Nutritious Eating Habits Free Essays

1/ I think one of the social criticisms of marketing’s impacts on individual consumers is the price. Because of the expensive costs of developing such as â€Å"long lead times, the need to enlist the help of nutritional experts around the world, and the need to develop products that appeal to the local population’s tastes† (598) Vitango and Nutristar have high price that is out of reach of people in those poor target countries such as Botswana and Venezuela. Moreover, fortified products are also criticized for containing large amount of harmful substance such as fat and sugar that could lead to obesity. We will write a custom essay sample on Nutritious Eating Habits or any similar topic only for you Order Now   For example, high consumption of Nutristar when combined with McDonald can cause health issues to its customers as those products contain a large amount of fat, sugar, salt and cholesterol. 2/ In my opinion, political power is a social criticism of marketing’s impacts on society. Big companies want to promote and protect their interests. As a result, they don’t want to lose profit if they offer the product at a reasonable price, so Coca Cola and PG want to work with the governments for favorable tax and tariffs. However, either those companies are distrusted or those governments either cannot afford or don’t have sufficient resources to educate their people about fortified food, makes those companies seek for help from non-profit organizations such as GAIN to help lobby for lower tax rates and promote their products by giving those governments money to create more demands. Although fortified food is promoted to deal with deficient nutrient, they cannot completely stop malnutrition; as a result, they create false wants for people in those countries. Through non-profit organization, big companies educate target population about fortifies food and other beverage drinks, but not educating people about nutritious eating habits which is the real needs for those countries. Nutristar sold with McDonald’s happy meals does not help fight nutrition deficient, but it creates worse eating habit with fast food, which can lead to obesity or other health problem. 3/ Products such as Vitango and Nutristar are not considered enlightened marketing.  First, those products ignore societal marketing, they see societal problems such as starvation or political corruption in poor countries as opportunities to promote and sell their products. Instead of educating people in those countries about nutritious food, those companies try to promote their products’ benefits. Vitango and Nutristar are pleasing products which deals temporarily with nutrition deficiency; but in the long run, it can stop malnutrition. When customers depend on supplement products, their interests such as health are affected. In addition, many big companies place its mission in products and profits over broad social terms. In Vitango and Nutristar case; such fortified products is to create an image of the company in order to earn the market and increase profits by selling other products such as snack or juices in the future. 4/ In my opinion, the development and marketing of fortified products are unethical. As discussed above, the development and launching of fortified products are just a small part of a bigger marketing plan. First, those companies try to allure people in poor countries by helping them deal with nutrition deficiency with fortified products, but that is just the base to selling other products. Besides, through non-profit organizations, they educate those people about their products’ values rather than educate them about the need of nutritious eating habits. Secondly, through funding and lobbying with the local governments, those companies can have influence over the market and the governments that could lead to many serious problems in politic. 4/ In my opinion, in order to succeed with product such as Vitango, Coca Cola must consider many factors beside the price. First, in poor countries where malnutrition is a major concern, it must place societal missions ahead by helping non-profit organizations educate people about the needs of nutritious eating. Besides, they should educate people about fortified food as a supplement, not a substitute against nutrition deficiency. Last but not least, Coca Cola has to find a solution for the price problem; they have to adjust the price, so Vitango is purchasable in poor countries. When the product is accepted and well-know, the company can earn a lot of profits without conducting unethical actions. Another thought about the case, although Vitango and Nutristar are criticized because of many ethical issues, I think that is a trade-off. To satisfy stockholder’s expectations, those companies always have to find a way to maximize profits, and that profits have to be traded with some critics. From the corporate viewpoint, those critics may not cost the company a lot, so there is no reason they would not conduct such negligent actions. How to cite Nutritious Eating Habits, Essay examples

