Factors That Influence Consumer Behaviour Patterns

Factors That Influence Consumer Behaviour Patterns Introduction Consumer behaviour is a complicated and diverse area of study. Since marketing is based on identifying, anticipating and providing customer needs it is important to understand them. There are two predominant types of buying: consumer buying, which consists of buying products for personal use, and organisational buying, which involves buying for organisational purposes. For marketers to satisfy consumer needs more fully than competitors it is important to recognise the elements that influence buying. This report will identify the main factors influencing consumer behaviour patterns, particularly when purchasing fashion items. It will examine how buyer characteristics influence buyer behaviour and also how retailers react to such characteristics. In particular this report will look at the cultural factors, demographic factors and psychological factors that influence consumer buying. Contents 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 Methodology 2 3.0 Cultural Factors 3 3.1 Reference groups 4 3.2 Sub-culture 5 3.3 Social class 6 4.0 Demographical Factors 7 4.1 The Life Cycle Stage 8 5.0 Psychological Factors 9 5.1 Lifestyle Variables 10 5.2 Perception and Motivation 11 5.3 Personality 12 6.0 Market Segmentation, Target Marketing and Product Positioning 13 7.0 Conclusion 14 8.0 Appendix 1 15, 16 8.1 Appendix 2 17 8.2 Appendix 3 18 9.0 References 19 10.0 Bibliography 20 2.0 Methodology All research undertaken for this was is secondary. It was conducted between the dates of Monday 16th February 2004 and Thursday 11th March 2004. The main research databases used were: Mintel Emerald The main books used were: Lancaster, G, Massingham, L, and Ashford, R (2002). Essentials of Marketing: Understanding the Behaviour of Customers. 4th edition. McGraw-Hill Education. Chisnall, P (1975). Marketing: A Behavioural Analysis. 1st edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company (UK) Limited. Williams, K (1981). Behavioural Aspects of Marketing. 1st edition. Butterworth Heinemann. The Internet and databases used were accessed privately and also from the University of East London library, Docklands campus. Books were borrowed from this library as well. 3.0 Cultural Factors Culture affects consumer behaviour in a variety of ways. It relates to customs and beliefs that are learned from the society in which an individual grows up. Culture is a huge area of study that often has unclear boundaries and fluctuates in degree of influencing consumers. Aspects of our socio-culture, such as sub-culture, social class and reference groups play different roles in influencing consumers. A common pattern of behaviour can be observed within groups. Cultural change occurs at a very slow pace and can be seen to marketers as threats or opportunities. Cultural elements that influence consumer behaviour can also be said to be environmental influences. 3.1 Reference groups A reference group is one that the individual tends to use as the anchor point for evaluating his/her own beliefs and attitudes, (American Marketing Association, 2004) There are many different types of reference groups, which may have a direct or an indirect influence on attitudes, behaviour and self-image. Primary reference groups are those that an individual has continuous contact with, they may consist of family, friends, colleagues etc, and they hold the strongest influence over the individual. In secondary reference groups the individual has less contact, such as an activities club, but still feels pressure to conform. Aspirational groups have the least contact with the individual, but the individual still strives to become similar. Celebrity endorsements could be said to be aspirational groups. Regardless as to whether an individual is, or seeks to become a member of a particular group, the group can still influence the individuals values, attitudes and behavioural patterns. The influence a reference group holds on an individual can be seen as positive, negative or both. A good example of primary reference groups is the street gangs in Manchester. Moran (2004) writes of the gangs of youths in which members must dress according to the code of their gang. The gangs can be identified through wearing hooded tops, bandanas, balaclavas and gold chains. However, the Manchester Magistrates Court has banned four members of a gang from wearing hooded tops, bandanas and balaclavas in an attempt to make them look less threatening and dilute the gang dress codes. Members and individuals who are influenced by the gangs are in an attempt to conform, more likely purchase items of clothing such as hooded tops and bandanas. Figure 1 demonstrates the appearance of a typical gang member. Sub-culture A sub-culture could be defined as a group of individuals whose beliefs, values and behaviour differ from that of the predominant culture. There are many different sub cultures that are often referred to as segments. Some examples of subcultures include: nationality groups, religious groups, geographic groups and age