Losing weight Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Losing weight - Research Paper Example In order to change these complex behaviors, two of the psychologists named Prochaska and DiClemente have worked upon the Stages of Change Model. Through this five-step change model, we discover the changing of the habit in the context of losing weight. Five Stage Change Model The change model given by the psychologists consists of the five steps. They include: Pre-contemplation With regards to changing the habit of losing weight, precontemplation is the first stage which counts towards the initiation of the attempts of eliminating the habit of losing weight effectively. During this stage, the individual continues to receive responses and ideas from other people in their surroundings regarding the things that they are required to change in them. However, they start to give a negative reaction and a bad response towards all these indications by the people. This is because they are currently satisfied with their bad habit of losing weight and staying malnutrition since long. But, if in this stage they listen to others’ responses, this might prove to be useful and beneficial for them (Moser, online). Contemplation During the second stage of changing the habit of losing weight, the individuals are involved in a process of active thinking regarding giving up the idea of losing weight. In this phase, they need to alter their own and others’ ideas into the firmly held beliefs.

Federalism and State Powers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Federalism and State Powers - Essay Example The original federal government not only had little authority over confederate states and their activities such as commerce, the system had no court system and taxation powers. Essentially, the confederation was a loose union of politically sovereign governments, with each state having a free hand in regulating own commercial activities and having independent courts structures. The hindrances of the fragmented nature of the government with respect to national political and economic growth soon dawned on many Americans. As such, a reevaluation was thus necessary and so a Constitutional Convention was called in 1787 to restructure the government and harmonize functioning of the national and state economies. Finally, the â€Å"Great Compromise† was struck paving the way for federalism as the basis for governmental control. In the spirit of the US Constitution, Federalism is a dual system of sovereignty in which power was to be split between the central government and state govern ments. The agreement set fourth the United States Constitution as the Supreme law of the land with elaborate federal power system of shared responsibilities. (U.S. Const., Art. VI, cl. 2). Both levels of governments were to have a direct influence over the US citizenry through officials and enacted laws in both levels of governance. Noteworthy, changes in the constitutions governing the conduct of both the federal and state governments had to be consultative to promote magnanimity referred to in the superior laws. Articles I to VI of the supreme law basically define powers of the national government putting restrictions on what states’ spheres of influence. Accordingly, only the national government has authority to coin money, govern Indian tribes, conduct foreign relations, raise armies and a navy and declare war whenever necessary. Concerning the court system hitherto a thorn before the ratification of the constitution, only the Supreme Court was elaborately named in the US Constitution. Establishment of other federal courts fell under the powers of Congress. Declared under Article VI of the Constitution, the US constitution is the supreme law governing every aspect of governance in the entire nation. It apportions certain distinct powers to the federal government (enumerated powers) effectively limiting state powers to avoid conflict of interest. However, it also reserved other powers to the respective states (literally known as reserved powers). While State governments derive their authority from the people as outlined in their respective constitutions, the ratification of the United States Constitution basically transferred certain powers to the federal government effectively limiting state powers with respect to certain areas of policy action. According to the Tenth Amendment, â€Å"all powers not delegated to the federal government nor prohibited to the states were retained by the states.† Accordingly, states retained â€Å"police power" to enact laws governing health and safety, and those required to enhance economic welfare of the citizenry. Both levels of governments hold overlapping powers in certain areas. In general, issues regarding public security in terms of crime control, education, public health services, transport systems, and the general infrastructure are primarily state responsibilities. Nevertheless, all of these

Police Patrol & Different Patrol Programs in New York Assignment

Police Patrol & Different Patrol Programs in New York - Assignment Example For the most part, most people will meet up with the police on the streets or highways, when stopped for traffic infractions. Therefore, in downtown areas, it is good to have another presence, that of the police officer who is available to the public and who provides more a level of protection rather than of fear. Introduction Police departments in any city maintain their presence through a number of ways: foot patrols, bicycle patrols, patrolling neighborhoods in squad cars or motorcycles, and in some areas, horse patrols. The patrol system is the means by which the police are able to interact with the communities they serve and build relationships of trust and respect (Craven 2009). When neighbors in a community get to know who is patrolling their sector, then they are far more likely to confide in the members of the police that they see on an almost daily basis (Shelden 2003). Generally, members of the police department are assigned to a ‘beat’ which means they get to know the area through its streets, buildings, businesses, and homes that are part of the individual’s sector of patrol (Hunter & Barker 2011). Accordingly, as part of this beat, police officers get to know the people who live and work in the area and are able to build relationships with local people. ... As large cities had numerous neighborhoods to contend with, as well as business districts, the police were required to walk their beats which also provided opportunities to get to know the people in their area (Craven 2009). In the early days of foot patrols, this was the preferred method of patrolling the beats until bicycles, and then cars, were utilized. Bicycles allowed the police officer to get to one area of his beat to the next spot quicker than ever before. When the automobile was brought into the patrol system, then the police could get around in any weather and go wherever needed, at any time, as well as be able to transport prisoners (Hunter & Barker 2011). It also provided a sense of protection for the police officer, particularly in dangerous areas. Some cities also had the horse patrols in earlier years although maintaining horses could be somewhat expensive. As a consequence, horse patrols were used more often for ceremonial purposes than the actual police beat. New Yo rk City is famous for having a horse division for some of its patrol sectors (Cordner & Scarborough 2010). In other areas of the United States, the motorcycle is the alternative to the car patrol and is more likely to be a part of ceremonial processions rather than horses. 2.Traditional policies in community relations refer to engaging with the public in the various communities which are patrolled on a regular basis. There are several levels of community operations and interactions: individual, as a group and also, as political actors, whereby the police tend to represent those who are in legislature of the city or state under which they work (Hunter & Barker 2011). While the police officers can maintain a friendly attitude towards members

