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Journal of Advertising, 43(1), 73–84
C 2014, American Academy of Advertising
Copyright ISSN: 0091-3367 print / 1557-7805 online
DOI: 10.1080/00913367.2013.815110
Exploring the Boundaries of Nostalgic Advertising Effects:
A Consideration of Childhood Brand Exposure and
Attachment on Consumers’ Responses to Nostalgia-Themed
Advertisements
Darrel D. Muehling and David E. Sprott
Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
Abdullah J. Sultan
Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait
images from the past (Vasquez 2012). In addition, nostalgia has
become a popular trend in social media, with the recent introduction of BuzzFeed’s “Time Machine” (Parekh 2012) and
Twitter’s “Throwback Thursdays,” where images and memories
of the past are incorporated in company websites and posted on
personal web pages with the intent to evoke nostalgic thoughts
and feelings.
Given its pervasiveness in the marketplace, it is not surprising that nostalgia has captured the interest of scholars who have
investigated the phenomenon in a variety of research contexts,
including self-concept (Belk 1988; Davis 1979), brand loyalty
(Olsen 1993), brand meaning (Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry
2003), charitable giving (Merchant, Ford, and Rose 2011; Zhou
et al. 2012), retail atmospherics (Orth and Bourrain 2008), literacy criticism (Stern 1992), and emotions (Bambauer-Sachse
and Gierl 2009a; Holak and Havlena 1992, 1998). In an advertising context, a growing body of empirical research suggests
that the effects of nostalgia appear to be rather robust—signaling
to marketers and advertisers that nostalgia may be an effective
means of appealing to a variety of audiences (Marchegiani and
Phau 2010). In particular, recent research has demonstrated the
positive effects of nostalgia-themed advertising on consumers’
responses to the brand sponsor (e.g., see Marchegiani and Phau
2010; Muehling and Pascal 2011; Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling
2002; Reisenwitz, Iyer, and Cutler 2004). These researchers and
others (e.g., Baker and Kennedy 1994; Holak and Havlena 1998;
Muehling and Sprott 2004) have provided empirical support to
the claim that an advertisement with a nostalgic theme may be
capable of prompting nostalgic thoughts and pleasant memories
in consumers and resulting in more favorable brand attitudes
and purchase intentions.
Given the relative importance of such outcomes, one might
assume that consumers’ brand evaluations may simply be enhanced by exposure to nostalgia-themed ads. However, while the
This study examines empirically the differential influence of
past brand associations (specifically, in-home childhood brand exposure and past personal attachment) on consumers’ reactions to
nostalgia-themed advertisements. Results support the expectation
that the effect of nostalgia on brand-focused outcomes (purchase
intentions and brand attitude) will be most pronounced for those
who have had some past personal association with the advertised
brand. However, this effect was not observed for ad-focused responses (ad involvement and attitude toward the ad); as hypothesized, the nostalgic ad produced more favorable responses than
the non-nostalgic ad, irrespective of participants’ past association
with the brand.
Nostalgia—“one’s sentimental longing for the past”—is a
popular theme often used in the advertising campaigns and
product designs of today’s marketers. Firms such as General
Mills, McDonald’s, GE, Coca-Cola, Target, Volkswagen, and
Unilever, to name a few, have used nostalgic appeals with the
hope of strengthening consumers’ attitudes toward their brands
and enhancing the likelihood of product purchase (Elliott 2009;
Naughton and Vlasic 1998; Schultz 2012; White 2002). Furthermore, the popularity of nostalgia does not appear to be waning; during the airing of Super Bowl XLVI, audiences were
exposed to a barrage of ads featuring nostalgic references and
Address correspondence to Darrel D. Muehling, Washington State
University, 367C Todd Addition, Pullman, WA 99164-4730. E-mail:
[email protected]
Darrel D. Muehling (PhD, University of Nebraska–Lincoln) is
a professor of marketing, College of Business, Washington State
University.
David E. Sprott (PhD, University of South Carolina) is a professor
of marketing, College of Business, Washington State University.
Abdullah J. Sultan (PhD, Washington State University) is an assistant professor, Department of Management and Marketing, Kuwait
University.
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D. D. MUEHLING ET AL.
main effect of nostalgia on brand evaluations has been shown,
surprisingly little (if any) research has empirically accounted
for boundary conditions in the context of nostalgia advertising effects. Examining such conditions is not only important
for firms considering the use of nostalgia as a basis for their
marketing and advertising campaigns but also serves to expand
understanding of this construct. Investigating such effects is designed to enhance what is currently known with regard to how
and when nostalgia “works.”
In an empirical study, we address this gap in the nostalgia literature by exploring a simple yet currently overlooked
factor that may differentially influence consumers’ responses
to nostalgia-themed advertising. Given that nostalgia is often
characterized as an intensely personal experience (Baker and
Kennedy 1994; Davis 1979), we contend that the effects of
nostalgic advertisements should be most pronounced for those
whom the advertised brand has had some personal association
or meaningful connection to their past (Belk 1990; Holak and
Havlena 1992; Merchant and Ford 2008). To date, no empirical
research (that we are aware of) has examined consumers’ past
(childhood) in-home brand exposure or personal attachment as
explanations for nostalgia advertising’s effects, despite suggestions of their potential influence (e.g., see Merchant and Ford
2008; Muehling and Sprott 2004).
In the sections that follow, we begin with a brief discussion of nostalgia as a sociopsychological construct and examine
the underlying assumptions related to its origins, types, and proposed effects on consumer behavior. Then a theoretical rationale
for the hypothesized relationships between in-home childhood
brand exposure, past attachment, and responses to nostalgiathemed advertising is offered. Following this is a discussion of
the methods employed and findings obtained from our empirical
investigation. The article concludes with a general discussion of
the theoretical and practical implications of the findings and
directions for future research.
