey were the general attitudes of the consumer towards the product are collected. One of the main outcomes of this part of the research is to determine which features of the product are relevant for the consumers. The aim of this first part is typically to find out why the products are purchased, which use they make of them and their attitudes toward them. Once the information is collected allows the design teams to elicit which features of the product seem to be more relevant for the customers and allows to potentially determine needs that still unresolved or problems existing with current products in the market. In this thesis I have overcome this phase since this part of the research is aimed at determining which physical features of the product are relevant, whether the focus of this thesis is aimed to the soft values attached to physical appearance. Thus, by assuming that the current most important features of the product for the target customer segment are actually satisfied by all products in the study, I have been able to focus any significance preference in the actual aesthetic value of the product and its potential relationship with the price they would be willing to pay. In order to communicate to respondents that all products evaluated had exactly the same features and were only differing in design and price, the following statement was introducing the questionnaire: The products you are going to see are all soup products. They contain just natural organic ingredients without any conservatives and must be kept in the fridge. The portions are all 500ml Generally, The second part of the conjoint process uses the information gathered to determine the whole set of attributes that define all of the existing products in a market and introduces new ones to test their acceptance by consumers. Also, different levels for each attribute are defined to obtain a meaningful representation of the different ranges within each attribute that are or could be available in the market. In order for the research to be significant, prototypes having different combinations of levels of all attributes have to be created to be ranked in preference by consumers. Typically, and due to the large number of possible permutations of attributes that can be created, a smaller sample is chosen to facilitate the consumer research study. It has been shown that eliminating combinations through an experimental design called orthogonal arrays or through judgment (those that are not possible physically i.e. by cost or conceptually i.e. by design), has no significant effect on the final outcome of the study (18) Since the research to be conducted for this thesis is aimed at identifying any preferred designs for a soup product and potentially monetary value attached to specific product appearances, I have chosen to study two sets of attributes, design comprised by the three levels, picture of natural ingredient, artistic draw and no draw and the attribute price, also with three different levels: â‚ ¬ 1,99, â‚ ¬ 2,49 and â‚ ¬ 2,99. Due to the small number of total possible combinations (32), the empirical survey shall ask respondents to evaluate all possible combinations. The rationale for choosing these type of designs has been based on previous literature on shape and images in food products (Berkowitz) and the need for the actual inclusion of the design of the Yes Please Food product to test its hypothesized perceived value on the design. The third design included no draw has been arbitrarily selected hypothesizing it to be a representative sample of an unaesthetic design. The three price level selected have been chosen on the basis of actual prices of products in the market for the picture of natural ingredient (â‚ ¬2,49) and artistic draw (â‚ ¬2,99) designs, while the third level price has been arbitrarily selected to represent a low price level within that attribute. The third part of the procedure gathers a meaningful sample of the product consumers and asks them to rank the different prototypes (combinations of the different levels of the selected attributes) based on their preferences. The aim of this part is to gather the structure of consumers preferences for different product features. In this part is important to define the question to be asked properly so it collects the opinion on consumers about the perceived value they attach to each specific product proposition. In my research I have chosen the sentence from 1-7 how likely would you be to buy this product at the stated price. One of the benefits of conjoint analysis is that it is able to achieve statistical significance on the results with a relative small sample of respondents. The aim of this research will be to achieve at least 33 respondents in order to be able to make some inferences about the direction of the proportional influence that design has in the final monetary value of the proposed prototype, being that either positive or negative. One of the limitations of my study shall be that the random sample of respondents to the questionnaire shall only be validated as actual consumers of soup products by one of the questions in the demographic profile, do you like soup? that is embedding three possible answers: no, sometimes is ok and love it. It shall be assumed that a positive answer to this question (all possible answers but no) allow to make inferences about their potentiality to be consumers of the product. That limitation is affecting jus this part of the study were the research is trying to elucidate whether design has a relationship with willingness to pay. For the second part where it will be researched the consumers perceptions about intangible attributes of the design, it will be assumed that cultural context and general profile of the respondents is similar to that of the consumers of fresh soups as explained before in the Yes Please Foods product and market chapter of this thesis. A segmentation of the respondents by any kind of useful criteria like demographics, type of usage, attitude towards the products etc will also allow to identify the preferred attributes for each type of customer segment. The final part is the statistical treatment of the results that tries to identify which attributes are preferred by consumers and which are considered to be of more relative importance to them, and thus to the final value of the product proposition. 7.        