Antecedents of Green Brand Equity: An Integrated Approach

A steady demand for green products from concerned consumers has led companies to introduce new product lines that match or exceed consumer environmental concerns. Nonetheless, not all the organizations were able to achieve significant returns on their investments in green products. These failures are generally attributed towards companies’ inability to overcome consumer scepticism towards the performance of functional and green attributes of their brands to generate a positive green image and green value in consumers mind. Therefore, the question arises that does the success in promoting green brand image and value depend on consumer existing perceptions about the brand quality and credibility? This study analyzes the influence of brand perceive quality and credibility on consumer perceptions towards a brand green image, green value and green equity. A theoretical model with hypothesized relationships is developed and tested to answer these research questions. Data have been collected from the consumers of electrical and electronic goods. The hypothesized relationships were tested with the help of structural equation modeling procedure. The results suggest that brand perceived quality and its overall credibility does have a significant influence on generating a greener image, green perceive value and green brand equity.     

An information theoretic analysis of stock returns,volatility and trading volumes

Information theory is used to examine the dynamic relationships between stock returns, volatility and trading volumes for S&P500 stocks. This provides an alternative approach to traditional Granger causality tests when dealing with nonlinear relationships. The article highlights the dominant role played by trading volumes in all of these relationships – even in the return–volatility relation – and finds evidence of a market level feedback effect from index returns to the return–volatility relation at the stock level. The article also produces a number of stylized facts from an information theoretic perspective.     

Perception and reality of managing sustainable coastal tourism in emerging destinations: the case of Sihanoukville,Cambodia

The emergence of Sihanoukville as a coastal destination came at the time when the global community was calling for sustainable practices. As one of the newly emergent coastal resorts in Asia, Sihanoukville has the advantage of learning from other, less sustainable Asian destinations. The Cambodian Government has partnered with international agencies in drawing up programs and incorporating practices to make the destination more sustainable. This research seeks to better understand the effectiveness and success, or otherwise, of implementing sustainability programs for tourism development, especially for an Asian coastal destination. The aim is to compare the sustainability practice outcomes according to differing stakeholders and their perceptions of sustainability. The research identifies gaps between policies and their implementation where the intent is to highlight those aspects of contemporary resort growth that need greater attention by policy makers and planners. Generally, it was found that there was alignment between the perceptions and the reality of sustainable tourism practices within and across the stakeholder groups. Where notable differences in perception arose, it was often linked to the group's mission or self-interest that influenced the views of these stakeholders. The research also points to the challenges ahead for all stakeholders in managing coastal destinations sustainably.     

Real Estate Risk,Corporate Investment and Financing Choice

This paper empirically examines how real estate risk impacts corporate investment and financing decisions. Using a panel of United States firms from 1985 to 2013, we document that real estate risk is negatively associated with firms’ long-term investments and long-term external financing in equity and debt. The results are robust to different risk measurements and in particular salient during the financial crisis period when the endogeneity between risk and investment is less of a concern. The effect on firm leverage, however, depends on risk measures. Overall, in contrast to previously documented positive effects of the real estate value, real estate risk exposure exhibits mostly the opposite effects on investment, financing and capital structure. This difference is consistent with option value determinants. Findings in this paper shed new lights on the impact of real estate holding on corporate decisions, offer a new explanation for the underperformance of hedge funds’ real estate strategies, and confirm the theoretical predictions in Deng et al. (2015).     

Asset-Backed Securitization in Singapore: Value of Embedded Buy-Back Options

Asset backed securities have been promoted as an important financing instrument for property developers to raise capital in Singapore. In 1999 alone, S$1.92 billion worth of bonds have been issued via the securitization of six commercial properties and one residential condominium project under construction. Buy-back option is a unique feature embedded in the asset-backed securitization (ABS) in Singapore, which allow the originator to retain a contingent claim on the upside potential of the asset price. Based on the multi-period binomial option pricing framework proposed by Cox et al. (1979), the prices of the options embedded in the ABS contracts are estimated. Using the securitization of the 132,111 square feet 268 Orchard Road office building for illustration, the premium of the options embedded in the 10-year ABS deal was estimated at S$28.47 million, or 15.48 percent of the bond value. Recognition of the value of embedded options is important for structuring a fair and transparent ABS deal.     

Integrating Behavioural and Branding Perspectives to Maximize Green Brand Equity: A Holistic Approach

The aim of this study is to expand the existing understanding of green consumers' behaviour by proposing and testing an integrated conceptual model that explores the influence of consumers' personal concerns for the environment and general attitudes towards green products on brand‐related knowledge structures (image and associations) and relationship preferences (trust and brand equity) for green brands. A questionnaire‐based survey method was used to collect data using convenience sampling. One hundred and ninety‐nine usable responses were obtained. A structural equation modelling procedure was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The results confirmed that a positive relationship exists between consumer concern for environmental values and general attitudes towards green products. Both these constructs influence consumers' knowledge structure of a green brand (image and associations). Furthermore, a strong relationship exists between consumers' knowledge structure (image and associations) and their relational preference (trust and brand equity) with green brands. These findings are important for business strategy formulation by providing empirical support for the idea that a firm should invest its resources not only to project its environmentally friendly brands but also to build consumers' concern for environmental values and their attitude towards green products. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment