When Informal Communication Replaces Formal Systems: The Influence of Family Values on Marketing Decision-Making in Indonesian Family Firms

Abstract

Indonesian family firms represent a distinctive and underexplored context in which informal communication structures frequently override or supplement formal organizational systems. Drawing on Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) theory, the Logic of Appropriateness, and Institutional Action Theory, this qualitative study investigates how deeply embedded family values shape marketing decision-making processes in large Indonesian family-owned corporations. Through semi-structured interviews with senior marketing executives and family members in decision-making roles across five Indonesian family conglomerates, the study explores how unwritten norms, trust-based communication channels, and dynastic loyalty networks function as de facto governance mechanisms. Findings reveal that informal communication acts as both an enabler and a constraint: it accelerates consensus, preserves socioemotional wealth, and embeds institutional memory, yet simultaneously creates opacity, limits external accountability, and poses succession risks. The research contributes to the literature on family business governance, emerging market marketing communication, and informal institutional theory by providing empirical evidence from a context where cultural collectivism, paternalistic leadership, and family-firm identity intersect. Practical implications are offered for family firm leaders navigating the tension between preserving relational governance and adopting formal marketing management systems.