The Influences of Brand Perceived Quality, Green Brand Perceived Value and Green Brand Satisfaction on the Formulation of Green Brand Equity

The growing awareness of green marketing due to the serious environmental degradation caused by the overwhelming numbers of electronic wastages in Malaysia and the existence of a huge gap between a brand’s sustainability performance and the perceptions of consumers towards the brands’ sustainable attempts has prompted this study to investigate on the relationship green brand equity. This study aims to identify the relationships among the four brand constructs: brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction, green brand perceived value and green brand equity. Subsequently, this study also aims to investigate on the relationships of brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value influence on the formation of green brand equity. Lastly, this study also examines on whether there any brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value and green brand equity differences between young adults and older adults. Literature review of antecedents of brand equity is employed. Since there is no suitable set of accessible list to employ the probability sampling approach, a non-probability sampling method of purposive sampling was used where all the respondents must have experience(s) in purchasing any eco-friendly electronic products before. Before the questionnaire is given to the respondent to be filled up, they were asked if they have purchased any eco-friendly electronic products before. If they said yes, then they will not be asked to answer the questionnaire. Data for all the study variables were collected through self-administered survey questionnaires. The survey questionnaire is distributed to a total of 300 respondents, in which 150 of questionnaires are collected from the young Malaysian adults (19 to 26 years old), while another 150 questionnaires are gathered older Malaysian adults (53 to 64 years old). The survey is conducted in nine shopping malls which are located in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 300 primary data is examined with reliability test, two independent sample t-test, and SEM analysis (Structural Equation Modelling). Positive relationships are found to presence in all the hypothesised relationships between the four green brand constructs, namely, brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value, albeit the positive relationships are quite weak. Furthermore, brand perceived quality is able to exert positive influence on both the green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value. Subsequently, green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value are discovered to has positive influence on green brand equity, in which green brand perceived value are found to has greater impact on the formulation on green brand equity. Additionally, green brand perceived value is able to influence green brand satisfaction in a positive manner. Besides that, this research discovers that brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction and green brand equity tend to differ between the young adults and older adults. However, this study shows that there is no green brand perceived value differences between young adults and older adults

To what extent has ASEAN succeeded in driving economic regionalism?

published_or_final_versionInternational and Public AffairsMasterMaster of International and Public Affair

Carboxyl-terminal truncated HBx regulates a distinct microRNA transcription program in Hepatocellular carcinoma development

Background: The biological pathways and functional properties by which misexpressed microRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to liver carcinogenesis have been intensively investigated. However, little is known about the upstream mechanisms that deregulate miRNA expressions in this process. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein (HBx), a transcriptional trans-activator, is frequently expressed in truncated form without carboxyl-terminus but its role in miRNA expression and HCC development is unclear. Methods: Human non-tumorigenic hepatocytes were infected with lentivirus-expressing full-length and carboxyl-terminal truncated HBx (Ct-HBx) for cell growth assay and miRNA profiling. Chromatin immunoprecipitation microarray was performed to identify the miRNA promoters directly associated with HBx. Direct transcriptional control was verified by luciferase reporter assay. The differential miRNA expressions were further validated in a cohort of HBV-associated HCC tissues using real-time PCR. Results: Hepatocytes expressing Ct-HBx grew significantly faster than the full-length HBx counterparts. Ct-HBx decreased while full-length HBx increased the expression of a set of miRNAs with growth-suppressive functions. Interestingly, Ct-HBx bound to and inhibited the transcriptional activity of some of these miRNA promoters. Notably, some of the examined repressed-miRNAs (miR-26a, -29c, -146a and -190) were also significantly down-regulated in a subset of HCC tissues with carboxyl-terminal HBx truncation compared to their matching non-tumor tissues, highlighting the clinical relevance of our data. Conclusion: Our results suggest that Ct-HBx directly regulates miRNA transcription and in turn promotes hepatocellular proliferation, thus revealing a viral contribution of miRNA deregulation during hepatocarcinogenesis. © 2011 Yip et al.published_or_final_versio

