The Role of Nostalgia in Marketing and Consumer Behavior

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THE ROLE OF NOSTALGIA IN MARKETING AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

1. Explaining the concept of Nostalgia as used in the marketing

domain

Marketing nostalgia; uses memories that make the target group feel good in an attempt to

control their purchasing decisions. This strategy appeals to the human’s need to return to the past

or nostalgia, youth or the preferable history. When developed correctly, emotional appeals

provoke consumers’ affections may lead to long-term relationships with the associated brands

nowadays. While in the 17th century nostalgia was considered as a medical issue, at present, this

concept is defined as a combination of nostalgia and delight or joyful recollection of the past

events. In other words, nostalgia can be defined as beliefs that are favorable to some extent about

objects, experiences, or brands that were more abundant in the youth of the consumer or in

different past periods (Holbrook, 1993). Such a feeling can be either self-referential and based on

a social actor’s own history of events or cultural history, that is history of the specific cultural

group to which the actor belongs (Wildschut et al., 2014). Historical nostalgia is the

remembrance of a time period earlier than the consumer’s own life and may be further from the

present than personal nostalgia. Nostalgia cannot be restricted to memories but is a combination

of feelings, imagination, and physical items that have associations with one’s past (Holak &

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Davis's seminal work "Yearning for Yesterday: The paper “A Sociology of Nostalgia” (1979)

opened up a way of considering nostalgia as a social affect with huge relevance to consumer

culture. Most studies in the marketing literature had been conducted during the 1990s and

focused works like Holbrook and Schindler (1991) who embraced nostalgia as a factor

influencing consumers’ preference for particular products. It was introduced during the time

when pop culture trends were shifting towards nostalgia and renaissance of past styles and

motives mostly in 50s and 60s styles. With the change of the millennium, having grown attention

to the nature of nostalgia in the create and sustenance of individual and shared self-

organizational identities (Belk, 199}; Sierra & McQuitty, 2007). Since the consumer experience

has been largely affected by digital technologies, studies have started exploring nostalgia through

theories. Self-continuity hypothesis asserts that people use nostalgia to help them establish and

maintain the self-continuity (Sedikides et al., 2009). This partly explains why a consumer will

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case perhaps even through rose-tinted glasses, (Sujan, 1985). In accordance with the

socioemotional selectivity theory, older consumers become more inclined towards experiences

that have emotional relevance and can be music-induced nostalgia appeals (Goulding, 2002).

Besides, nostalgia serves as a defense in reaction to loneliness, threats of existence, and

discontinuity (Zhou et al., 2008; Juhl et al., 2010; Routledge et al., 2011). The second component

of nostalgia is the collective one which have been described by Wildschut et al (2014) being

significantly important in the aspect of social relatedness, these psychological bases reveal why

nostalgia is such a compelling and effective concept in marketing that can mobilize ad renewal,

The tendencies characteristic for modern ideology of nostalgia marketing correspond to the

technological progression as well as the evolution of cultural values. New forms of nostalgic

this is a practice of presenting traditional or retro products as green products that can counter

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experiences have been developed to find those bonds with the past which consumers have always

sought for (Kessous & Roux, 2010).

Impact on consumer behavior

Nostalgia impacts different facets of consumers’ behavior A main survey and findings Several

studies have shown that nostalgia affects various consumer characteristics. Empirical studies

have revealed that stimuli which evoke nostalgic feelings can help boost the purchase intentions

for products that are linked to past experiences or cultural standards (Pascal et al., 2002).

