European Union Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

European Union Law - Essay Example Negligence need not be proved. Any damages so awarded should include an element for pain and suffering and also for loss of wages past, present and future. The Act excludes liability for loss of wages. It also imposes the burden of proof on the victim to prove his/her case. Both the Directive and the Act were intended to replace the existing national laws of negligence in relation to the Product. In May 2004, Byrd was prescribed a mild sedative by his doctor as he was suffering from work-related stress. The Product was manufactured by Omnia Pharma PLC (â€Å"Omnia†) a company registered in England. Two weeks after starting the treatment, Byrd developed a skin complaint, suppurating psoriasis, which was painful and also unpleasant to look at. As a result, he became a recluse and was dismissed for persistent absence by his employers. Thereafter, he attempted to commit suicide but was discovered in time. He is still very disturbed mentally. The starting point is to consider what directives are, how they are implemented and what the overall effect of directives is. In order to deal with the above it is necessary to examine the law regarding the binding nature of Directives. It is also necessary to examine the implementation of the Directive and discuss whether there has been any breach by the company. If a breach is established it will then be possible to assess what losses the company will be liable for in respect of the claim by Byrd. A discussion on direct and indirect effect is also essential in order to establish whether Byrd can claim under either of these headings. In order to be able to assess whether Francovich damages would be the most effective claim against the UK there needs to be a discussion on what Francovich damages are and when these can be claimed. To be able to decide whether a directive is binding it is necessary to understand what a directive is. A directive has been

REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

REPORT - Essay Example Whilst at the time the Market Oracle forecast was for growth for 2008 of between 1% and 1.3%. Now some 7 months into the year, and a series of adjustments later the mainstream forecasters are starting to come around to our forecast for 2008.† (Walayat, 2008) The above statistics clearly shows that the current crisis is more serious than anticipated. Even most of the expert economists were failed to predict the current crisis and hence most of the organizations could not take any precautionary measures to tackle it. ‘As per British chamber of commerce unemployment may cross more than 3 million as Britains manufacturers, retailers and service industries feel the full effects of the downturn. Most of the economists now think that the current recess may be worse than that happened in 1990s. The UK economy may be lessened by as much as 2.9%, which may result in the risk of deflation this year. (Inman, 2009) Real estate sector is one of the most affected areas in Britain also like most of the other countries because of the current crisis. The house prices have almost reached an all time low in the recent past. Archer predicted house prices would fall another 15%, while Capital Economics said it could be as much as 20% as the cost of the average home headed for a 50% fall from its peak in the summer of 2007. (Inman, 2009) Most of the organizations are now searching for organizational strategies and change management theories to survive during these dipping economic period. They are now studying the external environment, analyzing their organization’s competitive advantages, implementing new strategies, changing the existing management styles, studying organizational culture and efficiency to counter the problems caused by the current recession. The famous British economist, Herbert Spencer, who first coined the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ to summarize Darwin’s revolutionary

The Mending Wall Essay Example for Free

The Mending Wall Essay A stone wall separates the speaker’s property from his neighbor’s. In spring, the two meet to walk the wall and jointly make repairs. The speaker sees no reason for the wall to be kept—there are no cows to be contained, just apple and pine trees. He does not believe in walls for the sake of walls. The neighbor resorts to an old saying: â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors.† The speaker remains unconvinced and mischievously presses the neighbor to look beyond the old-fashioned folly of such reasoning. His neighbor will not be swayed. The speaker envisions his neighbor as a living relic from a justifiably outdated era, an example of a dark-age mentality. But the neighbor simply repeats the saying. Review The image at the heart of â€Å"Mending Wall† is striking: two men meeting on terms of civility to build a barrier between them. They do so out of tradition, out of habit. Yet the very earth conspires against them and makes their task Sisyphean. Sisyphus, you may recall, is the figure in Greek mythology condemned perpetually to push a boulder up a hill, only to have the boulder roll down again. These men push boulders back on top of the wall; yet just as inevitably, whether because of the hunters or sprites or at the invisible hand of nature, the boulders tumble down again. Still, the neighbors persist. The poem, thus, seems to be based on three themes: barrier-building (segregation, in a sense), the doomed nature of this activity, and our persistence in this activity regardless. The speaker may dislike his neighbor’s pointless wall-building, may observe the activity with humorous indifference, but he himself goes to the wall at all times of the year to mend the damage done by hunters; it is the speaker who contacts the neighbor at wall-mending time to set the annual appointment. Which person, then, is the real wall-builder? Looking at it from a different perspective, the building of walls, both literal and figurative, mark the very foundation of society. Figuratively, rules and laws are walls; justice is the process of wall-mending. The ritual of wall maintenance highlights the dual and complementary nature of human society: The rights of the individual are affirmed through the affirmation of other individuals’ rights. In this way the neighbor’s need for wall-mending seems justified.

