Legislación referente a los lípidos en preparados para lactantes y de

Culture has many definitions, and it affects everything people do in their society because of their ideas, values, attitudes, and normative or expected patterns of

behaviour. Culture can be defined as the integral sum total of learned behavioural traits that are shared by members of a society (Hoebel, 1960). It is based on three

fundamentals. Firstly, it is a total pattern of behaviours that are related. Secondly it is learned, not biologically transmitted. Thirdly, it is behaviour shared by a group of people (Hoebel, 1960). Culture is not genetically inherited, and cannot exist on its own, but is always shared by members of a society (Hall, 2010).

Culture can be defined as ‘the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group from another’, which is passed from generation to generation and is changing all the time because each generation adds something of its own before passing it on (Hofstede, 2010, pp.1339). It is usual that one’s culture is taken for granted and assumed to be correct because it is the only one, or at least the first, to be learned (Mulholland, 1991). Culture is a complex concept, and no single definition of it has achieved consensus in the literature. The following definition guides this study: ‘culture is a set of shared and enduring meaning, values, and beliefs that characterise national, ethnic, or other groups and orient their behaviour’ (Belshek, 2006, pp.3). This definition was chosen as most relevant to this study as it is thought that the culture British South Asian female consumers are born into is ingrained and instilled into them from a young age so this orients their psychological behaviour and their

consumer buyer behaviour in relation to the purchase and consumption of fashion and beauty products. This definition is considered by the researcher to be able to be used to explain how the British South Asian Muslim female consumers share the South Asian culture, Islamic religion and British nationality with each other. As a consequence of this shared background, circumstances and social factors (which constitutes shared meaning, values and beliefs), it characterises their consumer buyer behaviour of fashion and beauty products which are unique to this ethnic consumer group as a British South Asian Muslim fashion and beauty ‘consumer tribe’. Examples of tangible goods this consumer tribe may purchase may be apparel such as hijabs, and specific brand designer names due to word of mouth in their consumer tribe. This depicts the British South Asian Muslim female consumer and positions their consumer buyer behaviour of fashion and beauty products which is distinctive to this ‘consumer tribe’.

According to Adam et al (2009) cultural framework (Fig.2.7.1), culture is believed to be determined by six cultural determinants: religion, education, language, social structure, economic philosophy and political philosophy. It is these determinants, their variations and how they are viewed by other nationalities which define ‘culture’.

Source: (Adam et al, 2009, pp. 69) Religion can be defined as action or conduct indicating belief in, obedience to, and reverence for a god, gods, or similar superhuman power; the performance of religious rites or observances (Oxford dictionary, 2013). Religion can be described as ‘shared beliefs and rituals concerned with the realm of the sacred or supernatural agents’ (Cohen, Mundry and Kirschner, 2013). The main religions around the world are: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Atheism, and Buddhism. Religion’s impact on a nation’s culture, depends on the values and beliefs taught in the religion, that may permit actions in that culture, that other religions would forbid. An example would be no alcohol consumption (one of the values taught in Islam) in Saudi Arabia (an Islamic country) which forms the backbone of Saudi Arabian culture.

Language can be defined as the system of spoken or written communication used by a particular country, people, community, typically consisting of words used within a regular grammatical and syntactic structure (Oxford dictionary, 2013). Language provides the means of communicating the customs and beliefs of a culture. Marketers must be aware of the meaning and subtleties of languages and dialects when selling in foreign markets. Many marketing blunders have resulted because of a lack of awareness of language. For example, Pepsi had to change its slogan “Come alive with Pepsi” in certain Asian countries because the theme translated into “Bring your ancestors from the dead” (Assael, 1998).

Education can be defined as the culture or development of personal knowledge or understanding, growth of character, moral and social qualities as contrasted with the imparting of knowledge or skill (Oxford dictionary, 2013).

According to Wells and Prensky (1996), there are seven components of culture consisting of values, myths, rituals, material artefacts, language, customs and laws.

