Skip to main content
Log in

Longing for the past and embracing the new: Does nostalgia increase new product adoption?

  • Published:
Marketing Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Existing research has mostly focused on the salutary impact of nostalgia on nostalgia-related products (e.g., childhood products, classic brands). The current research examines whether this effect can extend to nostalgia-unrelated products: new products. We demonstrate that nostalgia fosters social support, which in turn encourages consumers to adopt new products, and this effect is weakened when individuals have independent self-construal. Three studies provide support for these predictions. Study 1 revealed that nostalgia increases new product adoption. Study 2 demonstrated that this positive effect of nostalgia on new product adoption is mediated by social support. Study 3 showed that this salutary effect occurs only when consumers’ interdependent self is activated. The marketing implications of these findings are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Chen, R., & Zheng, Y. H. (2015). The impact of loneliness on consumer preference of uncertain consumption: new products, product packaging and probabilistic promotions. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 47, 1067–1076.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, R., Chen, H. H., & Zheng, Y. H. (2017). The impact of nostalgia on consumers’ choice between hedonic and utilitarian products. Nankai Business Review, 20, 140–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, W. Y., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Hepper, E. G., Arndt, J., & Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M. (2013). Back to the future: Nostalgia increases optimism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(11), 1484–1496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, A. D., Cox, D., & Mantel, S. P. (2010). Consumer response to drug risk information: The role of positive affect. Journal of Marketing, 74(4), 31–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demaray, M. K., Malecki, C. K., Davidson, L. M., Hodgson, K. K., & Rebus, P. J. (2005). The relationship between social support and student adjustment: A longitudinal analysis. Psychology in the Schools, 42(7), 691–706.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eidelman, S., Crandall, C. S., & Pattershall, J. (2009). The existence bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(5), 765–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faraji-Rad, A., Melumad, S., & Johar, G. V. (2017). Consumer desire for control as a barrier to new product adoption. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(3), 347–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2013). An introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford.

  • Holbrook, M. B. (1993). Nostalgia and consumption preferences: Some emerging patterns of consumer tastes. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(2), 245–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsee, C., & Weber, E. U. (1999). Cross-national differences in risk preferences and lay predictions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 12(2), 165–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, X., Huang, Z., & Wyer, R. S. (2016). Slowing down in the good old days: The effect of nostalgia on consumer patience. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(3), 372–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Josef, A. K., Richter, D., Samanez-Larkin, G. R., Wagner, G. G., Hertwig, R., & Mata, R. (2016). Stability and change in risk-taking propensity across the adult life span. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111(3), 430–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ju, I., Jun, J., Dodoo, N., & Morris, J. (2017) The influence of life satisfaction on nostalgic advertising and attitude toward a brand. Journal of Marketing Communications, 23(4), 413–427.

  • Kumashiro, M., & Sedikides, C. (2005). Taking on board liability-focused feedback: Close positive relationships as a self-bolstering resource. Psychological Science, 16(9), 732–739.

  • Lasaleta, J. D., Sedikides, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2014). Nostalgia weakens the desire for money. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(3), 713–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lasaleta, J. D., Werle, O. C., & Yamin, A. (2021). Nostalgia makes people eat healthier. Appetite, 162, 105187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loveland, K. E., Smeesters, D., & Mandel, N. (2010). Still preoccupied with 1995: The need to belong and preference for nostalgic products. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(3), 393–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma, Z., Gill, T., & Jiang, Y.  (2015) Core versus Peripheral Innovations: The Effect of Innovation Locus on Consumer Adoption of New Products. Journal of Marketing Research, 52(3), 309-324.

  • Mandel, M. (2003). Shifting selves and decision making: The effects of self-construal priming on consumer risk-taking. Journal of Consumer Research, 30(1), 30–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muehling, D. D., & Sprott, D. E. (2004). The power of reflection: An empirical examination of nostalgia advertising effects. Journal of Advertising, 33(3), 25–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann, R., Steinhäuser, N., & Roeder, U. R. (2009). How self-construal shapes emotion: Cultural differences in the feeling of pride. Social Cognition, 27(2), 327–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roehrich, G. (2004). Consumer innovativeness: Concepts and measurements. Journal of business research, 57(6), 671–677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson, W., & Zeckhauser, R. (1988). Status quo bias in decision making. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1(1), 7–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schindler, R. M., & Holbrook, M. B. (2003). Nostalgia for early experience as a determinant of consumer preferences. Psychology & Marketing, 20(4), 275–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., Arndt, J., & Routledge, C. (2008). Nostalgia: Past, present, and future. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(5), 304–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., Routledge, C., Arndt, J., Hepper, E. G., & Zhou, X. (2015). To Nostalgize: Mixing memory with affect and desire. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 189–273.

  • Sitkin, S. B., & Pablo, A. L. (1992). Reconceptualizing the determinants of risk behavior. Academy of Management Review, 17(1), 9–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tierney, J. (2013). What is nostalgia good for? Quite a bit, research shows. The New York Times https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/science/what-is-nostalgia-good-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.amp.html.

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Positive and negative affect schedule. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070.

  • Weber, E. U., & Hsee, C. (1998). Cross-cultural differences in risk perception, but cross-cultural similarities in attitudes towards perceived risk. Management Science, 44, 1205–1217.

  • Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Arndt, J., & Routledge, C. (2006). Nostalgia: Content, triggers, functions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(5), 975–993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, Q., Zhou, Y. J., Ye, M. L., & Zhou, X. Y. (2015). Perceived social support reduces the pain of spending money. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25(2), 219–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, X. Y., Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., & Gao, D. G. (2008). Counteracting loneliness: On the restorative function of nostalgia. Psychological Science, 19(10), 1023–1029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, X. Y., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Shi, K., & Feng, C. (2012). Nostalgia: The gift that keeps on giving. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(1), 39–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, R., Dholakia, U. M., Chen, X., & Algesheimer, R. (2012). Does online community participation foster risky financial behavior? Journal of Marketing Research, 49(3), 394–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., & Farley, G. K. (1988). The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Journal of personality assessment, 52(1), 30–41.

  • Zou, X., Lee, M., Wildschut, T., & Sedikides, C. (2019). Nostalgia increases financial risk taking. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(6), 907–919.

Download references

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers: 71572168)

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Kun Zhou responsible for the overall framework, hypothesis development, experimental design and data analysis. Xiaoyin Ye responsible for hypothesis development and experimental design. Jun Ye responsible for the overall framework, hypothesis development, experimental design and reviewer response.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Ye.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendices

Appendix 1. The pretest of perceived risk of new/traditional products

figure a

Appendix 2. Details for study 1

figure b
figure c

Appendix 3. Details for study 2

figure d
figure e
figure f
figure g

Appendix 4. Details for study 3

figure h

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhou, K., Ye, X. & Ye, J. Longing for the past and embracing the new: Does nostalgia increase new product adoption?. Mark Lett 32, 477–498 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09574-8

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-021-09574-8

Keywords

Navigation