Experiment 7.1        Objectives The objectives of the experiments executed were designed to validate and refute previous research about the influence that design have in the purchase decision making process and to elicit specific findings about the design of the soup product of the sponsor company Yes Please! Foods. In the first experiment, the objective is to validate whether a series of qualitative attributes about the product can be inferred from the customer just by looking at the design, specifically the respondents are required to rate each of the three designs as per their perception on how they consider them to be healthy, fresh, of high quality, different and beautiful. One of the objectives of this part of the experiment is to validate the hypothesis that the design of the pot of the Yes Please! Foods soup product has is somehow original that can be clearly differentiated from that of the competitors and that is considered to be an aesthetically pleasant design. Another objective of this part of the research is to validate previous research like that of Berkowitz (9), Bloch (10) and Trueman (6) which asserted that in mature markets, product form is one way to gain consumer notice and achieve a clear product differentiation. By assessing the responses about the attributes quality, freshness and Healthiness, it is pursued to validate the research of Bloch (10) and Nusssbaum (?), which stated that exterior appearance of a product is an important channel to communicate information to consumers, that Product form allows to generate inferences regarding other product attributes. Also this experiment will help to validate the research from Berlkowtiz () which found that natural shapes displayed in the packaging of food products help consumers to make assumptions about the product as being more fresh healthy and of higher quality. Finally I intend to validate the research of Trueman (6) which found that products that are considered to have a good design (which I shall relate to the weight of the responses on the attribute beautiful) are considered to be of superior quality, by checking whether products to be considered beautiful on my research are also considered to be of high quality. The inferences that I will try to make with the results of the second part of the research, a conjoint analysis of 9 different prototypes which result from the combination of three different design styles and three different sets of prices, will be dependent upon the results of the first part. If during the first experiment I am able to proof that some of the three designs are considered to be significantly more beautiful than the others, I shall be able to validate with the results of the second experiment are aligned with the results found by Bloch. Kotler and Nussbaum when they found that given two identical products in terms of features and price, the one with the most beautiful design is preferred by respodents. At the same time I shall try to validate whether a product considered to be more beautiful can command a higher willingness to pay, which is stated in the survey designed as the likeliness to buy the shown product. If that is proven to be the case, I will try to identify the reasons why those customers would be willing to spend more in such product by relating it to their perceptions on the other attributes of the same product, either being the subset of attributes regarding product utility, (higher quality, more natural or more healthy) , the subset of aesthetic attributes (more beautiful, more different) or both. Finally I shall use the results of the second experiment to validate the research of Berkowitz which found that products with natural shapes tend to be considered more natural, and healthy. I shall do this by specifically analyzing the results of one of the chosen designs which portrays a picture of a natural tomato on the label. Also I shall try to refute the findings of the same author which found in previous research that attractive designs where not of any specific interest to consumers in terms of aesthetic appeal. 7.2        Methodology 7.2.1        Sample The survey will be send to all recipients of the address domain [emailprotected], for which I expect a random sample of respondents within the employees of ESMT and all recipients of address [emailprotected], for which I expect a random sample of ESMT MBA 2009 students I believe this sample shall be repre
Friday, January 17, 2020
Democracy and Pragmatism Philosophies: Approaches to “The Grapes of Wrath†Essay
In 1939, â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath†by John Steinbeck formed an agitation of excitement and controversy upon its emancipation. The book forced the American public into a heightened awareness of national consciousness. Influenced by the thoughts of several dominant American philosophies such as transcendentalism, democracy and pragmatism, Steinbeck creates a masterpiece that edifies Americans about their value scheme. This work of art finds its main lineage from three following elements of American philosophy: Emersonian Transcendentalism with its perception of the oversoul and conviction in the common man, Walt Whitman’s devotion of the common man and his credence in mass Democracy, and Pragmatism as advocated by William James and John Dewey. Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a belief system that espouses a non-traditional appreciation of nature and includes intuition, individuality, and self-reliance. It initiated as a remonstration, in opposition to the general situation of society, and specifically, the state of intellectualism and the doctrine of the Unitarian church at that juncture. Transcendentalists’ fundamental principle is an epitome of spiritual state that goes beyond the physical and empirical aspects and is barely attained through people’s instincts, rather than through the dogma of conventional religions (Goodman). Steinbeck was indeed influenced by this philosophy and the ideologies of this are evident in his novel, â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath†. The author conveys the idea of transcendentalism to the readers through a range of exceedingly noteworthy characters. One such character is that of Jim Casey, a former reverend and long-time acquaintance of the Joads. As a preacher like none other, he does not give a sermon of the conformist thoughts of Christian faith. Instead, he sermonizes of the Emersonian tenets of the Oversoul. Jim Casey symbolizes a contemporary Christ form who desires to pass on spiritual solidity to