Nostalgia also plays an important role in loyalty because consumers develop tendencies to relate

to brands which evoke special feelings or memories of the past (Kessous & Roux, 2013). South,

(2011) has stated that nostalgic appeals have a positive effect on the brand attitude ad reactive

towards the ad and brand with a comparison to non-nostalgic ads. It has been identified that

nostalgia often awakens different positive associations and consumers, for instance, do not mind

paying a lot of money for a toy that brings back their childhood memories or a car representing

yet there are possible negative implications that may be felt by consumers, as cited in Baker and

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2. Theoretical Frameworks

The conceptual models present important guide of knowledge with reference to marketing

applications of nostalgia, one needs to consider such psycho-social frameworks of individual and

collective nostalgia derived from psychology, sociology, and marketing research. They provide

information about the thinking, feeling and relating that occur with nostalgia also about the

context that shapes the experience. It is important therefore for marketers to have knowledge

about these theories so as to be in a position to deploy nostalgia in the marketing strategies and

most importantly to be in a position to work out how consumers are likely to react to the

nostalgia of several generations, culture, etc., Wildschut et al. (2014) explored collective

nostalgia as a form of emotions experienced by a group of people for a particular thing or event

that is beneficial to the group. Using this created common nostalgic platform, marketers are

therefore able to achieve an emotional appeal that is derived from appealing to common culture

that most people within a given society can easily associate with. For example, re-introduction of

a product that was famous in the 1980s will create nostalgia to people who grew up in that

decade whether or not they actually used the product. According to the theory, collective

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approach is well illustrated by campaigns that allude to significant picture scenes from the

popular culture or history, activities whose occurrences are still remembered to this particular

day, marketers need to be aware of the possible problems that are connected with the usage of

collective nostalgia. While Baker and Kennedy perfectly identify the key advantages of historical

advertising appeals, they also raise the danger Sign, that historical references can be

overestimated or even turned into a “false nostalgia” Appeal that will not be interpreted by all the

consumers of the target audience as natural. In addition, the last element regarding collective

memory theory links to the generational cohort concept in the field of marketing. It may

Schindler (1991) and it can be argued that consumers develop long-term attitude toward cultural

goods that originated from their childhood and youth may be useful in creating effective

segmentation for advertising. If applying to global marketing it is also important to remember

consumer attraction to brands or products that are associated with their past or resume the old

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a tender age will likely appeal to the consumers’ self-continuity perhaps contributing to high

brand allegiance. The psychological need that marketers can exploit in building a brand

encompasses the consistency aspect where marketers should come up with campaigns implying

that the brand or product has been a companion of the consumers throughout their stages in life,

the theory also tells why consumers may avoid change to known products or brands known to

them because these changes can imply some threat to self-continuity. This finding would be

useful when a marketer of a product is planning on conducting a redesign or change of a brand

identity, since the frequency of the product being associated with the consumer’s past is

processes connected to the introduction of new goods to the consumers as these new goods are

related to the brand the consumer has a relationship with. In the study by Loveland et al. (2010)

the authors described that people with a higher level of need for belonging exhibited increased

order to target the nostalgic appeal effectively.

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Cognitive appraisal theory

Another theory that was derived from the quality of emotion research is the cognitive appraisal

theory a framework that attempts to describes how in templates respond to stimuli, including

nostalgic cues. In this theory, emotions are held to stem from one’s appraisal of an event or

situation in the environment. Cognitive appraisal theory also directs attention on why some

stimuli elicit nostalgia and how the feelings elicited affect the consumers in the context of

nostalgia marketing. In its prediction, it is clear that nostalgic responses are not an inherent

psychological function or reflexive response but a product of one’s cognitive evaluations. Such

evaluations can be personal significance, goal congruency, and coping anticipating. For

emotions can be complex and may have more than one aspect grounded on appraisal dimensions.

Marketers using nostalgia should be cognizant of this psychological state; positive emotions may

be mixed with negative ones when consumers are targeted with familiar, nostalgic stimuli in a

marketing context. Similarly, cognitive appraisal theory would posit that even within the same

nostalgic stimulus, people could have different tendencies on how they would appraise the event

hence leading to differences in the emotional levels. In this regard, the matters expounded in the

paper are helpful for marketers to grasp the reason why some nostalgic campaigns would elicit

distinct reception among different segments of the population.

