Iphone Marketing Strategy Essay Example

Iphone Marketing Strategy Essay As the team of marketing consultants hired by Apple Corporation, we have been asked to review their current target markets and marketing mix’s to come up with possible suggestions for improving the overall effectiveness of the organizations marketing efforts. Our main focus will be specifically to cover the already successful iPhone, and not the other wide range of products and services that Apple has to offer such as: computers, software bundles, iPods, and the iTunes store. The iTunes store in its self provides everything from music, movies, shows and even applications which are all compatible with the iPhone. First we will have to identify the target market and address the 4P’s (place, price, product, and promotion) to find the strengths and possible weaknesses for areas of improvement. We will also be covering market segmentation, showing specifically how they decided to subdivide the market and what Apple is aiming to achieve for each market segment. When the iPhone was first released out in to the public in June of 2007, it was an instant hit, but Apple is always looking to increase its market share in the smart phone industry. The smart phone industry is such a competitive market that innovation and consistent improvement are a must. As the iPhone’s product life cycle continues to move forward, Apple will need to stay on top of their marketing strategies to remain successful, especially as the product reaches maturity. - Target Market Profile We will write a custom essay sample on Iphone Marketing Strategy specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Iphone Marketing Strategy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Iphone Marketing Strategy specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Apple has a very unique target market consisting of two major targets which include; consumer targets and business targets. With the consumer market category, Apple has two sub targets. Their primary target being middle to upper class income individuals who need to coordinate their busy schedules while still being able to communicate with colleagues, friends and family. While the Secondary consumer target market consists of high school, college and graduate students, who need one portable multifunction device to satisfy their own unique daily needs. Target Segment| Consumer Need| Corresponding Feature/Benefit| Professionals| * Stay in touch while on the go. * Record information while on the go. | * Email, instant messaging, and phone. * Applications from Mac OS X for notes and record keeping. | Students| * Perform many functions without carrying multiple gadgets. * Style and individuality. | * Music, phone, video and TV shows. * Apple branding as fashion statement. | The chart above shows that Apple uses a demographic strategy, psychographic strategy and benefit sought strategy to segment the consumer market into more specific areas. This helps Apple’s marketing team to better define what the customer needs and wants are so that they can focus on meeting the customer values. Demographic segmentation shows that iPhones are marketed to a specific group of individuals based on age, income, and family life cycle. For example, since the iPhone is a premium product, Apple is able to charge more for their phones than their competitors, but by doing this, Apple is forced to target markets that are capable of purchasing their product at such a high cost. However, in the past year the cost of the iPhone has dropped a significant amount, to a more consumer friendly price. Apple also segments the market based on psychographics segmentation, showing personality, motives, and lifestyles; for example, having over 100,000 apps, to give the consumer the power to personalize their phone to their exact needs and wants. Apple’s intention is to simplify making changes to the iPhone and to adapt to changes in customer expectations according to the benefits they seek such as instant messaging, fast internet access and applications. On the other hand, Apples main business target is to partner with all cell phone providers worldwide to expand their market share of the smart phone industry and eventually be the number one option for consumers looking to purchase a Smartphone. Apple’s secondary target market is medium to large corporations who need a simple solution to stay in communication or access vital data on the go for managers and their employees. By segmenting the smart phone industry, Apple was able to see a new opening in the onsumer market and showing regular consumers how a Smartphone can make their lives easier, and not just how they are beneficial to a business user, giving them a competitive advantage over other smart phone companies that were targeting only the business market, which are already developed. However, now that Apple has peaked in the consumer market and made an image for themselves, they are now considering the business market to take full market share of the entire smart phone industry. The chart below shows different business segmentations and how each segmented portion will be able to utilize the iPhone. Target Segment| Consumer Need| Corresponding Feature/Benefit| Corporate Users| * Input and access critical data on the go. | * Applications from Mac OS X for notes and record-keeping. * Compatible with widely available software. | Entrepreneurs| * Organize contracts, access contracts, and schedule details. | * Wireless access to calendar and address