The microeconomics of the Video game industry Essay Example for Free

The microeconomics of the Video game industry Essay The Microeconomics of the Video Game Industry Video games have been around for years with many different types of consoles and games. The video game industry has grown into a $20 billion dollar industry over the past ten years, and it only shows signs of growing larger in the years to come. In the United States alone, the market has grown considerably where 60% of all Americans play video games, 40% are women, and 60% of all gamers are between the ages of 25 through 44 years old (games-advertising. com). According to an article on Gamespot. com, analysts estimate that the video game category will have about 50 to 55 more square feet of shelve space in Best Buy by the year 2007. The video game market is an oligopoly with only a few companies competing within the market. The Big Three companies in the video game industrys oligopoly are Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. Microsofts Xbox 360, Nintendos Wii, and Sonys Playstation 3 all sell similar products and contend for consumers dollars. Each firm closely watches the moves of the other companies when considering pricing, technology, and marketing of the games. They also compete with each other to gain exclusive licenses to game software so they can offer console exclusive games. Price wars are common in the video game industry. In the United States, Microsofts Xbox 360 premium edition was released at $399. 99 in November 2005. Sony recently launched their Playstation 3 at a price of $599. 99. Nintendo released their system, Wii, at the low price of $249. 99. In addition, Microsoft and Sony are selling their video games for $60 while Nintendo is selling their video games for $50. Nintendo definitely has the advantage in the video game industrys price wars. In the video game industry, the demand is usually high, but the supply is low, which creates a shortage. This happens during the launch of new consoles. For example, when Microsofts Xbox 360 was to be released on November 22, 2005, they only had a limited number per store. The total number of consoles released in North America that day was 400,000 units. Stores immediately sold out the day the Xbox 360 came out. According to Wikipedia. org, Microsoft was not able to supply enough systems to meet initial consumer demand in Europe or North America. Many potential customers were not able to purchase a console at launch and the lack of availability led to Xbox 360 bundles selling on eBay at grossly inflated prices, with some auctions exceeding $6,000. It was reported that 40,000 units appeared on eBay during the initial month of release, which would mean that 10% of the total supply was resold. By years end, Microsoft had sold 1. 5 million units; including 900,000 in North America, 500,000 in Europe, and 100,000 in Japan. Another example of this tactic being used is with the release of Nintendos Wii. A total of four million Wii consoles were to be released worldwide with the majority of that number going to North America alone. On November 19 of this year, the consoles sold out immediately. Some stores passed out cards for the console to people who were in line the night before. Circuit City had people camping out early in the day, but gave out tickets to people later in the evening. They even had a sign that stated they only had thirty Nintendo Wiis, yet people were still hopeful and stubbornly stood in line. Sonys Playstation 3 was released on November 17, 2006 with an even shorter supply than the Nintendo Wii; some consumers camped outside of the stores for days to get a console. The demands for these consoles were at a high. Sony also only had 400,000 consoles at launch (telegraph. co. uk). The consoles sold out only minutes after its launch (statesman. com). It is important to mention that the video game industry is an example of a razor and blades business model. This means that the companies take a loss on their consoles and make up for the loss with a profit on their video games and game accessories (Wikipedia. org). For example, Microsoft invested 4 billion dollars into their first console, the Xbox in 2000. Microsoft knew that they were not going to be profitable until at least three years, but they did not make a profit until after 5 years. They did not make this profit until the release of their exclusive game, Halo2, released in December of 2005 (Wikipedia. org). The video game industry can also be sited for having a direct relationship with other industries. As stated at ESA. com, about $73 million in high definition television sales (HDTV) can be directly attributed to sales of the Xbox 360 game console. Microsoft does not own any HDTV manufacturing companies, but they do spur the sales of these companies. On the other hand, Sony is using Blu-ray technology in their Playstation 3 because they are one of the nine founders of the Blu-ray Disk Association and are trying to promote Blu-ray technology (Wikipedia.org). Video game software is also being utilized in the medical and defense fields to simulate the conditions for training purposes (ESA. com). The Video game industry has had a major impact on the economy of the United States. The industry is constantly growing and shows signs of major growth in the future. The industry is always changing and is very dynamic. Nevertheless, the competition in this industry is always interesting to watch. Works Cited Blu-ray Disc Association 23 Nov. 2006 Gaming Demographics: Gaming is An Adult Thing. Games-Advertising Feldman, Curt. Game Drives Growth, New Retail Strategy. GameSpot News 16 Jun. 2005 Razor and blades business model 17 Nov. 2006 The economics of a video game craze 17 Nov. 2006 Xbox 19 Nov. 2006 Xbox 360 21 Nov. 2006 Xbox 360 launch down to 400,000 units? 8 Nov. 2005 http://www. joystiq. com/2005/11/08/xbox-360-launch-down-to-400-000-units/ Violence erupts as video game war is declared with US release of PS3 18 Nov. 2006 Video Games: Serious Business for Americas Economy.

