Addresses the socialization process among marketing doctoral students. Four modes of doctoral student socialization are provided from depth interviews conducted with 28 purposively selected individuals. These four modes are based upon two characteristics: degree of program structure, or formal socialization; and degree of student-faculty interaction, or informal socialization. Reveals five factors that informants identified as contributors toward the professional success of a marketing doctoral student: inner desire, communitas, practicality in research, networking, and brand equity.