Admission Essay Writing

Admission Essay Writing Admission Essay Writing College admission essay writing is rather difficult for students of all academic levels. While writing admission essay you should show your ability to concentrate and to create a good paper. You should always keep in mind that commission will evaluate your writing skills as well as the presentation of your essay. Every year different educational institutions and colleges get thousands of admission essays. It is a key prerequisite to be creative and original. People who read admission statements understand that everybody is talented and unique in some way or another. You should explain why and what you can do better than others and support your points with the vivid examples. You should make them believe in you being an acceptable candidate for their program. Do not be afraid to present your advantages. Describe all of your achievements in school, for example, you might take part in some competitions and won them. While deciding which information to include or exclude from your admissionessay you should think about situations, goals, and application requirements. If, for example, you decided to go to law school, you should mention that you have been active throughout college, carved out time for community service. Write about your recreational interests. While writing law school admission essay, feel free to develop ideas, take advantage of the experiences of those who preceded you etc. Do not waste words on general sentences. Remember that in your admission essay you do not have to tell about your imperfections.. Your task is to show your bright personality, however, try to be yourself and honest. Avoid exaggerations and especially lies in admission essay, pay special attention to grammar and spelling. Ask someone to proofread your colle ge admission essay:http://.com/blog/college-application-essays Graduate Admission Essay If you decided write an essay within a couple hours, it would be bad idea and the result of such essay would be also unsatisfactory. Start essay writing with outline creation, of course, after the topic is chosen. Arrange your ideas and start writing one paragraph at a time. Whatever method you use to make sure to allow time for revision. Don't start your essay the night before you have to send it out. Ask others to read your essay and give you honest evaluation; tell them that it is important to know what areas they find unclear or unnecessary. Remember that your success depends on your ability to present yourself in a manner that is attractive to admissions committees. Revise your essay until you are satisfied with it. Custom Admission Essay Writing Ordering custom admission essay writing at .com, you receive 100% plagiarism free essays which is professionally written and interesting to read. Do not miss an opportunity to be accepted in your dream university with our help. Numerous students have already used our custom services and they stay with us for years because we deliver essays of premium quality only! Read more: Narrative Essay How to Write an Essay Examples of Persuasive Essays Descriptive Essay Writing Conclusion Writing

My Self-Publishing Suite

My Self-Publishing Suite Publishing my own work was a business decision, not a path chosen in a fit of pique. The success of my investment depended on two primary factors. First, every hour I spent away from my regular work cost me money, so I had to protect my time. Second, my book needed to be readily available in all the formats my readers would want, so I had to maximize my book’s distribution. There was just one problem: No single service would give me all the pros I needed to overcome the cons of self-publication. Self-publishing provides a great deal of benefits. For me, the most important was the ability to publish on an accelerated schedule while maintaining my quality standards. Unfortunately, the publishing process required considerable time and money. At first, I thought there would be a single-point service available that would deliver everything I needed to make my book a success. After extensive research, however, I realized that I would need to piece together the suite of services I needed from among several different providers. The first step was for me to upgrade my website. I needed a professionally designed website in order to market and sell my books. I hired Robb Digital Marketing, one of my marketing clients, to design and build my new site. When it came to my new logo, Tamara Robb recommended 99Designs.com. I was so impressed with their production process that I turned around and hired them to produce my cover art, too! Based on my experience with my website, I’d already learned that when it comes to design, the opportunity costs of a do-it-yourself job cost are greater than the cost of hiring a pro in the long run, so I was looking for a publishing service that could layout, publish, and distribute my book in print and digital formats. BookBa As a professional marketer, I knew better than to beleive that my book was finished just because it was published. I also knew I was weak in two vital areas: publicity contacts and social media consistency. Once again, I turned to my network. I hired Ascot Media Group to handle my book’s publicity and I went back to Robb Digital Marketing for their social media and newsletter creation services. Finally, all the pieces were in place. It took more time and more money than I had initially expected, but the results were outstanding. My first book was so successful that I was able to publish my second book the very next month! When I first brought this idea to Hope, she said, â€Å"Each decision is unique, depending upon budget, fiction/NF, online savvy, speaking talent, etc.† She’s right, of course. Your platform is different from mine. You have different assets, different skills, and different needs. You can’t expect to achieve the same outstanding results for your book But you don’t have to settle for a package deal either. Self-publishing gives you control over your publishing experience. Exercise your control with care

Analyse article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analyse article - Essay Example Furthermore, the article points out that oceans absorbs more carbon dioxide thus making it more acidic which erodes the skeletal structure of the corals. Consequently, these factors have led to loss of 27% of the coral reefs and an estimated 60% could be lost in 30 years. Accordingly, the article points out that when these corals are exposed to acidity conditions, or pollution, zooxanthellae and other microscopic algae in the process referred to as â€Å"coral bleaching† (Vallery 2015).These microscopic algae alongside the zooxanthellae are responsible for the production of oxygen, food and the beautiful rainbow colors that have made human beings to fall in love with the corals. Similarly, coral reefs usually plays a significant part in terms of ensuring that the aquatic system stays healthy and therefore it is important that coral reefs be preserved. Sadly, the article points out that loss of coral reefs would lead to up to 25% of the loss of the total biodiversity of the aquatic and marine life. Furthermore, this loss would lead to the extinction of various marine animals consequently affecting the global ecosystem. Quite surprisingly however, the article points out that the loss of coral reefs can be avoided. The article illustrates that a scientific study found that 12 out of 21coral reefs were able to recover as a result of the coral bleaching process. In a nutshell, the article talks about the importance of coral reefs in the overall ecosystem, whilst airing the concern that it has continued to face depletion. Therefore, the article campaigns towards the reduction in the amount of loss of the coral reefs, in order to realize a healthy ecosystem. People are therefore faced with the responsibility to ensure that coral reefs are given the chance to survive. This can be achieved through minimization of human actions such as overfishing, releasing carbon dioxide and other

Heroic Paradigms from Iliad to Aeneid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Heroic Paradigms from Iliad to Aeneid - Essay Example The Aeneid does not explicitly deal with Roman politics in fact it is a story about a mythological figure Aeneas who lead Trojans to Italy after the Greeks destroy their homeland. Unlike Homer’s Aeneas who is portrayed as a warrior who boasts about his prowess on the battlefield and then proceeds to lose in every one of them since he was a bad warrior Vergil projects him as a tragic figure who is in search of a rational explication about the actions of God who destroy human beings and make them suffer, The same Gods who love and protect him. Some of the major heroic paradigms that are explored in â€Å"The Iliad† include the ideals of heroism: bravery, courage, super-strength, intelligence and nobility. The Homeric Hero is a man of action who is never incapacitated because he survives on his instinct. Unhindered by doubts he soars above humanity and performs action that ensures his ever lasting fame and glory. Achilles fits this description of Homeric Hero although it i s observed that his character develops gradually through out the text. The readers realize that Achilles of Iliad 22 is a man with a higher mission, who is ready to stake everything, including his own life in order to fulfill his mission. Hence he acts totally differently from the man of Iliad 1 who acts as a petulant child with a short temper and has the tendency of making irrational decisions. Therefore it can be inferred that the glory associated with Homeric Hero lives up to the definition of a hero of the Greek times. So it is perceived that the audience of the time believed that a hero should be an individual above all other human beings with special qualities of bravery, strength and intelligence. On contrary Aeneas is introduced in the poem as, â€Å"And suddenly Aeneas felt his limbs go numb with cold †¦I envy your fate†¦Why didn't you kill me on the plains of Troy When you had the chance and free my soul with your strong hand?† (Vergil 3). In the very begi nning the protagonist has surrendered his will to fate and desires death. This explication is in complete contrast to the heroic paradigms set by the Greeks. Hence from this it can be inferred that Vergil’s Aeneid enlightens the readers about the cultural trend during the Vergil’s time had shifted from hero worship to a character more closely related to a common man who suffers pain and is not above the rest of mankind. Western Thought According to Plato and Aristotle the best way of learning is through communicating with others or collectivization. Socrates ‘Dialectic Method’ is a common technique that is employed in most of the classes. According to which he sat in the market place, started of a conversation on a certain topic and then picked up their flaws out of the ensuing argument and then brought each conversation to a proper ending or conclusion. A similar style of discussion and study is also implemented in this course of philosophy. This method h elps the students to not only think about and share their personal ideas but also it enlightens them about the thoughts and feelings of their fellow students as well hence providing them with an opportunity to learn from the experiences or the point of views of other individuals. The Early Western thought processes of each writer vastly differ from one another. For example although Homer and Vergil in their respective epic poems deal with same mythological figures yet

Health Safety and Security Essay Example for Free

