Nostalgia's fulfillment of agentic and communal needs: How different types of self-concepts shape consumer attitudes toward nostalgia

Abstract

This research investigates how consumers' different types of self-concepts (agentic vs. communal) shape their attitudes toward nostalgia. Experiment 1, using a two (self-concept: agentic vs. communal) by two (nostalgia: nostalgic vs. non-nostalgic) between-subjects design and a series of multivariate analysis of variance and Hayes's PROCESS Model 8, showed that agentic and communal participants' preference was not increased in the non-nostalgic condition but was increased in the nostalgic condition. Self-concept indirectly influenced participants' preference for the nostalgic product through different functions of nostalgia; Agentic participants' likelihood of buying a nostalgic product and recommending it to others increased through enhanced self-positivity, whereas communal participants' likelihood of buying a nostalgic product and recommending it to others increased through enhanced social connectedness. In Experiment 2, these results were replicated in the context of a public education campaign, and participants' chronic self-concepts were measured. Participants with different chronic self-concept tendencies were randomly assigned to nostalgic or non-nostalgic conditions and were asked to indicate their attitudes toward the campaign. As in Experiment 1, a series of regression and Hayes' PROCESS Model 8 revealed that agentic and communal participants' attitudes were not enhanced in the non-nostalgic condition but were enhanced in the nostalgic condition. Agentic (communal) individuals' favorability toward the nostalgic message about advocacy increased through enhanced self-positivity (social connectedness). It appears that consumers with different self-concepts (agentic vs. communal) experience enhanced feelings relevant to their self-concepts (self-positivity vs. social connectedness) when presented with nostalgic appeals for an object, and these heightened feelings drive an increased preference for it. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.