migratory people heading towards the West (Steinbeck). Among the various correlations between Jim Casey and Jesus Christ are the following. Casey pays attention to the people, thinks deeply and philosophically about what is happening to them, and becomes a role model for most of the characters in the story. A quote from the narrative denotes the aforementioned similarities. â€Å"Muley is a lost soul. He wouldn’t come along with us†(Steinbeck). Casey in this quotation acts as Jesus Christ contemplating why Muley, depicted as one of His Apostles, would not approach and follow him. Alternatively, transcendentalism can also be seen in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, which is entitled Nature. As indicated in his essay, he believes that a nation of men will exist because each believes that he is inspired by the Divine Soul which also fills all men with stimulation (Emerson). He closed the article by encouraging men for a revolution in human consciousness. â€Å"Emerson discards the Unitarian line of reasoning that miracles confirms the fact of Christianity and finds evidence for religion being more direct in creating a pious response†(Goodman). Democracy This is generally defined as the rule of the people where the individuals share in guiding the national activities, functioning either directly or by means of delegates, to manage their associations for their particular objectives. Equality is of great worth in considering this and would free persons as much as feasible from constraints which are not self-imposed. Steinbeck was also influenced by this philosophy and its ideologies are also reflected in his work. One of his characters, named Tom Joad, the oldest child of Ma and Pa Joad represents this. As we can cite in the book’s introduction, â€Å"Tom Joad gets a lift at a truck stop and tells the driver he’s paroled from prison in McAlester (for murder) and he’s headed home†(Steinbeck), the author unveils Tom as departing from imprisonment which symbolizes democracy and arrives at their place after being on the rampage. He subsequently learns a lot of things from their family friend, Jim Casey, and eventually matures in the course of their voyage, leaving their customary society to combat disparity (Steinbeck). In connection with advocating democracy, another avid supporter of this view comes with the poem referred to as â€Å"I Hear America Singing†. Walt Whitman, as the author, appears to have the love of all men and of mass democracy. Blessed with an exceptional ear for inner cadence, his application of a musical tone and mood all through the poem makes a connection to the concept of the free democratic structure in the society. Whitman expresses his considerably liberated, undulating, and continuing stanzas which invigorated the whole world of rhythmical style of writing, and particularly asserts that America has to establish its own modern dynamic and hearty voice. He made a hymn the whole time with his piece. His couplet embarks on presenting various people with different everyday tasks. In their daily lives each person sings â€Å"what belongs to him or her and to none else†(Whitman). Through his poem, he voices his belief that every American has pride in their life and vocation; thus, enhancing the concept of democracy. And for this, Whitman is honored as the Bard of Democracy, as the United States of America came to address the excellent writer. But needless to say, he also showed his support in democracy as affirmed in his letter to Emerson which states that â€Å"To freedom, to strength, to poems, to personal greatness, it is never permitted to rest, not a generation or part of a generation†(Whitman). Pragmatism Then as the final viewpoint, pragmatism is termed as a way of thinking wherein the certainty of a representation is considered by its uniformity with provisional consequences and by its realistic result. This prevails to be contrasting in doctrines that cleave to the idea that a fact can be achieved by means of deductive reasoning from a priori justification of premises. Furthermore, â€Å"the accepted wisdom is taken as merely a mechanism for sustaining the life aspirations of human beings and has no authentic metaphysical implication†(Shook). Steinbeck was also influenced by this philosophy and its ideologies are also apparent in his work. Appearing in the novel, when Ma Joad, the wife of Pa Joad and the matriarch of the family, addresses the people to †go on†(Steinbeck), it is a straightforward delivery of steadfast pragmatism. Ma is in fact the source of strength and determination for all of the family members and is especially close to Tom. Moreover, â€Å"She states that her thinking about the future would be too much. She has to take care of what’s in front of her†(Steinbeck). And as regards to advocating pragmatism, a proponent named William James, states that pragmatism is a specific philosophy in which beliefs are consequential as long as they have useful outcomes in tangible human events. He also believes that pragmatism is a worthwhile solution to some recent points of the word. James also claims that pragmatic values have certain attitudes which are eligible as true or false depending on how effective they attest in deed. Another proponent of pragmatism like James, named John Dewey, â€Å"maintains that the mind is an instrument for realizing purposes†(Goodman). According to him, in pragmatism’s moral facet, it holds that real knowledge and human values play as essential roles in the choice of means employed in order to attain an end. Both James and Dewey contend that a large extent of the discussion about the association of the mind to the body take effect from abstract uncertainties. They also claim that it is not essential to speculate the psyche as an ontological class (Shook).  References: Emerson, R. W. â€Å"Nature.†Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Prentice Hall (2002). Goodman, Russel. â€Å"Philosophy of Dewey.†The Radical Academy. 2006. May 24 2007. . Goodman, Russel. â€Å"Transcendentalism.† Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2007. May 24 2007. . James, William. . Shook, John. â€Å"The Pragmatism Cybrary.† 2007. May 24 2007. . Steinbeck, John. â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath.† (1939). Whitman, Walt. â€Å"Letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson.† 1656. May 24 2007. . Whitman, Walt â€Å"I Hear America Singing.† Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Prentice Hall (2002). Â