Health Safety and Security Essay Outline how legislation, policies and procedures relating to health, safety and security influence health and social care settings. M1: Describe how health and safety legislation, policies and procedures promote the safety of individuals in a health or social care setting. Within health and social care there are a number of acts and procedures set out in legislation which must be followed. These acts ad procedures influence care settings by offering practical examples of good practice and the way that health and social care should be delivered. They provide advice on how to comply with the law and determine what is reasonably practicable. The acts enforce a duty of care to everyone who is involved at all levels such as the service user, the service user’s friends and family and the staff. The first act I will be looking at is the Health Safety at Work Act 1974. This act was put into place to protect employees from exploitation and being over worked. The main features of this act are that employers-who employ more than five employees-must provide a written health and safety policy, take precautions to reduce the possibility of accidents occurring, provide training to enable staff to work safely, provide equipment (if needed) to ensure the health of those working. Employees must comply with health and safety policies in the workplace and report any potential hazards. Also, employees need to be fully informed of their rights and responsibilities and leave nothing to chance. ‘The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is the primary piece of legislation covering work-related health and safety in the United Kingdom. ’ www. nidirect. gov. uk/ For the employees, this act means that training in all aspects of health and safety is compulsory so they would need to be fully informed about policies and procedures such as what to do in the event of a hazard to minimise any risk. So, the employee would know what to do, who is responsible, how to report the hazard and how to deal with it. Also, the employee would have important knowledge about fire regulations and how to evacuate the building (know where the fire exits are). It prevents employers from exploiting employees and having them work long hours and shifts in health and social care. Service users can be at risk if the people who are caring for them are overworked and tiered. Employers themselves could be held responsible if there are breeches of health and safety at work. If the training is inadequate for manual handling and the use of equipment then employees can be injured. Volunteers are subject to the same requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act too. Some employee legislation is weakening, yet this act is strengthening in its influence and interpretation. This act also influences health and social care settings for service users. People receiving the service need to be sure that the building is a safe place to be. They can be vulnerable and dependent upon the staff and the work environment for their safety. This is a huge responsibility and the law reflects the magnitude of this. In schools, children have been known to of ‘gone missing’ or walked out. Relatives need to know that their children or siblings are being constantly monitored and that freedom and independence is balanced with health and safety procedures. The second act I will be looking at is the Data Protection Act 1984. This act introduced basic rules of protection of people’s personal information. ‘The Data Protection Act 1984 introduced basic rules of registration for users of data and rights of access to that data for the individuals to which it related’. http://www. out-law. com/page-413. It was designed to protect individual’s personal information from being passed on to other people, also known as confidentiality. ‘The purpose of the Act is to protect the rights and privacy of individuals and to ensure that data about them are not processed without their knowledge and are processed with their consent wherever possible’. http://www. soas. ac. uk/infocomp/dpa/policy/overview/ The principles of the Data Protection Act include: obtaining and processing data fairly, ensuring accuracy and relevance of information and taking effective measures to prevent unauthorized access to data. Individuals have the right to be told if a third party holds information about them, obtain a record of that information, and require correction if necessary. The Data Protection Act was reviewed in 1998; this newer act gave employees the right to see their personal records. This act was again reviewed in 2000 to include computerised data. For employees, this act ensures that their personal information can only be accessed by their employee and themselves. This protects the employee from hassle from third parties. For employers, this act prevents them from selling person information of there employees to third parties. However, this can be breached, but only on a need to know basis such as for public or individual safety and if the information is needed by a court order. In health and social care, the Data Protection Act protects service users/patients details being passed on to anyone unnecessary. However, their details may need to be passed onto other professionals if they are under the care of more than one health or social care professional. If the information is shared between these professionals, they understand that it will not be used apart from where it is needed. An example of this would be a school and carers or social workers. The school would need to know what situation the child is in and then they can adequately safeguard him/her. It may be that one parent is not allowed contact with their child. This keeps all involved safe. ‘Where information is shared, there is an implied understanding that the information will not be used except where it is strictly needed to help the professional provide the service’.

Fan Violence: Whos To Blame? Essay examples -- essays research papers

â€Å"These people want to hurt you. It’s frightening. You feel like you’re in a cage out there†. Reggie Smith, (Berger, 1990). Spectator violence at sporting events has been recorded throughout history. People who have power over the events, often team owners, indirectly influence the amount of spectator violence by encouraging the factors contributing to violence, in order to benefit themselves. Sale of alcohol, encouraging crowd intensity, creating rivalries, and targeting social groups, are factors affecting the degree of spectator violence and can be proven to be influenced by the owner’s actions. Therefore the blame for spectator violence can be attributed to whoever has power over the sport. Many historians suggest that an increase in spectator violence coincides with the commercialization of sports. Anthropologists agree that in societies where games were not for profit, they were enjoyed as celebrations of physical skill without competitiveness or violence between players or spectators (Berger, 1990). However, when people gained power or financially from the sporting events, spectator violence increased (Berger, 1990). Public spectacles and games were part of the Roman Empire. Each emperor had an amphitheater and the size of the crowd reflected the emperor’s wealth or power. The emperor through crowd excitement could influence spectator violence to such an extent that gladiators could be killed or freed depending on the crowd’s effect on the emperor (Robinson, 1998). The emperor encouraged the Roman working class, â€Å"to forget their own suffering, by seeing others suffer,† while the senators, and emperor would benefit financially from gambling p rofits (Robinson, 1998). With the commercialization of sports, owners’ profits increased with alcohol sales. Beer drinking has been an integral part of sports since the late 1870’s. Chris van der Alie noticed that his saloon did well when St. Louis Brown Stockings were in town. As a result, he decided to sell beer at the games. On February 12, 1880, Alie signed a contract with the Browns allowing him to sell alcohol on their property (Johnson, 1988). During a game on July 6, 1881, the first alcohol related brawl broke out in the crowd, injuring twenty spectators and killing two (Johnson, 1998). The signed contract with the Browns’ was a financial bonus for the owner, however permitting alcohol to be sold, might h... ...ger, G. (1990). Violence And Sports. New York: Library of Congress-in-Publication Data Johnson, O. (1988 August 8). Sports and Suds. Sports Illustrated, pp. 70-72 Atyeo, D. (1979). Blood and Guts. New York: Paddington Press Chapman, A. (1988, January 19). Violence Jeopardizes Tourney. Newsday, p. A4 Davidson, K. (1983, May 3). Study Links Boxing, Homicide. Newsday, p. A7 Berger, M. (1982). Sports Medicine. New York: Crowell Hazelton, L. (1989, April-May). British Soccer: The Deadly Game. New York Times Magazine, pp. 40-43 Robinson, L. (1998). Crossing The Line. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Taylor, R. (1992, June 16). Football and its Fans. St. Martin’s Press, p. B3 <a href="http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/baseball/bol/features/flashbacks/06_04_1974.html">http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/baseball/bol/features/flashbacks/06_04_1974.html Schumacher, E.F. (1975). Small is beautiful: Economics as if people mattered.New York: Harper and Row Tiger, L. (1970). Men In Groups. New York: Vintage. Bonney, N., & Giulianotti, R. (1994). Football Violence and Social Identity. New York: Routeledge Oliver, C. (1971). High For The Game. New York: Morrow.

Brand Equity, Perceived Value and Revisit Intentions †an Evidence from the Hotel Industry

CHAPTER – I INTRODUCTION 1. 1 INTRODUCTION Both the domestic and foreign arrivals have shown a rapid increase with India emerging as a vibrant and varied tourist destinations. The domestic tourism industry grew at a rate of 10. 7 % in whereas foreign arrivals at 8. 1% in 2010 (Indian Tourism Statistics,2010). To feed this splurge in arrivals hotels are booming across India and this most importantly has not been restricted to just metros. Even second tier cities like Bhopal, Amritsar, Surat, Ranchi etc are being looked upon as potential feasible destinations of upscale star brands.The hotel industry in India can be divided into eight segments based on the norms set by the Ministry of Tourism. They are 5-Star Deluxe, 5-Star, 4-Star, 3-Star, 2-Star, 1-Star, Heritage and Unclassified. However, the 3-star, 2-star, 1star and unclassified hotels in India are spread across the length and breadth of the country and are highly fragmented in nature, whereas, the upscale, mid market and h eritage categories are highly organized. Domestic tourist arrivals are the backbone of Indian Hotel Industry as the number of Domestic Tourists is more than 100 times (Indian Tourism Statistics, 2010) as compared to Foreign Tourists.Domestic tourists are of 2 types, Leisure travelers and Business travelers. Growth in leisure travelers is driven by rising personal discretionary income, evolving lifestyle, growing number of multi earner families, weekend vacation culture, improvement in rail, air as well as road connectivity, diverse topography and rich cultural heritage. Drivers of domestic business traveling are rise in trade and commerce, increasing geographical spread of companies, growing MICE culture. Players like Lemon Tree, Ginger have identified that there is dearth of quality rooms in the mid market segment.Entry of organized players is expected to improve the quality of offerings and bridge the wide gap between midmarket and upscale category. The competition in hotels has u ndergone drastic changes from being dependent on service or price advantages to increasingly relying on brand management. This change has been typically accompanied by the accelerating effects caused by the massive entries of foreign brands into India. Since all hotels basically offer the same products and services customers do tend to rely on established brands or where they have visited for easy selection.