Education and the Subjective Quality of Life* Essay

Journal of Health and Social Behavior 1997, Vol. 38 (September):275-297 We examine whether education influences subjective quality of life. If it does, what are the mechanisms by which education affects well-being? We propose that educa- tion improves well-being because it increases access to nonalienated paid work and economic resources that increase the sense of control over life, as well as access to stable social relationships, especially marriage, that increase social support. We examine the relationship between education and a variety of indicators of subjective quality of life-depression, anxiety, anger, aches and pains, malaise, and dissatis- faction. Using two representative national samples collected in 1990 and 1995, we find that the well educated have lower levels of emotional distress (including depres- sion, anxiety, and anger) and physical distress (including aches and pains and malaise), but they do not have lower levels of dissatisfaction. Education reduces dis- tress largely by way of paid work, nonalienated work, and economic resources, which are associated with high personal control; but the extent to which it reduces distress by way of marriage and social support is much more modest. We contrast distress and dissatisfaction as indicators of the subjective quality of life. Does education matter to subjective quality of life? If it does, what are the mechanisms by which education affects well-being? We pro- pose that education is valuable to individual well-being because it provides access to the two primary determinants of well-being: non- *We are indebted to the National Institute on Aging for the grant (ROI AG12393) to John Mirowsky and Catherine Ross that supported the Aging, Status, and the Sense of Control (ASOC) data collection and analysis. We are indebted to the National Science Foundation for the grant (SES- 8916154) to Catherine Ross that supported the Work, Family, and Well-Being (WFW) data collec- tion. Sampling, pretesting, and interviewing for both surveys were conducted by the Survey Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois. We thank John Mirowsky for his statistical help, Barbara Reskin for her help with the comparison process theory of satisfaction, and JHSB reviewers for their suggestions. Address correspondence to: Catherine Ross, Department of Sociology, 300 Bricker Hall, 190 North Oval Mall, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1353; e-mail: ross. 131 @osu. edu. alienated paid work and supportive relation- ships. Compared to the poorly educated, we expect that well-educated persons have access to nonalienated paid work that increases the sense of personal control. Well-being comes, first, from nonalienated work in which people exert control over the labor process (Kohn 1976; Marx ([1884] 1964). Work that gives people the freedom from routinization, monot- ony, and external control on the one hand, and a chance to use their skills, develop as a per- son, and learn new things on the other, theo- retically increases subjective well-being, in part by increasing perceived control. Com- pared to the poorly educated, we also expect that well-educated individuals have access to stable social relationships, especially mar- riage, that increase social support. Well-being comes, second, from primary group ties and social bonds that increase supportive relation- ships with others, especially the personal secu- rity of marriage, and the sense of having other people to talk to and turn to in times of need (Durkheim 1951; Litwak and Messeri 1989). We propose that, through these processes, 275 276 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR education improves the subjective quality of life, measured as psychological well-being and distress. We extend core economic and sociological perspectives on the meaning of education to individual well-being. We argue that educa- tion’s value extends beyond jobs, earnings, prestige, and power to people’s psychological well-being. According to human capital and status attainment theories, employers need workers who can read, write, do basic math, communicate, negotiate, solve problems, look things up, figure things out, and develop ideas; this human capital is acquired in school, and these skills, knowledge, and abilities help a person get a good job (Blau and Duncan 1967; Becker 1964; Hyman, Wright, and Reed 1975; Sewell and Hauser 1975; Spaeth 1976; Treiman and Terrell 1975). The same skills and abilities shaped by schooling, we argue, improve individual well-being through their effects on objective life conditions and social psychological resources. THE LINKS BETWEEN EDUCATION AND DISTRESS The negative association between education and psychological distress is well documented (Glenn and Weaver 1981; Kessler 1982; Lennon and Rosenfield 1992; Link, Lennon, and Dohrenwend 1993; Mirowsky and Ross 1989, 1995; Pearlin et al. 1981; Ross and Huber 1985; Ross and Mirowsky 1989), but the mechanisms by which education affects well-being are not. Education is rarely the focus of investigation in the sociological study of stress (Pearlin 1989). Instead, it is usually a control variable in research whose focus is on something else. This means that research has not identified the mechanisms by which edu- cation affects psychological well-being. Furthermore, when subjective well-being is measured as satisfaction, researchers find little positive effect of education. This raises the question of whether education’s effect is uni- formly positive. Well-educated persons are not more satisfied with their jobs than the poorly educated (Andrisani 1978; Gordon and Arvey 1975; Glenn and Weaver 1982; Quinn, Staines, and McCullough 1974; Ross and