The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer Studies

Nostalgia

MINNA AUTIO

University of Helsinki, Finland

DOI: 10.1002/9781118989463.wbeccs186

Nostalgia comes from the Greek words nostos, meaning to return home, and algia, a painful condition. Thus, it refers to a sentimental yearning for the “dear departed past,” which causes longing for things missing from one's personal life (e.g., homesickness). In modern times, however, the meaning of nostalgia has evolved, and the concept has many connotations. In consumer research, nostalgia has mainly been interpreted as a positive feeling and experience – longing for a happy former time or place. These enjoyable feelings are conceptualized through goods and services when, for example, people sense nostalgia through sound, smell, and taste. These sensory experiences are distinctive in food culture, where former eating and cooking practices and dishes are emphasized.

Consumption of nostalgia has been particularly promoted through cultural products such as films, music, advertising, and clothes. Perception of time is an essential part of nostalgia. For example, during the Christmas period people become sentimental and they reminisce about traditions. It is partially a leap back to former times. Places also have an importance in the construction of nostalgia. Museums or the city center of a medieval town connect us to the past, our history. Following the collapse of communism, a new form of nostalgia has arisen in Europe in recent years. The phenomenon, called “Ostalgie,” is based on former ...