Brand Nostalgia Research Articles

Hospitality customer intentions to write fake online reviews: A cross-cultural approach

This paper examines the antecedents and consequences of customer intentions to write fake online reviews on Agoda.com as a case in the hospitality context. Brand nostalgia, brand strength, moral attitude, review-related skepticism, and perceived unfairness were represented as antecedents of customer intentions, while boycott behavior, willingness to pay a price premium, and customer satisfaction were represented as consequences of their intentions. Data was gathered using a structured survey from 373 Italian, 440 French, and 392 British customers. Findings present significant insights into customer intentions to write fake online reviews. In addition, multi-group analysis highlights the differences among nationalities. This paper provides valuable insights for industry professionals and policymakers in the hospitality industry.

Role of brand heritage and nostalgia in developing perceived brand authenticity

Purpose With the increasing competition and rise in the number of brands in almost every product category, consumers need help to figure out authentic brands. Thus, it becomes imperative for marketers to examine the factors that influence the perceptions of brand authenticity (PBA) and its favorable outcomes for the brand. This paper aims to explore the critical antecedents (i.e. “brand heritage” and “brand nostalgia”) and consequences [i.e. “consumer brand engagement” (CBE) and “perceived brand ownership” (PBO)] of PBA in this study. Design/methodology/approach In total, 368 responses were collected online through a self-administered survey method and were analyzed using structural equation modeling in AMOS v 25. Findings The findings reveal that both brand heritage and brand nostalgia can affect PBA. In addition, PBA engenders CBE and PBO among consumers toward the brand. Practical implications The study findings help the marketers to find ways to induce authenticity perceptions among consumers about their brands, which can further translate into PBO and CBE. Originality/value This study empirically verifies a model to enhance PBA through brand heritage and nostalgia. Further, it explores CBE and PBO as the potential outcomes of PBA.

Investigating nostalgia’s influence on brand love

PurposeThe present study aims to deepen the understanding of the relationship between nostalgic brand positioning, nostalgic brand relationship dimensions and brand love.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on the data collected from 401 citizens of Tehran aged over 18 years old. Respondents admitted that they have felt love for at least one Iranian brand in their lives. The data collected from a questionnaire and the hypothesized relationships were analyzed using the partial least squares approach using Smart PLS.FindingsThe results showed that nostalgic brand positioning positively and significantly impacts nostalgic brand relationship dimensions. Also, there was a positive and significant relationship between nostalgic brand relationship dimensions and brand love. Nostalgic brand positioning has a significant effect on brand love through the mediating role of the nostalgic brand relationship.Originality/valueThe major contribution of this research is that, based on the construal level theory and literature review, the authors developed a conceptual model in which nostalgic brand relationship dimensions, i.e. emotional attachment, brand local iconness, and brand authenticity, explain how nostalgic brand positioning results in brand love.

The Impact of Nostalgia on Brand Resurrection and Iconness: The Importance of Being Local

This study aims to examine the role of nostalgic brand positioning in influencing purchase intention and the use of e-WOM with national and local Mexican brands. Accordingly, a system of seven hypotheses embedded in a conceptual framework is proposed and empirically tested. Constructs have been assessed using a structured questionnaire with 365 respondents. Partial least squares structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses. The study’s findings reveal that nostalgic brand positioning has a significant impact on brand iconness and brand resurrection, both have the effect of influencing purchase intention, and purchase intention has an impact on e-WOM. Hence, the moderation results suggest that the effects of nostalgic brand positioning on brand iconness and brand resurrection are more prominent for local brands than national ones. Additionally, a multigroup analysis was conducted to identify the effect of generational cohorts. This study provides valuable information for marketing professionals in terms of designing and implementing effective strategies to revive iconic brands, especially local ones, and promote purchase intentions through the benefit of word-of-mouth through social media.

Effects of brand spokes-characters with personal and historical nostalgia on brand attitude: evidence from Generation Z consumers in China

