Dr. Llanos-Contreras, Orlando

Research surrounding the strategic value of the reputation and identity of a family firm is still an incipient topic and there is not absolute clarity about the response the different interest groups could have when these elements are communicated to them. Starting from a systematic review of the literature of Web of Science, 56 articles published between 2000 and 2020 were analyzed. The results show a growing number of articles based on the reputation and transmission of the family identity of firms. The cites in this articles have also shown important growth, confirming the relevance this topic has had. This work provides a review of the current state and evolution of the literature surrounding this topic, discusses the different lines of research related to the reputation and transfer of family identity, and finally identifies gaps in the research that can orient the development of future work.

Branding and reputation plays an important role in determining firm behaviour and outcomes. These well-known marketing concepts have attracted attention of family firm scholars as well. However, despite the significant growth in family firm literature over the last two decades, the application of marketing theories and concepts in family firm context is limited. Thus, there is an urgent need for a better understanding of reputation, branding, communication, and marketing perspectives in family firms. The goal of this special issue is to enhance our understanding of marketing strategies in family firms. This special issue features 5 articles that represents the work of 12 scholars from five different countries.

Purpose: This paper investigates the influence of firms' communication in terms of family firm identity and country-of-origin on consumer response. Design/methodology/approach: A self-supplied online experiment in Chile and Spain is employed using as dependent variables brand trust and intention to buy. The experiment includes the following factors: family firm identity (family vs non-family), country of origin (national vs foreign) and as a manipulation check (type of product: hedonic vs utilitarian). Findings: The results indicate that communicating the family firm identity increases brand trust and purchase intention. Consumers show higher scores on trust and purchase intention when exposed to national country of origin products. The effect of the variability on the dependent variables is greater when the family firm identity is communicated. Trust and purchase intention are different in Chilean and Spanish consumers when the family firm identity is combined with a national country of origin cue. Originality/value: This article contributes to family business theory by exploring how to capitalize on the family firm identity component in brand communication. It also contributes to the theory of corporate brand identity by proposing a communication model oriented toward consumer behavior. It also examines firms' communication (family firm identity and country-of-origin) on consumer.

Understanding how family firms can use their family image to their advantage in communication strategies is an opportunity for business continuity. This study identifies the effects of family hotels' corporate brand strategy through radio advertising on customer perceptions and attitudes using family image communication literature and radio advertising research. Online experiment using radio ads from these hotels and a survey of 1002 participants from Chile and Spain were conducted. The results suggest that strategies improving the firm's ability to communicate the family image results in better consumer response in terms of expectation, perceived quality, visit intention, and willingness to pay more. We conclude that radio ads are an effective channel for communicating family firm images. Managers can take advantage of monetizing the benefits of family firm images through radio ads.

The success of women-owned businesses with regard to the stages of economic development of countries is under-examined on a global basis. This study explores the relationship between country economic and political contexts and assesses the importance of entrepreneurs’ networks and managerial skills on women’s entrepreneurial success. The research uses data from 22 countries chosen from multi-dimensional country context constructs (i.e., select economic and political factors) and measures both family and external moral and financial support and managerial skills. The results show that stock (managerial skill) and flow (family and non-family support) differentially influence women’s entrepreneurial success in countries at varying levels of competitive development. In particular, the results confirm the positive influence of managerial skills and family moral and financial support on women’s entrepreneurial success (based on annual income) in countries at a higher level of competitive development and confirm their negative influence in countries at a lower level of competitive growth. Moreover, the results reveal influences of non-family financial support (positive for highly competitive countries) on income but not nonfamily moral support. Public policy implications are discussed.

Attracting business college graduates is a major challenge for the growth and transgenerational success of family firms. Moreover, the institutional context of countries is critical in explaining family firms’ potential advantages and/or disadvantages in attracting nonfamily talent. This study aims to elucidate how communicating firm ownership (family vs. nonfamily), firm size (large vs. small), and type of job offered (professional vs. nonprofessional) influences the perceptions and attitudes of Latin American business graduates toward working in such firms. In an experimental study that uses job advertisement stimuli, we found that communicating family ownership positively influences career development’s perceptions of firm prestige. Large (vs. small) firm size also has a positive influence on job seekers’ perceptions of firms. Importantly, both firm prestige and career development positively influence the attraction of working in family firms. In this paper, we discuss the differences in the results among countries and professional vs. nonprofessional job positions advertised. The results have several implications for family firm owners and managers.