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Autobiographical memory

Episodic memory, is an area known for bearing records of various events and experiences in an

individuals’ life refers to nostalgia and its use in marketing, this type of memory is focused on

consumers’ interactions and responses in relation to brands, products, and advertisements that

trigger their personal history. Sujan (1985) also emphasized autobiographical memory which she

defined as memory that captured moments of the consumer activity and found out that memory

captures had a huge impact on consumer judgments thereby affecting their purchasing decisions.

Kirsh (2010, p. 165) carried out a study to understand the role of autobiographical memories that

link to the effects of nostalgia marketing whereby it was noted that such memories are ideal in

not always accurate and mirror past events in a way. According to Stern’s (1992) work on

nostalgia in advertising, people do not always tell the truth to the selves in the past, and tend to

think more positively of the past than it was. Thus, this inclination towards what has been

referring to as ‘rose-tinted period’, can be rather helpful to marketers since they would be able to

navigate into such an idealized past that is wanted back. It is therefore possible for the use of

autobiographical memories that are at the core of nostalgic themed marketing appeals to differ

across generations. Another study by Holbrook and Schindler (1991) indicated consumers’

cultural product preference is for life beginning in the late teens in the early twenties what is

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substantially increase coverage and effectiveness of the marketing campaigns which are based on

the concept of nostalgia. Being social, nostalgia also helps to increase the chances of generating

word-of-mouth efficiently. According to wildschut et al, (2014), collective nostalgia by

individuals, enhances the feeling of belonging to a certain group. This collective aspect is more

inclined to engage the consumers in a discussion of nostalgic brands or products hence

promoting the consumers to be brand activists. In addition, the very process of recalling

nostalgically familiar experiences can also be enjoyable to the consumers. Another study by Van

Tilburg et al. (2015) showed that nostalgia also increases the creativity and openness to

participation with more nostalgic posts and less with prosaic ones. Nonetheless, marketers should

note that communication through status-consistent broadcasts of word-of-mouth appeals rising

from nostalgic emotions may not be equally effective among all consumer segments. On the

Generational differences in nostalgic responses

Holbrook and Schindler (1991) proposed that individuals form lasting preferences for cultural

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1990s and early 2000s, while Baby Boomers might have stronger nostalgic connections to the

1960s and 1970s. Marketers need to carefully tailor their nostalgic appeals to resonate with the

specific memories and cultural references of their target generational cohort. Stern (1992)

distinguished between personal and historical nostalgia, noting that younger generations might

respond to historical nostalgia for eras they didn't personally experience, while older generations

might have more powerful responses to personal nostalgia. The socioemotional selectivity

theory, as explored by Goulding (2002), suggests that older adults may be more prone to

nostalgic consumption as they prioritize emotionally meaningful experiences. This could mean

exhibit strong nostalgic tendencies, often for periods they experienced only in childhood or

through media representations. Generational differences in technology use and media

consumption also influence nostalgic responses. Youn and Jin (2017) noted how new media

personality traits can all influence how a person responds to nostalgic stimuli, regardless of their

generational cohort. Muehling et al. (2014) emphasized the importance of considering both age

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4. Implementing Nostalgia in Marketing Strategies

Application of nostalgia within the concept of marketing entails the exploitation of sentimental

feelings that one has toward the past so as to boost the attractiveness of a brand and engage

consumers. This is why a much finer understanding of target audiences’ past, as well as their

individual experiences, is necessary for this approach. Successful implementation pertains to

diverse marketing issues such as product differentiation, the message in advertisements, use of

narratives and approaches to online platforms, properly using childhood memories can bring up

to a four-fold increase in brand recognition and loyal consumption in different segments.

Product design and packaging

Nostalgia can be considered as a valuable tool creating emotional bonds with the brand in the

multimodality triggering the feel of nostalgia. Another strategy whereby products are rendered to

have an antique look is whereby companies use the designs of past products as a source of

inspiration, this can range from bringing back old products which may have been phased out of

production, making current products’ ‘retro’ editions or even adding some elements of design

from the old products into new products. For example, revival of old game consoles or the retro

style of the packaging of food products actively appeals to consumers’ childhood memories.

