Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Ben essays

Ben essays Josiah Franklin (Bens dad) moved to America from England in 1682 with his wife and three children. After he moved to America the then had four more children with that wife and then had ten more children with Abiah (Bens mom) after his first wife died. Ben was number 15 out of seventeen children and was born on Boston on January 17, 1706. At this point is where a story about a man that started with nothing now is one of the most well none figures in American history and in world history. As a young boy Ben did not follow the same path as his other brothers that went to be apprentices for trade. Ben wanted more out of life so he went into grammar school at first to work with the church but found that writing was his passion. From there he worked for his brother, James at a printing press and signed a contract say Ben would work for him for the next eight years. Ben liked writing so much he would send in letter for the newspaper to be printed but James did not want him writing so Ben would send anonymous letters to the newspaper so his brother would not find out. One day he over heard James talking to some people about one of his anonymous letters and how the thought it was very good which made Ben very proud and fired up his urge to write more. By working at the press he had a lot of time and more resources to read from. Even though he liked to read he also knew that it was making him smarter and more knowledgeable about many new things. He started to have ma ny fights with James and eventually broke his contract and quit. At age 17 he secretly leaves home to find work and goes to New York City. After getting there he finds out that there is not any work for someone like him at that time. Because America is quite new still at the time there are many opportunities to find a job even for a young man at the age of 17. He finds out that he can work for a Printer named Andrew Bradford in Philadelphia. So he takes...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Doublet and Triplet Adjectives

Doublet and Triplet Adjectives Doublet and Triplet Adjectives Doublet and Triplet Adjectives By Mark Nichol Thanks to the tendency of the English language to borrow freely from various languages, we often end up with two or more similar words often, one derived from Latin and one or more taken from one of its daughter languages (French, usually) that develop distinct meanings. Here are five sets of such words. 1. Adamant/diamond (Latin adamas, â€Å"diamond†): Adamant originally denoted a supposedly impenetrably hard stone (including a diamond) and now applies to an extremely hard object or substance, while diamond refers to the hardest known mineral, which is, interestingly, employed in industry and in jewelry alike. Adamant, as an adjective, refers to an unyielding attitude. Diamond is used in adjectival form only to modify a reference to jewelry (for example, â€Å"diamond ring†) or machinery (for example, â€Å"diamond saw†) or to denote an exclusive category (for example, â€Å"Diamond Class membership†). 2. Frangible/fragile/frail (Latin frangere, â€Å"to break†): Frangible describes something easily broken, either accidentally (such as glassware) or deliberately (such as a frangible bullet, designed to disintegrate on impact rather than ricochet). Fragile and frail both mean â€Å"weak,† but fragile generally refers to objects, while frail usually applies to people. Both terms are also used in reference to intangibles (for example, â€Å"a fragile peace,† â€Å"a frail hope†). 3. Frantic/frenetic/frenzied (Latin phreneticus, referring to inflammation of the brain): These three words have similar meanings, but for the first two, at least, the connotations are distinct. Frantic refers to excited activity, but the sense is usually that a frantic person is in an anxious, distraught, highly emotional state. Frenetic more neutrally implies excessive activity, confusion, or excitement. Frenzied, meanwhile, suggests an abundance of excitement or emotion. 4. Regal/royal (Latin regalis, â€Å"kingly†): Regal and royal both pertain to something suitable for or suggestive of a king or his court, but regal has the added sense of â€Å"magnificent† (for example, â€Å"regal splendor), while royal is employed less often that way and is often used more neutrally (for example, â€Å"a royal pardon†). Royal may also apply to intensify the word it modifies, as in â€Å"a royal pain.† 5. Secure/sure (Latin securus, â€Å"without care†): Secure means â€Å"safe, protected† or â€Å"confident† or â€Å"dependable,† while sure suggests certainty, reliability, or inevitability. Secure has a more formal feel to it (for example, â€Å"She was secure in her knowledge†), while sure is often used casually (for example, â€Å"Are you sure?†). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Words with More Than One SpellingBest Websites to Learn EnglishWhat’s the Best Way to Refer to a Romantic Partner?

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Industry Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Industry Analysis - Research Paper Example This would also help in understanding the position of Macy’s Inc in the industry and the threat it possess on grounds of the five forces in the Porter’s Five forces analysis model. Finally the study would be concluding with an insight into the sum-up of the entire study followed by recommendations for further improvement. Company Analysis Macy’s Inc. is one of the American multinational holding companies which is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company is the owner of all the departmental stores of Rich’s and Macy’s Bloomingdale’s that specializes in sale of footwear, clothing, furniture, bedding, accessories, beauty products, jewelry and house ware. The organization operates almost 850 stores in the entire United States. It is renowned for possessing the most prominent flagship stores in the country specifically Macy’s in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The organization is the biggest fashion good retaining company in the world and 36th biggest retailer from overall perspectives on the basis of the sales revenue amount of $ 25 billion in the Company’s annual report of 2010. ... nancial analysis is defined as the procedure for evaluating relationship in between different components within the financial statement fir having a clear understanding of the position and performance of an organization. The financial analysis of Macy’s Inc would help the management in taking a concrete decision and avoid the chances of flaws. For avoiding any faulty decision, it is very important to analyze and interpret the results in a systematic manner. A comparative analysis of the performance of the organization with its competitors would also be performed in order to understand its position within the industry (Sinha, 2009). The competitors of the company include Dillard’s Inc and SAKS Inc (Hoovers, 2013). The next portion of the project would be displaying the income statement of Macy’s Inc. Year 2009-01 2010-01 2011-01 2012-01 2013-01 Revenue 24892 23489 25003 26405 27686 Cost of revenue 15009 13973 14824 15738 16538 Gross profit 9883 9516 10179 10667 11 148 Operating expenses                Sales, General and administrative 8481 8062 8260 8281 8482 Other operating expenses 5780 391 25 -25 5 Total operating expenses 14261 8453 8285 8256 8487 Operating income -4378 1063 1894 2411 2661 Interest Expense 588 562 579 447 437 Other income (expense) 28 6 5 4 -122 Income before income taxes -4938 507 1320 1968 2102 Provision for income taxes -135 157 473 712 767 Net income from continuing operations -4803 350 847 1256 1335 Net income -4803 350 847 1256 1335 (Source: Morning Star, 2013a) In the year 2009, the company was incurring losses. The aforementioned table shows that the company has started making profit from the next year i.e. 2010. The company has made impressive performance in terms of generating net earnings. The net earnings figure has increased yearly

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Lawrence of Arabia Write Up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Lawrence of Arabia Write Up - Essay Example tes, â€Å"History hardly offers a clearer case of a man born for a mission, of a life moving along a path pointed out by fate-even though twists in its course may have hid the direction.†(Hart, 1989, p, 3) In this article, the issues and incidents relating to the meritorious rise of Lawrence from a helping hand in the Military Headquarters of British, to an extraordinary leader, who led by example, is discussed. Apart from his military adventures, the account of his skilful role as a negotiator for the Arab interests with the Western Powers is also given. This man was appreciated by no less a person than Sir Winston Churchill, the then Prime Minister of Great Britain. He possessed excellent literary skills. The synopsis of the story goes thus. Lawrence is content to call him an ‘ordinary man’, but all extraordinary personalities are modest in saying thus about themselves. Born in Tremadoc, Wales, in 1888, Thomas Edward - known as Ned - was the second of five illegitimate boys. Sir Thomas Chapman fell in love with the family governess, Sarah Junner, left his first marriage, took a new name of Lawrence and remained unwed. â€Å"School†, he said later, â€Å"was an irrelevant and time-wasting nuisance, which I hated and condemned.†(Hart, 1989, p, 4)He appreciated the practical life and remained ever ready to face its harsh realities. Lawrence family settled in Oxford, and here Ned got the opportunity to go to school and university. As a youth his latent love for history and travel found outward manifestation, and he took fascination to explore castles and old churches. A study trip took him to Syria, where he walked over a thousand miles. He studied remote Crusader castles. After graduation, he decided to become an archaeologist. His thesis for his finals was: The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture - to the end of the XII century. He arrived to the Middle East, to work in an excavation site in Carchemish from 1910-1914, in northern part

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Computer History and Development Essay Example for Free

