Variable Air Volume (VAV) System to achieve better Indoor Dissertation

Variable Air Volume (VAV) System to achieve better Indoor Environmental Quality for a commercial Building & energy saving - Dissertation Example The main reason for these functions like heating, ventilation, cooling, and air-conditioning is to make occupants of rooms comfortable (Awbi, 2003). VAV system is one of the HVAC applications and its main purpose is to reduce energy cost as well as maintenance cost. The use of VAV process contains two main components and the components are the room and the VAV damper. The main VAV air handling system is the embedded HVAC system which most of the times are invisible. It is this system that is responsible for delivery of conditioned air to the whole building or structure. The use of this type of system has two merits and the merits are based on the constant volume that is found within the system. This system has the fan control capacity unlike other systems like CAV and the fan control capacity enhances reduction of the used amount of energy. CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION Variable Air Volume also commonly known as (VAV) system is a kind of ventilation, heating, and air-conditioning devi ces that use a supply duct of fresh air and gives out hot or cool air as the supply air. The air which is being supplied to this device most of the time has constant temperature and therefore, the resultant airflow always varies for the achievement of the fall and rise of the losses or gains characterized with thermal zone. Most of the VAV systems have two primary merits and the merits are due to the constant volume within the system. The system has a fan control capacity which is capable of reducing the amount of energy consumed through the fan. This energy which is used by the fans forms the total energy cooling requirements which are beneficial to the building (Etheridge & Sandberg, 1996). The Variable Air Volume system has a lot of dehumidification compared to the constant volume system because the constant volume system is capable of modulating the temperature of the discharge air. The attainment of the temperature for the discharged air constitutes the cooling load of the whol e system. Within this system the blowing rate for the air is greatly varied and in the case of Variable Air Volume with a single handler for air, the serving for various multiple zones can be achieved. The flow rate associated with each multiple zone when only one handler is operational is always varied. The Variable Air system has a terminal unit and this terminal unit acts as a VAV box which controls the air flow rate for the different zones. This box operates automatically with the help of the actuator. There is a direct connection between the central or local control systems with the VAV box and the control system at times is pneumatically controlled. The use of Variable Air Volume (VAV) for many years has been able to provide quality indoor air thereby improving the quality of the surrounding environment. The quality of the surrounding air greatly affects the general environmental quality and therefore, the use of this system has been preferred in many buildings that belong to private individuals as well as companies. A lot of health benefits are attributed to indoor air quality since low quality air contains microbes that are capable of affecting the occupants of the buildings (Chadderton, 2004). A lot of prevalence has been given to the VAV system compared to CV system and this prevalence is

Punishment and Re-education of Juvenile Offenders Research Paper

Punishment and Re-education of Juvenile Offenders - Research Paper Example Children and adolescents are individuals who are undergoing a radical change in all aspects of their lives. Child development principles must be understood by the juvenile system. These formative years form the developmental trajectories for every individual (Arredondo, 2003). Children are likely to undergo irreversible damage in the application of punishment and deterrence inflicted without proper guidelines. However, the juvenile system has the potential to impact its detainees in a positive manner. Correction officers are charged with a unique responsibility. Expectations on them dictate that they have to reform delinquent youth. Juvenile systems have universal punishments for offenders. That means that the justice system is an offense based rather than offender based. Correction officers, therefore, have to apply uniform punishment and deterrent methods to different offenders. Juvenile offenders have unique needs. Their characters are not fully formed. This means that inappropriate punitive measures are likely to harm the development of the child. It is difficult for the officers to gauge which sanctions are appropriate for each juvenile detainee. The situation is very confusing when dealing with juvenile inmates in an adult correction center. Adults have complete characters. That means that severe punishment is likely to effect a change in their characters. The juvenile system is supposed to offer structure and support to its detainees. Most delinquents originate from homes where the adults are unreliable. These homes have no structure and pay no attention to the needs of the growing children. The children realize that they can push boundaries without suffering the consequences of their misdeeds. Correction officers, therefore, have the prerogative to follow up each offender during their rehabilitation. This is, however, difficult as the officers are charged with a large number of detainees. They are unable to provide consistent and predictable attention to their detainees. Juvenile inmates in an adult institution suffer from lack of structure. The system is designed to correct adults who can take responsibility for their actions.

