Introducing the business family brand: Managing brand identity, image, and reputation

Abstract

Family business branding has traditionally focused on the corporate family business brand, overlooking the family itself as a branded entity. This study introduces the business family brand as an interrelated yet distinct human brand that emerges when a family’s business background is revealed, intertwining personal and corporate brand dimensions. We develop a conceptual framework theorizing how business family brands are formed and managed across the levels of identity, image, and reputation. Building on these three foundational brand dimensions, we elaborate on the brand’s unique human characteristics, outline guiding questions for its management, and discuss the dual branding opportunities and tensions arising between business and family branding considerations. To substantiate our theorizing, we complement our conceptual work with an empirical exploration of the general reputation of business families, enabling business families to assess the alignment between external stakeholder perceptions and their identity and intended image. The findings show that while business family reputation shares associations with corporate family business brands (e.g., traditional, local), it also evokes distinct perceptions (e.g., wealth, arrogance). By introducing and conceptualizing the business family brand, this research moves beyond the traditionally business-centered perspective on family business branding, offers practical guidance for managing business family brands, and opens diverse avenues for future research.