groups. Sub-culture plays an important part to marketers because of their influence on brands and types of product and services demanded by their members. Chisnall (1975) p.98. Mintel (2003) reports of an emerging fashionable youth sub-culture, in which extreme sports is the focal point. This culture is rebelling away from long working hours and heavy television watching lifestyle. In this alternative culture the interest and participation of extreme sports has merged with music and clothing. A strong emphasis of this culture can be seen through clothing and footwear in particular. Baggy clothing is a dominant dress code. (See figure 2) Mintel estimates that consumers spent  £4.5 billion on extreme sports goods in 2003, an increase of 29% on 1998. (See appendix 1, figure 3) Mintel also reports that levels of disposable incomes have influenced the rise in extreme sports. Between 1998 and 2003 disposable incomes have increased by 21%. (See appendix 1, figure 4) korn 3.3 Social Class Within every society there exists a class structure. This refers to individuals who share certain similar characteristics, such as occupation, socialisation, education and income. The rigidity of the class structure varies greatly in different societies. England could be said to have an open society, within which it is easy to move from one class to another. However, less developed countries such as Cambodia, where there is very little chance of social mobility, could be said to be a closed society. Since members from the same social class have alike characteristics they will also exhibit a similar pattern of behaviour. Social class plays a very big role in consumer behaviour. It can influence where an individual shops, such as market stalls, shopping malls or online, when and how often an individual shops, such as every day, weekly or monthly and what an individual shops for. The National Readership Survey has determined a popular and effective classification of social groups. (See appendix 2, figure 5). Williams, T (2002) examines consumer behaviour in relation to social class. In a study involving 612 respondents it was found that income doesnt have a direct relationship with class because there are huge overlaps between incomes of different classes. For example a doctor earning  £30,000 a year would be middle class while a brick layer earning  £50,000 a year would remain working class. However it was found that income does influence consumer behaviour within the context of social class. It was also found that education has a large bearing on consumer information processing and decision-making. More educated consumers; such as university graduates tend to be knowledgeable of market forces and opportunities than the school leaver. They read more, read different magazines, spend less time watching television, rely less on well know brands and put more time and effort into purchasing decisions. Varying levels of knowledge and comprehension lead to different behavioural patterns in decision making processes. 4.0 Demographical Factors Demographic elements, such as: age, sex, income, education and occupation are all individual factors that can significantly affect consumer behaviour. These elements influence the type of product an individual may want, where the individual may shop and also the purchase evaluation process. Demographic variables are some of the major factors targeted in market segmentation. As an individuals stage of life progresses, so the will needs and wants of a product. To help marketers make a clearer distinction between demographic groups for market segmentation classification bases have been developed. A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods (ACORN) is a popular geo-demographic technique used as a segmentation base. ACORN maps geographically the concentrations of a particular type of individual and can be useful for helping marketers decide upon store locations and targeting direct mailing. The American Marketing Association (2004) looks at of the spending habits amongst teenagers. From surveys carried out in America its said that increasing amounts of teenagers are trying to look more trendy and fashionable. As a result they are becoming more responsive to marketing and spending more money than ever on clothing. American youths aged 12 19 spent $175 billion in 2003 on clothes, which is an increase of $20 from 2000. Marketers have become aware of how impressionable teenagers are. They have reacted by segmenting the youth and marketing directly to them. Shops such as Urban Outfitters target the youth market by watching their choices carefully to set the trends. 