Computer History and Development Essay The dictionary defines a computer as an electronic device for storing and processing data, typically in binary form, according to instructions given to it in a variable program. Primarily created to compute; however, modern day computers do much more today: supermarket scanners calculate consumers groceries bill, while keeping track of store inventory; computerized telephone switching centers play traffic cop to millions of calls, keeping lines of communication untangled; and automatic teller machines let’s banking transactions to be conducted from virtually anywhere in the world. Technology has been around for a centuries; growing rapidly year by year. One of the most important items Technology has produced is computers. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer also known as ENIAC was regarded as the first general purpose electronic computer. What came before the ENIAC; well, there is the abacas which some consider the first computer. Created over 5000 years ago in Asia and is still in use today. Using a system of sliding beads arranged on a rack, users are allowed to make computations. In early times, the abaca was used to keep trading transactions; until, this became obsolete with the introduction of pencil and paper. Within the next twelve centuries emerged a significant advancement in computer technology. The year was 1642, when Blaise Pascal, the 18 year-old son of a French tax collector, invented the numerical wheel calculator, also known as the â€Å"Pascaline. † Pascaline was a brass rectangular box that used eight movable dials to add sums up to eight figures long. This device was great and became popular in Europe; the only drawback was the limits to addition (Pascals calculator, 2010, para. ). Another event that epitomizes the Pascaline machine came from an inventor by the name of Gottfried Wilhem von Leibniz; a German mathematician and philosopher in the 1600’s. Gottfried Wilhem von Leibniz added to Pascline by creating a machine that could also multiply. Like its predecessor, Leibnizs mechanical multiplier worked by a system of gears and dials. Original notes and drawings from the Pascline machine were used to help refine his machine. The core of the machine was its stepped-drum gear design. However, mechanical calculators did not gain widespread use until the early 1800’s. Shortly after, a Frenchman, Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar invented a machine that could perform the four basic arithmetic functions. The arithometer, Colmars mechanical calculator, presented a more practical approach to computing because it could add, subtract, multiply and divide. The arithometer was widely used up until the First World War. Although later inventors refined Colmars calculator, together with fellow inventors Pascal and Leibniz, he helped define the age of mechanical computation. The real beginnings of computers that we use today came in the late 1700’s, thanks to Charles Babbage with the invention of the Analytical Engine. Babbage machine was a steam powered machine; although, it was never constructed it outlined basic elements of a modern general computer. Several more inventors added to machines that were out in the late 1800’s to help pave the way for the first generation of computers (1945-1956) (LaMorte, C Lilly J, 2010, para. 4). Wars had a great deal in the advancement of modern computers; the Second World War governments sought out to develop computers to exploit potential strategic importance. Therefore, in 1941 a German engineer Konrad Zuse had developed the Z3. The Z3 was created to design airplanes and missiles (Computer History Museum Timeline of Computer History, 2010, para. 3). Another computer that was created for war times was the ENIAC, first commissioned for the use in World War II, but not completed until one year after the war had ended. It was installed at the University of Pennsylvania, with a partnership alongside the U. S. government, its 40 separate eight-foot-high racks and 18,000 vacuum tubes were intended to help calculate ballistic trajectories. There was also 70,000 resistors and more than 4 million soldered joints; truly a massive piece of machinery that consumed around 160 kilowatts of electrical power. This is enough energy to dim the lights in an entire section of Philadelphia. This computer was a major development with speeds 1000 times faster than the current Mark I. For the next 40 years John von Neumann along with the University of Pennsylvania team kept on initiating new concepts into the computer design. With the combined genius of all the personnel they continued with new products such as the central processing unit (CPU) and also the UNIVAC. The Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC) became one of the first commercially available computers to take advantage of the CPU. This helped out the U. S. Census bureau. First generation computers were characterized by the fact that operating instructions were made-to-order for the specific task for which the computers were to be used. Computers had different binary-coded program called a machine language that told it how to operate. This made the computer difficult to program and limited its versatility and speed. Other distinctive features of first generation computers were the use of vacuum tubes, which were known for their breathtaking size, and magnetic drums for data storage (LaMorte, C Lilly J, 2010, para. 10). The second generation of computers, from 1956-1963, began the age of smaller computers. With the invention of the transistor in 1948, bulky vacuum tube in televisions, radios and computers were all replaced. The transistor became available in a working computer in 1956, and the size of computers has been shrinking ever since (LaMorte, C Lilly J, 2010, para. 13). Along with smaller computers the transistors paved the way for faster, more reliable and more energy-efficient products; thanks in part to the advances made to the magnetic-core memory. The first to take advantage of this new found technology was the early supercomputer, from IBM and LARC. These supercomputers were in demand by atomic scientist because the enormous amount of data that these computers could handle. By 1965, most big business processed financial information using second generation computers. With the second generation computer came new career opportunities such as programmer, analyst, and computer systems expert. Although, transistors was and improvement over the vacuum tube, they still generated a lot of heat, which damaged sensitive internal parts of the computer; the quartz rock eliminated this problem (LaMorte, C Lilly J, 2010, para. 16). Third generation computers (1964-1971) began with Engineer Jack Kilby, with Texas Instruments, developing the IC (Integrated Circuit) in the mid 1900’s. The IC combined three components onto a small silicon disc, which was mad from the quartz. Later on scientist were able to fit even more electronic components onto a single chip, called a semiconductor. As a result, computers became smaller as more components were fitted on these chips. The third generation computer gave birth to the operating system. This allowed machines to run different programs all at once with a central program that coordinated and monitored the computer’s memory (LaMorte, C Lilly J, 2010, para. 16). With the fourth generation of computer’s (1971-2000) only thing to do was to go down in size. There were three major chips that helped with computer downsizing the LSI, VLSI, and ULSI. Large scale integration (LSI) could fit hundreds of components onto one chip. Very large integration (VLSI) could fit hundreds of thousands of components onto one chip. Ultra-large scale integration (ULSI) could fit millions of components onto chips (LaMorte, C Lilly J, 2010, para. 17). The size and prices of computers went down due to the fact, that so much was able to be put into an a area about half the size of a U. S. dime. Intel, which was founded in 1968, developed the Intel 4004 chip in 1971, which would become standard in everyday house hold items such as microwaves, television sets and automobiles. With such condensed power allowed for a new market, everyday people. Computers were no longer just developed exclusively for large business or government contracts. It was the late 1900’s, when computer manufacturers sought to bring computers to a more general consumer. These smaller and sleek computers came with a more user-friendly software packages such as word processing and spreadsheet programs. Early company who took advantage of selling these more user friendly computers was Commodore, Radio Shack, and Apple Computers. In 1981, IBM launched its personal computer for multi-purpose use in the home, office, and schools. IBM made the personal computer even more affordable and the numbers increased rapidly within the next year. Personal computer usage more than doubled, going from 2 million in 1981 to 5. 5 million in 1982. Fast forward 10 years later, there are 65 million PC’s owned by general consumers. With the introduction of Human Computer Interface (HCI), users could now control the screen cursor using a mouse mimicking one hands movement instead of typing every instruction. Smaller computers became more powerful, especially in the workplace, were they could be linked together to share memory space, software, and communicate with each other. This was achieved using telephone lines or direct wiring called a Local Area Network (LAN) (LaMorte, C Lilly J, 2010, para. 20). The fifth generation of computers (Present and Beyond) is a generation that is in the works of some great advancements in computer technology with the utilization of computer chips. One of the major components of a computer is the chip; these are conducted of semiconductor materials and semiconductors that eventually wear out. A semiconductor is a material that is typically made of silicon and germanium; both of them are neither a good conductor of electricity nor a good insulator. These materials are then fixed to create an excess or lack of electrons (Semiconductor, 2010, para. 2). Integrated circuits grow old and die or are discontinued. This process can happen in many ways; modern chips as used in computers have millions of transistors printed on a small chip of silicon no bigger than a fingernail. Each microscopically transistor is connected to the others, on the surface of the chip, with even smaller aluminum or copper wires. Over the years, the thermal stress of turning the computer on and off can cause tiny cracks in the wires. As the computer warms up the wires can part and cause the computer to stop working. Even a few seconds of off-time can cool the system enough to allow the wires to re-connect, so your computer may work just fine for a few minutes, or hours, then after it warms up, it may fail, letting it cool off can bring it back to life for a few minutes or more (Computer Freezes and Crashes, 2010, para. 16). Of course, some chips are much more inclined to failure than others. The competition tries to gain an advantage on the market by building cheaper or faster chips; cheaper and faster means hotter and shorter-lived parts. Better quality equals higher prices; when the price goes up and nobody buys the products. Low quality products die of old age too early and they get a bad names, this causes products to not be sold. Most modern computers are constructed from the cheapest parts available. With this information being known, Intel, one of the best chip manufactures, designs their parts to be very vigorous and endure heat and malfunction. Intel was founded on July 18, 968, as Integrated Electronics Corporation. Intel Corporation is a worldwide semiconductor chip maker corporation based in Santa Clara, California, and is the worlds largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. They invented the series x86 microprocessors; these processors are found in most personal computers (Intel, 2010, para. 20). Intel along with other competing companies is predicting no more mouse or keyboards by 2020. Right now with Intel-developed sensor and brain waves scientist are hoping they can find ways to harness brain waves to operate computers. This all would be done of course with consumer’s permission. Scientists believe that consumers would want the freedom gained by using the implant. The idea may be far-fetched now but 20 years ago tell a person that it would become almost necessary to carry a computer around; that idea would have been rebutted. Look around now, people cannot leave a computer or computer device home or even in a vehicle without feeling like something is missing, an almost naked feeling. Scientists believe that consumers will grow tired of dependence of computer interface. Whether it’s fishing out accessories or even just using the hands to interact, Scientists think consumers would prefer to manipulate various devices with their brains. Currently a research team from Intel is working on decoding human brain activity. The team has used Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI), these are machines that determine blood flow changes in certain areas of the brain based on what word or image the consumer is thinking of. This idea sounds farfetched but almost two years ago, scientist in the U. S. and japan announced that a monkey’s brain was used to control a humanoid robot. Scientist and the Intel team are currently working on getting to a point where it is possible to mentally type words by thinking about letters (Intel Chips in brains will control computers by 2020, 2010, para. 4). The story of the computer is amazing; to see how far technology has come is almost unreal. Evolving from the first computer the ENAIC, a huge machine that had thousands of tubes everywhere; computers are now small enough to be placed in a brief case for on the go use. Furthermore, with the everyday advancement of technology it won’t be long before farfetched ideas become a reality.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Kidneys :: essays research papers