Interaction of Electromagnetic Radiation: Quantum Structures

Interaction of Electromagnetic Radiation: Quantum Structures Preparation and Characterisation of Quantum Dot Infrared Photo Detector and Its Application in Night Vision Devices Submitted by Mangala Gowri M Focus of the study during this period was to understand interaction of electromagnetic radiation with quantum structures. Interband transition and intraband transition are two types of transition possible in semiconductors. Intraband transitions are unique for the quantum semiconductor structures. Intraband transitions between the quantized energy levels are possible depending on several parameters. The resonance wavelength depends on effective masses of the carriers, parameters like size, shape and composition of the quantum structures. Practical observations made on quantum structures like quantum wells and quantum dots were very interesting. â€Å"The first direct observation of infrared absorption between conduction subbands of n-doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells was reported in 1985. It was confirmed that intersubband transitions between electronic states of quantum wells are strongly polarized along the confinement potential direction.† [1] Therefore light whose polarization has component along the confinement potential direction gets absorbed. Therefore â€Å"light must have a polarization component perpendicular to the quantum well layers.† [1] This is the strong limitation for the quantum well infrared photo detectors. On the other hand, quantum wires and quantum dots theoretically do not have this limitation on the polarization direction of incident radiation. For quantum well polarization, direction radiation should not be normal (perpendicular) to the confinement potential direction, whereas t his type of normal incidence is allowed for quantum dots. Oscillator Strength: â€Å"Oscillator strength is a dimensionless quantity that expresses the probability of absorption or emission of radiation in transitions between energy levels of an atom or molecule.† [2] When an electronic transition occurs an oscillating dipole moment will be induced by interaction of electric field of the system with electromagnetic radiation. The following illustration explains the mechanism of transition in a system in general. Suppose an electron changes its energy from En to Em by changing its state from ψn to ψm. During the transition it will be in a state which is superposition of the two states. ÃŽ ¨ = aψn + bψm Probability that the electron in the state ψn is |a|2 and probability that it is in state ψm is |b|2 so that at any time |a|2 + |b|2 =1. We can see that expectation value mn oscillates at frequency ÃŽ ³nm = , ÃŽ ³nm is the transition frequency. mn is the oscillator strength as the strength of the oscillation is proportional to the expectation value of intermediate state. It is also called the transition matrix element. For allowed transitions mn is a nonzero value and for forbidden transitions it is zero. Transition Dipole Moment: Transition dipole moment is the dipole moment associated with the transition between two states. It is a complex vector quantity. It encodes phase factors associated with the two states. The direction of this dipole moment is the polarization of the transition. The polarization of the transition determines the interaction of the system with electromagnetic radiation with a given polarization. Square of the dipole moment of transition gives the strength of the transition. Transition dipole moment is off-diagonal matrix element of position operator multiplied by the particle’s charge. Classically, dipole moment is product of charge and separation between the two charges. In the presence of an electric field, the two charges will experience a force in opposite direction so that a torque acts on the dipole. Similarly, during transition, coupling between an electromagnetic wave and transition dipole moment of the system depends on the charge distribution within the system, strength of the field and the relative polarization of the field and the transition. Also transition dipole moment depends on the geometries and relative phases of the two states involved in transition. The concept of transition dipole moment is very useful to determine whether a transition is allowed or not. If the integral defining transition dipole moment is nonzero, that transition is allowed. Perturbation Theory: To understand the mechanism of interaction between the system and electromagnetic radiation, we adopt quantum mechanical perturbation theory. Incident radiation is treated as a perturbation. Electromagnetic radiation provides a time dependent potential, which assists quantum jumps between energy levels. So total Hamiltonian of the system has two parts, one is time independent and another is time dependent. If time dependent part is small compared to time independent part, then that can be treated as a perturbation. Considering two level system, where ÃŽ ¨a and ÃŽ ¨b are two eigen states of unperturbed Hamiltonian H0. The two states are orthonormal. Any other state of the system can be written as a linear combination of those two states. ÃŽ ¨(0) = Ca ÃŽ ¨a + Cb ÃŽ ¨b Ca and Cb are constants, which include information about probability of finding the system in respective states. Suppose we are curious to know the state of the system after a time t. If there is time dependent perturbation, ÃŽ ¨(t) is again superposition of the two states. Not only the two states evolve with time, but also coefficients Ca and Cb are also functions of time. If we can determine Ca(t) and Cb(t) we can understand the system at time t. Several mathematical steps lead us to ÄÅ  a = And ÄÅ  b = Where ÄÅ  a and ÄÅ  b are time derivatives of Ca(t) and