4.1 The Life Cycle Stage An individual goes through various stages throughout their life. Each stage of life will affect what the consumer needs and wants, the purchase evaluation process and volumes of expenditure. Consumer behaviour of a single individual will vary greatly for that of an individual who is married with children. For a marketer to successfully target a market it is important to identify the main stages in an individuals life. Lansing, J and Morgan, J (1955) have devised a popular and successful break down of the life cycle of families. Each stage influences consumer behaviour in a different way. The stages are as follows: Bachelor stage; young single people. Newly married couples; young, no children. The full nest 1; young married couple with dependent children. The full nest 2; older married couples with dependent children. The empty nest; older married couples with no children living with them. The solitary survivor; older single people. Mintel (2001) reports that the greatest time of expenditure for a women in the AB social grade is during the bachelor stage. During this period 56% of women spent more than  £500 on clothes in a year. However, during the newly married couples, full nest 1 and full nest 2 periods the percentage of women that spends  £500 a year on clothes decreases to 35%. This percentage increases at the empty nest stage to 46%. (See appendix 3, figure 6) 5.0 Psychological Factors Psychological factors are related to perceptions, motivations, attitudes and personality of a consumer. These are all individual elements that can affect consumer behaviour. Although demographical research and the life cycle stage help to classify and quantify consumers it is necessary to have a broader view, which will help to explain how life patterns influence purchasing decisions. Psychographics are usually based on demographic information as well as ratings of consumers activities, interests and opinions. Williams, K (1981) pg.91 5.1 Lifestyle Variables Lifestyles and patterns have strong influences on consumer behaviour. Figure 7 illustrates the main factors that form a lifestyle. 5.2 Perception and Motivation Perception relates to an individuals interpretation of a product and company. An individual will subconsciously select and organise information presented by a company. As well as direct experience of sensory data, perception is also influenced by learning, attitudes and past experiences. It is important for a marketer to convey good brand awareness. Maslow recognises that people have varying needs and if the need is intense then they are motivated to purchase the goods that will satisfy it. To illustrated this a hierarchy of needs has been created. Lancaster, G, Massingham, L, and Ashford, R (2002) pg. 80. Goldsmiths, R (2002) examines the personal characteristics of frequent buyers. From a survey involving 533 consumers a link was found between that of frequent clothing buyers and similar psychological and motivational traits. The survey concluded that frequent clothing buyers were more likely to buy fashion items and were more susceptible to marketing efforts. Personality The subject of personality is a very complicated area. There are many variables that must be taken into account when trying to obtain a comprehensive view of a personality. This makes it difficult for marketers to understand the link personality has with consumer behaviour. Williams, K (1981) pg.133. 6.0 Market Segmentation, Target Marketing and Product Positioning. For a marketer to satisfy customer needs efficiently and lucratively, understanding consumer behaviour is essential. Research into consumer behaviour has allowed the marketer to create target groups of people with common interests, values, beliefs and patterns of behaviour. Once a market segment has been identified, marketers can research the target market more thoroughly and the marketing mix, product, price, promotion and place can be adjusted to ensure the product position is correct. Batista (2004) reports of the clothing manufacturer Benetton who plans to weave radio frequency ID chips into its garments to track its clothes worldwide. Having the ability to track a customer would give the company extremely detailed information on customer buying habits. Benetton would then have a much better understanding of their target market, and be able to manipulate elements of the marketing mix, such as price, product, place and promotion for effectively. The clothing manufacturer Prada already embeds RFID chips into its clothes. 7.0 Conclusion To conclude it is evident that consumer behaviour, in relation to buyer fashion items, is influenced by a huge array of factors. To grasp a more complete and accurate understanding consumer behaviour needs to be examined more thoroughly. This report has identified the basic factors that influence consumer, including: culture, socio-culture, demographical, and psychological variables. Designers and retailers react to such behavioural characteristics by trying to break down and identify what causes them. It is important to investigate whether consumers can be grouped by similar patterns of behaviour. Once a market has been segmented through geographic, demographic, psychological, psychographic and socio-cultural variables the retailer can focus a particular product to a particular type of person. The marketing mix is used to manipulate the product, place, price and promotion. Examples of retailers aiming at different segments of the market include Gucci and TopShop. While Gucci captures a more wealthy, professional and elite market, TopShop aims at a much larger and more varied market.

