The Telephone Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Telephone Technology - Essay Example Subscribers who wanted to communicate with more than one point had to obtain and set up as many pairs of telephones as the number of communicating points. Telephone technology was restricted to domestic lines. It was Western Union which first used telephone exchanges to interconnect individual subscribers in 1878. Alexander Graham Bell’s Bell Telephone Company was quick to incorporate the concept of telephone exchanges. Though the Bell Telephone Company was supposed to have monopolized the telephone business for more than 15 years since its invention, there were nevertheless as many as 1,730 telephone companies operating during the period. In the initial days, the most serious contender tot Bell’s monopoly was Western Union which had bought patents from others who had designed variations of Bell’s original principle of telephone, and had created the American Telephone Company as early as in December 1877. Had Bell not own the patent infringement case against Western Union in the Supreme Court of America in 1879, Western Union, with its large telegraph network already in place, was poised to overtake the Bell Telephone Company within a very short period of time. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company was set up in 1885 to provide long-distance service to American Bell Company subscribers. The Bell Telephone Company had been expanded and rechristened the American Bell Company in the meantime. The first automatic commercial exchange began operating in 1892. By the turn of the century, independent telephone companies were fast overtaking the American Bell Company. In 1889 the first public coin telephone had been set up in Hartford, Connecticut. These were attended payphones with the payment collected by someone standing at hand. The invention of the electron tube in 1906 by Lee De Forest made amplification possible and led the way to national phone service. The subsequent development

Choosing Between Wants and Needs Research Paper

Choosing Between Wants and Needs - Research Paper Example Decisions stemming from standards of living are learned as an outcome of numerous factors like the family, social class, subculture, and culture (Chaudhuri, 2006). Ideas, concerns, and endeavors show how consumers face the difficulty of reaching an appropriate purchasing decision. This paper discusses the effect of self-perception and motives on the conflict between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. The discussion seeks to identify the most effective marketing strategy in terms of consumers’ buying decision and behavior. Self-perception Views or perceptions serve as a primary component in the assumed risk of buying a product. Assumed risk embodies the uncertainties of the consumer or the conflict between consumer wants and needs. Several distinct techniques may be employed to lessen risk (Michman, Mazze, & Greco, 2003). Primarily, assumed risk can be lessened by a search for product reviews prior to the purchase. Moreover, the consumer can transfer from one form o f assumed risk to another form that is of less effect on the understanding of purposes if this technique is unsuccessful. Also, the buying transaction can be delayed, hence postponing a risk scenario. Lastly, the risk can be fully taken in by making the purchase. The way consumers make use of risk-mitigation or decision making techniques relies somewhat on lifestyle and character factors (Michman et al., 2003). The forms of assumed risk are a monetary loss, status/prestige loss, and time loss. Outlooks are influenced by personality, learning, demographics, social forces, and perception (Holbrook, 1999). Marketers attempt to build favorable consumer outlooks toward their products/services. Outlooks embody sentiments toward a good originating from values, ideas, and beliefs. As a result, consumers form beliefs and ideas about products/services and their features. Outlooks reveal the decision whether to purchase a want or a need. One of the most prominent models of linking outlooks to consumer behavior and decision making is employed by the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center (Michman et al., 2003). The purposes of consumer spending for expensive goods are examined. For instance, buyers are interviewed if they have a certain desire to make a purchase, a possible desire to purchase, an uncertain choice to purchase, or a certain objective not to purchase a new house equipment or car over a specific time period. Outlooks are normally very hard to alter, yet marketers may be capable of attaining the change in outlooks through open and effective communication, specifically if the perceptions of consumers about the product are inaccurate. The outlooks of consumers toward brands are relevant due to the fact that these outlooks do affect consumer choices and behavior. Change in outlooks requires transforming the motivational aspect linking the product/service to a specific class or occasion or altering perceptions about the products of competitors (Hol brook, 1999). Consumers nowadays formulate new techniques to confront the difficulty of deciding what to buy as environmental patterns, advanced technology, and the Internet transform or alter their outlooks and the value they assign to product features like user-friendliness and speed. Motives Marketers do not have the power to monitor or quantify motivation. A motive is a consumer decision’s internal status (Chaudhuri, 2006).