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 1 As Prasad and Dev (2000) stated, the stronger the hotel brand equity, the more customers will prefer that hotel brand. Brand equity had been widely recognized as the most valuable asset to companies and has become a top management priority since it can more easily retain customer loyalty, launch product extension and be synonym with price premium (Aaker, 1991; Lassar et al. , 1995; Keller, 1993). It is due to this fact that hotels prefer acquiring an existing brand for expansion rather than developing a new in-house brand.Exa mple Marriott international took over Ritz-Carlton by adopting an acquisition strategy rather than developing a new luxury segment. In marketing aspects, building a strong brand yields a number of marketing advantages. This includes greater customer loyalty, higher resiliency to endure crisis, and increased marketing communication effectiveness. Ambler et al. (2002) argued that great effort should be exerted for creating and sustaining customer-based brand equity, in that the recognition of the importance of customers? value to a firm? s asset has been increasing in recent days.Farquhar (1989) argued that the brand has value only if it has meaning to the customer. Cobb-Walgren insisted (1995) that â€Å"it is important to understand how brand value is created in the mind of the consumer and how it translates into choice of behavior† (p. 26). Moreover in India brand equity as concept is very different. Customers may perceive an unclassified hotel to be a stronger brand, which they can associate themselves to than a 3 star rated hotel. The categorization of the brand may be based on their familiarity with the staff, the ambience offered, price etc.Thus measuring brand from the customer? s point of view becomes very important. Krishnan (1996) contended that an investigation of customers? mindsets should be conducted before measuring any other aspects of brand equity because customers mindsets about brand is a starting point for understanding the brand. Barwise (1993) stated that the only way to predict marketing actions of brand is measuring the brand equity from the customers? perspectives. By measuring these customer perspectives tactical and marketing decisions can be made and brand extended.Aaker (1991) established five components of brand equity; brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations and other proprietary brand assets. Figure 1 shows the five dimensions of brand equity. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIO NS 2 The five dimensions of brand equity affecting value to the customer have the potential to add value for the firm. Brand loyalty is both one of the dimensions of brand equity and is a consequence affected by brand equity. While brand loyalty is an attitudinal concept as one of the components of brand equity, it can also be a behavioral concept adding value to the firm.In this study, just the first four dimensions of Aaker? s brand equity will be adopted because the fifth category representing patents, trademarks, and channel relationships address the firms? asset rather than customer perceptions and reactions to the brand. Thus, it is considered another intangible asset of the firm. This study examines whether the four components of brand equity affect customer value, and finally marketing result which is revisit intent adding value to the firm as a behavioral brand loyalty. Brand equity has been defined by many researchers according to the viewpoints of their studies?.However, there is an agreement among researchers that brand equity is the value added to the product by the brand (Farguahr 1989). From the customers? perspectives marketing effects can be attitudes, awareness, image, and knowledge (Aaker 1991; Keller; 1993; Agarwal& Rao 1996), while from the firms? perspectives, outcomes can be price, revenue, and cash flow (Simon & Sullivan 1993). BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 3 This study assesses the four components of brand equity developed by Aaker (1991).These four components include brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand association and brand awareness. According to Aaker? s definition, brand loyalty is â€Å"a measure of the attachment that a customer has to a brand. It is one of the indicators of brand equity which is demonstrably linked to future profits, since brand loyalty directly translates into future sales† (p. 39). Oliver (1997) defined brand loyalty as the tendency to be loyal to focal brand as a primary choi ce. In this study, overall attitudinal loyalty to a specific hotel brand was measured.The other of three dimensions follow Aaker? s definition. Perceived quality is â€Å"the customer? s perception of the overall quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to alternatives†. Brand awareness is â€Å"the ability of potential buyers to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of a certain product category. A link between product class and brand is involved†. Finally, Aaker defined brand association as â€Å"anything linked in memory to a brand†. 1. 2 SIGNIFICANCE AND NEED OF THE STUDYThe rapid transition of India to a market economy and being one of the fastest growing nations today it is getting unprecedented attention. Domestic demand for hotels has historically been higher in India a is growing at a healthy rate coupled with an increase in foreign arrivals. Indian hotels are now starting to realize the import ance of brand equity and loyalty seeing their foreign counterparts who are making a beeline for Indian shores. Service and product alone are not able to capture the customer when he has no dearth of options at all price points.Hence the importance of Brand Equity. Krishnan and Harline (2001) mentioned that service brands in the marketing literature received relatively less consideration than their product counterparts even if the service sector has dominated the economy in most advanced countries. While there is no dearth of branding literature on consumer goods yet only few researches have been carried out in the hotel industry. Moreover in the Indian context there are minimal researches. It is in this respect that this research will provide valuable insight.Finally this study will measure brand equity and its relationship with perceived value and revisit intentions across different categories of hotels representing various price points and compare for difference. BRAND EQUITY, PER CEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 4 This can test the veracity of the notion that even hotels with small inventory offering basic services at the lower price end can have brand equity more than the higher starred hotels. 1. 3 Objectives of the research The research objectives of this study are three fold : 1. To measure brand equity by adopting Aaker? (1991) four dimensions of brand equity which are brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand association and brand awareness in hotels. 2. To investigate the impact of brand equity on customer perceived value, and revisit intent in the Hotel Industry. 3. To compare the results of this study with a similar study carried out in USA. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 5 CHAPTER – II LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 INTRODUCTION Keller (1993) defines customer-based brand equity as the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand.Brand knowledge consists of two dimensions: brand awar eness and brand image. He stated that factors such as awareness of brand, and consumer memory including favorability, strength and uniqueness in which a customer had experienced brands affected brand knowledge. Customer-based brand equity, thus, is enhanced by creating favorable responses to pricing, distribution, advertising, and promotion activity for the brand (See figure 3). BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 6 Aaker (1996) suggests brand equity ten, a specific guideline for measuring brand equity.He groups ten sets of measures into five categories brand loyalty, perceived quality, association, awareness and market behavior measure. The first four categories represent customer perceptions and the fifth expressed the information obtained from the market. He also suggested that all measurement items did not have to be standard across different market segments. He indicated that one should take appropriate modifications according to the characteristics of each ind ustry into consideration when adopting the measurement of this brand equity ten.Table 1 depicts the specific measurement items of each dimension recommended by Aaker. Erdem and Swait (1998) measured the brand equity in an information economics framework which emphasized the role of credibility as the main determinant of consumer-based brand equity. In that framework, consumer-based brand equity is related to negative information as well as positive information such as high quality products, and the reduction in perceived risk and information costs attributable to brands as antecedents of brand equity, which is unlike the psychological approach.In their study, brand is regarded as a signal conveyed by the marketing mix strategies and activities associated with that brand. The information should be credible so that a brand can create value, thus, the market process by which credibility is created is important. Therefore, the consumer? s behavior and the firm? s behavior affect brand v alue as signals of product positions. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 7 2. 2 MEASUREMENT OF BRAND EQUITY Capon et al. (1994) argued that there were two kinds of brand equities which were organizational brand equity and customer brand equity.He stated that on organizational based brand equity, financial values such as potential earning, market value, replacement cost can be criteria for the measurement of brand equity. On customer base equity, customers? consideration sets, customer based perceived quality, and preference and /or satisfaction can be measured. Thus, the measurement of brand equity can be divided two perspectives which are financial perspectives and customer perspectives. ? Financial Perspectives Based on the financial market value of the firm, Simon and Sullivan (1993) developed a technique estimating a firm? s brand equity.By decomposing the value of intangible asset which is one of the components of market value of the firm along with tangible a sset, brand equity can be estimated. They identified three categories consisting of the value of the intangible assets; a) brand equity, b) technological advantages such as patent and R&D and c) industry structure and the regulatory environment. The following equation is the value of intangible assets of a firm. V I ? (V b1 ? Vb2)? Vnb ? V ind V I value of the firm? s intangible assets V b1 value of the â€Å"demand-enhancing† component of brand equity such as perceived quality Vb2 alue of expected reductions in marketing costs that result from established brand equity Vnb non-brand factors giving rise to cost advantages such as patent and R&D Vind industry structures and regulatory environment Here, Vb1and Vb2 are the value of brand equity determined by the four factors which are current and past advertising, age of brand, order of entry and current and past advertising shares. By using this technique Simon and Sullivan analyzed the brand equity of each BRAND EQUITY, PER CEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 8 ndustry. They found that industries which are oriented toward strong consumer products have high brand equity. They also observed the impact of marketing events on brand equity by comparing the values of brand equity of Coca-cola and Pepsi. They discovered that their technique was adequate for measuring the effect of marketing events. Customer Perspectives Kamakura and Russell? s (1993) approach is based on the actual purchase behavior using check-out scanner data to estimate brand value to the customer. Their underlying oncept of measuring brand equity is a consumer choice model in which the perceptions of a brand? s attributes are related both to the characteristics of physical product and to psychosocial cues. On the basis of this conceptual model, they developed a measurement method of brand value, defining brand value (BV) as a measure of the intrinsic utility consisting of brand tangible value (BTA) and brand intangible value (BIV). BV= BI V + BTV BTV represents physical features of the product and BIV is the perceptual distortions and other responses to psychosocial cues which is a measure of the value of intangibles.For estimating this model, they analyzed the household purchase histories in a scanner panel by employing a clusterwise logit model in which customers are segmented for each brand market on the basis of long-run brand preferences and short-run responses to the marketing mix such as the order of entry and advertising. The first step of estimation by regression analysis is specifying the number of preference segmentations of brand by relative size, price and advertising sensitivities and brand values.Identifying a set of relevant physical features and obtaining objective measure of these features and then removing them from the brand value are crucial processes of estimating brand intangible value because of the complexity of analyzing the brand intangible value. To illustrate this methodology, Kamakura an d Russell apply it to the powder laundry detergent category. They found that the order of entry is relevant to creating positive brand intangible value, but large investments of advertising does not positively impact