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The older person’s population has increased substantially in Malaysia over the past several years. In 2000, 6.3% of the total population are older persons and was increased by 6.6% from the total population in 2005 (DOSM, 2005). The number of older persons by 2020 is projected to be 9.9% and 11% by 2025 (DOSM, 2008). This may keep on increasing for the following years due to the low rate of birth and death, which has resulted from the success of reproductive health care services (Rabieyah & Hajar, 2003). Being an older person was being viewed as a time of inevitable disease and frailty. Government and public health sectors would be enormous if the onset of disease and functional limitations could be postponed, since this group of population is more likely to be poses challenges such as increased vulnerability to disease, high medical cost, requirement for long term care and burden to the family members (Sjolund, Nordberg, Wimo & von Strauss, 2010; Nakasato & Carnes, 2006). In the scope of aging, falls are a major health problem for older person, with 30-35% of those who live in the community falling at least once a year (Granacher et al.,2011, Rubenstein and Josephson 2002). This situation is about three times higher in institutionalized older persons than those in the community (Cameron et al., 2010). Falls and fall-related injuries are a common health care problem, and represent important causes of morbidity and mortality in older populations. About one in three older persons who living in the community, will experience at least one fall each year, of which roughly half results in an injury (Masud, 2001; Rubeistin, 2006). There are several different causes for falls in older persons particularly involves psychological conditio... ... a study because it broadens results and therefore gives a better representation of the population as a whole. This study only studied on Malays races, which represent a major race in Malaysia. Unfortunately, this might contribute to bias and non-beneficial for other races. Future studies should involve a larger number of races and randomization. CONCLUSION An older person is a special challenge from the standpoint of exercise prescription due to the usual presence of balance disorder and fear of falls with their physical limitations. However, participation in physical activity and exercise will go a long way in preventing complications and extending the years of independence living. A combination of the behavioral program in exercise training is a great and cost-effective especially in managing older persons to improve their life and towards a successful aging.

Edgar Allen Poe Alcohol’

Sam Doueiri Edgar Allan Poe and substance abuse The Bottled Curse Edgar Allan Poe was one of America’s most celebrated poet and story teller. His life started early with misfortune. Both of his parents were already dead, when Edgar was 3 years old. His father died of tuberculosis and his mother died of tuberculosis and pneumonia. He was adopted and attended school until he was 17 years old. He started the abuse of alcohol with 17 and he started gambling.As his adopting father figured out, he stopped all financial supports of his adopted son. Edgar had to leave the University and he enlisted in the U. S. military, and later obtained a military school. Edgar Allan Poe was expelled from the military school after one year attending. During his time in this school he published his first poetry book. Over the years Poe established a reputation as a writer. Drinking remained a lifelong problem. Edgar adopted a lifestyle which included a constant abuse of alcohol.Although writing brou ght him fame, he had to struggle through his whole life with financial issues. Because of the leaking copyright protection to his time, he never was financially rewarded for his excellent masterpieces of poetry and literature. Therefore he struggled through his whole life with money issues. Throughout most of his writings Edgar Allan Poe mentions the abuse of alcohol â€Å"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. During these fits of absolute unconsciousness I drank †¦ God only knows how often or how much.As a matter of course, my enemies referred the insanity to the drink rather than the drink to the insanity. † Courtney JF: â€Å"Addiction and Edgar Ellen Poe† Med Times 1972; 100:162-163. He started in a young age with the excessive abuse of alcohol, as a classmate recalled: â€Å"He would always seize the tempting glass, generally unmixed with sugar or water- in fact, perfectly straight- and without the least apparent pleasure, swallow the cont ents, never pausing until the last drop had passed his lips. Bonaparte M: â€Å"The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe†, Imago Pub, London 1949:31-32 Alcohol appears frequently in Poe’s stories, usually connected to some following violent act or event: † One night, returning home, much intoxicated, from one of my haunts about town, I fancied that the cat avoided my presence. I seized him; when, in his fright at my violence, he inflicted a slight wound