http://www.smallbusinessinstitute.biz A B S T R A C T Keywords: Journal of Small Business Strategy 2021, Vol. 31, No. 02, 19-35 ISSN: 1081-8510 (Print) 2380-1751 (Online) ©Copyright 2021 Small Business Institute® w w w. j s b s . o rg Introduction 1University of Louisville, Director Family Business Center, Family Business Center, College of Business, Louisville, KY 40292, isabel.botero@ louisville.edu 2Independent Researcher, shanan.litchfield@gmail.com Customer perceptions about family firms and their effects on customer behaviors Family business brands, Perceptions of family business brands, Purchase intentions, Marketing in family firms APA Citation Information: Botero, I. C., & Litchfield-Moore, S. R.. (2021). Customer perceptions about family firms and their effects on customer behaviors. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 31(2), 19-35. In today’s business world it is becoming increasing- ly important for organizations to distinguish their prod- ucts and services from similar companies. As technology advances and competition increases, companies strive to create a distinctive value in the products and services they offer (Anisimova, 2007). Creating this distinctive value is important because organizations are faced with challenges that include intense competition from similar organizations and sophisticated consumers who have more information available when making decisions about what products to buy (Ind, 1997). These changes in consumer behavior have led organizations to focus some of their marketing efforts on strategic brand building in order to differentiate them- selves from their competition and remain economically vi- able. These branding efforts are geared towards developing a strong brand that will allow the organization to enhance and sustain their distinctiveness by creating positive con- nections in the minds of consumers (Anisimova, 2007). While the branding literature has primarily focused on large multinational brands (Berton et al., 2008), the process of enhancing and sustaining distinctiveness also holds great value to family firms (This paper uses the terms family firm, family-owned business, and family business interchange- ably) as they try to market themselves in ways that enable differentiation from other organizations (Binz Astrachan et al., 2018). Brands hold great importance for both organizations and consumers. To organizations, brands represent a way to identify and differentiate their products from those of their competitors (de Chernatony & McWilliams, 1989; Keller, 1993). For customers, brands represent a bundle of infor- mation that is useful when making decisions about rela- tionships with an organization and intentions towards the organization (LaForet, 2009). Therefore, depending on the interest, branding research has been studied either taking an organizational perspective (i.e., what organizations do to enhance their brands, how does this affect performance) or a consumer perspective (i.e., what are consumer percep- tions of a brand, how do brand perceptions affect consumer behavioral intentions). This study explores branding from the consumers perspective. In particular, the focus is on un- derstanding the associations and impressions evoked by the term “family-owned business” (FOB) and how these per- ceptions affect intentions to buy from FOBs. The current is an exploratory project exploring the associations and impressions evoked by the term “family-owned business” (FOBs) and how these impressions affect intentions to buy from a family firm. Four studies were conducted to assess the perceptions about family firms. Based on signaling theory and the theory of reason action, it was predicted that the family nature of firms would act as a signal that consumers will use to determine perceptions, attitudes towards family firms, and intentions to buy from family firms. Results indicate that, in general, participants had positive perceptions about organizational values and neutral perceptions about products and services offered by family firms. As suggested by the Theory of Reasoned Action, these perceptions affected attitudes and intentions towards FOBs. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Isabel C. Botero1, Shanan R. Litchfield-Moore2 http://www.smallbusinessinstitute.biz http://www.jsbs.org 20 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 Research on branding in family business has been growing in the last decade. Most of this work has focused on understanding what FOBs do to brand themselves and how these branding efforts affect organizational perfor- mance (See Andreini et el., 2020; Binz Astrachan et al 2018, Sageder et al., 2016 for reviews). In general, this research suggests that FOBs pride themselves in offering excellent customer service (Cooper et al., 2005). When communi- cated, this family brand works as an advantage in build- ing relationships with customers (Binz Astrachan & Bote- ro, 2018; Binz Astrachan et al., 2018; Botero et al., 2013; Cabrera-Suarez et al., 2011; Ward, 1997) and is positive- ly related to organizational performance (Martinez et al., 2019; Craig et al., 2008; Memili et al., 2010; Zellweger et al., 2012). Although there is the assumption that the unique- ness of FOBs is also tied to the positive perception that consumers have about FOBs, there is limited systematic empirical evidence to support this claim (Binz Astrachan et al., 2018; Binz Astrachan et al., 2019; Sageder et al., 2016). This gap is important to address given that past research in branding suggests that perceptions that customers have about an organization and their products (i.e., attitudes to- wards the organization) are important because they affect purchase intentions (Keller, 2008) and willingness to work for an organization (Cable & Turban, 2003). Responding to this gap and drawing on literature from marketing, branding, corporate communication, and fami- ly business, this manuscript presents an exploratory proj- ect developed to address two questions: (1) what cognitive associations does the term “family-owned business” evoke in the minds of consumers? and (2) how do these percep- tions affect intentions to buy from a family firm? Building on the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), we argue that perceptions about FOBs affect individual at- titudes toward FOBs and their intentions to Buy. To test these predictions, we conducted four waves of data collec- tion. In Study 1, we used a qualitative approach to gather general, positive, and negative associations with the term family-owned business. In Study 2, information gathered in Study 1 was used to develop a survey instrument to as- sess general perceptions of products and services of FOBs, attitudes toward FOBs, and intentions to buy from FOBs. Study 3 and 4 were created to replicate the findings from Study 2 with different samples and to refine the measures. Our results show that there is great variance in how family businesses are perceived. However, supporting the theory of reasoned action, individual perceptions influence atti- tudes towards FOBs and intentions to buy from these firms. In particular, positive perceptions of FOBs’ company values and their products and services resulted in more positive at- titudes towards FOBs, which increased the intentions to buy from these firms. The following sections present the logic for our work, describe the procedures followed, discuss our findings in relation to previous work, and highlight areas for future research. Literature Review Family Business Brands Although many family firms, both large and small, promote their family ownership as a means for differen- tiation, only in the last 10 years research has consistently explored the branding process of FOBs (Binz Astrachan et al., 2018; Binz Astrachan et al., 2019). Even though schol- ars agree that family ownership can work as a differentiator in the marketplace, there is no generally accepted defini- tion of what constitutes a family business brand. One of the reasons for this is that branding research in family firms has been approached from three different points of view (Binz Astrachan et al., 2018). Some scholars have studied family business brands taking an organizational identity approach. These scholars take the organization’s point of view (i.e., sender view) to understand which processes and factors drive and/or hinder whether a family firm promotes its brand (Binz Astrachan & Botero, 2018; Blömback & Ramirez-Pasillas, 2012; Cooper et al., 2005; Gallucci et al., 2015; Kashmiri & Mahajan, 2015). A second group of scholars explore family business brands using an identity approach to better understand which features of the family firm organizational leaders and managers decide to commu- nicate to stakeholders and the way that this information is communicated to them (Botero et al., 2013; Micelotta & Raynard, 2011; Parmentier, 2011). A third group of scholars take a reputation view of a family business brand. Those who take this approach try to capture the unique perceptions that stakeholders have about family firms and understand part of its effects on their behavior (Arijs et al., 2018; Beck & Prügl, 2018; Botero, 2014; Hauswald & Hack, 2013; Lude & Prügl, 2018). We take a receiver approach to study- ing the family business brand that is consistent with the rep- utational approach. For this project, similar to others (i.e., Martinez et al., 2019 and Binz Astrachan et al., 2018), we view a family business brand as the formal and informal communication of the family element of a company that creates associations and expectations in the minds of stakeholders that can dif- ferentiate one organization from others in the marketplace. We take a stakeholder approach to the study of a brand and try to understand the different family brand associations that customers may have when a company communicates that they are a FOB. Although there is research that suggest that 21 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 the term “family firm” can be used as an element of the brand that elicits positive associations (Binz et al., 2013; Blombäck, 2009; Blombäck & Ramirez–Pasillas, 2012; Bo- tero et al., 2018; Carrigan & Buckley, 2008; Kashmiri & Mahajan, 2014; Orth & Green, 2009; Sageder et al., 2016), there are authors who also find support for family brands eliciting negative association in the minds of customers (Botero et al., 2018; Carrigan & Buckley, 2008; Krappe et al., 2011; Orth & Green, 2009). Thus, we need to sys- tematically understand what different positive and negative associations are generated when family firms communicate their family ownership as an element of their brand, and how these perceptions influence their behaviors towards the brand. A first step to better understand when to communicate the family business brand is to capture the general evalua- tions that different types of customers have with the term “family-owned business.” To our knowledge there has been only one study that has explored this in a systematic way. Botero et al. (2018) argue that the term “family firm” serves as a signal that activates perceptions about an organization. These authors argue that when individuals do not have am- ple information about a firm, they will use previous knowl- edge or information to assign a positive or negative value to that signal (i.e., the family firm label). For example, if a person does not know anything about a firm that describes themselves as family-owned, they will use their previous experiences with family firms, or what they generally know about family firms to infer the characteristics of this organi- zation, and infer whether they like it or not. However, when they have previous experiences with a company with these characteristics, they will base their perceptions on whether they had positive or negative experiences with these types of firms in the past. Botero et al. 2018 find that family firms generate associations that encompass tradition and continu- ity, small and medium companies, trustworthiness, strong culture, corporate citizenship, unprofessionalism and limit- ed career opportunities. These findings provide a baseline understanding of the general associations that stakeholders have about fam- ily firms. However, they are limited in that the authors did not directly ask what participants perceived as positive and negative attributes associated with the term “family firm” and in that they are done with a Swiss sample. Recent work from Binz Astrachan et al. (2019) indicates that the per- ceptions about a family business brand may be culturally dependent. Thus, we wanted to build on this work to bet- ter understand the general and specific (i.e., positive and negative) perceptions about family firms and the effects of these perceptions on intentions to buy from a firm. Building on signaling theory (Connelly et al., 2011; Spence, 1973; Taj, 2016) we argue that the term “family-owned business” serves as a signal that activates both positive and negative associations for receivers of information. When individuals have limited information about an organization, explicitly communicating the family business brand (i.e., the involve- ment of a family in the business) is likely to activate unique positive and negative interpretations about this firm, which will play a role in the intentions that they have towards buy- ing from these firms. Given that previous research varies regarding the positive and negative features associated with the family brand, we wanted to better understand the asso- ciations that would be activated regarding the characteris- tics of the firm and the products and services they offered. Besides the work of Botero et al. (2018), previous research has not directly focused on perceptions. Therefore, due to the limited understanding of these associations based on past research, we approached this part of our project in an exploratory way. This exploratory approach enabled us to better understand what associations potential consumers have about FOBs. With this in mind, the following research question is advanced: RQ1. What are associations that customers have with prod- ucts and services from “family-owned businesses”? Much like Keller (2008), we believe that perceptions that consumers create about a brand are formed through the interaction they have with the branded entity. That is, a con- sumer’s perception about a family firm and its products is affected by the current and previous interactions the con- sumer has had with organizations that describe themselves as family-owned. In general, the type, the favorability, the strength, and the uniqueness of these brand perceptions are what determines the value of a brand for an organization (Keller, 1993). Therefore, the benefits of communicating that an organization is a family firm will only happen when consumers have positive perceptions about family firms. To better explain the effects these associations have on individ- ual behavior, the following section summarizes research on consumer perceptions of FFs and how they influence their behaviors towards family firms. Effects of Perceptions on Intentions Towards a Family Firm Research has suggested that the perceptions that in- dividuals have about organizations are important because they affect the behaviors of internal and external stakehold- ers (Fombrum & Van Riel, 1997; Rindova & Fombrum, 1999). For internal stakeholders, perceptions about the or- ganization have been related to organizational identification 22 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 (Dutton et al., 1994), organizational change and adapta- tion (Dutton & Duckerich, 1991), organizational commit- ment (Coyle-Shapiro & Morrow, 2006), and organization- al citizenship behaviors (Organ et al., 2006). For external stakeholders, perceptions about an organization have been linked to intentions to work for an organization (Rafaeli, 2000, 2006), intention to invest in an organization (Balmer & Greyser, 2003), and consumer buying behavior (Balm- er & Gray, 2003, Balmer & Greyser, 2003). Given the im- portance of perceptions, organizations today acknowledge the strategic importance of brands and brand management in the creation of impressions about companies and their products in the minds of the consumers (Anisimova, 2007; Balmer & Gray, 2003; Hulberg, 2006). In this sense brands can play an important role in the consumer market. That is, when brands generate positive associations in the minds of consumers, this can result in stronger buying behavior. However, when they generate negative perceptions, it can hurt a firm