brand intangible value.Lassar et al. (1995), on the basis of Keller? s conceptualizing of brand equity in which consumer-based brand equity occurs when the consumer is familiar with the brand and holds some favorable, strong, and unique brand associations in memory, identified five important elements of brand equity; consumer perception, global value associated with a brand, global value stem from the brand name, relative competition, and financial performance. From these BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 9 ive characteristics, they defined brand equity as the enhancement in the perceived utility and desirability a brand name confers on a product. They developed five underlying dimensions of brand equity which are performance, value, social image, tru stworthiness and commitment/attachment. Blackston (1995) stated that brand equity could be seen as two perspectives which were brand value and brand meaning. He contended that brand meaning influences and creates brand value because value depends on the meaning, changing the brand meaning is equivalent to changing the value of the brand.Brand meaning consists of three dimensions including brand salience, brand association and brand personality. He proposed the brand relationships model in which all three were divided by two dimensions: brand image/brand personality and brand attitude. Thus, by measuring these two dimensions, he suggested that marketers could set their brand strategies. Dyson et al. (1996) proposed a consumer value model (CV) as a starting point for measuring brand equity by which the share value of requirements for each brand for each respondent can be estimated, correlating to consumer loyalty.For underpinning the factors affecting the brand? s consumer loyalty, th e BrandDynamics Pyramid developed by Millward Brown, an institution for evaluating brand equity, was used, and consequently they identified the key elements which discriminated between differing degrees of loyalty. The CV model bridges the gap between consumer and financial equity. The aggregation of the individual respondent consumer value model allows predicting market share, a familiar sales measure with a direct relationship to a brand? revenue stream. Yoo et al. (2000) investigated the relationship between the marketing mix and brand equity. Their proposition of the research stated that the marketing mixes such as price, store image, distribution intensity, advertising spending, and price deals affect each brand equity component including perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand awareness combined with brand association. They also examined how each component of brand equity affected the „overall brand equity? developed by the researchers.They employed a structure equati on model for estimating the parameters of their conceptual model, and consequently found that high price, high advertising spending, good store image, and high distribution intensity are related to high brand equity, whereas frequent price promotions are related to low brand equity. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 10 2. 3 BRAND EQUITY RESEARCH IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY Berry (2002) stated that branding plays a special role in service companies because strong brands increase customers? trust of the invisible purchase.However, despite the increasing importance of branding decisions in the services domain, there has been relatively little research in this area. Due to the special characteristics that service possesses such as inseparability, heterogeneity, intangibility, and perishability, an argument that the measurement brand equity in services should be different from physical goods has been rising. Yet, several researchers tried to adopt consumer-based brand equi ty for measuring brand equity in services. Krishnan and Hartline (2001) assessed brand equity in the context of services marketing and compare it to brand equity for goods.They examined three types of services and one type of tangible good for their research according to three attributes that goods and services possesses, which are search, experience, and credence attributes. The result of their study is that brand equity is more important for services than for goods, which is quiet a different view from the traditional literature review. Mackay (2001) applied existing consumer based measures of brand equity to a financial services market. His study is meaningful in that it is the first attempt to adopt the measurement of consumer based brand equity to the services industry.He finds that the measurement is reliable and valid in service marketing, and that the best measurement of brand equity in terms of correlation with market share is brand awareness. Kim and Kim (2004) investigate d the relationship between customer based brand equity and quick service restaurant (QSR) chains? performance. They measured four dimensions of brand equity: brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand image. Through regression analysis they explored the correlation between brand equity and sales revenue.Consequently, they found that brand equity had a positive effect on the performance, especially brand awareness among the four dimensions of brand equity is the most important factor affecting QSR performance. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 11 2. 4 BRAND EQUITY RESEARCH IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY Cobb-Walgren et al. (1995) demonstrated how the consumer? s brand perception affects the brand preference and brand choice. In their study, they adapted the familiar hierarchy of effects model as a framework for studying various antecedents and consequences of brand equity from the perspective of the individual consumer.In their study, brand equity was not m easured directly. Consumers form perceptions about the physical and psychological features of a brand from various information sources. These perceptions contribute to the meaning or value that the brand adds to the consumer-i. e. brand equity. Brand equity then influences consumer preferences and purchase intentions, and ultimately brand choice. After comparing Holiday Inn and Howard Johnson, they discovered that the brand with a higher equity generates significantly greater preferences and purchase intentions.Considering customers as the sources of all cash flow and resulting profits, Prasad and Dev (2000) developed a customer-centric index of hotel brand equity. This customer-centric brand equity index was a measure for converting customers? awareness of a brand and their view of a brand? s performance into a numerical index. This was based on: actual customer data on customer satisfaction, intent to return, perception of price-value relationship, brand preference, and top-of-min d awareness of the brand.Kim, Kim, and An (2003) investigated the relationship between brand equity and the firms? financial performance. Based on the dimensions of customer-based brand equity which are brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality and brand image, Kim et al tried to identify BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 12 brand equity? s correlation with financial performance (RevPAR) in the hotel industry. The result revealed that brand equity perceived by the customers can affect generating revenue.Brand equity research in marketing has largely concentrated on a customer-based approach. Keller (1993) mentioned that the customer-based brand equity is more practical for managers in that it provides for them a strategic vision of customer behavior that can be adapted to brand strategy. Yet, Ailawadi et al (2003) insisted that the measuring of customer mindset cannot be objective and that it is difficult to calculate the precise figure because its measure ment is based on consumer surveys. In this study, brand equity measurement from a customer perspective was adopted.Especially, the items Yoo and Donthu (2001) have developed were mainly used because some researchers (Washburn and Plank, 2002) proved its validation. Sun et al. (2008) investigated the impact of customer based brand equity on 6 mid-price hotels in U. S. A. The results indicated that brand loyalty had the least score which they concluded showed that it was most difficult to win loyalty of the customers. Moreover apart from brand loyalty, none of the other dimensions had any effect on revisit intent but perceived value did have an impact on revisit intentions of the customers.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 13 CHAPTER – III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1 CONCEPTUAL MODEL A model of this study has been constructed. In this model, dimensions of brand equity affecting perceived value and revisit intention will be argued. Each of the constructs in the proposed model is described and the theoretical support for the hypothesized relationships is set forth. In this paper, the approach and questionnaire developed by Sun et al. (2008) has been used. In their study, as method of measuring brand equity, four of the five dimensions of Aaker? s brand equity (Aaker 1991) were adopted.Aaker (1991) mentioned that brand equity consists of brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association and other proprietary brand assets such as patents, trademarks, and channel relationship. However, since the fifth components was not relevant to the consumer perception, only the first four components of brand equity were adopted, and this study takes that approach forward implementing it in the Indian scenario. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 14 Sun et al. (2008) described the four dimensions of Brand Equity with Perceived Value and Revisit Intentions in the following ways :BRAND LOYALTY Loyalty is a core dimension of brand equity. Aaker (1991) described brand loyalty as â€Å"the attachment that a customer has to brand† (p. 65). A strong form of attachment refers to the resistance to change and the ability of a brand to withstand bad news. Brand loyalty can be seen as two types: attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. Gounaris et al. (2003) summarized these two types of brand loyalty in which behavioral loyalty refers to repeated purchase and attitudinal loyalty refers to a strong internal disposition towards a brand leading to repeated purchases.Oliver (1997) defined brand loyalty as the tendency to be loyal to focal brands as a primary choice. In their study, overall attitudinal loyalty to a specific hotel brand was measured as a dimension of brand equity and behavioral loyalty which in the hotel industry can be translated into revisit intent. PERCEIVED QUALITY Zeithmal (1988) defined perceived quality as the consumer? s perception of the overall quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to alternatives.Aaker (1991) mentioned that perceived quality could be considered two different contexts which are product quality and service quality. While product quality consists of seven dimensions: performance, features, conformance with specifications, reliability, durability, serviceability, and fit and finish, service quality dimensions are tangibles, reliability, competence, responsiveness and empathy. Since the hotel industry is one of the important service businesses, in their paper, the measurement of service quality model (SERVQUAL) developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) was adopted. BRAND AWARENESSBrand awareness is â€Å"the ability for a buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of certain product category† (Aaker 1991, p. 61). Aaker (1996) refers to brand awareness as the strength of a brand? s presence in the customer? s mind. Brand awareness can be measured as a brand recognition or bra nd recall, otherwise both of them. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 15 In their study, Yoo and Donthu (2001)? s item scale which measures brand recognition was adopted. BRAND ASSOCIATION Aaker (1991) defines brand associations as â€Å"anything linked in memory to a brand† (p. 109).This includes the strength, favorability, and uniqueness of perceived attributes and benefits for the brand. (Keller 1993). On the basis of this concept of brand association, Yoo and Donthu (2001) developed items for measuring brand association. PERCEIVED VALUE Customer value is defined as â€Å"the consumer? s overall assessment of the utility of a product based on the perceptions of what is received and what is given† (Zeithmal, 1988, p. 14). Sweeny et al(1999) interpreted this value as â€Å"the trade off of salient „give? and „get? components† (p. 79). In the same study, they found the positive effect of perceived quality on perceived value.REVISIT INTENTIONS It is the intention to repurchase the product or reuse the service. Washburn & Plank (2002) examined the relationship between different dimensions of brand equity including brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association and repurchase intention. They found that the correlation between the dimensions of brand equity and repurchase intention is significant. In the study, repurchase intention was modified into revisit intention. 3. 2 HYPOTHESIS The following hypothesis were made to measure the impact of Brand Equity on Perceived Value and Revisit Intention.Hypothesis1: The four dimensions of brand equity positively affect the perceived value of the Hotels. H1a: Brand loyalty will have a positive effect on customers? perceived value . BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 16 H1b: Perceived quality will have a positive effect on a customers? perceived value. H1c: Brand awareness will have a positive effect on a customers? perceived value H1d: Brand association will have a positive effect on a customers? perceived value Hypothesis2: The four dimensions of brand equity positively affect Revisit intention of the hotels H2a: Brand loyalty will have a positive effect on customers? evisit intention H2b: Perceived quality will have a positive effect on customers? revisit intention H2c: Brand awareness will have a positive effect on customers? revisit intention H2d: Brand association will have a positive effect on customers? revisit intention Hypothesis3: Perceived value will have a positive effect on revisit intention of the hotels. Hypothesis4: The perception of the people regarding Brand Equity Dimensions, Perceived Value and Revisit Intention varies across the three segments of the hotels. H4a :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Loyalty varies across the three segments.H4b :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceive Quality varies across the three segments. H4c :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Awareness varies across the three segments. H4d :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Association varies across the three segments. H4e :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceived Value varies across the three segments. H4f : The perceptions of the people regarding Revisit Intent varies across the three segments. Hypothesis5: The perception of the people regarding Brand Equity Dimensions, Perceived Value and Revisit Intention varies with age.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 17 H5a : The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Loyalty varies with age. H5b :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceive Quality varies with age. H5c :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Awareness varies with age. H5d :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Association varies with age. H5e :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceived Value varies with age H5f : The perceptions of the people regarding Revisit Intent varies with age.Hypot hesis6: The perception of the people regarding Brand Equity Dimensions, Perceived Value and Revisit Intention varies with gender. H6a : The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Loyalty varies with gender. H6b :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceive Quality varies with gender. H6c :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Awareness varies with gender. H6d :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Association varies with gender. H6e :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceived Value varies with gender. H6f : The perceptions of the people regarding Revisit Intent varies with gender.Hypothesis7: The perception of the people regarding Brand Equity Dimensions, Perceived Value and Revisit Intention varies with Income. H7a : The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Loyalty varies with income. H7b :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceive Quality varies with income. H7c :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Awareness varies with income. H7 d :The perceptions of the people regarding Brand Association varies with income. H7e :The perceptions of the people regarding Perceived Value varies with income. H7f : The perceptions of the people regarding Revisit Intent varies with income.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 18 3. 3 SAMPLING : Chandigarh has more than 50 hotels at all price points. The range lies from Hotels having an ARR of just Rs. 600 to a Hotel like Marriott where the present tariff is Rs. 10400 base category room. It was decided to do this research on hotels across various price points and hotel star judgements. Thus price points for a number of hotels were taken and together with the perceptions of 10 respondents regarding their segments. Finally for this study the following 10 hotels were taken, divided into three segments.Upscale: J. W. Marriott, Mount View and Bella Vista. Mid-Price Segment- Amara, Maya Hotel, Western Court Budget – Aroma, The Piccadily, Sunbeam and Himani Residenc y. The sampling method used was Stratified Random of the people visiting these 10 hotels for their stay in Chandigarh. The sample size was estimated to be 225, taking around 20-25 respondents from each of these hotels. The data collection process was carried out over the months of November, December and January and a total of 215 filed questionnaires were collected from these properties. 3. INSTRUMENT DESIGN : A self-administered survey questionnaire was used as the data collection tool, as suggested by Crimp and Wright (1993) that it is a valuable tool that is flexible, fast, accurate and easy to be used in statistical analysis. Miller et al. (2002) believe that a large sample size obtained via questionnaires can provide unbiased statistical results and can be implied as the representatives of the whole population. The questionnaire as mentioned earlier was taken from the one developed by Sun et al. (2008). It consisted of 2 sections.The first statement provided specific statements for each dimension. The items for measuring brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association followed by perceived value and revisit intent constituted this section. The demographic information was the second section of the questionnaire. The questionnaire had 31 total items. Brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association are measured on a five point Likert scale, with 1 for â€Å"strongly agree† and 5 for â€Å"strongly BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 19 disagree†.Except perceived quality, all items were modified to a hotel context from the original format of other studies. Parasuraman et al. (1988) developed the SERVQUAL model for measuring service quality in which all items were divided into five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. This study will adopt Gabbie and O? Neil (1996)? s tool for measuring hotel service quality. In their study, the first four dimen sions were assessed because the empathy dimension of SERVQUAL was less important and even irrelevant in hotel service quality.Brand loyalty is considered as perceptual/ attititudinal loyalty consisting of one of the components of brand equity. However, as Aaker mentioned (1991), brand loyalty is regarded as both one of the dimensions of brand equity and is affected by brand equity. Therefore, this behavioral loyalty can be used to estimate the consequences of brand equity. 3. 5 PRETESTING : In Churchill? s (1995) term, the pretest, a stage during the questionnaire design process, is usually conducted after the completion of the initial questionnaire, but before the data collection procedure.Its basic objective is to ensure that the structure and language used in the questionnaire are appropriate enough to enable the instrument to actually collect the data required from the target population (Reynolds and Diamantopoulos 1996). Compeau et al. (1995) recommend that a pretest should be conducted prior to the real distribution of the questionnaires in order to find out the deficiencies and validate the instrument. In this study pretesting was done on a convenience sample of 20 respondents. It was observed that the respondents found no ambiguity while filling up of the questionnaire.Moreover the Cronbach alpha calculated for these 20 respondents in SPSS yielded an Apha of 0. 834, which was more than acceptable level of 0. 7. Hence the questionnaire was retained as it is in its current form and used further up for data collection. 3. 6 STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED : The research data collected was analyzed using SPSS V. 19 and the following statistical techniques were employed. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 20 Correlation Analysis The preliminary analysis of the degree of linear association between the variables has been done with the help of correlation.Correlation is a statistical device which helps in analyzing the co variation of two or more variables. Correlation analysis determines the degree of relationship between two or more variables. In other words it? s a technique that is used to measure the closeness of the relationship between two or more variables. The correlation analysis can be broken into two steps: 1. Determining whether a relationship exists and if yes, the measuring it. 2. Testing whether it is significant. There are different methods of measuring of measuring the correlation but the two prominent methods are: 1. Karl Pearson? s coefficient of correlation. . Spearman? s coefficient of correlation. For the purpose of the present study, Karl Pearson? s coefficient of correlation has been used. The following are the general rules for interpreting the value of r: ? ? ? When r = +1, it means there is perfect positive relationship between the variables. When r = -1, it means there is perfect negative relationship between the variables. When r = 0, it means there is no relationship between the variables i. e . the variables are uncorrelated. The closer the value of r is to +1 or -1, the closer the relationship between the variables and the closer r is to 0, the lesser is the relationship.The coefficient of determination i. e. r2 is defined as the ratio of the explained variance to total variance. Coefficient of determination = Explained Variance/ Total Variance BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 21 Regression Analysis Regression analysis focuses on techniques for modeling and analyzing several variables when the focus is on the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. More specifically, regression analysis helps understand how the typical value of he dependent variable changes when any one of the independent variables is varied while the other independent variables are held constant. Most commonly, regression analysis estimates the conditional expectation of dependent variable given the independent variables- that is, the average value of the dependent variable when the independent variables are held fixed. The estimation target is a function of the independent variables called the regression function. ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) ANOVA is a statistical technique designed to test whether the means of more than two quantitative populations are equal.It consists of classifying and cross classifying statistical results and testing whether the means of a specified classification differ significantly. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 22 CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS The hypotheses constructed on the basis of literature review are tested using various techniques in this stage of data analysis. SPSS version 19. 0 was used for analyzing the data by employing various tests that are explained in this Chapter. Before the data analysis begins, the data is first edited and coded.Editing involves checking the data collected through questionnaires for completeness, omissions and legibility. Since the data f orms were self administered, care was taken to get omissions and illegibility in forms simultaneously corrected from the respondents. Despite that in 8 forms it was noticed discrepancy in the nature of some variables not being answered. They were marked 3 signifying a neutral score or undecided one. A lower score for the variables indicated a better positive response and a total of 215 usable questionnaires were obtained from the data collection process. . 