upon my hand with his teeth. The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin-nurtured, thrilled every fiber of my frame.I took from my waistcoat-pocket a penknife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut one of its eyes from the socket†¦. When reason returned with the morning- when I had slept off the fumes of the night’s debauchery-I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty; but it was, at best, a feeble and equivocal feeling, and the soul remained untouched. I again plunged into excess, and soon drowned in wine all memory of the deed. † Poe’s â€Å"The Black Cat† www. heliterature network. com pages 2-5. In conclusion, Alcohol abuse became a part of Edgar Allan Poe’s life, it affected his writings his perception and his creativity. He went into almost a â€Å"Dark Side† in his life and gave little windows of his mind through his literature. It seems almost as if the Alcohol took overhand and had finally a body of mind, from which on the Alcohol himself and parts of Poe’s personality were writing in between two different worlds, the â€Å"Dark side† and the â€Å"pure and innocent side† of life.His way of writing very â€Å" Dark† finds an interesting base of making the reader being curious what will happen next. It is† miserable† itself what makes the reader keep reading. Courtney JF: â€Å"Addiction and Edgar Ellen Poe† Med Times 1972; 100:162-163. Bonaparte M: â€Å"The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe†, Imago Pub, London 1949:31-32 Poe’s â€Å"The Black Cat† www. theliterature network. com pages 2-5.

The Relationship between a High-Dairy Diet and Breast Cancer in Women - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2057 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/02/06 Category Medicine Essay Level High school Tags: Breast Cancer Essay Did you like this example? Recent studies have demonstrated that 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer at some point in their lives being that breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer among women (American Cancer Society, 2018). Since 2000, the rates of breast cancer have been declining and researchers posit this may be due to better screening processes or possibly due to the decrease in hormone replacement therapy because it was associated with increased risk of breast cancer (Breastcancer.org, 2018). Although breast cancer has been linked to genetic inheritance, lifestyle factors such as diet and hormone levels also play a role in developing the disease (American Cancer Society, 2018). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Relationship between a High-Dairy Diet and Breast Cancer in Women" essay for you Create order One study indicates that dairy, specifically in the Western world, is pumped full of estrogen and progesterone hormones, which may link a diet high in dairy to breast cancer rates (Ganmaa Sato, 2005). Estrogenic hormones are more common in fats, so there may be a critical difference between the effects of high-fat dairy products, such as whole-milk compared to the low-fat version referred to as skim milk (Pape-Zambito et al., 2010). Research suggests that there are conflicting results in regards to the association between high-dairy intake and breast cancer (Hunter Willett, 1994; Boyd et al., 1993), which makes it important to study the methods and possible explanations behind this controversial evidence. In this paper, I will analyze two research studies that provide opposing results in regards to the relationship between breast cancer and a high-dairy diet in order to understand why researchers may have found these varying outcomes. Kroenke et al. (2013) hypothesized that a high-fat dairy diet, compared to a low-fat dairy diet, is more associated to breast cancer recurrence and mortality rates. To test this hypothesis, a team of researchers conducted a prospective cohort design and studied 1893 women that were a part of larger study (LACE) who already had early stage invasive breast cancer. These women previously went through cancer treatment and exhibited no evidence of recurrence or other types of cancer. The number and type of recurrences were assessed by health status questionnaires obtained annually, and mortality was measured using the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Cancer Registry (KPNC) data sources or using information from the participant’s family. Researchers collected data at two time points that encapsulated the women’s diets, measured by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Food Frequency Questionnaire, at baseline and at a 6-year follow-up. This measure asked women how o ften they ate dairy foods in the past year by specifically asking the participants to describe their daily, weekly and monthly eating habits. The questionnaire displays a medium size portion as an example and then asks the participants to indicate the size of their own dairy servings (small, medium, or large). In order to evaluate fat content, the participants were asked the type of fat levels they usually consumed, such as percentage of fat in their milk, cheese, yogurt and