Cb(t) respectively. Both of the above equations taken together are equivalent to time dependent Schrodinger equation for a two level system. The diagonal matrix elements of H’ vanish. Therefore, ÄÅ  a = ÄÅ  b = With Considering that H’ is small, above equations can be solved by a process called successive approximations. Here we also consider that perturbation is having sinusoidal time dependence. Then And In the first order we have ω is the driving frequency and ω0 is the transition frequency. If ω and ω0 are very close to each other second term in the square brackets dominates. So we can say ω + ω0 >> | ω0 ω| We drop first term and after simplification The transition probability gives the probability that a particle started from the initial state will reach at final state in time t. We can see here that transition probability as a function of time oscillates sinusoidally. Fig: Transition probability as a function of time, for sinusoidal perturbation. Maximum value of probability is . The probability of rising to the maximum value is much less than 1 for small perturbation. Another thing to observe here that the probability of transition is highest when ω ω0. Fig: Transition probability as a function of driving frequency. Thus as time goes on width of the peak becomes narrower and height of the peak becomes higher. That means that the system will undergo transition with higher probability. Emission and Absorption of Radiation: An electromagnetic wave consists of transverse oscillating electric and magnetic fields. An atom reacts primarily to the oscillating electric component of radiation. Assume that an atom is exposed to a sinusoidally oscillating electric field. Consider that the field is polarized along z direction. Then the perturbing Hamiltonian is written as Note: Considering that the period of oscillation of the field is long compared to the time taken by the charge to move around within the atom we adopt electrostatic formula for Vab that is equal to Then Where P = is transition dipole moment. ÃŽ ¨ is an odd or even function of z. We consider that the diagonal matrix elements of H’ vanish. Then the interaction of radiation with the system is governed by precisely the kind of oscillatory perturbation with Vab Note: P is off-diagonal matrix element of z component of dipole moment operator qr. Transition probability is proportional to the energy density of the perturbing fields. And we see that the probability is proportional to time. If incident radiation is monochromatic, transition probability oscillates. However, if the system is exposed to incoherent spread of frequencies that flopping nature disappears. The transition rate will be a constant. In the calculations, we have assumed that the direction of propagation of perturbing radiation is y direction and it is polarized along z axis. However, in practice the system (like quantum well, quantum dot) is exposed to a radiation coming from all directions and with all possible polarizations. Then the energy of the field is shared equally among these different modes. So in the place of we have to substitute the average of |P.n|2 with n is the direction of polarization of radiation. Average is over all polarizations and all incident directions. Quantum Well: A quantum well can be considered as idealized square, finite and symmetrical potential well. It is now evident that absorption of radiation by quantum well depends on the direction of the transition dipole moment and direction of polarization of incident radiation. It can be shown that the wave function of quantum well is a even function in ground state and it is alternatively even or odd in higher states. In order to P be nonzero ÃŽ ¨a and ÃŽ ¨b should be of opposite parity since z is odd. In addition, direction of P depends on ÃŽ ¨a and ÃŽ ¨b. Since the wavefunction of the quantum well has only z component, transition dipole moment will also be directed along the z direction i.e. along the direction of potential Vwell(z). In the case of normal incidence, the polarization of radiation is perpendicular to the walls of the well barrier or to the potential. The n that refers to polarization direction of radiation is in xy plane. So choosing cylindrical polar coordinates, we have And . Thus, . Then, Which implies that normal incidence in quantum wells is forbidden. The polarization selection rules for transitions in quantum wells are summarized below. Quantum Dot: Quantum dot is a quantum structure, which is confined three dimensionally. Thus, the confinement potential has all the three x, y, z components. Similarly the wave functions representing the states of quantum dot have x, y, z components. So the scalar product between transition dipole moment and the polarization direction of incident radiation will not be equal to zero. Average of is not zero in quantum dots. Thus, the quantity in quantum dots is nonzero. There is no restriction for direction of polarization of radiation theoretically. Even though normal incidence intraband absorption is forbidden in quantum wells, they are allowed in quantum dots. This is major fact of great interest in the development of infrared photodetectors. I attended a two-day collaborator’s workshop organized by Centre of ART, SIT, Tumkur from 20-02-2014 to 21-02-2014. Study Plan: In the next half year, focus of the study will be MOCVD growth process of quantum dots. Signature of the CandidateSignature of the Guide (Manala Gowri M) (Prof. (Dr.) Ganesh N. Raikar) References: A. Weber. Intraband Spectroscopy of Semiconductor quantum dots, 1998. 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillator_strength 3. Proefschrift. Optical Properties of Semiconductor Quantum Dots, 2011 4. Griffith. D.J, Introduction to quantum Mechanics, 2nd Ed, Pearson Education Inc, 2006.

