Elements of Culture

Culture includes every part of life. The scope of the term culture to the anthropologist is illustrated by the elements included within the meaning of the term. They are:

1. Material Culture-Technology, Economics

Economics

Material Culture is divided into two parts, technology and economics. Technology includes the techniques used in the creation of material goods; it is the technical know-how possessed by the people of a society. For example, the vast majority of U.S. citizens understand the simple concepts involved in reading gauges, but in many countries of the world this seemingly simple concept is not part of their common culture and is, therefore, a major technical limitation.

Elements of Culture

Economics is the manner in which people employ their capabilities and the resulting benefits. Included in the subject of economics is the production of goods and services, their distribution, consumption, means of exchange, and the income derived from the creation of utilities.

Material culture affects the level of demand, the quality and types of products demanded, and their functional features, as well as the means of production of these goods and their distribution. The marketing implications of the material culture of a country are many. For example, electrical appliances sell in England and France but have few buyers in countries where less than 1 percent of the homes have electricity. Even with electrification, economic characteristics represented by the level and distribution of income may limit the desirability of products. Electric can openers and electric juicers are acceptable in the United States, but in less-affluent countries not only are they unattainable and probably unwanted, they would be a spectacular waste because disposable income could be spent more meaningfully on better houses, clothing or food.

2. Social Institutions- Social organizations, Education, Political Structures

Social Institutions include social organization, education, and political structures that are concerned with the ways in which people relate to one another, organize their activities to live in harmony with one another, teach acceptable behavior to succeeding generations, and govern themselves. The positions of men and women in society, the family, social classes, group behavior, age groups and how societies define decency and civility are interpreted differently within every culture. In cultures where the social organizations result in close-knit family units, for example, it is more effective to aim a promotion campaign at the family unit than at individual family members. Travel advertising in culturally divided Canada pictures a wife alone for the English audience but a man and wife together for the French segments of the population because the French are traditionally more closely bound by family ties.

Education, one of the most important social institutions, affects all aspects of the culture from economic development to consumer behavior. The literacy rate of a country is a potent force in economic development. Numerous studies indicate a direct link between the literacy rate of a country and its ability for rapid economic growth. According to the World Bank no country has been successful economically with less than 50 percent literacy, but when countries have invested in education the economic rewards have been substantial. Literacy has a profound affect on marketing.

It is much easier to communicate with a literate market than to one where the marketer has to depend on symbols and pictures to communicate. Each of the social institutions has an effect on marketing because each influences behavior, values and the overall patterns of life.

3. Humans and the universe-Belief systems

Within this category are religion (belief systems), superstitions, and their related power structures. The impact of religion on the value systems of a society and the effect of value systems on marketing must not be underestimated. Religion impacts people's habits, their outlook on life, the products they buy, the way they buy them, even the newspapers they read.

Acceptance of certain types of food, clothing, and behavior are frequently affected by religion, and such influence can extend to the acceptance or rejection of promotional messages as well. In some countries, focusing too much attention on bodily functions in advertisements would be judged immoral or improper and the products would be rejected. What might seem innocent and acceptable in one culture could be considered too personal or vulgar in another. Such was the case when Saudi Arabian customs officials impounded a shipment of French perfume because the bottle stopper was in the shape of a nude female. Religion is one of the most sensitive elements of a culture. When the marketer has little or no understanding of a religion, it is easy to offend, albeit unintentionally.

Superstition plays a much larger role in a society's belief system in some parts of the world than it does in the United States. What an American might consider as mere superstition can be a critical aspect of a belief system in another culture. For example, in parts of Asia, ghosts, fortune telling, palmistry, head-bump reading, phases of the moon, demons, and soothsayers are all integral parts of certain cultures. Astrologers are routinely called on in Thailand to determine the best location.

4. Aesthetics-Graphic and Plastic arts, Folklore, Music, Drama, and Dance

Closely interwoven with the effect of people and the universe on a culture are its aesthetics, that is, its arts, folklore, music, drama, and dance. Aesthetics are of particular interest to the marketer because of their role in interpreting the symbolic meanings of various methods of artistic expression, color, and standards of beauty in each culture. Customers everywhere respond to images, myths, and metaphors that help them define their personal and national identities and relationships within a context of culture and product benefits. The uniqueness of a culture can be spotted quickly in symbols having distinct meanings.

