Family firms’ characteristics and consumer behaviour: An enquiry into millennials’ purchase intention in the online channel

This paper aims to investigate the effect of family firms’ characteristics on millennials’ purchase intention through three dimensions (emotional appeal, product and service quality and corporate social responsibility) in the context of online shopping. Since millennials are the first digital native cohort, this research aims to understand the moderating role that digital savviness plays in influencing millennials’ purchase intention. Data have been collected through an online survey of a representative group of 502 millennials and have been analysed using linear regressions. This study identifies which family firms’ characteristics positively influence millennials’ purchase intention and demonstrates that the moderation effect of digital savviness positively impacts this generation only through electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and peer-to-peer reviews. It contributes to the extant literature on family business and consumer behaviour by deepening the effects of family firms’ characteristics on this specific generational cohort, which represents the next most relevant generational cohort after the boomers.