Back in style: The impact of nostalgia on sport fans’ feelings toward team apparel
Keywords:
nostalgia, retro marketing, sport merchandise, sport consumersAbstract
Retro jerseys across many sports have grown increasingly popular in recent years and previous research has given credence to their use by sport organizations. Specifically, recent research has found the freshness and outdatedness of retro jerseys to impact consumer attitudes (Dwyer et al., 2020). With nostalgia at the core of retro merchandise, however, literature had yet to explore the role of specific aspects of nostalgia in consumer preferences toward sport retro jerseys. Therefore, the current study sought to assess the influence of nostalgia – and specifically its three dimensions personal, historical, and collective – on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. An online sample of 434 participants were surveyed and results exhibited mixed findings, with the three dimensions of nostalgia varying in impact toward the outcomes of team attitude and purchase intentions. Also, examination of the role of age, income, and length of time as a fan were also explored with results exhibiting differences based upon consumer income and length of time as a fan. Although the results varied based on type of nostalgia and consumer outcome, it was clear that nostalgia plays a role in consumers’ feelings toward their favorite team’s merchandise. Further examination of the results are provided and suggestions for future research on the topic of sport retro apparel is discussed.
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