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Exploring the Role of Family Firm Identity and Market Focus on the Heterogeneity of Family Business Branding Strategies

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Abstract

Family firms vary in their decision of whether or not to communicate the involvement of the family in the firm as part of their branding attempts. Currently, we do not have a clear understanding of why these differences in branding practices occur. In an attempt to address this gap, the current chapter develops a model to explain why there is heterogeneity in the branding practices of family firms. Taking a sender approach, we develop a conceptual model to understand why and how two predictors (i.e., family firm identity and market orientation) drive the decision of family business representatives regarding the choice to explicitly and actively communicate the “Family Business Brand” (i.e., the involvement of the family in the business). This chapter develops the rationale for this model and presents ideas for future research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Family Business Brand” represents the associations and expectations attributed to communicating that there is family involvement in a firm (Krappe et al. 2011).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Family Enterprise Center & Department of Management, Stetson University, DeLand, FL, USA

    Isabel C. Botero

  2. Friedrichshafen Institute for Family Entrepreneurship | FIF, Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany

    Dinah Spitzley & Maximilian Lude

  3. FIF@Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen | Lake Constance, Germany

    Reinhard Prügl

Authors
  1. Isabel C. Botero
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  2. Dinah Spitzley
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  3. Maximilian Lude
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  4. Reinhard Prügl
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Isabel C. Botero .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bryan School of Business and Economics, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Esra Memili

  2. School of Business Administration, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA

    Clay Dibrell

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Botero, I.C., Spitzley, D., Lude, M., Prügl, R. (2019). Exploring the Role of Family Firm Identity and Market Focus on the Heterogeneity of Family Business Branding Strategies. In: Memili, E., Dibrell, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Heterogeneity among Family Firms. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77676-7_33

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