PurposeUsing Generation Z consumers from China as an example and focusing on the nostalgia-driven design of brand spokes-character, this study sought to update research on the causal relationship between nostalgia and brand attitude for younger consumers. Two types of nostalgic brand spokes-characters (i.e., eliciting personal nostalgia and historical nostalgia) were examined separately and compared to verify their contributions to more positive brand attitude, as well as related mechanisms, that is, whether consumer trust in the spokes-character mediated the relationship between nostalgic spokes-characters and brand attitude.Design/methodology/approachAn experiment was first conducted to test the causal effects of brand spokes-characters designed to elicit two types of nostalgic feelings (i.e., personal nostalgia and historical nostalgia). Then, the authors investigated the influencing mechanism of nostalgic brand spokes-characters based on bootstrap mediation models.FindingsThe results revealed that for less familiar brand spokes-characters, either type of nostalgia-driven design would enhance consumers' brand attitude. Moreover, consumer trust in the spokes-character mediated the relationship between personal-nostalgic brand spokes-characters and brand attitude.Originality/valueThis study was the first to examine personal nostalgia and historical nostalgia separately regarding the effects of nostalgic spokes-characters and related mechanisms. By combining methods of experimental design and bootstrap mediation modeling, it provided a more robust evaluation of nostalgia-driven design, and supported using certain nostalgic styles for designing brand spokes-characters, which can help modern brands draw more interest from young consumers and promote more positive brand attitude.

Influences of Customers Nostalgic Proneness on Their Brand Cognition Based on the ABC Model of Attitude

As the economic environment and social culture change dramatically, nowadays there are numerous opportunities for the nostalgic brand in China to regain competitive advantages. Grounded on the affective, behavior, and cognition (ABC) model of attitude, this paper aims to clarify the relationship between customers nostalgic proneness, purchase intention, and brand cognition to explain the mechanism of nostalgic consumption. Taking the big white rabbit brand as an example, a structural equation model was used after the constructs were empirically confirmed by reliability and validity tests. Customers nostalgic proneness is found to be positively correlated with their brand cognition and the nostalgic brand is advised to fully exert its potential.

Social media activism for resurrecting deleted brands: the role of consumers’ psychological reactance

When companies delete brands, devoted, yet unhappy consumers experience psychological reactance and initiate brand resurrection movements (BRMs) to bring their beloved brand back into their lives. In this Web 2.0 era, numerous consumer-led activism initiatives have been launched via social media to resurrect dead brands. On the other hand, relaunching a deleted brand is a crucial decision for a company and involves various financial and strategic implications. Therefore, it becomes imperative for brand managers to understand the drivers of BRMs. This research investigates the role of nostalgic brand love, threat to freedom, and psychological reactance as drivers of social media activism for brand resurrection by surveying 499 participants of a real BRM who utilized social media to successfully bring their cherished brand back into the market. The findings show that psychological reactance partially mediates the relationship between threat to freedom and social media activism for brand resurrection, and fully mediates the relationship between nostalgic brand love and social media activism for brand resurrection. This research contributes to the brand management and marketing literature by (1) applying psychological reactance theory to BRMs, (2) introducing a new second-order construct (nostalgic brand love), and (3) expounding the mediating role of psychological reactance.

Brand resurrections: How past and present narrations impact consumer reactions towards resurrected utilitarian brands

In the context of brand resurrections, we do not know how past and present narrations influence consumers’ reactions towards resurrected brands. Based on the concepts of “there-being” (Dasein) and “becoming” (Zukommen) we conducted two experiments focused on two utilitarian brands and manipulating past and present narrations (three scenarios). Because a resurrected utilitarian brand implicitly refers to both an authentic “there-being” and to the usefulness of the product/service, the results show that the single use of high present narration triggers more positive consumer reactions than the single use of high past narration. In parallel, the mix of past and present narrations generates more positive brand reactions than the single use of high present narration or the single use of high past narration. Moreover, the present research suggests that in order to explain consumers' reactions towards utilitarian brand resurrections, managers should ensure the brand credibility, since it is a stronger lever than brand nostalgia.

It Reminds Me of My Happy Childhood: The Influence of a Brand Logo’s Holiday Atmosphere on Merchandise-Related Nostalgic Preference

The holiday atmosphere abounds in marketing campaigns. The present research examines how the holiday atmosphere of a brand logo influences consumers’ merchandise-related nostalgic preference. Across three studies, the authors find that when consumers are exposed to brand logos with a strong (vs. weak) holiday atmosphere, they prefer nostalgic products (Study 1). This effect occurs because consumers exposed to a strong (vs. weak) holiday atmosphere generate more childhood imagery, resulting in significantly more choices of nostalgic products (Study 2). Additionally, the paper finds that the effect of the holiday atmosphere of a brand logo on merchandise-related nostalgic preference—here, the preference for products of nostalgic brands—does not occur for non-traditional holidays (Study 3). These findings make important contributions to the literature on holiday marketing, logo design and nostalgic marketing.