Thursday, January 9, 2020
How to Grow Blue Copper Sulfate Crystals
Copper sulfate crystals are among the easiest and most beautiful crystals that you can grow. The brilliant blue crystals can be grown relatively quickly and can become quite large. Copper Sulfate Tips Safety Copper sulfate is harmful if swallowed and can irritate skin and mucous membranes. In case of contact, rinse skin with water. If swallowed, give water and call a physician.Even a small increase in the temperature of the water will greatly affect the amount of copper sulfate (CuS04 . 5H20) that will dissolve.Copper sulfate pentahydrate crystals contain water, so if you want to store your finished crystal, keep it in a sealed container. Otherwise, water will evaporate from the crystals, leaving them dull and powdery from efflorescence. The gray or greenish powder is the anhydrous form of copper sulfate.Copper sulfate is used in copper plating, blood tests for anemia, in algicides and fungicides, in textile manufacturing, and as a desiccant. Copper Sulfate Crystal Materials Copper sulfateWaterJar Make a Saturated Copper Sulfate Solution Stir copper sulfate into very hot water until no more will dissolve. You can just pour the solution into a jar and wait a few days for crystals to grow, but if you grow a seed crystal, you can get much larger and better-shaped crystals. Grow a Seed Crystal Pour a little of the saturated copper sulfate solution into a saucer or shallow dish. Allow it to sit in an undisturbed location for several hours or overnight. Select the best crystal as your seed for growing a large crystal. Scrape the crystal off of the container and tie it to a length of nylon fishing line. Growing a Large Crystal Suspend the seed crystal in a clean jar that you have filled with the solution you made earlier. Dont allow any undissolved copper sulfate to spill into the jar. Dont let the seed crystal touch the sides or bottom of the jar.Place the jar in a location where it wont be disturbed. You can set a coffee filter or paper towel over the top of the container, but allow air circulation so that the liquid can evaporate.Check the growth of your crystal each day. If you see crystals starting to grow on the bottom, sides, or top of the container then remove the seed crystal and suspend it in a clean jar. Pour the solution into this jar. You dont want extra crystals growing because they will compete with your crystal and will slow its growth.When you are pleased with your crystal, you can remove it from the solution and allow it to dry.
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Salem Witch Hunt A Phenomenon Of Witch Trials - 1499 Words
The Salem Witch Hunt was a phenomenon of witch trials in the Early Modern period. It occurred in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. It all started when a group of young girls, Betty Parris, 9 years old, and Abigail Williams, 11 years old, started to behave in a crazy manner, like screaming and barking like a dog, and it got to the point where they assumed they were â€Å"possessed†. Soon after that, Ann Putnam Jr. and other Salem girls began acting similarly. People started getting very scared and started accusing each other of being witches. The girls started accusing people the most and everyone seemed to believe them. I assume that the reason that this whole craze was so intense was because there has been witch scares before. This time, in particular, was more severe because these little girls were the ones accusing people. This spread so fast and so far because before this witch mayhem, there was a smallpox outbreak. Many people died and the Puritans started to believe that wi tches were among them. This event led people to easily assume others were witches, which is why it spread so fast and so far. Many members of the Puritan community believed the accusations made by the afflicted girls over believing their neighbors. People tended to believe them since they were children and had a hint of innocence in them. Also, Betty Parris’ father was Reverend Samuel Parris and since he played a big role in this community they thought the girls had to be telling the truth. OneShow MoreRelatedWhy The Salem Witch Trials1064 Words  | 5 Pageswhy the Salem Witch Trials occurred. Some include the fungus ergot that had psychedelic consequences when consumed and the Puritans’ adamant belief in their religion. None of them, however, justify why over 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 more were executed. The Salem Witch Trials are a prime example of why theocratic societies fail and the effects can still be seen today. We can still se e witches in other parts of the world, see memorials for the victims of the trials, and modernRead MoreEuropean Witch Hunts 1350-Present Essay1327 Words  | 6 PagesIn order for history to repeat itself, it has to start somewhere right? The European witch hunts can be traced back to around 1450 and last well into the 18th century. The European witch hunts, much like the Salem witch trials happened because of rejection of rapid social, economic, and religious transformation. (Jones Gendercide Watch: European Witch Hunts). Often during times of rapid change it takes a while for reforms to be made or for citizens to adjust to the new arrangement. The result ofRead MoreThe Accusation of Witches in Puritan, New England1634 Words  | 7 Pagesbasis of this stringent religious way of life that the witch-hunts on 1692 came about. The accusation of people, beginning in Salem, Massachusetts and quickly spreading throughout the Puritan community began because the Puritans needed a scape goat for their problems. The Puritans accused people of being a witch for actions that were hardly considered illegal and usually had to do with a threat posed to the church. Websters Dictionary defines a witch as 1. A woman practicing the black arts; 2. A charmingRead MoreSalem Witch Trials : Witchcraft Essay1107 Words  | 5 PagesSalem Witch Trials Witchcraft has been around since the B.C. era, but erupted in the late 1600s. It began in Europe and eventually made its way to the New World. Witchcraft is believing in and the use of practical magic, such as casting spells, calling on spirits, or predicting the future. Witchcraft is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word, â€Å"wicce,†meaning wise. Therefore, it translates into â€Å"craft of the wise.