"Things were better before”: what is the power of nostalgia toward the brand?
(2012) 11th International Marketing Trends Conference — Location: Venice, Italy (19.January.2012)
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- Authors
- Abstract
- The growing interest of companies for nostalgia such as branding strategies has witnessed the emergence of a profusion of marketing research on nostalgia since 1979. Nowadays prior researchers have made a distinction between nostalgic brands and non-nostalgic brands and have found no agreement on the definition and the composition of a nostalgic brand. However the level of nostalgia evoked by a brand may vary from one consumer to another as well as from one nostalgic brand to another. Therefore this paper aims at seeking: 1) a depth understanding of the features characterizing the level of nostalgia evoked by a brand that we call the power of nostalgia toward the brand, 2) a definition of the power of nostalgia toward the brand. It points towards qualitative research by conducting six focus groups with consumers. Our findings suggest that a high level of brand awareness as well as an occasional consumption or buying of the brand are two conditions to satisfy otherwise a brand could not elicit nostalgia. Moreover three characteristics that form the power of nostalgia toward the brand are revealed: perceived oldness of brand, recall of consumers’ lived or learned past memories and elicitation of feelings. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed and further research opportunities are highlighted.
- Affiliations
Louvain School of Management Marketing
Citations
Bartier, A.-L. (2012). “Things were better before”: what is the power of nostalgia toward the brand? 11th International Marketing Trends Conference, Venice, Italy. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/161321