Is Mars Habitable?

NASA

Is Mars Habitable

For the past couple hundred thousands years humans have lived on planet earth. The Human race is now exploring options to migrate or at the very least question the idea of life on mars. Using prior knowledge and advancing technology, NASA plans to send a new advanced rover to Mars in order to explore all questions to habitable options. Nasa claims the rover will “study diverse rocks and soils to understand past habitable conditions on Mars and to seek signs of ancient microbial life, monitor weather and dust in the Martian atmosphere, and test the ability to extract oxygen from the Red Planet's carbon-dioxide atmosphere to prepare for future human exploration. Rock-studying instruments would assist scientists in understanding which samples would be most promising for the Mars 2020 rover to core, collect, and cache (store).”

Research has proved so far that it is not probable to support human life on the surface. Over the course of time as more research comes out it can be predicted that there could be life supported underground in pods or caves according to Discover Magazine. Over time there could be a system of paraterraforming, meaning creating an earth like surface inclosed to support adequate air pressure. Mars atmosphere is consisted almost entirely of Carbon Dioxide which could be converted to fuel and or to support plant life. The biggest problem with Mars is that the atmospheric pressure is on average .6% of that on earth.

Terraforming is entirely possible. Although paraterraforming could be accomplished within a few years with proper tools, terraforming could be done  over the course of centuries. Terraforming or engineering the planet to replicate earth is one of the most ambitious goals humans have set to this date. The main obstacles in this case would be the ability to travel the immense distance with this equipment, especially compared to colonizing the moon.

The Reasoning Behind Bitcoins Irregular Price fluctuations

The price of bitcoin is constantly changing, sometimes it’s $300 and other times it’s $1200. In this sense it is similar to a stock which is why people buy and sell it, because they believe that after they buy it the price will go up and they will profit. Since there is a finite amount of bitcoins in the world many of these investors buy the Bitcoins and hold on to them and hope other investors do the same because the more people that hold and don’t trade, the less Bitcoins there are available to the public thus raising the price. An article I found on a website called investopedia talks about the main reasons the value of Bitcoin changes so much. Investopedia is a website often referred to when looking for good things to invest in. The main factors that effect the value of Bitcoin is the media, other countries inflation rates, and the IRS.

Source: https://blog.blockchain.com

1. The information that the media chooses to publicize about bitcoin often frustrates investors, “News events that scare Bitcoin users include geopolitical events and statements by governments that Bitcoin is likely to be regulated.” People use Bitcoin because it is not regulated, so when they hear that governments plan on regulating it they sell their Bitcoins making more Bitcoins available while also driving the price down.
2. Another thing that influences the value of Bitcoin is the IRS and their claims stating they will start collecting taxes on it, “Tax treatment of Bitcoin also affects the volatility.” Recently the IRS claimed that Bitcoin is technically property and should be taxed as such. Investors had mixed feelings about this. Some investors thought it was positive that Bitcoin was recognized as a currency. While majority were upset because if the IRS began taxing it, than people would have to start recording the value of Bitcoin and how much they spent every time it’s used. Another thing investors are afraid of the IRS doing is regulating it.
3. Getting hacked is a legitimate fear of many people who invest in Bitcoin. It isn’t very common but recently an exchange company that handled around 70% of all Bitcoin transactions was hacked into and had $460 million dollars worth of Bitcoin stolen, “Bitcoin gateways looked to the massive failure at Mt Gox.” This changed many people’s minds about investing in Bitcoin, and a lot of investors sold their Bitcoins, leading to a decline in the value.
4. “Bitcoin and foreign direct investment in countries with high inflation.” Another reason the price can go up is because when a country has a high inflation rate many people want something more stable, that they won’t need 5000 of to buy a loaf of bread. Bitcoin is special because a country’s financial problems don’t affect the value. This makes more people want to buy it because it is reliable.
5. Another factor that influences Bitcoins value is, “Bitcoin presents a variety of opportunities that did not exist prior to its development.” Once people started seeing that you can profit from buying and selling Bitcoin they began to do it. When investors hear about new technology associated with Bitcoin coming out they are intrigued and often buy more Bitcoin because they expect the new technology to drive up the price, and as more and more Bitcoins are purchased the higher the price goes.