Fear Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Fear - Essay Example Or indeed, if I have wronged anyone, I want to make it right. This shows me to have strong moral and ethical beliefs. It is possibly this which makes me unafraid of punishment after death. My choices also show that I have trust, hope and faith. These are evidenced in my not fearing death to be the end of feeling and thinking, nor of taking a long time to die or of losing control of what is being done to my body. I trust those who would be caring for me, be they loved ones or medical professionals to do the best for me. I have hope that something might turn up. I recognize that some answers show a cluster of fear of the unknown, being afraid of nothingness, the end of everything, and of dying because I do not know what happens next. My fear of pain also emerges via the responses to pain of dying or dying suddenly and violently. Finally, I fear to die alone. Contributions from Upbringing: These results highlight the love, care and attention I received in my upbringing. That though there may not have been overtly religious influences, a strong moral and ethical code has been instilled, more humanist in belief than religion-driven. I was taught to care about other people, not to let them down and to expect the same in return. In fearing the unknown, the possible end to everything, suggests that Heaven and Hell were not concepts that figured largely in my childhood. Love, loyalty and kindness are the prime factors which have helped to form my adult views and values. Pain is something I must have experienced either in myself or a loved one, as the results suggest I really fear it. Overall, I am more optimistic than pessimistic, positive rather than negative. Contribution from Personal Culture: With regard to this, although I believe myself to be well-equipped to handle life, I perceive that today the human being is driven to find out more, to own all the knowledge available out there. It is as if the idea of 'anybody can do/be/have/ anything' is the leading factor of living. Fear and frustration emerge when that which cannot be known is presented to me. Then, I am afraid of being powerless in the face of that unknowable, the nothingness which might exist. Also, we have such faith in science, that it will prolong life and provide all the answers, help to take away the pain of living and dying. There seems to me to be a sort of odd contradiction here, being both hope and fear together. Personal Beliefs and Attitudes: Carrying out the survey and analysis has been valuable and 3 enlightening for me.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Essay Example for Free

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Essay Who can forget the initials FDR? Frank Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States. He was a very good public servant. In fact, he has served for 12 years (1933-1945) as the President of America and has great involvement during the Second World War and the world economic crisis. He worked hard and made the New Deal to aid the great depression that the world has suffered that time. With the New Deal, he was able to give some relief to the unemployed and to reform the economic systems. He was able to established several programs that became instrumental in the recovery of the economy and the nation’s commerce. One of his great contribution and became one of his essential legacies is the Social Security System. It was January 30, 1882 when Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, New York. He was the good son of James and Sara Roosevelt. He acquired his education with the aid of his parent and private tutors. He got an excellent educational background. During his preparatory, he was send to Groton in Massachusetts. Amusingly, he acquired his bachelor degree in History in Harvard for only three years. After this, he took law at the Columbia University and passed the bar examination in 1907. He exercised his law expertise in 3 years in a popular law firm in New York. He was happily married to Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the niece of the late President Theodore Roosevelt. They have six children in which five only survives during infancy; Anna, James, Elliot, Franklin, Jr. , and John. In 1910, his political career has started and been elected as a Senator under the banner of the Democrat Party. Two years after, he was reelected as a Senator. He supported Woodrow Wilson in his candidacy at the Democratic National Convention and as a reward for his support, he was appointed as the Assistant of the Navy for seven years. He was an effective and efficient administrator of Navy. His experience in the Navy has prepared him for his future position as the commander-in-chief during the Second World War. He was nominated for vice president by the Democratic Party during the 1920’s election however; many anti-Wilson plans have gained popularity, and thus making the Republican Party won the presidency in 1920. Roosevelt’s political career suddenly stops. In 1921, Roosevelt has stricken a poliomyelitis while having a summer vacation at the Campobello Island, New Brunswick. With a crippling illness, he established a foundation, which aims to help polio victims, and eventually directed the establishment March of Dimes program that funded anti-polio vaccines. With his current situation, Roosevelt became afraid to return to politics but with the encouragement of his wife Eleanor and Louis Howe, Roosevelt resumed his political runs. In 1924, he nominated New York Governor Alfred E. Smith for president however, smith lost to his co-nominee John W. Davis. In 1928, finally Smith became the Democratic candidate for President and campaigned for Roosevelt candidacy as Governor of New York. Unfortunately, Smith lost the Presidential election to Herbert Hoover. On the other hand, Roosevelt has won the election and been elected as the new Governor of New York. He was reelected as Governor in 1930. Following this, he then starts the campaign for presidency. I was the right time for Roosevelt to enhance his reputation. The economic depression severely damaged the reputation of President Hoover and the rest of the Republicans. During that time, Roosevelt has won the nomination as the Democratic Party candidate for president. He called for government intervention, which aims to give a relief, recovery and reform in the economic status of the United States. In 1932, he became the new president of US defeating Hoover by seven million votes. The depression has worsened the economic situation; closing of many factories and farms, increasing bank failures and rate of unemployment. Roosevelt has faced the greatest battle of his life. To be able to cope up with the worsening situations, he immediately undertook preemptive actions and initiated the New Deal. His actions include the closing of banks temporarily to calm all the depositors. He did not stop working. In his first â€Å"100 days† in the position, he worked with a special session of congress in order to pass recovery legislations. The legislations established the so-called alphabet agencies such the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Both of these agencies seek to help people; AAA will support farm prices and CCC will help to employ young men. Other agencies are set up to give assistance to labor and