Businesses Benefit from Consumers Who Want to Smell Like a Rose

Consumers spend billions of dollars every year around the world on products that will help improve their appearance or fragrance. Cosmetic products such as deodorants, perfumes, and makeup will create revenue of approximately $48.5 billion dollars this year in the United States. This is not including personal hygiene products such as toothpaste and soap. Procter & Gamble and Unilever, giants in the personal care industry, made more than $150 billion dollars last year on products such as Head & Shoulders, Q-Tips, and Gillette. Recently, the post-shower products have been becoming more popular, and there is an increase in options available. Products that theoretically allow people to forgo without showers are now available and used by consumers. One can go without showering for days if desired. Products that allow your clothes to smell fresh and clean can delay people from having to wash their clothes.  

Dr. Amy Derick, a dermatology instructor at Northwestern University, points out that there are more reasons that people should take showers other than for the sake of smelling good. Showering helps avoid oily hair and scalp, which prevents dandruff from formulating. Washing our face cleans impurities gathered from pollutants we encounter every day. It also helps keep bacteria in check. According to Dr. Hirsch, director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, people make judgments based on smell. People connect good scents to good people and bad scents to bad people. He also states that smells have an effect on people’s moods.

Companies that sell wipes for clothes aim at smokers. Smokers tend to try to mask the smell of cigarettes as it has become more noticeable due to the availability of no smoking areas in restaurants and other public places.

As the population continues to expand, the number of people in the market to buy personal hygiene products increases, which in turn causes an increase in demand.  Companies selling such products benefit from high profits and create new products that will allow consumers to smell good without the need to take showers or clean their clothing. Consumers see this as an opportunity to be lazy and not take showers even though smelling bad can potentially exclude people from socializing with others. People did not care much about how they smelled until recently when products such as perfumes were available to people other than the high class.  It has become a socially accepted view in the United States that people should shower daily and wear deodorant to avoid smelling bad, so it is no surprise that companies that sell such products gain high revenue. It is considered a necessity here, even though theoretically people can go without it and survive. Yet, in this modern world, appearances matter. For interviews and first impressions, people always want to look their best, for their futures depend on the outcome of those events. In addition, it is part of popular culture to buy perfumes and other body products. Celebrities are selling their own brands all the time. Advertisements for shampoo and acne treatments bombard the TV constantly as well. With so much pressure and influences to buy the products, consumers tend to demand it more.

Based on http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/scent-human-big-business-smelling-rose-214505745.html

So Money Doesn't Grow on Trees, but Gold Does?

There has been a recent discovery of microscopic gold particles in Eucalyptus trees in Australia. Traces of gold have been found in the leaves, twigs, and bark of the trees by using the Australian Synchrotron, a machine that helps identify matter by displaying it in detail. Scientists infer that the trees had absorbed the gold from deep underground while they were taking in water from the soil. They also infer that there is a gold deposit underneath the trees. It is uncertain whether the traces of gold were windblown or whether the tress truly absorbed the particles through their roots, so the researchers ran tests to find out. The researchers also view this new discovery as an option of finding ores in hard to reach areas. Although the trees themselves do not have enough gold to amount to something substantial, they can be used as indicators of where there are gold deposits. The presence of the gold particles indicates that there is a great treasure, a gold deposit, meters underground. According to Dr. Lintern, an Australian geochemist from CSIRO, the discovery brings a new method of finding metals that is efficient and less expensive than the previous methods. It lessens the damage done to the environment since it only requires a sample of the trees, and it saves money for the people who seek metals. The method can possibly be used with other metals such as iron.

Since gold has been discovered in trees, specifically in Eucalyptus trees, it is possible that people will cut them to dig underneath the trees in search of the precious ore. Miners find this new discovery extremely positive, for gold discoveries have declined by almost half. With the price of gold at over a thousand dollars an ounce, it is no wonder that the discovery has sparked the interest in these ore-seeking people. Gold is high in demand since there are people who are willing and able to purchase such a luxury, but recently it has been difficult to find, thus making the supply low. Now that a new method of finding gold is available, miners will be able to find gold more easily. There would be less need to use drilling as a way to track gold, and the new method allows for investigation in smaller areas versus large areas undergoing drilling tests. Since the trees provide a cheaper way of finding gold, the profit gained by miners increases. More resources of gold will be found, and the supply will increase.

Based on http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131022-gold-eucalyptus-leaves-mining-geology-science/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24628241

Obama is considering signing a short term debt rise?