THE NOSTALGIA CONSTRUCT
Although the origins of nostalgia as a theoretical construct
can be traced as far back as Hofer’s (1688) dissertation, its
consideration within a consumer psychological context is more
recent and was most likely prompted by Davis’s (1979) seminal work on the subject (Rutherford and Shaw 2011). Several
definitions and descriptions of nostalgia have emerged in the
marketing literature over the past decades. Some (e.g., Davis
1979) make reference to the source of the positive emotion
evoked by the past, characterizing nostalgia as a “positively
toned evocation of a lived past in the context of some negative feeling toward the present or impending circumstance”
(p. 18). Others include some reference to actual stimuli (objects,
scenes, smells, etc.) that may prompt a nostalgic response (e.g.,
Belk 1990; Divard and Robert-Demontrond 1997). Still others
(e.g., Holbrook and Schindler, 1991, p. 330) view nostalgia as
a time-based preference, more specifically, “a preference (general liking, positive attitude, or favorable affect) toward objects
(people, places, or things) that were common (popular, fashionable, or widely circulated) when one was younger (in early
adulthood, in adolescence, in childhood, or even before birth).”
Despite these differences, most conceptualizations of nostalgia
view it primarily as an affective state, mood, or emotion that is
somehow triggered by one’s thoughts of the past.
In the current investigation, we consider “the past” as a time
from one’s own youth or childhood and specifically the time
spent “at home.” Home is often considered a key element in reference to nostalgia, as are family and friends (Holak and Havlena
1992). For example, Hofer’s (1688) dissertation focused on the
symptoms of home-sickness. Moreover, Davis (1979) pointed
out that “Nostalgia is from the Greek nostos, to return home,
and algia, a painful condition—thus, a painful yearning to return home” (p. 1; see also Rutherford and Shaw 2011). Thus,
the notion of home (and returning to said, via mental reflection)
is clearly an integral component of nostalgia.
Although often conceptualized as “bittersweet,” nostalgic reflections have been hypothesized and found to be predominantly
positive, in other words, as seen through “rose-tinted glasses”
(Belk 1990; Havlena and Holak 1991; Holak and Havlena 1992;
Muehling and Sprott 2004; Stern 1992; Wildschut et al. 2006).
For example, based on empirical evidence, Leboe and Ansons
(2006) concluded that many instances of nostalgic experiences
are distorted perceptions that lead to a positively biased, idealized recollection of one’s own past. Unlike autobiographical
memories (literal memories of the past; see Sujan, Bettman,
and Baumgartner 1993), nostalgic memories tend to be skewed
toward the positive. This notion is akin to what McAdams and
colleagues (2001) refer to as a redemption sequence, whereby
memory of a negative life experience progresses over time to become positive or triumphant. Therefore, as Davis (1979) noted,
“The nostalgic feeling is infused with imputations of past beauty,
pleasure, joy, satisfaction, goodness, happiness, love, and the
like, in sum, any or several of the positive affects of being”
(p. 14).
Further, Stern (1992) and others (Baker and Kennedy
1994; Marchegiani and Phau 2005; Merchant and Ford 2008;
Muehling 2013; Muehling and Pascal 2011) have made a distinction between personal nostalgia (characterized as the recollection of good times from one’s personally lived past) and
historical nostalgia (which takes people back to a time before
their births and therefore is not and cannot be personally experienced). Whether the past is personally experienced or historical
in nature (e.g., through books, films, or other narratives, outside of one’s living memory; Goulding 2001; Holbrook 1993b;
Stern 1992), the resulting nostalgic feeling is expected to be
strong enough to influence brand attitudes and purchase intentions when employed in an advertising campaign. Recent
research has observed differential effects when personal versus
historical nostalgic themes are employed, with more favorable
EXPLORING NOSTALGIC ADVERTISING EFFECTS
outcomes usually associated with the more personal type of nostalgia (Merchant and Ford 2008; Muehling 2013; Muehling and
Pascal 2011).
As will be discussed further in the section to follow, we
are most interested in determining how varying levels of one’s
exposure and past attachment to a brand while growing up at
home differentially influence consumers’ present-day responses
to brands featured in a nostalgia-themed advertisement. Thus,
our focus is on personal nostalgia. This is not to suggest that
individuals cannot personally experience a product or brand that
existed prior to their birth (e.g., a 20-year-old driving a 1950s’
vintage automobile) or that they cannot be nostalgic for a bygone era (see Goulding 2001). However, and consistent with the
majority of published research (e.g., Merchant, Ford, and Rose
2011; Wildschut et al. 2006), our treatment of nostalgia here is
from the perspective of one’s own realized and experienced past
with a branded product.
NOSTALGIA AND BRAND ADVERTISING
Nostalgia has been linked to the self as a distinctive way of
relating one’s past to the present and future (Belk 1990; BraunLaTour 2007; Stern 1992) and is believed to be influenced by
personal experience (Davis 1979; Merchant and Ford 2008). As
Braun-LaTour (2007) noted, “The feeling of remembering a past
event, particularly from early childhood, is quite powerful” (p.
403) and “It is no wonder, then, that advertisers have sought to
use this emotional response to their advantage through referencing past childhood events in their advertising” (p. 404). Consistent with Braun-LaTour’s (2007) generalizations, brain research
has shown that when retrieving information from one’s past,
the hippocampus (the emotion center of the brain) is activated,
with heart rate and blood pressure being increased (Kotre 1995;
Schacter 1996). Such findings offer advertisers some hope that
carefully crafted nostalgic advertising campaigns may evoke
powerful responses and desired outcomes among consumers.
The connection of self to the past is not limited to consumer
research. For example, Routledge and colleagues (2011) tested
and found support for the notion that nostalgia is capable of
serving an existential function, in that it is positively associated
with one’s sense of meaning in life. In the current investigation,
we contend that brands can play an important role in defining a
consumer’s past and (just as with other stimuli, such as music,
scents, and photographs) can serve as a catalyst for generating
nostalgic responses. As such, we test the propositions that inhome childhood exposure and past attachment to a brand are
likely to prompt differential consumer responses to nostalgiathemed brand advertising.