business, to insure bank deposits, to control and regulate stock market, to subsidize home and farm mortgage payments and to help the unemployed. Although his New Deal program was, a great help in the economic recovery; it resulted to an increase in government spending and unbalanced budget allocation that led to criticisms. Nevertheless, this state did not affect the political popularity of Roosevelt. In 1935, he established the Works projects administration (WPA) that gives employment to many people including the artists, writers, musicians and authors. In addition to this, Roosevelt has established the Social Security Act that gives additional compensation and benefits to employees. He was the only American president to take the position more than two terms. He defeated Alfred M. Landon in 1936, Wendell Wilkie in 1940 and Thomas E. Dewey in 1944. After he gained his awesome victory in the presidential election in 1936, Roosevelt has also gained some critics of the New Deal. The Supreme Court had declared several legislations unconstitutional. Many setbacks have occurred during his second term. He led United States away from the Isolationism during the World War. He has supported Winston Churchill with his efforts against the Axis Powers. Roosevelt played an important role in the post-world war. He created the United Nations in 1945, which has the goal of maintaining world peace. With his leadership, the American liberalism was redefined and the Democratic Party was restructured. The United States became neutral regarding the war however when the Japanese attacked the Pearl harbor on December 7, 1941, four days after both Italy and Germany have declared war against the United States, US was put into war. As a commander-in-chief of US military armed forces, he exercised his powers in order to fight the axis powers. He initiated the formation of â€Å"grand alliance† which was against Japan, Italy and Germany. His first mission is to invade Europe. The United States together with its allies invaded North Africa, then Sicily and Italy. Axis Powers have lost their momentum. Finally, Germany was invaded and certainly, victory in Europe was attained. The stress, strain, difficulties, struggles in the war has brought Roosevelt into sickness. Early of 1944, he was subjected to a full medical examination. The findings showed that he has a serious heart and circulatory complications. His physicians took care of him and always regulate his food intake. He was placed to a very strict medication. However, none of the efforts treats the malady. The pressures of war and politics worsen his condition. April 12, 1945 at the Warm Springs, Georgia, he got a massive stroke and eventually died after two and one-half hours. He died at the age of 63. It was the time when United States have gained a complete victory in Europe and Japan. His remains were buried at his hometown. Franklin D. Roosevelt is a noble man, a brave man. Who can forget him- his contributions to his nation and even to the world? Roosevelt dedication on his role as the leader was amazing. With his crippled legs, he was able to serve the people, the people who really seek for help. I remember one of his quotations,† A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward†. Roosevelt was one of the greatest men who live on earth. He was a prudent leader. He does not let his deficiencies overcome his ambitions. He was a role model to everyone. He always looked for the welfare of his people. He can be considered as a hero. I admire him for being persevering. For me he is man of his words– a man that would do anything just to serve helpless people. I admired him for being a strong-willed person. He never gives up and very firm with all the decisions he made. I admired him for being Franklin D. Roosevelt. Work Cited â€Å"2006. The American Presidency. 10 April 2008 http://ap. grolier. com/article? assetid=a2025680-h.

Green Revolution Essay Example for Free

Green Revolution Essay Interaction between humans and the environment has always had a great importance in the development of humankind; according to Marx, what differentiates humans from other animals is the fact that humans can transform their surroundings to suit their needs, through labor. The Green Revolution is not the exception to that. In times of need the human being manipulated its environment to be suitable for its development, however, the question lingers, how efficient was it, how positive? The Green Revolution, from 1945 to the present, was motivated by the need to increase the production of food to supply for the increasing demand as population grew, to promote national self-sustainability in terms of food. However, during that period the effect of the Revolution have been detrimental to the environment and society: they have damaged agricultural diversity and heritage, damaged the lands, and put at risk food security; also, they have widened the gap between the very rich and the very poor, monopolizing the food industry. The Green Revolution originated after an urgent need to promote food security with a growing trend in global population, as a way to promote self-sustainability and independence. As it is clear in the report given by the Food and Agriculture Organization (DOC 2), in the period ranging from around 1929 (great depression) and 1945 (end of World War II) the global food supply index was below the world population. What this means is that there was literally not enough food being produced world wide to feed the world population. This struggle of human kind to stay afloat in supplying the minimum needs for survival meant that a change needed to occur. The answer, as Dr. Norman Borlaug stated in his Nobel Lecture (DOC 4) was not simply planting more in the developing nations, since the lands in those areas were â€Å"tired, worn out, depleted of plant nutrients†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Clearly, what the document refers is that a new, more effective way of growing food had to be developed. In fact, Dr.Borlaug states that the priority of the developments of the green revolution concentrated in the millions that were lurked by hunger, a large problematic that clearly was under the spotlight. As a proof that the world was prioritizing the deficient food supply is the statement given by President Harry Truman (DOC 3). President Truman was the leader of the most powerful nation in the world at the time, the one with the largest technological developments, and his word was the one that would set the course of the world. This particular speech is vital, since it is the inaugural speech, where he was to set the priorities of the government and address the world with what the United States had as a course for the future. In this speech, he clearly refers to the shocking figure that â€Å"more than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery† and says that the United States will help provide â€Å"technical knowledge†¦ to produce more food† In the speech President Truman refers often to liberty, thus meaning that self-sustainability will provide freedom. This speech is the perfect example, the jewel of the trend that the world was seeing with regard to prioritizing food. The mention of â€Å"technical knowledge† is vital in the construction of the green revolution as a response to the lack of food, with technological developments in the agricultural field. Some have said that the Green Revolution has been a success in improving the food industry, and improving living conditions for everyone; nevertheless the numbers today reflect a mediocre success. Indian minister for food and agriculture (1964-1967) states in an interview (DOC 5) that the farmers of the state of Punjab competed to use the technology