Although Malaysian market is deluged with value-for-money Malaysian brands since decades ago, not all the Malaysian brand achieved national recognition. The objective of this research is to develop a valid and reliable model of Malaysian brand equity by assessing the dimensions of the brand equity and its constructs. Based on 30 constructs, which were compiled from literatures, four variables were included for brand awareness, seventeen variables for brand association, five for perceived quality and four for brand loyalty. Factor Analysis was conducted to identify dimensions of brand equity and its constructs. Principal Component Analysis with subsequent rotation (varimax) was conducted on 30 constructs of a questionnaire. According to the four dimensions proposed by Aaker (1991) in the brand equity literature, a four factor solution that reduced the 30 constructs to four factors was chosen in this study. The factors produce a Cronbach alpha of 0.96, with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. The brand equity constructs with a loading below 0.6 were excluded from further analysis. 14 constructs remained in this study.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the differences in the process by which three types of self-congruity (actual, ideal and social) interact with the need for uniqueness (NFU) to influence brand loyalty via brand experience and brand attachment. Design/methodology/approach An online survey with 428 members of an Australian consumer panel. The data are analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings The results show that social self-congruity (SSC) has a direct effect on the brand attachment, but actual and ideal self-congruity (ASC and ISC) influence it only indirectly through brand experience. Moreover, the NFU strengthens the positive effect of ISC but weakens the effect of SSC on brand attachment. Research limitations/implications This study uses publicly consumed brands and the NFU as the moderator. Future research may study privately consumer brands and use other moderators, such as regulatory focus (promotion vs prevention). Originality/value This study extends current research on brand attachment by highlighting the positive influence of SSC on brand attachment. It also establishes the mediating role of brand experience and the moderating role of the NFU. These are new insights about the underlying process and the boundary conditions for the well-established relationship between self-congruity and brand attachment.

This study constructs a family director board governance index (FBGI) and examines its impact on the firm performance. This motivation is prompted by the literature and theoretical gaps. Despite the pervasiveness of family firms around the world and their significant contribution to the economy, past studies have not developed a board governance index to address the Type II agency conflict in family firms. A panel data of 1105 firm-year observations based on 221 family firms from 2016 to 2020 is used in this study. Two-way fixed-effects estimation with cluster-robust standard errors is employed to examine the association between the proposed FBGI and firm performance. System generalized method of moments is adopted to validate the results. The statistical results report a significant negative association between FBGI and firm performance. The findings suggest that Malaysian family firms have the tendency to tailor the board composition, and such composition is detrimental to the firm performance. The proposed index may be useful for the policy-makers and regulators to assess the board composition and governance role of family directors in Malaysian family firms. Furthermore, the index may be of interest to the potential investors of family firms when evaluating the board governance and making investment decisions.

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