Over time, consumers are likely to develop unique personal connections with brands that are associated with particular prior experiences in their lives and stored in long-term
memory (Braun 1999; Keller 1993). For example, a consumer
might be exposed to a brand during earlier, simpler life expe-
75
riences at home (e.g., helping one’s mom pour Tide detergent
into the washing machine or witnessing one’s dad’s use of a
Coleman brand cook stove during family camping trips). From
a memory-based perspective, one’s association with the past
creates a network of connections to the person that may help facilitate a nostalgic response (Holak and Havlena 1998). In other
words, a nostalgic response is more likely to occur for those
whose connections to the past (e.g., childhood associations with
the brand) are more abundant. Consistent with memory-based
research (Craik and Lockhart 1972), we reason that the more inhome exposure children have to a brand, the more likely these
associations will be stored in long-term memory and will be
available for later retrieval.
Relatedly, brand associations may have formed due to meaningful prior experiences with a brand, such as sharing a certain snack food with a childhood friend or family member, or
consuming the brand with loved ones as part of a holiday or
special family event (Keller 1993; Merchant and Ford 2008).
In a study of autobiographical memory, Grysman and Hudson
(2011) found that the “self-focused” written narratives of their
participants included more statements related to personal meaning and emotional value of a recalled event (akin to personal
nostalgia), as opposed to specific details of the narrative (i.e.,
episodic memory or the “who, what, when, and where” of the
event). Barrett and colleagues (2010) contend that the emotional components of autobiographical memories often aid in
the storage and later retrieval of nostalgic reflections. Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that triggers of nostalgia at
the time of ad exposure may be the result of associations between the brand and past events, as well as the emotions associated with those events (what we refer to here as past brand
attachment).
We contend that when consumers come into contact with
brands in either of these two ways (via in-home childhood brand
exposure or meaningful past personal experiences), their recall
of the brand manifests itself as positive (most likely nostalgic)
memories of the past. In keeping with this notion, Bartier (2011)
contends that consumers are likely to remember “lived” past
memories more so than vicarious, “learned” ones, because lived
memories are deemed more relevant and memorable. Moreover,
she contends that these lived memories are often traceable to
events in consumers’ youth or childhood.
Stern (1992) posited, but did not empirically test, the
notion that nostalgia marketing is capable of stimulating an
imaginative re-creation of the past, which can be positively
associated with an advertised brand. Research focusing on
autobiographical memory is helpful in explaining the influence
of such memories on brand evaluations. Autobiographical
memories (similar to personal nostalgic memories) have been
characterized as emotional, affect-laden memories of past
personal experiences. When advertisements encourage the retrieval of these memories, consumers’ judgment processes can
be influenced (Sujan, Bettman, and Baumgartner 1993). Using
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D. D. MUEHLING ET AL.
affect transfer as their theoretical base (Burke and Edell 1989;
MacKenzie, Lutz, and Belch 1986), Sujan, Bettman, and Baumgartner (1993) observed that the transfer of autobiographical
affect to the advertised brand was dependent on the linkage
between the brand and personal memory and provided evidence
suggesting that a nostalgic ad is likely to generate more
favorable brand evaluations (by reminding consumers of past
pleasant experiences); as the researchers noted, however, “for
nostalgia to really impact brand judgment, direct links need
to be forged between the nostalgic experience and the brand”
(p. 434).
Importantly, as Braun-LaTour and colleagues have pointed
out (Braun-LaTour 2007; Braun-LaTour, LaTour, and Zinkhan
2007), prompting memories of childhood experiences is instrumental in evoking emotional responses that subsequently
shape brand preferences and consumption decisions. Furthermore, when mental images of past consumption experiences
are intense (emotionally charged), as nostalgic responses have
been shown to be (Baumgartner 1992), consumers’ attitudes
toward the advertised brand are likely to be more favorable
(Bambauer-Sachse and Gierl 2009b). This, in part, is due to nostalgic thoughts prompting higher identification with the advertised message, which enhances the ad’s persuasiveness (Braun,
Ellis, and Loftus 2002). Such findings are consistent with the
branding literature, which has shown positive relationships between self-brand connections, brand evaluations, and attitude
strength (Moore and Homer 2004, 2008). Taken together, this
body of work suggests that the effects of nostalgia on consumers’
brand attitudes and purchase intentions should be influenced by
one’s past associations with (i.e., in-home childhood exposure
and past personal attachment to) the advertised brand. As such,
we propose the following effects of nostalgia on consumers’
brand-related judgments:
H1: Exposure to a nostalgia-themed advertisement (as opposed to a
nonnostalgic ad) is more likely to produce favorable brand attitudes
for those persons (a) who were exposed to the brand in their homes
as they were growing up and (b) who formed a personal attachment
to the brand during their childhoods.
H2: Exposure to a nostalgia-themed advertisement (as opposed to
a nonnostalgic ad) is more likely to produce greater purchase intentions for those persons (a) who were exposed to the brand in
their homes as they were growing up and (b) who formed a personal
attachment to the brand during their childhoods.
As noted earlier, advertising-induced nostalgia is viewed
primarily as a positive affective state generated by one’s reflection on the past (Muehling and Sprott 2004). A growing
body of research has supported the notion that nostalgic ads
(as compared to nonnostalgic ones) are effective in generating interest and evoking emotional responses that lead to more
favorable ad-related outcomes (Bambauer-Sachse and Gierl
2009b; Marchegiani and Phau 2005; Muehling and Sprott 2004;
Muehling and Pascal 2011; Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002).
