Abstract

The main objective of the article is to learn how customers perceive the family nature of family businesses in the restaurant industry. An additional purpose is to assess the available for family restaurants individual channels of communicating familiness.
A questionnaire survey was carried out using a research tool in the form of an internet survey. 133 respondents, selected for the sample in a non-random manner, took part in the study. The survey questionnaire was made available on social groups dedicated to gastronomy. Finally, 132 completed questionnaires were used for statistical analysis.
The results of the study indicate the values associated by the respondents with the family nature of restaurants run by families, as well as the motives for feeling additional value when using their services. In addition, the results of the study show the channels of communicating the familiness preferred by the participants of the study, available for family restaurants. Due to the non-random selection of respondents to the sample in the conducted survey, the survey results cannot be treated as representative. The predominance of people aged 18-26 participating in the study could also have influenced the distortion of the study results.
The conclusions from the study may be useful for family restaurant owners, who want to emphasize and promote the family nature of their businesses. In addition, the obtained research results may inspire other researchers interested in exploring the phenomenon of family business.
In the literature on the subject, can be found many studies on the subject of the image of family businesses. However, there are no sources that directly refer to the perception of family nature in the restaurant industry. The intention of this article is to fill the research gap in this field.

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