In what ways has Internet changed fashion journalism Essay

In what ways has Internet changed fashion journalism - Essay Example The paper tells that social technologies are no longer a niche market of lifestyle activities for the user of the Internet. Blogs, video-sharing applications and social networks are becoming mainstream activities globally, thus changing the methodology of relationship with media and fashion. The mainstream properties of Internet usage are dominating the distribution and flow of information in very wide demographic audiences. Traditional fashion journalism, such as fashion magazines, provided limited opportunities for gaining market interest or disseminating information as these sources of journalism were targeted as specific, homogenized groups of potential buyers that were restrained through geographics. Fashion industry marketers now have a much broader audience to target using blogs, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter (as several examples) in order to promote their information and products. The mainstream aspects of Internet usage no longer constrain the fashion industry in gaining mar ket interest, which can lead to higher profitability or establish a quality fashion brand. Traditional fashion journalism relied on cultural intermediaries, individuals in society â€Å"who transmit information from those engaged in the creative and production processes of fashion design to consumers†. These include photographers, journalists, ad agencies, salespersons and celebrity models. Cultural intermediaries bring value to the fashion content or marketing strategy as it relates to targeting customers or providing valuable fashion information. For instance, the usage of celebrity models gains sales advantages from the consumer culture under social learning theory. This theory describes that individuals in society will model the beliefs or behaviours of role models who are deemed credible and attractive in the eyes of the receiver so long as they witness the model being rewarded for these actions (Neubert, Carlson, Kacmar, Roberts and Chonko, 2009). This has been one of the fundamental aspects of providing equity and value for fashion journalists as the legitimacy, in the eyes of society, of the cultural intermediaries provides reproduction of similar values and attitudes. This has, traditionally, led to higher sales for fashion merchandise through fashion journalism and associated print or televised media. The Internet, despite those who believe it is eroding traditionalism in fashion journalism, is still modelled against the value of cultural intermediaries. Why is this? Consider the fashion blog as a relevant example. Fashion blogs allow for interactive commentaries to be posted by a variety of consumers where compliments or complaints can be searched by hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Internet users worldwide. â€Å"Peers listen to and trust these reviews† (Fichter, 2007: 27). Under Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a model that is intended to serve as a template for universal foundational motivations and needs, individuals in society are motivated by affiliation with peer groups (Gambrel and Cianci, 2003). The fundamental needs for a sense of

Protectionism, Gains from Trade, and Trade Balance Deficits and Essay

Protectionism, Gains from Trade, and Trade Balance Deficits and Surpluses - Essay Example Explanations of concepts: Protectionism, an economic policy, aims at restricting trade between nations. The economic instruments used in this policy are imposition of tariffs, imposition of quota, and many other fiscal measures. Free trade is the opposite of the concept of protectionist policy. It is the openness of the countries in order to achieve gains from trade through mobility of goods and services between nations (Mankiw, 387-411). There are two components of trades, one is export, and the other is the import. There are several gains that a nation can achieve from trade. In terms of economics these gains are measured in terms of the real wage and the relative prices of goods and services being traded. Real wage is measured in terms of the amounts of goods that a worker can purchase. The relative price is the domestic price of a good and service being traded as a ratio of the foreign price of the same good or service. An increase in the real wage and a decrease in the relative price indicate that the gains from trade have been achieved. Trade between two nations contributes to the growth of GDP and GDP rate. In order to measure the contribution of trade components in the GDP, every economy maintains a trade balance accounting of its exports and imports. Whenever the volume of exports appears (measured in terms of money value) to be greater (smaller) than the volume of imports (measured in terms of money value), then there occurs a surplus (deficit) in the trade balance. When they are same, trade remains balanced. But the concept of balanced trade is used as an accounting sense; in practical it is very difficult to achieve balanced trade for any country. Tax Cut and fiscal policy: In 2002, President Bush initiated a fiscal policy of cutting tax rates. The main aim of the tax cut was to raise the volume of private activities within the economy. This is major merit of any tax cut policy, as it raises the disposable income of people and hence demand. It also raises the volume of private savings and hence investment. This is basically the Keynesian view of this fiscal policy (Mankiw, 388-399). This decision caused USA to lose its national income by 1%. This tax cut caused huge budget deficits and defense costs and increased the volume of fiscal deficit (Auerbach). This fiscal policy increases the budget deficit by increasing the demand for imports relative to exports and hence it reduces the volume of stock of foreign currency of the country. For the US economy this has happened. Monetary policy: Monetary policies are taken the monetary authority of the country in order to control the values of the variables like interest rates and output or income of the economy (Mankiw, 390-410). Monetary policy includes open market operations by the government, changes in the repo rates and reverse repo rates etc. All these policies are taken to control the volume of money supply in the economy. An increase (decrease) in the money supply raises the ra ises (lowers) output and employment, but lowers (raises) interest rates. Money supply is determined by the amount of money in circulation in the economy and by the volume of demand deposits in the economy. Monetary policy can be used to stimulate real GDP in the short run as well as in the long run. Increase in the supply of money can augment the demand for goods and services and hence