Reskin 1992), and they are not more satisfied with life in general (Pascarella and Terenzini 1991). Some argue that if education does not increase job satisfaction, or satisfaction over- all, maybe it has little real value to the subjec- tive quality of life, since a principal motivation for attaining a high level of formal education in the United States is access to satisfying work (Berg 1971; Quinn and Mandilovitch 1977). We examine the relationship between edu- cation and a variety of indicators of subjective quality of life. We distinguish distress- depression, anxiety, anger, aches and pains, and malaise-from dissatisfaction. Theo- retically, distress results from deprivation, whereas dissatisfaction results from depriva- tion relative to one’s expectations (Mirowsky and Ross 1989). We propose that education improves the subjective quality of life, mea- sured as psychological well-being and distress -measures not confounded by high expecta- tions among the advantaged. If education cor- relates positively with subjective well-being, what explains the association? We focus on two pathways by which education might affect individual well-being: (1) work and economic conditions, which increase personal control and (2) marriage and family conditions, which increase social support. Often educational attainment is used simply as an indicator of socioeconomic status. However, education, income, and work indi- cate different underlying concepts, so we keep the three aspects separate. Schooling indicates the accumulated knowledge, skills, values, and behaviors learned at school, in addition to being a credential that structures employment opportunities. Income and economic hardship indicate economic well-being. Work is pro- ductive activity (paid or not). Further, educa- tion, employment, and economic resources are not on the same causal level. Education is the key to one’s position in the stratification sys- tem; it shapes the likelihood of being em- ployed, the qualities of the job a person can get, and income. Combining variables from different causal levels obscures processes. If education affects psychological well-being, is its effect direct, or is it indirect by way of work or economic resources? Work and Economic Conditions Paid Work. Well-educated people are more likely to be employed and are more likely to be employed full-time (vs. part-time) than are those EDUCATION AND THE SUBJECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE 277 with little education (U. S. Department of Education 1992). Employment, especially full- time employment, in turn, is associated with higher levels of psychological and physical well-being (Gore and Mangione 1983; Lennon and Rosenfield 1992; Pearlin et al. 1981; Ross and Bird 1994; Verbrugge 1983). Although physical and mental health affect an individual’s likelihood of being employed, the positive asso- ciation between well-being and employment is not simply due to the selection of healthy people into the work force (Kessler, House, and Turner 1987; Ross and Mirowsky 1995). Nonalienated Work. We expect that educa- tion gives people access to nonalienated work that involves a variety of tasks, nonroutine work, and the chance for continued learning and development, which decreases distress. In nonalienated work, workers control the labor process; they have the chance to use their skills in the design and implementation of the work. Nonroutine work gives people the free- dom to use thought and independent judgment in doing different things in different ways rather than doing the same thing in the same way in a process designed and controlled by others. Skilled work gives people the chance to learn new things and develop as a person through work. Together, creative, nonroutine, independent work that gives a person control over the labor process, and work that is intrin- sic to a person’s development not external to it, are the essence of nonalienated labor. Kohn and colleagues find that control over the work process, rather than ownership of the means of production or control over the labor of others, is most important to psychological functioning (Kohn 1976; Kohn and Schooler 1982; Kohn et al. 1990). We expect that the work done by well- educated people is less alienated than that done by the poorly educated, and that this work decreases distress. However, the evi- dence as to whether work characteristics explain some of the effect of education on psy- chological well-being is mixed. Lennon (1994) finds that the effect of education on depression is explained when work condi- tions-autonomy, time pressure, responsibili- ty, interruptions, physical effort, and routine- are added. Link and colleagues (1993) find that education’s impact on psychological well- being works largely through giving individu- als access to jobs involving direction, control, and planning. However, others find that the effect of education on distress remains unchanged with adjustment for job control and other occupational characteristics (Kessler 1982; Lennon and Rosenfield 1992). Economic Resources. Low levels of educa- tion increase economic hardship. Individuals with low levels of education have lower incomes than those with high levels of educa- tion (Sewell and Hauser 1975), in part because they are less likely to be employed, and if employed, more likely to hold low-level jobs. Low levels of education further deprive people of the problem-solving resources needed to cope with the stresses of economic hardship. Ross and Huber (1985) find a synergistic effect on economic hardship of low education and low income, each making the effect of the other worse. Hardship increases psychological distress; the chronic strain of struggling to pay the bills and to feed and