Kyungin Ryu, Ph.D.

Kyungin Ryu is an assistant professor of marketing at the Lam Family College of Business, specializing in branding, consumer spirituality, and storytelling. Her research blends interpretive methods, text mining, and experiments.

Kyungin’s doctoral dissertation examines how consumers develop and lose faith in brands, and why they turn to brands for spiritual fulfillment. Building on this work, she continues to explore the role of brands in shaping modern consumer lifestyles, resulting from the disruption of traditional religions and the rise of spiritual-but-not-religious individuals. Also, she has published research on mindfulness, using text mining to analyze how academics, consumers, and marketers define the concept in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, as well as two journal articles on brand storytelling in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, and a book chapter in Discourse Analysis of Language, Literacy, Culture, and Teaching.

In the classroom, she draws on both her academic background and her experience as an industry practitioner to prepare students for a competitive job market. Having worked in the field, she combines real-world insights with academic theory, aiming to equip students with both critical thinking skills and practical expertise. She creates hands-on learning experiences by inviting guest speakers from industry and assigning projects like business proposals that reflect actual business practices. Her teaching emphasizes approachability, engagement, and inclusion to foster a supportive and dynamic learning environment.

Research Interests

• Consumer-brand Relationships
• Consumer Spirituality
• Brand Storytelling
• Consumer Behavior

Education Summary 

• Ph.D. in Marketing, University of Massachusetts – Amherst
• M.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University
• B.E. In Economics and Financial Economics, Ewha Womans University

Ryu, Kyungin (2023). The Importance of Language: A Comparison of Consumer and Academic Definitions of Mindfulness, Journal of Consumer Affairs, 57(2), 943–71. https://doi-org/10.1111/joca.12530

Ryu, Kyungin, Lehto, Xinran Y., Gordon, Susan. E., & Fu, X. (2019). Effect of a brand story structure on narrative transportation and perceived brand image of luxury hotels. Tourism Management, 71, 348-363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.10.021

Ryu, K., Lehto, X. Y., Gordon, S. E., & Fu, X. (2018). Compelling brand storytelling for luxury hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 74, 22-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.02.002

Ives, Denise. & Ryu, Kyungin. (2024). Using Narrative Theory to Design Compelling Brand Stories. In Discourse Analysis of Language, Literacy, Culture, and Teaching (pp. 99-116). Routledge.

Peer-Reviewed Proceedings (*presenter)

Ryu, Kyungin*, Elizabeth G. Miller and D. Matthew Godfrey, “Acts of Faith and the Development of Consumer Spiritual Beliefs in Brands,” presented at the Association for Consumer Research, Paris, France, September 2024.

Ryu, Kyungin*, Elizabeth G. Miller and D. Matthew Godfrey, “Acts of Faith and the Development of Consumer Spiritual Beliefs in Brands,” presented at Consumer Culture Theory Conference, San Diego, CA, July 2024.

Ryu, Kyungin*, Elizabeth G. Miller and D. Matthew Godfrey, “Enhancing Existential Meaning through Brand Faith Development,” presented at Winter American Marketing Association, Nashville, TN, February 2023.

Ryu, Kyungin*, Elizabeth G. Miller and D. Matthew Godfrey, “Brand Faith: How Consumers Develop Faith in Brands,” presented at Association for Consumer Research, Denver, CO, October 2022.

Ryu, Kyungin*, Elizabeth G. Miller and D. Matthew Godfrey, “How Do Consumers Develop Faith in Technological Brands?: Defining Brand Faith and its Development,” presented at Consumer Culture Theory Conference, Corvallis, OR, July 2022.

• Selected as a participant in the Qualitative Data Analysis Workshop

Ryu, Kyungin*, Xinran Lehto, Susan E. Gordon, and Xiaoxiao Fu, “Effect of Brand Story Structure on Luxury Hotel Consumers’ Narrative Transportation,” Featured speaker, presented at the Annual International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education, Palm Springs, CA, July 2018.

Ryu, Kyungin*, Xinran Lehto, Susan E. Gordon, and Xiaoxiao Fu, “Cultivating an Otaku Culture for Luxury Hotel Brands: The      Role of Storytelling,” presented at the 22nd Annual Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism, Houston, TX, January 2017.

• Nominated for Best Paper Award

Invited Presentations

• “The Importance of Language: A Comparison of Consumer and Academic Definitions of Mindfulness,” University of Massachusetts-Amherst (October, 2024)
• “Stages of Brand Faith: How Consumers Enhance Existential Meaning from Brands,” University of Massachusetts-Amherst (July, 2023), San Francisco State University (August, 2023), University of Richmond (August, 2023).

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium, 2023
• Fellow, AMS Doctoral Consortium, 2023
• Harold E. Hardy Scholarship, 2021, 2022, 2023
• Isenberg Doctoral Program Fellowship, 2019

Industry Experience

• Assistant Brand Manager, LG Household & Healthcare (2013-2015): responsible for new brand and product development for haircare brands and M&A valuation
• Service Strategic Marketing Intern, GE Healthcare (2012-2013): responsible for developing go-to-market strategies and marketing materials for GE service plans for hospital equipments
• Founder & CEO, Dream a Dream (a lecture company) (2010-2011): responsible for product development, marketing & sales, and fundraising.

Professional Memberships

• American Marketing Association
• Association for Consumer Research
• Consumer Culture Theory Consortium
• Academy of Marketing Science