Researchers have also provided some empirical evidence that
nostalgic cues embedded in brand advertisements may enhance
viewers’ attention to the ad, as well as result in more favorable responses toward the ad in general (Pascal, Sprott, and
Muehling 2002; Reisenwitz, Iyer, and Cutler 2004). Likewise,
Muehling and Pascal (2012) observed that nostalgic ads (especially those with a “personal” nostalgic theme) are capable
of inducing greater levels of advertising involvement (as compared to nonnostalgic ads). These findings are consistent with
traditional advertising research, which has shown that positive
feelings and emotions generated by advertising are robust and
predictive of consumers’ engagement with and attitudes toward
the ad (Burke and Edell 1989; Derbaix 1995; Holbrook and
Batra 1987; Moore and Hutchinson 1985).
While we expect the positive effects of nostalgia-themed advertising on brand-related judgments to be a function (at least in
part) of consumers’ prior exposure and attachment to the brand
(hypothesis 1 and hypothesis 2), we do not expect these factors
to have a differential impact on responses to the advertisement
itself. Advertising involvement and attitude toward the ad are
ad-focused outcomes that capture consumers’ responses to the
ad (e.g., reactions to the ad’s contents, its executional features,
and the like; Muehling and McCann 1993). Although often predictive of brand attitudes, studies examining attitude toward the
ad tend to view it as independent from the product and brand
itself (e.g., MacKenzie, Lutz, and Belch 1986). Most important
to the current investigation, a meta-analysis of the attitude toward the ad construct conducted by Brown and Stayman (1992)
found that the effects of ad-generated feelings and cognitions
were not strongly impacted by one’s prior brand knowledge or
experience.
Further, while not directly tested, findings from Muehling and
his colleagues indicate that nostalgia-themed advertisements
do not generate a disproportionate number of brand-related
thoughts. In particular, these researchers demonstrated that the
number of brand/message-related thoughts in response to nostalgic ads was no greater than (Muehling and Sprott 2004) or,
in fact, was sometimes less than the number in response to nonnostalgic ads (Muehling and Pascal 2011). Further, Muehling
and Sprott (2004) noted that few instances were found where
research participants made a direct linkage between nostalgia
and the advertised brand or product. Instead, most thoughts focused on “friends, neighborhoods, and memories of days gone
by, rather than how the use of the advertised product may help
them relive a nostalgic moment” (p. 32). Consistent with our
line of reasoning, these findings suggest that participants may
have not drawn from brand-related memory when assessing the
qualities and likability of the ads.
As a result, we contend that a consumer’s involvement with or
attitude toward a nostalgic (versus nonnostalgic) ad should not
be differentially influenced by one’s past exposure and attachment to the brand. More specifically, we hypothesize the following ad-related outcomes as a result of exposure to a nostalgiathemed ad:
EXPLORING NOSTALGIC ADVERTISING EFFECTS
H3: Exposure to a nostalgia-themed advertisement (as opposed to a
nonnostalgic ad) will produce greater ad involvement, regardless of
whether persons (a) were exposed to the brand in their homes as they
were growing up or (b) formed a personal attachment to the brand
during their childhoods.
H4: Exposure to a nostalgia-themed advertisement (as opposed to a
nonnostalgic ad) will produce more favorable ad attitudes, regardless
of whether persons (a) were exposed to the brand in their homes as
they were growing up or (b) formed a personal attachment to the
brand during their childhoods.
STUDY
Method
Brand and product choice and advertising stimuli. Research has shown effects of nostalgia with products such as
snack items (Chou and Lien 2010), cameras (Muehling and Pascal 2011), and photographic film (Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling
2002). In the current study, we exposed participants to advertisements for a product category (toothpaste) that is not typically
associated with nostalgic advertising themes. This was done to
help reduce the possibility that the advertised product category
would in and of itself encourage nostalgic reflection. However,
to assess the effects of past personal associations with a brand,
it was necessary for the ads to feature a well-known brand of
toothpaste (Crest), which was likely to exhibit varying levels
of past in-home exposure and personal attachment across study
participants.
Experimenter-generated stimuli were created for the Crest
toothpaste brand. We constructed print ads similar in layout and
executional elements, except for those features (e.g., headline,
ad copy, and year referenced) designed to evoke nostalgia (see
appendix). In addition, the nostalgic ad featured a sepia-colored
background (a color often associated with aging photographs
and nostalgia) and showed children on a beach (a visual reference to childhood), whereas the nonnostalgic ad featured a more
contemporary blue background with adults shown in a similar
beach setting (a visual reference to the present day). Worth noting, the “life-focused” theme of both ads (“Life was great back
then,” nostalgic ad; versus “Life is interesting,” nonnostalgic ad)
was consistent with the current advertising tagline of Crest (i.e.,
“Crest . . . healthy, beautiful smiles for life”).
Participants, measures, and procedures. A total of 180 individuals participated in the study. The sample was obtained
from an online panel provider (Amazon Mechanical Turk, or
“MTurk”), and the study was conducted via the Internet. Males
represented 45.6% of our sample (54.4% were female), with participants’ ages ranging from 18 to 35 (mean age = 22.1 years).
We purposely restricted study participants’ ages to 35 years or
younger for the time frame referenced in the nostalgia ad treatment condition (the 1990s) to have been personally experienced
during the participants’ youth or childhood.
Research participants were randomly assigned to an experimental (nostalgic) or control (nonnostalgic) ad treatment condition (n = 91 and 89, respectively). Utilizing the services of
77
the online provider, participants first completed an online questionnaire containing items focusing on their childhood exposure
and past attachment to the Crest brand.
As one of our two moderating variables, we were interested
in capturing participants’ in-home exposure to the brand during
their childhood years. It is this personal exposure at home that
we surmised may prompt thoughts of the past and consequently
influences participants’ responses to nostalgic ads. To assess
past (childhood home) brand exposure, participants were asked
to respond to an open-ended question. Specifically, they were
asked: “What one brand of toothpaste did your family most
often use while you were growing up at home?”
