Evaluating Consumers' Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioural Response to Nostalgic Stimuli in Advertising: A Mix Method Study

The present study aims to evaluate the effect of evoking nostalgic memories of Advertising on Consumers' Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Responses. The Exploratory Sequential Mixed Method was applied in two studies to obtain the target in the research. In the first study, the data obtained from collage making and interviews with 18 participants, all born in the 1360s, were analyzed through phenomenological qualitative research methods to understand the Nostalgic stimulants that evoke nostalgic memories in the target group. In the second study, the effect of these stimuli, as an intervening variable, was investigated based on data gathered from questionnaires distributed among 200 participants divided into either experimental or control groups based on Post-Test Only Control Group Design. Results of multivariate variance analysis of research data indicate that at a 95% significance level, the mean of emotional response, attitude toward advertising, and purchase intention scores of consumers exposed to nostalgic advertising is higher than those not exposed to such advertising. Therefore, it is concluded that advertisements that have nostalgic appeal evoke more positive emotional responses, a more favorable brand attitude, and higher purchase intention. It was also found out that there is no significant difference between men and women in terms of their attitude to nostalgic advertising.