Research Psychology :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Research Psychology    I believe I have many characteristics and interests that would make me a good candidate for graduate school. I am a very introspective person; I put a lot of thought into what I do and why I do it. I constantly evaluate myself and my progress in making and reaching goals. One goal I have had for many years is to go on to graduate school. I know I have enough will and interest to make my goal a reality.    I have always enjoyed school and learning. My love of learning has been a key to my academic success and involvement. I am a Social an Behavioral Sciences Scholar, a National Merit Scholar, and a member of two honor societies, Phi Eta Sigma and Psi Chi. I also find I learn a lot by interacting with others. I participate in several clubs on campus. I was a member of the Student Environment Action Coalition (SEAC), and I helped to organize a benefit concert to raise money to save rain forests. I am currently involved in Anthropology Club, and Psychology Club. For Psychology Club, I am Vice President of Special Events; I help come up with topics for meetings, and I was in charge of publicity for our annual Volunteer Open House.    I enjoy being challenged, so I take heavy course loads and variety of classes. I will graduate with two Bachelor's degrees, in psychology and anthropology, after only three years and one summer of undergraduate study. I have been on the Dean's List every semester and have maintained a 4.0 GPA in psychology. I feel the courses I have taken have helped focus my interests and have prepared me for graduate work. Anthropology has given me a broader perspective on human attitudes, feelings, and behaviors than psychology alone. However, psychology as remained my favorite subject. I was a teaching assistant for Research Methods in psychology. This allowed me to work with others on all aspects of research from developing ideas to revising papers. I also had the opportunity to be a research assistant. I helped with data collection and putting it into a computer program. Next semester, I will be taking an honors course called Youth an Children: Issues and Controversies. As part of this class I will be volunteering with the Young Parents Together program and the Family and Children Council.

