Scholarly record

CUSTOMER-BASED REPUTATION OF FAMILY BUSINESSES IN AN EMERGENT MARKET

Silvia Fotea, M. Marici, I. Fotea, S. Vaduva

Abstract

Family firms are said to be better positioned when it comes to developing and mantaining long-term mutually-beneficial relationships due to their unique identity which generates, internally, a commitment to quality, while externally triggers positive perceptions in the minds of their stakeholders. The literature suggests that the “family business” tag is associated with characteristics of trustworthiness, authenticity and credibility by consumers, helping these businesses being able to obtain a competitive advantage when in comes to consumers preferences. Nevertheless, these arguments are mainly based on conceptual and anecdotal evidence, few studies have explored the consumers perceived reputation of family businesses empirically. This study addresses the scarcety of empirical evidences in regards to how family businesses are perceived by consumers and the influence of this customer-based repution on consumer preferencess. Based on the survey method, the study was conducted in an emerging economy where family businesses, although prevalent as a form of doing business, are neither tracked nor studies as a distinct class of businesses. The results of the study offer support to the conceptual arguments in the literature according to which family businesses enjoy a positive reputation in the minds of consumers and this reputation positively influences the consumers preferences.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2018/1.5/S05.031

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