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1 – 10 of over 32000Maximilian Lude, Reinhard Prügl and Natalie Rauschendorfer
Brand stories are often created around the company’s humble beginnings as an underdog. The authors explore the effects of who is telling the underdog story and thus draw attention…
Abstract
Purpose
Brand stories are often created around the company’s humble beginnings as an underdog. The authors explore the effects of who is telling the underdog story and thus draw attention to the nature of the brand source by differentiating between family and non-family firms. The authors expect that who is telling the underdog story impacts consumers’ attitude toward the brand in terms of brand authenticity and trustworthiness perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an online experiment with a 2 × 2 between-subject design and an overall sample size of 314 respondents.
Findings
Most importantly, the authors find that the family-firm nature of the brand storyteller significantly impacts the underdog effect. The positive effects of underdog biographies on brand attitude in terms of authenticity and trustworthiness loom significantly larger for family firms compared with non-family firms.
Practical implications
The authors find that the underdog effect is significantly stronger for family firms that tell the underdog story. Managers of family firms with underdog roots should take advantage of this finding by integrating underdog stories into their marketing concepts. The findings of this study show that the communication of a company’s roots can serve as a valuable tool to build and maintain a positive brand image and help to increase purchase intentions, which is particularly true for firms capitalizing on their family nature when telling the underdog story.
Originality/value
The authors combine research on brand stories using the underdog effect with research on the consumer’s perception of family firms, further exploring the role of the brand storyteller in underdog narratives, resulting in important theoretical as well as practical implications.
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It is acknowledged that the firm and the family interact in the family firm system and that family identity can influence family business brand communication through affecting…
Abstract
Purpose
It is acknowledged that the firm and the family interact in the family firm system and that family identity can influence family business brand communication through affecting stakeholders' perception, raising a question of whether the firm can implement its effect on the communication of family business brands via family identity. To address this question, this research investigates how firm revenue influences family business branding via family harmony.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this research were gathered from a survey of 327 Chinese family firms.
Findings
The results show that family harmony fully mediates the relationship between firm revenue and family business branding.
Originality/value
This study is the first to demonstrate that the firm has an indirect effect on family business branding via family identity, a contribution to family business brand literature. The findings also offer insights into the relationship between firm performance and family business branding. Additionally, this project has implications for research on family harmony in the family business.
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Gloria Aparicio, Amaia Maseda, Txomin Iturralde and Pilar Zorrilla
Following a bibliometric approach, this study examines research on brand and branding in family businesses (FBs) to identify influential sources and main areas of knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
Following a bibliometric approach, this study examines research on brand and branding in family businesses (FBs) to identify influential sources and main areas of knowledge, proposes an integrative framework that provides a holistic perspective of this field with an interdisciplinary cross-fertilization view and explores new avenues for future research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on 449 bibliographic references retrieved from the Web of Science database through a systematic process, the authors employed bibliographic coupling analysis to visualize the relationships among key works in the field and subsequently performed a literature review to deepen the analysis.
Findings
The bibliographic coupling analysis structured the existing research into six thematic clusters. Four of them follow an internal perspective and focus on FB identity and its influence on the construction of corporate brand identity, whereas the other two follow an external perspective that explores how FB brands are communicated and perceived by stakeholders and the influence of corporate brands and branding on FB image and reputation. Drawing from an in-depth review of the literature, this study offers a novel integrative framework, together with a set of proposals with managerial and theoretical implications.
Practical implications
The proposed framework aims to clarify the relationship between internal identity and management to build and communicate a FB brand. The study also shows the symbiosis that exists among family values, corporate reputation, brand equity and awareness in FBs. The existing interconnection between the family and business generates unique associations that are difficult to imitate.
Originality/value
This study is the first documented attempt at a bibliometric analysis of brands and branding in FBs, which serves to clarify the linkages between different research streams and connecting marketing, organization and FB literature to guide future research. Moreover, the integrative framework provides researchers and practitioners with a better understanding of its scope, highlighting the importance of corporate brand strategies beyond the boundaries of marketing departments.
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Family business brand communication depends on the effect of the family on stakeholders' perception, and the family influences stakeholders differently, raising the question of…
Abstract
Purpose
Family business brand communication depends on the effect of the family on stakeholders' perception, and the family influences stakeholders differently, raising the question of whether family business branding varies across stakeholders. Drawing on social identity theory, this research classifies a family firm's stakeholders into family (in-group) and non-family (out-group) stakeholders and explores the communication of family business brands to these two groups of stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this research were gathered from a questionnaire survey of 327 Chinese family firms.
Findings
The results show that family business brand communication differs between family and non-family stakeholders. Additionally, family harmony has a positive relationship with family business branding to family stakeholders and an inverse U-shaped relationship with family business branding to non-family stakeholders.
Originality/value
This research is the first to demonstrate that family business brand communication varies across stakeholders and that the effect of family characteristics (family harmony in this research) on family business branding differs between stakeholders. In addition, it expands the scope of the out-group in family firms to embrace all non-family stakeholders and suggests an intergroup opposition between family and non-family stakeholders, which is important for advancing family firm theory.
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Marco Galvagno, Vincenzo Pisano and Sonia M. Strano
This study aims to review family business branding research, elaborate a new framework integrating family business branding and corporate brand management literature and finally…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to review family business branding research, elaborate a new framework integrating family business branding and corporate brand management literature and finally identify future research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
A bibliometric analysis was conducted to present the main research topics within family business branding.
Findings
The contributions of this study are threefold. First, this study maps the main themes of family business branding research and highlights its fragmented nature. Second, this study proposes an overarching framework based on signaling theory, attempts to bridge the family business branding and corporate brand management literature and provides a lead for future research. Third, this study stresses the role of brand construct in family business branding.