‘Values’ mean how to behave and act in society. Examples of ‘values’ may be the concept of freedom and individualism in America and the wider society in China. ‘Myths’ can be defined as stories, legends and heroes such as Father Christmas who symbolises reward and achievement in Western culture. ‘Rituals’ are patterns of behaviour such as a family enjoying Christmas dinner or a South Asian husband and wife exchanging flower garlands during their wedding. Examples of material artefacts are wedding rings or confetti, which signifies symbolism to form rituals. Language can be defined as the system of spoken or written communication used by a particular country, people, community, typically consisting of words used within a regular grammatical and syntactic structure (Oxford dictionary, 2013). Language can be misinterpreted such as a ‘flat’ is a punctured tyre in America yet in Britain the word ‘flat’ means single floor property accommodation. ‘Customs’ include, for example, bowing in Japan or tipping after a meal in America. ‘Laws’ can be age of marriage consent which is eighteen in Britain and ten years old in Africa. Here values (society’s acceptable behaviour) have been codified into numerical ages of what is regarded as the acceptable age in which one can enter into marriage in that particular country’s cultural norms.

In the world of business, organisational culture is important for running the organisation of a business and influences organisational behaviour (Buch and Wetzel, 2001; Martin and Terblanche, 2003; Sherwood and DePaolo, 2005; Bhaskakan and Gligorovska, 2009). Many studies have understood that national culture is essential (Li and Guisinger, 1991; Barkema and Vermeulen, 1997; Steensma et al, 2000; Kumar and Nti, 2004; Meschi and Riccio, 2008) on impacting and influencing the culture of the business whereas others have challenged this importance relative on the culture of business (Pothukuchi et al, 2002; Sirmon and Lane, 2004).

Culture is the implicit beliefs, norms, values and customs that underlie and govern conduct in a society. It is the norms, beliefs and customs learned from society. Culture leads to common patterns of behaviour (Assael, 1998). Culture is recognised as the most profound influence on consumer behaviour (Cleveland et al, 2009). Since Lindridge et al (2004) found culture influencing consumption of fashion and beauty products amongst British Indian Punjabi female consumers,the intent of this study is to examine if this is the case for this group of British South Asian Muslim female

consumers in their consumption of fashion and beauty products.

In 1980, Hofstede presented the results of his extensive study of national cultures. Based on the data from one hundred and seventeen thousand International Business Machines (IBM) employees from forty different countries, he extracted four dimensions of culture: individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, power distance and uncertainty avoidance (Magnusson et al, 2008). Subsequently and in collaboration with Bond and a group of South East Asian scholars, a fifth dimension, long term orientation (LTO) was added to the framework (Hofstede and Bond, 1988). As there are differences between cultures of different countries and different cultures within a country, it is easy for culture to be misinterpreted (Agar, 2012). The researcher argues that Hofstede’s (2011) model, sheds light on these differences. Hofstede’s (2011) model can be used as a tool to give a general overview and an approximate understanding of other cultures, expectations from them and behaviour from groups from other countries.

In this thesis, it is believed that Hofstede’s (2011) model can be used to explain the differences between the South Asian mentality that the British South Asian are born into (South Asian family, South Asian culture) and the problems British South Asian female consumers face when learning and taking on the British values and beliefs of the

British environment they are brought up in (the British wider world such as school, college, university and workplace) (Sekhon and Szmigin, 2011). This demonstrates that British South Asian female consumers understand that behaviour which works in one culture (South Asian) does not necessarily work in another (Great Britain) and vice versa. Therefore, in order to counteract and balance this out, this involves alternating and switching ‘behaviour’ and a negotiation of the bicultural ‘worlds’ in which they exist (Phinney and Devich- Navarro, 1997; Burton et al, 1999; Robinson, 2009; Collie et al, 2010; Sekhon and Szmigin, 2011).

The next section analyses the role of family using Hofstede’s (2011) model (Fig.2.8) to explore the two cultures i.e. South Asian and British, to see where there are likely to be generational and/or culture clashes between the second/third generation British South Asian Muslim women and their first generation South Asian Muslim parents.