Overall, the greatest factor that influences the price of Bitcoin is the media and what they say about it. When they say negative things investors begin to sell their Bitcoins because they don’t want to be associated with Bitcoin if everyone thinks it's bad, but when the media talks positively about Bitcoin people all of a sudden start buying more. When I began mining for Bitcoins last year the price per Bitcoin was around $300 and stayed around there until summer, then it increased to about $1000 and now it is leveling out at around $650. The drastic prices changes are what intrigues investors because there is a high level of risk but if you’re successful you can profit a substantial amount of money.

Future Research Questions: What is Cryptocurrency?

What were the top runway shows at Fall 2016?

source: http://www.britannica.com

To make new collections popular, the most important step the fashion designers take is to hold a fashion show. Fashion weeks are usually the time for companies all over the world to present their new creations. And the most famous ones are New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks. The fashion magazine Vogue held a poll for the best collections for Fall 2016 on their website to select the top 10 shows in all four fashion weeks. This source can be reliable because Vogue is one of the biggest fashion magazines that has a high credibility. But the top 10 list is more like a personal preference of fashion followers. In this blog post, I argue that famous designers that have a strong fashion sense are able to build their reputation through their shows because they are able to showcase colors/styles that are popular in the region during a particular season.

source: http://www.vogue.com

• Rodarte in New York Fashion Week

Rodarte sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy celebrated Rodarte's 10th anniversary on the show. The show was set by Alexandre de Betak, who is a French fashion shows designer, and the background music belonged to Judy Collins. The collection was inspired by their trip to Berkeley, it remains an independent passion project, one that they pour their California heritage, offbeat obsessions, and sisterly devotion into the season. This season matched the floral and fairy trend that is currently popular. Mulleavys designed the looks that contain ruffled leather, floral paillettes. and lace.

source: http://www.vogue.com

source: http://www.vogue.com

• Marc Jacobs at New York Fashion Week

Last year, Marc Jacobs held an Americana fashion show, which used a lot of blue, white, and red on the garment, at New York Fashion Week; For 2016 fall, he published a collection that was more gothic in shade of black and white in New York. What Vogue commented on this show was “(this collection) felt well attuned to the prevailing dark national mood, but nonetheless energized a crowd made weary. Jacobs’s dramatic, labored-over clothes will make glorious photo shoots.” There's no doubt that Marc Jacob was successful on coloring the 2016 Fall by only neutral colors. And the details on the garment made this show irrelevant to any words related to "boring".

source: http://www.vogue.com

source: http://www.vogue.com

• Simone Rocha at London Fashion Week

Simone Rocha just had a baby girl three months before the show, however, the baby didn’t distract Rocha from preparing her Fall collection, instead, her mother love gave the show a new look.There was pink, lilac, gold, and red, but it wasn’t all sweetness and light. "She ended with a series of sparkly neo-Victorian frocks, close inspection of which revealed they were disintegrating."

source: http://www.vogue.com

source: http://www.vogue.com

• Alexander Mcqueen at London Fashion Week

In a season when not much attention was paid to evening-wear, designer Sarah Burton’s ravishing creations for Alexander McQueen were in a class entirely their own. This glittering column and matching cape were "so exquisite, so Old Hollywood glamorous." This season was absolutely many people's favorite. Their coats basically fit everyone because the shape of their coats didn't reveal any lines of the body, the neutral color was the easiest to wear, and the prints on them added the personality to the coat, they were not exaggerated but to the point.

source: http://www.vogue.com

source: http://www.vogue.com

• Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week

This collection was the high mark of designer Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton. It was one of the best shows of the season, and it’s his most confident and convincing collection for Louis Vuitton, Vogue commented. Upon the underwater scene, "Nicolas Ghesquière merged sportif references, sensual slip dressing, and a soupçon of his great tailoring into a lineup with tons of real-world potential. A monogram bag modeled on plastic shopping sacks and sturdy combat booties summed up its chic, street-ready vibes."

source: http://www.vogue.com

         In the fashion field, I think the most successful designer would be the person whose work can be recognized by fashion trend followers without labeling his or her name on the clothing. And we have an amount of great designers among the world, their expressions to the world through clothing are unique and that are what the fashion world is composed of. More important, the style of each designer is what attracts the fashion followers and makes them want to purchase. 