Sociologists definition of religion

Sociologists definition of religion Even tough sociologists dont have a true definition of religion, they all generally believe that it is a belief in some sort of supernatural. Sociologists such as Functionalists, Marxists Feminists believe that religion is a conservative force, meaning that it inhibits changes within society and maintains the status quo. However, where Functionalists see this as a good thing, Marxists look at it from a more negative aspect. Other sociologists like Neo-Marxists, Marx Weber, and McGuire .. believe religion to be a source of change. The functionalist Emile Durkheim (1912) believed that religion is central to the reproduction maintenance of social order in societies. He argued that the main function of religion is to socialize societies members into a value consensus, by setting shared beliefs, rituals and sacred objects apart. He did an investigation on the role of religion, in a small tribal community in Australia; The Aborigines. He found that the members of this community worshipped sacred objects; objects that are things that are set apart forbidden, which evoke feelings of awe, respect deference, holy things. These objects, called Totems, were a symbol, -usually a plant or animal-, by which the tribes distinguished themselves from one another. In worshiping these sacred objects, individuals would obtain an identity and social membership (or collective consciousness), because they shared the same beliefs, values, traditions norms, that make social life possible. Durkheim stated that in worshipping a societys symbols, its members are unconsciously worshipping their society of which they are a part. According to Durkheim, these unifying practices and beliefs bind people closely together because it forms a balanced and solid moral community, which is a means of protecting individuals from anomie, alienation and other threats. This solidarity also gives individuals the confidence continuing motivation to face up life and ask for social support from other members whenever needed. This strengthens social solidarity, or collective consciousness in society- the sense of belonging somewhere. This is why Durkheim sees religion as conservative and inhibiting social change, which is desirable because its functional and people dont want to change anything about their ways of life. Durkheim was praised a lot for the ways he had done his research because he managed to keep an objective distance of a sociologist, and therefore made it his task to understand the functions of religion, and not to pass his judgements. Also, his argument that the sacred is a symbol of group values has been recognized by many, as in history, people have rallied to flags, crucifixes and holy scriptures. However, his research might be said to be somewhat out of date, as he took his analysis from pre modern societies, and it has to be asked how relevant his theory is in todays western societies. Also, because Durkheim never visited the aboriginal society himself, his methodology was said to be flawed. Some say that he misunderstood Totemism, ad generalized about other societies based on one small Aboriginal society. Durkheims theory on religion was ground breaking and very influential, inspiring much further research. The functionalist Bronislav Malinowski (1954) agreed with Durkheim on all the points he made about the role of religion. However, he focussed on the specific areas of social life with which religion is concerned, and managed to point out that another function of religion is to provide support for societys members in situations of social stress, like birth, death, marriage, divorce etc., where religion serves to reduce anxiety tension resulting, which threaten to disrupt social life. In this sense, religion keeps society stable at times of individual and societal confusion and disorder and makes sure that people dont reject the shared norms, values and traditions due to times of hardship. An example would be after the 2004 Great Indian Ocean Tsunami, where most of the worlds religions sent support teams to the disaster area helped to rebuild the place. They wanted to rebuild schools as fast as possible in particular, to maintain the important link between society, education religion. Unlike Durkheim, Malinowski actually went and lived in the society where his work was based on, gaining primary data. This is seen as a very positive thing, because no accusations of his work being flawed could be made. Also, his idea about how religion helps in time of crisis uncertainty can be seen in todays society e.g. the funeral of Princess Diana, where people gathered together expressed their grievance. However, like Durkheim, he makes broad generalizations based on his study of just one small scaled society, which obviously does not represent life in modern western society. The functionalist sociologist Talcott Parson (1965) believed that religion was a conservative force, because its the primary source of meaning for members of society. It provides answers to eternal questions dealing with death, the evil, suffering and justice. Often these questions appear to be unjustified, and therefore they might threaten to undermine peoples faith. However, religion provides answers; e.g. for the question why do evil people prosper religion might give the answer that these evil people will get punished for their deeds in the afterlife etc. By providing these answers, religion helps to make sense of all experiences, which keeps society in order and stable, therefore inhibiting changes. So, religion promotes social stability rather than change, by relieving tension frustration that could disrupt social order. However, Marxists would strongly disagree with this idea, as they believe that by focussing on the afterlife, people passively accept