Cultural Differences in Consumer Response to Nostalgic Advertising: An Extended Abstract

In the current inquiry we add to the emerging research on how consumers respond to nostalgic advertising, by examining the cultural differences in the evocation of nostalgia. We contend that nostalgic reverie can engage the consumer but there are cultural differences in what types of nostalgia (personal and cultural) are evoked among consumers. Findings from three studies in France reveal that, ad-evoked nostalgia has two dimensions, past imagery and cultural nostalgia. Further, past imagery results in an emotional reaction, however, cultural nostalgia, that such ads evoke, do not result in emotional reactions. These findings are unique and very different from past research. For instance, in the US, Merchant et al. (2013) recently found that nostalgic reactions evoked by ads have a strong autobiographical memory element and are emotional experiences. Whereas, in France even though there is an autobiographical element to nostalgia, there is also a broader cultural evocation.