Leila Khoshghadam, Elika Kordrostami and Yuping Liu-Thompkins
This paper aims to examine the role of life satisfaction in consumers’ reaction to nostalgic music in an advertisement in terms of attitude toward the brand and purchase…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the role of life satisfaction in consumers’ reaction to nostalgic music in an advertisement in terms of attitude toward the brand and purchase intention. It suggests that life satisfaction forms the lens through which individuals interpret and reconstruct past emotional experiences evoked by nostalgia. It further investigates the role of product category involvement in the interplay between life satisfaction and nostalgic music.
Design/methodology/approach
Two experiments were conducted. The first study featured a 2 (nostalgic vs non-nostalgic music) × 2 (high vs low involvement) between-subjects design and tested the research hypotheses with 208 consumers. The second study featured two involvement conditions (high vs low) and explored the underlying process behind the hypotheses. Linear regression was used to analyze the data in both studies.
Findings
For the low involvement product category, nostalgic music was more effective than non-nostalgic music for consumers with high life satisfaction, whereas non-nostalgic music was more effective for consumers with low life satisfaction levels. For the high involvement product category, life satisfaction did not moderate consumers’ reaction to nostalgic music.
Research limitations/implications
This research suggests that past experiences evoked through nostalgic music are not static but are subject to bias and interpretation depending on an individual’s current mindset. Hence, the eventual effect of nostalgia is determined by how past events are reconstrued based on the individual’s current state.
Practical implications
This paper warns against the blind use of nostalgic appeals in advertising, points to the need to consider the audience’s state of mind, and suggests an opportunity to leverage life satisfaction influencers in designing effective advertising campaigns.
Social implications
The findings have strong implications for public policymakers. The results are crucial as policymakers often use public service announcement (PSA) to change the attitude of the public toward some phenomena. Knowing the current state of life satisfaction in society, they can increase the efficiency of public service announcements by including a nostalgic song in them.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first one in the marketing literature that looks at the efficiency of nostalgic songs in advertisements. The authors tested the conceptual framework by using two studies and offered novel implications to both marketers and scholars.
Details
Keywords
Sudhir Rana, Sachin Kumar Raut, Sanjeev Prashar and Majdi Anwar Quttainah
The use of nostalgia in the marketing domain has been popular around the world. Nostalgia has been considered a complex yet ambivalent emotion, which has ignited curiosity among…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of nostalgia in the marketing domain has been popular around the world. Nostalgia has been considered a complex yet ambivalent emotion, which has ignited curiosity among marketing researchers and practitioners alike. In response to calls from marketing practitioners and scholars to understand nostalgia formation among consumers, this study tracks the evolution of nostalgia concepts in the domains of marketing and, more generally, business management. This study aims to highlight the development of a theoretical framework to integrate existing concepts and offer implications based on understanding nostalgia as a phenomenon among consumers as a tool for marketing practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is descriptive and inductive in nature. The manuscript is designed and positioned as a conceptual study exploring nostalgia’s journey from the domain of psychology to business management. The study synthesizes concepts of nostalgia from psychology, sociology and business management.
Findings
The study reveals that nostalgia in the business-management domain is not perceived in the same way as in psychology studies. It has journeyed through different schools of thought and is now used as an impactful marketing practice. The manuscript offers relevant information to marketing practitioners to improve their nostalgia marketing strategies, such as advertising and promotions, retro-branding, crowd-sourcing and culturally oriented practice. Subsequently, the manuscript offers pointers for understanding consumers across the generations and exploring nostalgia and consumption patterns for future research.
Research limitations/implications
The manuscript offers relevant information about nostalgia to marketing practitioners to improve their nostalgia marketing strategies and proposes avenues for future research to the domain scholars.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no comprehensive paper tracking the journey of nostalgia in business practices and providing directions for future research. This study extends existing literature both by suggesting future research directions and by drawing marketing practitioners’ attention to a conceptual framework for understanding the processes of and relationships with consumer nostalgia, including ways to use consumer nostalgia within marketing practices.