1 Demographic Profile of the Respondents Demographics regarding gender, age, income level and the segment of the hotel where they stayed has been shown in this section. Table 4. 1 Gender-wise distribution of respondents Hotel Segment * Gender Crosstabulation Gender Male Hotel Segment Budget 46 Female 34 29 17 80 Total 80 75 60 215 Mid-Price 46 Upscale Total 43 135 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 23 Chart 4. 1 Bar-graph of the gender wise distribution of respondents An analysis of the table and chart reveals th at a majority, 62. % of the respondents were male and the rest female. Moreover whereas there was almost an equal distribution of males throughout the 3 segments, most of the female respondents were taken from the Budget segment. Table 4. 2 Age-wise distribution of respondents Hotel Segment * Age Crosstabulation Age 54 0 2 2 4 Total 80 75 60 215 Mid-Price 12 Upscale Total 10 50 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 24 Chart 4. 2 Bar-graph of the age wise distribution of respondents An analysis of the above reveals that a majority of the respondents totaling to 92. 1% were below the age of 44 years.The highest number of the respondents were from the 25-34 year bracket while the lowest, just 4 respondents above the age of 54. Moreover it is noticeable that as the age went higher there were more respondents opting out for Mid-Price and Upscale hotels. Table 4. 3 Income-wise distribution of respondents Hotel Segment * Household income per month Crosstabulation Hotel Segme nt Budget Household income per month 100000 Total 6 21 28 25 80 12 11 44 22 19 69 28 27 80 75 60 215 Total Mid-Price 13 Upscale 3 22 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 25 Chart 4. 3 Bar-graph of the income wise distribution of respondentsAn analysis of the above reveals that the majority 37. 2% of the respondents had a household income greater than 1 lakh per month while 32. 1% in the 50001-100000 bracket. 20. 5% of the respondents were earning between Rs. 20000-50000 while just 10. 2% below Rs. 20000. Also it is noticeable that with the rise in income there is an increasing number of people preferring Mid-Price and Upscale hotels. Table 4. 4 Segment-wise distribution of respondents Hotel Segment Cumulative Valid Percent Percent 37. 2 34. 9 27. 9 100. 0 37. 2 72. 1 100. 0 Frequency Percent Valid Budget 80 37. 2 34. 9 27. 9 100. 0 Mid-Price 75 Upscale Total 60 215BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 26 Chart 4. 4 Bar-graph of the segment wise distrib ution of respondents Thus, the majority of the respondents were taken from the Budget Segment representing 37. 2 % of the total sample. While 34. 9 % and 27. 9 % were taken from the Mid-Price and Upscale Segments. 4. 2 RECODING Reverse coding is a procedure where some questions in a survey are worded such that high values of a theoretical construct is reflected by high scores on the item, while other questions are worded such that high values of the same construct is reflected by low scores on the item.Reversing the order of the codes for negative statements so that their codes reflect the same direction and order as the positive statements? codes requires a simple transformation which is available in SPSS. The formula for the same is New Value = (Scale minimum + Scale minimum) – Old value The following two questions were recoded : 1. I have difficulty in imagining the hotel in my mind. 2. The price shown for the hotel is unacceptable. Thus these two questions were thereby po sitively stated in SPSS. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 7 4. 3 RELIABILITY Reliability is the degree to which the measures are free from errors and therefore yield consistent results. Two dimensions underlie the concept of reliability: one is repeatability and the other is internal consistency (Zikmund, 2009). The internal consistency measure is the most preferred one because it requires a single administration and establishing reliability through the other measures is difficult since once a subject has been put through some test, it will no longer remain neutral to the test.Researchers commonly use Cronbach Alpha coefficient, which is an indicator of the internal consistency of the scale, for establishing scale reliability. A high value of Cronbach alpha coefficient suggests that the items that make up the scale measure the same underlying construct. A value of Cronbach alpha above 0. 70 can be used as a reasonable test of scale reliability. Thus Alpha was mea sured for each dimension of the scale separately and then for the whole scale i. e. for the 26 items. Table 4. 5 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Brand Loyalty Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 17 N of Items 3 The value is acceptable being over 0. 7 and hence Brand Loyalty is internally consistent. Table 4. 6 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Perceived Quality Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 938 N of Items 12 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 28 The value for Perceived Quality is over the acceptable level of 0. 7 and hence the items are internally consistent. Table 4. 7 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Brand Awareness Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 842 N of Items 3 The value for Brand Awareness is over the acceptable level of 0. and hence the items are internally consistent. Table 4. 8 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Brand Association Reliabilit y Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 706 N of Items 3 The value for Brand Association is just over the acceptable level of 0. 7 and hence the items are internally consistent. Table 4. 9 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Perceived Value Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 731 N of Items 3 The value for Perceived value is over the acceptable level of 0. 7 and hence the items are internally consistent. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 9 Table 4. 10 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for Revisit Intention Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 857 N of Items 2 The value for revisit intentions is over the acceptable level of 0. 7 and hence the items are internally consistent. Table 4. 11 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient of reliability for the Whole Scale Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha . 926 N of Items 26 Thus for all dimensions of the scale the alpha is above the acceptable threshold of 0. 7. In fact the alpha fo r the whole scale signifying a value of 0. 926 is excellent. Moreover it is oticeable that for scales which have fewer items the alpha is comparatively lower. This simply follows from the fact that value of alpha is directly proportional to the number of items on the scale and one of the ways to increase alpha has been to increase the number of items. 4. 4 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Descriptive statistics reveal the mean value and the standard deviation of the variables. They also show the general direction of the variables i. e. towards the positive side or negative side. The following tables first give descriptive statistics of the total 26 items of the scale.In the second part a comparison has been made between the individual dimensions and the 3 segments of the hotels. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 30 Table 4. 12 Descriptive statistics for Brand Loyalty Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean I consider myself to be loyal to the 215 1 5 2. 37 hotel. The hotel would be my first choice. 215 1 5 2. 27 I will not visit other brands if the 215 1 hotel has no room available. Brand Loyalty Valid N (listwise) 215 1. 00 215 5 3. 48 Std. Deviation 1. 081 1. 038 1. 147 5. 00 2. 7054 .81970 Table 4. 3 Descriptive statistics for Perceived Quality Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum The physical facilities at the 215 1 5 hotel are visually appealing. Staff at the hotel appears neat. 215 1 5 Quality of food /beverage at the hotel satisfies me. When I have problems, the hotel shows a genuine interest in solving them. The hotel performs the service right the first time. The hotel insists on error free service. Staff at the hotel is able to tell patrons exactly when services would be performed. 215 215 1 1 5 5 Mean 2. 18 2. 05 2. 12 2. 20 Std. Deviation . 795 . 853 . 927 1. 002 215 215 215 1 1 1 5 5 5 2. 17 2. 34 2. 6 .991 1. 047 . 949 Staff at the hotel is always 215 willing to help me. Staff at the hotel gives prompt 215 service to me. Staff of the hotel is consistently 215 courteous with me. The behavior of staff at the 215 hotel instills confidence in me. I feel safe in my transaction. Perceived Quality Valid N (listwise) 215 215 215 1 1 1 5 5 5 1. 99 2. 11 1. 98 .962 1. 071 . 927 1 5 2. 36 .994 1 1. 00 5 5. 00 1. 96 2. 1345 .888 . 73543 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 31 Table 4. 14 Descriptive statistics for Brand Awareness Descriptive Statistics N I know what the hotel? s physical appearance looks like.I am aware of the hotel. I can recognize the hotel among other competing brands. Brand Awareness Valid N (listwise) 215 Minimum Maximum 1 5 Mean 2. 07 Std. Deviation . 783 215 215 1 1 5 5 2. 06 1. 93 .923 . 812 215 215 1. 00 5. 00 2. 0202 .73349 Table 4. 15 Descriptive statistics for Brand Association Descriptive Statistics N Some characteristics of the 215 hotel come to my mind quickly. I can quickly recall the symbol 215 or logo of the hotel. I do not have difficulty 215 imagining the hotel in my mind. Brand Association Valid N (listwise) 215 215 Minimum Maximum 1 4 Mean 2. 13 Std. Deviation . 921 1 1 5 5 . 38 2. 14 .968 1. 351 1. 00 4. 00 2. 2171 .77835 Table 4. 16 Descriptive statistics for Perceived Value Descriptive Statistics N The hotel is good value for money. The price shown for the hotel is acceptable. The hotel appears to be a bargain. Perceived Value Valid N (listwise) 215 215 215 215 215 Minimum Maximum 1 1 1 1. 00 5 5 5 5. 00 Mean 2. 23 2. 48 2. 67 2. 4589 Std. Deviation 1. 023 1. 380 . 990 . 82235 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 32 Table 4. 17 Descriptive statistics for Revisit Intention Descriptive Statistics I plan to revisit the hotel. N 215 Minimum Maximum Mean 1 5 2. 2 1 5 2. 05 Std. Deviation . 940 . 918 The probability that I 215 would consider revisiting the hotel is high. Revisit Intentions Valid N (listwise) 215 215 1. 00 5. 00 2. 1372 .86926 The following points are noticeable from the above tables. Firstly for the individual variables the best positive score is for the question – â€Å" I can recognize the brand among competing brand† while the most negative score was for the question – â€Å"I will not visit other brands if the hotel has no room available† which actually signifies the urgency of staying in any hotel accommodation if there is no room available in this brand.Secondly in comparison of each of the dimensional score Brand Awareness had the best positive score followed by Perceived Quality, Revisit Intention, Brand Association, Perceived Value and Brand Loyalty in this order. This signified that people? s perception were most positive towards Brand Awareness and the least towards Brand Loyalty. COMPARISON AMONG THE THREE SEGMENTS Now a comparison among the three segments has been shown through the following 3 tables : Table 4. 18 Descriptive statistics for the Budget Category Descriptive Statisticsa Minimum Maximum 1. 00 5. 00 1. 58 5. 00 1. 00 4. 00 1. 00 4. 00 1 . 33 3. 98 1. 00 5. 0 1. 00 5. 00 a. Hotel Segment = Budget BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 33 Brand Loyalty Perceived Quality Brand Awareness Brand Association Brand Equity Perceived Value Revisit Intentions Valid N (listwise) N 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 Mean 2. 9500 2. 4969 1. 9958 2. 1833 2. 4065 2. 4833 2. 3438 Std. Deviation . 82694 . 72726 . 64630 . 72702 . 57637 1. 03239 1. 01443 Table 4. 19 Descriptive statistics for the Mid-Price Category Descriptive Statisticsa N Brand Loyalty Perceived Quality Brand Awareness Brand Association Brand Equity Perceived Value Revisit Intentions Valid N (listwise) 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 a.Hotel Segment = Mid-Price Minimum 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 1. 