The Effect of Psychological Discontinuity on the Consumer’s Preference for Nostalgic Products

Abstract

Nostalgia is a pleasant feeling coming through the positive memories of the past evoked upon facing stimulants such as anxiety, objects, places, etc. One of the functions of nostalgia is to bring back a feeling of serenity or comfort when a consumer experiences anxiety and loss of psychological balance (i.e. psychological discontinuity). The main goal of the present study is to analyze the effect of psychological disruption on the nostalgia evoked in consumers. The study also seeks to examine how a person extinguishes his or her anxiety by finding nostalgic products for consuming. Thus, at first, the average anxiety rates of a control group and a test group are compared. After examining the difference between the two groups a control group of 191 students were picked for data gathering and hypothesis testing. Then, by using the method of structural equations and the PLS software, the data were analyzed and paraphrased. The results suggested that psychological discontinuity of a consumer has a significant and positive effect on nostalgia, and the consumers who experience psychological discontinuity tend to consume nostalgia products more.

Keywords

• discontinuity
• nostalgia
• nostalgia proneness
• preference for nostalgic products