The value of historical nostalgia for marketing management

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of three levels of historical nostalgia on respondents' cognitions, attitude towards the advert, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach A total of 292 respondents exposed to broadcast‐style advertising containing nostalgic cues completed a measure of historical nostalgia, a thought‐collection exercise, and measures of attitudes and intention. Hypotheses are tested using ANOVA and other relevant analyses. Findings The findings show that historical nostalgic thoughts and the valence of cognitive reactions significantly improve when respondents experience a moderate or high level of historical nostalgia compared with a low level. However, no significant benefit is evident when moving from a moderate to a high level. Brand and message‐related thoughts did not significantly change. Attitude towards the brand is significantly improved only if respondents reach a high level of historical reaction. Attitudes towards the advert and purchase intentions however continue to significantly improve at each increasing level of historical nostalgia. Practical implications Increased predictive capabilities of managers utilising historical nostalgia in the marketplace are achieved, specifically relating to consumers experiencing varying levels of historical nostalgia and the expected cognitive, attitudinal and purchase intent reactions. The study provides relevant implications for advertisers and creative directors to ensure the appropriate intensity of historical nostalgia is elicited. Originality/value No prior empirical studies on the effect of varying levels of historical nostalgia on consumer responses have been conducted. This is the first paper to close this gap.