25 1. 00 1. 00 Maximum 5. 00 4. 42 5. 00 3. 67 3. 67 5. 00 5. 00 Mean 2. 5333 1. 9833 1. 9956 2. 2533 2. 1914 2. 4889 2. 0333 Std. Deviation . 81833 . 75162 . 75036 . 79003 . 54355 . 73180 . 82746 : Table 4. 20 Descriptive statistics for the Upscale Category Descriptive Statistic sa N Brand Loyalty Perceived Quality Brand Awareness Brand Association Brand Equity Perceived Value Revisit Intentions Valid N (listwise) 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 a. Hotel Segment = Upscale Minimum 1. 33 1. 00 1. 00 1. 00 1. 29 1. 00 1. 00 Maximum 4. 33 3. 75 5. 00 3. 67 3. 60 4. 00 3. 50 Mean 2. 944 1. 8403 2. 0833 2. 2167 2. 1837 2. 3889 1. 9917 Std. Deviation . 74179 . 49983 . 82482 . 83885 . 47957 . 58919 . 64105 The above tables have important ramifications. It reveals that for Brand Loyalty the best score is for the Mid-Price and worst for Budget. For Perceived Quality following in the logical order the best score is for Upscale and the least for budget. For Brand Awareness the best score is for the mid-price and the worst surprisingly for the Upscale segment. For Brand Association the best positive score is for the budget and the least for the upscale segment. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 4 Overall if we notice Brand equity as a sum of these 4 dimension s the best positive score is for the Upscale category with a mean of 2. 1837 followed by Mid-price and then Budget. Moreover for Perceived value surprisingly the perceptions are most positive for Upscale hotels and least for mid-price properties. Lastly the revisit intention is most positive for Upscale hotels and least for Budget Hotels. 4. 5 COMPARISON CORRELATION OF THE THREE SEGMENTS THROUGH Bivariate correlation tests were used to compare the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intentions across the three segments.The impact and the importance of variables was studied and compared. Table 4. 21 Correlation for Budget Category Correlationsa Brand Perceived Brand Associatio Perceived Revisit Quality Awareness n Value Intentions . 652** . 489** . 338** . 432** . 652** Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Brand Loyalty 1 .000 .000 .002 .000 .000 Perceived Quality N Pearson Correlation 80 . 652** 80 1 80 . 500** 80 . 347** 80 . 520** 80 . 818** Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 .000 .002 .000 .000 Brand Awareness N Pearson Correlation 80 . 489** 80 . 500** 80 1 80 . 645** 80 . 401** 80 . 588** Sig. 2-tailed) . 000 .000 .000 .000 .000 N 80 80 80 80 80 80 35 BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS Brand Pearson Association Correlation .338** .347** .645** 1 .486** .494** Sig. (2-tailed) . 002 .002 .000 .000 .000 N 80 80 80 80 80 80 Perceived Value Pearson Correlation .432** .520** .401** .486** 1 .631** Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 .000 .000 .000 .000 N 80 80 80 80 80 80 Revisit Intentions Pearson Correlation .652** .818** .588** .494** .631** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 .000 .000 .000 .000 N 80 80 80 80 80 80 **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). a.Hotel Segment = Budget This table shows the correlations between the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intention for the Budget segment. For Perceived Value the correlation is strongest with Perceived Quality in the Brand Equity domain while with Revisit Intention it is 0. 631 which is the strongest of all components. With respect to revisit intention the strongest correlation has been with perceived quality while the weakest with Brand Association. Moreover all the correlations are positive and significant. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 6 Table 4. 22 Correlation for Mid-Price Category Correlationsa Brand Perceived Brand Brand Perceived Revisit Loyalty Quality Awareness Association Value Intentions Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation 1 . 619** . 000 75 1 . 251* . 030 75 . 486** . 000 75 1 -. 035 . 764 75 . 240* . 038 75 . 377** . 001 75 1 . 268* . 020 75 . 416** . 000 75 . 283* . 014 75 . 448** . 000 75 1 . 549** . 000 75 . 707** . 000 75 . 486** . 000 75 . 514** . 000 75 . 508** . 000 75 1 Sig. (2-tailed) N Perceived Pearson Quality Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Brand Pearson Awareness Correlation Sig. 2-tailed) N Brand Pearson Association Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Perceived Pearson Value Correlati on Sig. (2-tailed) N Revisit Pearson Intentions Correlation 75 . 619** . 000 75 . 251* . 030 75 -. 035 . 764 75 . 268* . 020 75 . 549** 75 . 486** . 000 75 . 240* . 038 75 . 416** . 000 75 . 707** 75 . 377** . 001 75 . 283* . 014 75 . 486** 75 . 448** . 000 75 . 514** 75 . 508** Sig. (2-tailed) . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 . 000 N 75 75 75 75 75 **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0. 05 level (2-tailed). a. Hotel Segment = Mid-Price 75This table shows the correlations between the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intention for the Mid-Price segment. For Perceived Value the correlation is strongest with Brand Association in the brand Equity domain while with Revisit Intentions it is 0. 508. With respect to revisit intention the strongest correlation has been with perceived quality while the weakest with Brand Awareness. Moreover apart from the correlation between Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty all th e correlations are positive and significant. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 7 Table 4. 23 Correlation for Upscale Category Correlationsa Brand Loyalty Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) Perceived Quality N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N 60 . 438** . 000 60 . 173 . 186 60 -. 183 . 161 60 . 100 . 448 60 . 064 . 627 60 1 Perceived Brand Brand Perceived Revisit Quality Awareness Association Value Intentions . 438** . 000 60 1 . 173 . 186 60 . 407** . 001 60 1 -. 183 . 161 60 . 309* . 16 60 . 428** . 001 60 1 . 100 . 448 60 . 378** . 003 60 . 502** . 000 60 . 634** . 000 60 1 . 064 . 627 60 . 329* . 010 60 . 509** . 000 60 . 739** . 000 60 . 652** . 000 60 1 Brand Awareness 60 . 407** . 001 60 . 309* . 016 60 . 378** . 003 60 . 329* . 010 60 Brand Association 60 . 428** . 001 60 . 502** . 000 60 . 509** . 000 60 Perceived Value 60 . 634** . 000 60 . 739** . 000 60 Revisit Intentions 60 . 652** . 000 60 60 **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0. 05 level (2-tailed). a. Hotel Segment = UpscaleThis table shows the correlations between the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intention for the upscale segment. For Perceived Value the correlation is strongest with Brand Association in the brand Equity domain while with Revisit Intentions it is 0. 652. With respect to revisit intention the strongest correlation has been with Brand Association while the weakest with Brand Loyalty. Moreover the glaring part in this category is that the correlations between Brand Loyalty and Perceived Value and Brand Loyalty and Revisit Intention have not been found to be significant.BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 38 Table 4. 24 Correlation for all the three segments Correlations Brand Loyalty 1 Perceived Brand Brand Perceived Revisit Quality Awareness Association Value Intentions . 618** . 293** . 048 . 306** . 517** . 000 215 1 . 000 215 . 409** . 000 215 1 . 486 215 . 256** . 000 215 . 474** . 000 215 1 . 000 215 . 432** . 000 215 . 362** . 000 215 . 485** . 000 215 1 . 000 215 . 703** . 000 215 . 498** . 000 215 . 527** . 000 215 . 590** . 000 215 1 Brand Loyalty Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. 2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Perceived Quality 215 . 618** . 000 215 . 293** . 000 215 . 048 . 486 215 . 306** . 000 215 . 517** . 000 Brand Awareness 215 . 409** . 000 215 . 256** . 000 215 . 432** . 000 215 . 703** . 000 Brand Association 215 . 474** . 000 215 . 362** . 000 215 . 498** . 000 Perceived Value 215 . 485** . 000 215 . 527** . 000 Revisit Intentions 215 . 590** . 000 215 215 215 215 215 **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). 215This table shows the correlations between the 4 dimensions of brand equity, perceived value and revisit intentions in the three segments combined that is for the whole sample. For Perceived Value the correlation is strongest with Brand Association followed by perceived quality in the brand Equity domain while with Revisit Intentions it is 0. 590. With respect to revisit intention the strongest correlation has been with Perceived Quality while the weakest with Brand Awareness. Apart from the correlations between Brand Loyalty and Brand Association, rest are significant. BRAND EQUITY, PERCEIVED VALUE AND REVISIT INTENTIONS 9 4. 7 TESTING THE IMPACT OF BRAND EQUITY In this section Regression has been used to study the impact of Brand Equity Dimensions and Perceived Value and Revisit Intentions. In regression the Stepwise Method has been used to stepwise ascertain which all dimensions of Brand Equity have the highest impact and

Steps to Success

1. Books are concentrated sources of wisdom. The more books you read, the more wisdom you expose yourself to. What are some books you can start reading to enrich yourself? Some books I’ve read and found useful are Think and Grow Rich, Who Moved My Cheese, 7 Habits, The Science of Getting Rich and Living the 80/20 Way. I’ve heard positive reviews for The Tipping Point, Outliers and The Difference Maker, so I’ll be checking them out soon. 2. Learn a new language. As a Singaporean Chinese, my main languages are English, Mandarin and Hokkien (a Chinese dialect). Out of interest, I took up language courses in the past few years such as Japanese and Bahasa Indonesian. I realized learning a language is a whole new skill altogether and the process of acquainting with a new language and culture is a totally a mind-opening experience. 3. Pick up a new hobby. Beyond just your usual favorite hobbies, is there something new you can pick up? Any new sport you can learn? Examples are fencing, golf, rock climbing, football, canoeing, or ice skating. Your new hobby can also be a recreational hobby. For example, pottery, Italian cooking, dancing, wine appreciation, web design, etc. Learning something new requires you to stretch yourself in different aspects, whether physically, mentally or emotionally. 4. Take up a new course. Is there any new course you can join? Courses are a great way to gain new knowledge and skills. It doesn’t have to be a long-term course – seminars or workshops serve their purpose too. I’ve been to a few workshops and they have helped me gain new insights which I had not considered before. 5. Create an inspirational room. Your environment sets the mood and tone for you. If you are living in an inspirational environment, you are going to be inspired every day. In the past, I didn’t like my room at all because I thought it was messy and dull. A few years ago, I decided this was the end of it – I started on a â€Å"Mega Room Revamp† project and overhauled my room. The end result? A room I totally relish being in and inspires me to be at my peak every day. 6. Overcome your fears. All of us have fears. Fear of uncertainty, fear of public speaking, fear of risk†¦ All our fears keep us in the same position and prevent us from growing. Recognize that your fears reflect areas where you can grow. I always think of fears as the compass for growth. If I have a fear about something, it represents something I’ve yet to address, and addressing it helps me to grow. 7. Level up your skills. If you have played video games before especially RPGs, you’ll know the concept of leveling up – gaining experience so you can be better and stronger. As a blogger, I’m constantly leveling up my writing skills. As a speaker, I’m constantly leveling up my public engagement abilities. What skills can you level up? 8. Wake up early. Waking up early (say, 5-6am) has been acknowledged by many (Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, among other self-help gurus) to improve your productivity and your quality of life. I feel it’s because when you wake up early, your mindset is already set to continue the momentum and proactively live out the day. Seth recently wrote a waking up early series which you should check out to help cultivate this habit. 