by lowering its sales. Previous research supports the importance of consumer per- ceptions on their buying behavior (Da Silva & Alwi, 2006; Ind, 1997; Spears & Singh, 2004). One of the assumptions in the family business literature is that “family-owned busi- nesses” have unique advantages over other types of orga- nizations, and that external stakeholders (i.e., consumers) are able to perceive those differences and evaluate family firms more positively than non-family firms. The problem is that up to date there is limited research understanding what associations are evoked when communicating that an orga- nization is a “family-owned business” and their effects on consumer intentions. Research so far has only assessed the level of trust ascribed to family and non-family firms (Lude & Prügl, 2018; Beck & Prügl, 2018) and the degree of au- thenticity perceived in the family business brand (Lude & Prügl, 2018). Although these are important first steps, it is important to continue to build our understanding to better understand what associations are created and when these associations result in benefits for the family firm (Binz As- trachan et al., 2019). To address this gap, we designed a set of studies to understand the effects that perceptions about products and services of family firms have on attitudes towards family firms, and intentions towards family firms. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) provides a useful framework to un- derstand this process. TRA posits that the best predictor of actual behavior is behavior intentions, which is dependent on two things: (1) one’s attitude toward the behavior and (2) subjective norms (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Attitudes toward performing a behavior represent an assessment of how much individuals like engaging in a behavior (Fitz- maurice, 2005) and consist of one’s beliefs and evaluations about that behavior. Research suggests that the attitude that an individual has towards a behavior will determine posi- tive or negative intentions of individuals (Ajzen & Fishbe- in, 1980). That is, when individuals have positive attitudes toward a behavior, they will be more likely to have positive intentions to engage in a behavior. At the same time, when they have a negative attitude toward a behavior, they will be less likely to engage in it. The second component of the theory talks about subjective norms. Subjective norms rep- resent the individual’s perceptions of social appropriateness of performing a behavior (Stiff & Mongeau, 2003), and in- cludes others’ perceptions of performing that behavior, as well as how important others’ opinions are for the individ- ual engaging in the behavior (i.e., the motivation to com- ply with what others believe). Research has supported that an individual’s decision to engage in a behavior is stronger when the opinions and attitudes of the people from one’s referent group (i.e. friends, family, etc.) are positive toward that behavior (Kim & Hunter, 1993). Using TRA as a framework can help us better con- nect how perceptions about products and services of fam- ily firms are related to an individual’s behavioral intentions and, ultimately, to their behavior. For this paper we focus on the attitudinal component of the theory and argue that in exchange relationships such as buying from an organi- zation, the attitudes individuals have about an organization are formed based on the impressions that the individual has about characteristics of the organization or its products/ services. In particular, we believe that these attitudes are affected in part by what the organization communicates. Therefore, the messages that individuals receive from or- ganizational branding efforts are used to create attitudes to- ward that organization, and those attitudes affect their inten- tions to engage in relationships with the organization (i.e., buy from or work for the organization). With this rationale in mind, the following hypotheses are advanced: H1. Individual perceptions about products and services of- fered by family firms will be positively related to attitudes towards family firms. H2. Attitudes towards family firms will be positively relat- ed to intentions to buy from family firms. Four studies were conducted to explore the research question and hypotheses presented above. Study 1 was con- ducted as a pilot study to assess the general, positive, and negative perceptions stakeholders had about organizations that described themselves as “family-owned businesses.” From these responses, a survey was created to assess per- ceptions about products and services from family-owned 23 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 businesses and the likelihood to buy from a family-owned business (Study 2). We wanted to replicate the findings from Study 2 with students and working professionals and improve the measures; therefore, we conducted two other studies (Study 3 & 4). In the remaining sections of this pa- per, each of the studies will be presented independently and a final general discussion will summarize the contributions of this project. Method Study 1 Participants and Procedure Eighty-seven students from introductory courses were recruited during class for the first data collection wave for this project. To assure anonymity demographic information was not collected. In an attempt to determine participant per- ceptions about family-owned businesses, three open-ended questions were asked: (1) when you think about a family business, what thoughts, feelings, images, etc. do you think about? (2) what are the positive thoughts that come to mind when you think about a family business? and, (3) what are the negative thoughts that come to mind when you think about a family business? Participants took between 10 and 15 minutes to complete the survey. Results Eighty-four students responded to the first question. Responses were coded by two independent coders. Coders first coded each of the information by themselves to cre- ate the themes. Then, coders met to identify the common themes and to reconcile differences about the themes. After the discussion, six themes emerged when coding the general thoughts and feelings that participants associated with fam- ily-owned businesses. Results from the coding indicate that 40% of respondents viewed family firms as businesses that come from a small town (Theme 1). Twenty-two percent viewed these firms as businesses that are based on tradition (Theme 2). Twelve percent viewed them as businesses with good quality products and services (Theme 3). Eleven per- cent viewed these companies as businesses that were less effective/efficient than larger corporations (Theme 4). Ten percent as businesses that encourage wealth and success in the family (Theme 5). And 5% viewed them as businesses that are father/son operated (Theme 6). Eighty-five students provided their responses regard- ing the positive thoughts generated by the label “fami- ly-owned business.” Similar to the first question, respons- es were coded to see emerging themes, and eight different themes emerged. Respondents expressed that the term “fam- ily-owned business” was positively associated with orga- nizations that showed closed relationships and opportuni- ties for bonding of family members (39%), consistent and positive customer relations (35%), tradition (12%), wealth (5%), quality of products and services (4%), small size (2%), positive impact on the community (2%), and trust- worthy organizations (1%). Finally, when identifying the negative associations created with the term FOB, 85 students responded and three themes emerged. Overall, respondents perceived that FOBs were organizations characterized by more conflict (51%), less competitive drive than larger corporations (30%), and not as profitable as other organizations (19%). The results of this study helped us build an initial un- derstanding regarding the positive perceptions about prod- ucts and services associated with the term family-owned business. However, to further understand what particular perceptions individuals have about products and services and how these perceptions are associated with the term fam- ily-owned business, we designed a second study to better test our predictions. In Study 2, the initial responses and themes generated