Definition of culture

It is obvious that the word “culture” has been polysemous for a long time. It is originated from “cultivation” as in “agriculture”. For a long history, the term “culture” has been defined in various ways. It meant producing or developing and later it refers to the quality of an educated person. (Jahoda 2012.)

In Western language, culture stands for “civilization” or “refinement of the mind” which refers to education, art and literature (Hofstede & Minkov 2010). One of well-known definition by Kluckhohn (as cited in Hofstede 2010: 9) is “culture consists in patterned way of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted manly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups. It includes their embodiments of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values”.

Culture is also explained as “a group of people sharing both tangibles and intangibles consisting histories, traditions, symbols, ideas, values, attitudes, and achievements. It can be regarded as “the notion of shared norms, symbols, values, and patterns of behaviors among a group of people”. (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel 2007.)

Culture also refers to high art such as classical music, theater, painting, and sculpture which is seen to be contrasted with popular art (De Mooij 2010: 48). Culture refers to ethnic or national groups or groups in the same society at various levels such as age group, a profession, or a social class. The manifestation of culture will be influenced from a specific level of cultural programming. Therefore, it is essential to address the certain level of cultures, particularly national culture, corporate culture, or age culture since one level cannot apply for another level. (De Mooij 2010: 49.)

It is obvious that the term culture can be defined in various ways. For this study, culture is explained as “the collective mental programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from the others” (Hofstede 2010: 4). The mind refers to thinking, feeling, acting which associate with beliefs, attitudes and skills.

Culture is a learning process, not instinctive. It is shaped from social interaction rather than from genetic origin. Referring to this definition, culture is divided into four manifestations:

symbols, heroes, rituals and values (Hofstede 2010: 7).

Figure 1 illustrates the basic manifestations of culture.

Figure 1: The Onion: Manifestations of culture at different levels of depth (Hofstede & Minkov 2010:8).

Symbols refer to words, gestures, pictures or objects reflecting specific meaning that can be realized by the members of that culture. Symbols are easy to fade away, establish or copied.

Therefore they are put in the outer layer of the culture. (Hofstede 2010: 8.)

Depending on cultures, symbols are used more or less. This can be connected with writing and language. Researches show that Japanese and other Asians who use kanji script have tendency to have higher capacity to recognize and use symbols. Compared with Western, Eastern people are more tolerant and favorable with symbols and pictures than with language. Signs and symbols are essential in association networks in memory: package, color and letters. Color can carry specific cultural meaning. In Western culture, black refers to mourning color, meanwhile in Eastern (e.g. Chinese culture) white is mourning color.

For some cultures, symbolic language is more appreciated than verbal language. In Western culture, number is seen meaningless; in contrast, it reflects meaning in Asia. For example, 555 cigarette brands in Asia and the number 8 are fortunate in China. Gesture can also be influence from cultural difference. (De Mooij 2010: 54-55.)

Heroes stand for people. They can be alive, dead, and real or imaginary whose personality is considered as model and are honored in a culture (Hofstede 2010: 8). For example, Batman or Charlie Brown in the United States, Hello Kitty in Japan, and Asterix in France can be regarded as cultural heroes. Heroes can be recognized globally but related stories can be local. (De Mooij 2010: 52.)

Rituals are set of necessary activities that are used for particular purposes such as ways of greeting, showing respect to other, social, religious celebration and daily communication styles (Hofstede 2010: 9).

Among cultural manifestations, symbols, heroes and rituals are seen as practices or expression of culture since it is visible (Hofstede 2010: 9 & De Mooij 2010: 53). Rituals are built to help products and brands differentiate from its competitors. It shows how

people behave and communicate their custom style, language, eating habits and houses decoration.

Value is indicated as “an enduring belief that one mode of conduct or end-state of existence is preferable to an opposing mode of conduct or end-state of existence” (Rokeach 1073 as cited in De Mooij 2010: 45). Rokeach argued that values consists two levels: terminal values and instrumental values. Terminal values mean desirable end-state of existence meanwhile instrumental values stand for modes of conduct. Thus instrumental values create motives to achieve the end-states of existence. Ambitious, broad-minded, capable and cheerful etc… values can be the instrumental values for terminal values of a comfortable, exciting life, a sense of accomplishment, a world of peace… respectively. (Rokeach 1973 as cited in De Mooij 2010: 132.)

This view is similar with the value definition by Kluckohn (as cited in Hofstede 2001: 5) “a value is a conception, explicit or implicit, distinctive of an individual or characteristic of a group, of the desirable which influences the selection from available modes, means, and ends of actions”. Moreover, Hofstede (2010: 22-23); Inglehart & Welzel (2005); Schwartz (2006); Sachiyo & Herche (1994) also suggested that values are the core of culture. Values are closely connected with structure and functioning of its institution. It includes the rules, laws and organization. It is implies motivations, emotions, and taboos and therefore it serves as a guideline and driving for cultural practices. They are established in the early age. Research shows that human unconsciously absorb information including symbols (e.g.

language), heroes (parents), rituals and basic values for the ten to twelve years times and then turn to the aware learning process (Hofstede 2010: 9).

On the other hand, De Mooij (2010: 47) stated that values can consist of two aspects: the desirable and desired. The desirable means the norms, standards, approval, ideology and what is considered right or wrong or ought to be in the society. Meanwhile, desired is what people actually want, attract and prefer for themselves. The value paradoxes also lead to the paradox between words and deeds. It means that there is conflict between what people say and what they really want to do. Deeds and behavior are nearer with desired value rather

than desirable values. The contradiction has made cultures seem to become convergent. For example, Japanese culture is seen by nature collective but turning out to be individualistic.

In fact, it is due to the demand for behavior and communication.

This view is similar to Schein (2010 as cited in Okazaki 2012: 91) who stated that value can be recognized by artifacts and espoused value. Artifacts refer to the visible products, processes and behavior of a culture. It shows how to handle and behave in the society, which means cultural values. Espoused value stands for standards and ideology perceived by individualists or society, which means cultural values (Okazaki 2012: 91). Globe study about value also reveals similar perspective by distinguishing cultural values (should be) and cultural practice (as is) (House & Hanges 2004 as cited by Okazaki 2012: 91).