IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/rvmgts/v12y2018i1d10.1007_s11846-016-0216-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Image and reputation of family firms: a systematic literature review of the state of research

Author

Listed:
  • Martina Sageder

    (Salzburg University of Applied Sciences
    Johannes Kepler University)

  • Christine Mitter

    (Salzburg University of Applied Sciences
    Johannes Kepler University)

  • Birgit Feldbauer‐Durstmüller

    (Johannes Kepler University)

Abstract

The special characteristics of family firms, such as the owning family’s involvement and control or its strong identification with the business, make creating and preserving a good reputation desirable. Recent studies confirm the positive influence of a firm’s reputation on organizational success and non-financial goals, such as customer retention and social capital. The image and reputation of family firms have been the subject of numerous studies. Despite increasing research intensity, a comprehensive overview of this topic is still lacking. This work provides an inventory of and structure for extant research on the image and reputation of family firms. To this end, a systematic literature analysis has been performed, which includes 73 papers from scientific journals from various business fields. Image and reputation are discussed in different theoretical and geographical contexts. Moreover, this contribution summarizes the ways in which the public perceives family firms and existing influencing factors, courses of action and impacts; in a subsequent step, this work integrates these findings into a model that can serve as starting point for future research activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Martina Sageder & Christine Mitter & Birgit Feldbauer‐Durstmüller, 2018. "Image and reputation of family firms: a systematic literature review of the state of research," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 335-377, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:rvmgts:v:12:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11846-016-0216-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11846-016-0216-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11846-016-0216-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11846-016-0216-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Shuping & Chen, Xia & Cheng, Qiang & Shevlin, Terry, 2010. "Are family firms more tax aggressive than non-family firms?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 41-61, January.
    2. Suaini Othman & Faizah Darus & Roshayani Arshad, 2011. "The influence of coercive isomorphism on corporate social responsibility reporting and reputation," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 119-135, February.
    3. Sabine B. Klein, 2008. "Commentary and Extension: Moderating the Outcome of Identity Confirmation in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(6), pages 1083-1088, November.
    4. Joern H. Block & Marcus Wagner, 2014. "The Effect of Family Ownership on Different Dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Large US Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(7), pages 475-492, November.
    5. Sharma, Pramodita & Sharma, Sanjay, 2011. "Drivers of Proactive Environmental Strategy in Family Firms," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 309-334, April.
    6. Carmelo Cennamo & Pascual Berrone & Cristina Cruz & Luis R. Gomez–Mejia, 2012. "Socioemotional Wealth and Proactive Stakeholder Engagement: Why Family–Controlled Firms Care More about their Stakeholders," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(6), pages 1153-1173, November.
    7. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2003. "Founding family ownership and the agency cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 263-285, May.
    8. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton‐Miller & Barry Scholnick, 2008. "Stewardship vs. Stagnation: An Empirical Comparison of Small Family and Non‐Family Businesses," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 51-78, January.
    9. Fernando, Mario & Almeida, Shamika, 2012. "The organizational virtuousness of strategic corporate social responsibility: A case study of the Sri Lankan family-owned enterprise MAS Holdings," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 564-576.
    10. Saim Kashmiri & Vijay Mahajan, 2014. "A Rose by Any Other Name: Are Family Firms Named After Their Founding Families Rewarded More for Their New Product Introductions?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 81-99, September.
    11. Jean‐Luc Arregle & Michael A. Hitt & David G. Sirmon & Philippe Very, 2007. "The Development of Organizational Social Capital: Attributes of Family Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 73-95, January.
    12. Shuping Chen & Xia Chen & Qiang Cheng, 2008. "Do Family Firms Provide More or Less Voluntary Disclosure?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 499-536, June.
    13. James M. Vardaman & Maria B. Gondo, 2014. "Socioemotional Wealth Conflict in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(6), pages 1317-1322, November.
    14. Memili, Esra & Eddleston, Kimberly A. & Kellermanns, Franz W. & Zellweger, Thomas M. & Barnett, Tim, 2010. "The critical path to family firm success through entrepreneurial risk taking and image," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 200-209, December.