C-Terminal Binding Protein 2 Is a Novel Tumor Suppressor Targeting the Myc-Irf4 axis in Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) cells are addicted to MYC and its direct transactivation targets IRF4 for proliferation and survival. MYC and IRF4 are still considered undruggable, as most small-molecule inhibitors suffer from low potency, suboptimal pharmacokinetic properties, and undesirable off-target effects. Indirect inhibition of MYC/IRF4 emerges as a therapeutic vulnerability in MM. Here, we uncovered an unappreciated tumor-suppressive role of C-terminal binding protein 2 (CTBP2) in MM via strong inhibition of the MYC-IRF4 axis. In contrast to epithelial cancers, CTBP2 is frequently downregulated in MM, in association with shortened survival, hyperproliferative features, and adverse clinical outcomes. Restoration of CTBP2 exhibited potent antitumor effects against MM in vitro and in vivo, with marked repression of the MYC-IRF4 network genes. Mechanistically, CTBP2 impeded the transcription of MYC and IRF4 by histone H3 lysine 27 deacetylation (H3K27ac) and indirectly via activation of the MYC repressor IFIT3. In addition, activation of the interferon gene signature by CTBP2 suggested its concomitant immunomodulatory role in MM. Epigenetic studies have revealed the contribution of polycomb-mediated silencing and DNA methylation to CTBP2 inactivation in MM. Notably, inhibitors of Enhance of zeste homolog 2, histone deacetylase, and DNA methyltransferase, currently under evaluation in clinical trials, were effective in restoring CTBP2 expression in MM. Our findings indicated that the loss of CTBP2 plays an essential role in myelomagenesis and deciphers an additional mechanistic link to MYC-IRF4 dysregulation in MM. We envision that the identification of novel critical regulators will facilitate the development of selective and effective approaches for treating this MYC/IRF4-addicted malignancy

The Influences of Brand Perceived Quality, Green Brand Perceived Value and Green Brand Satisfaction on the Formulation of Green Brand Equity

The growing awareness of green marketing due to the serious environmental degradation caused by the overwhelming numbers of electronic wastages in Malaysia and the existence of a huge gap between a brand’s sustainability performance and the perceptions of consumers towards the brands’ sustainable attempts has prompted this study to investigate on the relationship green brand equity. This study aims to identify the relationships among the four brand constructs: brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction, green brand perceived value and green brand equity. Subsequently, this study also aims to investigate on the relationships of brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value influence on the formation of green brand equity. Lastly, this study also examines on whether there any brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value and green brand equity differences between young adults and older adults. Literature review of antecedents of brand equity is employed. Since there is no suitable set of accessible list to employ the probability sampling approach, a non-probability sampling method of purposive sampling was used where all the respondents must have experience(s) in purchasing any eco-friendly electronic products before. Before the questionnaire is given to the respondent to be filled up, they were asked if they have purchased any eco-friendly electronic products before. If they said yes, then they will not be asked to answer the questionnaire. Data for all the study variables were collected through self-administered survey questionnaires. The survey questionnaire is distributed to a total of 300 respondents, in which 150 of questionnaires are collected from the young Malaysian adults (19 to 26 years old), while another 150 questionnaires are gathered older Malaysian adults (53 to 64 years old). The survey is conducted in nine shopping malls which are located in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 300 primary data is examined with reliability test, two independent sample t-test, and SEM analysis (Structural Equation Modelling). Positive relationships are found to presence in all the hypothesised relationships between the four green brand constructs, namely, brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value, albeit the positive relationships are quite weak. Furthermore, brand perceived quality is able to exert positive influence on both the green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value. Subsequently, green brand satisfaction and green brand perceived value are discovered to has positive influence on green brand equity, in which green brand perceived value are found to has greater impact on the formulation on green brand equity. Additionally, green brand perceived value is able to influence green brand satisfaction in a positive manner. Besides that, this research discovers that brand perceived quality, green brand satisfaction and green brand equity tend to differ between the young adults and older adults. However, this study shows that there is no green brand perceived value differences between young adults and older adults

Female manufacturer-entrepreneurs : the mythical, the true & the new

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit in Singapore. This is evident on many fronts --- government agencies and programmes for the promotion of entrepreneurship, new magazines and journals that feature the issue of entrepreneurship and the number of international conferences with entrepreneurship as the theme. This resurgent interest in entrepreneurship is the most important economic development of the decade as it sparks off and sustains the economic growth of Singapore. Besides, structural changes in economic and social policies also serve to open the doors to female employment outside the home. Female business owners are emerging as a significant force in the business world, especially in the small- and medium-sized enterprises. However, female entrepreneurship is still in its embryonic stage of development as females are confronted with a number of problems which retard their potential for entrepreneurship. Their progress in this area has been slow compared to their male counterparts. This prompts the researchers to explore the issue of female entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the scope of the research is narrowed down to focus only on the manufacturing sector due to its significance to the Singapore economy. The significance of manufacturing lies in its multiplier effect on the rest of the economy through its strong forward and backward linkages with the other industries. Thus, it is in the national interest that manufacturing should remain as one of the mainstays of the Singapore economy.ACCOUNTANC