book to easily check appointments and contracts. | Medical Users| * Update, access and exchange medical records. | * Wireless access to calendar and address book to reduce paperwork, and increase productivity. | - Marketing Mix - Product A successful marketing mix is an important asset every company needs to effectively sell as much of their product as possible. In the case of Apple, their team of market researchers do an exceptional job of researching both the consumer and business markets in order to find out exactly what people want, and how to get their point across to everyone. The product in this case, the iPhone, is a very complex product to promote due to the huge increase in demand around the world for smart phones in the consumer market. Apple uses many different strategies to reach both consumer and business markets, especially with outlining the key features of the product. Apple, having patented their touch screen technology, dominates the market with unmatched features and touch screen capabilities that no other company can duplicate. Before the iPhone, touch screen phones needed a stylus to operate, with the introduction of the iPhone however; they have revolutionized how handheld touch screen products operate. The whole operating system in the iPhone is based on thumb touch, as opposed to using a separate, awkward stylus. Along with the iPhone’s amazing touch screen features comes its built in accelerometer. When the iPhone is rotated from portrait to landscape, the accelerometer detects the movement and changes the display appropriately. This is a key feature for some of the apps you can download for the iPhone, such as games. Sensors within the iPhone’s display help to maximize battery life by automatically dimming the display when you lift the phone to your ear, or if you are in sunlight as opposed to a dim light. The display also features a multi-touch screen feature, which allows the user to easily zoom in and out, as well as use other capabilities built into several apps. With these features put into the iPhone by Apple, the phone really sells itself solely on its features. - Promotion Due to the ease of use and functionality of the Apple iPhone it is a easy product to sell however, without promoting the product, consumers would have no idea of the benefits the iPhone can provide them. That is where Apples genius promotion strategies come into play. Apple promotes their product literally on every level possible, including television ads, radio, billboards and even at public events. In 2008, Apple released an app that was solely dedicated to The Beatles. This app, in itself made the iPhone a much more sellable product to an older generation of people. This app includes a full discography of The Beatles as well as a full biography, music samples and trivia. Along with an interest in gaining a larger market base, Apple still focuses mainly on the younger generation of people such as young teens all the way up to college students and grads. They effectively reach this target market with advertising in which younger people can easily relate to, such as humor and new and exciting designs. The most recent iPhone ads are incredibly effective due to the fact that they inform you of features such as its touch capabilities, you can watch movies and listen to music on it, you can browse the internet, it knows where you are, and it makes decisions for you all within a comfortable 30 seconds, without rushing it. Along with the advertising aspects of the iPhones promotion, comes all the sales promotions that Apple implements along with its carriers. Now with the introduction of the newest iPhone, the iPhone 3G S, the basic iPhones price has been dropped significantly, which leads into Apples latest marketing approach. With Rogers, you can purchase the 8GB iPhone on a three year contract for just $99. In Apples words, â€Å" At $99, every pocket can have one. † However for only another $100, the iPhone 3G S comes with a price tag of $199 on a three year contract, with the slogan, â€Å"What every pocket wants. † - Price With such a large demand lately in the market for smart phones, the prices of the iPhone have had to drop from when they initially came out in order for Apple to stay on the top of the market. When the iPhone first came out in June 2007, it had a hefty price tag of $599 (US) for the 8GB model and $499 (US) for the 4GB model. In just over 2 years, the price of the iPhone has dropped a whopping 83%, from $599 all the way down to $99. With this huge drop in price, Apple has been able to stay on top of the game and bring their customers top of the line products at competitive prices, all while still making a profit. This is a huge feat for a company because this means that as they grow as a company, their client base will grow with them. With the iPhone currently sitting at $99, this price even competes with some of the regular cell phones on the market that do not have nearly the same amount of features and options that the iPhone has. With this being common knowledge for someone who is in the market looking for a new cell phone, they are much more inclined to look into purchasing an iPhone rather than a basic cell phone due to the fact that they can get much more product for their dollar. This is a very good example of Apple utilizing a value based pricing technique to draw in customers away from the competing cell phone companies. A customer will be able to look at a regular cell phone for $99 and see a list of features that come with that