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The purpose of this paper is to grasp the effect of familiness on capital structure decisions in family firms, as family firm identity may be an important source of competitive advantage due to its potential to moderate relationships with stakeholders such as banks.

The paper uses panel data from 2010 to 2014, which combine financial and structural data on 691 large private German companies. The econometric approach is a random-effect and tobit panel regression using different dependent variables relating to debt.

The study reveals that family firms have significantly higher overall and long-term debt levels compared to their non-family counterparts. Contrary to the extant literature, tangibility is not significantly related to debt in the context of family firms and the hypothesized higher usage of trade credits by family-owned businesses could not be supported.

Future research can improve the measurement of familiness by changing from a dichotomous to a continuous variable, acknowledging that family businesses are not homogenous. This would also enable a different econometric approach.

A practical implication for family firms is to actively capitalize on their identity and thus, improving the way they present themselves towards different groups of stakeholders to mitigate information asymmetries and enhance trust.

The paper investigates large private family-owned businesses, applies multiple dependent variables, and uses a family firm specific theoretical framework, namely familiness, to explain the family’s influence on the business.

In September 1985, eight sets of children's books from Australia began an odyssey that will take them into all fifty states and Canada by the end of 1988. The books— and the resource, reference and display materials that accompany them—were chosen specifically for their value in introducing non‐Australians to Australia and her children's literature. They also provide an ideal starting point for library collection development.

Although multi-brand loyalty (MBL) in consumer markets has been identified in previous brand loyalty research, empirical studies have not yet explored the facets of its different types. This paper aims to have a deeper understanding of MBL by investigating its different types and facets.

This study uses a sequential, qualitatively driven mixed-method design consisting of in-depth interviews and supplementary survey research.

The findings of this study suggest that mood congruence, identity enhancement, unavailability risk reduction and market competition are the most important facets that explains the two types of MBL (complementary-based and product substitutes). Furthermore, the findings show that the family factor can motivate consumers to be multi-brand loyal by adding brands to an initially family-endorsed brand.

This study advances the conceptual foundations of MBL and extends previous research on brand loyalty. Some of the findings may be limited to the economic and cultural context of relatively affluent countries with an abundance of market offers.

Marketing managers gain insights into how to manage brand loyalty and how to transition from MBL to single-brand loyalty.

The study generates novel insights into the facets of different types of MBL.

The purpose of this research is to provide a deeper, constructivist account of multi-brand loyalty. Previous literature has acknowledged the existence of multi-brand loyalty, but described it from a narrow, rational and primarily utilitarian point of view.

The study is based on open-ended, depth interviews. Data were labeled, coded and classified into different topics, and thematic analysis was used to identify three dominant themes.

Multi-brand loyalty emerged in three forms: biased, specialized and perfect substitutes. These relationships may undergo dynamic transformations over time. Further, family tradition and perceived freedom were identified as two important motivations for consumers to be loyal to more than one brand. The managerial implications address suggestions on how companies can avoid that consumers become loyal to several brands instead of maintaining single-brand loyalty.

The study is the first to address multi-brand loyalty based on a qualitative research approach and provides preliminary insights into occurrences and motivations related to the construct.

The purpose of this study is to understand consumers' product use, practices, identity, and brand meanings in the context of a brand community dedicated to a mainstream Japanese motorcycle brand.

A qualitative research approach was used in the form of netnography (i.e. ethnography adapted to the study of online communities).

On the product level, consumers experience multiple conflicts and negotiations of meaning related to the use of the product. These findings are reproduced on the brand level, where members of the brand community present a more differentiated look on the brand, accompanied by lower levels of admiration and identification with the brand, as in previous reports of brand communities for brands such as Apple, Jeep, or Harley‐Davidson. The results suggest that consumers for mainstream brands may be more prone to multi‐brand loyalty instead of single‐brand loyalty.

Marketers should monitor motivations, attitudes, and decision‐making processes on both the product and the brand level. Further, non‐company‐run online communities such as the Yamaha R1 forum bear the risk of community members transmitting brand information in a way not desired by the company. Thus, marketers should consider sponsoring an entire discussion website, a forum, or part of a forum.

Whereas previous studies on brand communities have concentrated predominantly on highly admired and differentiated brands, such as Apple or Harley‐Davidson, this study investigates consumer practices, identities, and negotiations of meaning on both the product and brand level for a less differentiated mainstream brand.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the theoretical mechanisms that underlie the negative effects of low customer density on shoppers' emotions and behavioural responses in retail settings.

This study uses three different qualitative techniques to explore the research question: semi‐structured interviews, shopping with consumers, and focus groups.

Three major issues contribute to unfavorable consumer responses to low customer density levels in retail stores: exposure to undesired social influence from sales personnel; loss of social cues and evaluation criteria; and lack of social stimulation.