exploitation. Marxism is a conflict theory. Like functionalist, they believe that religion is a conservative force, but they dont see it from a positive view. According to these sociologists, religion is an institution of domination oppression, and a means of social control, inhibiting changes in the social class inequalities in society. They argue that religion legitimizes social inequality, keeping the working classes in a state of false consciousness, not being aware of the true nature of their exploitation passively accepting their lower status. This is because, according to Marx, religion acts as the opium of the people -it works as a pacifying drug-, as it doesnt solve any problems that people may have, but only dulls the pain, as people inactively put up with their sufferings, believing its Gods will and so unchangeable, remaining in a state of false consciousness, thinking they will be rewarded in heaven. Marxists on the whole believe religion creates passive individuals, who do not attempt to change the world for the better, but simply accept spiritual alternatives. The fact that Marxists believe that man makes religion, religion does not make men sums up their ideas. In other words, if an individual is alienated exploited, he or she is likely to turn to religion and find the answers there. This is the reason why most religions originate in the oppressed classes (the working classes), as they have a need in religion, to gain a sense of renewed strength and confidence to move on with life. According to Marxists, the ruling classes are using religion as a tool to maintain ideological control, making it less likely that the members of the working class will recognize the fact that they are being exploited therefore revolt in this way, religion is seen as a conservative force. Marxist have gained theoretical support from feminists because they agree with Marxists about the fact that religion causes conflict, passing on negative norms and values to members of society, although they believe these deal with gender inequality rather than class inequality. However, a negative aspect of the Marxist view is that they ignore secularization, as the ideological power of religion has been undermined by the fact that people in society tend to be less religious today than in the past. Also, they are too deterministic in saying that religion is a conservative force for social class inequalities. Religion can be a force for social change, and it has done so in the past, improving the lives of millions of oppressed working class people. E.g. the Civil Rights Movement (USA) where South African churches played a major role in changing white supremacist society. Also, the levellers in the English Civil War wanted a communistic society, basing their ideas on Christianity the Bible. Like Marxists, Feminists believe that religion is a means of social control, oppressing women and keeping men in power. They argue that religious beliefs are merely a patriarchal ideology, restricting social change and justifying social inequality. Feminist believe that through secondary socialization, religion teaches preaches the norms values of the men, helping to legitimize the suppression of women. Much evidence is given to support their view. Feminists argue that religion is seen from a male point of view; holy texts are all written interpreted by men, reference to male characters is a lot more than women in these texts, and Gods tend to be men in almost all major world religions. This gives men the feeling of being holier and gives a justification to see women as second hand citizens therefore, as I said, legitimizes gender inequality. Also, where there is reference to female characters in holy texts, a passive and nurturing gender role is attached to them.. ADAM EVE.. Gender role ideas are also reinforced in religious texts. Men are portrayed as being strong and insuperable Women on the other hand, are portrayed to be passive, unintelligent They argue that religion is a conservative force, as it reproduces, maintains legitimizes gender inequality. However, there are also sociologists who believe religion to be a source for social change. Firstly, Neo-Marxist, However, not all Marxists agree that religion is purely the opium of the people. Neo-Marxists, who are writers that have tried to update the writings of Karl Marx to suit new developments in society, have rejected the view that religion is merely a conservative force. They believe that religion can be a force for social change, being used by the working class to bring about social change. Antonio Gramsci (1971), who wrote his ideas about religion around the 1920s, was aware of the fact that the Roman Catholic Church had shaped the minds of its followers over centuries, supporting ruling class interest, by making the poor oppressed focus on the afterlife rather than this life. However, he believed that the working class could revolt to the class inequalities, by producing their own intellectuals, who represent working class experience therefore help to shape working class consciousness. Gramsci argued that religious beliefs and practices could develop that would support guide challenges to the ruling class because the church was not directly under their control. Otto Madurdo argued that social liberation could occur, (freedom through religion) but he believed this could only happen If the oppressed masses were not to produce their own intellectuals, but if they were go to their religious leader, taking their discontent to the churches and let them decide a plan of action bringing about changes as happened in Poland, South Africa and South America. This is called the liberation theology- freedom through religion. Father Camillo Marx Weber was another sociologist who believed that religion could be a source for change Strengths of his theory were that