According to Belk (1990), possessions hold an important place in the creation of history and the

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include typography, colors, and graphics from specific eras, or eras in general with which people

tend to reminisce. In a similar manner, Stern (1992) described the notion of ‘fin de siècle effect’

when identifying advertising text from the turn of the twentieth century, but this design aesthetic

in use on packaging sought to evoke turn of the century aesthetics even amongst people who

could not have been alive then. Yet, nostalgia cannot be just copied to the product design and

packaging in its entirety due to certain issues. It is essential not to forget that the purpose is to

remind people of certain positive associations and foster positive feelings, but at the same time

the message should be functional and relevant to the consumers of the modern world. In their

as nostalgia should be complemented by cues that signal of the group identification/belonging.

However, it is noteworthy that the use of nostalgia in product design may be beneficial

differently depending on the part of the target audience. As pointed by Muehling et al. (2014),

nostalgia elements and how the nostalgic products should be re-design in the context of sharing

the information age.

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Advertising and promotional campaigns

Lifestyle is a major driver of advertising and promotion strategies as influenced by the element

of nostalgia. These campaigns appeal to consumers’ emotions in relation to the past and thus

appeal to their reason through storytelling that is quite captivating. Pascal et al. (2002) confirmed

that when nostalgia is appealed to within an advert, there are improved attitudes towards it and

the brand which affects consumer choices. When creating possessive and sentimental advertising

appeals, marketers use graphics, tunes and stories that make the consumers feel as though they

are back in a superior past. Stern (1992) has made a distinction between self-referent nostalgia,

which is about one’s own era, and reference-referent nostalgia, which is more than just a

of ad jingles especially when a line of the ad is aimed at creating nostalgia. Holbrook and

Schindler (1991) observed that people tend to develop long-term consumption preferences which

are likely to be linked to music preferences in the ages beyond teenage years, but not many years

beyond that. Advertisers can build upon this by introducing music that is relevant to the specific

period, or even recording new versions of now famous songs, which are bound to induce feelings

of nostalgia. While being quite direct and clear, this form of retroactivity secures the effect of

auditory nostalgia and means a powerful tool with regard to affective bonds with the brand.

Another determinant of the efficacy of nostalgic advertising is also the cultural environment

Yzerbyt et al, (1997). This is especially likely during economic turmoil or societal change when

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should exercise a certain level of cautions when incorporating nostalgia in their advertisements.

Nostalgia often works as an appeal to the consumer’s sense of romanticism, and too much of it or

uses that seem fake can annoy the consumer or cause them to not believe that the product can

live up to the promises of the marketing. Looking at the level of recall, Muehling and Pascal

(2011) argued that personal nostalgia advertisements were consistently rated higher compared to

historical nostalgia or non-nostalgic ads, implying that for campaigns, the more the linkers can

relate the messages to consumer’s personal memory/ experience, the better. Further, Youn and Jin

(2017) agreed that, with the advancement of the new media, the manifestation of ‘’nostalgia’ has

kinds and media communities.

Storytelling and brand narratives

Both storytelling and brand narratives can be used as the key moves to implement the concept of

link between the past and the present. Sedikides et al. (2009) argued that nostalgia makes it

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technology-based firm may narrate a story from a historical basis of computing to the present

smartphones, creating a sense of the past and the need in the present. Brand narratives can also

engage the communal type of nostalgia, as discussed by Wildschut et al. (2014). Such stories

refer to some cultural nuances or historical happening familiar to all the consumers, thus creating

a ness. Thus, associating the brand with these collective memories can help create an appealing

shared emotional appeal that fosters the consumers’ bond with the brand. It is especially helpful

when the brands are historical or have participated in some way in cultural events. Authenticity

of the nostalgic brand narratives plays an important role in making them work. Stern (1992)

this optimism and ideal will be effective, the brands can’t be fully idealistic but must contain

some aspects of realism in order to be credible. This may comprise acceptance of there being

good and bad things with the past or blending actual consumers’ experiences and tales into the

timeline of the brand’s development where users can remember the different time periods and

share them. This interactivity does not only extend the nostalgic feeling but also has the potential

