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The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
by
Wendy Martin and Wei-Na Lee
Paper submitted to the 1999
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Convention
in New Orleans, Louisiana
August 4-7, 1999
Wendy Martin is a doctoral student and Wei-Na Lee is an Associate Professor at:
The University of Texas at Austin
Department of Advertising
CMA 7.142
Austin, TX 78712
Contact: Wendy Martin at address above, 512-471-1101 or [log in to unmask]
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
Abstract
This paper reports the results of a study examining the use of nostalgia in
marketing/advertising communications. A content analysis of 2,208 television
ads was performed to examine the use of nostalgia in advertising, including the
concentration of ads and products advertised and possible segmentation based on
age or sex differences. Nostalgia was used in 8.3% of the ads sampled in this
study, as compared to 10% found in an earlier study.
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
Introduction
Nostalgia, or a fond remembrance of past events, tends to become an emerging
theme at the end of a century (Stern 1992) and after "major historic events and
abrupt social changes" (Davis 1979, p. 102). Similar to transitions people
encounter in their personal lives (e.g., midlife crisis, leaving home, etc.),
these events are uncertain, transitional times when people often look to the
past for emotional security (Stern 1992). Similar to a child's security
blanket, nostalgia helps people face new challenges which life presents.
The existence of nostalgia near the end of a century has been empirically
supported in art and literature and it has been suggested that the effect would
apply to advertising as well (Davis 1979; Stern 1992). In fact, "nostalgia
themes are likely to increase in advertisements of the last twenty years of a
century" (Stern 1992, p. 19). The 90s, of course, is not only the end of a
century but also the end of a millenium. The millenium has been said to become
a popular advertising strategy during the past year or two (Prager 1998)
indicating the importance of the study of nostalgia to advertising research.
Little research has investigated the millenium's possible impact on using
nostalgia in advertising messages.
Davis, a sociologist, started an onslaught of nostalgia research with his book
Yearning for Yesterday (1979). His ideas spread to various fields including
cultural studies, sociology and literary criticism (Davis 1979; Herron 1993;
Mason 1996). Communications and consumer behavior researchers only began to
investigate the use of nostalgia in advertising in the past 10 years. This
research has consisted of theory-based explorations (Havlena and Holak 1991 ;
Holbrook 1991; Stern 1992), qualitative research (Havlena and Holak 1996; Holak
and Havlena 1992) and empirical studies (Holbrook 1993; Holbrook and Schindler
1996; Unger, McConocha and Faier 1991).
The study of nostalgia as it relates to advertising is, primarily, important for
two reasons: (1) it can be an effective message and segmentation strategy
(Holbrook 1993; Holbrook and Schindler 1996) and (2) advertising plays a role in
the construction of nostalgia as it exists in society (Davis 1979). Recent
research (Holbrook 1993; Holbrook and Schindler 1996) has made great strides in
better understanding consumer behavior issues of nostalgia. Nostalgia in
advertising, in contrast, has received relatively little attention. Therefore,
as a baseline measure, the focus of this study was to examine nostalgia's
presence in television commercials. This is an area which has received far less
attention (Unger et al. 1991) but remains important to the understanding of how
nostalgia is used in ads to sell products and what impact it may have on society
as a source of media content.
Background Literature
Defining Nostalgia
Not surprisingly, researchers vary in their definitions of nostalgia. The word
nostalgia comes from the Greek nostos, meaning to return home, and algia,
meaning a painful condition. Therefore, nostalgia can literally mean "a painful
yearning to return home" (Davis 1979). Other researchers have proposed many
different ways to define nostalgia.
Stern (1992) refers to the following definition stemming from psychoanalytic
literature-"an emotional state in which an individual yearns for an idealized or
sanitized version of an earlier time period" (p. 11). Psychologists, including
Freud, had considered nostalgia a mental sickness. This sickness was evidenced
by insomnia, sadness, loss of strength, diminished senses, loss of appetite,
nausea, listlessness and fainting (Havlena and Holak 1991).
Holbrook and Schindler (1991) presented the following definition of nostalgia:
"a preference (general liking, positive attitude or favorable affect) toward
objects (people, places or things) that were more common (popular, fashionable,
or widely circulated) when one was younger (in early adulthood, in adolescence,
in childhood, or even before birth)" (p. 330). This definition changed the way
nostalgia was viewed and included more nostalgic situations. This was a severe,
but needed, departure from psychology's mental sickness view, a more positive
view than Davis' (1979) "painful yearning to return home" and it included things
other than just home to be the object of nostalgia (e.g., people, objects in
existence before one's birth). Indeed, one may feel nostalgic when one looks at
old family photos but it doesn't necessarily mean feeling negative about the
present or future. Nostalgia may be more of a means to keep the past alive than
to avoid the future. Holbrook and Schindler's definition helped to expand the
possibilities for research on nostalgia and the societal impact nostalgia is
capable of delivering.
