Nostalgia

        The feelings brought about by nostalgia, that strange fuzzy happiness from a distant memory, can be used as a powerful marketing tool; however, it's hard to say whether this power often works. Our past emotions usually come out a lot more strong than our present emotions. For instance, if I buy a cheeseburger and love it, I am likely to buy it again and love it even more, but if I buy a cheeseburger and hate it, well, that's a one-star review on Yelp--very doubtful that I'd ever go there again. Thus, using nostalgia as an advertising technique has its ups and downs, and it's safe to say that there are certain areas where it should be avoided.


        On one hand, evoking feelings of nostalgia can result in much impulse buying and brand loyalty. A cookie company could simply write on a tub of cookie dough, "Just like grandma's!" and already there would be a select market of consumers whose experiences with grandmother's cookies has sold them on this tub. Nostalgia, in this sense, removes the control aspect of someone's shopping mind. Furthermore, if these cookies do taste close enough to grandma's that the consumer agrees with the statement, the consumer will be back for them--back for grandma. This technique could also work for company's who have used the same or similar branding for many years so that when children become first time shoppers, they know what to grab because they remember what was good as a kid.

        On the other hand, bringing up past memories can be instant turn-offs for some consumers. In this same vein, "grandma's cookies" can be a severely depressing image. Instead of grabbing cookies, the consumer is likely to go for whiskey (which should be stealthily cross-merchandised with the cookie dough to prevent a loss from this type of reaction). Nostalgia marketing can also completely miss a generational group if not properly placed. For instance, if a commercial featuring a 90s alt-rock classic is played during a late-night sitcom whose majority audience is 10-15 years of age, likely, the audience will not have a thing to remember.


        As a result, nostalgia marketing really isn't suited for some markets. Nowadays, it would be really hard to use this kind of marketing in technology markets, as people are more and more doing their research before entering the market. Brand loyalty will sway to a technically superior product, with the few exceptions of incredibly well-branded products like many of Apple's products. Furthermore, a trend-oriented market like fashion (and arguably technology as well) will never be dominated by the past. However, in a market where brand loyalty will always run high, like the grocery market, nostalgia marketing usually gives favorable results, with only the most sensitive customers being turned-off by their memories.

        All points considered, nostalgia marketing can be an impacting advertising technique, in certain markets. Though trend-oriented and research-oriented markets can look to the past for inspiration, they cannot trust the past to pull in consumers. All advertising should pull on some emotional string, and these markets have plenty of emotions to explore besides the ones evoked by nostalgia. Sounds, smells, and tastes, some of our primal senses, give rise to nostalgia, an almost instinct-like happiness, which is why in certain markets, despite whatever general advantages and disadvantages there may be, nostalgia dominates.