9. Have a weekly exercise routine. A better you starts with being in better physical shape. I personally make it a point to jog at least 3 times a week, at least 30 minutes each time. You may want to mix it up with jogging, gym lessons and swimming for variation. 10. Start your life handbook. A life handbook is an idea I started 3 years ago. Basically, it’s a book which contains the essentials on how you can live your life to the fullest, such as your purpose, your values and goals. Sort of like your manual for your life. I started my life handbook since 2007 and it’s been a crucial enabler in my progress. 11. Write a letter to your future self. What do you see yourself as 5 years from now? Will you be the same? Different? What kind of person will you be? Write a letter to your future self – 1 year from now will be a good start – and seal it. Make a date in your calendar to open it 1 year from now. Then start working to become the person you want to open that letter. 12. Get out of your comfort zone. Real growth comes with hard work and sweat. Being too comfortable doesn’t help us grow – it makes us stagnate. What is your comfort zone? Do you stay in most of the time? Do you keep to your own space when out with other people? Shake your routine up. Do something different. By exposing yourself to a new context, you’re literally growing as you learn to act in new circumstances. 3. Put someone up to a challenge. Competition is one of the best ways to grow. Set a challenge (weight loss, exercise, financial challenge, etc) and compete with an interested friend to see who achieves the target first. Through the process, both of you will gain more than if you were to set off on the target alone. 14. Identify your blind spots. Scientifically, blind spots refer to areas our eyes are not capable of seeing. In personal development terms, blind spots are things about ourselves we are unaware of. Discovering our blind spots help us discover our areas of improvement. One exercise I use to discover my blind spots is to identify all the things/events/people that trigger me in a day – trigger meaning making me feel annoyed/weird/affected. These represent my blind spots. It’s always fun to do the exercise because I discover new things about myself, even if I may already think I know my own blind spots (but then they wouldn’t be blind spots would they? ). After that, I work on steps to address them. 15. Ask for feedback. As much as we try to improve, we will always have blind spots. Asking for feedback gives us an additional perspective. Some people to approach will be friends, family, colleagues, boss, or even acquaintances, since they will have no preset bias and can give their feedback objectively. 16. Stay focused with to-do lists. I start my day with a list of tasks I want to complete and this helps make me stay focused. In comparison, the days when I don’t do this end up being extremely unproductive. For example, part of my to-do list for today is to write a guest post at LifeHack. Org, and this is why I’m writing this now! Since my work requires me to use my computer all the time, I use Free Sticky Notes to manage my to-do lists. It’s really simple to use and it’s a freeware, so I recommend you check it out. 17. Set Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs). I’m a big fan of setting BHAGs. BHAGs stretch you beyond your normal capacity since they are big and audacious – you wouldn’t think of attempting them normally. What are BHAGs you can embark on, which you’ll feel absolutely on top of the world once you complete them? Set them and start working on them. 18. Acknowledge your flaws. Everyone has flaws. What’s most important is to understand them, acknowledge them, and address them. What do you think are your flaws? What are the flaws you can work on now? How do you want to address them? 19. Get into action. The best way to learn and improve is to take action. What is something you have been meaning to do? How can you take action on it immediately? Waiting doesn’t get anything done. Taking action gives you immediate results to learn from. 20. Learn from people who inspire you. Think about people you admire. People who inspire you. These people reflect certain qualities you want to have for yourself too. What are the qualities in them you want to have for yourself? How can you acquire these qualities? 21. Quit a bad habit. Are there any bad habits you can lose? Oversleeping? Not exercising? Being late? Slouching? Nail biting? Smoking? Here’s some help on how you can quit a bad habit. 22. Cultivate a new habit. Some good new habits to cultivate include reading books (#1), waking up early (#8), exercising (#9), reading a new personal development article a day (#40) and meditating. Is there any other new habit you can cultivate to improve yourself? 23. Avoid negative people. As Jim Rohn says, â€Å"You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with†. Wherever we go, there are bound to be negative people. Don’t spend too much of your time around them if you feel they drag you down. 24. Learn to deal with difficult people. There are times when there are difficult people you can’t avoid, such as at your workplace, or when the person is part of your inner circle of contacts. Learn how to deal with them. These people management skills will go a long way in working with people in the future. 25. Learn from your friends. Everyone has amazing qualities in them. It’s up to how we want to tap into them. With all the friends who surround you, they are going to have things you can learn from. Try thinking of a good friend right now. Think about just one quality they have which you want to adopt. How can you learn from them and adopt this skill for yourself? Speak to them if you need to – for sure, they will be more than happy to help! 26. Start a journal. Journaling is a great way to gain better self-awareness. It’s a self-reflection process. As you write, clarify your thought process and read what you wrote from a third person’s perspective, you gain more insights about yourself. Your journal can be private or an online blog. I use my personal development blog as a personal journal too and I’ve learned a lot about myself through the past year of blogging. 27. Start a blog about personal development. To help others grow, you need to first be walking the talk. There are expectations of you, both from yourself and from others, which you have to uphold. I run The Personal Excellence Blog, where I share my personal journey and insights on how to live a better life. Readers look toward my articles to improve themselves, which enforces to me that I need to keep improving, for myself and for the people I’m reaching out to. 28. Get a mentor or coach. There’s no faster way to improve than to have someone work with you on your goals. Many of my clients approach me to coach them in their goals and they achieve significantly more results than if they had worked alone. 29. Reduce the time you spend on chat programs. I realized having chat programs open at default result in a lot of wasted time. This time can be much better spent on other activities. The days when I don’t get on chat, I get a lot more done. I usually disable the auto start-up option in the chat programs and launch them when I do want to chat and really have the time for it. 0. Learn chess (or any strategy game). I found chess is a terrific game to learn strategy and hone your brainpower. Not only do you have fun, you also get to exercise your analytical skills. You can also learn strategy from other board games or computer games, such as Othello, Chinese Chess, WarCraft, and so on. 31. Stop watching TV. I’ve not been watc hing TV for pretty much 4 years and it’s been a very liberating experience. I realized most of the programs and advertisements on mainstream TV are usually of a lower consciousness and not very empowering. In return, the time I’ve freed up from not watching TV is now constructively used for other purposes, such as connecting with close friends, doing work I enjoy, exercising, etc. 32. Start a 30-day challenge. Set a goal and give yourself 30 days to achieve this. Your goal can be to stick with a new habit or something you’ve always wanted to do but have not. 30 days is just enough time to strategize, plan, get into action, review and nail the goal. 33. Meditate. Meditation helps to calm you and be more conscious. I also realized that during the nights when I meditate (before I sleep), I need lesser sleep. The clutter clearing process is very liberating. 34. Join Toastmasters (Learn public speaking). Interestingly, public speaking is the #1 fear in the world, with #2 being death. After I started public speaking as a personal development speaker/trainer, I’ve learned a lot about how to communicate better, present myself and engage people. Toastmasters is an international organization that trains people in public speaking. Check out the Toastmaster clubs nearest to you here. 35. Befriend top people in their fields. These people have achieved their results because they have the right attitudes, skill sets and know-how. How better to learn than from the people who have been there and done that? Gain new insights from them on how you can improve and achieve the same results for yourself. 36. Let go of the past. Is there any grievance or unhappiness from the past which you have been holding on? If so, it’s time to let it go. Holding on to them prevents you from moving on and becoming a better person. Break away from the past, forgive yourself, and move on. Just recently, I finally moved on from a past heartbreak of 5 years ago. The effect was liberating and very empowering, and I have never been happier. 37. Start a business venture. Is there anything you have an interest in? Why not turn it into a venture and make money while learning at the same time? Starting a new venture requires you to be learn business management skills, develop business acumen and have a competitive edge. The process of starting and developing my personal development business has equipped me with many skills, such as self-discipline, leadership, organization and management. 38. Show kindness to people around you. You can never be too kind to someone. In fact, most of us don’t show enough kindness to people around us. Being kind helps us to cultivate other qualities such as compassion, patience, and love. As you get back to your day after reading this article later on, start exuding more kindness to the people around you, and see how they react. Not only that, notice how you feel as you behave kindly to others. Chances are, you will feel even better than yourself. 39. Reach out to the people who hate you. If you ever stand for something, you are going to get haters. It’s easy to hate the people who hate us. It’s much more challenging to love them back. Being able to forgive, let go and show love to these people requires magnanimity and an open heart. Is there anyone who dislikes or hates you in your life? If so, reach out to them. Show them love. Seek a resolution and get closure on past grievances. Even if they refuses to reciprocate, love them all the same. It’s much more liberating than to hate them back. 40. Take a break. Have you been working too hard? Self-improvement is also about recognizing our need to take a break to walk the longer mile ahead. You can’t be driving a car if it has no petrol. Take some time off for yourself every week. Relax, rejuvenate and charge yourself up for what’s up ahead. 41. Read at least 1 personal development article a day. Some of my readers make it a point to read at least one personal development article every day, which I think is a great habit. There are many terrific personal development blogs out there, some of which you can check here. 42. Commit to your personal growth. I can be writing list articles with 10 ways, 25 ways, 42 ways or even 1,000 ways to improve yourself, but if you’ve no intention to commit to your personal growth, it doesn’t matter what I write. Nothing is going to get through. We are responsible for our personal growth – not anyone else. Not your mom, your dad, your friend, me or LifeHack. Make the decision to commit to your personal growth and embrace yourself to a life-long journey of growth and change. Kick off your growth by picking a few of the steps above and working on them. The results may not be immediate, but I promise you that as long as you keep to it, you’ll start seeing positive changes in yourself and your life. hk