"A culture is the configuration of learned behaviour and results of behaviour whose component elements are shared and transmitted by members of a particular society" - Ralph Linton (1945).
Culture is represented by “the skin of an onion, indicating that symbols represent the most superficial and value the deepest manifestation of culture.”
A lot of factors make up a culture including religion, social organisations and law and politics. Stereotypes are created through culture for example - British people are shown as having bad teeth, always drinking tea and having a posh accent. However this is not the case, a lot of people don't drink tea and have very good teeth. The posh accent is dead due to the introduction of slang words.
A person's culture is important when deciding on the most efficient way of marketing as it is easy to put people off by offending their core values. In business it is important to be aware of international culture. In Japan they don't shake hands - when you meet someone you hand over your business card (it's very important to take theirs with two hands), read it and then whoever has the inferior position within a company has to bow lower. When marketing products that are targeted towards the general public you have to consider who is going to see it and what their views on it will be. Britain is a very diverse nation so their are a lot of cultures to take into account.
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