The Origin and Structure of our Universe Essay -- Physics Universe Spa

I suppose that the Universe we can observe and cognize consists of self-developing hierarchically co-subordinate and genetically relative systems of cosmic bodies. Each of the systems is distinguished by the qualitative state of substance composing its bodies but main evolution mechanisms are common to all the systems. What is common to all the systems? The central most massive body of every system is a parental body for its younger members. The central massive body of every system at intervals conceives in its interiors new cosmic bodies to put them into initial (circum-parental) orbits. In other words, the central body of every system stimulates newborn bodies to move under their own momentum (along a straight line) and to rotate about its axis due to its own gravitational attraction force. But the central gravitating body constantly and intensely loses its mass (photon and corpuscular). So, the orbits of newborn bodies are (must be) spiral-like rather than closed due to the law of universal gravitation. It means that newborn bodies move away from their parental body that is every system expands. It should be noted that every cosmic body is imponderable, i.e. it undergoes gravitational interaction with other bodies. What is the cause? The cause is that imponderability is provided by a certain orbital rate of the body controlled by the law of universal gravitation. The rate depends on radius of the body orbit relative to the system's central body: the more is the orbit radius, the less orbital rate the body needs to be imponderable. It can be seen from the motion of the Solar System's planets, satellites of giant planets and from the Earth's artificial satellites launched by man. The motion of both artificial satellites and cosmic bodies is governed by the same laws. I suppose that our Universe consists of hierarchically relative systems as follows: The first system: the Origin - the central gravitating body of our Universe, and its born nuclei of super-galaxies (the Origin is not considered in the present work). The second system: nuclei of super-galaxies and their born nuclei of galaxies. The third system: nuclei of galaxies and their born stars. The fourth system: stars and their born planets including giant planets, comets, meteorites. The fifth system: giant planets and their born satellites, comets, meteorites. One specific feat... ...ycles, regularity in variations of the Earth's biota and even its evolutionary orientation: from simple to complex, from protozoans unicells to man. In other words, the genetic code of the Earth is recorded in the congealed layers. Its deciphering will provide us with an insight into the past and the future of the Earth. In conclusion, a quick look at the future of the Earth as a planet. As it moves away from the Sun thus losing the supply of the Solar energy, the Earth will have to cool down. Its active geological processes will stop. The future of the Earth is the present of the Mars. But if my hypothesis is true, the future of the Earth is not so dismal. Penetrated beneath the lithosphere the man can be the owner of a huge bulk of treasures... as congealed layers of chemical elements. In other words, the humanity is provided by natural resourses. The problem is only how they can be extracted. Moreover, by defrosting elementary layers in the future, the humanity could revive the congealed Mars by regenerating its natural atmosphere and create conditions favourable for the existence. According to V.Vernadsky, the humanity will really become the geological and cosmic force.