Marketing Research Report on Co-op Bookshop

Marketing 202 Research Report Co-op Bookshop Executive Summary Co-op is a bookshop in Macquarie University at North Ryde Campus, and it sales new textbooks and references books to students, as well as popular novels and so on. However, after beginning of the semester, the quantity of sales of Co-op has an obvious decline. In this situation, our group use online survey method to collect questionnaires from 108 students in Macquarie University at North Ryde, and with the purpose of measuring students potential purchase behaviors and attitudes towards the Co-op, in order to help Co-op to improve the sales. Through use of the SPSS program, frequency, one-sample t-tests, cross tabulation and Chi-Square Tests data to show and analyze results of the survey, then in the following report there are four points can be concluded, and three commendations can be found. The most obviously one is that most of the students prefer to buy textbooks at a much lower price, compared with the demand for book quality, cheaper price seems more attractive. That is, although the second hand bookshop cannot to be a competitor on service and quality with Co-op bookshop, potential price threats could be bring to influence the Co-op bookshop’s sales volume. Then do some price promotional activities in Co-op is necessary. Table of content Introduction3 Hypothesis4 Research objectives4 Methods5 Results and finding6 Analysis16 Limitations19 Conclusion19 Recommendations20 Appendix21 Introduction University students are big and traditional market for textbooks, references books, magazines and journals, especially those with strong professional and academic focuses. Facing such a market, it is critical for bookshop owners to understand how to efficiently operate and manage the bookshops so as to meet the demands of the particular customer group and keep the business going under the fierce competitions from other channels. A traditional bookshop providing regular book categories and services may not satisfy this particular group and consequently ends with poor sales results. This report is based on the study on the Co-op, a bookshop in Macquarie University. It is observed that when the new semester begins, Co-op bookshop, with convenient access and abundant variety of stocks, becomes a destination for students to get new textbooks; however, sales shrink dramatically after the opening weeks. In this situation, our group tries to figure out the potential demands from the student group by understanding their purchase behaviors and attitudes towards the Co-op bookshop. A survey is made to understand the gap between the actual demands from the students and the current operation situation at the Co-op, and consequently to help Co-op to improve the sales. We use online survey method to collect questionnaires from 108 students in Macquarie University at North Ryde. In the following report, diagrams are used to discuss and analyze the survey result related to the research topics. Hypothesis †¢ Macquarie University students prefer to buy brand-new books at the Co-op bookshop rather than to get used books in second hand markets. †¢ Only Co-op bookshop sells new textbooks and academic references in Macquarie University. †¢ Quite a portion of the students are using second hand book, feeling easy with them. This is one of the reasons that make the sales shrink for the Co-op bookshop. †¢ Student opinions on the discounts offered by the Co-op bookshop are diverted. The student preferences survey shows that half students appreciate the discounts from the Co-op while the rest do not show big interest on it. Research objectives Several key objectives are decided for this research: – To identify the students group who prefer to buy textbook or other academic references in Co-op bookshop. To identify the student who are likely to join the membership to have discount plans with Co-op bookshop. – To measure student attitudes and beliefs about buying new books at Co-op bookshop. – To identify the level of satisfaction of the students who use second hand books. These research objectives are presented on the survey questions and will be explained in details in later part of this report. The research objectives are used to identify whether Co-op bookshop should enhance pric e promotion or leverage other methods in order to increase sales profit. The survey questions are based on the research objectives to help figure out an efficient promotion method. Methods Questionnaire survey is designed for this study since it is inexpensive, timesaving, and convenient. When properly designed, this method is very efficient because the survey questions are eligible for collecting opinions on multiple subjects from a large number of people. This research is targeted at all Macquarie University students at North Ryde campus. The feedback rate for this survey is 95%. 