American Eagle Outfitters and The Marketing Strategies They Use to Seem Appealing to Customers

American Eagle Outfitters and The Marketing Strategies They Use to Seem Appealing to Customers April Economics Literacy Project In the article, Jason Bloomberg discusses how American Eagle Outfitters, a retail industry, is focusing on developing a new mobile application for their consumers. Since more than 50% of consumers use their phones when they are shopping, the retail industry wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. American Eagle has included special features like the AEO Radio in order to reinforce the â€Å"in-store† experience. The store has also experimented with geolocation. In order to increase traffic in stores, the retail store send promotions to a customer who is in proximity to the store. In addition, American Eagle has introduced a new feature called â€Å"Reserve-Try-Buy† to allow customers the ability to reserve an item ahead of time in order to try it on. American Eagle is currently working on new upgrades on their loyalty program and new strategies to expand internationally in order to increase their revenue. This situation represents the economic principle that everyone faces tradeoffs. The retail company had to face the decision of how to promote their company. For example, the company had to trade the expansion of the web apps to the expansion of native apps. The company realized that with the focus of native apps, their opportunity cost is appealing to a broader range of people since only the most loyal customers will bother to download the application. However, the benefit is greater than the opportunity cost since the application will increase the engagement of loyal customers with the brand. In addition, this situation represents the economic principle that the cost of something is what you give up to get it. By investing their money into mobile apps, American Eagle has the opportunity cost of appealing to an audience who isn’t tech savvy (i.e. most grandparents and some parents). However, since their main audience is people within the ages of 18-25, their audience is more likely to be connected to the mobile application. This shows how this benefit exceeds the cost since American Eagle has continued to further invest in their digital strategy. Finally, another economic principle that reflects this situation is that people respond to incentives. As an employee of this company, headquarters has reached to all employees of how to increase traffic within a store since most customers shop online today. By introducing the program â€Å"Reserve-Try-Buy†, customers have the incentive to visit the store. It could also push customers to buy more items within the store and, as a result, increase revenue. Another example is that since there is a higher demand for people to shop on their mobile devices, American Eagle is given the incentive to invest in their mobile application in order to increase revenue. This article relates to the concepts that we have discussed in class. American Eagle is currently in a monopolistic competitive market. Therefore, the company must differentiate its product in order to appeal to customers and have market power. American Eagle does this by revamping its digital strategy by including the AEO Radio, â€Å"Reserve-Try-Buy† program, geolocation, etc. As a result, the company is able to gain market power by creating a closer connection to their customers and expanding the brand experience to mobile devices. In addition, we learned in class about how advertising affects the economy. We learned in class that companies try to differentiate themselves through style, quality, and location. The use of the mobile platform would push American Eagle’s advertising. Through geolocation, the company can advertise their location to their customers in order to increase traffic within the stores.

Outsourcing in India Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Outsourcing in India - Coursework Example Outsourcing in the recent years has come into much criticism by the workers in first world nations like US and UK. Many anti-outsourcing unions have been formed and people have developed a kind of disgust towards this trend which is only evolutionary (What are the Global Outsourcing Benefits 2005). This dissertation seeks to understand and know the effects of outsourcing of jobs to India will have on the service sector of the United Kingdom as well as other developed nations. Any benefits from outsourcing to India will also we weigh against the negative effects. Chapter one serves as a backgrounder for the Indian economy from the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial period. This is significant as it will give light to the nature of economy that existed before that affects the present economic system of India. The economic reforms made by Rajiv Gandhi were the foundation that made what India is today. The second section of the chapter examines the history of outsourcing and prove that the practice of outsourcing is not new, before the information technology, some manufacturing jobs were already being sent to low-wage countries. It is only through the advent of information and communication technology that outsourcing grew rapidly. This section evaluates the real force behind outsourcing and when it all started. Chapter two gives an account of the types of jobs being outsourced to India and what industries are involved. By using comparative advantage (Ricardo's principle) and the Heckscher-Ohlin model, the chapter seeks to understand fully the rational behind choosing India as a destination for most outsourcing job. Chapter three investigate the major impact of outsourcing on India and the use of Solow growth model in order to explain India's growth and make some predictions of the future of of Indian economy. It is indicated in this section that the outsourcing business is not only fueling the Indian economy into a bullish future but also provided and continues to provide more jobs to the Indians. Chapter four discusses the applicability of dual economy theory on present day India where agriculture and industrial economy both fuel its economy. The chapter also showed that India is fast catching up with other western developed economies. And finally, having all this data, this section will evaluate the overall benefits and especially negative effects of outsourcing to India on the service sector of the UK and other EU states. The major conclusion made from the essay Continued outsourcing of some jobs to India will further fuel the already emerging economy of India. Its effect on UK service sector will be temporary. Overall, the current structure of outsourcing is seen by many economists as an evolutionary one which will eventually benefit all countries in the long run. As an example of its benefits, the introduction of business process outsourcing has already enabled many countries to cut down prices and give better

