Trust and reputation in family businesses: A systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises

Sanjay Chaudhary, Amandeep Dhir, Alberto Ferraris and Bernando Bertoldi

Journal of Business Research, 2021, vol. 137, issue C, 143-161

Abstract: Family businesses have traditionally been recognised for their trustworthiness and reputation. Interestingly, the extant literature suggests the influence of reputation and trust on family businesses’ long-term financial success. However, despite the increasing attention the topic has received, a comprehensive overview of trust and reputation in family businesses remains lacking. The current study aims to critically examine and review the extant research on trust and reputation in the context of family businesses and uncover current research trends and future research opportunities. We identified and critically analysed 93 studies through a stringent search protocol and content analysis to achieve the research objective. Based on thematic analysis, we identified four clusters reflecting family business research on trust and reputation. The key outcome is the elucidation of research themes and potential research questions exploring drivers and consequences of trust and reputation. The findings indicate that trust and reputation are crucial for developing relationships with stakeholders and achieving economic and non-economic goals. We integrate our findings into a theoretical framework that can serve to motivate future research. We conclude by clarifying the limitations of our research, offering actionable implications for researchers and family business managers and attempting theory development by raising new research questions.

Keywords: Family businesses; Reputation; Trust; Trustworthiness; Systematic literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296321005397
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:137:y:2021:i:c:p:143-161

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.07.052

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().