        In the next blog post, I will talk about a current fashion trend and how brands respond to the occurrence of this kind of trend.

What is taking the place of jeans in women's wardrobe?

source: http://www.businessinsider.com

These days, yoga pants are taking the place of blue jeans in women’s wardrobe, especially teenagers and young adult. The most obvious example would be 9 out of 10 girls in my class are wearing yoga pants to school, and the one left is wearing the sweatpants. It’s clear that yoga pants are no longer only for yoga and gym, they start a new fashion trend, called the athleisure. Some people say they can’t accept female wearing yoga pants outside the gym because these pants “show everything.” Montana state representative even introduced a bill to the state exposure law that people who wear the clothes that “gives an appearance or simulates”, like yoga pants, should have a $5,000 fine and up to five years in jail, according to the website The Fashion Spot. Meanwhile, plenty of fashion companies changes their direction to athleisure business. The articles will show you the popularization of yoga pants and how companies respond to this new casual trend!

The sources are from the Wall Street Journal and Business Insider, which are very reliable media resources. Teri Agins from WSJ is a fashion reporter who has the perspectives on fashion styling. Ashley Lutz is Business Insider’s deputy business editor, overseeing coverage of retail, restaurants, lifestyle, and transportation.  

Referring to the article from WSJ, like the aerobics craze during the 1980s made leggings trendy, yoga has popularized the stretchy, skintight pants, tank tops, and hoodies. Even though yoga pants are banned by some schools, the female of all sizes and ages continue to wear yoga pants and other athleisure clothing as streetwear, and casual office wear. This circumstance can be good and bad at the same time. In a positive way, women have more rights to decide what to wear and can insist on what pleases them. They are pursuing the concept of “Real Me” and being confident in themselves. On the other hand, athleisure apparel seems too casual for office wear, personally thinking, it is unfitted for someone to wear yoga pants sitting on the office desk to do business. But other than that, ladies get to choose whatever please them. “They are staples in the burgeoning multibillion-dollar “athleisure” apparel category that doubles as streetwear in today’s all-casual, all-the-time mode of dressing,” Agins says. Brands like Tory Burch and celebrities like Rihanna are all diving in this athleisure pool to keep the yoga pants trendy.

Another article from Business Insider points out that jeans are starting to be replaced by yoga pants, and gives an example of Levi’s, one of the most iconic denim companies, refused to accept the trend and ended up with $2.2 billion sales loss over the years. Unlike Levi’s, Gap starts to put lots of money on athleisure. According to a report on teen spending, what was found is that teens are now buying more sportswear from Lululemon and Nike over the denim classics from brands like Abercrombie. In order to maximize the company’s profits, the board of directors has to match up with the “rules of the game”.

In the next blog, I want to focus on how brands public certain style of clothing to attract consumer in different countries and how they use different marketing stradegies in different countries.

How Lululemon became a status symbol

http://www.regaliacenter.com/

With the new popular fad, athleisure, many people are huge supporters and followers of companies like Lululemon. According to Haley Wilbur, a writer for Mashable, the brand Lululemon has created a “cult-like” following for people and make more and more people want to represent and support the company. With this, Lululemon has created an oligopoly in the athleisure business because many consumers in this industry feel loyal to a certain company, and making it difficult for new companies to start up.

Walking around, you constantly recognize different athleisure companies such as Lululemon and Athleta. If you ask any of these consumers, many will only wear Athleta or only wear Lululemon. How do these companies create such a “cult-like” following? Especially when you look at it, Lululemon isn’t known for their affordable prices, or reliable products, so why do people shop there? Lululemon has significantly increased their prices that is causing tension with consumers. One shopper at Lululemon said, “I could understand a slight increase in prices if quality were increasing, but longtime and loyal customers are well aware that has NOT been the case”. The company is slowly losing long-term shoppers because the company is raising the price while the quality isn’t improving. Some prices have been raised by 22% without much change to their products, yet people are still buying products there.

On top of the raising prices, Lululemon is the 9th most valuable clothing brand. Even with all their negative press and reputation, Lululemon still manages to be a successful company. The store has also had many different recalls for their products such as being see-through as well as piling. I think it's surprising that with the rising prices, and constant recalls that it is still rated high up on valuable clothing brands. Stores like Abercrombie who have also had their negative press wouldn't be noted as a successful company because other stores like Forever 21, H&M, Urban Outfitters, have a much higher ranking. With the new fad and many new athleisure companies starting up, Lululemon is still in the lead.