Consumer Behavior Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Consumer Behavior - Assignment Example See it works as the CEO of the company says if one is in the store for 2 hours then we got him or her. The bookseller gives value to cognition because a purchase decision is a consequence of thinking and therefore, once the customer initiates to think about getting then the store might make a sale. Barnes and Noble offers a place where people can meet up others and have a social activity but at the same time, no one is going to stop the objective customers from buying what they need or want to leave. After all, the store is selling books and CDs and all that fuss of offering opportunities to socialize, coffee, comfy couches and free music is actually means of selling literature (Peter & Olson, 2010) and in the light of above argument, both Rob and Lisa will have themselves entertained at the featured bookstore’s facility. Lisa on the other hand, will most probably prefer Barnes and Noble because she has the luxury of actually reading or listening to a book or a piece of music before she can make a final purchase decision over there. According to Social Exchange Theory, humans interact and love to share their knowledge and information with each other (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). However, Barnes and Noble is offering free online services on the web and free live performances in their physical locations because all it wants to do is to facilitate the consumers to find out what they like by looking around and talking to the people in the store and purchase it. All of these free activities are there to motivate customers towards buying something intrinsically. The salesperson does not have to push customers towards buying books but they are needed to be seated in comfy couches and then frontline employees have to wait for them to actually buy something. I found the marketing strategy of Barnes and Noble as most intriguing and innovative because it focuses on meeting traditional goals of marketing with a newer approach. I got most of

Loyalty Programmes in Hotels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 19000 words

Loyalty Programmes in Hotels - Essay Example This research attempts to achieve an insight into the value of loyalty programmes to businesses and more specifically examine the value of loyalty programmes to hotels. Review of secondary data is applied to understand the value of loyalty programmes to businesses while a survey among hotels is conducted to examine its value to the hotels. Loyalty Programmes are defined as â€Å"schemes offering delayed, accumulating economic benefits to consumers who buy the brand†. Satisfaction does not equal loyalty. A customer can be very satisfied with the product, but still be not loyal towards it. In order to encourage loyalty, firms develop loyalty programs. Typically, in a Loyalty Program, customers accumulate assets, points or rewards by accumulating their purchases from a local firm which is either exchanged for goods or the services, though not always associated with the firm. This generally adopts the system of points wherein the points can be exchanged for a variety of benefits s uch as free flyer points, gifts, trips, etc. â€Å"Airline frequent-flier programs have been a prototype for many of the schemes†. Such schemes are based on the concept of repeat purchase, and in most businesses today, a large part of sales results from repeat purchase. This fact is being increasingly recognized by enterprises that are implementing loyalty programmes to encourage such purchase pattern.  ... The literature in general helped in understanding various factors and concepts associated with loyalty programme and then those had to be applied to the hotel industry for the research. 34 3.4 Research Approach 36 3.5 Research Strategy 38 3.6 Sample selection 41 3.6.1 Administering the questionnaire 41 3.6.2 Analyzing the responses 43 3.7 Time Horizon 43 3.9.1 Reliability 47 3.9.2 Validity 48 Limitations 49 50 Ethical Considerations 50 4. Analysis and Discussion of Findings 51 4.1 Hotels' definition of loyal customers 52 4.2 Reason for launching loyalty programme 53 4.3 Target segment and benefits offered 55 4.4 Designing loyalty program for corporate segment 58 4.5 Loyalty programmes that attract maximum guests and justify expenses 59 4.6 Objective of loyalty programs 61 4.7 Managing loyalty programme 63 4.8 Delivery mechanism 64 4.9 Involving staff 65 4.10 Assessing the success of loyalty programme 66 4.11 Failure of loyalty programme 70 5. Recommendations 72 Introduction Brief overview and background This research attempts to achieve an insight into the value of loyalty programmes to businesses and more specifically examine the value of loyalty programmes to hotels. Review of secondary data is applied to understand the value of loyalty programmes to businesses while a survey among hotels is conducted to examine its value to the hotels. Loyalty Programmes are defined as "schemes offering delayed, accumulating economic benefits to consumers who buy the brand". Satisfaction does not equal loyalty. A customer can be very satisfied with the product, but still be not loyal towards it (Charles and Lamb, 2008).In order to encourage loyalty, firms