08 students are sampled after wiping off invalid questionnaires. We collect these samples using random sampling. We spread this survey question randomly to our classmates, student in library, student in SAM building and canteen. The statistical methods used to analyze the data are obtained through the SPSS Program. Through the use of SPSS program, frequencies, one-sample t-tests, cross tabulation and Chi-Square Tests data are generated reflecting the results of the survey. Resu lts and finding Question 1 |If you want to buy some books, which way comes to your mind first? | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent| |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid |I don't want to |14 |13. 0 |58. 3 | | |pay the | | | | | |membership fee | | | | [pic] 14 students out of 24 say they don’t want to join because of the membership fee, which makes up 58. 3 percent; 7 students out of 24 think the discount is too low to be attractive, which constitutes 29. 2% of total valid samples; 3 students out of 24 claim that they have no idea about the membership, the 12. 5%. We have expected a lower percent on the fee consideration, because the fee is not high and is apparently beneficial with 10% saved on each purchase. This percentage is obviously higher than our expectation. 29. 17% of students think the discount rate is the reason, however we have expected this number to be higher, because the main benefits of membership is the discount. Discount also to some degrees shortens the gaps between brand-new and second-hand books on the price consideration. Thus we expect the main reason of not getting membership is due to a discount lower than students’ expectation. Question6: If the Co-op bookshop sells combined textbooks cheaper than the separate one, do you prefer to buy? |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid |Yes |74 |68. 5 |68. 5 |68. 5 | | |No |14 |13. 0 |13. 0 |81. 5 | | |I do not care |20 |18. 5 |18. 5 |100. 0 | | |Total |108 |100. 0 |100. 0 | | [pic] For this question, 68. % of the students appreciate the bundled offer at a more favorable price than that for individual sales at the Co-op bookshop. The bundle promotion type not only attract the student with textbook demand, with Co-op gradually recognized as a resort for favorable seller, more people will think of Co-op whenever they want to search for some other references. This probably will bring back the rest 18. 5% people who initially say no to the Co-op. Thus the demand for new textbook in MQ campus will ramp up, and the Co-op bookshop will sell more books than ever, even the profit per each sales decrease a little, then the overall profit will increase with higher sales volume. Question7: If Co-op bookshop provides  extra discount  on the  other  books besides textbooks periodically,  would you like to come? | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid |Yes |63 |58. 3 |58. 3 |58. 3 | | |No |45 |41. 7 |41. 7 |100. 0 | | |Total |108 |100. 0 |100. 0 | | [pic] From this question, our group wants to know the attitude of the students in North Ryde MQ campus towards books other than textbooks. From the diagram this survey reveals a satisfactory result with 58. 3% people in the survey willing to buy other books from the Co-op shop. For the rest 41. 7% who claim no intention to buy books other than textbooks, we think this will not impact the sales and promotion strategy of the Co-op shop to ignore the potential market demand other than textbooks in North Ryde MQ campus. Question8: Have you used second hand textbook before? | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid |Yes |92 |85. 2 |85. 2 |85. | | |No |16 |14. 8 |14. 8 |100. 0 | | |Total |108 |100. 0 |100. 0 | | | | | | | | | [pic] The result of this question turns out that about 85. 2% students in our survey have used secondhand textbook, with only 14. 8% using only new books. This reveals that the biggest competitor of Co-op shop is second hand bookshop. Question 9: What are you feeling when using second hand textbook? |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid |Regretful |7 |6. 5 |6. 6 |6. 6 | | |Poor |25 |23. 1 |23. 6 |30. 2 | | |Good |59 |54. 6 |55. 7 |85. 8 | | |Excellent |11 |10. 2 |10. 4 |96. 2 | | |Delightful |6 |5. 5 |3. 8 |100. 0 | |Total |108 |100. | | | [pic] The result further expands the discovery in the previous question. The result shows 6. 5% of the surveyed people thinking regretful for the quality of second hand books and 23. 1% feeling them poor; while 54. 6% finding them as a good choice, 10. 2% believing second hand books just excellent and 5. 5% reporting delightful user experience. That means about 70. 3% people in the survey think second hand book markets are better resorts for textbook and they prefer using it given that they have convenient access to them. Therefore, this result of this question confirms again that the biggest competitor of Co-op shop is second hand bookshop. Question 10: |Are you an international student? | | | | | | | | | | |Gender |Total | | | | |Male |Female | | |% Within Gender |100. 0% |100. 0% |100. 0% | Chi-Square Tests | | | |b. Computed only for a 2Ãâ€"2 table | Among the surveyed student, 83. 