clothe the children takes its toll, often in feelings of depression and malaise (Pearlin et al. 1981; Ross and Huber 1985). Marriage and Family Composition Marital Status. Evidence that education is positively associated with marriage is some- what mixed and indirect. The well educated are less likely to divorce, probably due to the fact that they marry later and do so under more favorable economic conditions (Glick 1984; Houseknecht and Spanier 1980). Education is negatively associated with widowhood, too, since men and women choose partners with similar levels of education (Kalmijn 1991; Qian and Preston 1993), and well-educated people live longer than those with lower levels of education (Rogot, Sorlie, and Johnson 1992). Although education is negatively asso- ciated with marital dissolution, either through divorce or widowhood, it is also negatively associated with marrying in the first place, especially for some groups. Education decreases the probability of ever marrying among Whites, while highly educated Blacks are more likely to marry than Blacks with lower levels of education (Bennett, Bloom, and Craig 1989). Women with high levels of education are more likely to postpone mar- riage, not to remarry after divorce, and never marry in the first place than are women with lower levels of education; and women who fail to marry in young adulthood attain a higher 278 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR level of education than those who do marry (McLanahan and Casper 1994). All told, how- ever, well-educated women and men are more likely to be currently married than those with- out high school degrees (Qian and Preston 1993). Overall, married people and those who live with partners are healthier and happier than those who are single, divorced, or widowed (Waite 1995). Married people have higher lev- els of physical and psychological well-being than do unmarried people (Gove, Hughes, and Style 1983; Ross, Mirowsky, and Goldsteen 1990; Ross 1995). If marriage has any nega- tive effects on well-being, it may be due to child care responsibilities, which fall dispro- portionately on women. People with children at home do not have higher levels of psycho- logical well-being than nonparents (Gore and Mangione 1983; Kessler and McRae 1982; McLanahan and Adams 1987). In many instances, parents-especially mothers-are more psychologically distressed than non- parents (Gove and Geerken 1977; Pearlin 1975). Most of the stress of children in the home is due to economic strains, excessive child care responsibilities, and difficulties arranging child care while parents are at work (Ross and Huber 1985; Ross and Mirowsky 1988). Since children often accompany mar- riage, the effect of marriage on well-being may not be uniformly positive. However, the well educated may get the benefits of mar- riage, without the stress associated with chil- dren, since well-educated women have fewer children than poorly educated women. Women with high levels of education are more likely to remain childless, to postpone having chil- dren, and to have fewer children than are those with lower levels of education (Bloom and Trussel 1984; Rindfuss, Morgan, and Swice- good 1984; Veevers 1979). Since men and women tend to choose partners with similar levels of education (Kalmijn 1991; Qian and Preston 1993), well-educated men have fewer children, too. Social-Psychological Resources Sense of Control. Belief in personal control is a learned, generalized expectation that out- comes are contingent on one’s own choices and actions (Mirowsky and Ross 1989; Rotter 1966). The sense of powerlessness, the oppo- site, is the belief that one’s actions do not affect outcomes. It is the main form of subjec- tive alienation (Seeman 1959, 1983). Education correlates positively with the sense of control, and the sense of personal control mediates a large part of the negative associa- tion between education and distress (Mirow- sky and Ross 1989; Ross and Mirowsky 1989). The well educated have higher person- al control than the poorly educated, even adjusting for employment, job autonomy, earnings, minority status, age, marital status, sex, and household work (Bird and Ross 1993; Ross and Mirowsky 1992). People with high levels of personal control have low levels of psychological distress (Aneshensel 1992; Gecas 1989; Mirowsky and Ross 1986; Pearlin et al. 1981; Wheaton 1980, 1983), and perceived control over both good and bad outcomes correlates negatively with depression (Krause and Stryker 1984; Mirowsky and Ross 1990). High personal con- trol helps people cope actively and flexibly, to avoid problems and to prepare for those that cannot be avoided (Mirowsky and Ross 1989; Turner and Noh 1983; Wheaton 1983). In con- trast, the sense of powerlessness is demoraliz- ing in itself and interferes with active problem- solving. Social Support. Social support is the com- mitment, caring, advice, and aid provided in personal relationships, the sense of being cared for and loved, esteemed and valued as a person, and part of a network of communica- tion and obligation (Kaplan, Robbins, and Martin 1983). Little research has examined the social determinants of support. Education may provide social support by giving people access to multiple roles with independent social net- works which boost the potential for supportive relationships (Walker, Wasserman, and Wellman 1993). Education may also help peo- ple maintain supportive relationships with oth- ers directly by way of increased flexibility in dealing with problems, the ability to negotiate and compromise, and to see more than one side of an issue; and indirectly by reducing stressors of unemployment, poverty, and eco- nomic hardship which strain interpersonal relationships (Atkinson, Liem, and Liem 1986; Gore 1978). Ross and Mirowsky (1989) find that the well educated have higher levels of support than the poorly educated, but few other studies have examined the association between education and social support. EDUCATION AND THE SUBJECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE 279 Low levels of social support, especially emotional support, are associated with psycho- logical distress, including depression and anx- iety, and poor health (Gerstel, Riessman, and Rosenfield 1985; House, Landis, and Um- berson 1988; Kessler and McLeod 1985). Social support reduces distress directly and it interacts with stressful life events and situa- tions, buffering their negative effect (Wheaton 1983). Summary of Proposed Mechanisms by Which Education Affects Distress We propose that education gives people access to nonalienated paid work and eco- nomic resources that increase the sense of personal control, and that education gives peo- ple access to stable social relationships, espe- cially marriage, that increase social support. Through these processes, we hypothesize, education affects subjective quality of life. SAMPLES We use two representative national samples. With these we will replicate regression analy- ses in order to strengthen confidence in our results, distinguish robust findings from sample-specific ones, and comprehensively measure distress and dissatisfaction in two years. The first is the Aging, Status, and the Sense of Control (ASOC) survey. It is a 1995 telephone survey of a national probability sample of U. S. households. Respondents were selected using a prescreened random-digit dialing method that increases the rate of con- tacting eligible numbers (or decreases the rate of contacting business and nonworking num- bers) and decreases standard errors compared to the standard Mitofsky-Waksberg method while producing a sample with the same demographic profile (Lund and Wright 1994; Waksberg 1978). The ASOC survey has two subsamples, designed to produce an 80 percent oversample of persons age 60 and older. The survey was limited to English-speaking adults. The main sample draws from all households; the oversample draws only from households with one or more seniors. In the main sample, the adult (18 or older) with the most recent birthday was selected as respondent.

What to Do If You Have a Bad College Professor

What to Do If You Have a Bad College Professor Perhaps the best way to kill the excitement of a new semester is realizing that one of your professors is not quite what you were hoping for. In fact, he or she might be downright bad. With so many other things to manage- not to mention a class to pass!- knowing what to do when you have a bad college professor can sometimes seem overwhelming. Luckily, even if youre totally stuck with Prof. How-Did-He-Get-This-Job, you still have some options for working around the situation. Switch Classes See if you still have time to switch classes. If you realize your situation early enough, you may have time to switch to another class or even postpone this class until a later semester (when a different professor takes it over). Check with the campus registrars office about the add/drop deadline and what other classes might be open. If you cant switch professors, see if you can just sit in on another lecture section. While this only works for large lecture classes, you might be able to attend a different professors lectures as long as you still go to your particular discussion sections/seminar. Many classes have the same daily reading and assignments, regardless of who the professor is. See if someone elses lecture or teaching style better matches with your own. Get Help Get help from other students. Chances are youre not alone in struggling with your professor. Check in with other students and see how you can help each other out: meetings after classes? study groups? sharing notes? helping to read each others papers or lab drafts?Get a tutor. Bad professors often can lead to bad grades. If you find yourself struggling, get a tutor as soon as possible. And dont be shy about it, either- would you feel worse asking for help now or possibly failing (and having to retake the class) again later? Check with a tutoring center, your residence hall staff, or any upper-class students about how to find a tutor as soon as possible. Drop the Class Remember that you have the option of dropping the class- by the deadline. Sometimes, no matter what you do, you cant make it work with a bad professor. If you need to drop the class, make sure you do so by the appropriate deadline. The last thing you need is a bad grade on your transcript on top of the bad experience. Speak With Someone If something serious is going on, speak to someone. There are bad professors that dont teach well, and then there are unfortunately bad professors who say offensive things in a classroom or who treat different kinds of students differently. If you think this is going on, talk to someone as soon as possible. Reach out to your adviser, your ​RA, other faculty members, the chair of the department, or even the ​dean or provost  to bring the situation to someones attention. Change Your Approach Take a moment to see how you can change your own approach to the situation. Are you stuck with a professor who you always disagree with? Turn those in-class debates into a well-researched argument paper for your next assignment. Do you think your professor has no idea what he or she is talking about? Show your mastery of the material by turning in a stellar lab report or ​research paper. Figuring out what you can do, no matter how minor, in dealing with a bad professor is a great way to at least feel like you have some control over the situation!