In addition there are many different levels or types of nostalgia. Davis (1979)
classified nostalgia according to three orders or levels:
1) first order or "simple nostalgia"-positive feeling about a lived past and a
negative feeling toward the present or future; essentially, things were better
then than now;
2) second order or "reflexive nostalgia"-questioning or analyzing the past
rather than sentimentalizing it;
3) third order or "interpreted nostalgia"-analyzing one's nostalgic experience
to a much greater extent.
This ordering is similar to the major cognitive categories used in setting
educational objectives-knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis,
synthesis and evaluation (Bloom 1956). At the lowest level of cognitive
functioning an individual is aware of a feeling or concept. At the highest
level an individual is able to judge a feeling or concept and determine how it
fits into a larger picture (e.g., one's life, society, etc.). This helps lend
validity to Davis' (1979) conceptualization of the orders or levels of
nostalgia.
Another way to look at the dimensions of nostalgia is historical versus
personal. This makes the distinction between whether or not the nostalgic past
was experienced. Historical nostalgia is a liking for and desire to retreat to
a past which was before the person was born and viewed as superior to the
present while personal nostalgia focuses on a personally remembered past (Stern
1992). Therefore, historical nostalgia encompasses events which a person did
not actually experience in his/her lifetime.
These dimensions help account for nostalgic feelings about bell-bottoms and
disco. Few people would admit they think the fashion and dances of the 70s are
better than today's but they are still nostalgic about the 70s and its fashions.
Someone could have positive feelings about the clothing styles and way of life
in the 1920s even though s/he had not directly experienced this time period.
This is also seen in people's desire to collect antiques and rare objects.
Often these are handed down through generations but people will commonly collect
objects from before their lifetime (e.g., coins, books, clothing, furniture,
tools). This would also be considered historical nostalgia. If a person
collects old coins, does it mean that he/she prefers them to present day
currency? Is it simply the enjoyment of collecting coins and the challenge of
finding rare coins? Or is it an attempt to keep the past alive?
It is no easier to define nostalgia in a variety of situations than it is to
answer those questions. Holbrook and Schindler's (1991) definition is broad
enough to cover a variety of situations when consumers encounter nostalgia
(e.g., entertainment, clothing, advertising, music, etc.). Stern's (1992)
definition is really encompassed in Holbrook and Schindler's because of the
"even before birth" statement. Finally, Davis' (1979) definition is examining
different and much deeper issues concerning what people think about nostalgia.
It gets at nostalgia's impact on society. These important questions are no
doubt worthy of in-depth examination. For the purpose of this study the
Holbrook and Schindler's (1991) definition of nostalgia is adopted.
Nostalgia and Products
The use of nostalgia in ads has been found to vary by product category. For
example, food, beverages, medicines and automotive had a higher incidence of
nostalgia than children's products, cleaning products and cosmetics (Unger et
al. 1991). It seems that certain products use a nostalgic appeal because the
potential purchasers may be older (e.g., medicines) while others use it to
convey a certain feeling of old-fashioned goodness (e.g., food). In contrast,
cleaning products and cosmetics may want to convey an up-to-date/latest
development image (Unger et al. 1991). Along this same line, the increasingly
popular high-tech products (e.g., computers, cell phones, Web-related
products/services) may also tend not to use nostalgia because it is counter to
the orientation of "high-tech."
Products were a common theme in qualitative nostalgic research involving
collages of things consumers associated with nostalgia. Most often these
products were from childhood (Havlena and Holak 1996) which supports the theory
that this is when nostalgic associations are formed (Furno-Lamude 1994; Holbrook
and Schindler 1996). For example, the following shows how two respondents
shared a nostalgic association about Jell-O: "Janet [another subject] and I
bonded on that one, 'cause my mom always used to make Jell-O molds_always, every
big holiday, Thanksgiving_get out that mold, do the layers_you know how you make
that design with Jell-O-but no more" (Havlena and Holak 1996).
Nostalgia and Advertising
To date nostalgia has been researched as it relates to marketing communication
in two ways-demographic/psychographic characteristics of consumers and its
presence in advertisements. The demographic/psychographic consumer research has
received more attention in the literature. This is probably due to the need to
segment target markets and understand if certain groups of consumers are more
receptive to nostalgic appeals. This research has resulted in two key
ideas-there is a relationship between age and nostalgia and certain individuals
may have higher propensities to nostalgia (Holak and Havlena 1992; Holbrook
1996; Holbrook and Schindler 1996).