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Retro and vintage marketing approaches

Retro and vintage marketing strategies target the rather appealing and relatable visual from

Holbrook (1993) the idea of nostalgia is relevant to consumer attitude since the exploitation of

retro and vintage techniques is usually quite beneficial when it comes to grabbing the consumer’s

attention and encouraging brand preference. One of the most typical retrospective marketing

tactics is returning the previously recalled products to the market or the favorite varieties of the

present products. This approach stands the ability to elicit what Havlena and Holak (1991)

described as the ‘‘good old days’’ phenomenon whereby consumers have paragon images of

products they used in the past. When a brand returns to the market favorite product or the

packaging that was familiar to every buyer, this causes the desired psychological reaction and

consumers’ reminiscence. Also, these revivals can interest car consumers interested in ‘original’

brands, which they might have heard of from their parents or grandparents. Another marketing

by his discoveries, proved that people of different ages use nostalgia in different ways which

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piece of history and its perception to the target customers, simultaneously target consumers must

be appealed. With the help of the introduction of IT and Electronics in the modern world, retro

and vintage marketing has got an addition to its dimensions. Youn and Jin (2017) explained how

the advancement in communication technology rendered the concepts of nostalgia advertising to

be more participatory and sharable. Companies can design digital advertising campaigns that are

based on the seventies, eighties, or other years, while including the current possibilities of the

Internet, for example, Facebook Filters or games based on the chosen theme. Such forms of

indirect vaporization of marketing can particularly appeal to young consumers who may have the

Approaches that deal with successful implementation of nostalgia in marketing have

experienced a paradigm shift with the introduction of digital technologies and the ubiquitous

to see old material. It’s possible for brands to use such behaviors by developing campaigns that

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nostalgia. Digital technologies make it possible to obtain personalized nostalgic products, based

on statistical data, which unveil consumer’s preferences and their past activities brands can

generate individualized nostalgia-related content. It complements Sujan’s (1985) research on

autobiographical memory in consumers’ judgment, indicating that nostalgic approaches might be

especially persuasive to consumers for enhancing their purchases. As the article pointed out, the

characteristic of digital media is interactive, which provides new means of using nostalgia in the

advertising strategies. Relationship marketing can be achieved through virtual and augmented

technologies of offering consumers a tour in time and pointing out brand history in an engaging

commercials; that might result in the improvement of the consumers’ attitudes as well as their

purchase intentions according to Pascal et al. (2002). Still, it is crucial to use the findings of this

study to be aware of the peculiarities of functioning digital nostalgia for modern marketers.

technological development, even things created during the last five to ten years can become a

source of nostalgia, as long as they tap into the consumer’s primary, or even secondary,

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ethically in cases of nostalgic marketing and adherence to the three aspects of data protection:

notice, choice, and seceded security measures. Consequently, marketers need to pay heed and

satisfaction to the consumer’s right and privacy while creating and delivering nostalgic

experience. Lastly, there are ethical concerns for creating ‘’fake’ nostalgia or what Baker and

Kennedy (1994) call ‘’pseudo-nostalgia’’. Though creating nostalgia for eras or experiences that

consumers have never personally experienced is useful, there are opinions on the appropriateness

of it and whether or not it is right to deceive consumers. From this aspect, marketers must decide

whether their campaigns reflect genuine cultural or historical prerogatives or if, on the contrary,

The assessment of the effectiveness of nostalgic marketing campaigns with rely on both the

change in emotions of consumers as well as the alteration of the business statistics. While

definite indicators such as the volume of sales, brand recognition, or market share indicate the

such as gratitude, and affection. Chiefs can assess these feelings by poll, facial recognition

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new media technologies have impacted nostalgia advertising. Increasing brand association as

well as repeat customer bases are long-term measures of pastime marketing effectiveness.

