Consumer–Brand Relationships: A Contrast of Nostalgic and Non-Nostalgic Brands

Aurélie Kessous (1) , Elyette Roux (2, 3) , Jean-Louis Chandon (1)

1 INSEEC - Institut des hautes études économiques et commerciales | School of Business and Economics
2 CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille
3 AMU IAE - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Aix-en-Provence

This research examined how consumer–brand relationships change when one contrasts brands perceived as nostalgic with brands perceived as non-nostalgic. Paired comparisons of brands in six product categories revealed that brand attachment, self-brand connections, and storytelling, as well as, the propensity to offer the brand as a gift and collect brand-derived products, depend on the nostalgic status of the brand. On a sample of 606 consumers, the results showed that a brand’s nostalgic status has a positive effect on attachment, self-brand connections, and storytelling. These effects had not previously been considered in nostalgia research. Furthermore, the nostalgic status of a brand has positive effects in terms of intention to purchase the brand as a gift and collect brand-derived products. Moreover, ANOVA results illustrate that consumer relationships with nostalgic brands are systematically stronger than with non-nostalgic brands. Finally, results indicated that product category moderates all of the dimensions of brand relationships while gender does not. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Mots clés: nostalgia; nostalgic brands; consumer-brand relationships; self-brand connections; brand attachment; storytelling.

Domaines: Gestion et management

Aurélie Kessous, Elyette Roux, Jean-Louis Chandon. Consumer–Brand Relationships: A Contrast of Nostalgic and Non-Nostalgic Brands. Psychology and Marketing, 2015, 32 (2), pp.187-202. ⟨hal-01465788⟩