Self Development Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Self Development Plan - Assignment Example Before this, I did not need to think or consider because I met people from the same religious background since birth. Of course, people did come from varied cultures even in Madinah, the city in Saudi Arabia that I hail from, but having the same religious background, we had something in common. Interacting with them was never an issue. I did realize the difference when I arrived in Toronto. I come from a decent family and hence the luxury of Canada was not a shock. I had been exposed to comforts and convenience and hence adjusting to Canadian lifestyle was not a problem. Being an Arabic Muslim male in mid-twenties, leaving home was exciting because little did I know what I would encounter. With a desire to be at par with people in the western world, with a desire to compete for jobs at an equal level, I decided to undertake Masters Studies in Canada. I did realize that one has to come out of the shell, one has to explore the world to equip oneself and to gain competency. This gave me the courage to leave the comfort zone and arrive in Canada. I lived in Toronto for 18 months before enrolling for Masters and moving on to Saint John City, New Brunswick. I soon realized that it is not enough to have academic competency; one also requires cross-cultural competency. I guess this thought came to my mind because I identify myself as a Muslim and not as another human being coming from a different background. I became conscious of my culture when I encountered people from an entirely background. Canada and Saudi Arabia differ vastly in their cultural background. I did face problems in the beginning simply because the exposure back home was limited. However, since there were a few people from my region already domiciled in Canada, I received some guidance from them and learnt the rest as I lived. Fortunately I did not avoid cultural difference; I accepted its importance, which according to Bennett (2004) is ethnorelativism. My exposure to diverse cultures helped me accep t an entirely different culture with ease. I also realized that the cultural values norms and beliefs that I had unconsciously imbibed were relevant to that region. Here I would need to adapt to different cultural nuances. This implies that acceptance has set it as one recognizes that one’s own culture is one of the different cultures prevailing in the world. In fact I found that Canadians too, were receptive and accepted Islamic culture as they had been exposed to many from the Arabic countries. Toronto was a multicultural city and I encountered people from diverse cultures such as China, India and Africa. I used to be taken aback at the way children, once they finished education, moved out their parents’ house. I obviously was trying to compare with the situation back home. At the same time I was stared at, and none ventured to stretch their hand in friendship. Gradually, I smiled and they smiled back. I was relieved to some extent and it also gave me the feeling tha t with time, things would be different. As acceptance set in, tolerance also crept in. Knowledge of other Cultures I realized that exploring your own cultural identity can be the hardest thing to do. Our own culture is so deeply ingrained in us but unless we understand our own rules and norms we shall not understand other cultures. I was quick to adapt to a new culture because prior to arriving in Canada I had done some reading on this culture which helped me develop a positive attitude towards it although I lacked