Chinese Gift-Giving Etiquette

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First, the person may be embarrassed because he or she can not reciprocate with a gift of similar value or, during business deals, especially with politicians, it may appear to be a bribe. When giving a red envelope, the amount of money inside will depend on the situation. There is great debate over how much to give: The amount of money in red envelopes given to children for Chinese New Year depends on age and the giver’s relationship to the child. For younger children, the equivalent of about $7 dollars is fine. More money is given to older children and teenagers. The amount is usually enough for the child to buy himself a gift, such as a T-shirt or DVD. Parents may give the child a more substantial amount since material gifts are usually not given during the holidays. For employees at work, the year-end bonus is typically the equivalent of one month’s wage though the amount can vary from enough money to buy a small gift to more than one month’s wage. If you go to a wedding, the money in the red envelope should be equivalent to a nice gift that would be given at a Western wedding. It should be enough money to cover the guest’s expense at the wedding. For example, if the wedding dinner costs the newlyweds US$35 per person, then the money in the envelope should be at least US$35. In Taiwan, typical amounts on money are: NT$1,200, NT$1,600, NT$2,200, NT$2,600, NT$3,200 and NT$3,600. As with Chinese New Year, the amount of money is relative to your relationship to the recipient the closer your relationship to the bride and groom, the more money that is expected. Immediate family like parents and siblings give more money than casual friends. It is not uncommon for business partners to be invited to weddings. Business partners often put more money in the envelope to strengthen the business relationship. Less money is given for birthdays than is given for Chinese New Year and weddings because it is viewed as the least important of the three occasions. Nowadays, people often just bring gifts for birthdays. For all occasions, certain amounts of money are to be avoided. Anything with a four is best avoided because å›› (sà ¬, four) sounds similar to æ ­ » (sÇ , death). Even numbers, except four, are better than odd. Eight is a particularly auspicious number. The money inside a red envelope should always be new and crisp. Folding the money or giving dirty or wrinkled bills is in bad taste. Coins and checks are avoided, the former because change is not worth much and the latter because checks are not widely used in Asia. How Should I Wrap the Gift? Chinese gifts can be wrapped with wrapping paper and bows, just like gifts in the West. However, some colors should be avoided. Red is lucky. Pink and yellow symbolize happiness. Gold is for fortune and wealth. So wrapping paper, ribbon, and bows in these colors are best. Avoid white, which is used in funerals and connotes death. Black and blue also symbolize death and should not be used. If you include a greeting card or gift tag, do not write in red ink as this signifies death. Never write a Chinese person’s name in red ink as this is considered bad luck. If you are giving a red envelope, there are a few points to remember. Unlike a Western greeting card, red envelopes given at Chinese New Year are typically left unsigned. For birthdays or weddings, a short message, typically a four character expression, and signature is optional. Some four-character expressions appropriate for a wedding red envelope are Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¤ ½Å"ä ¹â€¹Ã¥ Ë† (tiÄ nzuà ² zhÄ «hà ©, marriage made in heaven) or ç™ ¾Ã¥ ¹ ´Ã¥ ¥ ½Ã¥ Ë† (bÇŽinin hÇŽo hà ©, happy union for one hundred years). The money inside a red envelope should always be new and crisp. Folding the money or giving dirty or wrinkled bills is in bad taste. Coins and checks are avoided, the former because change is not worth much and the latter because checks are not widely used in Asia. How Should I Present the Gift? It is best to exchange gifts in private or to an entire group. At business meetings, it is bad taste to offer only one  person a gift in front of everyone else. If you have only prepared one gift, you should give it to the most senior person. If you are concerned about whether giving a gift is appropriate, it is okay to say the gift is from your company rather than you. Always give gifts to the most senior person first. Don’t be surprised if your gift is immediately reciprocated with a gift of equal value as this is the way Chinese people say thank you. If you are given a gift, you should also repay the gift with something of equal value. When giving the gift, the recipient may not immediately open it because it might embarrass them, or they may appear greedy. If you receive a gift, you should not immediately open it. may appear greedy. If you receive a gift, you should not immediately open it. Most recipients will first politely decline the gift. If he or she profusely refuses the gift more than once, take the hint and don’t push the issue. When giving a gift, hand the gift to the person with both hands. The gift is considered an extension of the person and handing it over with both hands is a sign of respect. When receiving a gift, also accept it with both hands and say thank you. Post-gift giving, it is customary to send an e-mail or better, a thank you card, to show your gratitude for the gift. A phone call is also acceptable.