Proposal & annotated Bib Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Proposal & annotated Bib - Article Example Because 50 Cents is such a popular figure, I have chosen him to examine if he is an appropriate role model for the youth. I want to explore what types of controversies he has been involved in, his background and experiences. Steps involved in this work are reviewing available articles and published information that tells something about 50 Cents. Research will cover his boyhood, his experiences as a drug trafficker up to the time from where he is now, a well known rapper. Articles to be reviewed will also touch on the views about the rap and hip-hop culture, and how it has been affected by controversial rap songs. The overall goal of this work is to provide information that the man is not a good influence to the youth. Annotated bibliography: Birchmeir, Jason. 50 Cent Biography. Yahoo Music. 2011. http://new.music.yahoo.com/50-cent/biography/ Author wrote a descriptive narration of how 50 Cents became a successful rapper. Birchmeir detailed in this article that the drug trafficking e xperiences and jail sentences the rapper served became his inspiration in writing his rap songs. Birchmeir told the rapper’s story from the standpoint of somebody who knew the rapper from childhood up to the time that he got famous and rich thru rap songs. Author did not forget to mention the successful rap songs drafted after actual accounts of drugs, crimes and dim experiences that easily captured the imagination of the youth. The author’s revelation of the rapper’s countenance with drug lords that nearly caused rapper’s life is descriptive of the mystery that surrounds it. Author comes from the music industry, all Music Guide, and should be well versed on all accounts of singers. His article about 50 Cents is well-researched, updated and comprehensive. Catlin, Johnson A. Rap criticism grows within own community. 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/05/entertainment/main2537326.shtml Johnson describes in this news story, the raging debate over t he effect of rap to the society, as she observes an alarming decline of its sales. She made an opinion based on the declining sales of rap music, that after 30 years of popularity, it is now suffering from bad sales due to criticisms of negative effect of the rap music to society. A recent study of the Black Youth Project, mentioned in the article, showed that youths think there are too many violent projected in rap songs and that 50% of respondents think hip-hop has negative effect to the American society. It is no longer an art form and negativity is all included in its form, says the writer. Author best described the effect of negative raps to society, and elicited the criticism not of her own, but coming from the community that once hip-hop has served well. This article could support the answer to the hypothesis of the research proposal. Encyclopedia of World Biography. 50 Cent. http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/A-Ca/50-Cent.html The Encyclopedia article about 50 Cent chron icled his entire life. This article that did not provide an author, said that 50 Cent used his life experiences, such as growing up in the streets of New York, becoming a gangster, drug trafficker, and a survivor from assassination, as the meat of his rap songs. Article said that critics noted his songs had gritty edge such that he was predicted to become a hot copy in the music industry. 50 Cents, who is Curtis Jackson, in real life, was featured in the article, as someone who eked out a living

Critical Responses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Critical Responses - Essay Example On the other hand, multiple platforms are very beneficial since they are able to break down the original concepts into items that are understood by diverse groups of people. Whenever a new entertainment platform is used, it is only sensible and appropriate to apply additional creativity so that the need for entertainment is satisfied through that other platform. Very few platforms have the capacity of retaining the original content; a change of the content out rightly results in loss of the original concepts that were highlighted by the original author (Koku, 1995). There are many examples that can be used to strengthen this position. Many people use novels as a source of entertainment by reading interesting stories that were developed by the author. The story will apply very interesting scenarios that appeals to the reader and creates a lot of reading suspense. The translation of the novel to a film brings forth other views that never featured in the novel in order to enhance the visual appeal. This means that I the process, there occurs lose in some of the original concepts while some new ones are added therein. As it is well put by Jenkins (2003), as content gets across the entertainment platforms, it is followed by enhancements through creativeness. This is termed as a distraction or corruption from the original concepts that were intended by the original author. When a concept is concept is drawn from a movie to a videogame, there are outright differences that are expected. In the first place, a videogame will be required to depict some fl exibility so that the player is able to enjoy make their own manoeuvres. However, despite the differences in some of the content there are similar concept that are applied across the board. For example, in a real football match compared to a video football game like FIFA, the rules of football follow to the letter. The difference is that the players are

