22/10/2012
There is no single definition, which describes the term culture exactly/precisely.
Culture varies from country to country. If you talk about a nation's culture there are
often prejudices involved. Which definition or explanation ever is chosen they have
all one thing in common. And that is - they are all based on personal experiences.
Culture can be defined as a
"
sum total of man
'
s knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws,
customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of
society." It is the distinctive way of life of a group of people, their complete design
for living. Culture thus refers to man
'
s entire social heritage - a distinctive life-style of
a society and its total value system, which is intricately related to the consumption
pattern of the people.
Cultural Similarities
Sometimes apparent similarities in certain features of culture create illusion of
`sameness
'
in different national cultures. For example, several nationalities may speak
the same language or may have similarities in religious or racial features, but it does
not necessarily follow that similarities exist in other respects as well, nor does it
follow that a product or a promotional message adaptable to one culture would be
readily acceptable to another. Even when two or more nationalities use the common
language, there would be differences in interpretation of a word or phrase giving
different connotations.