phone; they will then look at an iPhone and see the endless list of features with $99 tagged at the end of it. At this point, anyone in the right mind is going to instantly choose the iPhone over the ordinary cell phone, simply because of what you can do with an iPhone, and what it can do for you, all with an attractive price stamped on it. Place With the Apple iPhone now available through Rogers, Bell, Fido and Telus in Canada alone, the availability of the iPhone has gone through the roof, creating a much higher number in sales over the last few months. Since its release, Apple has sold over 30 million iPhones worldwide; this number will continue to grow as they come out with new models and available features. Apple has released the iPhone worldwide, however sales in Europe didn’t hit as hard as expected, quite possibly due to the very late release date. However, in the UK they have sold well over 1 million iPhones as of today, and are still selling. The convenience of the iPhone makes it so easy to use no matter where you are. If your iPhone needs an update of any kind you do not need to plug it into the computer, you can simply do it right from the palm of your hand. A main selling point of the iPhone is the available apps you can download onto it without plugging it into anything. With in between 60,000 to 80,000 available apps, the iPhone can provide you with pretty much any service imaginable, anywhere on the planet. With Apple marketing the fact that you can literally do anything with this phone, no matter where you are, customers have just been jumping on the band wagon left right and center. A large percentage of the apps you can download are free, however there are also many that cost money. On average an app costs anywhere from $0. 99 anywhere up to $100 and more, a huge benefit is that 30% of all sales from Apps go to Apple even if they had nothing to do with the development of that App as it is a part of the contract with all developers and Apple. Since the iPhones release, Apple has generated over 1 billion dollars in sales just from the apps alone, showing the power they have in the market when it comes to making their product available, no matter where in the world you are. With the iPhone currently available through over 120 carriers world-wide and in 89 countries, it can only grow from here. Apple has come this far with the iPhone and if they keep up the way they have been effectively marketing it around the world, marketshare should hit 30% by the end of 2010. Recommendations for Improvement The iPhones marketing team has done a phenomenal job in marketing the Apple iPhone, as well as advertising it to their select target markets. However, on a global scale, Apple did not release the iPhone quite early enough in Europe, possibly deterring potential buyers from the phone (due to the wait). In the U. S. the iPhone was released in June 2007, in Nov of 2007 it was released in the UK, Germany and France. However, not until June of 2008 was the iPhone released to the rest of the European market, a whole year after the original release date. Simply by releasing the phone worldwide all in one big shot could have made much more of a splash in the smart phone market all around the world, this resulting in possibly hundreds of thousands of extra sales. You could however argue that by delaying the release date in Europe, Apple had created a whole lot of hype around the product, leaving some customers just waiting until the day they could get their hands on their very own iPhone. Still, this issue left a sour taste in the mouths of many anticipated fans across the sea. A huge portion of the smart phone market is reliant on businesses. Apple has quite flawlessly mastered their promotions and marketing mix’s directed towards a consumer market. However, they have not yet been able to grasp as much of the business industry as they wish. Blackberrys have taken the business market by storm with their Blackberry Messaging service, allowing any Blackberry user to instantly converse with another or a group of others, with no extra fees tacked on. Another issue being is a Blackberry is still the email king with your e-mails being â€Å"pushed† to your phone while with an iPhone they are â€Å"pulled† causing up to a 15 minute delay for e-mails to come in, for a regular consumer that’s not a big deal but for the business man who is dealing with clients all over the world involving millions of dollars 15 minutes could be the difference between closing or breaking the deal. When you consider those two advantages the Blackberry has in the business world ou have to consider if Apple could come up with a way to deal with those advantages it could persuade companies to switch over to the iPhone platform. Another thing that Apple needs to consider regarding their iPhone on the business side of the market is the camera, it is a huge deal for some companies developing new products that all phones in the offices must not have cameras on them, RIM offers this option for its business consumers simple fact is Apple need s to as well. Once these issues are dealt with and the iPhone then feature wise seems more appealing to businesses putting proper marketing out there saying â€Å"Hey I’m a business user and I have an iPhone† will be key to build the same type of hype on the business level as they have already created on the consumer level. Finally the providers come in to play, a $99 iPhone without a contract actually costs $599. 