†Wise people were those who were familiar with natures’ forces and were educated when itRead MoreHysteria And Fear In Arthur Millers The Crucible970 Words  | 4 Pagescitizens of Salem, Massachusetts experienced this phenomenon in 1692 when the witch trials arose. Arthur Miller portrays this occurrence in his play The Crucible in which he accurately displays the effects that hysteria and fear have on Salem and subsequently how it affects the citizens who are accused without substantial evidence. Miller also represents how unjust the court system was in Salem in h is playwright, the accused were guilty until proven innocent similarly to a modern day witch hunt duringRead MoreSummary : Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya Essay1697 Words  | 7 Pagesline between using witchcraft for good rather than evil. Witchcraft can have two connotations in regards to Bless Me, Ultima, seeing as there are those individuals who support Ultima’s supernatural powers, and those who are against her powerful phenomenon. Although constantly called a bruja, Ultima uses her â€Å"powers†for purposes focused towards good, rather than evil. In Chapter 10, Ultima is summoned by Pedro Luna to help him heal Lucas, as even the priest of El Puerto has failed to cure him. Marà aRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Era1004 Words  | 5 PagesThree centuries ago authorities in and around Salem, Massachusetts engaged in a witch- hunt. Authorities during the Salem Witch Trials era were called upon to arrest or execute â€Å"witches†due to false accusations made by communities that were in argumentative ties, women who were seen as threats, and religious disagreements. Capturing nearly one hundred fifty perpetrators, charging twenty-eight of them, and nineteen were lynched publically. Community tension brought false accusations that causedRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1121 Words  | 5 Pagesprejudice is an occurring phenomenon that is designed to estrange some members of society and condemn those who hold different lifestyle, beliefs and practices. In today’s warfare, ISIS and their extensive murder hunt of everyone that does not hold Muslims views and practices is an example of a modern witch-hunt. Arthur Miller’s play, â€Å"The Crucible†is a dramatic story about the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. In the small town of Salem, a group of girls becameRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials1274 Words  | 6 Pages During the seventeenth century Salem, Massachusetts is a seaport town populated mostly by Puritan colonists who came over from England in the seventeenth century. Beliefs of witchcraft came over with the settlers who, if caught practicing, was punishable by death. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of court cases in 1692 revolving around witchcraft where over hundred people were accused, nineteen were hanged, and one was pressed to death. England had accused people of witchcraft datingRead More Comparing the Salem Witch Trials and Modern Satanic Trials Essay2439 Words  | 10 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials and Modern Satanic Trials       Cotton Mather, in his The Wonders of the Invisible World, preserved for posterity a very dark period in Puritanical American society through his account of the Salem witch trials in 1692. His description is immediately recognizable as being of the same viewpoint as those who were swept up in the hysteria of the moment. Mather viewed Salem as a battleground between the devil and the Puritans. The New Englanders are a people of God settled
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Sociology - Immigration - 1606 Words
Immigration is the movement of non-native people in order to settle in a different place or country. People move out of their country of origin for many reasons. Whether it is for a better job, better education, or simply to be with loved ones, immigrants have come to the United States with dreams of living a better life. The United States is none other than a make up of immigrants from diverse countries. Immigrants have been coming to the United States since its founding and have shaped the way this country is today. Some immigrants pursue the legal route – getting a visa in order to work for the status of a citizen while others illegally enter the country and risk being detained and deported. It is estimated there are approximately 11.7†¦show more content†¦Not only are immigrants benefitting our country economically, but also they are assimilating well into American culture. On average, immigrants are more assimilated now than they ever were since the 1980s (Vigdor 2013). Because these immigrants were assimilating now more than ever, it’s a sign or progress for our country. There are some, however, that do not agree with this assertion. Samuel Huntington, a political scientist, disagrees with the idea that immigrants are assimilating. He thinks that out nation is becoming â€Å"two peoples and two cultures†(Huntington pg. 1). Huntington claims in his article â€Å"The Hispanic Threat†that immigrants are not assimilating language and do not have patriotism. He focuses on the majority immigrant group in the United States, Hispanics, and explains how â€Å"in 2000, more than 28 million people in the United States spoke Spanish at home, and of those 28 million, 13.8 million spoke English worse rather than very well†(Huntington pg. 5). Huntington, and others who share his beliefs, think that as Spanish culture and language increases in the United States, the more committed Hispanics will be to their ethnic identity, not assimilating to the Anglo-Protestant culture America was built on (Huntington). There is strong evidence that proves that otherwise, however. Edward Telles, a sociologyShow MoreRelatedPersonal Statement809 Words  | 4 Pageswhich route my life would take since migrating every couple of months was not uncommon. My interest for immigration issues became important when I was in Middle School because I was part of the Migrant Education Program where we learned to appreciate our background and understand why our families had to migrate every four to six months. It wasn’t until high school that my passion for Immigration Law started and this was due in large part to my Senior Project; in which I did fieldwork, research andRead MoreImmigration And Globalization1734 Words  | 7 PagesIntroduction How does immigration impact an individual’s likelihood to identify with a national identity, or a larger global identity? Does immigration, a component