The findings of this research assist store managers to resolve the problems associated with low customer density in retail stores. For example, the results suggest that the negative effects of low customer density can be mitigated by providing appropriate training for sales staff as well as by actively communicating the quality, price level, and image of the store.

Empirical evidence shows that the effects of customer density on shopper outcomes follow an inverted U‐shaped trend. Previous research has focused on explaining the negative consequences of high customer density, while the explanatory mechanisms for the negative effects of low customer density remain largely unclear. This research partially fills this gap in the literature by identifying the psychological processes that account for the negative effects of low customer density.

Drawing on the resource-based view, this paper aims to investigate how a firm’s integrated marketing communication (IMC) as a capability is influenced by the organisational antecedents of learning orientation (LO), market orientation (MO) and brand orientation (BO). Further, the research examines how an IMC capability influences brand performance and whether these relationships are influenced by brand size.

Based on survey data from 187 managers responsible for brand communications, this paper applies structural equation modelling using SmartPLS3 to assess hypothesised relationships.

IMC capability is directly influenced by BO but not by MO and LO; these have important indirect effects. Size does not moderate key relationships but directly affects IMC capability.

Organisational antecedents play an important role in shaping IMC capability and ultimately brand performance. Future researchers should consider a larger sample of brands and firms, IMC capability building in small firms and longitudinal design to evaluate the effects of IMC capability.

BO is nested in and complementary to learning and MO, and thus cannot stand alone. Developing an IMC capability is critical for translating the benefits of organisational orientations into performance outcomes. IMC capability links MO and BO to firm performance. Appropriate resourcing is critical for success, as it has implications for developing other resources and capabilities.

This study empirically establishes for the first time a relationship between critical organisational antecedents of LO, MO and BO, their influence on IMC capability and subsequently on brand performance.

Adopting an integrated agency and stewardship perspective, the purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between family businesses (FBs) and private equity (PE) investors at three stages: entry, cooperation, and exit.

This qualitative study combines the perspectives of 11 FB owners and/or managers, seven PE investors, and four intermediaries. The in-depth interviews of this purposive sample are analysed at the intra- and inter-case level using a template analysis approach up to reaching theoretical saturation.

Building and maintaining an effective relationship between the FB and the PE investor requires both a stewardship perspective (i.e. reciprocal principal-steward behaviour) and a necessary but insufficient agency perspective (i.e. principal-principal behaviour).

More large-scale studies with an integrated agency-stewardship perspective on FBs using PE can increase the external validity of the insights from this research to build and maintain an effective relationship between both parties.

Providing insights into the relationship building process and best practices, this study helps reduce the knowledge and empathy gap that exists between FBs and PE.

The results clarify the need to reconcile an agency and stewardship perspective to thoroughly understand the relationship and behaviour of FBs and PE investors, and to help the parties understand and benefit from each other’s added value.

The purpose of this paper is to present a modified version of the non-dominated sorted genetic algorithm with an application in the design optimization of a power inductor for magneto-fluid hyperthermia (MFH).

The proposed evolutionary algorithm is a modified version of migration-non-dominated sorting genetic algorithms (M-NSGA) that now includes the self-adaption of migration events- non-dominated sorting genetic algorithms (SA-M-NSGA). Moreover, a criterion based on the evolution of the approximated Pareto front has been activated for the automatic stop of the computation. Numerical experiments have been based on both an analytical benchmark and a real-life case study; the latter, which deals with the design of a class of power inductors for tests of MFH, is characterized by finite element analysis of the magnetic field.

The SA-M-NSGA substantially varies the genetic heritage of the population during the optimization process and allows for a faster convergence.

The proposed SA-M-NSGA is able to find a wider Pareto front with a computational effort comparable to a standard NSGA-II implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the sources of financing accumulation that women entrepreneurs of family businesses use for start-up capital in the garment sector of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).

This study presents insights gleaned from a qualitative case study into the ways in which women in Lao PDR finance their family businesses in the start-up phase. The authors conducted 36 in-depth interviews – the study used this purposive sample in each of its five rounds of data collection. The data were collected between December 2018 and April 2019 and were analysed by conducting a content analysis assisted by the software programme ATLAS.ti.

The results, though highly case specific, show Lao women’s ability to: accrue their experience, apply their knowledge, engage in self-employment, support their families and aspire to become entrepreneurs. The findings clearly illustrate that women are opportunity and necessity driven, can accumulate income, possess savings behaviour, can manage working capital, investment and accounting and have access to finance (loan and debt) and thus have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs.

By contextualizing women’s entrepreneurial practices, the paper contributes to an understanding of the sources of financing accumulation used for start-up capital in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Theoretically, the paper extends the knowledge of women entrepreneurs seeking the optimal stock of finance which has the potential to drive family business success.