In addition to the measure noted, participants responded to
five 11-point “past brand attachment” items adapted from those
recently appearing in the brand equity literature (Park et al. 2010;
Thomson, MacInnis and Park 2005). The items—with endpoints
Not at all (0) and Completely (10)—included questions such as
“To what extent was Crest part of you and who you were when
you were younger?”; “To what extent did you feel personally
connected to Crest when you were younger?”; and “To what
extent did you feel emotionally bonded with Crest when you
were younger?” The Cronbach’s alpha for the five items (α =
.98) supported the formation of an index of past brand attachment. A median-split of this 11-point index was subsequently
performed for testing the hypothesized pattern of relationships;
participants were placed into “high” (values > 6.3; n = 90) and
“low” (values ≤ 6.3; n = 90) past brand attachment groups.
Participants were also asked to respond to a forced-choice
question, selecting one of four statements that best describes
their current and past attachment to the Crest brand (i.e., “I
would say that I am very attached to Crest currently, and I was
very attached as well when I was younger”; “I would say that I
was very attached to Crest when I was younger, but I am not very
attached currently”; “I would say that I am very attached to Crest
currently, but I was not very attached when I was younger”; and
“I would say that I am not very attached to Crest currently and
I was not very attached when I was younger”). Not surprisingly
(perhaps due to the mundane nature of the toothpaste category
in general), only 36 (51.4%) of the 70 individuals who indicated
that Crest was the one brand of toothpaste most often used
at home while growing up selected one of the two categories
corresponding to “high” past brand attachment. Therefore, in
the findings reported here (and consistent with our statement of
hypotheses), we performed two separate sets of analyses—one
utilizing the measure of participants’ in-home childhood brand
exposure and the other utilizing a median-split of the past brand
attachment scale.
After completing the past brand exposure and attachment
measures, participants were then given the opportunity to view
a screenshot of either the nostalgic or nonnostalgic ad stimulus
for approximately 30 seconds. It should be noted that random
assignment to ad-treatment conditions occurred prior to any past
brand exposure/attachment categorization, thereby contributing
to the observed uneven cell sizes (see Tables 1 and 2). After
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D. D. MUEHLING ET AL.
TABLE 1
Descriptive Statistics (Using Past Brand Exposure Measure)
Ad treatment condition
Group
Dependent variable
Past brand exposure in childhood home
AB
PI
INV
AAd
NOST
Little/no past brand exposure in childhood home
AB
PI
INV
AAd
NOST
a
Nostalgic
Nonnostalgic
(n = 38)
6.28
6.11
4.90
5.03
4.96
(n = 53)
5.64
5.16
5.17
5.23
5.59
(n = 32)
5.59
5.56
3.74
3.80
3.18
(n = 57)
5.58
5.23
4.25
4.36
3.50
t value
2.79a
1.57c
2.33b
2.53a
3.95a
.25
−.23
2.62a
2.40a
6.64a
Significant at p < .01 (one-tailed). bSignificant at p < .05 (one-tailed). cMarginally significant at p < .065 (one-tailed).
ad exposure, participants were asked to complete items corresponding to the dependent variables, nostalgia manipulation
check, and demographics.
Dependent measures. Brand-related dependent measures
included attitudes toward the advertised Crest brand (AB )
(bad/good, dislike very much/like very much, unfavorable/favorable, worthless/valuable; Cronbach’s alpha = .95) and
purchase intentions (PI) (unlikely/likely, improbable/probable,
impossible/possible they would purchase Crest toothpaste the
next time they purchased toothpaste; Cronbach’s alpha = .93).
These measures employed 7-point scales, with larger numbers
representing more favorable responses, and were patterned af-
ter measures reported in the nostalgia advertising literature (e.g.,
Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002).
Ad-related dependent measures included attitude toward the
ad (AAd ) (bad/good, unfavorable/favorable, negative/positive,
unpleasant/pleasant; Cronbach’s alpha = .97) and self-reported
ad involvement (INV) (“To what extent did you find the ad to
be interesting, involving, and personally relevant to you?” with
scale endpoints Not at all and Very; Cronbach’s alpha = .94).
These measures have been reported in the nostalgia advertising
literature (e.g., Muehling and Pascal 2012). Indices were created
from the 7-point scale items, with larger numbers representing
more favorable responses.
TABLE 2
Descriptive Statistics (Using Past Brand Attachment Scale Median-Split)
Ad treatment condition
Group
Dependent variable
High past brand attachment
AB
PI
INV
AAd
NOST
Low past brand attachment
AB
PI
INV
AAd
NOST
a
Significant at p < .01 (one-tailed). bSignificant at p < .05 (one-tailed).
Nostalgic
Nonnostalgic
(n = 50)
6.31
6.06
5.76
5.03
5.82
(n = 41)
5.43
4.94
4.20
4.32
4.73
(n = 40)
5.90
5.61
4.89
3.80
4.32
(n = 49)
5.32
5.14
3.39
3.49
2.62
t value
2.30b
1.96b
2.49a
2.47a
4.79a
.34
−.49
1.99b
1.98b
5.75a
EXPLORING NOSTALGIC ADVERTISING EFFECTS
Manipulation check. In the final section of the survey,
participants completed 10 items of an evoked nostalgia scale
(NOST; Cronbach’s alpha = .98), adapted from Pascal, Sprott,
and Muehling (2002) as a manipulation check. Sample items
(anchored with 7-point Strongly disagree and Strongly agree
endpoints) included: “The ad . . . reminded me of the past”;
“helped me recall pleasant memories”; and “made me feel nostalgic.” Supporting our manipulation, participants in the nostalgic ad condition reported significantly higher levels of adevoked nostalgia (M Nost = 5.33) as compared to those in the
nonnostalgia condition (M Nonnost = 3.39; t (178) = 11.52, p <
.01). This finding was obtained regardless of participants’ reported prior in-home exposure or past personal attachment with
the brand (see NOST values in Tables 1 and 2).
