The Importance of Understanding Price Elasticity Essay - 1

The Importance of Understanding Price Elasticity - Essay Example This elasticity is used to measure how responsive the quantity demanded is or how willing the consumers are to buy the firm’s product if there is a given change in price. Inelastic products, meaning products whose quantity demanded would not be significantly affected by a change in price, include cigarettes and food items. Whereas elastic products, meaning products whose quantity demanded would be significantly affected by a change in its price, include iPod, MP3, television and other such consumer items considered a luxury or a want. Firms can use information about their product’s elasticity of demand to determine their price structure and their competition policy in the market. This information is extremely valuable for the firm’s marketing department as it allows them to determine if the people will continue buying their product if the price is increased or will there be a dramatic decline in the sales. For example if the demand is inelastic for a cigarette company then its marketing department will know that there won’t be a significant decrease in the quantity demanded by the customers to an increase in price. Hence they can afford to charge a higher price without losing too many customers. One thing that needs to be noted here is that when the price of a product is relatively inelastic, a firm’s revenue would rise because of the fact that an increase in price which not reduce quantity demanded significantly thus their revenues would rise. On the other hand, had the demand for tha t product been elastic, they would be losing revenue because quantity demanded would fall. Here, cigarettes are considered to be a relatively inelastic, hence the marketing and the finance department would be aware of the fact that they can increase potential revenue by an increase in the level of prices depending on the degree of elasticity. If the value of elasticity is closer to zero, then they can increase the

The importance of a Cardiovascular Diet among College Students Essay

The importance of a Cardiovascular Diet among College Students - Essay Example College students are growing up in a completely new environment outside of their parents’ home, which is a completely new experience for most of them. This means that they are making independent choices with respect to their food consumption. Today, most college students lack the right kind of education regarding what is good for one’s body and what is bad, primarily because parents have largely determined their diet in the home and public schools have largely determined their diet in school. For this reason, college students are more and more likely to adopt unhealthy practices as opposed to the healthy, cardiovascular diet options. Nevertheless, college students are perfectly capable of realizing the benefits, and necessity, of adopting a cardiovascular diet. A cardiovascular diet, as the name implies, is a diet that is friendly first to a person’s heart. Because the long-term health of the heart is the best determinant of how long a person lives, a diet that i mproves its general condition is important. Additionally, with the rise in rates of cardiovascular disease as the single most prevalent killer in the United States, people are realizing that protecting the heart even from an early age is imperative. An example of a cardiovascular diet is the so-called Mediterranean diet, which incorporates high olive oil consumption, legumes, unrefined cereals, vegetables, fruits, fish, and wine. In eating only these foods, individuals can cut out much of the saturated fat associated with cardiovascular disease. The beauty of the Mediterranean diet and similar cardiovascular diets is that they are practical. Certainly, it is not difficult to find the kinds of food choices considered acceptable under the guidelines of any cardiovascular diet. Of course, college students who consume a mostly-fatty diet put themselves the most at risk for cardiovascular disease. Students may have such a diet if access to food is limited, such as the case with most dorm itory cafeterias, or the fast food density in their area. Access to exercise also plays a large role in whether a high-fat diet is manifested in being asymptomatic for cardiovascular disease. However, students can have the most impact on their own health by starting on a foundation of good quality foods, which can be as simple as making more intelligent choices in the cafeteria or at the fast food restaurant: such as choosing a smaller portion, choosing a less-fatty food, or eating less often. By adopting these changes, college-aged people can reverse their unhealthy habits. Part of preventing unhealthy eating choices from creating long-term cardiovascular problems is to catch the problem early. For college-age students, the problem can start on the first day of one’s first year eating in the school cafeteria, which tends to offer mass-produced, cheap food that have a high fat content. Colleges and universities can both educate incoming first-year students about the importanc e of smart eating choices and the cardiovascular diet even before they begin eating there. In addition to this, colleges and universities can invest in practical ways to make the food choices in their cafeterias healthier for students. Instead of offering a high fat, high-sodium pizza, for instance, a cafeteria could make a thin-crust, low salt, cheese-free option, which represents the kind of Mediterranean diet that achieves long-lasting cardiovascular health. Young women, who