Abstract: In recent years, an emerging word “breeding” has been widely used among Chinese consumers on the Internet. Building on constructivist grounded theory, this study develops a theoretical model revealing the paths from word-of-mouth “breeding” to actual con-sumption and the underlying key factors. First, the theoretical model identifies four key factors affecting word-of-mouth “breeding”:in-formation source characteristics, message characteristics, product characteristics and audience characteristics. Second, word-of-mouth recommendation may lead to “breeding” through informational influence, normative influence or value expression influence. Third, word-of-mouth “breeding” can be specifically demonstrated through consumers' curiosity, consumption expectation, purchase intention, and plan of consumption. In particular, there is a time difference between word-of-mouth “breeding” and actual consumption. The time difference may be caused by various reasons and lead to consumers' coping behaviors. After word-of-mouth “breeding”, consumers may either actually consume or give up consumption. The findings of this research not only contribute to the theory of word-of-mouth recom-mendation and interpersonal influence, but also have important practical implications for marketers to understand the effects of word-of-mouth in the era of digital media, and help consumers understand their own consumption decision-making process and behaviors.

Key words: word-of-mouth, “breeding”, interpersonal influence, grounded theory, qualitative research