dessert products. They gathered the total number of servings of dairy per day and classified certain types of dairy into high or low-fat groups. In their statistical analyses for high and low-fat dairy intake, the researchers adjusted for possible confounding variables such as age, smoking, menopausal status, race, education, BMI, and reproductive factors. For analyses on breast cancer outcomes, researchers controlled for confounding variables such as disease severity, treatment type, and behavioral factors such as other diet components (i.e. red meat consumption, sugar), exercise, alcohol and smoking behaviors (Kroenke et al., 2013) The results of this study demonstrate that overall, dairy consumption levels among these women were low, and women were consuming more low-fat dairy than high-fat dairy products. Kroenke et al. (2013) also found that high-fat dairy intake was not related to cancer recurrences, but it was positively associated with mortality. Although this study found a link between high fat dairy intake and mortality from breast cancer, they did not find an overall relationship between dairy and breast cancer. Previous research suggests that breast cancer causes may be linked to calcium and Vitamin D (Lipkin Newmark, 1999), but these results showed no relation between these vitamins and cancer outcomes (Kroenke et al., 2013) Since a high-fat dairy diet is related to an increase in estrogen, it is important for researchers to further study the impact of estrogen levels on cancer. If these results were to be replicated, it would be valuable to advise women with breast cancer to cut back on high fat d airy products, since it may impact their survival. One of the strengths of this study was that they adjusted for different factors that could have effected breast cancer severity such as stage, nodal status, tumor size, and lifestyle factors such as SES, exercise, demographics and reproductive history. Since this was a correlational study, we cannot confirm causality, but the study’s adjustment for third factors does strengthen their observed effects (Kroenke et al., 2013). One major limitation in studies regarding diet is the tendency for people to underestimate their food intake. Some of the women responded that they didn’t know what type of milk they were consuming or how much they had daily, so it was difficult to categorize dairy products into high or low-fat groups accurately. Previous research suggests an inverse relationship between dairy products and breast cancer outcomes in samples of premenopausal women (Shannon et al., 2003); however, the current study was mainly postmenopausal, and they did not have a larg e enough sample of premenopausal women to study the differences in menopausal status in regards to diet. Another limitation of this study was its inability to accurately identify estrogen/progesterone receptor status of the reported products since researchers suggest the effects of estrogen may contribute to higher mortality rates in women with breast cancer (Kroenke et al., 2013). In a second study, Knekt et al. (1996), the researchers hypothesized that there is an inverse relationship between dairy intake and breast cancer. This was a prospective study that followed 4697 healthy women (free of cancer) for 25 years. The population of women in the study were from Finland, which is significant because Finland has one of the highest levels of milk intake among anywhere in the world. Once the women were screened for cancer, the researchers conducted a modified dietary history interview that analyzed the women’s diet in the last year. Dietary assessments were repeated every 4-8 months after the initial interview. The model assessed for food eaten each day, week, month and year and had participants estimate their portion size similarly to the previous study, Kroenke et al. (2013). The participants also completed a mailed questionnaire to gather information such as residence, occupation, parity, and smoking to be assessed as covariates. Cancer incidence was ob tained through the nationwide Cancer Registry along with death certificates from the Central Statistical office of Finland over the 25-year period of the study. This study found that the rates of developing breast cancer were highest among women over 50, who had never married or had kids, and had a white-collar job. They also found that milk intake was dependent on location and occupation and was higher in western agricultural areas. There was an inverse relationship between milk consumption (as opposed to other dairy products) and developing breast cancer after controlling for age. Previous research suggests a relationship between high saturated fat and breast cancer outcomes, (Boyd et al., 1993; Hunter et al., 1994); however, the present study found no relationship between total or saturated fat and breast cancer (Knekt et al., 1996). Another finding was that higher levels of calcium are related to lower breast cancer incidence in the study, suggesting that calcium may play a protective role in breast cancer prevention. Researchers indicate calcium’s protectiveness may be related to