of globalization, impact one identity more than another? These questions are increasingly relevant with the well-documented rise of European nationalist parties, but there are still questions about whether these are empirically connected phenomena. Immigration, a facet of globalization, is widely discussed, as well as other impactsRead MoreEssay about The 1999 Immigration and Asylum Seekers Act1491 Words  | 6 PagesThe 1999 Immigration and Asylum Seekers Act To begin with this essay will give reasons why the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Seekers Act was introduced, also the measures put in place to deal with this issue. Secondly, the measures Labour implemented to tackle this asylum issue, the affect of the voucher scheme on social welfare and its criticism’s. Additionally this essay will explore the affects of the Enforced Dispersal element of the 1999 Act and it’s implicationsRead MoreAustralian Immigration Essay2524 Words  | 11 PagesAustralia has a population close to 22,400,000 people of which one in four people come from a culturally diverse and linguistic background (Dept of Immigration and Citizenship, 2009). This essay will explore the social issues of immigration in Australian society especially in relation to refugees. It will give an overview of the history of immigration in Australia. It will then go on to explore refugees and discuss the perceptions of refugees, settlement issues of refugees and then go on to lookRead MoreAsylum Seekers - a Contemporary Social Issues in Australian Society2505 Words  | 11 Pagesfor entry into a multicultural Australia is contextualised. The Settlement Council of Australia (SOCA) is the main organisation nationally representing the settlement service division and has a close working relationship with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. SOCA states that a refugee is a victim of oppression who fits the description of a refugee as set out in the 1951 agreement concerning the Status of Refugees, of which Australia is a participant, whereas an asylum seeker has alreadyRead MoreAnalysis Of Saskia Sassen, A Leading Globalization Scholar1660 Words  | 7 Pageschallenging. Ms. Merkel, speaking at a summit meeting that took place in Turkey, featured as decisive the need to secure the European external borders. (Sullivan Elkus, 2015) She said that there was a quick need for replacement of the illegal immigration of the refugees through a formal mechanism. Ms. Merkel has been in search for binding agreements with Turkey, which would result in the resettlement of a given number of the refugees staying in that country. In the recent months, Europe has triedRead MoreThe Relationship Between Violent Crime And The Following Five Themes : Race, Religion, Gender, Income, And Immigration1927 Words  | 8 Pagespublished within the discipline of sociology, but also draws upon studies related in other disciplines such as criminology and psychology. The studies in this literature review focus on violent crime in the U.S. Many studies in this review discuss how some sociological variables can influence crime for better or for worse. This literature review will discuss the relationship between violent crime and the following five themes: race, religion, gender, income, and immigration. Race Violent crime has consistentlyRead MoreSummary Of A Northbound Path By Manny Fernandezs1700 Words  | 7 Pagesbig of an issue this really is. Fernandez quotes local officials and immigrant advocates in the statement that the frequency of the deaths amounts to a humanitarian crisis. Fernandez uses a quote from Daniel E. Martinez, an assistant professor of sociology at George Washington University and the lead author of a Binational Migration Institute report on migrant deaths in Arizona, that says, If this were any other context, if these were deaths as a result of a mass flood or an earthquake or a majorRead MoreSocial Enclaves: What Neighborhood Are You From?1330 Words  | 6 Pagesmake their ways to the same cities by accident. It was an act of chain migration that were the result of â€Å"the ebb and flow of lone working males, and delayed family migration†(MacDonald 84). Including the reasons behind the Southern Italians immigration, chain migration can be classified as: previous immigrants assisting working age males in order to profit themselves, the migration of breadwinners in hopes of a better standard of living for their families and then there was delayed family migrationRead MorePolitical Sociology Reading List And Rationale855 Words  | 4 PagesPolitical Sociology Reading List and Rationale The purpose of this comprehensive exam is to give me an opportunity to demonstrate mastery over relevant debates, theories, and empirical findings in the major issues of political sociology. I will also examine theoretical and empirical approaches to classic and contemporary fundamental questions of political sociology. My primary goal here is to learn how to think critically like a political sociologist and be able to understand and use the major concepts
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Thesis Design and Fashion Free Essays
Fashion may strike the public as of little importance and even refer to it as a luxury. However, fashion is evident everywhere especially in today’s society where fashion has become a meaner of self-expression. The popular society of today are becoming more and more aware of the importance of fashion in their daily lives or, to the least, in important occasions where first impression already matter. We will write a custom essay sample on Thesis: Design and Fashion or any similar topic only for you Order Now The widespread awareness of fashion entails creative minds to innovate and design not only aesthetic wise apparel and accessories but also for functional and racial purposes. In order to produce competent designers and artisans demand an institute which can address the proper training of these artistic and skilful work forces. Zebu is full of potential fashion designers and artisans therefore gaining its title as the â€Å"Creative City’ of the Philippines by the London based â€Å"Creative Cities Campaign. †This campaign aims to preserve, promote, and develop the existing potential creative mindset of a chosen city. Living up to the standards of this campaign are schools inclined to the arts and a fashion institute would add up to this elopement as we have several internationally acclaimed fashion designers. Fashion schools