Abstract:
Nostalgia is a concept marketers and researchers have studied over time as a subtle yet effective marketing tool. Particularly across the world’s Western regions, established brands have adopted nostalgia as a theme for their catalogues, making it an unmatched trend in modern society. Paying special attention to the fashion industry, brands have capitalised on nostalgic fashion to thrive in emerging marketing trends impacted by generations. Due to insufficient research on this discipline in Sri Lanka, the research generates various implications for the fashion industry while attempting to contribute to local academic scholarship. Featuring evidence from past seminal studies, this research aims to assess the impact of two nostalgic experiences, i.e., personal and collective nostalgia on the purchase intentions of nostalgic fashion by an under-studied generation, the young consumers of Sri Lanka aged 15-29 years, characterised by their current consumption of nostalgic fashion and interest towards its resurgence. A quantitative method with a deductive approach was employed whereby data was collected via a survey-based questionnaire, which enclosed five-point Likert scale questions. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was implemented to test the hypotheses and analyse the obtained data set of 104 responses. Findings reflected that Personal Nostalgia (PN), and Collective Nostalgia (CN) have a significant impact on the Consumer Attitude (CA) and Purchase Intentions (PI) of young consumers in Sri Lanka. By leveraging nostalgia-themed marketing that garners both personal and collective nostalgic experiences, marketers can effectively connect with young consumers and enhance their brand attitudes, thereby driving purchase intentions. Therefore, in an attempt to offer fundamental insights into the impact of a concept novel to Sri Lanka, this research sought to address the holistic influences of nostalgia on consumer behaviour, providing fresh implications for local marketing practices and empirical contributions to apply for future research.