International Financial Reporting Standards Essay Example for Free

International Financial Reporting Standards Essay Organizations around the world are continuously recording data and reporting financial information to the used for many purposes by the respective users. A tremendous amount of financial transactions continuously stir in the organizations, some transactions occur each second or minute whereas some transactions are very unique and take place occasionally as a result of a specific event. That is why to bring things in conformity and consistency, it is important that organizations establish standards and procedures for recording their data. In doing so present results will be in a position to be compared with historical data and with entities in similar industry. Listed companies have to particularly follow standard formats and disclose their financial information in such a way that it is easily understood by the users of the financial statements. This is because consistency flows through not just one organization but the entire industry making outcomes easier to contrast. These objectives are being addressed by standard setting boards such as IAASB by setting International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting standards (IFRS). Both IFRS and IAS are equal in terms of their value and standing. (Tatum Malcum) All transactions need to be recorded as suggested above. One of the aspects that are a part of recording is financial instruments; created by a legal document and having different monetary values. They can be classified as cash or derivative instruments. Cash type of financial instruments is widely used and can be most easily understood. Currency in itself is a cash instrument or a bank cheque is a good example which can be used to transfer money from one bank account to another. However derivative instruments include those tools such as futures; an instrument saying that the seller will sell the asset or buyer will buy it at a future date. Price of such transactions is determined at the time of entering into a future contract. There are other instruments as well such as options and swaps whereas sometimes stocks, bonds and currency forwards are also termed as financial instruments. (Tatum Malcum) Due to the wide range of financial instruments being used, IAS 39 was introduced by International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) in 2001 to regulate the process of recognition and measurement of such transactions. The organizations dealing with them were facing problems with respect to treatment as different approaches were being applied by entities. This led to inconsistency of disclosing and recording of appropriate amounts within the industry as they were no standard process for recording the financial instruments. This directed the results of entities within the same industry to be incomparable with one another. Many of transactions involving financial instruments remained unrecognized as no proper recognition and measurement processes were known to the accountants. Hence CFO and CEO were in a position to distort the actual results and lead shareholders astray. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) In response to that IAS 39 introduced a concept of fair value accounting. The standard increased the importance of the fair value accounting for the financial instruments and therefore required entities to record assets and liabilities on the face of the balance sheet and discloses the nature of derivatives in the financial statements. In case of hybrids, the structure had to be broken down into two components (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur). This is because hybrid instruments have a mixture of characteristics of both debt and equity thereby market price of the hybrid instrument is sensitive to both the interest rates and quoted price for the stock (Riskglossory. com). The two components of the hybrid contract are real contracts however derivative is separated from the contract to be measured at fair value. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) IAS 39 also introduced hedge accounting for all derivatives in order to minimize the volatile affects on the income statement. Further segregation in the standard came into place as the â€Å"intention† of hedging was used to establish which accounting rules will be applied. As a result a fair value hedge, net investment hedge in foreign currency and cash flow hedge accounting rules was launched. In fair value hedging the risks are connected to the fluctuation of fair value of an underlying asset or liability. Whereas cash flow hedges are those in which the exposure is connected to the future cash flows of assets or liabilities recognized or any future commitment or forecasted cash flow of the organization. Moreover, the net investment hedge in foreign currency is hedging the risks of an entity’s net asset which is not an associate, joint venture or a subsidiary. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) Implication of this IAS affected all the users of financial statements and also the people who were trying to comply with the standard. The development of this standard and its implementation had significant impact on the strategies in dealing with financial risks. As the financial instruments have volatile affects on the equity portfolio and income statements these affects were then being countered by engaging in hedging strategies and transparent accounting policies. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) IAS 39 also provides organizations with the recognition criteria on how to record hedging instruments when entering into a transaction. After that at each period end gain and loss is recognized on an ongoing basis. So it has a forward looking stance at initiation but a backward bearing when re-assessment of investment’s effectiveness is carried out. The organizations needed to asses which process of reassessment would be right for their investment portfolio. A proper system was therefore required to record and reassess not only cash flows and fair values but also take into account the premiums and discounts involved. Moreover, IAS required the disclosure of all the investments and subsequent gains or loss arising due to it. (Miolo Alessandro, Andersen Arthur) The first revision of the IAS 39 took place in 2004 which incorporated Macro hedging, involving interest rates risks hedge. This amendment was made due to the increase use of these instruments and such investments were not addressed by IAS 39. Macro hedge is an investment technique to reduce or minimize the risks associated with the whole portfolio of investments (Peter Williams). This investments technique was widely spread because of the ease of information available about the interest rate and currency fluctuations between different countries. The macro managers earned by hedging the risks in different market by buying long and short in different markets of the globe. That increasing trend required the correct measurement and recognition of such investment which could only be linked with financial instruments dealt in IAS 39. (Hubpages, Inc. ) Further amendment took place on the issue of initial recognition of financial asset or liabilities and the subsequent charging of gain or loss. Initially all of such instruments were allowed to be measured on fair value if measured reliably. In 2005 the option to value instruments at fair value had been restricted to only those investments which had significantly reduced due to accounting mismatch along with those financial instruments whose fair values were regularly managed evaluated for its correctness. In addition IAS 39 stated before October 2008 that once an instrument is classified on the basis of fair value i. e through profit and loss category, it cannot be reclassified. Amendment in 2008 allowed some of the instruments to be reclassified from fair value and available for sale category under certain conditions and a disclosure is required in case of such a reclassification. Moreover it was stated that all the derivatives need to be reassessed in case of any reclassification; an issue that was developed due to the global credit crunch, significantly affecting the financial market. (Delloitte Touche Tohmatsu) With all the problems and issues dealing with financial instruments IASB and FASB started working together on IFRS 9 to replace IAS 39. Its purpose is to reduce difficulty in accounting for financial instruments and hedging activities. This development took place in phases. Phase one tends to improve and simplify the measurement and classification of the financial instruments. Though this phase has been completed but the exposure draft has been under plan to be issued and the implementation is to be completed in the current year. (International Accounting standard board) This new standard has raising concerns in the world in corporate sectors on how this will be implemented and how it will affect their operations. Many are happy for the change to take place as the IAS 39 is thought to be a difficult standard to implement. The replacement is a result of the world’s economic crises after which all the investors and the regulators of financial institutions were demanding for an accounting system which showed the types of assets and liabilities held at a given time, the risks that they are exposed to and gain and losses expect to be realized. (IFRS 9 – Deconstructing IAS 39) In 2008 when Lehman Brothers share price collapsed, the investors in turn rushed to purchase the share prices in anticipation of prices bouncing back. However they couldn’t see the situation of the bank’s exposure in financial instruments related to subprime loans as less information was disclosed for their understanding. Hence it was later suggested that accounting needs to be clearer which became evident upon the fall of many banks. IFRS 9 strived to cater and answer all these major issues in hand while giving organizations an option to adopt this standard before it becomes mandatory in 2013. Only the first phase of the standard is completed and all the stakeholders are waiting to implement it upon finalization of IFRS 9 completion. IFRS 9 – Deconstructing IAS 39) IFRS 9 looks to tackle all the current problems and questions probed by various investors but it cannot give a guarantee to prevent any crises in future. It is important that accountants, regulator and the investors remain vigilant because no matter how much IFRS 9 helps to simplify the accounting of financial reporting, when this economy starts its recovery phase no one can stop the development of new financial instruments eluding the situation like before. European Union refused to adopt IFRS 9 last year posing some questions relating to fair value of investments coverage. On the other hand Japan signed it for an early adoption in March 2010 which is a significant step toward promoting transparency in policies and implementation (IFRS 9 – Deconstructing IAS 39). Hence it can be clearly seen that IASB and FASB have been working for the betterment of the society by incorporating the external changes in the market which can be reflected upon the replacement of IAS 39 with IFRS 9.