Without a culturally correct interpretation of a country's aesthetic values, a whole host of marketing problems can arise. Product styling must be aesthetically pleasing to be successful, as must advertisements and package designs. Insensitivity to aesthetic values can offend, create a negative impression, and, in general, render marketing efforts ineffective. Strong symbolic meanings may be overlooked if one is not familiar with a culture's aesthetic values. The Japanese, for example, revere the crane as being very lucky for it is said to live a thousand years, however, the use of the number four should be avoided completely because the word four, shi, is also the Japanese word for death.

5. Language

The importance of understanding the language of a country cannot be overestimated. The successful marketer must achieve expert communication, and this requires a thorough understanding of the language as well as the ability to speak it. Advertising copywriters should be concerned less with obvious differences between languages and more with the idiomatic meanings expressed. It is not sufficient to say you want to translate into Spanish, for instance, because, in Spanish-speaking Latin America the language vocabulary varies widely. Tambo, for example, means a roadside inn in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; in Argentina and Uruguay, it means a dairy farm; and in Chile, a tambo is a brothel. If that gives you a problem, consider communicating with the people of Papua, New Guinea. Some 750 languages, each distinct and mutually unintelligible, are spoken there.

Carelessly translated advertising statements not only lose their intended meaning but can suggest something very different, obscene, offensive, or just plain ridiculous. Language may be one of the most difficult cultural elements to master, but it is the most important to study in an effort to acquire some degree of empathy. Many believe that to appreciate the true meaning of a language it is necessary to live with the language for years. Whether or not this is the case, foreign marketers should never take it for granted that they are communicating effectively in another language. Until a marketer can master the vernacular, the aid of a national within the foreign country should be enlisted; even then, the problem of effective communications may still exist. One authority suggests that we look for a cultural translator, that is, a person who translates not only among languages but also among different ways of thinking and among different cultures.

Credit: Human Resource Management Articles

Elements of Culture

Abey Francis, a full time blogger engaged in the areas of management and technology. Author and Moderator of famous business management blog Management Articles and Business Case Studies

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Top Causes of Homelessness in America

As many as 3.5 million Americans are homeless each year. Of these, more than 1 million are children and on any given night, more than 300,000 children are homeless.

While the general impression is that the homeless are primarily the chronic and episodic, those unfortunate individuals often seen living on the streets in the downtown areas of our cities, the fact is that more than half the homeless are families with children. The vast majority of these have been thrust into homelessness by a life altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for. Contrary to the belief that homelessness is primarily the result of major traumatic events or physical and mental disabilities, there are many top causes of homelessness in America.

Economics

Homelessness is, in fact, caused by tragic life occurrences like the loss of loved ones, job loss, domestic violence, divorce and family disputes. Other impairments such as depression, untreated mental illness, post traumatic stress disorder, and physical disabilities are also responsible for a large portion of the homeless. Many factors push people into living on the street. Acknowledging these can help facilitate the end of homelessness in America.

Top Causes of Homelessness in America

For those living in poverty or close to the poverty line, an "everyday" life issue that may be manageable for individuals with a higher income can be the final factor in placing them on the street. A broken down vehicle, a lack of vehicle insurance, or even unpaid tickets might be just enough to render someone homeless.

Divorce costs and the associated lowering of a family's total income can cause one or more family members to become homeless. For families that can hardly pay their bills, a serious illness or disabling accident may deplete their funds and push them out onto the street. Today, the rapid, unexpected loss of jobs and resultant foreclosures has caused great dislocation among families and has dramatically added to the number of people without a roof over their heads.

Natural disasters often cause current housing situations to become untenable and costly repairs are often simply not possible. The results of Hurricane Katrina stand in bleak testimony to the power of nature to displace people.

The great challenge for the newly homeless is to figure out how to return to their normal lives. Organizations that build emergency shelters and transitional housing typically work with a larger number of service providers around the country whose mission is to provide the services, such as job training, social skills training, and financial training, that enable these people to regain employment and return to mainstream lives. The progression for these recently homeless is to first be housed in transitional residences where they can learn these skills, to graduate to assisted living in affordable housing while they build up economic reserves and rebuild their employment resume, and then to graduate to full, market rate housing.

