The impacts of nostalgia marketing on consumers’ purchase intentions: a focus on building brand equity in customers’ cognition

Abstract

Nostalgia has become a significant trend in global marketing. In psychology, it’s seen as a complex and dual-natured emotion that has piqued the interest of both scholars and marketers. In contrast, the business and management sector views nostalgia differently than psychological studies. It has evolved through various theoretical frameworks and is now recognized as a powerful tool in marketing. This provides valuable insights for marketing professionals to enhance their nostalgia-based approaches in advertising, promotions, etc. To enhance brand equity in customers’ cognition, many businesses have employed Nostalgia Marketing strategies to evoke pleasant memories in customers' minds, thereby creating a connection with them and influencing their purchasing behavior. They believe the better Nostalgia Marketing activities are executed, the more consumers tend to spend on their products/services. Prior studies have investigated the connection between Nostalgia Marketing and consumers' purchasing intention. However, there are still many gaps, especially in analyzing the connection between customers and brands through Nostalgia Marketing. This study investigates the effects of Nostalgia Marketing on building brand equity in customers’ cognition. The research utilized the SOR (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model by surveying 400 users who used products/services affected by Nostalgia Marketing. The research results indicate that using Nostalgia Marketing in advertising activities increases consumers’ purchase intentions by satisfying psychological needs related to the brand, such as Brand Familiarity and Brand Attachment. It has been discovered by researchers that both Personal and Collective Nostalgia form the basis of Nostalgia, which has a positive impact on three types of emotions - Emotion, Brand Attitude, and Nostalgia-seeking Benefit. Therefore, the study has proposed a research model that includes Personal Nostalgia and Collective Nostalgia affecting emotional forms of Emotion, Brand Attitude, and Nostalgia-seeking Benefit, which in turn affect Brand Familiarity and Brand Attachment, ultimately leading to Purchase Intention.