Family firms’ risk-taking behaviour is central to these firms’ ability to recover from major loses after a natural disaster. Natural disasters pose a threat to family firms’ continuity, a primary goal for this type of firm. Accordingly, it is necessary to understand how socioemotional wealth importance and entrepreneurial orientation interact to influence family firms’ ownership risk, performance hazard risk and control risk in a post-disaster scenario. Using a sample of family firms from the Bío-Bío region in Chile, which was devastated by a massive earthquake in 2010, we performed partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The PLS-SEM results partially support our hypotheses. The fsQCA results provide three, six and seven causal configurations that explain 34%, 67% and 72% of ownership risk, performance hazard risk and control risk, respectively. This article shows that the interaction between socioemotional wealth importance and entrepreneurial orientation is important to explain risk-taking behaviour by family firms in a post-disaster scenario.

Purpose: Communicating the identity of a family business generates positive results in consumer response. The paper aims to understanding how the efficient transmission of family identity can influence consumer behavior is essential for designing family firms' marketing communication strategies. Design/methodology/approach: An experimental study based on the eye-tracking technique was designed to determine how attention to (familiar vs non-familiar) visual stimuli on a website influences consumer recognition of a family firm status and how it influences consumer behavior. A sample of 212 individuals was exposed to (simulated) websites of family and non-family firms in the hospitality industry to capture information about their eye movements and measure visual attention to specific stimuli that communicated family identity. Findings: Visual attention has a direct and positive influence on recognizing family firm's identity (FFI). Through FFI, visual attention has an indirect positive effect on trust in the company and attitude toward the brand (BraAtt). Trust in a firm positively affects purchase intention (PurInt). Originality/value: It is known that consumers can perceive a FFI; however, there is no study on the sensory mechanisms operating in consumers' perceptions of family identity. The study contributes to understanding how consumers can perceive a FFI. This study proposes a novel method for evaluating consumer responses by transmitting family business identity on digital platforms.

Information for measuring the performance of a commercial action is essential for any organization. Sponsorship actions have increased significantly in the last few decades, but academics and practitioners have not yet found a suitable indicator for measuring their performance. This is the first study to propose an objective indicator—frontal alpha asymmetry using an electroencephalogram. Our goal was to investigate the effectiveness of sports sponsorships by examining both stated preferences and neural responses. We measured the congruence of the stated preferences, attitude, purchase intention, and loyalty, as well as the effective congruence. A 76-subject experiment revealed greater left frontal activity (approach behavior) during congruent versus incongruent sponsorship (avoidance behavior). electroencephalogram results were consistent with self-reports, but we found that frontal alpha asymmetry is positively related to loyalty when sponsorship is congruent and inversely related in the incongruent case. This new indicator of sponsorship effectiveness could be useful for examining the performance of commercial action at both academic and professional levels.

Family business owners are crucial in building personal relationships with customers and in supporting marketing strategies that aim to develop brand equity for the firm. Through the lenses of job demands-resources theory, this research examines how family business owners’ time in servicing customers produces a chain of positive and negative effects that ultimately impacts brand equity. Because family businesses depend heavily on owners’ motivation and ability to multitask, their effort in dedicating time to serve consumers is limited and is expected to produce work overload. This burden harms the effectiveness in delivering personalized services to custom-ers. However, if family businesses nurture expressions of citizenship behaviors in employees, the negative effect of work overload on delivering personalized services is reduced. Therefore, collective organizational citizenship behavior will act as a buffer to limit the negative effects of owners’ job demands in delivering a personalized service. Collective organizational citizenship behavior is capable of energizing everyone in the family business, including family business owners, for them to continue to service customers in a person-alized way, and at the same time develop brand equity. Implications for family business strategies are discussed based on our findings