Kidneys   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In vertebrates, kidneys are the two major organs of excretion. Excess water, toxic waste products of metabolism such as urea, uric acid, and inorganic salts are disposed of by kidneys in the form of urine. Kidneys are also largely responsible for maintaining the water balance of the body and the pH of the blood. Kidneys play important roles in other bodily functions, such as releasing the erythropoietin protein, and helping to control blood pressure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kidneys are paired, reddish-brown, bean-shaped structures. They are about eleven centimeters long. Kidneys are located on each side of spine, just above the waist. They are loosely held in place by a mass of fat and two layers of fibrous tissue. It is believed that the kidney first evolved in the original vertebrates where freshwater organisms needed some means of pumping water from the body. The kidney became adept at reabsorbing glucose, salts, and other materials which would have been lost if simply pumped out of the body by a simple organ.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The cut surface of the kidney reveals two distinct areas: the cortex- a dark band along the outer border, about one centimeter in thickness, and the inner medulla. The medulla is divided into 8 to 18 cone-shaped masses of tissue named renal pyramids. The apex of each pyramid, the papilla, extends into the renal pelvis, through which urine is released from the kidney tissue. The cortex arches over the bases of the pyramids (cortical arches) and extends down between each pyramid as the renal columns.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Urine passes through the body in a fairly complex way. The initial site of urine production in the body is the glomerus. The arterial blood pressure drives a filtrate of plasma containing salts, glucose, amino acids, and nitrogenous wastes such as urea and a small amount of ammonia through the glomerus. Proteins and fats are filtered out of the plasma, to remain in the normal blood stream. The plasma is now called glorular filtrate. One-hundred to one-hundred-forty milliliters of this filtrate are formed each minute!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The filtrate passes along a convoluted tibule. The majority of the water content and some of the dissolved materials are reabsorbed through the walls of the tibule and back into the blood. Water, sodium, chloride, bicarbonate, and all glucose are reabsorbed into the bloodstream, yet products such as urea and ammonia remain in the tibule. During the final stage of the passage process, most of the remaining filtrate is selectively reabsorbed until only about one percent of the original filtrate is to be excreted as urine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Urine is eventually collected in the kidneys. The urine is collected in

Monday, November 11, 2019

Piaget Stages of Development Essay

Child development undergoes various stages from infancy to adulthood. This process of development is called by various psychologists as â€Å"progression through development† to which, age is often attached on each developmental stage. The first stage is called the infancy stage which is from birth to one year during which the physical and psychological occur most rapidly. In Piaget’s developmental theory, the child’s development during this stage is called â€Å"sensorimotor† because the child’s behavior at this stage is mostly simple motor responses to sensory stimuli† (Kalat 170). The stage of toddlerhood which is from one year to three years old is partly connected with infancy stage because as Olga Drebben asserts, â€Å"in these early childhood stages, the infants and toddler’s growth and development include very multifaceted processes of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial transformations. Drebben affirms that the primary modes of infant and toddler are sonsorimotor. The childhood stage or as Piaget calls it, the â€Å"preoperational stage of development† is the stage in which children are subject to externally imposed rules and adhere unquestioningly to rules and the directives of powerful adults. In this stage, peer relationship is an important factor towards constructing a self separate from others and towards developing the capacity to think in terms of other peoples’ attitude one self. Deutsch, Coleman and Marcus stated, â€Å"Equal peer relationships give children a chance to experience reciprocity which greatly assists them in perspective taking and problem solving† (Deutsch, Coleman, and Marcus 359). Adolescence stage on the one hand, is seen to takes place at the beginning of puberty or from 10 to 12 year for girls and 12 to 14 years for boys and end and at the age of 18 for girls and 21 for boys. While psychologist admits the lack of precision as to age limit, this stage â€Å"assume more responsibility for personal attainment and well being† (Arnett 168). It is also the stage to earn a living and a time when interest in fun increased. The stage of adulthood on the other hand are divided into three; early, middle and senior adults. The early adulthood which starts at age 21 up to 34 years, is concern on being able to engage in intimate relationships and in finding more satisfying work. This stage is also period of focusing on long term goals, nurturing other physically, finding a meaning in life, and developing a tolerance for delayed gratification to meet long-range goals (Corey and Corey 88). The middle adulthood ages 34 to 49 is regarded as the period of reassessment of one’s work satisfactions, of involvement in the community and of accepting choice made in life. According to Gerald and Marianne Corey, this period of life is a time for â€Å"solidifying one’s philosophy of life. The senior adults 50 to 64 are regarded as the beginning of the wisdom years. This period is characterized as the time for serving the community and planning for work transitions and retirement. Finally, the elderly, 65 years onward is the time â€Å"to find new levels of meaning in life and to appreciate what one has accomplished† (Corey and Corey, 89). This stage is a period of physical weakness because it is a time of diminished strength and increased dependence on others. Of all these stages, the development stage that is more susceptible to schizophrenia are the early adulthood ages 21 to 24 for men, while 40 and above for women. This is because the vast majority of the onset of this disease â€Å"falls within the interval of 15-54 years of age (Hirsch and Weinberger, 215). Steven Hirsch and Daniel Roy Weinberger noted that onsets of schizophrenia in men â€Å"peak steeply in the age group 20-24† (215), and it slowed down at lower level thereafter. This onset for men is the reverse for women above forties. The stages that are more prone to Alzheimer are definitely middle adults, senior adults and the elderly because this disease takes place during these stages of life. Question 2. Two of Piaget’s universal developments are the sensorimotor stage and the preoperational stage. The sensorimotor development stages starts from birth up to the end of the second year. Also called the neonatal stage, it is the period of development when the infant where simply a passive being that acts with out any systematic goal. Sensorimotor stage is the development of the child that includes intelligence based on perceptual experiences such as reflexes from 0-1month, primary circular reactions from 1to 4 months which is a repetition of certain pleasurable behaviors and formation of habits, secondary circular reactions 4 to 8 months, the coordination of secondary schemata and so forth. An example to this is the hand exercises. The child can follow simple instruction to close or open his or her hands as this is pleasurable exercise, during the infancy stage. But when the child is over one year old he can already follow basic instruction with basic understanding. Preoperational stage on the other hand begins at 2 up to 6 years of age. Salkind implies that Piaget’s preoperational stage of universal development is the progression of the infant from a reflexive organism to towards understanding of the symbolic world (248). Michie Swartwood and Kathy Trotter pointed out that in Piaget’s preoperational stage, the key feature of children’s thinking â€Å"is symbolic representation† (69). Swartwood and Trotter cited that during this stage, the child is able to use symbol, an object, or a word to stand for something else (69). Thus, though preoperational stage occurs right after the sensorimotor stage terminates, the child experiences tremendous progress during this stage. An example to this is the ability to follow simple instruction not to touch this or that, or that, on the ground that it will harm him or her, or that it will hurt him. In comparing both stages of development the child acquires certain degree of progression before each stage terminates. Both stages also display some degree of intelligence as the child now learns a lot of things through his or her experiences. But these stages also differ on some grounds. First, children in the sensorimotor stage do not think symbolically, while in preoperational stage they do think symbolically. Second, in the sensorimotor stage, the â€Å"child is limited to direct interaction with the environment, while in the second stage, the children learns to â€Å"manipulate symbols that represent the environment (Salkind, 248). In general however, both these stages show the child’s remarkable and development. Question 3. Some of the major stress that I am dealing with in my everyday life are first and foremost are the pressures from deadlines that must be met. This creates tension in me especially when I am running short of time. Biased treatment and sexism are also a great source of stress because it angers me. I really hate these things and I felt stress every time I encounter it. Some minor stressors however that I encounter everyday are the peer pressures. Peers insistences of something I do not like create pressures on me. Stern and unsmiling faces also s a source of stress especially those I meet daily. Some of the coping skills that I learned over time to keep the minor stressors from becoming major issues are; first, to ease my self of being too competitive. I learned this skill after I realized that I do not actually need to compete with my self. I simply need to make a list of priorities and take things at a time based on the priority list. Second, is to be friendly. I just realized that there is nothing wrong to great people with a smile regardless of how they would respond at me. I realized that by doing this, I could prevent the minor stress from becoming a major stress as I actually overcome it. Question 4. Schizophrenia is a disease. It is a chronic disease and severe mental disorder with a typical onset in adolescence and early adulthood and a lifetime prevalence of 1%. Dwight Evans cited that on average â€Å"male have their illness onset 3 to 4 years earlier than female† (78). Schizophrenia is not a developmental disorder but a chronic mental disease. The four type of schizophrenia are the following, paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, and undifferentiated. The characteristic and symptoms of paranoid are hallucinations and delusions. In the disorganized type, it symptoms and characteristic are reflected by disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and inappropriate affect. The catatonic type manifest clinical syndrome such as excessive purposeless motor activity, extreme negativism, peculiar voluntary movements and so on. The undifferentiated sub type is diagnosed when the patient â€Å"does not meet criteria for the previous type yet does meet the criteria for schizophrenia† (Maddux & Winstead, 182). It is more likely that schizophrenia has a genetic cause than environmental. It is quite common that when there is schizophrenia in the family, it is passed down to another member. Thus this disease is called â€Å"psychobiological† illness amenable to chemical intervention and modification of the environment. An example to this is when a person is exposed to violence and all other abuses since birth, he has the tendency to have psychological trauma which causes schizophrenia. Question 5. One incident that happened in my lifetime was when I read the story about a plane crash killing all the more than two hundred passengers. After I read the story, I was shocked and I developed psychological fear regarding boarding an aircraft. Psychology fit in this scenario because I knew pretty well that it was simply an accident. In this experience, I developed some fear as it would always come to my mind that this plane might crash too. But as I came to realize, accident happens anywhere to anybody, at any given time and cause. Since I cannot prevent it nor predict it, the best thing to do is to just be very careful and avoid those that I can, but those that I cannot; I just leave my fate in the hands of God. The connection here between psychology and life is that, life is real; we should rather be practical and realistic than be overcome by fear and anxiety about our bad experiences. Question 6. I have incorporated in my work of art elements of psychology through my use of colors and designs. In using bright colors, I usually expressed strong emotion such as anger, or fear, or other emotions. I also incorporated psychology in my designs such as shapes that expresses meanings like lovely ideas or joyful situations. I will incorporate them in the future in the same way I incorporated it the last time with perhaps some improvement or modification. I could connect the process that I go through as an artist with psychology through putting meaning on my experiences in the light of what I have learned about psychology. That is, I must seek the context of what I am trying to portray to which I labor so much. It means that my work of art should be reflective of what life is, of the emotions, such love, fear, and other strong feelings that we often encounter or should I say, that always experience on a daily basis. Finally, one influence that will mesh with my future work of art is those that wear green colors, or things that are green. I am fascinated by this color and this influence in me can help meshed up with my future work of art. Work Cited Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen. International Encyclopedia of Adolescence, Volume 1 USA: CRC Press, 2007. Corey, Gerald & Corey Marianne Schneider. I Never Knew I Had a Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth USA: Cengage Learning, 2006 Deutsch, Morton; Coleman, Peter T. ; & Marcus, Eric Colton. The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice USA: John Wiley and Sons, 2006 Drebben, Olga. Patient Education in Rehabilitation USA: Jones and Bartlett, 2010 Evans, Dwight Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders: What We Know and What We don’t Know New York: Oxford University Press Hirsch, Steven & Weinberger Daniel Roy. Schizophrenia Great Britain: Wiley-Blackwell, 1995 Kalat, James W. Introduction to Psychology USA: Cengage Learning, 2008. Maddux, James & Winstead, Barbara. Psychopathology: Foundations for a Contemporary Understanding USA: Routledge, 2005. Salkind, Neil J. An Introduction to Theories of Human Development USA: Sage Publications, 2004 Swartwood, Michie & Trotter, Kathy. Observing Children and Adolescents: Student Workbook USA: Cengage Learning, 2004