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The answer is yes, advertising and promotions can be effective if used properly for targeting the right consumer. One of the main rules in advertising has always been to keep message simple and consistent and repeat it often. It has been shown that people remember advertising if they see it with great frequency, which explains why while watching hours of television one may see the same advertisement two or even three times even more. That way the message will positioned in ones mind. Integrated Marketing Communication One of the most important aspects of advertising and promoting a product or service is consistency. Companies ensure the consistency of their message by coordinating all of their promotional activities. This coordination of activities into a system or strategic plan is referred as integrated marketing communications (IMC). IMC creates a unified message and enhances the effectiveness of reaching the target consumer. Firms will create one message that will be used consistently throughout a marketing campaign. It is important that the promotional strategy also be in alignment with the organizational goals. There are three major aspects of an IMC plan:- Research Creative Aspects Implementation. Research and analysis are used to find the best way to design the product or service the most effective message and media to use and the best means to distribute the product or service at the optimal price. The creative aspect is the actual advertising, copywriting and designing of promotional materials. Implementation is the act of putting the plan together, creating a strategy and seeing it through. Planning an integrated marketing communications plan also means finding target market determining what is unique about the product offering or service providing constructing a positioning strategy for product or service deciding what the best message would be for product and choosing the optimal marketing mix in relation to allowed marketing budget. Ideally an effective IMC campaign will differentiate the product or service from a competitors generate a flow of leads be consistent with and support the overall branding strategy cause the company to have a more prominent place in the market. Communicate the companys experience and knowledge and help to retain existing customers. The Promotional Mix The promotional mix is the use of different advertising and communication channels in a coordinated way to run an effective marketing campaign. These coordinated campaigns are part of an effective integrated marketing communications plan. The four main methods of promotion within the mix are:- Advertising Sales Promotion Personal Selling Public Relations The most important factor in determining the optimal mix is identifying the target market. This can be determined through extensive market research. Once a company knows its target market it can then research its use of various media outlets in order to come up with the best combination of marketing materials to reach the defined target. For example if the target market is stay-at-home moms, an organization might find that television advertisements during certain daytime television shows are most effective for reaching them. If the target market is a young professional, the marketer might find that using billboards in a downtown commercial district and morning drive time radio advertisements are effective for getting the message to this target market. The size of the promotional budget will greatly influence the chosen mix as well. Television advertising can be very costly and therefore may not be a feasible option for a company with a smaller marketing budget at least not during pri me viewing hours on major networks. Often the amount of money a firm spends on promotional activities will be affected by the product life cycle general economic conditions and the competition. The promotional mix may involve a company coordinating its loyalty program with advertising campaigns and a promotional deal. Advertising Advertising is paid communication brought to audiences through different forms of media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards. A company uses advertising to inform, persuade or remind its target market of its products or services. Comparative advertising is used to differentiate a companys products in the marketplace from other similar products. For example The Pepsi Challenge campaign was a form of comparative advertising in which consumers were asked to take blind taste tests to see if they could tell the difference between the products. Coca-Cola uses reminder ads to show us how refreshing the beverage can be on a hot day. 1.4. Different Medium of Advertising and Sales Promotion Advertising Mediums There are advantages and disadvantages to each media type and when selecting the advertising mediums to use companies must understand who their target audience is and which the most effective method for reaching them is. Marketers must be able to divide their budgets among the various media resources in order to stretch them the farthest to reach the most customers. Television Television advertising is the leading medium for reaching Indian audiences. Although a very expensive form of advertising, television ads reach the largest percentage of the Indian population at once and can be very appealing due to their visual nature as well as their sound. TV ads can be classified into national, local, and cable advertisements. The type of network chosen will depend