Importance of Branding for an Organization-Sample for students

Question: Discuss about why branding is really essential to the Organizations. Answer: Introduction It is often seen that many new and upcoming entrepreneurs fail to realize that tremendous power of branding. Most of the new entrepreneurs focus solely on marketing and advertising but branding is something which is treated differently than these two. According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition. From its definition itself, one can make out how important branding may be to the organization. It is really very important for every organization to be able to come up with something new which can distinguish themselves from rest of the organizations or its competitors. The Coca Cola brand has been able to set a very strong image in peoples minds about itself in a very good manner which has not only given the organization a good image but also the brand distinguishes the organization f rom rest of its competitors quite easily. A study can be done on Coca Cola, which has been able to be one of the most successful brands from a very long time (Baumeister, Scherer and Wangenheim 2015). Branding For any organization to do well in its advertising and marketing activities, it must first create a good brand for itself. Branding is something beyond logo or any kind of graphic element. Branding is something when seen, brings a whole picture of an organization into a persons mind. A brand can be called the way customers perceive the organization. It is very important to be aware of the experience one is going to have on the organizations brand. A good brand never just happens but it comes from a well thought out and strategic planning. The other important thing to be aware of about brand is that it is directly related to advertising and marketing. For example, if an organization doesnt have a good brand image, then no matter how much that organization tries to attract its customers through various advertising and marketing techniques, the organization will not be able to distribute its product because the customers already have a bad notion about the organization due to its bad br and image(Washburn, Till, Priluck and Boughton 2015). What do the Brands do? Brands not only helps the organization to get its target market to be selected over the target market but also it helps the organization in getting to know what the customers think about the organization and what needs to be provided to the organization for a long term good business. Some of the main objectives of Brands are: Clearly delivers the message that the organization is trying to convey to the public. Confirms organizations credibility. It emotionally connects the organizations target prospects with its products and services. It motivates the customers to buy the product or service. And it tends to create users loyalty. Why Branding is Important? The importance of brands is rising tremendously because the fight for the customers is going high every day. It is very important for an organization to invest enough time, research, and design and build its brand as it acts as a source of promise to the customers. The brand acts as a fundamental piece of every organization and the one that it doesnt want to be without. Brands also act as a guide to the organizations to be aware of their goals and objectives and it allows the organizations to align marketing plans and strategies as per the objectives of the business. The other thing about brand is that it not ony creates loyal customers and also it creates loyal employees. Brand gives the employees something that they can believe in and something they can stay behind. It mainly helps the employees to realize and understand their objectives and goals better which makes them more efficient workers (Punjaisri and Wilson 2017). A strong brand which is clear and consistent makes it comfortable for the customers because they will be able to what to expect from the organization each and every time they get to experience the brand. All these things help the organization to create a value for itself. Coca Cola Whenever there are any talks going on about beverage products or any liquid products, the first thing that comes into mind is Coca Cola. This is because it has been able to create a strong brand value for itself which has helped it to be a very popular organization in the market. The brand value that coca cola has is just huge. The organization is able to make extra money from its brand name only. So, it is a well know fact that Coca Cola has established a brand which is well known and which is respected all over the globe. The coca Cola company doesnt miss any chances in relating its products with huge global events that take place around the world which helps it to raise the brand value and a good image about its products. The factors of strategy of branding of Coca Cola have always been related with unity, joy and togetherness. The main category of occasions with which the Coca Cola company relates its goods are like family, culture, music, sports, happiness, etc (Allen 2015). Whi le branding one has to take care of lots of factors that can affect the branding strategy or marketing of the goods. Some of the ways Coca Cola brand is helping its customers are: They tend to attract new customers As they are doing well in the market, they tend to block their competitors mainly because their loyal customers are less likely to switch to other brands. At times of economic downturns, they tend to help the business. They enable the organization to have bigger footprints which will help them to expand their business in new markets (Dekhil, Jridi and Farhat 2017). And to achieve such benefits, the Coca Cola has maintained it brand image on strategy that is mainly built on good recognition, trust and a very positive image. Who the Customers Trust The customers are often seen to have a lot of emotional attachment and show a lot of loyalty to the brands they know and can trust. For this, the organizations must