    15. Jean-Luc Arrègle & Michael Hitt & David Sirmon & Philippe Véry, 2007. "The Development of Organizational Social Capital : Attributes of Family Firms," Post-Print hal-02312687, HAL.
    16. Ricarda Bouncken & Johanna Gast & Sascha Kraus & Marcel Bogers, 2015. "Coopetition: a systematic review, synthesis, and future research directions," Post-Print hal-02018068, HAL.
    17. Ricarda Bouncken & Johanna Gast & Sascha Kraus & Marcel Bogers, 2015. "Coopetition: a systematic review, synthesis, and future research directions," Post-Print hal-02945341, HAL.
    18. Binz, Claudia & Hair, Joseph F. & Pieper, Torsten M. & Baldauf, Artur, 2013. "Exploring the effect of distinct family firm reputation on consumers’ preferences," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 3-11.
    19. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "Is Corporate Philanthropy Used as Environmental Misconduct Dressing? Evidence from Chinese Family-Owned Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 341-361, June.
    20. Henrik Harms, 2014. "Review of Family Business Definitions: Cluster Approach and Implications of Heterogeneous Application for Family Business Research," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-35, July.
    21. Irava, Wayne J. & Moores, Ken, 2010. "Clarifying the strategic advantage of familiness: Unbundling its dimensions and highlighting its paradoxes," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 131-144, September.
    22. David L. Deephouse & Suzanne M. Carter, 2005. "An Examination of Differences Between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 329-360, March.
    23. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    24. Suaini Othman & Faizah Darus & Roshayani Arshad, 2011. "The influence of coercive isomorphism on corporate social responsibility reporting and reputation," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 119-135, March.
    25. Kirkwood, Jodyanne & Gray, Brendan, 2009. "From entrepreneur to mayor: Assessing the impact of the founder’s changing reputation on Hubbard Foods Ltd," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 115-124.
    26. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding-Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1327, June.
    27. Thomas M. Zellweger & Robert S. Nason & Mattias Nordqvist & Candida G. Brush, 2013. "Why Do Family Firms Strive for Nonfinancial Goals? An Organizational Identity Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(2), pages 229-248, March.
    28. W. Gibb Dyer Jr. & David A. Whetten, 2006. "Family Firms and Social Responsibility: Preliminary Evidence from the S&P 500," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(6), pages 785-802, November.
    29. Joseph P.H. Fan & T.J. Wong & Tianyu Zhang, 2012. "Founder Succession and Accounting Properties," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 283-311, March.
    30. Sascha Kraus & Rainer Harms & Matthias Fink, 2011. "Family firm research: sketching a research field," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 13(1), pages 32-47.
    31. David L. Deephouse & Peter Jaskiewicz, 2013. "Do Family Firms Have Better Reputations Than Non-Family Firms? An Integration of Socioemotional Wealth and Social Identity Theories," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 337-360, May.
    32. Gallucci, Carmen & Santulli, Rosalia & Calabrò, Andrea, 2015. "Does family involvement foster or hinder firm performance? The missing role of family-based branding strategies," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 155-165.
    33. Zellweger, Thomas M. & Eddleston, Kimberly A. & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2010. "Exploring the concept of familiness: Introducing family firm identity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 54-63, March.
    34. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    35. Isakov, Dušan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2015. "Pay-out policies in founding family firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 330-344.
    36. David G. Sirmon & Michael A. Hitt, 2003. "Managing Resources: Linking Unique Resources, Management, and Wealth Creation in Family Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(4), pages 339-358, October.
    37. Kashmiri, Saim & Mahajan, Vijay, 2010. "What's in a name?," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 271-280.
    38. Shu-Hui Sue & Chen-Lung Chin & Ann Ling-Ching Chan, 2013. "Exploring the Causes of Accounting Restatements by Family Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(9-10), pages 1068-1094, November.
    39. Huybrechts, Jolien & Voordeckers, Wim & Lybaert, Nadine & Vandemaele, Sigrid, 2011. "The distinctiveness of family-firm intangibles: A review and suggestions for future research," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 268-287, March.
    40. Yoon Lee & Maria Marshall, 2013. "Goal Orientation and Performance of Family Businesses," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 265-274, September.
    41. Orth, Ulrich R. & Green, Mark T., 2009. "Consumer loyalty to family versus non-family business: The roles of store image, trust and satisfaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 248-259.
    42. Botero, Isabel C., 2014. "Effects of communicating family ownership and organisational size on an applicant's attraction to a firm: An empirical examination in the USA and China," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 184-196.