from Study 1 were used to create a survey instrument to assess perceptions about products and ser- vices and ask how these perceptions would affect intentions to buy from and work in FOB. Study 2 Participants and Procedure Participants in this study included 145 college stu- dents. The average age was 20.58 years (SD = 2.65) and 65% were females. Additionally, 72% currently worked, 50% had worked for a family firm in the past, and 32% had families that owned a business. Participants were recruit- ed during class and asked to answer a survey designed to assess their knowledge, perceptions, and intentions regard- ing products and services about organizations that were described as “family-owned businesses.” The survey was divided into two parts: perceptions of products and services from family-owned businesses, and demographic informa- tion. Completion of the survey generally took between 10 and 15 minutes. Measures The survey for Study 2 included a total of 73 items that were created to measure different perceptions about charac- teristics of family firms, attitudes towards family firms and 24 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 intentions to buy and work for family firms. Participants in- dicated their level of agreement with each statement using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = Strongly Disagree and 5 = Strongly Agree). Four factors were retained after factor analysis: intention to buy from family-owned businesses (1 item), perceptions of organizational values (3 items), per- ceptions of quality of services (3 items), and attitude toward family firms (4 items). Each variable was measured with items developed for this study. All measures can be found in the Appendix. Organizational Values Attitudes toward FOBs Product/Service Quality Intentions to buy from FOBs Figure 1.Tested Model for Intentions to Buy from FFs Analyses After assessing discriminant validity using factor anal- yses, RQ1 was answered by looking at the frequencies of the aggregated variable. To assess H1 and H2, we assessed mediation using principles from Baron and Kenny (1986). The model tested is presented in figure 1. Regression analy- sis was conducted. In model 1 (DV = intention to buy from FOBs), the effects of control variables (age, sex, whether family owns business, and whether participant worked in FOB) were examined. In model 2 (DV = intention to buy from FOBs), the effects of the independent variables were examined. In Model 3 (DV = intention to buy from FOBs), the effects of the mediator (Attitudes) were assessed. In model 4, the effects of the independent variables on atti- tudes towards FOBs were examined. Finally, in model 5 (DV = intention to buy from FOBs), the effect of all the variables combined was assessed. Results Means, standard deviations, and reliabilities for all studies are shown in Table 1. When assessing the gener- al perceptions about products and services of FFs (RQ1) results show that 87% of the participants had positive per- ceptions about the organizational values that family-owned businesses had, and 50% had positive perceptions regard- ing the products and services offered by family-owned firms (see Table 2). As seen in Table 3, model 2, results show that percep- tions of organizational values were significantly related to intention to buy from family firms (β = .42, p < .01). In model 3, attitudes and intentions were positively related (β = .59, p < .01), fulfilling the initial pre-condition for medi- ation. In model 4, perception of organizational values (β = .36, p < .01) and product/service quality (β = .17, p < .10) were significantly related to attitude toward FOBs. Final- ly, results from model 5 indicate that attitudes were signifi- cantly related to intentions (β = .48 p < .01). Thus, these results support that attitude toward FOBs fully mediated the relationship between perception of organizational values and product/service quality on intention to buy from FOBs. These results support H1 and H2. Although Study 2 was useful in helping us understand what perceptions participants had about products and ser- vices of family firms and how these perceptions influence attitudes toward family-owned businesses and intention to buy, it had two major limitations. First, the scales had been originally developed for the study and had not been used in research before. Thus, the scale for perception of product service/quality had very low reliability. Low reliability can introduce error when interpreting our results, thus requiring us to retest the scale or redevelop the scale. Additionally, given that our sample was primarily students, it was difficult to ascertain whether the results obtained would be peculiar to the student population. This could prevent the generaliz- ability of our findings. Given these two issues we decided to develop two additional rounds of data collection: one that was focused on the redevelopment of the scale and had stu- dent participants (i.e., Study 3) and one that collected data with professionals as part of the sample (Study 4). In the following pages we present these two studies and their re- sults. Study 3 Participants & Procedures Participants in this study included 90 students. The av- erage age of participants was 19.89 years (SD = 1.60) and 25 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 Table 2 Perceptions about products, services and work environment in family firms Variable Negative Neutral Positive Study 2 Organizational Values 7% 6% 87% Product and Service Quality 4% 56% 40% Study 3 Organizational Values 9% 2% 89% Product and Service Quality 17% 55% 28% Study 4 Organizational Values 1% 4% 95% Product and Service Quality 2% 58% 40% Note. Negative values = scores below 2.5 Neutral Values = scores between 2.5 and 3.5 Positive Values = Scores above 3.5 Table 1 Mean, standard deviation and reliabilities for variables in each study Chronbach’s Alpha Mean SD Study 2 Perception of Organizational Values .92 4.09 .91 Perception of Product/Service Quality .55 3.37 .53 Attitude toward FOB .83 3.63 .72 Intent to Buy 3.66 .85 Study 3 Perception of Organizational Values .89 4.23 .98 Perception of Product/Service Quality .74 3.13 .80 Attitude toward FOB .52 3.60 .61 Intent to Buy 3.83 .84 Study 4 Perception of Organizational Values .68 4.37 .54 Perception of Product/Service Quality .73 3.52 .51 Attitude toward FOB .86 4.08 .58 Intent to Buy .76 2.87 .81 26 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 48% were males. Additionally, 60% currently worked, 46% had worked for a FF in the past, and 33% had families that owned a business. Similar to Study 2, participants were re- cruited during class and asked to participate in this study in exchange for extra credit, but given that the survey in Study 2 was extremely long, we decided to explore intentions to buy from FOBs and intentions to work for FOBs with sepa- rate samples. In this study we followed the same procedure as used in Study 2. Measures The variables assessed in this study were intention to buy from FOBs (1 item), attitudes toward FOBs (4 items), perceptions of organizational values (3 items), and percep- tions of products and services (3 items). The items were the same ones used in Study 2. Table 1 summarizes mean, standard deviation and reliability for all measures, while the Appendix shows all the items for this study. Results When exploring RQ1, results indicate that 89% of the participants in this study had positive perceptions about the organizational values of FFs. Additionally, the majority of participants (55%) had neutral perceptions about products and services offered by FFs (see Table 2). We tested H1 and H2 following the same procedure as in Study 2. As shown in Table 4, in model 2, neither perception of organizational values (β = .12, n.s.) or perception of product/service quali- ty (β = .09, n.s.) was related to intention to buy from FOBs. In model 3, attitude toward FOBs (β = .56, p < .01) was pos- itively related to intentions to buy. Since the mediator was significant, the initial precondition for mediation was ful- filled. In the next step, model 4, we tested the independent variables’ significance in relation to the mediator. Percep- tion of organizational values (β = .12, n.s.) was not related to attitude toward FOBs; however, perception of