Future Research Question: Why people stop shopping at these type of stores?

Scent Marketing?

Scent Marketing

www.brandaroma.com

Would you believe that your sense of smell would lead you to buy a pair of your favorite trainers faster than your sense of sight? In a study conducted by the Smell and Taste Institute, it was found that 84% of customers were more likely to buy a pair of Nike trainers in a scented room compared to a non-scented room  According to the Nobel Peace Prize winners, Richard Axel and Linda Buck, our sense of smell is directly linked to our limbic system, which makes it the most emotional sense we possess. Scent marketing triggers an emotional response in consumers, which leads to longer times spent in stores and more sales for businesses.

        We are all guilty of lighting a candle in our house to make our guests feel more at home, or putting a nice scent in our car so our passengers feel comfortable, but just how important is our sense of smell? In the world of marketing appealing to people's’ sense of smell is quickly becoming the best way for increasing sales. Due to our sense of smell being directly linked to our brain, it controls our memories and emotional status.” For retailers, this is important for making customers feel more comfortable, pleasant, and nostalgic while shopping.”

It is no coincidence that we connect certain smells to some brands, such as Starbucks, IKEA, and Abercrombie & Fitch. These brands target customers’ memories to boost return visits, repeat customers, and more sales. One can not help but notice that when a customer enters an IKEA they are hit with a scent of cinnamon, or how every time in a mall everyone knows where to find the Abercrombie & Fitch due to their cologne coming from the store. These smells are not coincidental, they are there to attract buyers and appeal to more than the eye. When we attach an emotion to a store we connect with it in a stronger way. The next time you visit your favorite store, remember that it might be your sense of smell that leads to your next purchase.

Why do certain sports make so much more money than others?

http://dudehisattva.com

The NBA is not more popular in the US than the vaunted NFL, right? Right, the NFL pulls in $13 B in revenue per season, and the NBA just $6B. So then why are average NBA salaries higher than the NFL and every other sports league in the country? The sources are SB Nation and Forbes, both of those two companies are trusted with sports and financials respectively. There is a reason aside from varying levels of popularity in particular sports that certain sports make more money than other ones do. These reasons range from lack of available spots in the big league to the total revenue that is due to the players in the different leagues. The path to every professional sport league is always long and filled with obstacles, so all professional athletes should be paid similarly, but they are not.

It is very difficult for people to achieve the dream of becoming a professional athlete. Part of the reason it is so difficult is because there is an extremely small amount of spots available compared to the amount of people trying to get there to get those spots. The size of rosters is different in every league. Baseball and hockey have extensive minor league systems with AAA, AA, and A, however those players do not make the high salaries. So in the pros for both of those leagues there are 25 players on a roster, 750 players in each league. In the NBA the rosters per team are 12-15 players and the NFL has the largest roster size by far with 53 per team. “There are 1,696 NFL players vs 450 NBA players. So just because of roster sizes, the average NBA salary is roughly double that of the average NFL salary.” SBNation (NFL vs NBA) There is less than ¼ of the amount of NBA players than there are NFL players. “This is the big one. NFL players get twice as much total money as NBA players, but that money is spread over almost four times as many athletes.” SBNation (NFL vs NBA) There are is more money to spread around, but they have to spread around a lot more people. This means two things. First, it is harder to get into the league and make it as a professional. This also leads to the second point that there is less people to spread the money around to. That is why players like Chandler Parsons, a slightly above average played based on his production is making $23.6 M in the NBA, while one of the top 5 quarterbacks in the NFL, Ben Roethlisberger, is earning $17.8 M. Seemingly this is not fair, Big Ben is a top 20 player in the league, while Parsons is an average player, but he is in the NBA, not the NFL, and it was even more difficult for him to make it to the pros, because of the even smaller amount of available roster spots in the pros.  They had to work harder and be better at their sport to get to the pros, so they are owed that extra money from the owners.

