Brand Socialization Process through Up- and Down-stream Social Marketing Strategy: Analyzing Contemporary Research and Strategy Modeling

This paper discusses the social communication process of consumer brands through the conventional and non-conventional networks. Retail industry and companies promoting consumer products are highly engaged in developing brand literacy through both networks in the global marketplace today. This paper critically examines the most recent research contributions on the brand literacy, identifies gaps, and aims at discussing the strategic model building process around social marketing approaches and integrating brand socialization within the up-and downstream markets.