99 to buy outright so a carrier such as Rogers has to eat $500 of subsidized costs to initially get the customer to purchase the phone and then must hope that they make all that money back with service costs they will charge that customer. In Rogers’ case that doesn’t seem to be a big issue but with many companies in Europe it is because many cellphone providers are reporting that the iPhone has been a money hole for them now and they don’t see that changing. With Apple’s strict pricing rules and absolutely no discount policy if the iPhone doesn’t prove to carriers that it is a revenue generator they may eventually choose to drop the iPhone completely from their lineup of smartphones. Thus causing less market availability resulting in lost sales Apple needs to work with their carriers in a more two-way manner as right now they know the iPhone is in huge demand and carriers can’t afford to not be able to offer it so they accept â€Å"Apple’s way or no way policy† but if demand slows down then Apple will obviously have to then adjust their approach. With the structure Apple currently has on the consumer side of the market, it is hard to knock them for anything, the iPhone being no exception. They have done a remarkable job promoting their product and will continue to grow as a company as their technology does, competing in the smart phone market as one of the top leaders of innovation and available services. On the business side though they obviously have a lot of room for improvement and with what has been discussed, a few extra features, a few adjustments and a great marketing campaign and Apple should see a huge increase in sales for their business consumers.

Compulsive Hoarding

Compulsive Hoarding Free Online Research Papers As little as 15 years ago, people with extremely cluttered homes were known as pack rats or collectors. There has been a growing problem where homes become so extremely full of possessions that it makes it impossible to use the rooms in the house for the purpose in which they were originally intended. No cooking in the kitchen, no family meals in the dining room, and no entertaining friends and family in the living room because all of these spaces are occupied by the treasures of a hoarder, practically floor to ceiling. â€Å"Compulsive Hoarding is a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire and keep things, even if the items are worthless, hazardous, or unsanitary. More than 3 million people are compulsive hoarders.† (Flynn, Chan, Severson, 2010) Hoarding can sometimes appear in early adolescence. If not addressed, it will usually get progressively worse. Some of the symptoms may include: -Cluttered living space; -Inability to discard items; -Keeping stacks of newspapers, magazines, or junk mail; -Moving items from one pile to another, without discarding anything; -Acquiring un-needed or useless items sometimes even trash; -Difficulty managing daily activities including procrastinating and trouble making decisions; -Difficulty organizing; -Perfectionism; -Excessive attachments to possessions and difficulty letting anyone touch or borrow them; -Limited or no social interactions. Hoarding can range from a harmless mess, to a life threatening condition. (Scheff, 2010) Triggers and Causes Family and Genetics Hoarding seems to run in families. Obviously, if one was raised by a hoarder, one is much more likely to be a hoarder, as many people often emulate the environment in which they were brought up. However, some research also points to a genetic link. â€Å"People with this problem tend to have a first degree relative who also does, so it might be genetic, or it might be a modeling effect.† Says Randy O. Frost, Ph.D., a psychologist at Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. â€Å"Genetic research suggests that a region on chromosome 14 may be linked to compulsive hoarding in families with OCD. The study, carried out by a team from John Hopkins University School of Medicine in March 2007, analyzed samples from 999 OCD patients from 219 families. Families with 2 or more hoarding relatives showed a unique pattern on chromosome 14 where as other families’ OCD was linked to chromosome 3.† (Collingwood, 2009) Trauma Some people classified as hoarders may just be harmless pack rats until some kind of trauma occurs in their life. Often hoarding spirals out of control after the death of a loved one such as a parent, spouse, or child. Divorce can also trigger hoarding to manifest a previously underlying problem into a disaster. Compulsive Shopping Hoarding also highly correlates with compulsive shopping. Compulsive shopping also correlates with other characteristics of hoarding such as indecisiveness and perfectionism, which also correlates with OCD. Hoarding is not only characterized by the inability to discard items, but also by the obsessive way in which they are acquired. â€Å"It may be the case that compulsive shopping is one manifestation of an underlying pattern of mental activity that is part of a more general tendency towards compulsive acquisition.