come up with brand promises and should be able to fulfill; their promises at a consistent level at every stage of the purchase cycle. This enables the customers to gain trust over the brands (Huang and Sarigll 2014). The Recognition of Brands Its Importance As the customers become more and more familiar with brands they tend to favor them. For recognitions, the visual representation is very important. The look, which consists of logo, looks, etc., should be able to create a different feeling which should be able to distinguish the brand from its competitors and should be easily recognized. This will create a confidence and comfort in customers on the products that the brand represents (Chernatony 2010). Shaping a Positive Image There is a broader and more important matter at stake which is beyond that visual image when it comes to brand. It involves perception and reputation about everything that the brand represents conveying the details about the organization that is there behind it. The Organizations policies and activities also help its brand to have good image. For example, if an organization is doing a lot of social works like charities and all, this will also help the customers to recognize the its brand and have a good image about its products (Anselmsson, Vestman Bondesson and Johansson 2014). The Marketing Mix Marketing Mix is a very important element of marketing strategy that almost all the organizations follow. Under marketing mix, mainly four factors are mostly considered namely, Product, Place, Price and Promotion which are collectively called the 4Ps of Marketing Mix. Keeping in view about the branding strategy of Coca Cola, it will be good to discuss about the marketing mix of Coca Cola (Hamzah and Sutanto 2016). Product The Coca Cola has a very wide portfolio when it comes to beverage industry which comprises of more than 3300 products distributed all around the world. And even these products are divided into various categories like fruit juices, drinks, water, energy drinks, etc. On the basis of Neilsons data, Coca Cola Company is everyones favorite brand when it comes to sparkling beverages and juices (Smarandescu and Shimp 2015). Price As it has a very wide variation of products, the pricing of the product is done accordingly with market and the geographic segment. So, each of its brands have their own pricing strategy. And this is where the branding becomes very useful to the organizations. The products with a good brand image will have a greater sales rate with a greater price and vice versa. Place Coca Cola being one of the favorites of all is distributed all across the globe. The Coca Cola Company follows the pattern of FMCG distribution. The effective and powerful distributing strategy of Coca Cola has been able to drive off and erode many small and middle level players in the market. In some parts of the world, they even have captured the extreme rural areas through a strong network of distribution pattern (Stobart 2016). Promotion Coca Cola adopts various kinds of advertising and marketing strategies to create extra demand and new customers all around the world. Even in this case, the brand plays a very important role. Coca Cola has managed to keep a very strong brand which has been helping it to promote its good in the most successful manner. The Coca Cola invites various celebrities and other well known personalities to advertise its products. It also indulges in various social works which allows people to have a good notion about the organization and its products (Nestle 2015). Conclusion For any organization to be able to survive or be successful in todays highly competitive market, it is very important for them to have a good brand image and a very good overall marketing strategy. As discussed in the report. This important because the organizations must be able to know what the customers really want and demand from them and also they have to realize the fact that they must be able to make the general public recognize them and their brands. The recognition of the brand is most important thing as it is the major part that helps in advertising and marketing. References Allen, F., 2015.Secret Formula: The Inside Story of How Coca-Cola Became the Best-Known Brand in the World. Open Road Media. Anselmsson, J., Vestman Bondesson, N. and Johansson, U., 2014. Brand image and customers' willingness to pay a price premium for food brands.Journal of Product Brand Management,23(2), pp.90-102. Baumeister, C., Scherer, A. and Wangenheim, F.V., 2015. Branding access offers: The importance of product brands, ownership status, and spillover effects to parent brands.Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,43(5), pp.574-588. De Chernatony, L., 2010.Creating powerful brands. Routledge. Dekhil, F., Jridi, H. and Farhat, H., 2017. Effect of religiosity on the decision to participate in a boycott: the moderating effect of brand loyalty-the case of Coca-Cola.Journal of Islamic Marketing,8(2). Hamzah, S.B. and Sutanto, J.E., 2016. The Role of Marketing Mix (7P) for Consumer Buying Decision Pastry Cake in Malang City. Huang, R. and Sarigll, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. InFashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors(pp. 113-132). Springer New York. Nestle, M., 2015. Search results: Coca Cola.The Guardian. Punjaisri, K. and Wilson, A., 2017. The role of internal branding in the delivery of employee brand promise. InAdvances in Corporate Branding(pp. 91-108). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Smarandescu, L. and Shimp, T.A., 2015. Drink coca-cola, eat popcorn, and choose powerade: testing the limits of subliminal persuasion.Marketing Letters,26(4), pp.715-726. Stobart, P. ed., 2016.Brand power. Springer. Washburn, J.H., Till, B.D., Priluck, R. and Boughton, P.D., 2015. The Effect of Co-Branding on the Brand Equity of Constituent and Composite Brands Before and After Trial. InProceedings of the 2000 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference(pp. 394-394). Springer, Cham.