Originality/value
This study represents an important step in the identification of a new theoretical framework that best fits the investigation of family business branding.
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Anna Blombäck and Olof Brunninge
This paper seeks to uncover why and how the combination of family and company history in family businesses implies idiosyncratic opportunities in the process to uncover, activate…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to uncover why and how the combination of family and company history in family businesses implies idiosyncratic opportunities in the process to uncover, activate, and nurture heritage‐based corporate identities and brands.
Design/methodology/approach
The discussion is specifically informed by the literatures on brand heritage, family business, and the notion of hybrid identities. To illustrate this typology of history communication in family businesses the paper relies on web site observations in Sweden and German‐based family businesses.
Findings
Based on the construct of brand heritage, the paper clarifies why the entwinement of family and business provides fertile ground for brand heritage. The presentation of a typology of ways to communicate family, business and family business history respectively further reveals the varying openings and practices of family businesses in this area.
Research limitations/implications
The paper primarily takes an external marketing orientation and is conceptual.
Practical implications
The distinction of two sources of brand heritage in family businesses and the typology of approaches to reflect history in corporate communications should be of interest for practitioners. The findings can serve as an eye‐opener and instrument in the planning of strategic marketing.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on brand heritage and heritage branding from a family business perspective. Being hybrid identity organizations, characterized by entwinement of family and company history, family businesses offer particular perspectives to the heritage brand discussion.
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The purpose of this paper is to highlight the relevance of conducting brand management research in a family firm context and to identify future research directions by reviewing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the relevance of conducting brand management research in a family firm context and to identify future research directions by reviewing and structuring the existing literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The potential consequences of being a family firm on internal organizational processes and stakeholders’ external perception are depicted. Afterwards the literature considering brand management research in family firms is reviewed systematically (n=41) and structured by applying the Organizational Viewpoint Framework. Relevant research questions are derived based on the findings and their practical relevance is tested.
Findings
The contributions are threefold. First, depicting the effects of being a family firm on the organization and its stakeholders highlights the relevance of conducting brand management research in family firms. Second, structuring the literature regarding the effects of being a family firm on organizational identity, intended brand image, construed brand image, and reputation helps derive research questions of theoretical and practical relevance that will serve the field as a guide for future research directions. Third, by extending the Organizational Viewpoint Framework originating from brand management research with the element of being a family firm, a further attempt at bridging both research fields is undertaken.
Originality/value
This paper represents an important next step in the development of this research field by highlighting the importance of conducting brand management research in a family firm context and by structuring existent research to depict future research opportunities with theoretical and practical relevance.
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Joshua Kofi Doe and Robert E. Hinson
Artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainable business represent the irrefutable future of all forward looking businesses in the world today. In this perspective article, the…
Abstract
Purpose
Artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainable business represent the irrefutable future of all forward looking businesses in the world today. In this perspective article, the authors explore the confluence of these important topics by highlighting the role of family businesses in advancing sustainable brand activism aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), like SDG 1, which emphasises poverty eradication. The authors fall on the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and online brand communities in family businesses as an anchor for promoting sustainability practices that align with UNSDGs.
Design/methodology/approach
Using literature review, the authors fall on the transformative potential of AI and online brand communities in family businesses as an anchor for promoting sustainability practices that align with UNSDGs.
Findings
Scholarly research on AI-driven sustainability brand activism in family businesses is either limited or nonexistent. Family businesses have a unique opportunity to use AI for eco-friendly operations, personalised brand engagement, eco-friendly product development, global collaborations and education and advocacy in support of the UNSDGs. Future research could look at how family businesses align their values, their long-term effects, how they work across generations, how resilient and flexible they are and how they compare to non-family businesses when it comes to using AI and brand activism as long-term strategies for sustainability and survival.
Originality/value
The authors call for family businesses, governments and stakeholders to take theoretical and practical actions in promoting AI-driven sustainability brand activism aligned with the UNSDGs. It underscores the distinctive role of family businesses in driving sustainability and fostering brand activism through AI in a digital age.
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Isabel Botero, Giuseppe Pedeliento, Cristina Bettinelli and Edgar Centeno-Velázquez
Caitlin Pink, Dean Wilkie and Christopher Graves
Despite brands’ growing use of social media, most research has overlooked the impact of brand perceptions, particularly that of a family brand identity and perceptions of…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite brands’ growing use of social media, most research has overlooked the impact of brand perceptions, particularly that of a family brand identity and perceptions of authenticity. Often the purpose of a social media post is to positively change or enhance these perceptions and, consequently, increase a consumer’s purchase intentions. However, how a post influences purchase intentions, that is, the post-to-purchase journey, is not well understood. This study aims to investigate how characteristics of social media post influence purchase intentions through the mediated effects of social media engagement and perceptions of brand authenticity and how a family brand identity enhances this post-to-purchase journey.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on signalling theory, a sequential mediation model is devised, reflecting the post-to-purchase journey. Starting with identifying desirable characteristics of social media content, the sequential roles of social media engagement and brand authenticity and ending with purchase intentions – with the impact of family brand identity overlayed at each step. This model is analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling and data from 227 UK consumers.
Findings
Four desirable characteristics of social media posts are affirmed – creativity, information, persuasion and inspiration. Each was theoretically justified as costly signals and captured different aspects of effective content, indicating their relative importance. The proposed post-to-purchase journey is supported, with family brand perceptions enhancing each step.
Originality/value
Addressing a need to look beyond current conceptualisations and theoretical underpinnings, this paper puts forward a post-to-purchase journey, incorporating brand-related perceptions, resulting in a deeper understanding of how social media builds purchase intentions.
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