Millennials purchasing the good old days : The effects of nostalgic advertising on brand attitude and purchase intention among millennials

Background: Advertising clutter is undesirable for both consumers and advertisers. This problem increases and is predicted to grow in the future. To break through the advertising clutter and grab the attention of consumers, nostalgic advertising is considered an effective strategy. With millennials being a desired target group due to their purchasing power, nostalgic advertising is seen as a valuable strategy to reach this consumer group. Purpose: This study proposed nostalgic advertising as an effective strategy to break through the advertising clutter in order to successfully reach millennials, and therefore, examined the effect of nostalgic advertising on brand attitude and purchase intention among millennials. Method: From literature, hypotheses and a conceptual model were established to serve as the foundation of the quantitative research. The dataset consisted of 244 respondents obtained via an online questionnaire distributed among employed millennials within the JIBS alumni network. Conclusion: This research showed that millennials are nostalgic towards their own personal past. The age of a millennial does not influence the nostalgia proneness. Moreover, the nostalgic video advertisement is more attractive and generates a more favourable attitude towards the advertisement. Hence, this did not result in a more positive brand attitude or enhanced purchase intention compared to the non-nostalgic video advertisement.