will improve the acceptance of our local fashion designers and artisans professionally through proper certification of educational attainment. An institution duly credited and recognized by the academic society will boost the fashion industry in Zebu and hopefully pioneer in the whole Philippines. Existing fashion schools in the Philippines have recently branched out to other regions of the country hoping to cultivate potential fashion designers. Their curriculum strictly focuses on clothing design. There are also other schools offering courses which are related to fashion namely: make-up, styling, and fashion photography. The fashion schools in the Philippines specifically in Zebu city cater only to the involvement of designing skills without the incubation of these designs. On the other hand, the training for artisans only revolve around the technical skills of production without the exposure of working with designers. Combining these two elements in one facility creates a unique academic system which promotes sustainability among students. Educational attainment in the field of the arts have unfortunately long been selected and seen only as a hobby in the Philippines. Its is only up until now where schools focusing on the arts have sprouted all through out the country. This is due to the uprising digital and commercial age. Fashion in particular is beginning to take its mark in the Philippine academic and professional scene. Putting up a fashion institute strategically located in the center of the Philippine map would cater those who aspire to become professional designers and artisans. Therefore, lessening or eliminating the need to go abroad to acquire proper education and training. In order o successfully teach and train students, who are artistically inclined to fashion, will be the use of architecture as an instrument to provide an efficient facility. The current set-up of fashion schools in Zebu are vocational trainings that prepare them only in small scale enterprise and are trained in spaces where they tend to dwell in their own personal space resulting to the elimination of learning opportunities. This type of set-up risks the sustainability of students in their future careers as designers. This imposes the need to create additional spaces that examine their learning experience. The proponents of this study intend to design a facility tailored to accommodate the spatial needs of a fashion design institute which takes advantage of learning opportunities. The proponents of this study also intend to correlate the flow of curricular activities and spaces required to attain maximum efficiency of both the architecture of the institute and the curriculum/educational system to be adapted. Thus, this study aspires to answer the following questions: 1. What are the factors to consider in designing the proposed project? . How do paces interact with each other? 3. What configuration of spaces is most efficient for both indoor and outdoor circulation considering curricular activities and institutional operations? 4. What amenities and facilities are necessary? 5. What atmosphere is conducive for students to conveniently improve their talents and skills without influencing their aest hetic? The study seeks to introduce a new type of educational system aided with the proper facilities specifically and efficiently designed to accommodate the needs of the institute’s specialized curriculum. The study aims to envision: 1 . Aims to adapt a curriculum leaning towards a holistic and comprehensive system of education. 2. Aims to improve and/or develop raw talents and skills in the field of fashion. 3. Aims to provide adequate facilities and other amenities necessary to achieve the utmost fulfillment of the institute’s educational system. The main objective of this study is to come up with a functional and effective design solution for a fashion institute in Zebu city and in the Philippines as a whole. The following is intended to be accomplished by the end of the study: 1. Research the needed space requirements for the project proposal. Research on potential industries that the community can adopt a sense of having a fashion institute. 3. Design an institution for fashion and other related courses with the proper and efficient planning of spaces in coherence with its operational and educational system. 4. Establish an actuarially design concept. How to cite Thesis: Design and Fashion, Essays
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Big Bang Theory Essay Example For Students
Big Bang Theory Essay It is always a mystery about how the universe began, whetherif and when it will end. Astronomers construct hypotheses calledcosmological models that try to find the answer. There are twotypes of models: Big Bang and Steady State. However, throughmany observational evidences, the Big Bang theory can bestexplain the creation of the universe. The Big Bang model postulates that about 15 to 20 billionyears ago, the universe violently exploded into being, in anevent called the Big Bang. Before the Big Bang, all of thematter and radiation of our present universe were packed togetherin the primeval fireballan extremely hot dense state from whichthe universe rapidly expanded.1 The Big Bang was the start oftime and space. The matter and radiation of that early stagerapidly expanded and cooled. Several million years later, itcondensed into galaxies. The universe has continued to expand,and the galaxies have continued moving away from each other eversince. Today the universe is still expanding, as astronomershave observed. The Steady State model says that the universe does notevolve or change in time. There was no beginning in the past,nor will there be change in the future. This model assumes theperfect cosmological principle. This principle says that theuniverse is the same everywhere on the large scale, at alltimes.2 It maintains the same average density of matter forever. There are observational evidences found that can prove theBig Bang model is more reasonable than the Steady State model. First, the redshifts of distant galaxies. Redshift is a Dopplereffect which states that if a galaxy is moving away, the spectralline of that galaxy observed will have a shift to the red end. The faster the galaxy moves, the more shift it has. If thegalaxy is moving closer, the spectral line will show a blueshift. If the galaxy is not moving, there is no shift at all. However, as astronomers observed, the more distance a