Fans often get frustrated when there are lockouts, because they do not understand why they are happening. Often it is the revenue split between how much of the total revenue is owed to the players and how much to the owners. This is the idea of how the revenue is distributed to all the different people in the league. The NFLPA gets 46% of the total revenue, while the NBA has an even 50:50 split. “With $6 billion spread over 1,696 players, the average annual NFL salary would be about $3.5 million. With $3 billion shared among 450 players, the average annual NBA salary is roughly $6.7 million.” SBNation (NFL vs NBA) So even though the league makes half the revenue of the NFL, the NBA has a lot less players, so there players they are able to make more money. The supply of players with that high of a talent level is low, so the demand is high and the owners will pay more for it. The owners are willing to pay this, because the in the NBA it is very challenging to get to the pros, so they know that they are getting their money’s worth. Also helping Parsons get more than Ben is he and his fellow NBA players get 4% more of the total revenue than Ben and his NFL counterparts. So this revenue split is a huge deal for how much players make, and that is why there are so many lockouts in pro sports.

Sports is one of the largest businesses in the world. Athletes always have made some of the most money of any worker in the world. They all have to work hard to get to the pros and take a similar path to get there. So often times people ask why certain sports make more than others. Most believe that it is because of the varying levels of popularity, which is somewhat true because a less popular sport like hockey has the lowest top salary ($14M) by a significant margin in any of the leagues. However the NFL is more popular than the NBA, that is proven by total revenue, $13M-$6M. Despite the higher popularity though, the NFL  average salary ($2M) is $2.9M lower than the NBA ($4.9M). In the previous paragraphs this has been explained by the revenue split between players and owners, as well as the amount of players being lower making it harder to make it to the pros and allowing to spread money amongst less people. That is why top 20 player in the NFL, Ben Roethlisberger, makes less than average NBA player, Chandler Parsons. So there is a true science to why certain leagues make more or less than other leagues do.

Future Research Question: Why are the owners willing to pay their players so much money?

How the Change in Modern Culture Affect the Golf Equipment Industry

When the game was first played, golf equipment was extremely primitive, the shafts were made out of wood, the woods were actually wood, and the irons were so thin that today's best players are intimidated by them. As the game grew, however, the equipment evolved and eventually became what we see today. Since the technology surrounding golf and knowledge level of its players has changed, the golf equipment industry must adapt as well, causing their products to change drastically.

Golf technology has changed due to several changes in modern society. One of these changes is the increase in the use of technology in order to determine what kind of equipment to use. The invention of tools such as Trackman, a piece of equipment designed to measure specific details of someone's swing and its ball flight, has led equipment companies to change their approach to how they sell and produce clubs. According an author at Golf Digest, a prominent magazine in the golf world, in his article "TrackMan Says," claim that "average golfers can understand which [lofts for drivers] [work] better by getting on a launch monitor." But these tools are not only used by the average golfers, there are now services that help fit people for clubs in order to maximise their potential which has lead equipment manufacturers to offer some level of customization to their products, such as altering the lofts and lie angles.

Callaway Big Bertha OS Irons
Golf Digest

Additionally, this has changed the types of clubs offered by these companies. Because golfers are now more knowledgeable about their game, many golf companies have introduced multiple ranges of clubs which target different golfers with different skill levels. Examples of this are Callaway's new range of irons called the Big Bertha OS, which are known as game improvement irons, clubs which are targeted towards golfers with lower skills or older golfers who can no longer swing fast enough to hit the ball far. Additionally, Callaway also has a range of irons called the Apex Tour which are targeted towards better players.

Because golfers want to have clubs that best suit their game instead of being content with a standard type of club like they were in the past, golf equipment manufacturers had to adapt by providing new services and offering new and more types of products.

Why do adults go to Pixar movies?

Source: https://www.pinterest.com

Pixar is known for it’s ability to appeal to younger audiences. However, you will be surprised with the alternative reasons for parents bringing their children to Pixar movies. In the blog post I will be analyzing two different sources to try to explore possible alternative reasons why parents are so willing to go to Pixar movies with their children. I think Pixar provides a movie with extensive complexity and clever humor. These things are incentives for adults to watch their movies.

