Implications of Sociological Theories for Brand and Consumer Relationship Studies

The present work, through a conceptual framework, envisages consumption as a process in which the product/brand is seen as a generator of cultural meaning, necessary both to the consumer and the producer/company to relate to other individuals/ stakeholders and to position them within their context of reference, according to the Giddens’s Structuration Theory. The company should therefore set up a communication process along the lines of Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action, in order to establish its own brand as useful to the consumer in his/her pursue of social classification. The communication process aims both at announcing the company’s presence and at establishing an interpersonal relationship with the consumer, based on mutual learning.This mutual condition, and the practice of constant dialogue between the company and the consumer, could help reaching a common vision of reality. It would mean differentiation and/or social participation to the individual, and the establishment of a link with the social landscape to the company, paramount for corporate survival.The paper gives useful hints about creating and maintaining relationships between companies and consumers. The cultural meaning acknowledged by the consumer with relation to the product/brand is a sign of the fragmentation, plurality and liquidity of the market, which all push the company towards tactical and strategic adjustments.