Nestle Sustaining Growth in Mature Markets Essay Example

Nestle: Sustaining Growth in Mature Markets Essay Globalization affects the design, production, distribution, and servicing of goods and services. A truly global company must provide consumers with products that are designed with local tastes in mind. Nestles © spends a lot of time and money creating products that are aimed at specific geographic markets. For example, in Japan, Nestles © has had a lot of success selling their Kit Kate candy bars in limited edition flavors like green tea, soy sauce and wassail. (Madden, 2010) These flavors are only sold for two months each which increases demand and keeps the product news worthy among consumers. Within the framework of the competitive environment, technology involves genealogical diffusion and disruptive technologies, the information age, and Increasing knowledge Intensity. Nestles © utilizes technological advancements to Its advantage. In fact, the companys mall appeal Is the scale and quality of Its global distribution system. (Tanner, 2009, p. 30) Quality is equally important in the competitive environment. If food products do not taste good, there is little hope that Its company can survive. According to their website, Nestles ©s Sino is to bring the best and most relevant products to people, wherever they are, whatever their needs, throughout their lives. (Nestles © Corporation, AAA, Para. 2) This vision is supported by Nestles ©s three-tiered mission entitled Creating Shared Value. Nestles © understands that to be a good global citizen it must be compliant with all laws, business principles, and codes of conduct within their operating countries. In addition to compliance, the corporation understands that sustainability of our planets resources is also of most importance (Nestles © Corporation, Bibb, p. . However, to be the best company that it can be, Nestles © goes one step further and promotes Creating Shared Value, which means that in order to create long-term value for its shareholders, the corporation must also create value within society. Nestles © consciously identifies areas of focus, where: a) shareholders interest and society strongly intersect , and b) where value creation can be optimized for both. (Nestles © Corporation, Bibb, p. 9) After significant study, Nestles © decided the three areas of focus would be nutrition, water, and rural development. We will write a custom essay sample on Nestle: Sustaining Growth in Mature Markets specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Nestle: Sustaining Growth in Mature Markets specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Nestle: Sustaining Growth in Mature Markets specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As with all public companies, Nestles © has three primary stakeholders: capital market stakeholders, product market stakeholders, and organizational stakeholders. Nestles © manages its relationships with its capital market stakeholders (including shareholders and its major suppliers of capital) by continuing to earn profits in a sluggish economy, including slowing growth in the personal and home care products sector. Nestles © must find ways to achieve profits even as prices for commodities (milk, sugar) continue to rise. Nestles © takes its responsibility towards its capital marker takeovers very seriously. The company continues to reevaluate its product lines to ensure that it focuses on areas promising higher growth and returns. (Hit Hoskings, 2009, p. 266) Product market stakeholders include primary customers, suppliers, host communities, and unions while organizational stakeholders include employees, managers, and non-managers. As part of their aforementioned Creating Shared Value philosophy, Nestle has created ten fundamental principles (or leadership tasks) that guide its strategy; all ten are linked to either the companys reduce market or organizational stakeholders.