its ability to protect the binding of fatty acids and bile acids when processing dairy products. However, past studies have not found a significant relationship between calcium intake and breast cancer incidence (Katsouyanni et. al 1988) and after adjusting for calcium in the current study, the relationship between diary and breast cancer still existed. A strength in this study was their ability to follow healthy women to see who developed breast cancer after initially collecting diet data. This study also had a large sample of 4697 women, which increases the study’s power and researchers followed them for a significant period of time (25 years), which allows them to account for long term effects. Researchers also used a comprehensive survey of food consumption compared to previous studies that used a simpler measure for diet (Knekt et al., 1996). A limitation of this study was its inability to control for some health and behavioral factors such as alcohol consumption; however, few women in Finland are heavy drinkers, so this possible confounding variable most likely did not impact the results of the study (Knekt et al., 1996). Since reproductive factors and hormones may play a role in breast cancer (Kelsey and Whittemore, 1994), these confounding variables may have impacted their results since the researchers only obtained r eproductive information regarding the women’s number of births. Although these two studies indicate different associations between breast cancer and dairy intake, it is important to note that they are studying very different populations of women. The first study described involved a population of women who already had breast cancer while the second study focused on women who develop breast cancer out of a sample starting with healthy women. It is possible that this difference in timing of disease occurrence accounts for some of the difference in results. Also, the Knekt et al. (1996) study was more focused on milk products specifically, while the Kroenke et al. (2013) study was more concerned about high vs. low-fat dairy products. There were also more postmenopausal women in the sample from the Kroenke et al. (2013) study compared to the Knekt et al. (1996), which may have played in a role in interactions between hormone levels and dairy products (Shannon et al. 2003). Menopausal status is especially relevant because the results from the Knekt et al. (1996) study only demonstrated the inverse relationship after controlling for age. Since dairy intake was associated with cancer mortality, it is possible that the fat in dairy cells negatively interacts with cancer cells, but not healthy cells (Kroenke et al., 2013). In the case of the study in Finland, the dairy production process may differ from the US and thus, alter the levels of estrogen in milk. Also, since milk is very common in Finland, it is possible that this population is more tolerant to its effects on hormone levels. Another major difference between the two studies is their amount of data collected on diet. In the Kroenke et. al (2013) study, they gathered assessments of diet at two time points, one at baseline and the other at a 6-month follow-up, while the Knekt et al. (1996) study interviewed people regarding diet every 4-6 months for 25 years. Considering that diet recall is grossly underestimated (Kroenke et. al, 2013), these differences in diet data collect ion may suggest why the studies are producing different results. It would be beneficial to have future studies examine the specific nutrients and hormone levels in dairy products consumed to understand why dairy can be both positively and inversely associated with the risk of breast cancer. Research suggests that some cultures place more value on milk-oriented diets in comparison to others (Cramer et al., 1994), perhaps because of cultural differences and views on dairy product’s health benefits. Future studies should examine dairy consumption cross-culturally to assess whether dairy production differences and metabolism differences among certain groups contribute to the relationship between dairy and breast cancer. Additionally, a major problem with diet research, is that it is usually gathered at one time point (Kroenke et. al, 2013) and researchers need to have more frequent questionnaires to accurately gauge the types of nutrient intake and total consumption. Although these studies both used a detailed questionnaire for food consumptio n, participants may have been inaccurately showcasing their overall diet patterns, or they may have changed their diet habits after the questionnaire was completed, which could have impacted their breast cancer outcomes. Also, future studies could focus more on differentiating between high and low-fat dairy since Kroenke et al. (2013) and Knekt et al. (1996) were unable to accurately measure these differences. Since menopausal status and age were important factors in the relationship between breast cancer and dairy products, future researchers may want to expand on these findings and study how age may impact the relationship between dairy products, estrogen levels, and breast cancer.