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Advertising Creativity Matters

Advertising Creativity Matters MICAEL DAHLEN Stockholm School of Could â€Å"wasteful† advertising creativity that does not add to the functionaiity of the advertisement (i. e. , it neither enhances recaii and iiking of the advertising, nor Economics micael,[email  protected] se increases comprehension and persuasiveness of the communicated message) be useful? An experimentai study shows that it can. By signaling greater effort on behaif SARA ROSENGREN Stockholm School of Economics sara. [email  protected],se of the advertiser and a greater ability of the brand, advertising creativity enhances both brand interest and perceived brand quaiity.The effects are mediated by consumer-perceived creativity, suggesting that consumers are important Judges of FREDRIK TORN creativity. Bringing advertising creativity into new iight, the resuits provide impiications Stockholm School of for the development, measurement, and positioning of creative advertising. Economics fredrik,[email   protected] se INTRODUCTION There is no guarantee that creativity in an advertisement makes it more memorable or appealing to consumers (Kover, Goldberg, and James, 1995). In fact, research by, for example, Kover, James, and Sonner (1997) suggests that many creative advertising efforts may be wasted, in the sense hat they do not add to the functionality of the advertisement (i. e. , they neither enhance consumer recall and liking of the advertising, nor increase comprehension and persuasiveness of the communicated message). However, this article argues that such wasteful advertising creativity may have other positive effects. Previous research on advertising spending has found that, when bypassing functional aspects of high spending, for example, that bigger advertisements increase attention or that repeated exposures facilitate comprehension and breed liking, wasteful expenses have positive effects on brand perceptions (e. g..Ambler and HoUier, 2004; Kirmani and Rao, 2000). The pres ent research investigates whether or not the same conclusion follows with respect to advertising creativity. A common view is that creativity is a mission of the entire advertising industry, its raison d'etre (Koslow, Sasser, and Riordan, 2003). The fact that 3 9 2 JDUBOIIL OF (IDUERTISinG BESEflRCH September 2 0 0 8 advertising agencies spend a great deal of time and energy competing for creative awards, even though they are not sure that these efforts actually increase the functionality of their work, suggests that creativity is perceived to be important in its own right (e. g. Helgesen, 1994; Kover, James, and Sonner, 1997). In a frequently cited study. Gross (1972) showed that wasteful advertising creativity in advertising agencies, in the form of an abundance of creative ideas, yield more effective advertisements in the long run. This article takes the notion of wasteful advertising creativity to the level of the individual advertisement to see whether an abundance of creativit y (that does not enhance functionality) in a single advertisement yields positive effects. Building on the research on marketing signals, we suggest it does. Studies show that the very employment of various marketing elements, such s warranties (long-lasting) or price (correlates with quality), sends signals about the brand that guide consumer evaluations and choice (e. g. , Kirmani and Rao, 2000). Advertising expense has been found to be a signal that consumers interpret as the marketers' efforts due to their belief in the brand (Kirmani, 1990; Kirmani and Wright, 1989) or as proof of the brand's superiority or â€Å"brand DOI: 10. 2501/S002184990808046X ADVERTISING CREATIVITY MAHERS fitness† (Amhler and Hollier, 2004): The greater the expense, the more confident the marketer and the more fit the brand. Categorizing advertising creativity as a arketing signal, we expect that greater creativity signals more effort (as creative advertising is harder to produce than â€Å"nofr ills† advertising) and greater fitness (as the sender must have the knowledge resources to take the extra communicative leap and communicate in a nontraditional marmer) and thus produces more favorable brand perceptions. By investigating the signaling effects of advertising creativity on brand perceptions, we bypass the functional aspects that have previously been in focus in creativity research. Previous research focuses on intermediate effects such as advertising recall, liking, and comprehension (e. . , Kover, James, and Sonner, 1997; Stone, Besser, and Lewis, 2000; Till and Baack, 2005), or different facets of creativity, such as originality, meaningfulness, and emotions (e. g. , Ang and Low, 2000; Kover, Goldberg, and James, 1995; White and Smith, 2001). As advertising (and creativity) can take many shapes and forms, it is not very surprising that most authors seem to agree that the research on advertising creativity to date is troubled by contradictory and inconclusive f indings (e. g. , ElMurad and West, 2004; Koslow, Sasser, and Riordan, 2003: Stone, Besser, and Lewis, 2000).For instance, some (awardwinning, which is often the criterion in these studies) creative advertising may be very original and yield high recall, but low liking, whereas other advertising could produce strong emotions and liking, but be harder to recall. Avoiding such obstacles may be achievable by focusing on creativity as a signal in itself, rather than its facets and intermediate effects. The present study includes a number of elements that are novel to advertising creativity research. First, rather than using real advertisements as representatives of more versus less creative advertising, the tudy manipulates advertising creativity in the same manner as Ambler and Hollier (2004) manipulate advertising expense. Thus, we are able to compare advertising for the same brands with the same messages and control for the functionality of the tested advertisements. Most research to date has employed real advertisements, which makes it harder to discern the effects of the creativity in itself, as it also becomes a matter of different brands with different messages. Second, our manipulation does not produce creative advertising that is â€Å"outstanding,† but rather moderately creative. As noted by Haberland and Dacin (1992), the focus n awards creates a dichotomous view of advertising as creative yes/no. It is more likely that advertising varies in its degree of creativity. Not all advertisements win prizes for creativity, but that does not mean that those advertisements are not creative. Third, in addition to manipulating advertising creativity, we also measure consumer-perceived creativity. Previous research has usually kept the degree of creativity â€Å"hidden† from consumers, utilizing awards and expert judgments as assessments of creativity. Whereas advertising effects materialize to a considerable degree without consumer awareness (e. g..He ath and Nairn, 2005), the present study tests the notion that consumer explicit thoughts about advertising creativity matter. ADVERTISING CREATIVITY AS A MARKETING SIGNAL Most markets are flooded with products for consumers to choose between. As consumers are unable to sample all products that are available to them, or even assess the quality of all the products they have actually consumed, they rely on marketing signals (Kirmani and Rao, 2000). Ad- vertising expense is the marketing signal that has gained most attention in advertising research. According to Kirmani and Wright (1989), advertising expense is an ndicator of marketing effort: The more money spent on advertising, the greater the effort—meaning that the advertiser must really believe in the product. Spending a great deal of money on advertising is a more powerful signal to consumers about the quality of the product than the content of the advertising, as the advertiser â€Å"put their money where their mouth is. † More money means greater risk, and thus consumers feel safe that the advertiser will deliver on her promise (Kirmani, 1997). In tests of advertising expense, Kirmani (1990,1997) manipulates advertising sizes, colors, endorsers, and repetition and finds hat they may all increase perceived marketing effort. Interestingly, Kirmani (1990) notes that it is possible that perceived advertising quality (â€Å"includes the care and creativity used to design the ad†) could also have an effect on perceptions of marketing effort. However, Kirmani (1990) does not manipulate advertising quality (and more specifically, advertising creativity). Such a manipulation would result in perceptions of greater marketing effort. Coming up with a creative concept is more demanding for the advertiser than simply applying a standard solution based one's own or others' previous efforts.Consumers are â€Å"advertising literate† enough today to infer that creative advertising is probably the result of a development process that is both longer and more costly (they may even refer this to the employment of a â€Å"fancy advertising agency†). HI: Advertising creativity increases perceived marketing effort. Ambler and Hollier (2004) suggest that advertising expense may not only serve September 2 0 0 8 JDUIIOIIL OF HDUERTISIOG RESEHRCH 3 9 3 ADVERTISING CREATIVITY IVIATTERS An extra degree of creativity may send signais about tiie advertiser tiiat rub off on consumer perceptions of tiie brand. as a signal of effort, but also as a more irect signal of â€Å"brand fitness. † Referring to the biological theory of handicapping, they argue that advertising expense