Freedom of Choice in Shakespeares King Lear :: Essays on King Lear

         Humans, like all creatures on the earth, have the privilege of the freedom of choice.   There are two broad ranges of factors that affect the decisions a person makes.   The first factor that affects decision making is internal and includes a person's character and intellect.   The second factor is external such as environment and interaction with other people. Naturally, each decision a person makes results in a repercussion of some degree, usually either helpful or hindering, and rarely inconsequential. The concept of justice is based on the fact that decisions are always followed by consequences.   It strictly adheres to the rewarding of good deeds and the punishment of evil.   King Lear, a play by William Shakespeare, is a grave tragedy that is a prime example of the Elizabethan conception of justice.   Lear's kingdom turns to chaos because of a break in the "Great Chain of Being" and restores to order when justice prevails. Its tragic labelling stems from t he prevalence of death the just punishment for many of its characters.   The deaths of Lear, Goneril, and Edmund are prime examples of justice prevailing for evil, and in Lear's case unnatural, acts.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Lear's ultimate fate is death.   His early demise is a direct result of breaching the "Great Chain of Being" which states that no mortal will abandon his position in the hierarchy of ranking set by God.   Lear's intention of abdicating his throne is apparent from the outset and is seen in the following speech spoken during the opening scene of the play:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . . . 'tis our fast intent   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To shake all cares and business from our age,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conferring them on younger strengths while we   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unburdened crawl toward death. . .1      Ã‚  Ã‚   Evidently the splitting of Lear's kingdom and abdication of his throne is not an act of necessity, but an act toward easing the remainder of his life.   Lear's disruption of the "Great Chain of Being" is in an unnatural fashion because the abdication of his kingship is without dire or mortal cause.   The method of passing down his land to his heirs is also unnatural, as seen in the following excerpts:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . . . Know that we have divided   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In three our kingdom. . .   Ã‚  Ã‚   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Christian Response/Decisions on life and living Essay

AO1- Explain the beliefs Christians hold about their responsibility for those at the beginning and end of their lives. The heart of Christian ethics is love, which has its source in God. Christianity is based on the principal of love,’ love thy neighbour as yourself’ is the greatest teaching and in this context means having concern/caring for others. Christians extend this teaching further when considering those at the beginning or end of their lives. Christians believe that an unborn baby or foetus is created in God’s own image, which is why they would regard every child and living person as precious, and whilst in the womb it is closest to perfection (completely innocent). Christians believe that all human life is sacred as it has eternal destiny and as an unborn child a potential life an unborn child/ foetus is treated with protection and respect, as a human should be. In general Christians feel it is their responsibility to take care of the body carrying an unborn baby and because traditional Christian teaching places the highest value on human life most Christians condemn the concept of abortion as it would involve destroying something so innocent and going against God’s will because God chose to give the life. Christian’s regard abortion in any sense as murder which goes against their moral teachings, the fifth commandment states ‘Thou shall not kill’. â€Å"If anyone does not take care of his relations especially members of his own family he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever† this is a quote from Timothy 1 in the new testament and this quote can have a lot of meaning for a Christian as a parent because it states that it should be their responsibility to care for all their family which would include a conceived child who should be given the chance to live and cared for else a Christian would really be a hypocrite to their beliefs. Christian’s also hold great responsibility as a parent of a newborn child. Christian’s believe it s their duty to baptise their child. The service of baptism washes away a child’s original sin and symbolises their membership to the church. As a parent a Christian is opening the door to the Christian faith (GOD) to which their child can later choose to become part of through their own will when they are older by being ‘confirmed’. It is a Christian’s duty to give their child this opportunity whether or not they choose to take it. As a child grows up it is also the parent’s responsibility to educate the child about the Christian faith, for example sending them to a Christian/catholic school and teaching them about Christianity at home? When considering Christian responsibility for those at the end of their lives the concept is very similar. Christians believe that only God gave life and only God can take it away. They believe killing an innocent person is unacceptable ‘thou shall not kill’ regardless of whether it is an embryo, foetus, child, adult, old person, or someone who is terminally ill and dying. Some Christians may feel that Euthanasia should be allowed as in some circumstances it would be more ‘loving to let someone die if letting them carry on living was causing them so much pain. Most Christians however do not agree because they say human life is sacred and only God has the authority to take it. Christian’s treat a terminally ill, unconscious adult with the same protection as a conscious adult. Christians are against euthanasia but would try to make the time