A possible incentive for an adult or parent to go to a Pixar movie is that it’s captivating. Pixar has made a huge effort to try to make their movies not just for Kids. They do this to keep parents in mind by trying to make it entertaining for them as well. Pixar captivates adult audiences with complex characters and storylines, as well as references to movies when they were in their youth. Pixar is known for their unique characters from anything to an emotion to a talking dog, to an old man. These characters and their stories aren’t just for making kids laugh or grab their attention. It’s also for the adult. I look to a website devoted to Pixar. This source is credible because it is tied to Pixar and has in-depth analyzation of multiple movies, and how they are perceived by audiences of all ages. This source claims that “Pixar's films are full of complex thematic concerns and ideas which appeal to the older audiences”. I agree with this evidence because I have watched a handful of Pixar movies when I was a child a well as recently and while the characters in the movie remind me of my childhood, I was then engaged with the plot much more and realized how complex they really are. Knowing Pixar, they don’t stop with keeping the complexity to just one film at a time. Another aspect of their films that captivates and provides an incentive for older audiences is that they are able to tie all of their movies together by throwing in tiny little references to older movies or future movies. As seen in the picture below, they tie all of their movies together and reference older movies usually once or twice per movie. These references are small enough to where young viewers wouldn’t notice them, but adults would, adding to their ability to captivate older audiences. Pixar doesn’t stop with complex, more engaging plot lines or characters. They also don’t stop with referencing older movies in their newer movies. They include some adult humor that only adults would understand.

Source: http://pixar.wikia.com

Humor is a powerful tool. It makes people very happy. When a movie can incorporate humor it increases the overall quality of the film an well as provides a whole new set of incentives. Pixar is able to do this not just on a child’s level but also on an adult level without children picking up on the jokes. This is an incentive for older audiences to go to movies because it makes them laugh at the cleverness of the placement of these adult jokes. An article, published in 2013, written by  Hannah Loewentheil, analyzed different Pixar movies and why adults are going to see them. The website says that the humor is so successful because “While the jokes never fail to enrapture children in laughter, there is also a layer of more discreet, mature humor that you only understand once you watch the film as an older viewer”. This shows that it’s an incentive because it gives adults something to laugh at and it makes them feel like Pixar understands their situation. If I had to bring my kid to some children’s movie I would want it to be at least entertaining. Pixar’s use of their more mature humor provides an incentive for older people to come to their movies.

Pixar understands that they have a much wider audience than just children. Pixar makes very evident efforts to engage and entertain audiences of all ages. Pixar provides a set of incentives for adults that is able to bring in audiences movie after movie. These incentives for adults are the complexity of their movies, and the cleverness of the humor.

In my future blog post I will be discussing the incentives that Pixar provides that other children’s movie companies fail to.

How Two Billionaires are Making the Difference in the Cancer Community

Source: http://assets.labroots.com/

Once again, some rich people have donated to a cancer organization. According to a  CNN article (written by journalist David Goldman), Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, two respected billionaires, have donated $100 million to a program called Grail, a company that is in the process of developing a new type of blood test that can sense many different kinds of cancer much quicker and more easily than doctors can today. I believe that these two men donating to this company shows that they want further advancements in cancer treatment, Bill Gates does believe that the number of people dying from cancer will dramatically go down in the next few years.

The Grail foundation is working on “liquid biopsy” which scans a patient's blood and can detect strands of cancer DNA, which tells us that a tumor is forming on this patient. Using liquid biopsy is more efficient than getting a CT scan, which often doesn’t detect the first signs of a tumor. Often, by the time the tumor has progressed the patient has to undergo chemotherapy to eradicate the tumor. Grail claims that “The tests will cost $1,000 or less and be available by 2019”. Liquid biopsy will make it much easier to detect cancer early on and will make the process of removal much quicker and less stressful.

We don’t know whether Gates and Bezos have donated so much money because it will increase their status as good people, or if they truly are good people and donated out of love and hoping that we can find an end to cancer. We can all hope that they gave this generous amount of money out of the goodness of their hearts, but whether they did or not, the Grail program will eventually help many people in beating their cancer much faster.
Future research question: How an ad-campaign can have the cure to YOUR cancer

What Matter's More? Happiness or Food?

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/

As the man sat there, deciding on whether or not he should purchase the new phone or pay for a bit of extra food. He knew that he wanted the new phone, because of the new and improved features, but he also knows that if he does get the extra food, he will be able to eat 3 meals every day rather than just 2. This decision is obvious to most people and is based on the idea of Maslow’s hierarchy, and that is why we get what we want in the order we do.