†(Murray, Close, Frost, 2010) Related Disorders OCD Hoarding has long been considered a symptom of OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. However, in the last 10 years, psychologists have begun to notice a difference. Sometimes there is a person with OCD who has a tendency toward hoarding, and sometimes there are compulsive hoarders without OCD. It is estimated that at least 18 to 30 percent of people with OCD have hoarding tendencies. (Frost, Steketee, 2010) Although hoarding is not considered to be a disease in itself right now, this may all change soon. Experts have been debating if it is a symptom of OCD at all, and it may be recatagorized in the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Some of the distinctions between Compulsive Hoarding and OCD may include the following: -Different from most patients suffering from OCD, most hoarders do not want help. This makes then also much more difficult to treat. -Medication seems to work far better for patients with other forms of OCD. -Hoarders have specific cognitive deficits not shared by people with other forms of OCD, such as the inability to categorize and make decisions. -Treatments for hoarding are more tedious and take longer than typical OCD treatments -Hoarding OCD is much more likely to suffer relapse than other types of OCD. (Elliot, 2009) OCPD Besides OCD, compulsive hoarding is also linked to other disorders and is even a diagnostic criteria for OCPD, or Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. One study suggests that almost twice as many hoarders meet the criteria for OCPD rather than OCD. Similarities between OCPD and hoarding include preoccupation with details, organizing and orderliness. Patients suffering from both disorders have very little insight into the severity of their disorder and most often do not recognize the negative impact of their behaviors on their lives. Hoarding may also correlate with disorders such as ADD and ADHD where people also have a great deal of difficulty focusing, making decisions, and organizing. (Wiegartz Carmin, 2010) Effects on Family and Home Living in the home of a hoarder is very stressful. Unlike people with other obsessive compulsive disorders, hoarding compulsions directly affect all other persons living in the house. Although the emotional effects of other OC related disorders can affect the family, it is generally indirect and can be avoided. Often it is just an inconvenience. Hoarding, however, profoundly affects all persons living under one roof. For example, the hoard more often than not, spills out from one room to another until all rooms, including the bathroom, and kitchen become un-useable. This is very unsanitary and unhealthy. Also, very often if something goes wrong with the plumbing or electricity, a hoarder may not hire professionals to come in and fix the problems due to embarrassment or inability to access the area. (Fugen, Slavin, Donelly, 2010) For the family of one who hoards, it is impossible to live in the same house and not experience emotional, or even physical trauma. Not only through the mess, but also because hoarders’ extreme need to control all aspects of the house cause extreme friction and tension. A primary cause of contention is the loss of usable living space in the shared areas of the home including the living room, dining room, bathrooms, hallways, kitchen, entry ways, yard, and even the bedrooms of other family members. The emotional effects of hoarding are very difficult on a marriage, and often end in divorce. (Fugen et al., 2010) Family members are forced to live in utter chaos. The hoarder assumes control of the entire house and does not allow their family members to make and decision about the home in which they live. This results in feelings of bitterness and resentment. Often, family members get so frustrated with the mess that they will attempt to organize, discard, and clean up without the knowledge or permission of the hoarder, resulting in big, blow out fights. The hoarder will become even worse due to this â€Å"deception† because they feel violated and disrespected. This causes them to become even more protective of their possessions. (Fugen et al., 2010) The hoarding behaviors of the parent of a child can severely affect the child’s life. Children are either not allowed or too embarrassed to have friends over which adversely effects their social development, leaving them feeling isolated. Children become withdrawn and depressed and tend to do poorly in school or even drop out. Children of hoarders are prone to become abusers of drugs and alcohol. (Fugen et al., 2010) Hoarding also affects the quality of life in the home from a health aspect. Individuals living in a hoarded house often suffer from headaches and respiratory problems. As clutter develops, it becomes impossible to dust or vacuum for years at a time. In addition, spilled liquids are often not cleaned up causing all manors of mold, fungus, and insect infestation. Also, the home is likely to become infested with rats and other vermin who will deposit feces and urine within the clutter causing a whole range of other health issues. (Fugen et al., 2010) Another safety hazard is the clutter itself which makes it difficult to move about the house. Pathways become blocked by fallen or new clutter and one could trip and fall and be seriously injured. Extreme clutter also puts the home at a significant risk of having a fire. Also because of the clutter, it would be extremely difficult for emergency personnel to rescue individuals trapped inside the house. The home of a hoarder could literally cave in. People often underestimate the weight of their possessions, and the floors and walls could be destroyed under the pressure of an extreme hoard. It is even more dangerous if the home has pets. Cats often not find their litter box, if there even is one, and dogs cannot hold it long enough for their masters to navigate through the mess, leaving the animals to urinate and defecate throughout the house. The result is absolutely