before a person’s death as easy as possible by caring for them and knowing that they will die when God wants them to. The care that the old and terminally ill need can be provided by a hospice. Christian’s support the hospice movement. They are Christian based foundations similar to a hospital but are designed for people to go there to die. The relatives of patients are given care and support and the patients are made as comfortable and happy as possible and the emphasis is on controlling pain and allowing people to die with dignity. AO2 -Faced with the issues of abortion and euthanasia, explain the different ways Christians might respond. The different denominations of Christians and Christian individuals would react in different ways when faced with these issues. When looking at abortion it is fair to say that all Christians believe it is unacceptable and should be avoided. A roman catholic would believe that a deliberately procured abortion is a serious sin as it would be regarded as a murder no matter what time in the pregnancy it took place, as a roman Catholics belief is that God implants the soul at the moment of conception. In today’s society there is a lot of sexual crime such as rape and incest. If a woman were to become pregnancy as a result of this crime her actions may be different depending on what kind of Christian she was. A roman catholic would be strictly against abortion and believe that although the father committed and evil crime the unborn child should still be considered innocent and part of God and should not be killed because its father committed an evil sin. A true Roman Catholic would go ahead with the pregnancy but once the child was born may take other steps such as adoption if keeping the child was too distressing and she felt she could not love it. However looking at this situation from a Protestant perspective it would be acceptable for the woman to have an abortion as having the baby would remind her of the trauma of the sexual crime and the child may not be brought into the world into a loving family, as it should deserve. It is in this way that views differ, members of the Christian Churches accept that sometimes abortion may be the lesser of 2 evils like in the result of a sexual crime, if the child was sought to be handicapped, deformed or likely to die soon after birth and if the foetus is likely to endanger the life of the mother. There are also some extreme exceptions for Catholics. The principal of double effect in the Roman Catholic church if in some complex situations like if the mother was likely to die would allow an abortion to take place, and there are also some occasions where an operation needs to be carried out with a purpose to cure a life threatening disease which may kill an unborn child, the Roman Catholic church teaches that this is permissible and necessary. When faced with issues of euthanasia different most Christians react in similar ways. Some Christians think it is acceptable to help someone to die by stopping their medication, turning off a life support machine etc as long as they are not directly taking their life simply putting a stop to methods that are trying to preserve it. The Roman Catholic belief is that any action intended to cause death as a relief from suffering is,† a grave violation of the laws of God† (John Paul II). Catholics believe that no one should try to take someone’s life for them, as it is still a form of killing. But they do not believe that life has to be preserved at all costs and find turning off a life support machine acceptable if the person can no way be cured and is otherwise in a vegetative state. Christians also support the use of painkillers such as morphine, which hasten death provided their aim is to ease pain. If a Christian had a friend who was terminally ill and dying and asked them to help them to die quicker as they were suffering a Christian may agree to do so because they think it is more ‘loving’ than to let their friend experience immense suffering or they may stop their medication which is keeping them alive to help them die faster. AO3 – What Christians believe about life is up to them. They should not make others accept their position. Do you agree with the statement? A Christian has their own views and ideas about life. Everyone has the right of freedom and should therefore be able to believe their own things without having to be bothered about what others think. This could be argued by some people as not right because when it involves the taking of a life, it can never really be justified as right As a Christian however it is acceptable for them to give advice to others based on their believes whether or not the other person chooses to accept it. As a Christian one should not judge others for being different and this includes having different views and beliefs to themselves, â€Å"Judge not others lest you be judged†. I can relate this to a modern day situation by saying that if a Christian had a close friend (non Christian) who was considering an abortion who asked for their advice it would be fair for a Christian to share their advice and views with this friend but if they still chose to go ahead with the abortion as a Christian the person should still stand by their friend and support them regardless of whether they feel they are making the wrong decision. From another point of view Christians should make others accept their position because God commands them to share the good news with others and take the gospel to all the people’ therefore a Christian would not be fulfilling their duty as a Christian if they did not spread the word of God to others. Other people can choose not to be influenced by their ideas but as a Christian I Think they need to pass on their beliefs about God to other people. Overall I think that a Christian should tell other people when they are doing something which in society could be considered as very wrong i.e. Murder and a Christian also has the right to share there believes with others in hope that they may accept them. However it is the individual’s choice to believe what they want in the end and another person should force no one into accepting a certain position.