Mano and Other Words That Break Spanishs Gender Rule

Mano and Other Words That Break Spanish's Gender Rule Spanish nouns that end with -o are masculine, and ones that end with -a are feminine, right? Well, almost always. But there are exceptions to the  gender  rule, of which the two best-known are mano, the word for hand, which is feminine; and dà ­a, the word for day, which is masculine. So you can talk about la mano and las manos  and well as el dà ­a and los dà ­as. Key Takeaways Most Spanish nouns ending in -o are masculine, and most ending in -a are feminine, but there are exceptions.Some of the exceptions occur because of how the words were treated in other languages, such as Latin and Greek.Many nouns that refer to jobs or roles of people can be either masculine or feminine depending on the person they refer to. 6 Ways in Which the Rule Is Broken Exceptions fall into six  categories: Words that are shortened versions of other words. For example, la foto (photograph) is feminine because its short for la fotografà ­a.Words that end in -ista as the equivalent of the English -ist. For example, dentista can be either masculine or feminine depending on whether the dentist referred to is a man or woman. A few words with other endings are treated the same way. For example, modelo can be either masculine or feminine when referring to a human model, but masculine in other uses (such as when referring to a model airplane).Words whose meanings vary depending on the gender. For example, in some areas, la radio means radio, while el radio means radius or radium. Sometimes la radio is used to refer to the communications medium and el radio for a radio set.Some masculine words that come from Greek and end in -a (often -ma). Most of these words have English cognates.A few compound nouns, which are traditionally  masculine, even when the noun portion comes from a feminine noun. Words that are just exceptions, such as mano and dà ­a. Usually these exceptions come from the way the words were treated in Latin. Here is a list of the most common exceptions to the masculine o, feminine a rule: el aroma - aromael Canad - Canadael clima - climateel cà ³lera - cholera (but la cà ³lera, anger)el cometa - comet (but la cometa, kite)el cura - male priest (but la cura, cure)el dà ­a - dayel diagrama - diagramel dilema - dilemmael diploma - diplomala disco - disco (short for la discoteca)el drama - dramael enigma - enigmael esquema - outline, diagramla foto - photo (short for la fotografà ­a)el guardia - policeman or male guard (but la guardia, vigilance, policewoman or female guard)el guardabrisa - windshieldel guardarropa - clothing closetel guà ­a - male guide (but la guà ­a, guidebook or female guide)el idioma - languageel idiota - male idiot (but la idiota, female idiot)el indà ­gena - indigenous male (but la indà ­gena, indigenous female)la mano - handel maà ±ana - near future (but la maà ±ana, tomorrow or morning)el mapa - mapla modelo - female model (but el modelo, male model)el morfema - morphemela moto - motorcycle (short for la moto cicleta)la nao - shipel panorama - panorama, outlookel papa - pope (but la papa, potato) el planeta - planetel plasma - plasmael poema - poemel policà ­a - policeman (but la policà ­a, police force or policewoman)el problema - problemel programa - programel quechua - Quechua languagela radio - radio (short for la radiodifusià ³n; but el radio, radius or radium; usage of the feminine form depends on the region)la reo - female criminal (but el reo, male criminal)el reuma, el reà ºma - rheumatismel sà ­ntoma - symptom, signel sistema - systemel sof - sofala soprano - female soprano (but el soprano, male soprano)el tanga - G-stringel telegrama - telegramel tema - theme, subjectel teorema - theoremel tequila - tequila (short for el licor de Tequila)la testigo - female witness (but el testigo, male witness)el tranvà ­a - streetcar Gender for Names of Occupations and Other Roles Most words that refer to peoples jobs or roles, many ending in -ista or -eta, that can be either masculine or feminine are not listed above. Most have English cognates. Among the abundance of words that fit that category are el/la atleta (athlete), el/la artista (artist), el/la astronauta (astronaut), el/la dentista (dentist), el/la comentarista (commentator), el/la izquierdista (leftist or left-winger), el/la oficinista (office worker), el/la poeta (poet), el/la profeta (prophet), and el/la turista (tourist). Feminine NounsThat Use El Also not included in the list are combinations such as el agua (water) - feminine words that begin with a stressed a- or ha- and are preceded by el in the singular form only. Others are el guila (eagle), el ama (woman of the house), and el alma (soul). But note that the normal rules are followed in the plural form: las aguas, las guilas, las amas and las almas. With these words, el doesnt indicate gender but is used instead for ease of pronunciation. It is similar to the way in which Englist substitutes an for a in front of some nouns, as the rule applies to the opening sound of the word, not how its spelled.

Its National Grammar Day

Its National Grammar Day Its National Grammar Day Its National Grammar Day By Sharon If youre reading this blog, then youll be happy to know that we have our own day. The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG), has designated March 4th National Grammar Day. The Society says its for pen-toters appalled by wanton displays of Bad English and for people who crave good, clean English. We are those people, so check out SPOGG and their blog. (Im having a Dr Seuss moment.) Editor note: This was supposed to get published yesterday; our apologies. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Has vs. Had"Gratitude" or "Gratefulness"?Uses of the Past Participle

