Nostalgia: A Review, Propositions, and Future Research Agenda

Abstract

This article presents a systematic review of the nostalgia literature (205 articles) using PRISMA protocols. It dwells on three questions: What do we know about nostalgia? What do we need to know about nostalgia? and Where should we be heading? The article examines the evolution of nostalgia, analyzes the definitions of nostalgia (past–memory–yearning–ambivalent emotion), and extends the nostalgia typology of Havlena and Holak (1996 Havlena, W. J., and S. L. Holak. 1996. “Exploring Nostalgia Imagery through the Use of Consumer Collages.” ACR North American Advances 23 (1):35–42. [Google Scholar]). The article also delineates the nostalgic advertising literature; identifies antecedents, moderators, and consequences of nostalgic advertising; and highlights research gaps. Finally, this work offers propositions on nostalgic ad appeals (those that emphasize the attractiveness of and yearning for the past in a bittersweet way) based on four themes: self-restoration, continuity, social relationships, and culture. Specifically, the propositions offer new moderators, such as ads’ emotional flow, gender identity, purchase and consumption situation, perceived interactivity, and culture type, that could make some types of nostalgic appeals more effective than others. Our work contributes by being more comprehensive and broad based, extending the typology framework and delineating propositions that lay out a research roadmap for nostalgic advertising.

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