Ipod Decision Making Process

Describe and explain the characteristics that affect consumer behaviour and outline the consumer decision-making process as it relates to Apple iPod Introduction ‘Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics’ (Kotler, Armstrong, Wong & Saunders). This report will investigate the characteristics that affect consumer behaviour and the consumer decision-process as it relates to the purchase of an Apple iPod.This report will be describing and explaining how consumers go through five different stages to reach a buying decision and outlining the consumer decision-making process when a consumer buys a product. The Apple iPod is a brand of portable media players and was launched on October 2001. There are four different types of players, which can play both music and videos, including the ‘iPod Classic’, ‘iPod Touch’, ‘iPod Nano’ and the ‘iPod Shuflfe’. The Apple â⠂¬Ëœitunes’ software can be used to transfer music to the iPods from computers.Both the Sony Walkman and Samsung YP-P2 are the iPods biggest competitors and have the same touch screen control panel. They both can hold similar amount of music to that of an iPod. ‘Mintel forecasts that the UK audio equipment market will grow by an estimated 8% to reach a value of ?2. 2 billion at current prices over the period 2007-12. In real terms, with massive price deflation for electronics taken into consideration, this equates to 100% rate of growth until 2012. (mintel, accessed at 19th November 2009) ‘Market growth since 2006 for the Apple iPod has been in decline due to the high pricing scheme of the devices although price cuts like those applied to the iPod shuffle on Tuesday and cheaper Internet –capable models down the line should help the company reverse course and maintain a steady rate of growth through 2009, says one Wall Street analyst’, (http://www. ap pleinsider. com/articles/08/02/20/growth_potential_seen_in_steadily_maturing_ipod_market. html 20th February 2008). The Apple iPod is aimed at young adults aged between 12-25, both males and females.The Apple iPod is aimed at people in the middle/high class and for those who have a particular interest or passion in music. The report will also provide a discussion of the type buying behaviour related with Apple iPods and compare the process with a less complex product, such as a bottle of water in this report. Marketing recommendations will then be given for the purchase of an Apple iPod. The Characteristics that Affect Consumer Behaviour It can be seen that cultural, social, personal and psychological are the four characteristics that influence consumer behaviour.This section will describe how some of the characteristics associate with consumer behaviour when purchasing an Apple iPod. For the social characteristic influence, this can be that the person who is buying an iPod can be i nfluenced by friends, family or any other groups the person is part of, a friend of the person may recommend an iPod to be the best portible audio player to purchase, which would then give the consumer more confidence to buy an iPod. Inspirational groups, such as celebrities who could be seen using an iPod, might have also influenced consumer behaviour. This may influence a consumer, due to the status of a celebrity.Personal characteristics such as the age of a person can affect consumer behaviour. In this case a consumer may be in an age group where it is cool and common to have an iPod, so this would be more of a want for the buyer to have the product. An Outline of the Consumer Decision-Making Process Type of Buying decision behaviour This section of the report will discuss the type of buying decision behaviour associated with the Apple iPod. The decision behaviour for the buyer of an iPod would be complex buying behaviour due to the high cost of the product and is mainly purchas e infrequently.It could be said that the consumer has much to learn about the product and may have little knowledge about the product before making a decision to purchase it. For example, an iPod buyer may not know what functions of the product to consider. ‘Many product features carry no real meaning to the great majority of potential purchasers’ (Kotler 2008 page 263, p1). This can relate to the iPod when looking at the memory size and price of the product, a customer may not know the difference between a ‘10GB iPod and a ‘160GB’ iPod. So the buyer will pass though a learning process, first developing attitudes, and then making a thoughtful purchase choice’ (Kotler 2008, page 263, p1). So for marketers of an iPod, they must understand the way a consumer gathers information and the evaluation behaviour of a high involvement product. The advertising