Research on the Driving Factors of Collective Nostalgia and the Impact of Collective Nostalgia on National Brand Consciousness

Abstract

Nostalgia is an important factor affecting consumers’ intention and behavior. A lot of previous research on nostalgia has been conducted from the perspective of individuals rather than groups. Then how does group-based collective nostalgia come into being? How will consumers’ collective nostalgia affect their consumption decisions? And what can we do to guide it? By sorting out the relevant literature, this paper attempts to explore the driving factors of collective nostalgia and observe the internal impact of it on national brand consciousness. Furthermore, a mechanism model of collective nostalgia is constructed, and data collection and empirical analysis are carried out by means of a questionnaire. The results show that relative deprivation, social alienation, interpersonal alienation and environmental alienation have significant positive predictive effects on collective nostalgia, while cultural discontinuity and historical discontinuity have no significant predictive effect on collective nostalgia. In addition, collective nostalgia has a positive influence on national brand consciousness; personal identity, social identity and collective identity all play mediating roles between collective nostalgia and national brand consciousness. With the improvement in social emotion, the positive effect of social identity and collective identity on national brand consciousness is strengthened, while the influence of personal identity on national brand consciousness is not significant. The study enriches the basic theory of collective nostalgia and national brand consciousness and provides suggestions for further developing domestic brands and expanding the influence of domestic brands.