that was introduced by the green revolution the best. It is stated with a positive connotation, as to refer to the great feats of Punjab. This seems very positive, however, the most likely reason for this to have occurred is the fact that multinational corporations were kicking them out of the market and they were forced into utilizing the technology that those same corporations were imposing on them. If this were true, which it most likely is, as it has happened in many places around the world, it would discredit the great success that the Green Revolution supposedly is. Furthermore, the claim is that the Green Revolution has brought prosperity, however, to whom, to the ones that were rich already? A perfect example of this negative impact of the Green Revolution is the conversation between Mrs. Dula and the United Nations official (DOC 6), which gives a not very realistic perspective of the impact of the green Revolution and is concentrated exclusively in the sector of the very rich. This document is indeed quite revealing, as the speaker is an aristocratic woman of Mexico, probably a housewife who sees the world through the optic of his husband, a man who earns a salary if the revolution which he works for is successful; in fact, she is most likely part of one of the clubs she talks about herself. The occasion of this statement is a simple conversation with a UN official, probably at some sort of a social event, where the high class is all joined together, with perfectly slanted people who are not really analyzing the global impact of the Green Revolution. This document gives a crystal clear proof of how much the Green Revolution has made the â€Å"rich Mexican farmers† richer probably at the expense of making the poor laborers, poorer, however, this document presents only one, very bright point of view to sell the revolution. With regards to India once again, socially, they sell the idea of improvement, like in the report of the State of Punjab (DOC 9) where it says that the Green Revolution has seen with it the â€Å"emergence of middle and rich peasants† a very undesirable euphemism to conceal the actual situation. This document seems to give a perspective of social growth and development, of a population going for education, yet once again, it seems very idealistic in its tone, when in reality India has totally different conditions. With regards to that, India has one of the largest Gini index’s in the world, meaning a huge social inequality, and has one of the smallest middle classes in the world, which has diminished even more throughout the years, meaning that in reality, India may have had a somewhat positive year, but the general trend is of a very pronounced downturn in social progress, all related to the Green Revolution which is destroying the small farmers. The Green Revolution, in truth has brought more ill than it has brought good, in the environmental and social aspects. Regarding environmental harm, the FAO Wheat Yield report (DOC 1) is very good in demonstrating the introduction of massive scale crops that the Green Revolution brings forth with it. The introduction of these crops damages the lands since they are not prone to such production. The graphs show that in both Mexico and India the crop yields were extremely irregular, and as time passed they have become even more, this is due to the fact that they are not proper to those areas and its planting is something totally synthetic and with complete disrespect towards the natural balance. The article by Dr. Vandana Shiva (DOC 8) reveals how much damage the crops, especially Genetically Modified Organisms; do to the land they are planted in. The â€Å"reduced genetic diversity, increased vulnerability to pests, soil erosion, water shortages†¦Ã¢â‚¬  are effect that will leave marked the land for a long time, as Dr. Shiva states, and are a threat to future generations, which will have totally barren land where it will be impossible to plant food. Dr. Shiva also refers to the social problematic that the Green Revolution is planting alongside its seeds. For instance the fight for water to provide irrigation, previously not needed in India, has lead to â€Å"conflict and violence† and as it has become a worldwide trend, the career for water dominance is â€Å"leading to both local and interstate water conflicts. † This clearly shows how disadvantageous the spread of the Green Revolution has been, since it has brought unmeasured changes that have not been made responsibly, but rather abruptly, causing enormous damage. Dr. Shiva is an Indian Physicist, and being from India she probably has had a very direct contact with the Green Revolution, considering that one of its birthplaces was in fact the State of Punjab. In this occasion she is writing for the Ecologist magazine, a publication read by people with primary interest in the environmental issues, including organization leaders and maybe politicians who will probably get concerned, especially due to the tone of annoyance and hatred that she employs in the article. Expanding on social implications, the Guatemalan National Coordinating Committee of Indigenous peasants (DOC 10) gives a different perspective. Although it may sound somewhat as mysticism from indigenous people, saying that they have contaminated the seeds is not a joke, considering the hormones that can be found in GMO plantations. This also acknowledges a vital issue, the loss of diversity and heritage that society is killing with the systematic Green Revolution trends, like the Mayan traditions, which have been present for â€Å"five thousand years. Furthermore, the social disaster does not stop there, but stumbles over women, which according to the FAO Newsletter (DOC 7) have been forced to change their job. In this case the implications have made woman, traditionally in other roles, have even less opportunities to succeed, as the increased need for cash income made the woman be forced to work. This implies a social catastrophe since it denies the right of woman to equal opportunities, which are stripped off with the Green Revolution, which makes them simply one more laborer forced to work. Additional to the information presented in the documents it would be vital to contain the point of view of a small scale male farmer that has to compete with the multinational corporations, which have been installed after the start of the Green Revolution circa 1945. This would be important since it would show the first hand effects of the monopolies that the Green Revolution has brought, with regards to the social impact it has made, and whether that impact is positive or negative. As discussed throughout the essay, the Green Revolution, which has lasted from 1945 until the present day, was originated with a need to secure food production in a starving world. However its effects were not so positive, since today many starve, and the Green Revolution has damaged the environment and widened the gap between the social classes. The setup of crops that have give no benefit to the places in which they are grown, with complete disregard to the ecological balance that was being destroyed have caused issues ranging from soil erosion to water shortages and crops with pest vulnerability. The Green Revolution has also made the rich farmers richer at the cost of the poor being poorer, since the costs of the new technologies are not easily accessible, but the yields that they provide take the small farmers out of business. In general, although certain governments sponsor the Green Revolution and make it seem positive, it has brought about large changes in the way humans interact with the environment, with a generalized destruction of it to get short-term solutions to the problem of food shortages.

