European Presence and Influence in Africa Research Paper

European Presence and Influence in Africa - Research Paper Example Colonization was also a political move by European countries for domination of other weaker nations to exploit the natural and human resources of the land (Koggel 2006)1. Any interaction should, for moral, ethical and practical purpose benefit both sides. If it is imbalanced in favor of one of the parties, then it can be termed as exploitation. History reveals that this interaction benefited the visitors rather than the indigenous people of the land. The paper reviews the influence (both good and bad), the benefits and disadvantages to the people of Africa due to the presence and eventual colonization by Europeans (since 1800 to the present day). The degrading practice of slave trade can be cited as a valid example. This was a period when early explorers like Dr Livingston and Henry Stanley began sending reports of life in the Dark Continent. The paper will focus on two areas in this regard. Firstly a review of the positive (and negative) influence due to the forced and unforced Euro pean presence in the country. It will also look at improvements of the living conditions of the indigenous people as a result despite the existence of a lucrative slavery trade. European presence and influence in Africa – boon or bane Any form of interaction, especially between unequal forces is bound to advantageous to the stronger of the two. But even so, well-meaning and visionary individuals, groups and governments can also create a positive impact and atmosphere. This can be seen in the African continent also. One of the most well-known of early African explorers was Dr David Livingstone who initially went to the land as a missionary and medical man. Dr Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist and was affiliated to the London Missionary Society (Craig 2012)2. He arrived in 1841 at the port of Cape Town, but his quest for exploration led him to the interior parts of the continent in 1849 (Livingstone Online n.d.)3. He was shocked by the then existing slave trade (most ly by Arabs and Portuguese) and was very influential in curtailing this practice to a large extent. What is appreciable is that his work was based primarily in the interiors of the continent where other white men were unwilling to venture. The inhospitable terrain, lack of knowledge regarding this, and the inability to communicate with the locals were some of the main reasons for this (Morgan 2007)4. â€Å"Livingston who began his career as a Christian missionary and ultimately became best known as an explorer of the African continent, drew together in his life work these intertwined notions of empire, civilization and trade. From Livingstone’s perspective, market relations remained embedded in human society† (Bowden et al. 2006)5. In other words, Livingstone believed that the African society will benefit from industry and commerce, through cooperation and not by coercion (Bowden et al 2006). But he also believed that Western civilization especially that of Britain is the solution to most of Africa’s problems. This could be seen as an arguable outlook since many atrocities and discriminations had been wreaked upon the natives of the land (Boahen 1990)6. For example, natives who came to cities and towns for jobs were housed in ghetto like conditions. They were paid low wages and could not expect to get better positions in an organization. A Free Trade movement (a loose coalition of like minded people) was also in existence during

Consumer Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Consumer Behaviour - Essay Example reason and feel when they are faced with the different alternatives of products and how they get influenced by their environments (HAWKNIS, MOTHERSBAUGH & MOOKERJEE 2011, pg31). Other benefits that accrue from this study to organizations would include; the understanding of the consumers’ behaviors relating to how they make decisions while in the market for what they need, and also in coming up with the appropriate motivation and decision strategies relating to products they offer their customers. Product use is of utmost importance to the marketers as it influences a lot of the marketing decisions most of which involves improving and increasing its usage and consumption (KARDES, CRONLEY & CLINE 2011, pg55). In consideration to this target market, most organizations would tend to align themselves to offering the courses that would be attractive to the students. These students who achieve the ATAR score of 70% or above, according to the Australian education system are eligible for University admission. The ATAR system has been used to rank the student’s scores relative to that of the other students taking into account the total number of student who partake the WACE examination in any year and the number of those students who leave school in their final year. Some of the various important factors that have influenced the consumer behaviors over time can be grouped into the following categories: i) The cultural factors; of essence includes the consumers’ subcultures, their buying behaviors and social classes. The marketers dealing with this target market should be able to go out of their way and determine their different buying cultures, and what informs their decisions. This would help them in their market segmentation strategies so that the services they offer are tailored to ensure that these different groups of the students who attain these positions are served accordingly. This would also be vital in shaping the consumer’s perceptions, habits and the