may be a signal of wealth—arguably, the advertiser can afford such wastefully expensive advertising. The wealth, in tum, could be interpreted as proof of previous success due to the brand's great ability to serve the market. Extending the reasoning to advertising creativity, wasteful creativity (i. e. , the surplus creativity that does not add to the functionality of the advertisement) could work as a signal of wealth as well, wealth in the form of knowledge and smartness. For example, the literature n rhetorical figures (which are a form of wasteful creativity as they convey nessages in unnecessarily clever ways) suggests that they may signal smartness on behalf of the sender (e. g. , Toncar and Munch, 2001, 2003). However, this notion has not been tested. Ambler and Hollier's (2004) concept of â€Å"brand fitness† is especially interesting in light of the growing body of research on perceived corporate ability. Perceived corporate ability refers to consumers' beliefs that the company is able to improve the quality of existing products and to generate new products innovatively (Luo and Bhattacharya, 2006).Studies show that perceived corporate ability influences the success of new-product introductions and marketing activities, as well as the market value of the entire company. In fact, perceived corporate ability may be the most powerful source of sustainable competitive advantage (Brown and Dacin, 1997; Luo and Bhattacharya, 2006). Advertising creativity could be a signal of brand ability (the equivalent of corporate ability on the individual, advertised, brand level). Coming up with a creative advertising concept signals the ability and desire to â€Å"think outside the box† and think in new and different ways compared to he competition and compared to the brand's history. Thus, advertising creativity says less about the brand's historical success and more about what could be expected from it in the future. H2: Advertising creativity increases customers' perceived abuity in the brand. ADVERTISING CREATIVITY'S EFFECTS ON BRAND PERCEPTIONS Recent advertising literature argues that the most important and reliable measures of advertising effectiveness are consumers' perceptions and experiences of the brand rather than of the advertising its elf. This influence is due to the facts that consumers are not able to remember r discern all the advertising they encounter (e. g.. Heath and Nairn, 2005; Weilbacher, 2003). Powerful advertising affects consumers' perceptions of the brand immediately (Hall, 2002). As creativity is supposed to make powerful advertising, the expectation is that more versus less powerful advertising results in immediate effects on brand perceptions. The main brand perception that has been uncovered in previous studies of marketing signals is perceived quality. As mentioned previously, perceived marketing effort signals confidence on behalf of 3 9 4 JOUIIIlflL DfflDUERTISinGRESEflRCH September 2 0 0 8 he advertiser (e. g. , Kirmani and Rao, 2000). Perceived brand ability would also signal high quality, as corsumers expect the brand to improve quality over the competition. Therefore, the hypothesis is that advertising creativity enhances perceived brand quality. H3: Advertising creativity enhances custo mers' perceptions of brand quality. Conventional wisdom holds that creative advertising pushes the message into consumers' minds (e. g. , El-Murad and West, 2004; Kover, James, and Sonner, 1997). However, recent literature argues that the individual brand does not really have much to say (e. g. Ehrenberg, Barnard, Kennedy, and Bloom, 2002; Heath and Nairn, 2005). In the massive marketspace and mindspace competition, it is increasingly difficult to be unique and virtually impossible to persuade consumers to buy your product (Weilbacher, 2003). In line with this notion, a survey among top-level agency creatives ranked the sameness among brands as the number one reason for improved creativity; rather than communicating a specific message (which is likely to resemble competitors'), advertising creativity must make the brand interesting and exciting (Reid, Whitehill King, and DeLorme, 1998).This goal is particularly relevant to established brands, which make up the majority of the market place. The greatest enemies to these brands are predictability and consumer disinterest (Machleit, Allen, and Madden, 1993). Brands must continuously reinvent themselves and challenge expectations to stay in touch with consumers. This touch could be achievable with creative advertising. Creative advertising in itself suggests that the brand has something interesting to offer, as it signals effort and confidence, and ability to deliver ADVERTISING CREATIVITY MAHERS something different from the competition. Therefore, the study expects a positive elationship between advertising creativity and brand interest. H4: Advertising creativity enhances brand interest. CONSUMERS AS JUDGES OF ADVERTISING CREATIVITY Most research on advertising creativity conceptualizes it as a â€Å"hidden tool† for advertising professionals to create powerful advertising. That is, it is important that the professionals perceive the advertising to be creative for it to be effective, but consumers are not supposed to think in such terms, rather just to like the advertising, remember it, and select the brand (e. g. , Koslow, Sasser, and Riordan, 2003; Stone, Besser, and Lewis, 2000; Till and Baack, 2005).However, a professional judgment of advertising creativity is no guarantee that the advertising will be successful (e. g. , Kover, James, and Sonner, 1997). For instance. Stone, Besser, and Lewis (2000) found that while 70 percent of the advertising that consumers remembered and liked was categorized as creative by trained judges, 47 percent of strongly disliked advertising was also categorized as creative by the judges. White and Smith (2001) compare creativity ratings between advertising professionals and the general public and found that the two groups differed in their ratings. The question is, who is the better judge?Kover, James, and Sonner (1997) argue that less professionalism is needed in the judgments of creativity, as at the end of the day, consumers' perceptions are what m atter. The present study puts this argument to the test by testing whether manipulated advertising creativity (pretested on advertising professionals) has a direct effect on our hypothesized variables, without consumers being aware of this â€Å"hidden tool,† or if consumer perceptions of advertising creativity are necessary and mediate the effects. The hypothesis is that consumer perception of the advertising creativity is the first step n the process that leads to all the hypothesized effects in H1-H4: H5: The effects of advertising creativity are mediated by consumerperceived creativity. METHOD To test the hypotheses, we must be able to compare responses between consumers who have been exposed to a more creative versus a less creative advertisement for the same brand with the same message. Furthermore, to test with certainty whether consumer-perceived advertising creativity is an intervening, mediating step between manipulated creativity and our hypothesized effects, we mu st measure creativity perception before versus after he other variables (for H5 to hold, creativity perception should have a greater effect when measured before the other variables, cf. Kenny, 1975). To this end, we chose a 2 (more creative/less creative advertisement) X 2 (perceived creativity before/after) experimental design where informants were randomly assigned to one of the four cells. To avoid stimulus specific effects, four different brands and accompanying messages were used for a total of 16 experiment cells. All four brands are established and well known in their respective product categories (pain relief, coffee, vodka, and condoms). We chose well-known rands for two reasons. First, the majority of advertising in major media are for established brands (e. g. , Kent, 2002). Second, as consumer perceptions of wellknown brands are harder to influence than those of unfamiliar brands, the test brands make a more robust test of our hypotheses. Research instrument development Similar to Ambler and Hollier (2004), we wanted to ensure that only the wastefulness of creativity would differ between advertisements, not their functionality with respect to what was communicated. Therefore, we needed to develop advertising stimuli differing only with respect to the creative execution.To this end, a method similar to that of Toncar and Munch (2003) was used. Four pairs of print advertisements were developed, one pair for each brand. Print advertisements usually have three main elements: the brand, text, and pictorial. In our manipulation, the brand and the pictorial was kept constant, while the text was varied to communicate the same message in a more (employing rhetorical figures, cf. Tom and Eves, 1999) or less (without rhetorical figures) creative way. The number of words was kept constant. The advertisements were pretested to make sure that the pairs communicated the same message, and equally strongly.Twenty plus twenty consumers from the target population (be low) were asked â€Å"how well do you agree that the advertisement's main message is. .. † and rated one of the advertisements from each pair on a scale of 1 = totally disagree/ 7 = totally agree. There were no significant differences within the pairs (A^more creative = 5. 4 verSUS Mjess creative = 5. 