Abudhabi Financial Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Abudhabi Financial Market - Essay Example The laws and regulation of the financial market are favorable for investment. The financial market of Abu Dhabi is on the verge of expansion with the proposed establishment of the world financial market in Abu Dhabi by the end of 2013. Executive Summary The operations of the financial markets of Abu Dhabi have been explained in this work. The various sectors, financial institution and companies comprising the financial markets of Abu Dhabi have been identified. The places of the trading in the financial markets, operational performance of the market and the risk associated with the operations of the financial market in Abu Dhabi have been explained. The rational behind the investors’ preference towards Abu Dhabi financial market has been analyzed by the estimation of risk-return trade off. The proposed plans of expansion of the Abu Dhabi financial market have been indicated through this work. The policies of the Abu Dhabi financial market in order to encourage foreign investme nts have been analyzed. Operations The financial market of Abu Dhabi is comprised of companies in the financial industry that includes the banking sector and the insurance sector. There are as many as seventeen banks that operate in the financial market of Abu Dhabi. There are no less than twelve insurance companies in the financial market of Abu Dhabi. ... Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange is the stock exchange of United Arab Emirates that conducts trading of shares and securities of the markets of Abu Dhabi that also includes the financial market of Abu Dhabi. The securities and shares of sixty seven companies in Abu Dhabi are traded in Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Apart from the financial sector, the companies listed in Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange also represent the services industry, industrial and hospitality sector, real estate, telecommunication, energy, etc. The various sectors whose stocks are listed in the Abu Dhabi financial market are given below with values in local currency (Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, 2013). The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange was established in the year 2000 for the purpose of trading of shares of the companies in United Arab Emirates. The trading locations of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange are at Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujeirah, Al Ain. The Dubai Stock Exchange is a different sock excha nge in United Arab Emirates that trades shares of other public limited companies of UAE. However, some of the stocks listed in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange could also be traded through brokers in the Dubai Stock Exchange. The performance of the stocks of the Abu Dhabi Financial Market for the last one year is represented in the graph given below (BLOOMBERG, 2013). The above graphical representation of the performance of financial market of Abu Dhabi shows that the financial markets have undergone steady growth pattern in the last one year with less fluctuations of the performance of stocks listed in the financial market. The fluctuations or the volatility of the stocks in the financial market has

Q&A Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Q&A - Essay Example It is an efficient and usually an extremely effective way to test for certain antibodies. The indirect ELISA approach is typically applied in medical testing because it looks for antibodies present in a given sample. Samples are taken from an individual and then these are tested for the presence of antibodies. This helps to determine if the individual’s body is already producing antibodies against certain antigens. After the sample is taken, antigens are introduced. If antibodies are present, they will form a bond that is invisible to the naked eye. An immunuoglobulin is added to the sample in order to verify if a bond was formed or not. The bond between the antibody, antigen and immunuoglobulin will remain on the plate after rinsing. The immunuoglobulin added must be of the same species. Finally, a colour indicator is added so that the bond between the antibody and antigen are identified properly. The accuracy of an ELISA test does rely on certain factors. If these factors ar e in any way compromised or overlooked, the ELISA test results may be unreliable. These factors may also contribute to a false positive or a false negative. The design of an ELISA test may sometimes affect its outcome, and an ELISA test is either direct or indirect. When using the single antibody approach, the laboratory must used a specific, enzyme-labelled reagent. The assay sensitivity affects both the direct and indirect ELISA tests because it measures the amount of accurate positives that are found. There are four types of sensitivities possible in an ELISA test: true positives, false positives, true negatives and false negatives. Whether or not a patient receives a false positive or a false negative is dependent upon how accurately the ELISA test was conducted, and whether a variable important to the outcome were compromised in some way. A false positive indicates that a person who does not in fact carry the antibodies against a specific type of antigen is tested as positive f or those antibodies. Similarly, a false negative indicates that a person who does in fact carry those antibodies against a specific type of antigen, tests negative for them. This may or may not occur with an HIV-1 test if the standard protocol for the ELISA test is correctly or incorrectly followed. Unquestionably, it is of the utmost importance to follow standard ELISA test protocol. ELISA test errors may occur when the reagents used are mishandled or if their integrity is comprised in some way. The reagents for specific antigen tests are usually specific- they may not be interchangeable between different species. Additionally, certain antibodies require certain reagents in order to be effectively read; substitutions cannot be made. Temperature, preparation, preservation, and shelf-life of the reagent affects how its performance. Commercial availability limits the use of some reagents, and therefore the potential for testing for specific antigens. The handling of samples and the re agents used are extremely important to the outcome of the test. Checking expiration dates and properly storing reagents according to their individual requirements is imperative. Reagents must also be checked for signs of disintegration prior to their usage in an assay; examples include precipitation and discoloration. The substrates should always be colourless. The plates where the experiment is conducted must be properly handled. The plates must be large enough to