ABSTRACT
Theory and research on consumer-brand relationships has grown significantly since the seminal publications in the 1990s, but this growing interest and expanding literature has occurred mainly in the academic community. Most managers' understanding of how brands work has been profoundly affected by the widely used AIDA or funnel model. The classic AIDA/funnel model has lost even more ground as evidence builds that it fails to reflect the emotional experience of brands in our more digitally connected and socially networked global culture. The development of theory in consumer-brand relationships has been built on deep literatures in social psychology, the interdependence theory of H.H.Kelley, developmental psychology, and Bowbly's attachment theory. Relationships are intuitive for marketers, allowing them to leverage their knowledge of human relationships to better manage brand relationships. Finally, relationship metaphors inherently can carry deep-seated, complex emotional tonality not possible with traditional scalar methods for measuring brands.