The Rise Of Facebook In Vietnam Media Essay

The Rise Of Facebook In Vietnam Media Essay Reading Public Relations at university, I am always fascinated by the art of communicating with and persuading people. Being a heavy user of Facebook, I am amazed how the social network since its birth has brought about so many changes to the ways people share and communicate. This research paper is my attempt to investigate the marketing communications role of Facebook in my home country, Vietnam. A survey targeting at 100 Vietnamese internet users and interviews with two industry experts were conducted and analysed. I was able to sit in the positions of both users and marketers to view the issue. Findings showed that Facebook marketing communications in Vietnam is currently at its young age however has had a very interesting journey of development. The young internet community and marketing practitioners in Vietnam love Facebook. Nevertheless, that is not enough to secure future success; the social network has to do much more in order to increase its digital influence in a highly competitive market. Chapter 1: Introduction Overview There have been a number of studies on effects of social media on marketing communications, a few of which have a specific investigation on the social network giant Facebook. However, most of those only focus on cases in the West where the emergence of social media first happened and most of the marketing trends originate. I am thus keen on doing a research on how social networks and Facebook specifically have found its ways and been used as a marketing communications tool in the other side of the world. Vietnam is one of the fastest growing internet populations worldwide with around 30 million users, making up a third of the total population. The Facebook block issue which caused difficulties logging in the site starting since late 2009 has not made this social network less attractive in Vietnamese users perspectives. Facebook marketing and communications in Vietnam moreover enjoys a boom when agencies have increasingly appreciated the power of the site in influencing audiences. This research paper attempts to study the nature of this development and its roles to marketing communications in the eyes of both users and marketers. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the current performance and future potential of Facebook as a marketing communications tool in Vietnam. It is hence important to determine profiles of Vietnamese Facebook users and their behaviours towards the social network. Opinions of industry experts on how effective Facebook is and will be to approach and persuade audiences are also essential. Key areas of investigation include: What is the current place of Facebook in the Vietnam social web market? What is happening to Facebook in Vietnam? Is this really blocked? Who use Facebook most in Vietnam? How do they interact with the site? What are their concerns when using Facebook? How reliable Facebook content is compared to other media platforms? How effective is Facebook in terms of marketing communications in Vietnam? What is the future of Facebook marketing in the country? The study is in general to provide an insight of Facebooks performance in Vietnam, focusing on its marketing roles. It specifically aimed to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the social network as a growing marketing communications tool in this emerging economy. 1.3 Background The internet in Vietnam has had a fascinating journey of development, in opinion of Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific Director of Ogilvy 360Â ° Digital Influence. He believes that the rapid growth of the internet in Vietnam receives support of three main factors including a developing nation, young population and the Government (Vietnam News, 2010). In terms of statistics, a research in 2010 by TNS, one of the worlds biggest market research groups, showed that 45% of Vietnamese are highly engaged in digital activities. The countrys figure is ranked fifth in Asia-Pacific area and slightly higher than the United Kingdom (43%) and the United States (42%). According to the same source of statistics, Vietnam is known as one of the youngest internet populations worldwide with the average age of 27. Another significant feature of the internet in Vietnam is its growing mobility. Again, statistics proved it best when showing that Mobile internet in Vietnam saw a growth of more than 800 per cent last year, reaching a total of 110 million mobile subscribers in early 2010 (Vietnam News, 2010). All of these somehow draw an overall picture of Vietnams internet environment with a young, mobile-going and highly-digital community. Social Media in Vietnam Like the development of the internet, Vietnam social media has witnessed dramatic growth since its first day in the country. Social network usage increased significantly from 4% in 2009 to 64% in 2010 (Crampton, 2010). Social networking was ranked as the most important digital activity by 25% of Vietnamese internet users, just behind Emailing which was ranked first by 27% of the research participants (TNS, 2011). The social web market in Vietnam marked its first turning point in 2005 with the launch of Yahoo!360, a blogging tool which allows users to compose their writings, customise screens and socialise with friends. Before the emergence of Yahoo!360, the social web environment in Vietnam relied on a few dominant platforms. Yahoo dominated the instant messaging and emailing sectors while its searching function was relatively popular together with Google. Community pages varied when users tended to participate in their online local community such as school forums rather than a particular national-scale page. A similar situation happened to video/music-sharing sites when several providers shared the popularity. After Yahoo!360 came, it ruled the social media world in the country, possibly with the support of Yahoos early dominance in Vietnam internet services. Millions of Vietnamese enjoyed writing about their daily lives and gossiping celebrity news. They gradually created a mass online comm unity and a unique blogging style called Yahoo!360. It was not a tool specifically designed for Vietnam market, but the market took it anyway, with great passion and enthusiasm. (Nguyen, Ogilvy 360Â ° Digital Influence, 2010) Only people from Mars dont know about Yahoo, said Hoang An, 21, one of countless fans of the portal, which has one of the countrys most potent brands. (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2010). The next turning point happening to the Vietnam social web community was in 2009. Yahoo!360 dominated social media in Vietnam however did not work well in other countries. The blogging tool failed to serve global customers, forcing Yahoo! global to close the service. The firm gave warnings about the closure several times since early 2009; however Yahoo Vietnam has seen a mix of trying to maintain the operation and investment versus tempting to close it down (Nguyen, 2010). The reason was as clear as the brand has achieved such a significant success in the country. Yahoo!360 users or in this case a majority of the Vietnam web community were strongly against this decision. Nevertheless, their efforts could not help prevent the closure of the site in 2010. Yahoo! Vietnam not long after that launched a local blogging service targeted specifically at Vietnam market called Yahoo!360 Plus. However, the replacement has not achieved such extreme success like its original version did. Since th en, the market has witnessed the emergence of a number of social media, both domestic and international brands. Facebook in Vietnam The number of Facebook Vietnamese users has reached more than 1.5 million in early 2011 (Social Bakers, 2011). The figure in 2009 was around 40,000 and impressively doubled in 