The Art of Going Back: How Nostalgia Sells

How many of you (like me) spent your New Year hunting down Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts? 20 years later, the fans of the franchise reunited as one to watch their beloved cast go back to where it all started. 

However, we weren’t watching a movie, but rather, a documentary on the cast reuniting, reminiscing moments, and speaking about behind the scenes hilarity. For someone who is not a fan, worthless. However, the appeal was specifically to the large fanbase the franchise boasts. 

Even if Return to Hogwarts was not your style, perhaps you spent a few days last year bawling your eyes out over the Friends reunion? Or were you one of those excited fans waiting for Red: Taylor’s version? 

These are just the tip of the iceberg, as we’ve seen many cast reunions last year. This is not to mention the not-so-recent spree of remakes Disney (and others) seem to be engaging in, with mixed but mostly positive results. 

Are We Going Back To The Past?

Nostalgia, based on the Greek nostos (return) and algos (pain) is one of those universal emotions. We’ve all found ourselves reminiscing in the past. It’s also natural, most of the time, for us to want to buy, experience, taste, or touch those nostalgic memories. Personally, this writer has a permanent soft spot for Japanese food, a staple from their childhood. 

As confusing as it seems, this phenomena is backed up by research. One of the first studies on the subject, published in the October 2014 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, the researchers conducted multiple experiments to test whether feeling “a sense of nostalgia-evoked social connectedness” would affect the way people want to spend, donate or value money. To do this, one group was asked to recall, reflect and write about a nostalgic past memory; a second group was asked to think about new or future memories. The study found that the group which thought about the past was more willing to pay for products and give more money (but not more time) to others.

COVID-19 and Chasing Time

As Zazie Atkinson says in Candid Orange, “With uncertain futures and the general fear of the unpredictable, tapping into people’s nostalgia is a way to find comfort. And while the world is in a standstill, instead of looking fearfully to the future, we turn our thoughts to the past, in hopes of escaping our current realities.” 

In a nutshell, that means that when our future is unpredictable, and our present is stagnant, waiting for a catalyst or means to figure out which direction the future would go in, we turn to the better times of the past to escape this grim reality. And yes, that means we spend more, trying to forget. 

Unfortunately for us, “future unpredictable, and present stagnant” has been the world in a nutshell since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which means our nostalgic spending has increased. 

Nostalgia is Everywhere

So what’s the harm in feeling nostalgic and buying your favourite comfort meal, you might ask. Nostalgic advertising plays a bigger part in your life than you may think. 

Fashion recycles every few years, and old looks may come back to become new. Think bowler hats and baggy styles. Even suspenders occasionally make a comeback. 

Other avenues, movies, TV series, and even games hark back to our nostalgic childhoods. Popular brands such as Coca Cola and Pepsi have famously gone back to old logos citing “nostalgia”. 

Is The Past Worth It?

Nostalgia is a warm and fuzzy feeling, perhaps the sole source of comfort in these turbulent times. However, keep an eye out, comforting feels are not worth wasting your finances on.

Do you think spending more than usual for nostalgia is worth it?