7% male students and 72. 9% female have Co-op bookshop membership, which does not stand for distinct difference between gender groups. The result is reflected in the Chi-square test table. The p-value in chi-square tests is more than 5% cut-off, thus the gender has no significant impact on people decision to get membership or not. |Are you an international student? * What's your feeling when you use the second hand textbook? Cross tabulation | | | | |Value |df |Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) | |Pearson Chi-Square |2. 009a |4 |. 734 | |Likelihood Ratio |2. 323 |4 |. 677 | |Linear-by-Linear Association |1. 329 |1 |. 249 | |N of Valid Cases |108 | | | |a. 5 cells (50. 0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is . 37. | | Question 9 reveals student attitudes towards second hand textbook, with 7. 1%, 24. 5%, 55. 1%, 10. 2% and 3. 1% of the surveyed students claiming second hand book user experience as regretful, poor, good, excellent and delightful. In total 108 surveyed students, 98 are international students and only 10 are local students. However, their opinions do not vary much as reflected in the Chi-square test table. A p-value of 0. 734 that is more than 5% cut-off, thus the feeling of using second hand books is not significant affected by whether the students are international or local. |Which facility are you in? Have you used the second hand textbook before? Cross tabulation | | | | | Value |df |Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)| |Pearson Chi-Square |3. 261a |3 |. 353 | |Likelihood Ratio |2. 576 |3 |. 462 | |Linear-by-Linear Association |. 529 |1 |. 467 | |N of Valid Cases |108 | | | |a. 6 cells (75. %) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is . 59. | From the cross tabulation, 87. 2% students majored in business/economic have used second hand book, turning out the highest rate among the rest groups. Only 60% human science students have used second hand book, which becomes the lowest in the survey. In average, 85. 2% out of total 108 students have used second hand book, which mean in this campus, the second hand book market is a big rivalry to Co-op bookshop. However, in the chi-square test, the p-value of more than 5% cut off indicates that facility has no significant impact on student decision to use second hand books or not. Limitations There are many limitations affecting our projects, for all Likert questions, we try to provide the respondents a chance to answer in neutral way to reflect a true situation of the book sales on campus. However, some people give up in the middle of survey with the questionnaire half complete. If these data are recorded for the data analysis, the inaccuracy will be introduced in the final result. Therefore, these survey input must be manually removed before the analysis. Another limitation is that the survey samples are not diverse enough, with most respondents being international students but only 10 out of 108 students as local. This reason may affect the accuracy of data result. This problem could have been avoided with careful selection of the sample student and more samples. Moreover, the descriptions for questions do not make sense in their word meaning, which confuse the student and affect their answers. We should have more carefully reviewed the descriptions and adding necessary explanations before handing them out for the survey. Conclusion According to the results of the survey discussed and analyzed above, the following points form North Ryde’s Macquarie University students can be concluded. Firstly, most of the students go to Co-op bookshop for textbooks at the beginning of the semester. Secondly, most of the students have a membership even they do not choose to buy books at the Co-op bookshop at the first thought. This finding does not show big variation between the gender groups. Thirdly, although it is obvious that second hand bookshop cannot compete on service and quality with Co-op bookshop, most of the students prefer to buy textbooks at a much lower price while the demand for book quality are not that important to them compared with the price At the same time, buying second handbooks are not divided between the international students and the local students, or among the facilities they are in. Thus, second hand bookshop turns out to be a threat to Co-op bookshop sales in Macquarie University. Moreover, from the data that received in the survey, it seems that the reason why most students are not willing to become members of the Co-op bookshop is the extra membership fee. Recommendations †¢ From the survey it can be found that most students like to purchase the textbooks in bundle at a favorable price, because it is cheaper than purchasing separately. It would be feasible for Co-op bookshop to offer more bundled selection to increase sales volume. Qui te some students think the discount rate to be unsatisfactorily low, which prompts the Co-op bookshop to offer a higher discount rate to attract these students. †¢ Most