toxic. The hoarder becomes accustomed to the smells, and hardly notices a problem. The levels of ammonia make the air in the home unsafe to breathe, both for the animals and humans. Animal feces, mold, and fungus make it very dangerous to inhabit the house, and it may be reported and condemned by the city. (Fugen et al., 2010) Levels of Hoarding An official organizational assessment tool has been developed by a group known as the NSGD, or National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. This clutter/hoarding scale was developed to give professional organizers and clinical psychologists specializing in chronic disorganization and hoarding definitive parameters. The parameters relate to specific health and safety issues. Five different levels have been established to measure the degree of squalor and severity that professionals may be dealing with. Within each different level, there are four specific categories which define the severity of clutter and hoarding potential. -Structure and zoning; -Pets and rodents; -Household functions: -Sanitation and cleanliness. (Delson, Govinsky, Prince, Shultz, 2003) Level I hoarder Household is considered standard. No special knowledge in working with the chronically disorganized is necessary. Level II hoarder Household requires professional organizers or related professionals to have additional knowledge and understanding of chronic disorganization. Level III hoarder Household may require services in addition to those a professional organizer and related professional can provide. Professional organizers and related professionals working with Level III households should have significant training in chronic disorganization and have developed a helpful community network of resources, especially mental health providers. Level IV hoarder Household needs the help of a professional organizer and a coordinated team of service providers. Psychological, medical issues or financial hardships are generally involved. Resources will be necessary to bring a household to a functioning level. These services may include pest control services, â€Å"crime scene cleaners†, financial counseling and licensed contractors and handy persons. Level V hoarder Professional organizers should not venture directly into working solo with this type of household. The Level V household may be under the care of a conservator or be an inherited estate of a mentally ill individual. Assistance is needed through the use of a multi-tasked team. These members may include social services and psychological/mental health representatives (not applicable if an inherited estate), conservator/trustee, building and zoning, fire and safety, landlord, legal aid and/or legal representatives. A written strategy needs to be outlined and contractual agreements made before proceeding. (Delson et al., 2003) Subtypes of Hoarding Animal Hoarding Animal Hoarding is a complex community health issue. It involves mental health, animal welfare and public safety concerns. In most cases, animal hoarders appear to believe they are helping their animals. They believe that any home is better than letting the animals die in a shelter. They are in denial and are able to convince other people that they are in control of the situation. Usually, animal hoarders are completely blind to the fact that they are not helping the animals, and they do not see the degree of suffering that they cause. Indications for an animal hoarder may be: -Owning many animals without knowing an exact number of how many; -Home is deteriorated and may have dirty windows, broken furniture, and holes in the floors and walls; -Extreme Clutter; -Strong smells of ammonia and the presence of urine, feces and vomit; -Animals are unsocialized, emaciated, and lethargic; -The presence of fleas and vermin; -Individual isolated themselves from the community and appears to also be in neglect themselves; -Individual insists all animals are loved and cared for, even in the presence of extreme distress and illness. (ASPCA 2010) Dr. Stephanie LaFarge, ASPCA Senior Director of Counseling Services says; â€Å"I have worked with many animal hoarders in their homes. Their mental illness allows them to maintain an absolute denial of the filth and suffering of the animals. They simply cannot see, smell, or react to the situation as a normal person would.† (ASPCA, 2010) Garbage Hoarding Some people suffering from compulsive hoarding are obsessed with collecting garbage. The term for this is syllogomania. These people will go as far as climbing into dumpster and removing trash to bring home with little to no insight as to how unsanitary their actions are. Often they believe that they are doing good for the world by saving what they consider to be useful items from going to the dump. In their minds, they plan to find use for these items at a later time, but instead just manage to turn their own home into a dump. Collectors Some compulsive hoarders do not just simply collect junk, but focus their attention on one or more type of useful items in copious amounts. Often these homes are not as unsanitary as the homes of garbage or animal hoarders. However, what starts out as a harmless collection may soon turn into an obsession. Collector/Hoarders are known to collect some of the following items; clothing, newspapers, magazines, books, toy trains, cameras, and personal items, just to name a few. These types of hoarders most likely also have a problem with compulsive shopping and may spend many hours and lots of money frequenting