President Obama is considering signing an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling if the deal is free from the Republican policies and budget restraints. Although it has been over a week and a half since the government had shutdown, the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, and Mount Rushmore will be re-opened. The sites will be supported by the states of New York, Arizona, and North Dakota, but other sites such as national parks will remain closed due to the occurrence in Washington. If the debt ceiling isn’t raised soon, the U.S. will go to default. Spokesman Jake Carney says that the White House would agree to raising the debt ceiling as long as there are no conditions attached. 

The government shutdown began at the beginning of October when the Republicans and President Obama could not come to an agreement when it came to passing the Obama Care Law. The Republicans refused to pass a budget supporting the new law, thus causing the closing of the government. A plethora of government workers were laid off from their jobs and many government-run sites are closed. The White House refuses to give in to the Republican demands or negotiate with them until they re-open the government. 

If the government continues to be shutdown and if nothing is done about the debt ceiling, the nation’s well-being is at stake. Due to the government shut down, national parks and other government-run things such as the Federal Aviation Administration are closed. Profit is being lost to the touristic sites, as tourists are unable to neither enter nor enjoy them. This also affects businesses in the proximity of the sites such as nearby restaurants and gift shops, for they have also lost clients due to this occurrence. In addition, the shutdown will negatively affect the developed countries that are interdependent to the United States. If the United States were to reach its borrowing limit, the consequences are unimaginable. Already at a debt of 16 or 17 trillion, the U.S. government had to take extraordinary measures to help pay for the costs, but if the nation were to reach its limit, the people will probably face another recession or a major economic problem. It is possible that the markets worldwide will plummet and the global interest rates will increase. Small businesses in the U.S. are also affected, for they are forced with the choice of firing workers or lowering pay. All we can hope is for the dispute in Washington to end soon and that the nation doesn't continue facing uncertainty.

Based on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24499007

Apple faces Innovation Challenge

Apple is in competition from other companies when it comes to phones and technology. The company used to be number one in the market, but now it faces the problem of innovation. It has not come up with an entirely new product for a very long time since the iPhone and iPad. Other companies like Samsung have surpassed Apple’s sales with their Google-based Android phones and tablets. Due to lack of innovation, Apple has sold thirty percent of their shares.

 In order to get back its leading position, Apple has to come up with a new product that will exceed. So far, the company has come up with a smart watch and an iTV, but a watch and a TV are not exactly something new like the iPod and iPad were.  Apple has been in business not by creating products from scratch, but by making improved models. Other companies made the MP3, tablets, smartphones, and PCs, and Apple stemmed iPad and iPhone from there. Apple lets the other companies fight for being the top seller of its product while increasing awareness of the product, and then it steps in with a model that is more technologically advanced.

Now, the company plans to launch into an unfamiliar realm in business, which is the wearable technology market. Apple is making a smartwatch, but the company faces the challenge of advertising it to the public and convincing them that it is useful and necessary. In addition, other companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Intel are becoming competitors with the innovation of TV. Cable companies are not so happy with iTV because their concern is that people will buy shows through Apple rather pay cable. Before implementing the idea, approval from cable companies is required. It will probably not be as drastic as how iTunes changed the music business.

Another potential idea is improving Siri, a voice search engine, and making it more useful and reliable. The engine was ridiculed in the past, but Apple can add additional functions to it. It could connect other devices such as a tablet or smartphone, or it could be the CPU of your home. Apple has created a home ecosystem based on its product, which control the thermostat and lights, along with other things. This could also be a solution.

As we can see, Apple faces the challenge of meeting the expectations of the market. The demand of smartphones and tablets had worked until recently when other competing companies have caught up with the consumer’s needs. Now that it is no longer bringing the desired success it did previously, Apple needs to be creative and come up with new products to offer to the market. New ideas are taken in consideration, but it is unknown whether it will be enough to keep Apple in the high standards or if it will be unsuccessful. I think that the technological ideas will probably work because the public is always looking for the newest thing available. Ideas such as the Apple based home seem very intriguing, but another thing to keep in mind is the willingness of the consumer to buy the new products. Will the people want to spend a lot of money on these things? Or would they rather stay with the products available in the market such as the laptops and tablets. It is likely that little spending will occur in the future due to the economical restraints that are felt in the present. With the rising national debt and the Obamacare issue, it is hard to see anyone spending money lavishly.

Based on  http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/08/technology/innovation/apple-innovation/index.html?iid=SF_T_River