Results
Brand attitudes and purchase intentions (hypotheses 1 and
2). Table 1 reports the findings of the brand-focused hypothesis tests when participants were grouped according to their
in-home childhood exposure (some past brand exposure versus little/no past brand exposure). In support of hypothesis 1a
and hypothesis 2a, the nostalgic ad (as compared to the nonnostalgic ad) prompted more favorable brand attitudes (M Nost =
6.28, M Nonnost = 5.59, t (68) = 2.79, p < .01) and stronger
intentions to purchase the advertised brand, (M Nost = 6.11,
M Nonnost = 5.56, t (68) = 1.57, p < .065) for those participants
noting some “past brand” exposure. However, and consistent
with our hypothesized expectations, the nostalgic ad (as compared to the nonnostalgic ad) had no greater effect on AB or
PI for those participants with little/no reported exposure to the
brand in their childhood homes (both p values > .10; refer to
Table 1).
When a median-split of the past brand attachment index was
utilized as our grouping variable, a similar pattern of results to
those reported emerged. More specifically, and in support of
hypothesis 1b and hypothesis 2b, the nostalgic ad again produced more favorable AB (M Nost = 6.31, M Nonnost = 5.90,) and
greater PI (M Nost = 6.06, M Nonnost = 5.61, t (88) = 1.96, p <
.05) than did the nonnostalgic ad, but only in the high past brand
attachment condition. As expected, there were no statistically
significant differences in means for AB or PI across nostalgic
and nonnostalgic ad treatment conditions for those in the low
past brand attachment condition (both p values > .10; refer to
Table 2).
Ad involvement and attitude toward the ad (hypotheses 3
and 4). Consistent with hypothesis 3a and hypothesis 4a expectations, the nostalgic ad produced more favorable ad-related
responses as compared to the nonnostalgic ad, irrespective of
participants’ level of prior brand exposure in their childhood
homes. More specifically, greater ad involvement (M Nost = 4.90,
M Nonnost = 3.74; t (68) = 2.33, p < .05) and more favorable attitudes toward the ad (M Nost = 5.03, M Nonnost = 3.80; t (68) =
2.53, p < .01) were observed in the nostalgia ad condition when
participants reported having prior brand exposure in their child-
79
hood homes. A similar pattern of results was obtained for those
participants who reported little or no exposure to the brand in
their childhood homes (M Nost = 5.17, M Nonnost = 4.25; t (68)
= 2.62, p < .01, for ad involvement; M Nost = 5.23, M Nonnost =
4.36; t (68) = 2.40, p < .01, for attitude toward the ad). See
Table 1.
A nostalgia advertising advantage was also observed for measures of INV and AAd when a median-split of the past brand
attachment measure was employed. Consistent with our hypothesized expectations (hypothesis 3b and hypothesis 4b) and
with the results reported here, the nostalgic ad (as compared to
the nonnostalgic ad) produced heightened INV and more favorable AAd , irrespective of whether participants were placed in the
“high” or “low” past brand attachment group (all p values < .05
or better). Refer to Table 2 for descriptive statistics.
DISCUSSION
A growing body of research has shown that nostalgia-themed
advertising is capable of producing positive brand-related outcomes (e.g., Bambauer-Sachse and Gierl 2009b; Marchegiani
and Phau 2005; Muehling and Sprott 2004; Muehling and
Pascal 2011; Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002). Nonetheless,
while published findings are potentially important for marketers
who use nostalgia to promote their brands (a relatively common practice in today’s marketplace; e.g., Elliott 2009; Schultz
2012), little if any research has examined boundary conditions
for the effects of nostalgia in an advertising context. Building
upon the extant literature on self-brand connections (e.g., Moore
and Homer 2008) and autobiographical memory (e.g., BraunLaTour, LaTour, and Zinkhan 2007), we explore how in-home
childhood exposure and past personal attachment to a brand influences responses to nostalgia-themed brand advertisements.
Our expectation was that brand attitudes and purchase intentions would be most favorable and strongest for those viewing
a nostalgic ad and for whom some type of meaningful in-home
exposure or personal attachment to the advertised brand had
existed during childhood (hypothesis 1 and hypothesis 2), but
that prior brand experiences and associations would not differentially influence responses to the advertisements themselves
(hypothesis 3 and hypothesis 4). These hypotheses were tested
and supported in our empirical study.
In particular, results of our study indicate that a nostalgiathemed advertisement is most likely to yield favorable brand
attitudes and purchase intentions for consumers who have had
some prior in-home exposure or personal attachment to the
brand, with no appreciable effect of nostalgia being observed
for those who lacked such childhood brand experiences or associations. These results were obtained for a more traditional
brand of toothpaste (Crest) that is not typically associated with
nostalgic advertising. The findings are noteworthy, given our
expectation (confirmed by our data) that participants would
not likely possess high levels of attachment with the brand.
As such, it appears that prior association with the brand does
80
D. D. MUEHLING ET AL.
not require extensive exposure and self-defining brand attachment over an extended period of time. One’s relatively simple,
but memorable, past associations with the brand (especially in
the context of one’s childhood home) may effectively influence how consumers react to a company or brand in a current advertising setting (Braun-LaTour, LaTour, and Zinkhan
2007). Taken together, our findings suggest that prior in-home
brand exposure and attachment are meaningful boundary conditions to consider in regard to understanding and explaining consumers’ brand-related responses to nostalgia-themed
advertising.