Many of these service provider partners are household names, such as Volunteers of America, Rescue Missions, and the Salvation Army. Many others are local organizations formed to address specific homelessness issues in the community. By carefully vetting the qualifications and financial stability of these service providers, organizations that build emergency shelters and transitional housing are able to assure that their facilities are effectively utilized in the fight to end homelessness.

Top Causes of Homelessness in America

About HomeAid
HomeAid is a leading national non-profit organization that builds and renovates multi-unit shelters for America's temporarily homeless families and individuals while they rebuild their lives. HomeAid has built more than 200 multi-unit shelters with an additional 37 in development. These shelters provide more than 1,800,000 bed nights annually nationwide. To learn how you can help the temporarily homeless, please visit: http://www.homeaid.org.

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Simplified Astrology: Fascinating Facts About Horoscope Charts

As men become more aware and more fascinated with one's spiritualism and New Age philosophy, more and more people have become interested with horoscopes.

Understanding Horoscope

In astrology, a horoscope (also known as person's birth chart or the natal chart) is a figurative analysis in the form of a table or a two dimensional chart which shows the positions of the sun, the moon, and other constellations, and positions of all the planets in the zodiac in relation to the Earth, at the exact place, time (hour and minute) and date of the birth of an individual.

A horoscope has many formats, depending on the country or culture. But whatever forms your horoscope takes, one thing is common to all horoscopes, and that is it is based on a person's place of birth, date of birth, as well as the precise time of birth.

What does a horoscope looks like?

Parts of Horoscope Wheel (Circle)

• 12 Houses. Typically, a horoscope looks like a pie, or a wheel or circle divided into twelve 30° divisions called houses ordered counterclockwise. These are located in the large space in the chart between the inner circle and the second circle.

The first house begins at the ascendant, the "nine o'clock" position on the left-hand side of the chart wheel. And the others are numbered counterclockwise from that point. These makes first six be considered below the horizon, and the other six above.

The houses' positions remains fixed relative to the native or subject. The signs and planets all move through the twelve houses during the course of a day, and the planets move through the signs over the course of months or years.

Each house signifies an aspect of the subject's life (money, children, family, or personality).

12 Signs in the Horoscope. The houses are superimposed with the 12 signs of the zodiac. The order of the astrological signs starts with Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

Cups. The Cusps, the 12 straight lines, the boundary between two signs or houses, separating the houses. There are some cusps that include a small portion of the two signs or houses under consideration. For instance, the cusp between any two houses will fall at the same degree for each of at 12° of Leo; the second house will begin at 12° of Virgo and so on.

Center. This is the Earth's placement.

Planetary/Other Horoscope Symbols. These include the Sun, Moon and eight planets. Each planet/point/part is located within one or another sign, and at a certain degree (zero to thirty°), and minute (zero to sixty degrees). These symbols are written into the horoscope Wheel.

The sun's position is considered within one of the twelve zodiac signs depending on the month of birth. This sign of the zodiac in which the sun is located for the native is then called the sun sign or star sign of each person born that month. This sun sign is the single astrological fact familiar to most people. If there is an event that occurs at sunrise, the ascendant and sun sign will be the same; other rising signs can then be estimated at approximately two hour intervals from there.

Astrologically, the planetary ruler of Leo and is exalted in Aries, the sun represents the conscious ego, the self and its expression, personal power, pride and authority, leadership qualities and the principles of creativity, spontaneity, health and vitality, the sum of which is named the "life force".

8 Planets. In Chinese zodiac signs tradition, the planets are also associated with the basic forces of nature. The patterns that the planets make in the sky reflect the ebb and flow of basic human impulses.

Moon. The ruling planet of Cancer and is exalted in Taurus, the Moon is associated with a person's emotional make-up, unconscious habits, rhythms, memories, moods and their ability to react and adapt to those around them.

In Chinese tradition, the Moon symbolizes Yin, the passive and receptive feminine life principle.

Aspects. This is the angular relationship between the pairs of planets themselves and other points. Aspects are considered to function within an orb of influence, the size of which varies according to the importance of each aspect. The orb is the difference between the exact and the actual aspect.

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