2010. Facebook estimated a number of 1.9 million Vietnamese users in 2011. The social network has a Vietnamese-language version along with its English site; users thus have a choice of the language they want for their own pages. However, language has never been a problem preventing the popularity of social media in general and Facebook especially in Vietnam. English was the only language used in many social media tools; however, what really matters is that users can always propose their own content in Vietnamese or any other languages. Facebook is furthermore an international social network thus designed to reach international users. Chapter 2: Literature Review When researching the performance of Facebook as a marketing communications tool in Vietnam, I came across a number of concepts and facts which help build a better understanding of the topic. In this chapter, I will then explore these concepts and their relations to the study of marketing communications on Facebook Vietnam. They include the growing roles of social media in general and Facebook especially to marketing communications, the place of Facebook in comparison to its competitors and the internet censorship issue in the country. 2.1 Marketing Communications to Social Media and Facebook There are a variety of definitions of the term social media. Social media guru Larry Weber in his book Marketing to the Social Web suggested that The social web is an online place where people with common interest can gather to share thoughts, comments, and opinions. It includes social networks such as MySpace, Gather, and Facebook [] and branded web destinations like Amazon, Netflix and eBay. In summary, it is a new world of unpaid media created by individuals or enterprises on the web. (Weber, 2009: 4) Looking at another source, Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge (2009: xvii) defined social media as the democratisation of content and the shift in the role people play in the process of reading and disseminating information. In general, definitions slightly vary but all feature social media as new media platforms whose content is created on the web and by internet users. The term marketing communications meanwhile is widely agreed to consists of the promotional activities pursued by the firm and includes personal selling, mass selling, (comprising advertising and publicity), public relations and sales promotions (Monye, 2000: 11). It is the process of interacting with audiences or customers in a way that promotes a favourable brand image and helps build goodwill. Putting social media and marketing communications together, it then results in the concept of a new communications tool which is based on strengths of social web. Zarrella in The Social Media Marketing Book believes that the best way to define the term is to compare it with marketing on traditional media (including television, newspapers, radio and magazines). The author describes these traditional media as one-way static broadcast technologies while social media with new web technologies have made it easy for anyone to create and, most importantly to distribute their own content (Zarrella, 2010: 2-3). Marketing on the social web hence does not require huge sums of money to embed their messages but can make their own interesting content that viewers will flock to (Zarrella, 2010: 3). Supporting the idea of this growing power, Larry Weber believes that the social web has transmitted the way we do marketing: Rather talking at customers, marketers should talk with them. And the social web is the most effective way in the history of the world to do just that on a large scale. (Weber, 2009: 4) Among a number of different social media platforms, social network giant Facebook indeed makes up to the word giant. The review will focus on the marketing communications role of Facebook, which also seems to be one of the sites most significant social influences. The Facebook Marketing Book has a comprehensive summary of various marketing tactics Facebook. According to this, key strengths that make Facebook an effective marketing communications tool lie at its larger audience than old media and huge amount of personal information which has been volunteered by users to give the site then therefore advertisers (Zarrella, 2011: 3). From big brands to small businesses, anyone is able to use Facebook adverts, applications, and pages to communicate directly with audiences and leverage their brand image. It is suggested that the diversity of Facebook applications, from messaging and photo sharing to gaming, is beneficial to not only users but also marketers. Marketing people now have more platforms to engage with customers and carry out new effective strategies. For example, a Facebook Profile could make huge contribution as it represents how people share things with their large and very connected group of social connections. 500 million profiles on Facebook hence become precious sources of data for marketers to get use of: In fact, this is Facebooks biggest selling point: the site actively encourages users to fill their Profile with the type of information marketers are always trying to find all for free. (Zarrella, 2010: 33) Facebook Pages, Groups and Events are also believed to be the key to most social media strategies and will more than likely be the central point for most of marketers efforts and promotions. The popularity and importance of creating and monitoring Facebook page was emphasised as users nowadays look at the site much the way we look at the internet 10 years ago and are confused when they cannot find their favourite store or celebrity (Zarrella, 2010: 65). In terms of statistics, each of 500 million users on Facebook is connected to 60 Pages, Groups and Events on average. Overall, Facebook is considered as a highly competitive and fast-moving channel but amazingly cost effective, which if used properly can be an extension of your brand, helping you present the same personality, tone and visual faces as you would in any other materials (Zarrella, 2011: 7). 2.2 Marketing Communications on Vietnam Social Media The phenomenon of Yahoo!360 blog in Vietnam resulted in the emergence of influencers who are called hot bloggers in Vietnam. Their blogs attracted several millions of page views at the time and many of them are journalists. The social media expert in her article described these hot bloggers as whom PR departments in various agencies incorporated into clients marketing communications and PR activities (Nguyen, 2010). In general, it could be said that from the very early day when social media marked its appearance in Vietnam, PR and marketing have already been strongly involved in and taken advantage of the social web. The social web environment in Vietnam after the age of Yahoo!360 has seen a rapid and diverse development, when a number of both local and international companies have joined the market. None of them seem to have made a phenomenon like what Yahoo!360 did; however more social media platforms are getting popular. Among those, social networks have especially marked a significant growth in the country: Those who like local social networks became members of Yume, ZingMe, Tamtay, i-pro, Henantrua, Vietspace, etc., while others who like foreign networks joined Multiply, WordPress, Yahoo Plus, Twitter, etc. However, none rules the market (Vietnamnet, 2010). The top influential social media sites in Vietnam was recently summarised in the below chart by the Ogilvy 360Â ° Digital Influence team. Figure 3.1: The landscape of Vietnam Social Media 2010 (Ogilvy, 2010) According to the research above by Ogilvy, social media tools listed in the smaller circle are evaluated as being more influential than those in the larger circle of the same sector. Vietnam overall is considered as a fast-growing country in terms of social web development. There are both local and international names operating in different sectors, ranging from blogging, social networking and music sharing to QA and online trading. In the sector of social networking specifically, Facebook is put behind three local sites in terms of digital influence. In other words, it is competing with local providers to be the top choice of online marketing communications tools. 