Mr. Blake’s views on Upon Westminster Bridge :: Westminster Bridge Poetry Essays

Mr. Blake’s views on Upon Westminster Bridge I read Mr Wordsworth’s poem. I was dismayed by his views on London. I was horrified when I read the first line. â€Å"Earth has not anything to show more fair,† I believed he would have experienced beautiful views since he was brought up in the Lake District. He obviously has not seen London in 1794. I have lived in London for many years of my life. I have seen people in poverty from the poorest parts of London to people in mansions the richest places. One day I was walking through the streets of London and it sprung upon me to write a poem. This is my view on the real London. I opened the poem with the line â€Å"I wonder through each chartered street† I used this word wandered to make it seem as if I was freely roaming the streets not knowing where I was or where I was going. As if I was lost down the back streets of London. Chartered street carry’s the mark of changed and revolutionised London. All the streets seemed dull and grim and had something mysterious about them. My second line was on the same theme as the first line first from it id talking about the Thames! â€Å"Near where the chartered Thames does flow,† in the first draft of this poem I wrote dirty Thames instead of â€Å"chartered Thames.† I changed because I felt that it would have more effect. Everywhere is dirty in London, but I am trying to say that everywhere is dull and grim; also as you are walking through the streets it is like deja vu. One of the most distinct things about London is how the people look and feel. My next two lines are, â€Å"And mark in every face I meet marks of weakness marks of woe† As l walked though the streets I could see no one was smiling. I actually felt sorry for some people. Nearly every person I met looked ill or suffered from malnutrition due to over working, low income, no food and poor living space. I used this stanza to emphasize my views and to make it sound more obvious, to paint a picture in the readers mind â€Å"In every cry of everyman â€Å" this next stanza is very strong and meaningful. A crying man is not often heard. Unless he is under real distress. Suffering is a very big theme in the street of London everywhere you walk you can see it in the stanza, I started the first three lines with â€Å"in every† to emphasize my point.

How can buyer attitudes about products country of origin affect marketing strategy Essay

