▲ Doctoral candidate Do Jikang, Department of Spatial and Cultural Design, Kookmin University

The paper “Designing engaging experiences in physical bookstores: a composite approach using the experience economy and S-O-R model” by Ph.D. candidate Do Jikang (advisor: Professor Lee Sunjung) from the Spatial Environment Lab, Department of Spatial and Cultural Design, Graduate School of Techno Design, Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul), has been published in the international journal Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering (JAABE). JAABE is published by Taylor & Francis and is indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection's SCIE and A&HCI.

This study focused on the evolving role of offline bookstores amid the proliferation of digital environments. Student Do Jikang presented an analytical framework that integrates the experience economy theory and the S-O-R model to comprehensively explain the experience formation process and participation mechanisms of hybrid bookstore users. The findings verified that educational, recreational, deviant, and aesthetic experiences influence user participation through perceived value, satisfaction, and place attachment.

This study is particularly significant as it analyzes consumption and spatial experiences surrounding bookstores not as simple acts of use, but within the context of complex experiential structures and participatory relationships. It presents a new perspective connecting cultural consumption spaces and spatial design research, providing an academic opportunity to reconsider the role of physical spaces in the era of digital transformation.

Professor Lee Sunjung stated, “Sensitively reading the changes and phenomena of the times, interpreting them from the perspective of contemporary designers, and ensuring that interpretation possesses sufficient logical grounding and persuasiveness is an essential attitude for design researchers.” She added, “This study is significant in that it sheds new light on the meaning of physical bookstores amidst the transformation of digital transition and presents this persuasively through theory and empirical evidence.”

Student Do Jikang shared, “I've long been interested in the question of what meaning offline bookstores can hold today. Developing that interest into an academic question and concretizing it through research, under the guidance of my advisor, was particularly meaningful. I hope to expand this line of inquiry further and build upon it for a strong dissertation.”