On the Trail of a Nostalgic Adventure

This article examines the music of the Pokémon franchise through the concept of nostalgic potential—a newly coined term defined as music’s capacity to evoke, enhance, and exploit wistful sentiment through specific and identifiable musical elements. The nostalgia identified here is childhood brand nostalgia, a concept identified by A. B. Shields and J. W. Johnson, a particularly potent form of this emotion of reminiscence for a person’s youth upon exposure to a brand or franchise. This article will illuminate how we can identify specific musical elements as contributing to the nostalgic potential of musical material by using newly adapted gestural analytical techniques. In identifying such elements, analyses will point to how we can determine the locus of the nostalgic potential, in this case, as being located in the sense of adventure, a key ludic component of Pokémon video game iterations. This article will outline two case studies that greatly contribute to the generation, evocation, enhancement, and exploitation of the nostalgic potential located in two video game music texts—namely the Pokémon Center theme and Route/Wild Area music across multiple franchise iterations. This research substantially contributes to our understanding of nostalgia in relation to musical texts whilst providing a new, workable, and sufficiently adaptable framework for identifying how childhood brand nostalgia—and by extension, other forms of nostalgia—can be evoked and enhanced by video game music texts and their franchises.

Impact of brand nostalgia on intention to purchase brand extensions: moderating role of brand attachment

PurposeThe study aims to investigate the impact of brand nostalgia, self-brand connections and parent brand trust on brand extension purchase intention. Additionally, the research examines the moderating effect of brand attachment on the link between brand nostalgia and intention to purchase brand extensions, as well as the relationship between self-brand connections and intention to purchase brand extensions.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected data from 458 respondents in India using a cross-sectional survey research methodology. The collected data were analysed in two stages in SPSS, using structural equation modelling and the process macro bootstrapping method.FindingsThe study’s results indicate that although brand nostalgia and self-brand linkages exert a favourable impact on intention to purchase brand extensions, this effect is not significant when it comes to brand trust. Brand attachment acts as a moderator between brand nostalgia and the intention to purchase brand extensions. Additionally, brand attachment acts as a moderator between self-brand connections and the intention to purchase brand extensions.Research limitations/implicationsThe study adds to the consumer–brand relationship and brand extension literature by proposing and empirically testing a comprehensive model that determines the role of brand nostalgia in the formation of self-brand connections with the brand, trust in the parent brand and, finally, the intention to purchase brand extensions. Additionally, it examines if consumers’ attachment to the parent brand increases or decreases their intention to purchase brand extensions.Practical implicationsConsumer brand nostalgia may be leveraged while introducing brand extensions into the market. What is more, managers could use brand attachment to enhance the impact of brand nostalgia for favourable brand expansion assessments.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to examine the influence of brand nostalgia and self-brand connections on the intention to purchase brand extensions. Besides, it tests the moderating impact of brand attachment on the relationship between brand nostalgia and intention to purchase brand extensions.

Using brands to reconnect with our shared past: brand nostalgia in romantic relationships

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the behavioral and emotional outcomes of nostalgic brand meanings derived from brand use that occurs in the early stages of a romantic relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses survey data (n = 656) and relies on structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses.FindingsRelationship brand nostalgia has implications for how the relationship partners use the brand together as part of celebrating special occasions, how connected the brand is to their relational identity and how upset they would be if the brand was discontinued. Additionally, interpersonal relationship characteristics (relationship satisfaction and relationship power) influence these outcomes of relationship brand nostalgia.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings from this research show that it is important to account for real (experienced) brand nostalgia when considering behavioral and emotional implications of nostalgia in consumer–brand relationships. Specifically, brand use as part of early romantic relationship milestones influences the creation of nostalgic brand meanings, which in turn influence shared brand use, relational brand connections and brand separation distress.Practical implicationsBrand managers can increase relational brand connections and brand separation distress by encouraging shared brand use as part of romantic relationships milestones.Originality/valueThis research addresses gaps in extant research by examining the outcomes of relationship brand nostalgia, which is defined as brand nostalgia anchored in shared brand use that occurred as part of early relationship milestones.

Can brand anthropomorphism trigger emotional brand attachment?

ABSTRACT Although brand anthropomorphism has received considerable attentions, research on the relationship between brand anthropomorphism and emotional brand attachment is limited. In hospitality industry context, we conducted three experiments to examine the influence of brand anthropomorphism on emotional brand attachment. It was found that anthropomorphic brand significantly enhances emotional brand attachment. We also demonstrated that the reason why consumers exposed to anthropomorphic brand display greater emotional brand attachment is that their positive affect is activated. Regarding the boundary conditions, we shed lights on social exclusion and brand nostalgia. Consumers who experienced social exclusion reported more positive effect and emotional brand attachment when they were exposed to anthropomorphic brand versus non-anthropomorphic brand. In addition, we found significant moderating effects of brand nostalgia. We observed that the relationships between brand anthropomorphism and positive affect and brand anthropomorphism and emotional brand attachment are stronger for consumers with feelings of brand nostalgia than those not.