    43. McGuire, Jean & Dow, Sandra & Ibrahim, Bakr, 2012. "All in the family? Social performance and corporate governance in the family firm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1643-1650.
    44. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    45. Isabelle Le Breton–Miller & Danny Miller, 2015. "The Arts and Family Business: Linking Family Business Resources and Performance to Industry Characteristics," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(6), pages 1349-1370, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bargoni, Augusto & Alon, Ilan & Ferraris, Alberto, 2023. "A systematic review of family business and consumer behaviour," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    2. Miroshnychenko, Ivan & De Massis, Alfredo, 2022. "Sustainability practices of family and nonfamily firms: A worldwide study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    3. Unai Arzubiaga & Amaia Maseda & Txomin Iturralde, 2019. "Exploratory and exploitative innovation in family businesses: the moderating role of the family firm image and family involvement in top management," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-31, February.
    4. Hanna Górska-Warsewicz & Maciej Dębski & Krystyna Rejman & Wacław Laskowski, 2020. "The Specificity of Family Firms Providing Accommodation Services—The Experience of a Post-Socialist Country 30 Years after the Economic Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Marcin Borsuk & Nicolas Eugster & Paul-Olivier Klein & Oskar Kowalewski, 2023. "Family Ownership and Carbon Emissions," Working Papers 2023-ACF-01, IESEG School of Management.
    6. Jiang, Fuxiu & Cai, Xinni & Nofsinger, John R. & Zheng, Xiaojia, 2020. "Can reputation concern restrain bad news hoarding in family firms?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    7. Junsheng Dou & Emma Su & Song Wang, 2019. "When Does Family Ownership Promote Proactive Environmental Strategy? The Role of the Firm’s Long-Term Orientation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 81-95, August.
    8. Madden, Laura & McMillan, Amy & Harris, Oneil, 2020. "Drivers of selectivity in family firms: Understanding the impact of age and ownership on CSR," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2).
    9. Rajan, Bharath & Salunkhe, Uday & Kumar, V., 2023. "Understanding customer engagement in family firms: A conceptual framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    10. Zellweger, Thomas M. & Kellermanns, Franz W. & Eddleston, Kimberly A. & Memili, Esra, 2012. "Building a family firm image: How family firms capitalize on their family ties," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 239-250.
    11. Van Gils, Anita & Huybrechts, Jolien & Minola, Tommaso & Cassia, Lucio, 2019. "Unraveling the impact of family antecedents on family firm image: A serial multiple-mediation model," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 17-27.
    12. Drago, Carlo & Ginesti, Gianluca & Pongelli, Claudia & Sciascia, Salvatore, 2018. "Reporting strategies: What makes family firms beat around the bush? Family-related antecedents of annual report readability," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 142-150.
    13. Claudia Arena & Giovanna Michelon, 2018. "A matter of control or identity? Family firms' environmental reporting decisions along the corporate life cycle," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1596-1608, December.
    14. Datta, Subhadeep & Mukherjee, Sourjo, 2022. "In families we trust: Family firm branding and consumer’s reaction to product harm crisis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 257-268.
    15. Moreno Domínguez, María Jesús & Martín Zamora, María Pilar & Serrano Czaia, Isabel & Rodríguez Ariza, Lázaro, 2022. "Reputation and leadership: a study about reputational transfer in family and non-family firms," Cuadernos de Gestión, Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE).
    16. Réal Labelle & Taïeb Hafsi & Claude Francoeur & Walid Ben Amar, 2018. "Family Firms’ Corporate Social Performance: A Calculated Quest for Socioemotional Wealth," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 511-525, March.
    17. Astrachan, Claudia Binz & Botero, Isabel & Astrachan, Joseph H. & Prügl, Reinhard, 2018. "Branding the family firm: A review, integrative framework proposal, and research agenda," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 3-15.
    18. Stanley, Laura J. & McDowell, William, 2014. "The role of interorganizational trust and organizational efficacy in family and nonfamily firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 264-275.
    19. Francesco Chirico & Dianne H. B. Welsh & R. Duane Ireland & Philipp Sieger, 2021. "Family versus Non‐Family Firm Franchisors: Behavioural and Performance Differences," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 165-200, January.
    20. Juan Diego Alzate-G mez & Di genes Lagos Cort s & Percy Marquina Fieldman, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Economic Performance in Colombia: The Moderating Effect of Family Control," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(1), pages 6-18.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Reputation; Image; Corporate identity; Family business;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:rvmgts:v:12:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11846-016-0216-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.