Brands and word-of-mouth (WOM) are cornerstones of
marketing, yet, their relationship was largely ignored.
In order to explore this relationship we present a
theoretical framework whose fundamentals are consumers
and what stimulates them to engage in WOM. It argues
that consumers spread the word on brands as a result of
three drivers: functional, social, and emotional.
Through these motives and needs we identify a set of
brand characteristics (e.g. level of differentiation)
that play a role in stimulating WOM. pdf 2011