and size of the iPod may be used to help make it easier for a consumer to understand what the me mory size is of an iPod. Dissonance-reducing buying behaviour can be associated with the buying of an iPod, due to how expensive the product is and how infrequent it is purchased.For example, consumers buying an iPod could face a high involvement decision because of the high price of an iPod compared to a low involvement product such as a toothbrush and how the product can express the consumer, such as the which style and colour of iPod suit the consumer best. The Consumer may evaluate and do some research into the types iPods, prior to the buying decision to make give them more knowledge of the product. An explanation of each stage of the decision-making model This section of the report will explain each stage of the decision-making model for a buyer of an iPod.Below is the five-stage decision making process, buyers go through when they purchase a product. ‘The buying process starts with need recognition – the buyer recognising a problem or need’ (Kotler 2008, p age 265, p4). The first stage of the decision making model is where the consumer has recognised a problem or a need. Need recognition In relation to the iPod, is where the consumer has recognised that the product is available to buy and may have dissatisfaction with their current portable audio player.The iPod is not necessary a need, such as food or water. It is more of an individual want and the consumer may have more income spare to purchase an iPod. The purchase of an iPod could be mainly because of its appeal. ‘A need can also be triggered by external stimuli. Anna passes a bakery and the smell of reshly baked bread stimulates her hunger; she admires a neighbour’s new car; or she watches a television commercial for a Caribbean holiday’. (Kotler et al 2008, page 266 p1). This statement states that external stimuli can trigger a need.In relation to the iPod, the external stimuli could be an advert on television or someone in the public using an iPod, who seems to be having a fun with the product. The second stage of the decision-making model is the information search stage. This is the stage where a consumer is aroused to search for more information about the product they have been attracted too in the need recognition stage. ‘The consumer may simply have heightened attention or may go into active information search’ (Kotler et al 2008, page 266 p2). Heightened attention simply means the consumer becomes more receptive to information about a product.The consumer may pay more attention to adverts and products used by friends. Active information search is where the consumer gathers information, such as searching reading material or phoning friends to gather information, this usually depends of drive of the consumer to search for information about a product. ‘The amount of searching she does will depend upon the strength of her drive, the amount of information she starts with, the ease of obtaining more information, the v alue she places on additional information and the satisfaction she gets from searching’ (Kotler et al 2008, page 266 p2).This statement explains that the more a consumer wants a product, the more searching for information about the product will occur. In relation to the Apple iPod, a consumer may have been aroused by external stimuli such as an advert on television and then may go through active information search, where the consumer can obtain information from any of the following sources: * Personal sources: Family, friends, neighbours Commercial sources: Advertising, salespeople, the Internet, packaging, displays * Public sources: Mass media, consumer-rating organisations * Experiential sources: Handling, examining, using the product Personal sources can be the most effective for some products, as friends and families recommendations can be more reliable than an advert on television. As more information has been gathered from the above sources, the consumer’s knowle dge of the iPod increases. The consumer may know the different types of iPods available and their features that best suit the consumer.The third stage of the decision-making purchase is the information evaluation or evaluation of alternatives. This is the stage of the decision-making process, where the consumer uses information from the previous stage to evaluate other brands, products and services. The consumer also evaluates the benefits and features of the product they are going to buy. For high-involvement products such as the Apple iPod, the consumer is more likely to carry out a more extensive evaluation. Such as evaluating the advantages and benefits of the product they are interested in purchasing.