Research Article

What makes Chinese ancient-style pop songs appealing? The roles of song quality and emotional resonance

Volume: 11 Number: 4 October 26, 2026
TR EN

What makes Chinese ancient-style pop songs appealing? The roles of song quality and emotional resonance

Abstract

Chinese ancient-style pop songs integrate traditional cultural elements with contemporary popular music, and have developed a relatively stable audience base, but the mechanisms underlying listeners’ song preferences remain insufficiently understood from a systematic empirical perspective. Based on Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) theory, this study builds a research model with lyric quality, melody quality, arrangement quality, audio production quality and vocal performance quality serve as antecedents, emotional resonance acts as a mediator, and song liking is treated as the outcome variable. Through 924 valid questionnaires, this study employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses, and applies Importance–Performance Map Analysis (IMPA), Relative Importance Analysis (RIA), and a procedure for assessing out-of-sample predictive power (PLSpredict) to examine factor importance, ranking robustness, and predictive relevance. The results show that all five song components have a significant positive impact on emotional resonance and song liking. Emotional resonance also significantly improves song liking and plays a complementary partial mediating role. Further analysis shows that emotional resonance is the primary factor affecting song liking; among the components of songs that can be optimized, lyric quality is the most critical, followed by vocal performance quality. The PLSpredict results further demonstrate that the model has good out-of-sample predictive relevance. This study extends the application of SOR theory in the study of music acceptance, and provides an empirical basis for the creation and production optimization of Chinese ancient-style pop songs.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Musicology and Ethnomusicology

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

October 26, 2026

Submission Date

July 28, 2026

Acceptance Date

October 7, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 11 Number: 4

APA
Haijie, H. (2026). What makes Chinese ancient-style pop songs appealing? The roles of song quality and emotional resonance. Online Journal of Music Sciences, 11(4), 1682-1706. https://doi.org/10.31811/ojomus.2000593
AMA
1.Haijie H. What makes Chinese ancient-style pop songs appealing? The roles of song quality and emotional resonance. ojomus. 2026;11(4):1682-1706. doi:10.31811/ojomus.2000593
Chicago
Haijie, He. 2026. “What Makes Chinese Ancient-Style Pop Songs Appealing? The Roles of Song Quality and Emotional Resonance”. Online Journal of Music Sciences 11 (4): 1682-1706. https://doi.org/10.31811/ojomus.2000593.
EndNote
Haijie H (October 1, 2026) What makes Chinese ancient-style pop songs appealing? The roles of song quality and emotional resonance. Online Journal of Music Sciences 11 4 1682–1706.
IEEE
[1]H. Haijie, “What makes Chinese ancient-style pop songs appealing? The roles of song quality and emotional resonance”, ojomus, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 1682–1706, Oct. 2026, doi: 10.31811/ojomus.2000593.
ISNAD
Haijie, He. “What Makes Chinese Ancient-Style Pop Songs Appealing? The Roles of Song Quality and Emotional Resonance”. Online Journal of Music Sciences 11/4 (October 1, 2026): 1682-1706. https://doi.org/10.31811/ojomus.2000593.
JAMA
1.Haijie H. What makes Chinese ancient-style pop songs appealing? The roles of song quality and emotional resonance. ojomus. 2026;11:1682–1706.
MLA
Haijie, He. “What Makes Chinese Ancient-Style Pop Songs Appealing? The Roles of Song Quality and Emotional Resonance”. Online Journal of Music Sciences, vol. 11, no. 4, Oct. 2026, pp. 1682-06, doi:10.31811/ojomus.2000593.
Vancouver
1.He Haijie. What makes Chinese ancient-style pop songs appealing? The roles of song quality and emotional resonance. ojomus. 2026 Oct. 1;11(4):1682-706. doi:10.31811/ojomus.2000593