The power of brand nostalgia: Contrasting brand personality dimensions and consumer‐brand relationships of nostalgic and non‐nostalgic brands

AbstractIntegrating the theories of nostalgia, brand personality, and consumer‐brand relationships, this research examined the power of nostalgia in explaining brand personality dimensions and five relational constructs. Online survey data across two separate studies (n = 374 for both studies) with two different sets of nostalgic and non‐nostalgic brands was collected via Amazon MTurk with U.S. based participants to unravel relationships between constructs. The data analysis revealed that nostalgic brands received stronger ratings on the brand personality dimensions of sincerity, excitement, and competence in both studies. In other words, the nostalgic status of brands served as a differentiator to account for the strength of brand personality dimensions. Nostalgic brands also showed stronger brand attachment, self‐brand connections, separation distress, relationship quality, and brand engagement behaviors on social media rather than non‐nostalgic brands. These findings provide the utility of nostalgia as a marketing communication tactic that can enhance important brand‐related outcomes. Furthermore, the sincerity and excitement brand personality dimensions appeared to be important mediators to explain the link between the nostalgic status of brands and relational outcomes in both studies. Theoretically, this research advances our knowledge of the theoretical mechanism behind how the nostalgic status of brands elucidates consumer‐brand relationships by exploring the mediating role of perceived brand personality. Practically, the findings provide strategic insights into the power of channeling nostalgia in retro‐marketing campaigns by maintaining or emphasizing brand personality (e.g., sincerity, excitement, or competence), which leads to desired relational marketing outcomes.

The role of nostalgic brand positioning in capturing brand equity: Theoretical extension and analysis

AbstractDrawing on construal level theory, basic psychological need‐candidate theory and gender schema theory, this study aims to develop a multilevel framework that explains how nostalgic brand positioning increases brand equity via nostalgic brand relationship dimensions (i.e., brand passion, brand local iconness and brand authenticity). Moreover, we posit that brand innovativeness and customer gender are important boundary conditions for these indirect effects of nostalgic brand positioning on brand equity through the nostalgic brand relationship dimensions. To this end, a convenience sample of N = 1,171 respondents was used to inspect the hypotheses in settings relating to the fast‐moving consumer goods industry. Results show a positive indirect effect of nostalgic brand positioning on brand equity through brand passion, brand local iconness and brand authenticity. Moreover, moderation results reveal that the effect of nostalgic brand positioning on brand passion and brand authenticity was more salient when brand innovativeness was lower; however, for brand authenticity, the effect was more pronounced when brand innovativeness was higher. Similarly, findings relating to the moderation effect of customer gender indicate that nostalgic brand positioning has a greater effect on brand passion and brand authenticity for females than for their male counterparts. Conversely, for brand iconness, the effect was equally important for both males and females. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are provided and limitations are acknowledged.

The role of social media in communication of nostalgic brands

The aim of this article is to evaluate the role of social media in communication of nostalgic brands. We concentrate especially on the possibilities of using virtual brand communities to reinforce relations between nostalgic brands and consumers’ identity. The data collection was carried out based on the direct and indirect methods of gathering information, using one-to-one interview technique (1st stage) and online survey technique (2nd stage). Research was conducted among 1000 Polish consumers. The research results prove that nostalgia is important in creating and expressing consumers’ identity especially thanks to the belonging to the virtual brands communities. It was confirmed that the brand relationship with the consumer’s identity is higher for nostalgic brands than for non-nostalgic brands. The research results show also that the willingness to belong to virtual brand community is higher for nostalgic brands than for non-nostalgic brands. The results of this study illustrate the importance of the brand communities and social aspects of nostalgia in social media communication.

