Dongguk University WISE Campus Doctoral Student Publishes SSCI-Indexed Article on Brand Loyalty in China

— Empirical Study Reveals the Roles of Technological Aesthetics, Brand Globalness, and Consumer Animosity —

Dongguk University WISE Campus (President Ryu, Wanha) announced that Jing-Yi Guo, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Business Administration, and Professor You-Kyung Lee have published a research article in the SSCI-indexed journal Journal of Korea Trade (Vol. 29, No. 8, December 2025).

The article, titled “When Aesthetics Meets Animosity: Brand Loyalty for Imported Appliances in China through Brand Globalness and PAD,” investigates how technological aesthetics influences brand loyalty among Chinese consumers of South Korean and Japanese home appliance brands.

Grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework, the study develops and empirically tests a moderated mediation model. It demonstrates that technological aesthetics enhances brand loyalty both directly and indirectly through two key mechanisms: (1) cognitive evaluation, represented by perceived brand globalness, and (2) affective response, conceptualized through the Pleasure–Arousal–Dominance (PAD) model. Furthermore, the study examines the moderating role of consumer animosity toward the brand’s country of origin.

The research is based on a large-scale online survey of 820 Chinese consumers with prior experience purchasing or using leading South Korean and Japanese home appliance brands. The findings reveal that technological aesthetics significantly strengthens brand loyalty across samples. Notably, the mediating effects were stronger for South Korean brands. In contrast, for Japanese brands, consumer animosity significantly weakened the positive influence of brand globalness on brand loyalty, highlighting a critical cross-national difference in loyalty formation mechanisms.

This study makes important theoretical and managerial contributions. It empirically validates technological aesthetics as a key antecedent of brand loyalty in international marketing contexts and clarifies the dual cognitive and affective pathways through which aesthetic perceptions translate into sustained consumer commitment. Moreover, by identifying consumer animosity as a boundary condition that selectively disrupts cognitive evaluations, the research provides nuanced strategic implications for foreign brands operating in politically sensitive and highly competitive markets such as China.

Jing-Yi Guo, the first author of the paper, graduated from a university in Qingdao, China, and subsequently completed her master’s degree at Dongguk University WISE Campus. She is currently enrolled in the doctoral program in Business Administration at the same institution.

Professor You-Kyung Lee, the corresponding author, commented, “This publication reflects rigorous theoretical development and robust empirical analysis. It is a meaningful achievement that showcases Ms. Guo’s strong research capability and commitment.”

Dongguk University WISE Campus continues to strengthen its global research competitiveness by actively supporting international graduate students and promoting high-impact scholarly output. The publication of this SSCI-indexed article stands as a notable example of the university’s expanding international academic presence.