on which audience the marketer is trying to reach. If the advertisement is for a local restaurant the company may choose to advertise only on local stations or in local ad space on cable channels or national networks. The time an advertisement is shown is also an important decision that companies must make in order to reach the target audience. Budgetary constraints will also be a factor in choosing time slots for advertisements. Print Advertisements Advertising in newspapers and magazines is another way of reaching customers with a companys message. Print ads are effective because of their visual quality and can be run in many different types of publications. Marketers selling products or services to consumers may choose national publications such as India Today or local newspapers such as the Times of India and Hindustan Times. Businesses trying to sell products or services to other businesses will often advertise in trade publications of the industries they are trying to reach. Companies may also target specialized publications for example a new computer product may be advertised in PC World or another specialty technology publication. Print ads have a longer life than electronic media ads and are good for telling a story about the value of a product or service. Radio Although lacking the visual appeal radio can be an effective medium for reaching target consumers. The average radio listener tunes in for three hours a day and often on a regular basis. When using radio advertisements in marketing mix it is necessary to make sure that the company and product or service is clearly identified. As with television it is also necessary to find the right station for advertising to the target consumer. If your service is a bar for college students you may choose to advertise in the evenings on a college station or an alternative rock station and if your target audience is senior citizens you may advertise on news stations or a talk show. Internet The Internet has become an important electronic medium and its interactive quality is unique. It permits immediacy of purchase and a high level of convenience. It can be personalized and individualized. The Internet and the World Wide Web are becoming essential tools in an integrated marketing plan and effective tools in sustaining customer loyalty and satisfaction. Direct Mail Mailing advertisements or promotions directly to peoples homes is another commonly used method of reaching consumers. Direct mail campaigns can be expensive due to printing and postage costs but these campaigns can be effective if the mailings reach the right consumers. Often companies will purchase lists of consumers or collect data themselves to build a mailing list. The people on these lists will then be sent targeted mailings. Telemarketing The utilization of telemarketing has been greatly affected in India by the recent implementation of the national Do Not Call registry, where millions of Indians signed up to have their telephone numbers removed from telemarketer lists. Internationally however regulations regarding telemarketing vary and it may still be a very effective method of reaching consumers. The downside of telemarketing is that most people do not like the invasiveness of being called at home though unfortunately many mass marketers find the risk of offending non receptive households is offset by the effective results and benefits from these marketing methods. Outdoor and Out of Home The majority of outdoor advertising rupees are spent on billboards. Billboards are a popular way of reaching commuters and consumers in a single geographic location. Other forms of outdoor advertising known as out of home include sports stadium ads, bus shelter posters, or signage on buses and taxis. Advertising Trends A very popular way of getting a message across is using celebrity endorsements. Advertising companies are willing to pay money in order to hire celebrities to represent their brands. Celebrities are part of an advertising message and campaign. Of course using a celebrity spokesperson can be a risk. When choosing a celebrity to endorse products, it is important to find an appropriate match with the product or service. The relationship should be believable. It is also important that the celebrities endorsing the product be credible. They should either have expertise in the field or be trustworthy characters. Sponsorships This is a well-used form of promotion and advertising that allows the company to buy into a sporting event or activity. The amount of investment in a sponsorship can range from an athletic company supporting a college sports team by providing them with brand-name uniforms in order to promote the brand to a company sponsoring a cricket game. For example Pepsi and Coke use to take sponsorship of cricket time to time. Infomercials Another trend in advertising is the infomercial. This is an extended television advertisement and usually runs at off peak hours or on lower-budget television or cable networks. Infomercials are usually at least a half hour long. Some of the most popular items that are sold through infomercials are fitness videos, skin care products and kitchenware. Often they will feature celebrity endorsements and offer products that cannot be purchased in stores. Their low-budget appearance and late-night showing often characterize infomercials. Once the consumer is convinced to purchase the product he or she will then be able to call and order the product over the telephone generating a direct response to the infomercial. Sales