flea markets, thrift stores, and garage sales, and may also be hooked on home shopping channels and eBay. Case Studies Animal Hoarder â€Å"On Tuesday, November 9, 40 cats were seized from a mobile home in Tampa, Florida, that authorities called a â€Å"liter box without litter,† according to the St. Petersburg Times. After an anonymous tip led them to the property, officials entered the residence wearing protective gear to shield them from the smells of the unsanitary home. All of the cats were kept on one side of the mobile home where the windows were sealed and there was no ventilation. Many of the animals had conditions such as respiratory infections, open wounds and urine burns. The news source reports that ammonia levels begin to become unsafe at 25, and this home reached 38. Kevin Lamar Addison, who lived with the animals, was charged with five felony counts of animal cruelty and 40 counts of unlawful containment of an animal. (ASPCA, 2010) Garbage Hoarder Lloyd is an elderly man from California. He was told by his mother, during the Great Depression, â€Å"Don’t put anything on your plate that you can’t eat, and don’t waste anything.† Lloyd collects garbage from dumpsters and has a giant outdoor hoard of miscellaneous debris. Five years ago, it was so bad that the county came in and cleaned it up. They also fined him 50,000 dollars. This made him feel violated, and he began hoarding worse than ever. He ignored the huge fine, on continued to hoard his property. Now he is facing another fine of the same magnitude. Lloyd hoards everything including, but not limited to broken fans, construction garbage and debris, pieces of worthless broken furniture, paper, and empty boxes. Lloyd was originally a successful insurance salesman, but buckled under the pressure and began drinking. His family fell apart as he became controlling, violent, and abusive. Even after being sober for 35 years, his abusive and obsessive behaviors persist, and his family finds him difficult to love. Even when he is out with his grown daughter, he cannot resist removing items from garbage cans. Facing 100,000 dollars in fines, he agrees to get help. He could possibly lose everything. Lloyd’s situation is desperate. He sleeps in a trailer on his property that is also hoarded. He climbs in through a window to sleep, because all entry ways are blocked. He has no electricity, no running water, and no ventilation. He has not been inside his house for over a year. After seeing the grotesque situation in which Lloyd lives, Dr. Liz Moore, the clinical psychologist working on his case, has no choice but to get Adult protective services involved. During the clean up, Lloyd has problems parting with any garbage. He is hostile and agitated and is lamenting over every piece of trash. He has very little insight into his situation and is erratic, and could possibly be suffering from dementia. Lloyd is removed from the property for the last part of the cleanup to get as much done as possible. There is very little hope for Lloyd because of his negative mind set, age, and possibly his dementia. He will most likely be removed from his home by Adult Protective Services. It is not humane to continue to let him live alone. Sixty dumpsters were filled on his property, and only 25 percent of the hoard was removed. His property will most likely be surrendered to the county. (Flynn et al., 2010) Collector Theresa is a retired state worker, and a mother of six grown children. She raised her family in California and kept a clean home. All of the children had chores. Ten years after her kids were grown and gone; Theresa moved to Alabama and bought a house to be closer to her side of the family. Her husband stayed behind in California to continue to work. Three years ago, tragedy struck, and Theresa lost three family members in a short period of time. Alone and devastated, Theresa turned to shopping to ease her pain. Theresa frequented the thrift store two times per day. Her husband sent her $5,000 at a time. Her shopping got so out of control that she went through their entire life savings totaling $112,000 in one and a half years. Theresa believes the 3,000 designed purses that she owns will bring in a small fortune. She is counting on the sale of these items to save her from bankruptcy. Her husband worked two jobs his entire life to support the family. He retired two months ago, and moved to Alabama to be with Theresa. He was shocked by what he found. The house is hoarded floor to ceiling with clothes, purses, and shoes. Nobody is allowed to touch her possessions, she is controlling and possessive. Extremely in debt, and facing financial ruin, Theresa agrees to get help. Dr. Susan Chabaud, licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in OCD and hoarding comes on to help Theresa. She breaks down soon into the session, realizing what she has done. In addition to the pressure of her financial burden, Theresa is afraid her husband will leave her. She has tested his loyalty to the limit. Professional organizers arrive with dumpsters. The team begins removing items from the house. At first, things are going smoothly, but Theresa unravels when she notices things being thrown out. She breaks down, and the cleanup comes to a halt. Her family is afraid of her temper. When the crew leaves for the day, Theresa climbs into the dumpster and removes items. The next day, consignment experts arrive to assess the value of Theresa’s 3,000 purses. It is disappointing when they discover that most of her bags are designer