5). Next, 12 plus 12 advertising professionals from eight major agencies rated one of the advertisements from each pair on creativity (scale: 1 = not at all creative/ 7 = very creative). The more creative advertisements rated significantly higher than the less creative advertisements Mmore creative = 4. 0 verSUS Mjess creative = 2. 7, p < 0. 01). Notably, although significantly different from each other, neither of the two groups of advertisements was seen as particularly creative. However, September 2 0 0 8 JOURIIIIL OF HDUERTISIOG RESERRCH 3 9 5 ADVERTISING CREATIVITY MAHERS By focusing too much on award-winning advertising and treating creativity as a yes/no variabie, one mis ses out on ail the improvements that can be made and effects that can be attained at more moderate leveis. â€Å"How much do you think development of the advertisement cost? † (1 = very cheap/7 = very expensive), and â€Å"How uch time do you think has been devoted to the development of the advertisement? † (1 = very little/7 = very much). We included the variables both separately and as an index (r = 0. 52) in the analyses. Perceived brand ability ( H2) was mea- we are not interested in the absolute levels of creativity; the goal is to compare differences in degree of creativity. This approach differs from most previous research, which often employs â€Å"outstanding† (award-winning) creative advertisements. The fact that the degree of creativity is fairly low in our more creative advertisements makes our test of the effects of advertising creativity more robust.It also makes the results more applicable in practice, as most advertisements do not win awards, but may still be creative (e. g. , Haberland and Dacin, 1992; Kover, James, and Sonner, 1997). Procedure We employed a procedure similar to Ambler and Hollier (2004). The participants were part of an internet panel of a professional market research firm and recruited to represent a cross section of the working population (56/44 female-male breakdown, age range 18-65 years, average 39 years). In total, 1,284 consumers participated in the study, making a cell size of approximately 80 respondents. Asked to participate in an advertising retest, consumers were randomly exposed to one of the stimulus print advertisements online and then directly filled out a questionnaire. Measures A number of measures were employed to test the advertisement's functionality (which is supposed to be the same across conditions): Brand identification w as measured as an open-ended question, where respondents typed in the brand name they believed was featured in the advertisement. Key message identification w as measured by asking respondents to tick the correct message out of four alternatives (the alternatives were the same across all cells and were designed to be plausible for all four rands). Furthermore, we measured difficulty of comprehension (1 = very easy to comprehend/7 = very difficult to comprehend), advertising attitude (â€Å"What is your opinion about the advertisement you just saw? â€Å"), and brand attitude [â€Å"What is your opinion of (brand)? ,† both on a scale from 1 (very bad) to 7 (very good)]. We also measured brand familiarity and price estimates to rule out confounding effects of consumer knowledge or competing signals (cf. Kirmani and Rao, 2000). Similar to Till and Baack (2005) familiarity with the brand was measured before exposure (1 = never heard of it/7 = know t very well). Price estimates were measured after exposure with an open-ended question where respondents were asked to type in how much they estimated that the advertised product cost (employ ing familiar brands and products in the study, we expected no differences between conditions). We calculated differences in price estimates within the advertising pairs and compared them by product category. The following measures were used for the hypothesis tests: Perceived marketing effort ( HI) was mea- sured with two items on a 7-point scale. 3 9 6 JOUBflflL OFflDUERTISlOGflESEflRCHS eptember 2 0 0 8 ured with three items (1 = do not agree/ 7 = agree completely): â€Å"(Brand) is smart,† â€Å"(Brand) is likely to develop valuable products in the future,† and â€Å"(Brand) is good at solving consumers' problems. † We included the items both separately and as an index (Cronbach's alpha = 0. 83) in the analyses. Perceived brand quality (H3) was as- sessed by asking: â€Å"What is the general quality level of the brand? † with answers given on a scale from 1 (very low quality) to 7 (very high quality). Brand interest (H4) was measured with two items on a 7-point scale: â€Å"I find (brand) interesting,† and â€Å"I want to buy the brand† 1 = do not agree/7 = agree completely). We included the variables both separately and as an index (r = 0. 68) in the analyses. Perceived advertising creativity (H5) was measured by asking: â€Å"To what extent do you think that the advertisement you just saw is creative? † (1 – not at all creative/ 7 = very creative). The question was placed before the measures of perceived effort (HI) and brand ability (H2) in one-half of the questionnaires and after the same measures in the other half. This design enables us to test the direction of causalities between the variables (Kenny, 1975). It has been used in previous research on, for xample, the causal effects between slogan evaluations and brand perceptions (Dahlen and Rosengren, 2005). RESULTS Manipulation and confound checks Comparing the groups of more creative versus less creative advertisements. ADVERTISING CREATIVITY M AHERS perceived creativity rated significantly TABLE 1 higher for the group of more creative ad- Effects of Advertising Creativity vertisements (M = 3. 94 versus M = 3. 37, p ; 0. 01), suggesting that our manipulation of advertising creativity was successful. See Table 1. Furthermore, the analyses include testing for differences in function- More Creative Less CreativeAdvertisements, Advertisements, Planned M {SD) M (SD) Comparisons ,. . ,. Manipulation check ality between the groups with respect to †¢ ^ 5 iF brand identification, message identification, comprehension, and advertising and brand attitudes. Only comprehension and advertising attitude differed between conditions, suggesting that the more creative advertisements were more difficult to com, , . , ,. , , , , prehend and were better liked than the less creative advertisements. To rule out competing effects from these variables. they were included as covariates in the subsequent analyses, meaning that these ^ †¢;  ° ifferences were accounted for in the re- r, †¢ ^ †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Perceived creativity 3,94 (1. 51) 3. 37 (1. 64) p ; 0 . 01 ^^'^^  °^ advertising functionality †¦. ^rapd identification 0. 99(0. 26) iVIessage identification 0. 99(0. 18) Comprehension 4. 96 (1. 71) 0,98(0. 28) 0,99(0,11) 4. 64 (1. 79) n . s. n,s, p < 0 . 01 Advertising attitude  ° †¦.. ^. ‘[^uf?.. ^. ^^. ‘! ^. ‘^. ^.? Confounding variables Brand familiarity ^ ^. ^ . . ,. „ Estimated pnce, difference ,. ^ by product category 4. 08(1. 47) †¢ f^. :^l. ‘ih^^). 3. 81(1. 28) p < 0 . 01 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ ^. ^^.. {hf! ‘^). â€Å". :! ; 4-,58 (2,23) „„^ +0. 04 4. 44 (2. 23) :28. (1:45) 3. 14 (1. 54) 3,41 (1,75) 2. 96 (1. 58) 2. 78 (1,50) 3. 16 (1. 71) p < 0 . 01 p < 0 . 01 p < 0 . 01 3 . 67(1,71) †¢ †¢ 3. 22 (;i. 26) 4. 25 (1. 19) ^ . . ,^ ,-^^ 3. 44 (1. 51) 3,42(1. 40) †¢ †¢ †¢ 3. -. 04. (1. 37) 4. 00 (1 ,70) ^ ^ , r-^ 3. 12 (1,50) p < 0 . 01 †¢ †¢ P†¦ ; p < 0. 01 † r†¦ 7. Smart 4. 02 (1. 53) 2. 37 (1. 40) p ; 0. 01 significantly greater when consumer- Develop valuable products 5. 02 (1. 25) 3. 35 (1. 55) p ; 0. 01 perceived creativity precedes the other vari- Good problem solver 4. 20 (2. 44) 2. 29 (1. 67) p ; 0. 01 Perceived brand quaiity 5. 48 (1. 16) 4. 02 (1. 0) p ; 0 . 01 DiSCUSSION Waste in advertising creativity matters. Brand interest 4. 62 (1. 51) 2. 56 (1. 41) p ; 0. 01 The results of the present study show that Interesting 4. 50 (1. 62) 2. 39 (1. 43) p ; 0. 01 Purchase intention 4. 73 (1. 71) ;. ! 2. 73 (1. 78) . ; p ; 0. 01 † r:.. 7. ^^^ † â€Å"^^ ^†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ^^^^ ^ ^ * ^ ^^^^- ^^^^^' * ^^† improving the functionality of the adver.. ^ j u .. u tisement and push the message into †¢^ †¦. P^. ‘P^. ‘y^. l^^O':* H2 consumer-perceived creativity and the mar, .. . , j /o^ ^u i†¢ ketmg signals, and (2) the correlations are ables, implying a causal direction from he former onto the latter. H3 H4 Note: F(4, 729) = 80. 40, p < 0. 01, Wilkes' lambda, 0. 53. Consumers' minds, which conventional September 2 0 0 8 JDUROHL OF RDUERTISIIIG RESEHRCH 3 9 9 ADVERTISING CREATIVITY MAHERS lished brands that consumers were familiar Regression Coefficients, Test of Mediation by Perceived _ .. Advertismg Creativity s ? Coefficient t-Statistic p< Dependent variable Perceived marketing effort Independent variables .^, ,^ .. v ertising creativity is a p owerful signal when communicating familiar brands a s ,, well. The signaling power of Advertising creativity 0. 18 2. 31 0. 1 Advertising creativity (after inclusion of 0. 02 0. 16 n. s. perceived advertising creativity) Perceived advertising creativity , v ant mamly when communicating with c onsumers that a re u nfamiliar with t he b rand (e. g. , Kirmani a nd R ao, 2000), a d- Standardized gg^g Variables k eting signals argues that they a re r ele- 0 . 33 7. 69 0. 01 advertising creativity Recent research suggests that it is b ecom†^g i ncreasingly harder t o p osition a nd differentiate brands with advertising (e. g.. Ehrenberg, Barnard, Kennedy, a nd Bloom, Dependent variable 2002; Heath a nd N airn, 2005). A s m arkets †¦ ^. ^. ‘[^^}}'. ^^.. ^. ^^! ^^.. ^'! ^'! }]^y.. a re c rowded with similar products, c om- Independent variables m unicating a u nique message or m aking Advertising creativity 0 . 