Kessous and Roux (2013) researched on a theoretical facet concerning the utilization of nostalgia

as a tool to build the brand associations and found out that the overtime brand loyalty indexes

can serve and indicator of the success of the nostalgia campaign. Measures that reflect the degree

of repeat purchase behavior, retention rates, and brand advocacy (e. g., net promotor scores) can

indicate the long-term effectiveness of nostalgic marketing campaigns, brand-related outcomes

help evaluate overall success of nostalgia as a marketing strategy on its influence on the brand

idealized according to the author Stern (1992). Administrating surveys or focus groups to

evaluate shifts in brand attitude may also assist the marketing department to decipher how

effectively the nostalgic appeals is positioning the brand in the target consumer’s mind-set.

of products now and as they were in the past. This approach corresponds with Muehling and

Pascal (2011), where the authors compared personal nostalgia, historical nostalgia, and non-

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(1991), nostalgia usefulness could differ due to consumer group targeting, hence the study’s

results should be analyzed by segments.

They are influencing the nature through which firms are capable of reaching consumers through

appeals to emotions in memory marketing which is a growing field as well as developing trends.

Considering the premises of technology change and shift in people’s attitude, it is possible to

state that there is always space for innovative and interventionist approach to awakening

Reality (AR) are brilliant tools when it comes to reaching for the realistic reproduction of certain

periods or environments which are nostalgic for the consumers. These technologies are in

consonant with Stern, who separately writing on advertising as a form of nostalgia asserted that a

society’s media icons can distort the picture regarding the past. As VR and AR are capable of

facilitating imaginative environments as nostalgic as the consumer’s brand loyalty, there is a

possibility that consumers are engaged more deeply at an emotional level by the branded content.

Advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning are making it possible to develop

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childhood. AI is capable of recognizing such preferences and feed the person with nostalgic

content that the person prefers. For example, music streaming services are in a position to

generate a set of the favorite songs from the different generations or user’s preferences. The

techniques like blockchain technology and NFT offer new potentials for the nostalgic marketing

within the new media environment. These technologies make it possible to build and trade

special digital items which can be the remastered pieces of Nostalgia Art, duplicated game

characters avatars and pieces from the famous Pop-Culture History. This trend relates well with

what Belk (1990) concluded about the role of possessions in maintaining an identity of the past

brands to design soundscape experiences around a particular period or a particular event in one’s

life. This is in concordance with Holak and Havlena’s (1998) analytical differentiation of

antecedents of nostalgia and its multiple facets, one of which is auditory. Smart nostalgic

products with a nostalgic appeal, at the same time serving the new age consumer’s needs in terms

of ease of use of technology.

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Sustainability and nostalgia marketing

The current focus on sustainability and the integration of nostalgia aspects into marketing

strategies result in growing popularity of such product variants, this trend can be particularly

supported by Belk (1990) who described how things contribute to the construction and

maintenance of history in people’s lives. Predictably secured nostalgia marketing strategy

focuses on the timeless appeal of products underpinning consumers’ purchase decisions by

essentially offering them long-lasting products that may become part of their sentimental

possessions. Today, the market sees many brands going back to preindustrial more

environmentally friendly processes of manufacturing and presenting them as part of the vintage

circular economy is being incorporated into the concept of nostalgia marketing. There is a focus

on prolonging the lifespan of products with guidelines promoting the repair, refurbishment, as

well as resale of vintage products in place to support sustainability and consumers’ nostalgic

tendencies. This trend supports the studies carried out by Holbrook and Schindler (2003) on

nostalgic bonding where consumers get close attachment with products that were familiar to

them offering comfort in life’s uncertainties. To this end, longevity and circularity, as well as a

focus on sustainability, support these brands to enhance those necessary emotional connections.

Campaigns conceived and marketed based on the concept of nostalgia are especially popular

where sustainability campaigns are recycled or cut/paste from earlier ones. These are based on

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Properly designed campaigns can be especially helpful for encouraging people to act sustainably

because, instead of focusing on the problem, it unveils possible solutions to it by associating

them with positive societal events. Thus, digital sustainability can be viewed as the new frontier

of nostalgic marketing. Youn and Jin (2017) also described how in today’s modern world, thanks

to media and technological advancements, everyone has his or her way of portraying nostalgia.

