The value of historical nostalgia for marketing management Christopher Marchegiani and Ian Phau School of Marketing, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia Abstract 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. Keywords Nostalgia, Cognition, Attitudes, Marketing, Brands, Advertising Paper type Research paper Introduction Nostalgia’s use as an appeal in advertising is shown to be highly effective and persuasive in a number of studies (Baker and Kennedy, 1994; Havlena and Holak, 1991; Muehling and Sprott, 2004; Pascal et al., 2002; Rindfleisch and Sprott, 2000). Research shows that nostalgia may be generated either from a personally remembered past (personal nostalgia: “the way I was”) or from a time in history before one was born (historical nostalgia: “the way it was”) (Baker and Kennedy, 1994; Havlena and Holak, 1991; Hirsch, 1992; Holak and Havlena, 1992; Stern, 1992). Both these appeals are evident in the marketplace, for example campaigns that connect the brand to a consumer’s experience in childhood (personal nostalgia) or the recent surge in younger consumers’ fascination with “retro” items (historical nostalgia). The appeal and prevalence of historical nostalgia can be seen in the fashion industry, movies and the resurgence of pop-culture personalities and items amongst youths who did not experience the “first coming” of such products and icons. Despite this division of nostalgia, studies generally test the appeal without distinguishing between the specific types of nostalgic response experienced. This is also despite theories and prior research indicating that these distinctly different responses will follow varying cognitive paths. For example, The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-4503.htm MIP 29,2 108 Received July 2009 Revised August 2009, January 2010 Accepted February 2010 Marketing Intelligence & Planning Vol. 29 No. 2, 2011 pp. 108-122 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0263-4503 DOI 10.1108/02634501111117575