29 2. 56 0. 01 a dvertising that sticks is v irtually impos- Advertising creativity (after inclusion of perceived advertising creativity) 0. 16 0. 99 n. s. 0. 38 5. 76 0. 01 ^^^^^ â„ ¢ ^ ^^^ ‘ ^^ ^ °Ã¢â‚¬ ^^ * ° ‘^†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ^'^^^'^^ ‘ ^^^ † ‘^ â€Å"†Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ^ important than ever to use creativity that really pushes the message ,, . / I T-,  » , , j , . , r,r,r,A^ t hrough (cf. E l-Murad a nd West, 2004). A nother Conclusion would b e t hat creativ-P erceived advertising creativity ^ Note: n. s. = noi significant. ity becomes less a m atter of m essage a nd content generation, a nd m ore a m atter of y/^BLE 5 form a nd s ignaling power. Crowded m ar- Correlation Coefficients, Test of Causality ^^*' ^†'^ ^^†^  °^ differentiation are the very reasons provided for the use of m ar- Perceived Creativity Perceived Creativity k eting signals such a s a dvertising e x-  »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢perceived creativity x „.. „ Perceived effort iVIeasured First -„_ 0 . 35 iVIeasured Last ^„, 0. 24 Difference „„^ p ; 0 . 05 P^-^ived ability Perceived quality 0 . 42 0 . 43 0. 32 0. 4 p ; 0 . 01 p ; 0 . 01 Brand interest 0 . 49 0. 40 p ; 0 . 01 p ense (Kirmani a nd R ao, 2000). Focusing on the execution in itself, rather than the actual message, t he a dvertiser could u se c reativity a s a p owerful marketing signal a s w ell. O † ‘ a nalysis reveals that more versus less advertising creativity pr oduces a s ignal of m arketing effort that is s imilar t o advertising expense. This is g ood news, wisdom holds t o be the major benefit of t aken a s proof of the b rand's smartness, a s t his revelation implies that t he a dver- creativity, a n e xtra degree of c reativity nd ability t o s olve problems a nd de- t iser does n ot n eed t o s pend excessive may send signals about t he a dvertiser that velop valuable products. A s a r esult, con- a mounts of m oney t o s ignal confidence i n rub off on c onsumer perceptions of the s umers became more interested i n the her p roduct. Instead of s pending money brand. I n our e xperiment, more versus brand a nd p erceived it to be of h igher o n b igger advertising spaces or l onger less creative advertising signaled greater quality. T he l atter is a p articularly inter- a nd m ore frequent campaigns (e. g. , Kir- ffort o n the a dvertiser's behalf a nd was e sting result, a s t he s tudy featured estab- mani, 1990, 1997), t he s ame effects m ay 4 0 0 JDUBnflL OF eOUERTISIIlG BESEIIIICH September 2 0 0 8 ADVERTISING CREATIVITY MAHERS be attainable by increasing creativity instead. Thus, the present study provides compelling evidence that creativity could be a way to produce greater results per advertising dollar. Creativity seems to have the greater effect through signaling brand ability than through effort. One reason for this is that creativity may fit more logically with what the brand, and advertising in general, is erceived to be about: displaying great solutions in the advertised product category. While high versus low creativity also has a signaling effect through perceived effort, most consumers would probably agree that trying hard is not the true purpose of any advertising or brand. Advertising is not primarily about spending money; advertising is about cleverly presenting the brand, and a desirable goal for any brand should be to deliver a more sophisticated product than the competition (cf. Brown a nd Dacin, 1997). The very (creative) form of the advertising could be a powerful clue to consumers about the brand.Creativity Is not a yes/no The presented numbers reveal that the advertising creativity in our study was not very high (ratings were not above the midpoint of the scale for either the more or the less creative advertisements). Thus, the study does not test the effects of outstandingly creative advertisements. Neither of the advertisements in the study would likely win an award. Still, at these (relative to previous research and to awardcompeting advertisements) low levels of creativity, increases did matter. This result provides evidence that creativity is not only important at an award-winning level, t is important at any level. By focusing too much on award-winning advertising and treating creativity as a yes/no variable, one misses out on all the improvements that can be made and effects that Consumer perceptions of the creativity in an advertisement mediate the adve rtisement's effects on the brand and malee the impact of the manipulated (â€Å"hidden†) creativity much greater. can be attained at more moderate levels. Considering the high risk that is associated with high levels of creativity (e. g. , El-Murad and West, 2003; West, 1999), taking baby steps is both easier and safer han quantum leaps—viewing creativity as a spectrum rather than a high absolute level encourages increases in advertising creativity across all advertising campaigns. Creativity is not a iiidden tool Given the signaling power of advertising creativity, viewing creativity as a hidden tool for advertising professionals is a mistake. Consumer perceptions of the creativity in an advertisement mediate the advertisement's effects on the brand and make the impact of the manipulated (â€Å"hidden†) creativity much greater. This is a powerful case for Kover, James, and Sonner's (1997) call to bring consumers nto the agencies' processes and invite them to pa rtake in the development—and definition—of creative advertising. Whereas copy testing is becoming more common in practice, advertising professionals still interpret the results on behalf of the consumer, deciding whether her responses indicate that the advertisement is creative or not. Not surprisingly, Koslow, Sasser, and Riordan (2006) find that formal testing had no effect on agencies' self-assessed creative output. If advertising professionals both ask the questions and interpret consumers' answers to them, what need is there to actuaUy ask consumers?If agencies had included consumer perceptions of the advertisements' creativity in the testing, Koslow, Sasser, and Riordan's findings would probably have been different. As Kover, James, and Sonner (1997) suggest, taking a consumer perspective offers new ideas and nuances in the creative process and provides more concrete feedback on the creative level of the advertising that would facilitate benchmarking and enhancem ent of the creative output. In enhancing perceived brand ability, the very creative form of advertising could be a way of branding. As suggested in the corporate ability literature, ability could e a powerful positioning in itself (Biehal and Sheinin, 2007; Brown and Dacin, 1997). For brands that have no particular unique feature, becoming increasingly common with the overwhelming number of alternatives available in most markets, ability in itself could be a sustainable source of advantage leveraging consumer expectations and trust in any product the brand introduces. This view is particularly interesting considering the trend toward continuously releasing new products under the same brand (Biehal and Sheinin, 2007). The research on marketing signals focuses mainly on unfamiliar brands (Kirmani and Rao, 2000).Whereas it still needs to be tested, creativity should have important effects on unfamiliar brands as well, as they may benefit more from marketing signals in general. However, the present study shows that high versus low creativity works as a signal for familiar and September 2 0 0 8 JDURHIIL OF BDOERTISIIIG RESEflRCH 4 0 1 ADVERTISING CREATIVITY MAHERS Creative advertising does increase consumer interest in ations and Consumer Product Responses. † Journal of Marketing 6 1, 1 (1997): 68-84. the brands, not by communicating a new message, but by COHEN, JACOB, a nd P ATRICI COHEN. Applied ommunicating the same message in another way. Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. H iilsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1983. established brands. Such brands make up the bulk of advertising in major media (Kent, 2002), They need to stay interesting to consumers even when they have nothing new to say (Machleit, Allen, and Madden, 1993), Creative advertising does increase consumer interest in the brands, not by communicating a new message, but by communicating the same message in another way. The present study focuses on a small number of advertis ements for consumer products.We employed only one exposure that was forced on consumers. Our experimental design was a way to test previously uncovered effects of creativity in a controlled setting. This way, we show that advertising creativity may work in different ways than in previous literature and have powerful effects. Whether these effects materialize in a real setting (with noise, less motivated consumers), and for different kinds of products, must be subject to further research, within advertising, PR, and brand communications DAHLEN, MICAEL, a nd SARA ROSENGREN, † Brands have been published in, for example, the Journal ofAffect Slogans Affect Brands? Brand Equity, Com- Advertising Research, the Journal of Advertising, the petitive Interference, and the Brand-Slogan Link. † Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of Brand Management 1 2,3 (2005): 151-64, and the Journal of Brand Management. 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Thursday, November 7, 2019

