Brand Importance In Family Firms: The Role Of Family Identification With The Firm

This study explores the importance of external audiences for family firm brand and its relationship with firm performance. Drawing on text mining and social network analysis, we use the Semantic Brand Score to measure family firm brand importance – by combining its three constitutive dimensions of brand prevalence, diversity, and connectivity. The analysis of a sample of 63 Italian entrepreneurial families reveals that brand importance positively associates with family firm revenues; this relationship is stronger when there is an identity match between the family and the firm. Interesting, departing from literature, sentiment does not associate to family firm revenues. This study advances research by offering a richer and multifaceted perspective on how external stakeholders perceive family firm brands. In so doing, it also suggests family firms to be less concerned about the positive or negative feelings conveyed by news, and be more interested in raising the importance of their brand