A number of researches have been done on the effect of the county of origin (COO) on the acceptance of a product.   There has been close related studies examining attitudes within a country towards imported goods based on the evaluation of their country of origin.   Although most of the studies have focused on  Ã‚   consumer from the developed country, it has been shown that even consumers in the developing nations have developed certain attitudes on products based on their country of origin. There are some countries which are associated with high quality products while there are others which are associated with low quality products.   The attitude of the consumers about a product based on their country of origin affect the marketing strategy of the commodity since the marketing strategy will concentrate on creating a positive attitude on the products in the markets where customers have a negative attitude.   Compared to other marketing influences, country-of-origin has a lesser effect on the process of consumer decision making but it affects the overall acceptance of the products depending on the level of influence in the market. (Daser 1997, p.53) The concept of Country-of-origin Country of origin is an important factor that affects the consumer purchasing decision making and industry purchases.   The country of origin in combination with other marketing characteristics has great influences on the perception of the product in the market.   This is  Ã‚   based on the concept o superiority or inferiority. Most of the studies conducted on the issue assert there are few stereotypical images that are consisted across a number of nations.   For example the image of robustness of Gernamn products, the luxurious products from France,   the cheap products from Korea, the substandard products from china, and many others.   There are also positive stereotypical images that have also been upheld. For example the Iranian pistachios and rugs, vegetable from Poland, Oranges from Israel, Coffee form Columbia, French perfume, Silk from china,   Leather from Italy, electronics from Japan, and Rum from Jamaica. (Cattin 1992, p. 244) These stereotypes have not been based on emptiness. They have either been based on  Ã‚   hearsay, experience or just a myth. At the same time is has been shown that customers will react different from country of origin cues.   For example, Japanese goods are highly rated by consumers all over the world.,   in china western products which retail   at more than three times the domestic products are   in   relatively high demand, in Russia the country of origin of the product is more important than then the brand name of the product which   pus product from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and others still suspicious in the country,   Australian like French perfume but   thy will not buy French cameras of French wine, and   others Most of the studies conducted on the evaluation of the Japanese and American consumers have shown that Japanese products are considered to be of high quality  Ã‚   and therefore they are  Ã‚   preferred by the consumer to product from other countries.   This same effect has also been found in studies conducted in several other areas on the world.   Studies conducted in other areas in the world like Saudi Arabia and Bahaarian, Nova Sotia, Finland, South East Asia, Peoples Republic of China, Hong Kong, and other have all rated Japanese products as superior to other product in the world as far as it relates to service, promotion, and delivery. With the increasing presence of  Ã‚   foreign products in the domestic markets,  Ã‚   there have been increase studies in the last one decade about the perception of these productions the market and the preference of consumers when purchasing them.   The country of origin cue has become an important factor in the market as consumer tend to evaluate imported goods   differently than the way they   evaluate domestic produced goods. Most of the studies have been carried out in American and have shown that American consumes have a preference to certain products from some countries. They tend to purchase products from  Ã‚   some countries as compared to others.   This has shown a national stereotyping phenomena which is not limited to the US only but has been observed in other countries. The same findings have been found in England, Finland, Canada, New Zealand, France, and Singapore. (Howard 1994, p. 92) Consumer attitudes and perception of  Ã‚   important from various countries usually vary from one country to another. What the consumers of country A will perceive product from country X is not the same way consumer in Country B will view the same products.   Although it has been shown that the relationship between  Ã‚   the two countries  Ã‚   is an important factor, the overall reputation of the production the market is a major factor affecting the consumer perception. It has also been found out that even consumers writing the same country may have different views of the same product with show individual variance within the same country.   Consumers’ attitude about the product from a particular country can also vary with time as the rate of development and pace of industrialization changes.   Change in market development in the culture and  Ã‚   lifestyle in that particular country can also affect the perception of the product. (Akaah 2003, p. 78) A  Ã‚   country at its initial pace of development may accept cheap product from a country while this may change rapidly as the country develops its own industries. This varies with the levels of disposable income which signify the rise of a middle class in any country. As a middle class emerge in a country, it may have an influence in the perception of a product from country which may influence market trends. Early studies on consumer attitudes and preference of domestic and imported produces tend to focus on  Ã‚   just one cue instead of a number of cues that could show the market influences. However the trend have chanced in the last three decades with most studies focusing on multiple cues which   have been designed to use tangible products   rather that  Ã‚  Ã‚   description of the   products. According to these early studies,  Ã‚   the effects of Country of origin were shown to have a direct effect on the existing beliefs of eh consumers. The past experience on the product is also an import factors that influence the attitude that a consumer may have on the product from a certain country. Other studies have shown that it may necessarily be the same product that the consumer may have had an earlier experience with but it may be another product which will affect the construction about the product from that particular country. (Loureiro and Umberger 2002, p. 59) To create a certain perception about products from a certain country, consumer use  Ã‚   evaluation based inference to reason about the image of that product.   This means that it will evaluate factor of quality value, styling, and others and correlate them with  Ã‚   the country of origin.   This is known as the halo effect where a belief about a trait of a certain products which in this case is the country of origin of the product produces a certain belief structure on traits that are not known to the customer but which are congruent with the traits that have already been experienced by the consumer.   The willingness of any consumer to purchase a product is based on the  Ã‚   characteristics of the country of origin of the product and its people.   The perception about the country of origin may also be affected by the comparison that the consumer makes about the similarities and differences between their country and the country of origin of the product.   This comparison may be made in terms of the economic development, political status, the social culture climate, and other factors which may crate differences and similarities between the two nations. (Dougla and Nonaka 1995, p. 350) Therefore it shows the  Ã‚   country of origin is one factor that embraces so many other factors inside it.   