Consumer-Based Brand Equity of a Private-Label Brand: Measuring and Examining Determinants

This study examines consumer-based brand equity of private-label branding and relative significance of its dimensions in creating a strong private-label brand. Based on brand equity theory and private-label branding research, a survey instrument was developed, scale measures were pretested, and the final purified survey was administered online to Wal-Mart shoppers. The study found that awareness/familiarity and perceived quality are keys in reducing the perceived risk and increasing the perceived value of private-label brands in building brand equity. Also, perceived risk, perceived value, and brand loyalty for Wal-Mart have significant mediating roles in creating private-label (i.e., Great Value) brand equity

Alcohol drinking alters stress response to predator odor via BNST kappa opioid receptor signaling in male mice

Maladaptive responses to stress are a hallmark of alcohol use disorder, but the mechanisms that underlie this are not well characterized. Here, we show that kappa opioid receptor signaling in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a critical molecular substrate underlying abnormal stress responses to predator odor following heavy alcohol drinking. Exposure to predator odor during protracted withdrawal from intermittent alcohol drinking resulted in enhanced prefrontal cortex (PFC)-driven excitation of prodynorphin-containing neurons in the BNST. Furthermore, deletion of prodynorphin in the BNST and chemogenetic inhibition of the PFC-BNST pathway restored abnormal responses to predator odor in alcohol-exposed mice. These findings suggest that increased corticolimbic drive may promote abnormal stress behavioral responses to predator odor during protracted withdrawal. Various nodes of this PFC-BNST dynorphin-related circuit may serve as potential targets for potential therapeutic mediation as well as biomarkers of negative responses to stress following heavy alcohol drinking