Young Consumers’ Perceptions of Family Firms and Their Purchase Intentions—The Polish Experience

Agnieszka Bitkowska (), Joanna Moczydłowska, Krystyna Leszczewska, Karol Karasiewicz, Joanna Sadkowska and Beata Żelazko
Additional contact information
Agnieszka Bitkowska: Department of Production, Process and Project Management, Faculty of Management, Warsaw University of Technology, 02-524 Warszawa, Poland
Joanna Moczydłowska: Institute of Management and Quality Science, Department of Management, Economics and Finance, Faculty of Engineering Management, Bialystok University of Technology Kleosin, 16-001 Bialystok, Poland
Krystyna Leszczewska: Department of Economics and Finance, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Lomza State University of Applied Sciences, 18-400 Łomża, Poland
Karol Karasiewicz: Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Szczecin, 70-453 Szczecin, Poland
Joanna Sadkowska: Department of Business Economics, Faculty of Management, University of Gdansk, 81-824 Sopot, Poland
Beata Żelazko: Family Business Unit, Institute of Enterprise, Collegium of Business Administration, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, 02-554 Warszawa, Poland

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-19

Abstract: Although family-owned businesses have been widely investigated, the question of consumers’ perceptions of family firms is still worth more in-depth study. Drawing on the theories of family businesses and consumer behavior, this paper investigates the relationship between the consumers’ perceptions of family-owned enterprises and their purchasing decisions. Using a questionnaire, we surveyed 1069 young Polish consumers. Our findings demonstrate that young consumers’ convictions about family businesses are well-formed, despite their quite modest knowledge of these business entities. The vast majority of the survey participants were not able to provide any family business names. This implies that young consumers’ views on family businesses result from speculation or adoption of opinions that are dominant in a given society. To raise the level of awareness of their brands and transform consumers’ intentions into real purchasing behavior, family business entities need to intensify the educational significance of their promotional activities to help counteract the stereotypes about family businesses. The analysis presented here has important implications for current debates on whether the development of emotional relationships with family business entities and their brands is a suitable strategy to shape the purchasing attitudes towards the products made by family companies. The research findings could also form the basis for an extended study exploring what strategies family companies can implement in order to effectively shape young consumers’ perceptions about these firms. The research results can also serve as an aid for family firm owners and managers in rebuilding their client-oriented activities. The aforementioned knowledge can support family firm owners and managers in establishing effective marketing strategies. It also opens interesting avenues for further research.

Keywords: purchasing intention; perceptions; family firms; young consumers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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