Uloga nostalgije u emocionalnom povezivanju potrošača sa brendovima

Nostalgia is one of the basic human emotions, therefore the sentimental longing for something from the past is a feeling that most people recognize. The desire and pity for childhood is characteristic of all generations, which is why nostalgic marketing is considered a successful and valuable marketing strategy, which brings modernized versions of past objects and experiences and makes the old become new again. The main purpose of nostalgic marketing and nostalgic brands is to enable consumers to travel through time, back to early childhood and to remember their pleasant experiences and memories, and even to see themselves from a different time perspective. Such brands attract the attention of the audience by flirting with older, proven and well-known trends from the past, which evokes positive memories for consumers. This paper seeks to bring together and present information that can help companies and marketing professionals more easily decide on a nostalgic marketing strategy. Although many world-renowned companies today use nostalgic brands and nostalgic appeals to expand the target market and bridge the generation gap and beat competition in the market, the potential of this effective marketing approach is underused. For this reason, the main goal of the paper is to analyze the collected information from the available scientific literature and to offer new guidelines to experts in this field. Implementing a nostalgic marketing strategy and creating nostalgic brands creates an unbreakable emotional connection with consumers, in turn, consumers are willing to make a purchase, just to reminisce about their past memories and once again experience a sense of independence and belonging from childhood. Marketing experts would have to find a balance between the old and the new, that is, to create a modern turn towards the old product. Nostalgic brands, in today's demanding market, should meet modern standards, but in that process of modernization they should not desecrate the basic concept with which consumers once grew up.

Empirically Investigating Extraneous Influences on the “APCO” Model—Childhood Brand Nostalgia and the Positivity Bias

Pokémon Go is one of the most successful mobile games of all time. Millions played and still play this mobile augmented reality (AR) application, although severe privacy issues are pervasive in the app due to its use of several sensors such as location data and camera. In general, individuals regularly use online services and mobile apps although they might know that the use is associated with high privacy risks. This seemingly contradictory behavior of users is analyzed from a variety of different perspectives in the information systems domain. One of these perspectives evaluates privacy-related decision making processes based on concepts from behavioral economics. We follow this line of work by empirically testing one exemplary extraneous factor within the “enhanced APCO model” (antecedents–privacy concerns–outcome). Specific empirical tests on such biases are rare in the literature which is why we propose and empirically analyze the extraneous influence of a positivity bias. In our case, we hypothesize that the bias is induced by childhood brand nostalgia towards the Pokémon franchise. We analyze our proposition in the context of an online survey with 418 active players of the game. Our results indicate that childhood brand nostalgia influences the privacy calculus by exerting a large effect on the benefits within the trade-off and, therefore, causing a higher use frequency. Our work shows two important implications. First, the behavioral economics perspective on privacy provides additional insights relative to previous research. However, the effects of several other biases and heuristics have to be tested in future work. Second, relying on nostalgia represents an important, but also double-edged, instrument for practitioners to market new services and applications.

How Nostalgia Affects Brand Equity? Consumers’ Attitudes Towards Nostalgic Generational and Transgenerational Brands

Purpose: The article aims to expand the nostalgic brand management area by empirically examining the impact of nostalgia on all components of brand equity and, consequently, on the consumers’ attitudes and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach: The research was conducted in the form of direct and indirect communication with 1000 Polish respondents using the personal and online survey techniques. Two main stages of research were carried out in the fourth quarter of 2018. Findings: The results confirm that consumers are nostalgic towards both generational and transgenerational brands, what positively affects the perceived quality of brands, associations connected with them, as well as consumers’ loyalty. The rating of nostalgic brands equity is higher than in case of brands perceived as non-nostalgic, with the exception of brands from the automotive industry. The nostalgic brands equity depends on age of the respondents but is not dependent on the consumers’ gender. It was also confirmed that brand equity is rated higher in case of nostalgic transgenerational brands than the generational ones. Practical Implications: The results can serve as a guide for managers in implementing the nostalgic brand strategy. Originality/value: The consumers’ attitudes were evaluated considering the type of the nostalgic brand.

A Hierarchy of Acceptable Changes for Audiences of Nostalgic Narrative Media Brands

ABSTRACT This research used the branding concepts of brand nostalgia and brand heritage to examine and understand the changes that audiences will accept to a narrative media brand, a term proposed by this research to help distinguish between different types of media brands with the aim of focusing and advancing media branding research into fictional media. Narrative media brands involve a continuing fictional narrative such as the Pokémon brand chosen for this research. The context was Reddit comments posted about three trailers for the ‘I Choose You’ movie before its 2017 release to celebrate 20 years of the franchise. 574 Reddit posts were downloaded and analyzed using Leximancer software and an adaptation of netnography. It was found that changes that respected the audiences’ parasocial relationships with the characters, as well as their perceptions of the brand’s heritage, were acceptable. However, changes that audiences believed would threaten and undermine these relationships and the brand’s heritage were not. This is presented in a pyramid hierarchy to conceptualize and categorize the level of change deemed acceptable by audiences. This research extends media branding research beyond seminal concepts by applying the concepts of brand nostalgia and brand heritage to a narrative media brand. The hierarchy has practical applications for the writers, producers, and brand managers of narrative media brands.