The power of brand nostalgia: Contrasting brand personality dimensions and consumer‐brand relationships of nostalgic and non‐nostalgic brands

Abstract Integrating the theories of nostalgia, brand personality, and consumer‐brand relationships, this research examined the power of nostalgia in explaining brand personality dimensions and five relational constructs. Online survey data across two separate studies ( n = 374 for both studies) with two different sets of nostalgic and non‐nostalgic brands was collected via Amazon MTurk with U.S. based participants to unravel relationships between constructs. The data analysis revealed that nostalgic brands received stronger ratings on the brand personality dimensions of sincerity, excitement, and competence in both studies. In other words, the nostalgic status of brands served as a differentiator to account for the strength of brand personality dimensions. Nostalgic brands also showed stronger brand attachment, self‐brand connections, separation distress, relationship quality, and brand engagement behaviors on social media rather than non‐nostalgic brands. These findings provide the utility of nostalgia as a marketing communication tactic that can enhance important brand‐related outcomes. Furthermore, the sincerity and excitement brand personality dimensions appeared to be important mediators to explain the link between the nostalgic status of brands and relational outcomes in both studies. Theoretically, this research advances our knowledge of the theoretical mechanism behind how the nostalgic status of brands elucidates consumer‐brand relationships by exploring the mediating role of perceived brand personality. Practically, the findings provide strategic insights into the power of channeling nostalgia in retro‐marketing campaigns by maintaining or emphasizing brand personality (e.g., sincerity, excitement, or competence), which leads to desired relational marketing outcomes.