Why people choose specific brands - or not

Mind Hacks writes up a Salon review of books and research papers on why people align themselves with certain brands and reject others. Interestingly, I read it just after reading Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini's Yes! on some of the factors that influence people's choices, including similarity to own name - apparently dentists are 82% more likely to be called Dennis than Jerry or Walter (the two closest names in US popularity rankings). I think I have only one Alessi product in my house.