Businesses are designing products and experiences that either remind the consumer of the early

days of the world wide web or gaming, or which encourage such positive uses of digital

technology as reusing, repairing, or consuming less digital technology, or computing sustainably.

Telecom eras but at the same time do not remain indifferent to pollution problems.

Personalization and AI in nostalgic campaigns

Marketing in the nostalgic appeals area is experiencing a change through personalization as

about age, and place of residence, and also the history of their viewing. This approach builds on

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sentiment analysis are helping brands readily address consumers’ nostalgic feelings on the social

media and other online channels. This is in consonance with Sierra and McQuitty’s (2007) study

on the effect of attitudes and emotions on nostalgia consumption. Thus, brands will be able to

better target their consumers’ nostalgic appeals and even partake in real-time nostalgic

conversations with them. AI is also used to produce remastered or rewritten content, for example,

images, sounds, text, that has a vintage period theme. The use of this technology can make it

possible to create large amounts of nostalgic content to capture a large audience with different

segments within it, this approach creates an ethical dilemma touched upon by Baker and

personalization not only in communication but also in the products themselves and their

presentations. AI and this production technologies like 3D printing can the develop parts and

products that can bear identifiable trademarks associated with clientele or small groups in

Balancing innovation with nostalgic appeal

maintaining consumers’ interests in the constantly evolving market. Using the principle of

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implemented because it will tickle the consumer’s need to belong, need to follow the crowd as

well as the adventurous need that endears consumers to the new product. A strategy of achieving

this balance is through product design which features or is made from items that invoke the

memories of the past, accompanied by features of modern technology. With this, retailing points

to the works of Holbrook and Schindler (2003) on nostalgic bonding; consumers develop

affection towards commodities that would remind them of past events. The here suggested

approach with reference to the public’s over-cognitive affection to nostalgic features and

simultaneously suggesting modifications from the pragmatic perspective will ensure that

issues, or using modern media platforms, if not both. There is no heteroglossia issue in these

examples, which relate to Stern’s (1992) analysis of historical nostalgia in advertising but apply

the concept to contemporary scenarios. For instance, a brand can modify a special advertisement

technologies into BRANDS to facilitate the creation of new cultures associated with consumer

products whereby consumers are being encouraged to be part of new trends like use of

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the past and the present. Other scholars such as Muehling et al., (2014) supported the latter,

stressing that the role of nostalgia in advertising should not rule out age and childhood exposure

to brands. Brands have to understand the diverse make-up of the generations and that they are

likely to respond to nostalgia in different ways thereby having different expectations when it

comes to innovations. A probable realization could be to develop product portfolios or

advertising appeals that appeal to some sections of the audience by referring to tradition, while

others focus on modernity.

Forecasting future trends in nostalgic consumption is a process of analyzing the modern culture,

innovations, and different generations and their outlooks, for example, one of the up-and-coming

subjects is the longing for the beginning of digital media – young people start to miss Myspace,

Nokia 3310, or the appearance of internet memes. This is in line with Holbrook & Schindler’s

(1991) argument that preferences are obtained at their highest figure during the age of innovation

receive significant attention with increasing globalization. Wildschut et al. (2014) discussed

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universally appealing. Thus, curiously enough, based on the progress made in creating virtual

and augmented reality applications, creators have every potential to offer even more intense

experiences associated with nostalgia. This trend corresponds to Youn and Jin’s (2017) study

focusing on how new media technologies modify nostalgia advertising. The future of nostalgic

marketing can be a fully developed virtual reality where people are placed in specified

environments which mimic the old eras or augmented reality, where nostalgic aspects mix with

modern world. With regards to the richness of detail, Sujan (1985) stated that the trend of

nostalgia is becoming more personal; therefore, subsequent patterns can be expected to be highly

products and services based on the consumer’s past. It could result in the diversification of

signification of the nostalgic trends which means that the consumers could be nostalgic about the

individual frames of time rather than the cultural epochs.