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Nostalgic advertising: managing ambivalence to make it work

Ekta Srivastava (Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Lucknow, India)
Satish S. Maheswarappa (Department of Marketing, Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli, India)
Bharadhwaj Sivakumaran (Department of Marketing, Great Lakes Instititute of Management, Chennai, India)

Marketing Intelligence & Planning

ISSN: 0263-4503

Article publication date: 29 March 2019

Issue publication date: 26 April 2019

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the affective outcome of ambivalent nostalgia through use of executional variables, develop a framework linking nostalgia (through affect) and consumers’ cognitive processing, and explain the relationship of nostalgia with self-brand connection (SBC) and willingness to pay a premium (WTPP) through a mediator, cognitive processing.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on two experiments. In study 1, students were shown a nostalgic ad paired with a vignette to manipulate “past–present contrast.” In study 2, positive and negative moods were induced and an informative nostalgic ad was shown to measure processing styles and SBC and WTPP; this was followed by mediation analysis.

Findings

The findings are as follows: first, “Past–present contrast” can reduce the negative affect in nostalgia, making it less ambivalent; second, positive (negative) affect leads to top-down (bottom-up) processing; third, SBC and WTPP are higher when top-down processing is used; and, fourth, processing style is a mediator between affect and SBC/WTPP.

Practical implications

Managers may use the “good past, good present” scenario to mitigate negative affect in nostalgia. Nostalgic ads may be used by brands that want consumers to pay a price premium, have a strong SBC and when they want consumers to use top-down processing.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates how to reduce ambivalence and associate brands with positive affect in nostalgia, and gain SBC and WTPP; the mediating role of cognitive processing in the relationship of nostalgia with SBC and WTPP is delineated.

Keywords

Citation

Srivastava, E., Maheswarappa, S.S. and Sivakumaran, B. (2019), "Nostalgic advertising: managing ambivalence to make it work", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 284-297. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-04-2018-0127

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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