Abstract:
This study examines how large German private family firms integrate sustainability into their corporate brand identities and how familiness shapes these meanings. Using an interpretivist design, it analyzes sustainability-related discourse from the websites of 25 family-controlled firms through the Family Firm Sustainability Brand Identity Matrix (FFSBIM), adapted from the Corporate Brand Identity Matrix (CBIM). The analysis reveals that sustainability is articulated via three overarching logics: Moral Stewardship, Translational Familiness, and Systemic Professionalization. Familiness acts as a flexible legitimacy resource. It is explicit in value-driven brand identity elements, implicit in relational ones, and institutionalized in systemic contexts. Cross-case comparison identifies five ideal types of sustainability-familiness integration, illustrating how firms combine heritage, responsibility, and professionalization to meet stakeholder expectations. The research advances branding, sustainability, and family business literature by showing that familiness and sustainability co-evolve as interdependent brand identity resources. It emphasizes aligning moral narratives with credible practices and provides a framework for assessing the coherence between identity and sustainability.