There are other market considerations that are made about the country of origin that ultimately determine consumer perception of the  Ã‚   products.   In this case there are several factors that we can identify that influence the overall consumer perception of the country and the products. Some of these factors include the following: †¢ Quality †¢ Technology †¢ Features of the product †¢ Brand recognition †¢ Perception of value †¢ Advertising images †¢ Perception of retailers and distribution These are some of the factors that may affect consumer perceptions of the products based on the country of origin.   There are many other factors that a customer takes into considerations but these are the main ones. Let us look closely at each of these factors. (i) Perception of quality The quality of the product is important to the consumer as it is used to develop descriptive and inferential beliefs about the product and service.   The  Ã‚   actual consumer choice of a product can be as a direct function  Ã‚   based on these medicating beliefs.   This shows the  Ã‚   quality evaluation is important factor in the overall decision making process of the consumers.   If the consumer develops a positive quality attitude towards the product, they are likely to increase  Ã‚   their confidence on the  Ã‚   product evaluation before giving their final choice.   There are several studies that have documented that quality is second to price in the consumer choice of product from foreign countries. (ii) Technology sophistication perception Sophisticated technology can be defined as technology which involves a high level of  Ã‚   operation using complex material and equipment.   It is also as production process that uses high level of skills to formulate and develop products. In this case we can take the examples we had given earlier bout Japan. It ahs been argued that   products from Japan have been receiving a high   rating and   increased preference in different parts of the world owing to the   high level of   technology that is used to produce them.   It has also been shown that American consumers have shown increased preference to German made products owing the capability of German to produce high technology products.   Contrary to this   a study carried out in Austria showed that   they preferred products from   Euro pan compared to other products outside Europe due to the high level of technology used to produce   goods in Europe. (Crodel 2003, p. 53) (iii) Features of a   product as suited to the market The features of a product compared to other in the market are an important factor that determines the overall product perception and choice preference.   Simple features like colour of the product, has been shown to be an import factor in the purchase of product like bread as compared to  Ã‚   price and nutritional aspect of the bread.  Ã‚   Yellow coloured bread which appears to have been prepared with a lot of eggs is mostly preferred compared to white bread by consumers in the market.   A study carried out in New Zealand showed the colour of the automobiles was important in the overall effect of purchase of automobiles. (iv) Recognition of the brand   Consumers have shown increased preference of  Ã‚   well known brands compared to unknown brands owing to its prestige. It has also been shown that preference of favourite brands is a way of  Ã‚   reducing risk in the purchase decision.   Brand recognition is an important factor that helps the consumer confidence in the purchase of branded products.   A country with a portfolio of well known brands will create a positive attitude towards the consumers and they are likely to purchase other products from the same country event without  Ã‚   preference to quality of the product. In this case country branding is very important in influences the overall consumer perception of products from that country.   If we take a contemporary example of Japan and China, we will find the both of them are emerging markets in the world.   While Japan is reputed for its quality in and durable products, china on the other hand is known for  Ã‚   cheap low quality products.   Apparently china accounts for more than 70% of all the counterfeited products in the world.  Ã‚   Therefore it would be difficult to convince a consumer from a country that china which is reputed with cheap low quality products can actually produce high quality products. It has also been found out that consumer have an increased preference toward branded produces rather than unbranded products. A study carried out in Britain showed the American and French brands were preferred by British retail managers as they were more recognized compared to the domestic brands. (Bannister and Saundrsm 1998, p. 60) (v) Perception of values The perception of values involves the overall consumer assessment of the use of a product  Ã‚   based on the   consumer will give in monetary values and what they expect to receive in terms of  Ã‚   quality. This is a kind of a balance equation that the consumer makes regarding the products that they wish to purchase.   The past research that have been carried out on the perception of values have shown that compared to all countries in the world, Japanese products were low priced while at the same time they were considered to be of high values and therefore the consumes preferred to buy them because they got an acceptable product values for the amount of monetary sacrifice they made for that particular product.  Ã‚   A recent study has also shown that Japanese products are likely to be preferred to the US products even without so much concession on the price of the products. (vi) Advertising image The adverting strategies that are used in the market can improve the image of the products and therefore increase the consumer preference of the product.   There has been a reported relationship between advertising influence, that attitude toward a brand, and consumer preference in the marketing  Ã‚  Ã‚   of the product.   In the early emergence of the Japanese products, they were shown to receive a low key in the market  Ã‚  Ã‚   because they were not well advertised and their low prices  Ã‚   created a negative consumer perception.   After some years, Japanese product recorded increased sales in Canada, US, Britain, Hungary, and others where they had recorded low sales after an aggressive and competent advertising that changes consumer perception. (vii) Distribution and retailing perception   The realties influence the consumer preference and decision to purchase a product through their promotional efforts.   Retailers makes particular efforts to promote the products to in the market  Ã‚   through merchandise offering, merchandise display, reliable dissemination of information, and through many other efforts.   The retailer can also influence the consumers by presenting a higher credibility for a product and an apparent warranty and guarantees which increase consumer confidence in that particular product.   Consumer perception of a products has partly been linked to various level of activities carried out by the retailers in creating their awareness about that product in the market. Weak promotion activities have a negative effect on the consumer perception of quality and  Ã‚   preferences to purchase that particular product. (Cheung and Dention 1995, p. 55) There are the main factors that influence the perception of a product from a country.   This shows that  Ã‚   country of origin is influenced by the above  Ã‚   factors.  Ã‚   Consumer perception is not a  Ã‚   condition that is created at once but it is an after thought  Ã‚   which comes after interplay of the above factors.   Country of origin perception is not a condition that is crated overnight and does not evaporate overnight but it is a perception that may last for some time and may be difficult to deconstruct.