Promotion Sales promotion consists of many activities used to sell products. They are activities that give consumers a short-term incentive to make a purchase. Sales promotions are also activities that change the price and value relationship of a product as perceived by the target audience with the possible effect of generating immediate sales. It is possible that a sales promotion can also alter the long term value of the brand by making what might be a premium product more affordable. Sales promotions are generally time-bound programs that require participation on the part of the consumer through either immediate purchase or some other action. The fundamental goals of sales promotion are tactical, strategic and ultimate. The tactical goals are to combat a competitors increase in market share to combat other competitors promotional efforts and to move brands that are either declining, overstocked, damaged or not selling fast enough. The strategic goals are to motivate consumers to switch from a rival brand to increase product consumption to reinforce the marketing communications efforts for the brand and to motivate brand loyalty. The ultimate goal of a sales promotion is to increase sales, profits and market share. There are different channels for sales promotions which include consumer promotions and trade promotions. Consumer Promotions Consumer promotions are geared toward getting consumers to try a companys products. Some examples of consumer promotion activities include coupons, rebates, sampling, sweepstakes, point-of-purchase displays and special packs. Coupons Whether we cut coupons from newspapers and magazines or getting them in the mail, coupons are a very popular form of sales promotion. They are very effective especially in economic downturns for luring people into restaurants or causing them to make repeat purchases of products. E-coupons are another popular form of sales promotion they are extremely effective for luring in customers and are redeemed by 57 percent of the people who click on them. The most popular uses of e-coupons are for sales of groceries, books and health and music products. The disadvantage of coupons is that they do not encourage brand loyalty most consumers who use coupons regularly are willing to switch brands if there is a better discount available. Rebates Rebates are partial refunds that are offered by the manufacturers. Often manufacturers will use mail-in rebates as incentives for purchasing. The consumer must purchase the product at full price and then fill out paperwork and mail in the receipt in order to receive some money back. Rebate programs allow marketers to promote a companys product at a reduced poster bate price also called MRP offering a substantial savings to its customers but also requiring that a set of conditions be met to qualify. Sampling Companies will often send or hand out samples of products in order to attract customers who may not have purchased their products otherwise. Beverage companies may target college students and hand out soft drinks on campuses, or a food company may set up a stand in a grocery store so that consumers can sample their new chips. You may even receive a trial bottle of shampoo in the mail or you may remember receiving the India Online (IOL) CD in the mail offering 100 free hours of Internet access. These are all examples of sampling, and the intention of these promotions is to introduce a new product or service to a consumer in order to generate brand loyalty. Sampling can be a costly method of attracting customers and it often results in wasted distribution however it can be a very effective method for getting consumers to switch brands. Sweepstakes and Contests Sweepstakes and contests are another strategy of sales promotion. Data will be collected from consumers and they will be entered to win a prize. Companies can use the information that they collect from entrants in order to develop a mailing list for future promotional campaigns. Organizations must be sure to print all the guidelines for their sweepstakes or contests in order to avoid legal entanglements. Some of the guidelines companies should follow in order to put on a successful sweepstakes promotion include the following:- Clarify who is eligible Indicate states where the promotion is not valid Declare the termination date of the promotion Clarify random drawing procedures Companies should also detail the prizes disclose the odds of winning declare a deadline for entry and reserve the right to use winners names and photographs for publicity. Point-of-Purchase Displays Point-of-purchase (POP) promotional materials are displays that are set up in stores in order to prominently display products. At a grocery store a POP is usually placed in front of the store, at the end of an aisle, in the aisle or on the shelf. POP displays are very successful due to the fact that many people make last-minute purchasing decisions. Bundling Sometimes companies bundle products together in order to promote a new product or to encourage consumers to try a complementary product such as a free small conditioner bundled with a shampoo purchase or a free disposable razor with a shaving cream purchase. A company may also offer a bonus pack or a special pack with 20 percent more in order to encourage a customer to purchase a product. Give a ways Another strategy used by companies is that of special promotional items to be given away. These may be hats or T-shirts advertising the company or brand. For example, many times credit card Advertising