Investigating the function of symbolism in corporate branding

The aim of this study is to systematically study the research literature in the field of symbolism, identify research gaps and and use the relevant findings to design a corporate branding model. This research is among secondary studies based on systematic review and grounded theory method. 130 articles were investigated through examining the keywords in the related databases as Emerald, sciencedirect, Sage, etc and according to the predetermined criteria. Quick review of the abstracts of the target articles helped delete the irrelevant articles, and then the content of reviewed, and finally the fulltext of 56 articles were selected to be reviewed. According to grounded theory approach, three coding steps were used in the present study: open coding, axial coding and selective coding for data analysis. In addition, MAXQDA software was used to organize the findings.The research findings were adapted with corporate branding theories and gaps in this field were identified. The results of adaptation in this study show that there is a structural and substantive relationship between the core categories and theories of corporate branding, in a way that meaning, symbol and value as interconnected constructs form the corporate brand ecosystem. The brand ecosystem has three levels of fundamental ideology, organizing ideology and consumption ideology.