students only go to the Co-op bookshop for textbooks at the beginning of the semesters. Thus, the Co-op bookshop shall put more emphasis on promotion by, for example, handing out more advertisement fliers to students to explain favorable offerings and to spread recent promotion activities so as to attract the potential customers. Appendix Q1 [pic] If you want to buy some books, which way comes to your mind first? †¢ [pic]The co-op bookshop †¢ [pic]2nd hand bookshop †¢ [pic]Other book stores Q2 [pic] Have you  ever  bought books from the co-op bookshop? †¢ [pic]Yes †¢ [pic]No | |[pic] | | | |[pic] | | |If No Is Selected, Then Skip To End of Survey | | |Edit | | | | | | Q3 [pic] Which  time period do you go to the Co-op bookshop often? †¢ [pic]beginning of the semester †¢ [pic]interim of the semester †¢ [pic]end of semester †¢ [pic]aperiodicity Q4 [pic] Were you joining membership of Co-op bookshop? †¢ [pic]Yes †¢ [pic]No | |[pic] | | | |[pic] | | |If Yes Is Selected, Then Skip To if the co-op bookshop sells combined textbooks†¦ | | |Edit | | | | | | Q5 [pic] Why do you not join a member of the Co-op bookshop? †¢ [pic]I don't want to pay the membership fee †¢ [pic]The membership discount too low †¢ [pic]I have never known about the membership †¢ [pic]I have never bought books in the Co-op bookshop †¢ Q6 [pic] If the Co-op bookshop sells combined textbooks cheaper than the  separate one, do you prefer to buy? †¢ [pic]Yes †¢ [pic]No †¢ [pic]I do not care Q7 [pic] If Co-op bookshop provide  extra discount  on  the  other  books (except textbook) periodically,  would you like to come? †¢ [pic]Yes †¢ [pic]No Q8 [pic] Have you used the second hand textbook before? †¢ [pic]Yes †¢ [pic]No Q9 [pic] What's the feeling when you use the second hand textbook? |Regretful |Poor |Good |Excellent |Delightful | |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | Q10 [pic] Are you an international student? †¢ [pic]Yes †¢ [pic]No Q11 [pic] Gender †¢ [pic]Male †¢ [pic]Female Q12 [pic] Which  facility are you in? †¢ [pic]Art †¢ [pic]Human Science †¢ [pic]Business/Economic †¢ [pic]Science

Hoover Last Name Meaning and Origin

The Hoover surname is an Anglicized form of the German and Dutch name Huber, meaning a large measure of land or a man who owns a hube (a 30-60 acre parcel of land), from the Middle High German huober and Middle Dutch huve. Hoover was typically a  status name for a prosperous landowner or farmer whose land holdings were appreciably larger than that of the average peasant. However, it is also possible the name was used by individuals who only worked on a large property in return for a wage. Surname origin:  Dutch Alternate surname spellings:  Hover, Huber, Hober, Houver, Houwer, Hubar, Hubauer, Hubber, Hueber, Hufer, Huver, Obar, Ober, Uber, Aubert Where Is This Surname Found? According to  WorldNames public profiler, the Hoover surname is found in the greatest numbers in the United States, with the largest population percentage coming from Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Kansas, and Ohio. It is next most commonly found in Canada. Very few individuals named Hoover live in countries outside of North America, although there are scattered individuals with that surname found in New Zealand and a number of European countries. Famous People With the Surname Hoover Herbert Hoover: 31st president of the United StatesErna Schneider Hoover: Inventor of  the computerized telephone switching systemJ. Edgar Hoover: First Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States ​Genealogy Resources The Hoover Family Genetic Genealogy Research Project: The Hoover Family Project at Family Tree DNA welcomes all Hoover and Huber descendants who are interested in working together to discover their heritage through sharing of information and DNA testing.The Huber-Hoover Family History: This 1928 book by Harry M. Hoover traces the descendants of  Hans Huber from the time of his arrival in Pennsylvania down to the eleventh generation. View the book for free on FamilySearch.Hoover Family Genealogy Forum: Search this popular genealogy forum for the Hoover surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Hoover surname query.FamilySearch - Hoover Genealogy: Explore over 760,000 results, including digitized records, database entries, and online family trees for the Hoover surname and its variations on the FREE FamilySearch website, courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.DistantCousin.com - Hoover Genealogy Family History: Explore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Hoover.The Hoover Genealogy and Family Tree Page: Browse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Hoover surname from the website of Genealogy Today. Sources: Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1967. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. New York:  Oxford University Press, 2003. MacLysaght, Edward.  Surnames of Ireland. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1989. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.