The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Hungering for the past: Nostalgic food labels increase purchase intentions and actual consumption

Hungering for the past: Nostalgic food labels increase purchase intentions and actual consumption
Hungering for the past: Nostalgic food labels increase purchase intentions and actual consumption

We proposed that nostalgic labels strengthen the appeal of food items when the items are intrinsically nostalgic (e.g., related to one's childhood). Nostalgic labels do so by fostering a sense of food comfort (i.e., safety and security) among potential consumers. Experiment 1, testing a Chinese sample, confirmed that nostalgic (vs. descriptive) labels strengthen purchase intentions of food items when such items are intrinsically nostalgic. Experiment 2 showed that nostalgic (vs. descriptive) food labels strengthen purchase intentions of intrinsically nostalgic items, and do so by virtue of their capacity to elevate food comfort. This experiment tested a U.S. sample, thus broadening the cross-cultural generalizability of the findings. Experiment 3, testing a Chinese sample, replicated the Experiment 2 findings using nostalgic versus descriptive labels of a food item, and ruled out the influence of an alternative mediator, perceived food healthiness. Finally, Experiment 4, testing also a Chinese sample, revealed that restaurant dishes are more likely to be consumed when advertised with a nostalgic (than descriptive) label. The current work makes theoretical contributions to literature on food consumption and emotions, and has practical implications for harnessing nostalgia for dietary purposes.

Consumption, Emotion, Food labels, Marketing, Nostalgia
151-158
Zhou, Xinyue
71499fe7-f78c-4787-939a-df0ce0efeb92
van Tilburg, Wijnand A.P.
7396f6c2-3a43-4d02-a4a0-97efe4d5ab12
Mei, Dongmei
cb809207-2c08-4a3a-8834-917a3c71eaa6
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Zhou, Xinyue
71499fe7-f78c-4787-939a-df0ce0efeb92
van Tilburg, Wijnand A.P.
7396f6c2-3a43-4d02-a4a0-97efe4d5ab12
Mei, Dongmei
cb809207-2c08-4a3a-8834-917a3c71eaa6
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2

Zhou, Xinyue, van Tilburg, Wijnand A.P., Mei, Dongmei, Wildschut, Tim and Sedikides, Constantine (2019) Hungering for the past: Nostalgic food labels increase purchase intentions and actual consumption. Appetite, 140, 151-158. (doi:10.1016/j.appet.2019.05.007).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We proposed that nostalgic labels strengthen the appeal of food items when the items are intrinsically nostalgic (e.g., related to one's childhood). Nostalgic labels do so by fostering a sense of food comfort (i.e., safety and security) among potential consumers. Experiment 1, testing a Chinese sample, confirmed that nostalgic (vs. descriptive) labels strengthen purchase intentions of food items when such items are intrinsically nostalgic. Experiment 2 showed that nostalgic (vs. descriptive) food labels strengthen purchase intentions of intrinsically nostalgic items, and do so by virtue of their capacity to elevate food comfort. This experiment tested a U.S. sample, thus broadening the cross-cultural generalizability of the findings. Experiment 3, testing a Chinese sample, replicated the Experiment 2 findings using nostalgic versus descriptive labels of a food item, and ruled out the influence of an alternative mediator, perceived food healthiness. Finally, Experiment 4, testing also a Chinese sample, revealed that restaurant dishes are more likely to be consumed when advertised with a nostalgic (than descriptive) label. The current work makes theoretical contributions to literature on food consumption and emotions, and has practical implications for harnessing nostalgia for dietary purposes.

Text
Zhou, Van Tilburg, Mei, Wildschut, & Sedikides, 2019, Appetite - Accepted Manuscript
Download (199kB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 5 May 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 May 2019
Published date: 1 September 2019
Keywords: Consumption, Emotion, Food labels, Marketing, Nostalgia

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 435650
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/435650
PURE UUID: b17dec4f-b62c-446d-b0e6-8e65cc824096
ORCID for Tim Wildschut: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6499-5487
ORCID for Constantine Sedikides: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4036-889X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Nov 2019 17:30
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 04:09

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Xinyue Zhou
Author: Wijnand A.P. van Tilburg
Author: Dongmei Mei
Author: Tim Wildschut ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×