Family Firm Branding: a Mixed Method Literature Review through Sender-Receiver Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review the extant literature on family branding through the sender-receiver perspective and to provide a research agenda to address future research avenues. We conducted a literature review through a mixed-method of systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis and we identified five main research lines on family firm branding. Then, drawing on signaling theory, we applied a sender-receiver perspective to thematically analyze each research lines previously identified through the bibliometric analysis and, thus, we provided a research agenda to address future research. The contribution of our study is threefold. First, we identify the main research lines of the literature on family firm branding and systematize it by drawing on signaling theory and a sender-receiver approach. Second, we provide a comprehensive representation of the family firm branding research lines, maintaining a distinction between the three dimensions of the brand (i.e. identity, image, and reputation). Third, we aim to address future research on family branding providing a comprehensive research agenda. This study represents the first attempt to systematize the whole literature on family branding through the sender-receiver perspective, also providing a path for future research.