In the article entitled What Makes People Buy? 20 Reasons, written by Bryan Eisenberg, a author who has written for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, says that these reason come from Maslow’s hierarchy. According to Maslow’s hierarchy, there is a specific order people will fulfill their needs and thus purchase products, which is dictated by the place they are in life and how much of said hierarchy is already fulfilled. The base level of the system are the basic things people need to survive, products for sustenance, shelter, and general security. When people choose what they do, they will get the things to meet these ends before they buy anything else. As you go further through the system, you get more and more things that are less required to survive and are more wanted to gain utility. One example of this would be the idea that people buy to follow a fad or because of peer pressure around them.

Here are some examples:

• Physiological: Marketers pushing for you to drink Gatorade because it will improve how you exercise.
• Safety: The Ford Escape SUV being marketed for it's safety for family.
• Love/Belonging: A online service such Facebook, where they market for you to make more friends.
• Esteem: A program geared towards people wanting to improve their bodies, which will in turn improve their self-esteem.
• Self-Actualization: A program that advertises that once you take it, you will have a new level of creativity you had never had before.

This concept of buying out of wanting to follow a trend pushes to the point of why people buy what they do, especially things such as new technology. A real world example of this could be someone buying a new MacBook because the people around you bought it and you want to feel included to you go out and buy it to be like the others. These types of things help the company substantially while also giving the person buying the product a sense of happiness from it.



FUTURE BLOG POST: Why we always feel like we didn't make the right choice?

The Dark Side of Bitcoin

Source:http://www.thehiddenwiki.net

Bitcoin has a negative connotation because of all the illegal things that can be purchased with them.  many criminals are attracted to bitcoin because of the anonymity. When people purchase goods on the deep web, they have to use bitcoin to buy them, these goods include guns, drugs, child pornography and even hitmen. But they can also be used to illegally launder money. Because bitcoin is anonymous it attracts many unexpected criminals throughout the world like drug dealers, nerds, and some of the wealthiest people in the country.

The most common misconception with Bitcoin is that people cannot buy anything legal with them. That isn’t entirely true, for example Amazon doesn’t directly allow you to purchase goods from their site, but you can trade your bitcoin in for Amazon gift cards. But still a significant amount of illegal goods are bought with Bitcoin the following information was found at WSJ bitcoins negative side which is a very well known newspaper. “Last year, the Justice Department took down the most popular online marketplace for illicit drugs, which were purchased using bitcoins.” Because it is anonymous criminals are able to buy and sell illegal drugs and other goods online without the worry of getting caught, they are “drawn to virtual currencies because they allow for a greater degree of anonymity than traditional banking systems.” In the traditional banking system, all transactions are recorded with people’s names and information, but with bitcoin it is just recorded in the Blockchain which doesn’t have your personal information, and allows you not to be tracked. People often first hear about Bitcoin in the news when someone gets in trouble for buying drugs or some other illicit items online and the local news does a story on it. Because of this people usually assume that Bitcoin is usually a bad thing.

The people that use bitcoin for illegal activities aren’t who you would expect them to be. To be able to do illegal things online, you need to be extremely good with computers, to ensure your anonymity. The people buying these things online are usually the kids who are the “nerds” who typically don’t bring a lot of attention to themselves in school, but they’re almost never the people you would assume would be breaking the law. Other people that use it are white collar wealthy businessmen who are trying to avoid the government finding out how much money they have and taxing them more,  “bitcoin and other virtual currencies raise new risks for money laundering.” Bitcoin is an online cryptocurrency that cannot be traced so rich businessmen sometimes launder money with it but recently their has been a problem with some people getting hacked and losing their money for example a company called Mt. Gox that is a bitcoin exchange company was hacked, “Mt. Gox, announced it lost roughly $500 million of bitcoins.” This poses serious problems, because now people aren’t as trusting of the Bitcoin system, especially wealthy people trying to conceal their money. The media often talks about the negative things surrounding Bitcoin, which makes people believe that because it is involved in illegal activities that it would not be beneficial to society.

Future Research Questions: Why does the price of bitcoin fluctuate so much?