product/ service quality (β = .44, p < .01) was. In the final step, mod- el 5, the mediator (attitudes) had a significant relationship to intentions to buy from FOBs (β = .614, p < .001). These results indicate that attitude toward family-owned business- Table 3 Results for OLS regression analysis for intention to buy from FOB a (Study 2) Variable Intention Intention Intention Attitude Intention Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Control Variables Age .04 .04 .02 .03 .02 Sex b .09 .08 .13† -.08 .11 Family owns business c .03 .08 .01 .07 .04 Has worked for FOBs c .04 .04 -.03 .12 -.03 Independent Variables Per. Organizational Values .42** .37** .24** Per. Product/Service Quality .08 .17† .05 Mediator Attitudes toward FOBs .59** .48** R2 .01 .22 .35 .24 .39 Adjusted R2 -.02 .19 .33 .21 .37 F .41 6.52** 14.95** 7.20** 12.82** N = 143 a Model statistics are betas b Coding: 0 = Female, 1 = Male c Coding: 0 = No, 1 = Yes ** p < .01 * p < .05 † p < .10 27 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 es partially mediates the effects of perception of product/ service quality on intention to buy from a family-owned business. Thus, H1 was partially supported and H2 was supported. This study helped us develop a better measure for per- ceptions of products and services. However, two shortcom- ings remained. First, the reliability of attitude toward fami- ly-owned businesses dipped below the .70 acceptable rate. This meant that we needed to evaluate this measure again. Second, although our participants had work experience, we wanted to also assess whether our results could generalize to the working population. To address these two issues, we ran a fourth wave of data collection that combined students and professional respondents. Study 4 Participants & Procedure To explore the generalizability of our previous re- sults, in Study 4 we also recruited working professionals as part of the sample. Participants included 54 students and 65 working professionals (N = 119). The average age of participants was 32.59 years (SD = 15.84), and 72% were females. Additionally, 70% reported having a college ed- ucation, 60% had worked for family businesses, and 40% indicated that someone in their family-owned a business. Similar to Study 3, the focus of this study was on intentions to buy from family firms. To recruit participants, we sent 270 email invitations. Participants were asked to forward the email to co-workers and friends, creating the snowball Table 4 Results for OLS regression analysis for intention to buy from FOB a (Study 3) Variable Intention Intention Intention Attitude Intention Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Control Variables Age .01 .02 -.00 .14 -.06 Sex b -.03 -.03 .00 -.11 .04 Family owns business c .01 .02 .11 -.15 .12 Has worked for FOBs c -.07 -.05 -.05 .06 -.09 Exposure to FOBs .05 .12 .00 .22† -.03 Independent Variables Per. Organizational Values .12 .12 .05 Per. Product/Service Quality .08 .44** -.19 Mediator Attitudes toward FOBs .56** .62** R2 .01 .01 .31 .24 .36 Adjusted R2 -.05 -.05 .25 .17 .33 F .14 .84 5.91** 3.63** 4.71** N = 90 a Model statistics are betas b Coding: 0 = Female, 1 = Male c Coding: 0 = No, 1 = Yes ** p < .01 * p < .05 † p < .10 28 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 sample. The email directed participants to an online version of a survey designed to assess their knowledge, perceptions and intentions regarding products and services from orga- nizations that are described as “family-owned businesses.” Measures Building on the measures from Study 2 and 3, the sur- vey for this study assessed perceptions of organizational values (3 items), perceptions of products and services (4 items), attitudes toward family businesses (4 items) and in- tentions to buy from family firms (2 items). Means, stan- dard deviations and reliabilities are presented in Table 1. Items are presented in the Appendix. Results We first assessed participants’ perceptions of organi- zational values and products and services offered by family firms. Similar to Study 3, the majority of participants (95%) had positive perceptions about the values that family firms possessed, while the majority of respondents (58%) had neutral perceptions about the products and services offered by family firms (See Table 2). A similar procedure to Study 2 and 3 followed to test hypotheses. As can be seen in Table 5, in model 2, percep- tion of product/service quality was related to intention to buy from a FOB (β = .272, p < .01). In model 3, attitude toward FOBs (β = .44, p < .001) was related to intentions to buy from FOBs. Since the mediator was significant, the initial preconditions for mediation were fulfilled. In mod- el 4, perception of organizational values (β = .19, p < .05) and perception of product/service quality (β = .38, p < .01) were significant predictors of attitude toward FOBs. In the final step, model 5, attitudes were significantly related to intentions to buy from FOBs (β = .40, p < .01). The models suggest that attitude toward family-owned businesses fully mediates the effects of perception of organizational values and perception of product/service quality on intention to buy from a family-owned business. Given this, H1 and H2 were supported. Table 5 Results for OLS regression analysis for intention to buy from FOB a (Study 4) Variable Intention Intention Intention Attitude Intention Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Control Variables Age .53** .49** .47** .07 .46** Sex b -.01 .03 .09 -.15† .09 Family owns business c .05 .03 .03 .01 .03 Has worked for FOBs c .03 -.01 .03 -.09 .03 Independent Variables Per. Organizational Values .03 .19* -.05 Per. Product/Service Quality .27** .38** .12 Mediator Attitudes toward FOBs .44** .40** R2 .29 .37 .47 .30 .48 Adjusted R2 .27 .33 .44 .26 .45 F 11.61** 10.80** 19.75** 7.90** 14.44** N = 119 a Model statistics are betas b Coding: 0 = Female, 1 = Male c Coding: 0 = No, 1 = Yes ** p < .01 * p < .05 † p < .10 29 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 Discussion As competition between organizations increases, com- panies have placed greater emphasis on strategic brand building in order to set themselves apart from their com- petitors and to remain economically viable. This paper ex- plored the perceptions that potential consumers have about the products and services of organizations that describe themselves as family-owned businesses and the effect of these perceptions on intentions to buy from a firm. Using principles from signaling theory and the theory of reasoned action, we argued that highlighting that a firm is fami- ly-owned will provide a signal that consumers will interpret as positive or negative. When consumers perceive it as a positive characteristic, they are more likely to have positive attitudes toward family firms, which leads to a higher level of intention to buy from a firm. Results from the studies in this project suggest that describing a business as family-owned can generate both positive and negative associations in the mind of the stake- holder. In this sense, our results replicate the work of Botero et al. (2018), who also find that family firms are associated with tradition, strong culture, corporate citizenship, more conflict and lower professionalism. However, our results also suggest that in the context of products and services the family association is likely to generate positive perceptions, particularly for values that reflect customer centric behav- iors. These results are consistent with the work of Cooper and colleagues (2005) and Lyman (1991), who report that family businesses pride themselves on their relationships with customers and are more focused on personal interac- tion. In this sense, our study helps to clarify the unique dif- ferences that customers may ascribe to family firms. In this case, it seems as though study participants perceived family firms as paying important attention to their customers and being important players in their communities. However, when assessing the direct perceptions about products and services, our results indicate that participants had primar- ily neutral perceptions. These results are interesting given that previous studies have claimed that individuals often perceive that family-owned businesses produce high