imitations, and 95% are worthless. She is upset that she cannot get top dollar for her bags, and only walks away with $300. This will not prevent her from bankruptcy. Theresa is humbled by her situation, and the rest of the cleanup goes smoothly. Her husband is pleased with the progress and sticks by her side. Theresa is provided with after care funds, and uses them to get counseling. Her daughter steps in and intervenes financially to save them from ruin. (Flynn et al., 2010) Treatment Initial Assessment The first step in helping one who hoards overcome their affliction must be through a thorough psychiatric evaluation to rule out primary psychotic disorders such as, dementia, and major depression as a cause to the problem, since apathy, fatigue, or hopelessness could lead to failure to discard, clean, or organize possessions. The initial session should include an assessment of the amount of clutter, types of items acquired, usability of the space, health and safety hazards, beliefs about possessions, information processing deficits, avoidance behaviors, insight, motivation for treatment, social and occupational functioning, and activities of daily living. (Saxena 2008) Pharmacotherapy Hoarding symptoms may be treated with Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, or SRIs. A few studies of OCD patients have found that hoarding symptoms were not easily treated with these drugs, and responded poorly to them. Another study, however, found that compulsive hoarders responded equally well to SRIs as non-hoarding OCD patients, with signifigant improvements in shared symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and overall functioning. Similar proportions of hoarding and non-hoarding OCD patients responder strongly and partially. The proportions of people dropping out of the study were also similar. Compulsive hoarders who completed treatment showed a mean 31% decline in symptom severity. Hoarding symptoms improved as much as other OCD symptoms. (Saxena 2008) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Hartl, Frost, Steketee, and colleagues developed a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or, CBT treatment strategy based on their Cognitive/Behavioral model of compulsive hoarding. They are the leading researchers on the subject. They conceptualize hoarding as involving four main problem areas; -Information processing deficits; -Problems in forming emotional attachments; -Behavioral avoidance; -Erroneous beliefs about the nature of possessions. Treatment involves cognitive restructuring, decision making training and exposure and response prevention involving the discarding of clutter. After 20 weeks of treatment, five in seven patients had noticeable improvement in acquiring of new possessions, awareness of irrational reasons for saving possessions and organizational skill. The ability to discard possessions also improved, but more slowly. This study also demonstrated the need to address patient motivation and involve family members in treatment. (Saxena 2010) Conclusion A growing awareness has shed some light on the deeply rooted problems of compulsive hoarding. Hoarding is a serious condition that not only affects the individual with the problem, but also has a serious impact on the lives of all persons living in the home, as well as loved ones living outside the home who want to help, but do not know how. The issues of a hoarder are deeply seeded and not easily treated. In order to provide adequate treatment, several different levels of therapy are recommended, including; therapy with a clinical psychologist specializing in hoarding, professional organizers, and perhaps even drug therapy to reduce anxiety. Strong family support is also very important, as relapse is almost inevitable. Hoarding has long classified as a symptom of OCD, but research has shown strong evidence that it is its own entity with a unique profile of core symptoms, genetic markers, and neurobiology abnormalities that differ from those of OCD. Perhaps in the near future, compulsive hoarding will be classified as a separate disorder entirely. More research is recommended. References ASPCA (2010) www.aspca.org 11/12/2010 Collingwood, J., (2009) the Genetics of Compulsive Hoarding. www.psychcentral.com 11/06/2010 Delson, S., Glovinsky, C., Prince, T., Schultz, H. (2003) the NSGD Clutter Hoarding Scale Official Hoarding Assessment Tool. www.nsgcd.org 11/12/2010 Elliot, C., (2009) Hoarding OCD. www.psychcentral.com 11/17/2010 Flynn, N., Chan, M., Severson, D., (2010) AE Hoarders Fugen, N., Slavin, J., Donnelly, M. (2010) How Compulsive Hoarding Effects Families. www.ocfoundation.org 11/6/2010 Frost, R., Steketee, G., (2010) Hoarding: Clinical Aspects and Treatment Strategies. www.childrenofhoarders.com 11/03/2010 Murray-Close, M., Frost, R. (2010) the Nature of Compulsive Buying and Acquisition. www.sophiasmith.edu 11/15/2010 Saxena, S. (2008) Neurobiology and Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding. www.childrenofhoarders.com 11/12/2010 Scheff, S. (2010) Hoarding: It Usually Starts in Early Adolescence, Around Age 12, and it Tends to get Worse with Age. www.examiner.com 11/6/2010 Wiegartz, P. Carmin, C. (2010) Hoarding and OCPD. www.academyofct.org 11/17/2010 Research Papers on Compulsive Hoarding19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraStandardized TestingGenetic EngineeringThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseResearch Process Part OneRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product