galaxy islocated from Earth, the more redshift it shows on the spectrum. This means the further a galaxy is, the faster it moves. Therefore, the universe is expanding, and the Big Bang modelseems more reasonable than the Steady State model. The second observational evidence is the radiation producedby the Big Bang. The Big Bang model predicts that the universeshould still be filled with a small remnant of radiation leftover from the original violent explosion of the primeval fireballin the past. The primeval fireball would have sent strongshortwave radiation in all directions into space. In time, thatradiation would spread out, cool, and fill the expanding universeuniformly. By now it would strike Earth as microwave radiation. In 1965 physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson detectedmicrowave radiation coming equally from all directions in thesky, day and night, all year.3 And so it appears thatastronomers have detected the fireball radiation that wasproduced by the Big Bang. This casts serious doubt on the SteadyState model. The Steady State could not explain the existence ofthis radiation, so the model cannot best explain the beginning ofthe universe. Since the Big Bang model is the better model, the existenceand the future of the universe can also be explained. Around 15to 20 billion years ago, time began. The points that were tobecome the universe exploded in the primeval fireball called theBig Bang. The exact nature of this explosion may never be known. However, recent theoretical breakthroughs, based on theprinciples of quantum theory, have suggested that space, and thematter within it, masks an infinitesimal realm of utter chaos,where events happen randomly, in a state called quantumweirdness.4Before the universe began, this chaos was all there was. Atsome time, a portion of this randomness happened to form abubble, with a temperature in excess of 10 to the power of 34degrees Kelvin. Being that hot, naturally it expanded. For anextremely brief and short period, billionths of billionths of asecond, it inflated. At the end of the period of inflation, theuniverse may have a diameter of a few centimetres. Thetemperature had coole d enough for particles of matter andantimatter to form, and they instantly destroy each other,producing fire and a thin haze of matter-apparently becauseslightly more matter than antimatter was formed.5 The fireball,and the smoke of its burning, was the universe at an age oftrillionth of a second. .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a , .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .postImageUrl , .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a , .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a:hover , .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a:visited , .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a:active { border:0!important; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a:active , .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3a25e62799767c842854a5417f0e8a8a:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Nature, Beauty, Gratitude EssayThe temperature of the expanding fireball dropped rapidly,cooling to a few billion degrees in few minutes. Mattercontinued to condense out of energy, first protons and neutrons,then electrons, and finally neutrinos. After about an hour, thetemperature had dropped below a billion degrees, and protons andneutrons combined and formed hydrogen, deuterium, helium. In abillion years, this cloud of energy, atoms, and neutrinos hadcooled enough for galaxies to form. The expanding cloud cooledstill further until today, its temperature is a couple of degreesabove absolute zero. In the future, the universe may end up in two possiblesituations. From the initial Big Bang, the universe attained aspeed of expansion. If that speed is greater than the universesown escape velocity, then the universe will not stop itsexpansion. Such a universe is said to be open. If the velocityof expansion is slower than the escape velocity, the universewill eventually reach the limit of its outward thrust, just likea ball thrown in the air comes to the top of its arc, slows,stops, and starts to fall. The crash of the long fall may be theBig Bang to the beginning of another universe, as the fireballformed at the end of the contraction leaps outward in anothergreat expansion.6 Such a universe is said to be closed, andpulsating. If the universe has achieved escape velocity, it willcontinue to expand forever. The stars will redden and die, theuniverse will be like a limitless empty haze, expandinginfinitely into the darkness. This space will become evenemptier, as the fundamental particles of matter age, and decaythrough time. As the years stretch on into infinity, nothingwill remain. A few primitive atoms such as positrons andelectrons will be orbiting each other at distances of hundreds ofastronomical units.7 These particles will spiral slowly towardeach other until touching, and they will vanish in the last flashof light. After all, the Big Bang model is only an assumption. No one knows for sure that exactly how the universe began and howit will end. However, the Big Bang model is the most logical andreasonable theory to explain the universe in modern science. ENDNOTES1. Dinah L. Mache, Astronomy, New York: John Wiley ; Sons,Inc., 1987. p. 128. 2. Ibid., p. 130. 3. Joseph Silk, The Big Bang, New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1989. p. 60. 4. Terry Holt, The Universe Next Door, New York: CharlesScribners Sons, 1985. p. 326. 5. Ibid., p. 327. 6. Charles J. Caes, Cosmology, The Search For The Order OfThe Universe, USA: Tab Books Inc., 1986. p. 72. 7. John Gribbin, In Search Of The Big Bang, New York: BantamBooks, 1986. p. 273. BIBLIOGRAPHYBoslough, John. Stephen Hawkings Universe. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. Caes, J. Charles. Cosmology, The Search For The Order Of The Universe. USA: Tab Books Inc., 1986. Gribbin, John. In Search Of The Big Bang. New York: Bantam Books, 1986. Holt, Terry. The Universe Next Door. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1985. Kaufmann, J. William III. Astronomy: The Structure Of The Universe. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1977. Mache, L. Dinah. Astronomy. New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc., 1987. Silk, Joseph. The Big Bang. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1989.
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