Building on research on attitude toward the ad (e.g., Brown
and Stayman 1992) and nostalgia advertising (e.g., Muehling
and Pascal 2012), we predicted that consumers’ ad-related responses to a nostalgia-themed advertisement, however, would
be independent from the nostalgic reflection that may be triggered by the brand itself. In other words, past associations with
the brand were not expected to differentially influence nostalgia’s impact on ad involvement and attitude toward the ad. Our
findings support such a notion. We found that prior brand experiences and past brand attachment did not play important roles in
differentially influencing participants’ attitudes toward the nostalgic (versus the nonnostalgic) ad or enhancing their involvement with the ads. Irrespective of participants’ past associations
with the advertised brand, we found the nostalgic ad generated
more favorable attitudes toward and greater involvement with
the advertisement.
This pattern of effects, in part, may be attributed to the fact
that consumers are capable of experiencing nostalgic thoughts
and emotions even without meaningful prior brand/product experiences. In support of this notion, Muehling and Pascal (2011)
used ad stimuli featuring a fictitious brand of camera, thereby
making it impossible for their study participants to have reported
prior associations with the advertised brand. Nonetheless, the
authors observed a nostalgia advantage (i.e., the nostalgic ad
produced more favorable attitudes toward the ad than did the
nonnostalgic ad)—similar to the findings observed in the current study. Such a finding suggests that nostalgic advertising
may be capable of evoking positive affect and emotions that
at times are not directly connected to the affect and emotions
associated with a particular brand.
This is not to suggest that brand names do not play an important role when considered in a nostalgia context. Exposure
to an ad for a brand often associated with nostalgia may prompt
reader/viewers to produce more nostalgic thoughts than would
normally be expected. As such, one should not overlook the
very real possibility that some brands or products alone may be
capable of evoking nostalgia (Loveland, Smeesters, and Mandel
2010), thereby further enhancing the effects of an advertising
campaign. While more research is certainly in order, we speculate that when iconic brands (e.g., Coca-Cola soft drinks or
Campbell’s soup) are featured in traditional advertising executions, some nostalgic thoughts may be generated in response
to the brand itself. These nostalgic thoughts, in turn, may have
some positive affective influence on further enhancing the advertisement’s effect on consumers’ responses.1
To date, the nostalgia literature has not taken into account the
influence that past band associations may have on consumers’
responses to advertising. The findings reported here suggest that
for measures of brand-focused responses (specifically, brand attitudes and purchase intentions) the extent to which a consumer
associates an advertised brand with his or her past does indeed
moderate the effects of nostalgia-themed advertising.
Practical Implications
From a practitioner’s viewpoint, our findings suggest that
the use of nostalgia in marketing programs should not yield
universally beneficial results, irrespective of the target audience. Instead, our studies indicate that firms wishing to obtain
the greatest impact from nostalgia-based marketing campaigns
must take into consideration their target audience’s prior association with the advertised brand. As Braun-LaTour (2007) noted,
“Key to understanding what a brand means to consumers today
is unlocking what they remember about their usage of the brand
or product in the past” (p. 404). Therefore, in the current context, the task for advertisers is to identify and target consumer
segments that may have had such meaningful brand experiences
in their earlier years. This could be accomplished in a number
of ways.
For example, “reminders” of consumers’ past brand experiences could be featured on company websites or Facebook
pages, along with current advertising messaging. Rather than
simply touting the brand’s current features and benefits, these
webpages could remind consumers that the company and brand
have been staples throughout their lives, dating back to childhood. In addition, select media vehicles that tend to cater
to nostalgia-prone individuals (e.g., Nostalgia Magazine, the
TV Land channel, and/or syndicated reruns of Casey Kasem’s
“American Top 40” radio show) should be considered a vital
part of a firm’s media mix, with promotional messages relating
the brand to the consumer’s past. To reach younger segments
(e.g., ages 18 to 35), firms may also benefit by utilizing similar nostalgic advertising themes in social media outlets such as
Twitter’s “Throwback Thursdays” (outlets that are popular with
younger generations).
It should also be noted that as children we may “experience” a variety of brands and products for which we have some
nostalgic connection (e.g., Tide laundry detergent, Chevrolet
automobiles, Budweiser beer), but for which we were never the
primary “user” when we were younger. This suggests to advertisers that focusing on references to past brand usage may not
be the only avenue worth pursuing in nostalgic ad executions.
References to past in-home exposure and attachment to a brand
(“Do you remember when?”) may also prove to be effective
catalysts for prompting brand-based nostalgic reflection.
Furthermore, even if a firm’s target market has not had meaningful prior experiences with the brand, one should not conclude
that brand-focused nostalgic reflections cannot be activated in
EXPLORING NOSTALGIC ADVERTISING EFFECTS
consumers’ minds. In an intriguing study on the effects of autobiographical memory, Braun, Ellis, and Loftus (2002) found
that autobiographical referencing in advertising can cause people to believe they actually had prior brand experiences, even
when they had not. This phenomenon is explained by the reconstructive nature of memory (Braun 1999; Schacter 1996) and
is consistent with the biased retrieval of memories inherent in
nostalgic reflection (Leboe and Ansons 2006). As Braun, Ellis, and Loftus (2002) noted, “A consumer’s past is constantly
being updated to fit one’s changing self-knowledge and social
contexts” (p. 3). Therefore, in the context of the present investigation, repeated exposure to nostalgic advertising campaigns
that reference past usage of or exposure to the brand may prompt
consumers to believe they have actually had positive brand experiences in the past. If such is the case, we would expect the
findings obtained in our studies to be observed for those who
did not have prior brand experiences but nonetheless believed
they had.
Also worth noting, nostalgic reflection (the elicitation of nostalgic thoughts) is considered to be relatively effortless (i.e., with
few cognitive demands placed on the reader/viewer at the time of
ad exposure). Research by Janata, Tomic, and Rakowki (2007)
has shown, for example, that the autobiographical memories
evoked by music are often associated with nostalgia and specifically elicit a memory of a general life period or specific life event
from the past with a positive affective component attached to
it (see also Barrett et al. 2010). Using MRI data, Janata (2009)
observed these results with tasks requiring low memory retrieval
demands. Such findings suggest that the types of nostalgic advertising campaigns we are proposing here may be effectively
used in “low-involvement” processing conditions—conditions
that are typical of how many consumers respond to advertising these days—thereby broadening their appeal to potential
advertisers.