Top Major Causes and Motivations of Terrorism

Top Major Causes and Motivations of Terrorism Loosely defined, terrorism is the use of violence with the aim of furthering a political or ideological goal at the expense of the general population. Terrorism can take many forms and has many causes, often more than one. It can have its roots in religious, social, or political conflicts, often when one community is oppressed by another. Some terrorist events are singular acts linked to a particular historical moment, such as the assassination of Austrias Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, which touched off World War I. Other terrorist attacks are part of an ongoing campaign that may last years or even generations, as was the case in Northern Ireland from 1968 to 1998.   Historical Roots Although acts of terror and violence have been committed for centuries, terrorisms modern roots can be traced to the French Revolutions Reign of Terror in 1794–95, with its gruesome public beheadings, violent street battles, and bloodthirsty rhetoric. It was the first time in modern history that mass violence was used in such a fashion, but it would not be the last. In the latter half of the 19th century, terrorism would emerge as the weapon of choice for nationalists, particularly in Europe as ethnic groups chafed under the rule of empires. The Irish National Brotherhood, which sought Irish independence from Britain, carried out a number of bomb attacks in England in the 1880s. About the same time in Russia, the socialist group  Narodnaya Volya began a campaign against the royalist government, ultimately assassinating Tsar Alexander II in 1881. In the 20th century, acts of terrorism became more prevalent throughout the world as political, religious, and social activists agitated for change. In the 1930s, Jews living in occupied Palestine conducted a campaign of violence against the British occupiers in a quest to create the state of Israel. In the 1970s, Palestinian  terrorists used then-novel methods such as hijacking airplanes to further their cause. Other groups, espousing new causes like animal rights and environmentalism, committed acts of violence in the 1980s and 90s. And in the 21st century, the rise of pan-nationalist groups like ISIS that use social media to connect its members have killed thousands in attacks in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Causes and Motivations Although people resort to terrorism for a number of reasons, experts attribute most acts of violence to three major factors: Political.  Terrorism was originally theorized in the context of insurgency and guerrilla warfare, a form of organized political violence by a non-state army or group.  Individuals, abortion clinic bombers, or groups, like the Vietcong in the 1960s, can be understood as choosing terrorism when they are trying to right what they perceive to be a social, political or historical wrong. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which stretched from 1968 to 1998, Catholic and Protestant groups waged an ongoing campaign of violence against one another in Northern Ireland and in England, seeking political dominance.Religious.  In the 1990s, a number of attacks carried out in the name of religion made headlines. The Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo perpetrated two deadly sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subways in 1994 and 1995, and in the Middle East, numerous suicide attacks since the 1980s have been celebrated as the work of Islamic martyrs.  Career terrorism experts began to arg ue that a new form of terrorism was on the  rise, with concepts  such as martyrdom and Armageddon  seen as particularly dangerous. However, as thoughtful studies and commentators have repeatedly pointed out, such groups selectively interpret and exploit religious concepts and texts to support terrorism. Religions themselves do not cause terrorism. Socioeconomic.  Socio-economic explanations of terrorism suggest that various forms of deprivation drive people to terrorism, or that they are more susceptible to recruitment by organizations using terrorist tactics.  Poverty, lack of education or lack of political freedom are a few examples.  There is suggestive evidence on both sides of the argument. Comparisons of different conclusions are often very confusing because they dont distinguish between individuals and societies, and they pay little attention to the nuances of how people perceive injustice or deprivation, regardless of their material circumstances. The group Shining Path carried out a years-long campaign of violence against Perus government in the 1980s and early 90s in an attempt to create a Marxist state.   This explanation of the causes of terrorism may be difficult to swallow. It sounds too simple or too theoretical. However, if you look at any group that is widely understood as a terrorist group, you will find these elements are basic to their story. Psychological and Sociological Considerations: Individual vs. the Group Sociological and social psychology views of terrorism make the case that groups, not individuals, are the best way to explain social phenomena such as terrorism. These ideas, which are still gaining traction, are congruent with the late-20th-century trend toward seeing society and organizations in terms of networks of individuals. This view also shares common ground with studies of authoritarianism and cult behavior that examines how individuals come to identify so strongly with a group that they lose individual agency.  There is also a substantial body of theory that now concludes that individual terrorists are no more or less likely than other individuals  to have abnormal pathology.   Analysis Rather than seek the causes of terrorism itself, a better approach is to determine the conditions that make terror possible or likely. Sometimes these conditions have to do with the people who become terrorists; they are described as having certain psychological traits, like narcissistic rage. And some conditions have to do with the circumstances they live in, such as political or social repression, or economic strife. Terrorism is a complex phenomenon; it is a specific kind of political violence committed by people who do not have a  legitimate army at their disposal. There is nothing inside any person or in their circumstances that send them directly to terrorism. Instead, certain conditions make violence against civilians seem like a reasonable and even necessary option. Stopping the cycle of violence is rarely simple or easy. Although the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 brought an end to the violence in Northern Ireland, for example, the peace remains a fragile one. And despite nation-building efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorism remains a daily fact of life after more than a decade of Western intervention. Only time and commitment by a majority of the parties involved can resolve​ a conflict.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Denmark Vesey, Leader of a Foiled Slave Revolt

Denmark Vesey, Leader of a Foiled Slave Revolt Denmark Vesey was born circa 1767 in the Caribbean island of St. Thomas and died July 2, 1822, in Charleston, South Carolina. Known in his early years as Telemaque, Vesey was a free man of color who organized what would have been the largest slave rebellion in the United States. Veseys work inspired abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and David Walker. Fast Facts: Denmark Vesey Known For: Organized what would have been the largest slave rebellion in U.S. historyAlso Known As: TelemaqueBorn: circa 1767 in St. ThomasDied: July 2, 1822, in Charleston, South CarolinaNotable Quote: â€Å"We are free, but the white people here wont let us be so; and the only way is to raise up and fight the whites.† Early Years Born into slavery, Denmark Vesey (given name: Telemaque) spent his childhood in St. Thomas. When Vesey was a teen, he was sold by slave trader Captain Joseph Vesey and sent to a planter in present-day Haiti. Captain Vesey intended to leave the boy there for good, but ultimately had to return for him after the planter reported that the boy was experiencing bouts of epilepsy. The captain brought young Vesey along with him on his journeys for nearly two decades until he settled for good in Charleston, South Carolina. Because of his travels, Denmark Vesey learned to speak multiple languages. In 1799, Denmark Vesey won a $1,500 lottery. He used the funds to purchase his freedom for $600 and to launch a successful carpentry business. However, he remained deeply troubled that he couldn’t buy the freedom of his wife, Beck, and their children. (He may have had up to three wives and multiple children altogether.) As a result, Vesey became determined to dismantle the system of slavery. Having briefly lived in Haiti, Vesey may have been inspired by the 1791 slave rebellion that Toussaint Louverture engineered there.  Ã‚   Liberation Theology In 1816 or 1817, Vesey joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a religious denomination formed by black Methodists after facing racism from white churchgoers. In Charleston, Vesey was one of an estimated 4,000 blacks to start an African A.M.E. church. He formerly attended the white-led Second Presbyterian Church, where enslaved black congregants were urged to heed St. Paul’s dictum: Servants, obey your masters. Vesey disagreed with such sentiments. According to an article written about him in the June 1861 edition of The Atlantic, Vesey did not behave submissively to whites and admonished blacks who did. The Atlantic reported: â€Å"For if his companion bowed to a white person, he would rebuke him, and observe that all men were born equal, and that he was surprised that any one would degrade himself by such conduct - that he would never cringe to the whites, nor ought anyone who had the feelings of a man. When answered, ‘We are slaves,’ he would sarcastically and indignantly reply, ‘You deserve to remain slaves.’† In the A.M.E. Church, African Americans could preach messages centered on black liberation. Vesey became a â€Å"class leader,† preaching from Old Testament books like Exodus, Zechariah, and Joshua to the worshippers who gathered at his home. He likened enslaved African Americans to the enslaved Israelites in the Bible. The comparison struck a chord with the black community. White Americans, however, tried to keep a close eye on A.M.E. meetings across the country and even arrested churchgoers. That didn’t stop Vesey from continuing to preach that blacks were the New Israelites and that slaveholders would be punished for their misdeeds. On Jan. 15, 1821, Charleston City Marshal John J. Lafar had the church closed down because the pastors had educated enslaved blacks during night and Sunday schools. Educating anyone enslaved was illegal, so the A.M.E. Church in Charleston had to close its doors. Of course, this only made Vesey and the church leaders more resentful. The Plot for Freedom Vesey was determined to take down the institution of slavery. In 1822, he teamed up with Angolan mystic Jack Purcell, ship-carpenter Peter Poyas, church leaders, and others to plot what would have been the largest slave revolt in US history. Known as a conjurer who understood the supernatural world, Purcell, also called â€Å"Gullah Jack,† was a respected member of the black community who helped Vesey win more followers for his cause. In fact, all of the leaders involved in the plot were considered upstanding individuals, held in high esteem across racial lines, according to reports from the time. The revolt, which was scheduled to take place on July 14, would have seen up to 9,000 black men from throughout the region kill any white man they encountered, set Charleston ablaze, and commandeer the city’s arsenals. Weeks before the rebellion was supposed to occur, however, some enslaved blacks privy to Vesey’s plans told their owners about the plot. This group included A.M.E. class leader George Wilson, who found out about the plot from an enslaved man named Rolla Bennett. Wilson, who was also enslaved, ultimately informed his owner about the revolt. Wilson wasn’t the only person who spoke about Vesey’s plans. Some sources point to an enslaved man named Devany who learned about the plot from another enslaved man and then told a free man of color about it. The freedman urged Devany to tell his owner. When news of the plot spread among the slaveholders, many were shocked- not just about the scheme to overthrow them, but also that men they trusted had been involved. The idea that these men were willing to kill for their freedom seemed unthinkable to the slaveholders, who argued that they treated slaves humanely, despite keeping them in bondage. Arrests and Executions Bennett, Vesey, and Gullah Jack were among the 131 men arrested for conspiracy in connection to the insurrection plot. Of those arrested, 67 were convicted. Vesey defended himself during the trial but was hanged along with about 35 others, including Jack, Poyas, and Bennett. Although Wilson won his freedom due to his loyalty to his slaveholder, he did not live to enjoy it. His mental health suffered, and he later died by suicide. After the trials related to the insurrection plot ended, the black community in the area struggled. Their A.M.E. Church was torched, and they faced even more repression from slaveholders, including being excluded from Fourth of July celebrations. Still, the black community largely regarded Vesey as a hero. His memory later inspired the black troops who fought during the Civil War, as well as abolitionists such as David Walker and Frederick Douglass. Nearly two centuries after Vesey’s foiled plot, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney would find hope in his story. Pinckney led the same A.M.E. Church that Vesey co-founded. In 2015, Pinckney and eight other churchgoers were fatally gunned down by a white supremacist during a midweek Bible study. The mass shooting revealed how much racial injustice remains today. Sources Bennett, James. â€Å"A Distaste for the Memory of the Tale.†Ã‚  TheAtlantic.com, 30 June, 2015.â€Å"Denmark Vesey.†Ã‚  National Park Service, 9 May, 2018.Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. â€Å"The Story of Denmark Vesey.† The Atlantic Monthly, June, 1861.â€Å"This Far by Faith: Denmark Vesey.† PBS.org, 2003. Hamitlon, James. Negro Plot. Account of the Late Intended Insurrection  among a Portion of the Blacks of the City of Charleston, South Carolina:  Electronic Edition. 1822.