When Aesthetics Meets Animosity: Brand Loyalty for Imported Appliances in China through Brand Globalness and PAD

Purpose – This study investigates how technological aesthetics influences brand loyalty among Chinese consumers of South Korean and Japanese home appliance brands. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, this research tests a model where affective response—Pleasure, Arousal, and Dominance (PAD)—and brand globalness mediate the primary relationship while consumer animosity moderates the underlying process. Design/Methodology – Grounded in a quantitative research design, this study collected survey data on Chinese consumers who purchased South Korean (n = 413) and Japanese (n = 407) home appliance brands. Moderated mediation analysis was conducted using the PROCESS macro to investigate the impacts on brand loyalty of technological aesthetics through brand globalness and PAD, plus the moderating role of consumer animosity, while controlling for brand awareness. Findings – Results show that technological aesthetics significantly enhances brand loyalty, both directly and indirectly, via brand globalness and PAD. Interestingly, while the mediating effect was stronger for South Korean brands, animosity negatively moderates the positive influence of affective response on brand loyalty, but only for the Japanese brands, highlighting a critical cross- national difference. Originality/value – This research makes two key contributions. First, it empirically validates the underexplored pathway where technological aesthetics shapes brand loyalty through brand globalness and affective response. Second, it uniquely demonstrates that consumer animosity moderates this process differently for South Korean brands versus Japanese brands. These nuanced findings offer critical strategic guidance for international brands operating in the competitive and politically charged Chinese market.