Limitations and Future Research
As with any research, the present investigation has limitations
that should be kept in mind when interpreting its findings and
could be addressed in future research. First, our study was based
on a sample of younger individuals (age ≤ 35),and as such may
not have captured the full extent of consumers’ nostalgic memories and the impact they have on responses to nostalgia-themed
ads. Although some researchers have indicated that older adults
may be more likely to experience nostalgia than younger people (Batcho 1995; Davis 1979; Holbrook and Schindler 1996;
Holak and Havlena 1992; Sierra and McQuitty 2007), empirical
studies on the topic have found no significant correlation between age and nostalgic responses (Holbrook 1993a; Holbrook
and Schindler 1991). Further, a number of researchers have successfully employed younger (i.e., college-aged student) samples
to demonstrate the effects of nostalgia on marketing outcomes
(e.g., Baker and Kennedy 1994; Batcho 2007; Chou and Lien
2010; Evans et al. 2010; Holbrook 1993a; Muehling and Sprott
2004; Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002; Praxmarer and Gierl
81
2009; Wildschut et al. 2010). The general position of these researchers is that people of most any age (beyond adolescence)
will have had prior experiences about which they may become
nostalgic. Marketers apparently agree that younger consumers
may respond in a nostalgic manner, given that nostalgic themes
are often used for products marketed to younger generations.
Nonetheless, previous research has suggested that a relationship may exist between age and proneness to nostalgia, with
nostalgia proneness increasing as one gets older (Chou and Lien
2010; Reisenwitz, Iyer, and Cutler 2004). Therefore, one might
expect that the effects observed in our study may have been
even more pronounced had a more mature adult sample been
used (Kusumi, Matsuda, and Sugimori 2010). Of course, to have
further confidence in the stability and applicability of these findings, additional replications are encouraged that employ groups
varying in age and (perhaps) culture.
Second, our experiment was restricted to one brand and product category. Therefore, we cannot ensure that similar findings
would emerge for brands representing other product categories.
Our expectation is that these findings should hold for most
brands where consumers have meaningful, past exposure and
prior personal attachment with the brand. Nonetheless, future
researchers are advised to replicate and extend our findings using additional brands (and products). When choosing brands,
researchers may wish to select brands that vary along relevant
theoretical dimensions. For example, brands that vary in terms
of attachment (e.g., Park et al. 2010) or associations in memory (e.g., Keller 1993) might provide a deeper understanding of
how prior brand experiences differentially influence responses
to nostalgia-themed advertising.
Furthermore, our study’s use of an online panel did not allow
us to take measures of participants’ past Crest brand associations
(in-home childhood exposure and past attachment) that were
separated in time from when the experimental ad exposure occurred and when the measures of the dependent variables were
taken. As such, interpretations of our study’s findings should
take into account the possibility that measuring past brand associations immediately before being exposed to the ad treatments
and measures of the dependent variables may have had some
impact on the results.
It should be relatively apparent that the current investigation
focused on personal nostalgia (i.e., nostalgia generated by reflecting upon times from one’s own experienced past) as we
were most interested in how prior, personal experiences with
a brand influences responses to nostalgia-themed ads. Prior research, however, has also considered historical nostalgia, which
is generated by reflecting upon a time before one’s birth (e.g.,
Baker and Kennedy 1994; Muehling and Pascal 2011; Stern
1992); as well as vicarious nostalgia, which may be evoked
when consumers attempt to reconstruct or relive an event from a
bygone era (Goulding 2001). In keeping with this notion, future
researchers may also wish to explore prior brand association effects by using various types of nostalgia-themed ad treatments.
Based on extant research, our expectation is that historical and
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D. D. MUEHLING ET AL.
vicarious nostalgia ad treatments would produce similar, but
likely weaker, results than what is reported herein (Merchant
and Ford 2008; Muehling 2013). Moreover, in comparison to
personal nostalgia for established brands (such as Crest), the
use of these other forms of nostalgia may be an ideal approach
for new brands with which consumers have had no prior personally lived experiences but for which some vicarious/historical
relationship with the brand exists.
Finally, it should be noted that the current study employed
ad- and brand-related measures—an approach that is common
in the consumer behavior literature. Future researchers should
consider testing a more extensive range of nostalgia’s effects
on behavioral, as well as other cognitive and affective, response
measures. In particular, prior research has suggested that nostalgic thoughts may interfere with viewers’ focusing on and
processing message claims (e.g., Muehling and Pascal 2011;
Sujan, Bettman, and Baumgartner 1993). From this perspective, collecting measures of brand beliefs after exposure to a
nostalgia-themed advertisement seems a reasonable next step
in further developing our understanding of nostalgia’s effects.
In addition to incorporating other dependent variables, future
research may wish to further explore alternate ad stimuli that
use auditory or olfactory cues to activate nostalgic reflections.
Given the relationship between music and nostalgia (Barrett
et al. 2010) and the heavy use of music within advertising,
examining the impact of music-based nostalgia manipulations
could be particularly interesting and potentially effective for
advertising and marketing managers.
NOTE
1. Findings of a prestudy conducted by the authors (not reported in
this article) support such a notion. When ads featuring the iconic
Coca-Cola brand were employed, measures of ad-evoked nostalgia
indicated that although the nostalgic ad treatment produced significantly more nostalgic thoughts than did the nonnostalgic ad, the
mean value for the nonnostalgic ad was above the scale midpoint.
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APPENDIX
Ad Stimuli
Nostalgic Ad. (Color figure available online).
Nonnostalgic Ad. (Color figure available online).
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