qual- ity products (Carrigan & Buckley, 2008; Poza, 2010). This points to the need for additional research to continue to un- derstand how customers evaluate a family business brand and under which conditions it would be beneficial to pro- mote the family business brand. A second aspect explored in this project was the influ- ence of perceptions on attitudes toward FOBs and inten- tions to buy from FOBs. Results from studies 2, 3 and 4 are consistent with the Theory of Reasoned Action, which suggests that attitudes towards family firms will be posi- tively related to intentions to buy from these organizations. In all of our studies, we found that those who had positive attitudes toward family-owned businesses were more like- ly to also have greater intentions to buy from these firms. We also hypothesized a relationship between perceptions and attitudes towards FOBs. The two perceptions that we focused on were organizational values, which measure the perception of the importance that family firms placed on customers and the community, and products & services. Our results show some support for the positive relationship between perceptions of organizational values and attitudes towards FOBs. Study 2 and 4 found that values were pos- itively related to attitudes. We believe that one of the rea- sons not all the studies found this relationship significant is because of the sample used. In Study 3, the sample was composed entirely of students, and it is possible to think that given the students’ acquisition power, a more important issue that develops positive attitudes toward a business is the product price. Thus, it seems that the attitudes towards FOBs are in part determined by the extent to which custom- ers perceive that the family firm cares for its customers and the community in which they reside. We also explored the effects of products and services perceptions on attitudes toward FOBs. Although past re- search has found some support for this relationship (Oko- roafo & Koh, 2009), our studies found mixed support. In our case only two out of the three studies conducted (i.e., Study 3 and 4) found support for this relationship. We be- lieve that lack of support from Study 2 may be a product of using students in the sample. As mentioned above, given the difference in acquisition power between professionals and students, it may be that when individuals know that they can afford better products, their perceptions of quality of products and services will influence attitudes towards firms in a stronger way. However, our results do point towards the importance that perceptions about product and services can have on the attitude toward FOBs. Combined, our results seem to suggest that the pro- cess through which the family business brand influences intentions to buy from a firm includes several steps. First, the family business brand influences different perceptions about the firm (i.e., the value and respect that it places on customers & the community, and the quality of products & services). The second step involves how different per- ceptions translate into attitudes towards a family firm. In this step, we expect that those customers that have positive perceptions will also develop positive attitudes towards the family firm. Finally, it is these attitudes that will, in turn, influence the attitudes towards a family firm. With this in mind, we believe that to better understand when and how the family business brand influences intentions to buy from 30 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 a firm, it will be important to take a process approach. Implications for Theory and Practice When taken together, our results have several implica- tions for theory and research. First, we believe that our study provides important insights into the process of how a family business brand can translate into intentions to buy from a family firm. As we mentioned earlier, the family business brand first influences perceptions. These perceptions then affect the attitudes toward FOBs, which ultimately impact intentions to buy. Taking this approach, we could argue that previous research that has explored the effects of the family business brand on intentions to buy has already explored several perceptions that matter. These include trustworthi- ness (Beck & Kenning, 2015; Beck & Prügl, 2018), benev- olence (Beck & Prügl, 2018), brand authenticity (Lude & Prügl, 2018, Zanon et al., 2019), and reputation (Binz et al., 2013), just to mention a few. What is currently missing is a better understanding of how, why, and when these percep- tions positively influence the belief and evaluations that a customer would have about a family firm (i.e., attitudes to- wards FOBs), and then intentions to buy. Given this, future research could benefit from using a process view to better understand the effects of the family business brand. Our results also have important implications to under- standing the receiver/ recipient approach to family busi- ness brands. Binz Astrachan et al. (2018) argue that family business brands can be explored either from the sender’s or from the receiver’s point of view. Thus, an important impli- cation of this project is that it continues to shed light into the different considerations that are at play to better understand the receiver and how they process family business brand in- formation. In particular, it sheds light onto the different as- pects that are affected by the communication of the brand. It also provides some understanding of the consumer and how they may process information. Binz Astrachan et al. (2019) have suggested that for family business branding research to move forward, one of the aspects that we need to focus on is on understanding the receiver. This study sheds some light into how the receiver could be impacted by the family business brand. It also sheds light into how consumers from the North may react to the family business brand. Given that the data was collected in the USA, these results can provide some insights of these consumers. At a practical level, results from studies 2, 3, and 4 can help family business owners better understand the impor- tance of how perceptions about an organization can affect attitudes and intentions towards a family firm. In this case, practitioners can reflect on how their actions and commu- nications are likely to impact the attitudes that consumers have towards family firms, to make sure that they do not hurt the possibilities of enhancing the perceptions and atti- tudes in these types of consumers. Strengths, Limitations and Future Research Like any project, this one has both strengths and limita- tions. We believe that an important strength is that we sys- tematically explored the perceptions that stakeholders have about FOBs, and how these perceptions affect intentions towards FOBs. Although exploratory in nature, the four studies that make this project allowed us to fine-tune under- standing, measurement, and the framework in the project. At the same time, it allowed for replication and extension of previous work. Therefore, the main strength from our study is the inclusion of multiple waves of data collection to test the ideas proposed in this paper. As is the case in any research, there are limitations that are important to acknowledge. The first limitation is the scales used in this study. Given the limited empirical research exploring perceptions about family firms from the non-family stakeholder’s perspective, there were no previ- ously tested scales that we were able to use for our project. Thus, we had to develop our own scales based on an initial pilot study and past family business literature. The reliabil- ity of these was not always the best for empirical research. This can be problematic because the lack of a sound scale may introduce error that can influence the generalizability of the findings in this project. Therefore, we suggest that future research work on the scale development first and then continue to explore the perceptions about FOBs. A second limitation of the project was the lack of com- parison to non-family business perceptions. The current study focused solely on perceptions of businesses that de- scribed themselves as FOBs; however, this means that con- clusions cannot be drawn as to whether or not FOBs are