Nostalgia decreases green consumption: The mediating role of past orientation

Abstract

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for one’s past, can influence consumption behavior. The present research investigates how nostalgia affects green consumption. Specifically, we propose that high nostalgia, chronic or primed, can lower consumers’ preference for green (vs regular) products. Results across four studies show that high-nostalgia consumers have lower preference for green products compared with low-nostalgia consumers. This effect is mediated by past orientation, such that high-nostalgia consumers tend to dwell on the past, which brings preference to the older products, usually regular rather than green ones that have future connotations, they grew up with. In addition, we find that mortality salience (MS) moderates the effect of nostalgia on green product preference, such that the negative effect of nostalgia on the preference for green products would be enhanced (vs mitigated) when MS is high (vs low). Implications for research and practice are discussed. JEL CLASSIFICATION M3