2.3 Facebook Block Story Facebook is currently not the biggest social network in the country but growing fast in both number of users and influence on audiences. Its growing power has been proved after the blocking. The story started in late 2009 when it was getting difficult accessing Facebook in Vietnam, leading to a worry that the government would ban the social network. There were reasons for such claim because Earlier this year, Vietnams government tightened restrictions on blogging, banning political discussion and restricting postings to personal matters. Police have arrested several bloggers for writing about politically sensitive subjects (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2009). The government and state-controlled internet providers did not respond to a request for comment. Private internet companies meanwhile blame the spotty access on technical issues, without offering an estimate for when the problems will be resolved (Ngo, CNET News, 2009). Facebook seemed to face its end in Vietnam at the time when local media started spreading the rumour that the site is going out of service and following the pathway of Yahoo!360: The Thanh Nien, one of the most popular newspapers in Vietnam, ran an article with the headline Facebook in grave illness. It hinted that this is similar to the process of what happened to the now defunct Yahoo360, suggesting maybe its time to look to other social Web sites. (Ngo, CNET News, 2009) The situation remained sophisticated since there has been no official statement regarding the problem logging in Facebook in Vietnam. The only obvious fact was that Vietnamese users could not access Facebook in their usual way. However, not the investigation of whether the government blocked Facebook and why they did so, state of the site after that is more the concern of my study. In relation to this, Global Voices had a comprehensive and interesting review of the whole issue: When Vietnam blocked Facebook, everyone was talking about a smaller China. One year after the governments endeavour, Facebook Vietnam tells another story. Not only does Vietnam remain on the list of 10 countries with the fastest growth of Facebook users. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) The author explained a simple reason for the above fact: Because they can. If users in China have to pay for a VPN and go through a painful process to gain access to Facebook and other blocked websites, people in Vietnam just need to change their DNS settings and enjoy a full Internet experience for free. Information gathered from other sources showed an exactly same situation when Vietnamese users found and spread ways to access Facebook as if there had never been a problem logging in the site before. Some tech-savvy Facebook fans have found ways around access problems by readjusting their web browsers to a different configuration. They have been sharing instructions for doing so online. (Russell, Asian Correspondent, 2009) Trung, a 15-year-old high school student, taught me how to change the DNS: I figured it out myself, Trung said proudly, I just Googled it. Indeed, after a few Google searches, I found plenty of simple ways to bypass the ISPs DNS settings. (Ngo, CNET News, 2009) The commentator from CNET concluded: Blocked web sites are new to Vietnam. However, this seems to be the first time people are out in big numbers looking for ways to bypass. This shows the popularity of Facebook and the desire of young Vietnamese to reach out and stay connected with the rest of the world. 2.4 Facebook Vietnam to Marketing Communications Facebook which had been doing relatively well in Vietnam, after the block seemed to catch even more attention. Its popularity immediately convinced marketers and PR people to take the site as a growing powerful marketing communications tool. ZingMe, which is the biggest social network in Vietnam and once considered as more influential by the Ogilvy team, now seems to lag behind Facebook, in the opinion of an industry expert: We have tried some campaigns on ZingMe, but the results werent very good. Most of Zing Me users are under 15, and many of them log in ZingMe just to play Nong Trai (a game similar to Facebook Farmville). There are not many activities outside games. Facebook is still the most effective despite its being blocked, both in term of interaction and conversion rate. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) Fan page which can be created by anyone on Facebook and allows users to become members of a group supporting a particular brand or person has increased significantly in terms of number and popularity. It proves the growing power of Facebook as an online marketing communications tool in the country: The largest fan page in Vietnam currently has 484,000 likes. For a market of 1.7 million users (and growing), the number means that this page has reached to almost 30 percent of Vietnamese Facebook users. Imagine this ratio worldwide, we would have a fan page with 100 millions likes. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) The article on Global Voices emphasised another factor showing the rise of Facebook marketing in Vietnam which is the shift of hot bloggers from Yahoo!360 to the social network. Gao, real name as Vu Phuong Thanh, who was once a Vietnamese hot blogger on Yahoo!360 is now arguably the most popular Vietnamese on Facebook with more than 90,000 likes on her page. She is also working as the PR Manager for a new boy band in Vietnam. Regarding her media plan for the launch of the band, she shared that Social media, Facebook and YouTube, accounts for 60% of their marketing plan. Facebook is where people get to know about 365. She doesnt want to use ZingMe or other Vietnamese websites. The fan page of the band on Facebook had more than 7,000 members after three weeks. It could be said that the blocking issue has not had significant impacts on the users side since they are still able to access Facebook. The block of Facebook even somehow helped raise public awareness and promote the popularity of the site in Vietnam. Agencies have recognised the growing power of Facebook in marketing communications hence taken actions to develop this new effective tool. The current situation generally looks promising to Facebook Vietnam, yet requires further actions and support: 100% our customers are international brands. Social media is still new here, local companies dont allocate budget for it. But I think from next year there will be more Vietnamese companies interested in social media. Advertising agencies now understand the efficiency of social media, and they are the ones who advice and allocate budget for brands. said Vo Thanh Cuong, CEO of Click Media, an agency specialised in digital marketing and communications. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) From the other party which is Facebook itself, the social network has also taken this as a serious issue that needs to be considered and dealt with thoroughly: Last October, Facebook put up a message on its career page that they are looking for someone that has experience in government relations work and navigating government agencies along with an extensive network of contacts in the government and the technology space. The recent visit of Javier Olivan, Head of International Growth of Facebook, to Vietnam suggested that Vietnam will be soon taken care of. They should- said Cuong Vietnam is not a small market at all. With a population of 90 million and Internet penetration rate of 27.5%, Vietnam is definitely not small. (Chip, Global Voices, 2011) Summary The statistics and information gathered above all in all shows an overall picture of the emergence and development of Facebook in Vietnam. A review of its marketing communications roles has also been covered through brief analysis and case studies. In summary, social media generally and Facebook especially are emerging powerful marketing communications tools. In Vietnam, social media has its own ways of developing and approaching users as well as an increasing power to marketing communications. The use of Facebook marketing is at its early stage but growing rapidly with positive figures and comments from both users and marketers. The censorship issue seems to remain sophisticated but not affect the growth of Facebook in the country in a short run. Meanwhile, government relations and further support from different parties is the key to a more sustainable development of the social network in Vietnam. The literature review however has shown a one-sided positive picture of Facebook marketing and communications in general. In order to investigate the issue thoroughly, further research and analysis on both advantages and difficulties of Facebook marketing in Vietnam is required. Chapter 3: Methodology In order to study the marketing communications roles of Facebook in Vietnam, I believe that a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods will be more helpful than using a single type. I decided to carry out a survey targeting at a variety of Vietnamese internet users and intensive interviews with local communications experts. The survey is expected to provide numbers and facts regarding Facebook usage from the audience side while the interviews aimed to bring an insight of its marketing roles and future development in the opinion of local industry professionals. Survey I conducted a survey which aimed to approach 80-100 Vietnamese internet users. As survey could be used to not only describe things but also explain them, data gathered from survey is expected to provide public behaviour, population characteristics and also measurements of variables between which relationships can be analysed (Gunter, 2000: 24). In this case, the purpose of doing survey is to find out who are using Facebook most in Vietnam, how they are interacting with the social network, and how reliable the content is to them. At the same time, it is expected to make comparisons of characteristics between different groups such as Vietnamese living in Vietnam and abroad, different genders and ages. Designing, delivering and managing a survey was said by Barrie Gunter as not just asking a group of people a few questions. It requires much planning and a high level of skill in its administration to ensure that valid and usable data are obtained (Gunter, 2000: 23). Firstly, questions were constructed using different types depending on the purpose and nature of research. For example, multiple-choice was used when specific information is needed and could be easily made while opinion-based questions required a rating function. Questions were put in logical order, from general to specific and all easy to understand. Furthermore, the survey length was also taken into consideration; the number of ten is believed to be reasonable enough as it takes participants less than five minutes to finish. Furthermore, diverse angles of the research topic Facebook usage in Vietnam were included, from time length, frequency, and means of access to content contribution and opinions on content reliability. Due to the fact that targeted respondents live in different parts of the world and all use the internet, I chose an online survey tool to carry out my quantitative research. Participants who were my circle of friends, relatives and colleagues could start the survey whenever they wanted by clicking the link sent via email, Facebook message or Yahoo Messenger. The reason for using different delivery channels is to ensure that the research will approach both Facebook and non-Facebook users. This includes respondents who use other social networks rather than Facebook and who do not use social network at all. This is in attempt to minimise bias and make comparisons more accurately. I chose my circle of friends and relatives on the internet as my sample because higher rates of responses and honesty could be expected using personal relations. They also represent a random thus typical group of internet users fulfilling requirements of including different age groups living both in Vietnam and abroad. In terms of survey layout, the online survey provider was selected instead of sending an attached file via email to ensure professionalism and maximise the response rates. I also added an introduction which is short, realistically worded, non-threatening, serious, neutral and pleasant but firm because one way to increase the response rate in any survey is to prepare a persuasive introduction (Wimmer Dominick, 2000: 171). Receivers who fulfil the sampling characteristics and know the sender as well as purpose of this survey are believed to be likely to contribute. Finally, as a function provided by the tool, data was gathered in an easy-to-use format and valuable for comparisons and analysis. Reponses are available to be viewed individually and in group so that it is possible to compare respondents who belong to different age, gender and location groups. The survey link was available for one month during which reminders and following-up were regularly carried out in order to achieve the targeted response rate. Intensive Interviews If the research survey aimed to seek an overview of Vietnamese Facebook users profiles based on quantitative data, the interviews are expected to provide an in-depth evaluation on Facebook marketing in Vietnam. Evaluation on the effectiveness of something is believed to be best undertaken by people who create it. In this case, they are communications and digital marketing professionals whose work is to create efficient marketing tactics on social media. (See Appendix 2 3) Some expert comments on the issue have already been mentioned in the review of literature (Chapter 3), most of which however are relatively general. The intensive interviews were therefore designed and conducted in a way so as to provide specific, detailed and valuable opinions for further analysis. Since the objective is to obtain opinion-based responses, observational methods are not appropriate and intensive interview seems to be the only practical one. Areas of investigation include their opinions on Facebook development in Vietnam and its effectiveness as a marketing communications tool. The questions were constructed based on SWOT analysis model in attempt to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Facebook marketing in Vietnam. Especially, examples or real case studies are encouraged to be provided by the interviewees in order to back-up the statements. Interviews were conducted via email due to the fact that the interviewees live abroad and were too busy to schedule a long telephone interview. The lack of interaction and flexibility that this channel may result in was already taken into consideration. The interviews were therefore designed as a mini research paper which the respondent dealt with as an assignment. The positive side is that interviewees tend to take it more thoroughly with details and valuable back-up information than some thoughts that come up at the time she gives the answers face-to-face. The interviewees were given a reasonable length of time ranging from one to three weeks in order to provide the most comprehensive answers possible. Based on their responses, further questions were given to clarify an issue or develop an idea in more depth and generally increase interaction. All in all, the interviews receiv