different than non-FOBs or which types of family firms can benefit from using the family business brand. The findings merely indicate that in certain contexts, family businesses may find it useful to communicate their family association when branding their products or their organization. Not hav- ing a comparison group may be problematic because when participants compare FOBs and non-FOBs or different types of family businesses, their perceptions about FOBs may change. With this in mind, future research should seek to address this issue by including a comparison group. This comparison can provide more clarity regarding when the use of the family business brand is beneficial to a firm. A final limitation is the general focus of the studies. The survey instruments did not ask about a specific product or service. Focusing on a specific product or service may 31 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 change people’s opinions because it would include more details for the participant to consider. There may be multi- ple factors that affect attitudes toward FOBs. However, this project explored only a couple of these factors. With this in mind, future research should explore perceptions about family firms using other experimental techniques to test whether the results from the study replicate when using dif- ferent data collection techniques. Conclusion This study explored consumer perceptions about fam- ily firms and their effects on intentions to buy from a firm. Taking a receiver approach to the family business brand, we found that attitudes towards the family firm are at the center of understanding how a family business brand influences a customer’s intention to buy. In particular, we find that in our four samples family firms were generally associated with positive organizational values (i.e., higher concern for the customer and the community) and neutral perceptions about the quality of products and services. These in turn influenced attitudes towards the FOB and then intentions to buy. When taken together, these results point to the impor- tance of taking a process view to understand why and how a family business brand influences intention to buy. Future research would benefit from exploring further focusing on the customer (i.e., target audience) to more broadly under- stand how they are impacted by the family business brand and could influence how a family company may choose to communicate their brand. References Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Prentice Hall. Andreini, D., Bettinelli, C., Pedeliento, G., & Apa, R. (2020). How do consumers see firms’ family nature? A review of the literature. Family Business Review, 33(1), 18-37. Anisimova, T. A. (2007). The effects of corporate brand at- tributes on attitudinal and behavioural consumer loy- alty. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 24(7), 395-405. Arijs, D., Botero, I. C., Michiels, A., & Molly, V. (2018). Family business employer brand: Understanding ap- plicants’ perceptions and their job pursuit intentions with samples from the US and Belgium. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 9(3), 180-191. Balmer, J. M., & Gray, E. R. (2003). Corporate brands: What are they? What of them? European Journal of Marketing, 37(7/8), 972-997. Balmer, J. M., & Greyser, S. A. (2003). Revealing the cor- poration: Perspectives on identity, image, reputation, corporate branding, and corporate-level marketing. Routledge. Barron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-me- diator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical con- siderations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 51(6), 1173-1182. Beck, S., & Kenning, P. (2015). The influence of retailers’ family firm image on new product acceptance. Inter- national Journal of Retail & Distribution Manage- ment, 43(12), 1126-1143. Beck, S., & Prügl, R. (2018). Family firm reputation and humanization: Consumers and the trust advantage of family firms under different conditions of brand famil- iarity. Family Business Review, 31(4), 460-482. Berthon, P., Ewing, M. T., & Napoli, J. (2008). Brand man- agement in small to medium-sized enterprises. Journal of Small Business Management, 46(1), 27-45. Binz, C., Hair, J. F., Pieper, T. M., & Baldauf, A. (2013). Ex- ploring the effect of distinct family firm reputation on consumers’ preferences. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 4(1), 3–11. Binz Astrachan, C., & Botero, I.C. (2018) “We are a family firm”: An exploration of the motives for communicat- ing the family business brand. Journal of Family Busi- ness Management, 8(1), 2-21. Binz Astrachan, C., Botero, I., Astrachan, J. H., & Prügl, R. (2018). Branding the family firm: A review, integrative framework proposal, and research agenda. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 9(1), 3-15. Binz Astrachan, C., Prügl, R., Hair Jr, J. F., & Babin, B. J. (2019). Marketing and branding in family busi- ness: Assessing the landscape and charting a path for- ward. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 10(1), 3-7. Blombäck, A. (2009). Family business - a secondary brand in corporate brand management. CeFEO (Working Paper Series, ISSN 1654-8612). Jönköping Interna- tional Business School. Blombäck, A., & Ramírez‐Pasillas, M. (2012). Exploring the logics of corporate brand identity formation. Cor- porate Communications: An International Journal, 17(1), 7-28. Botero, I. C. (2014). Effects of communicating family own- ership and organisational size on an applicant’s attrac- tion to a firm: An empirical examination in the USA and China. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 5(2), 184-196. Botero, I. C., Binz Astrachan, C., & Calabro, A. (2018) A receiver’s approach to family business brands: Explor- ing individual associations with the term “family firm”. Journal of Family Business Management, 8(2), 94-112 32 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 Botero, I. C., Thomas, J., Graves, C., & Fediuk, T. A. (2013). Understanding multiple family firm identities: An ex- ploration of the communicated identity in official web- sites. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 4(1), 12-21. Cable, D. M., & Turban, D. B. (2003). The value of or- ganizational reputation in the recruitment context: A brand-equity perspective. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(11), 2244-2266. Cabrera-Suárez, M. K., de la Cruz Déniz-Déniz, M., & Martín-Santana, J. D. (2011). Familiness and market orientation: A stakeholder approach. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 2(1), 34-42. Carrigan, M., & Buckley, J. (2008). What is so special about family business? An exploratory study of UK and Irish consumer experiences of family businesses. Interna- tional Journal of Consumer Studies, 32(6), 656-666. Craig, J. B., Dibrell, C., & Davis, P. S. (2008). Leveraging family-based brand identity to enhance firm competi- tiveness and performance in family businesses. Jour- nal of Small Business Management, 46(3), 351-371. Connelly, B. L., Certo, S. T., Ireland, R. D., & Reutzel, C. R. (2011). Signaling theory: A review and assess- ment. Journal of Management, 37(1), 39-67. Cooper, M. J., Upton, N., & Seaman, S. (2005). Customer relationship management: A comparative analysis of family and nonfamily business practices. Journal of Small Business Management, 43(3), 242-256. Coyle-Shapiro, J. A. M., & Morrow, P. C. (2006). Organi- zational and client commitment among contracted em- ployees. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(3), 416- 431. Da Silva, R. V., & Alwi, S. F. S. (2006). Cognitive, affective attributes and conative, behavioural responses in re- tail corporate branding. Journal of Brand and Product Management, 15(5), 293-305. de Chernatony, L., & McWilliam, G. (1989). The varying nature of brands as assets. International Journal of Ad- vertising, 8(4), 339-349. Dutton, J. E., & Dukerich, J. M. (1991). Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adap- tation. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 517- 554. Dutton, J. E., Dukerich, J. M., & Harquail, C. V. (1994). Organizational images and member identification. Ad- ministrative Science Quarterly, 39(2), 239-263. Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Beliefs, attitudes, inten- tion and behavior: An introduction to theory and re- search. Addison-Wesley. Fitzmaurice, J. (2005). Incorporating consumers’ motiva- tions into the theory of reasoned action. Psychology & Marketing, 22(11), 911-929. Fombrun, C., & Van Riel, C. (1997). The reputation land- scape. Corporate Reputation Review, 1(1/2), 5-13. Gallucci, C., Santulli, R., & Calabrò, A. (2015). Does fami- ly involvement foster or hinder firm performance? The missing role of family-based branding strategies. Jour- nal of Family Business Strategy, 6(3), 155-165. Hauswald, H., & Hack, A. (2013). Impact of family con- trol/influence on stakeholders’ perceptions of benevo- lence. Family Business Review, 26(4), 356-373. Hulberg, J. (2006). Integrating corporate branding and so- ciological paradigms: A literature study. Brand Man- agement, 14(1/2), 60-73. Ind, N. (1997). The corporate brand. New York University Press. Kashmiri, S., & Mahajan, V. (2014). A rose by any other name: Are family firms named after their founding families rewarded more for their new product intro- ductions?. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 81-99. Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and man- aging customer-based brand equity. Journal of Market- ing, 57(1), 1-22. Keller, K. L. (2008) Strategic brand management: Build- ing, measuring, and managing brand equity (3rd ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall. Kim, M. S., & Hunter, J. E. (1993). Relationships among attitudes, behavioral intentions, and behavior: A me- ta-analysis of past research. Communication Research, 20(3), 331-364. Krappe, A., Goutas, L., & von Schlippe, A. (2011). The “family business brand”: An enquiry into the con- struction of the image of family businesses. Journal of Family Business Management, 1(1), 37-46. LaForet, S. (2009). Managing brands – A contemporary perspective. McGraw-Hill Education. Lude, M., & Prügl, R. (2018). Why the family business brand matters: Brand authenticity and the family firm trust inference. Journal of Business Research, 89, 121- 134. Lyman, A. R. (1991). Customer service: Does family own- ership make a difference? Family Business Review, 4(3), 303-324. Martínez, A. B., Galván, R. S., Botero, I. C., González- López, Ó. R., & Mateos, M. B. (2019). Exploring family business brands: Understanding predictors and effects. Journal of Family Business Strate- gy, 10(1), 57-68. Memili, E., Eddleston, K. A., Kellermanns, F. W., Zellwe- ger, T. M., & Barnett, T. (2010). The critical path to family firm success through entrepreneurial risk tak- ing and image. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 1(4), 200-209. 33 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 Micelotta, E. R., & Raynard, M. (2011). Concealing or re- vealing the family? Corporate brand identity strate- gies in family firms. Family Business Review, 24(3), 197-216. Okoroafo, S. C., & Koh, A. (2009). The impact of the mar- keting activities of family owned businesses on con- sumer purchase intentions. International Journal of Business and Management, 4(10), 3-13. Organ, D. W., Podsakoff, P. M., & MacKenzie, S. B. (2006). Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature, an- tecedents, and consequences. Sage Publications. Orth, U. R., & Green, M. T. (2009). Consumer loyalty to family versus non-family business: The roles of store image, trust and satisfaction. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 16(4), 248-259. Parmentier, M. A. (2011). When David met Victoria: Forg- ing a strong family brand. Family Business Re- view, 24(3), 217-232. Poza, E. J. (2010). Family Business (3rd ed.). Cenegade Learning. Rafaeli, A. (2000). Projecting an organizational identity: Lessons from employment advertisements. Corpo- rate Reputation Review, 3(3), 218-239. Rafaeli, A. (2006). Sense-making of employment: On whether and why people read employment advertis- ing. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(6), 747. Rindova, V. P., & Fombrun, C. J. (1999). Constructing com- petitive advantage: The role of firm-constituent inter- actions. Strategic Management Journal, 20(8), 691. Sageder, M., Mitter, C., & Feldbauer-Durstmüller, B. (2016). Image and reputation of family firms: A sys- tematic literature review of the state of research. Re- view of Managerial Science, 12(1), 335-377. Spears, N., & Singh, S. N. (2004). Measuring attitude to- wards the brand and purchase intentions. Journal of Current Issues in Advertising, 26(2), 53-66. Spence, A. M. 1973. Job market signalling. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87(3), 355-374. Stiff, J. B., & Mongeau, P. A. (2003). Persuasive communi- cation (2nd Edition). The Guildford Press. Taj, S. A. (2016). Application of signaling theory in man- agement research: Addressing major gaps in theo- ry. European Management Journal, 34(4), 338-348. Ward, J. (1997). Growing the family business: Special chal- lenges and best practices. Family Business Review, 10(4), 323-337. Zanon, J., Scholl-Grissemann, U., Kallmuenzer, A., Klein- hansl, N., & Peters, M. (2019). How promoting a family firm image affects customer perception in the age of social media. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 10(1), 28-37. Zellweger, T. M., Kellermanns, F. W., Eddleston, K. A., & Memili, E. (2012). Building a family firm image: How family firms capitalize on their family ties. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 3(4), 239-250. 34 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 Appendix Scales for the Studies Study 2 Perception of Organizational Values • A family-owned business values its customers. • A family-owned business would help the local community. • A family-owned business builds relationships with its customers. Perception of Product/Service Quality • Overall, family-owned business would make better products than other organizations. • I trust a product from a family-owned business to be of high quality. • Family-owned businesses pay close attention to detail when developing their product. Attitude toward FOBs • I believe that I should support family-owned businesses. • It is important to support family-owned businesses. • I would recommend a family-owned business to my friends. • I would encourage my friends to support family-owned businesses. Intention to Buy • If all things were equal, I would purchase from a family-owned business. Study 3 Perception of Organizational Values • A family-owned business values its customers. • A family-owned business would help the local community. • A family-owned business builds relationships with its customers. Perception of Product/Service Quality • Overall, family-owned business would make better products than other organizations. • I trust a product from a family-owned business to be of high quality. • Family-owned businesses pay close attention to detail when developing their product. Attitude toward FOB) • I believe that I should support family-owned businesses. • It is important to support family-owned businesses. • I would recommend a family-owned business to my friends. • I would encourage my friends to support family-owned businesses. Intention to Buy • If all things were equal, I would purchase from a family-owned business. Study 4 Perception of Organizational Values • A family-owned business values its customers. • A family-owned business would help the local community. • A family-owned business builds relationships with its customers. Perception of Product/Service Quality • Overall, family-owned business would make better products than other organizations. • I trust a product from a family-owned business to be of high quality. • Family-owned businesses provide the best services in town. • Services by family-owned businesses are of better quality than other organizations. Attitude toward FOBs • I believe that I should support family-owned businesses. 35 I. C. Botero, & S. R. Litchfield-Moore Journal of Small Business Strategy / Vol. 31, No. 2 (2021) / 19-35 • It is important to support family-owned businesses. • I would recommend a family-owned business to my friends. • I would encourage my friends to support family-owned businesses. Intention to Buy • I currently go out of my way to support a family-owned business. • When I shop, it does not matter if I buy from a family-owned business.