First, it has been suggested that the objects (e.g., movies, celebrities, books)
of people's nostalgia are from their own adolescence and early adulthood
(Furno-Lamude 1994; Havlena and Holak 1991; Holak and Havlena 1992; Holbrook and
Schindler 1991; Holbrook and Schindler 1996). Although it has been
hypothesized, there has not been any empirical support for differences in the
amount of nostalgia felt by different ages (i.e., baby-boomers, elderly).
However, some people are said to have a higher tendency towards nostalgia
(favorability towards orientations of the past) than others (Holbrook 1996;
Holbrook and Schindler 1996). Using a 20-item nostalgia index, Holbrook and
Schindler (1996) found that there were differences in people's attitudes towards
the past or likelihood to become nostalgic. They further theorized that this
individual characteristic may cohere with other psychographic variables such as
sentimentality or a desire to collect old things.
Comparatively, the presence of nostalgia in advertisements has received much
less research attention. Unger, et al. (1991) found nostalgia in 10% of a
sample of television ads from 1987. Advertising often uses nostalgic elements
to gain attention and improve comprehension. These elements may include
references to past family experiences, the "olden days," old brands, or use of
period-orientated symbolism or music (Unger et al. 1991). Using Unger et al.'s
(1991) data as a benchmark, Stern's (1992) proposition that nostalgic appeals
increase in the last 20 years of a century can be tested. In addition, this
area requires additional research attention to help determine if a relationship
exists between nostalgia and different demographic segments and further explore
the impact nostalgic advertising may have on society as well as consumers.
Marketing communications has a long history of research studying emotional
appeals (Aaker, Stayman and Hagerty 1986; Boster and Mongeau 1984; Edell and
Burke 1987; Weinberger and Gulas 1992). However, these studies and others have
predominately focused on fear, humor and warmth appeals. Nostalgia may also be
another type of emotional appeal used in advertising. And yet, little is known
about how often it is used, why or its effects. A recent study by Holak and
Havlena (1998) supports the conceptualization of nostalgia as another type of
effective marketing communication tool.
Based on the above literature review, the following research questions helped
to guide this study:
1) Compared to Unger et al.'s study almost 10 years ago, has the use of
nostalgia in advertising changed, specifically in concentration of ads and
products advertised? and
2) Can observations be made regarding the possible segmentation strategy based
on age or sex differences for nostalgic ads?
Method
A content analysis study was carried out to answer the research questions. The
sample consisted of a constructive week of television commercials which appeared
on the major networks (i.e., ABC, CBS, NBC) and Fox during the last week of
October 1997. Duplicate advertisements were included in the sample to reflect
the desirable frequency of certain elements used in the advertisements during
this period. However, several types of advertisements such as station
identification, public service announcements and promotions for local events
(e.g., Tour of Homes) were excluded from the sample.
Procedure
A code sheet (see Appendix A) was developed to record elements of nostalgia.
The use of nostalgia was coded according to the references of past family
experiences, the "olden days," old brands; or use of period-orientated
symbolism, period-orientated music or patriotism (Unger et al. 1991). Unger et
al.'s categories and definitions were used in this study to facilitate
comparisons of the results (detailed definitions used to train the coders are
included in Appendix A).
In addition to the nostalgia variable, the ads were coded according to network
(ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX), daypart (morning 5:30-8:00 a.m., a.m.-daytime 9:00
a.m.-noon, p.m.-daytime noon-3:00 p.m., early fringe 3:00-7:00 p.m., primetime
7:00-10:00 p.m. and late fringe 10:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m.), ad length (10, 15, 30, 60
second or other), program type (situation comedy, drama, soap opera, talk show,
news/magazine show, national/local news or other), program name (recorded as
open-ended), product category (recorded from a list of 40 categories, included
in Appendix A), product brand name (recorded as open-ended) and
local/national/co-op advertisement. This information was important to indicate
trends and relationships with the issues of products, segmentation and
nostalgia.
Reliability
Two trained coders (undergraduate communication majors at a southwestern state
university) independently coded the ads. Intercoder reliability was assessed by
having a 50% overlap in the ads coded. In other words, half of the ads were
coded by both coders and the results were compared to determine the intercoder
reliability. The overall intercoder reliability was very high at 96%.
Individual item intercoder reliabilities ranged from 84% (product category) to
100% (program type, station, etc.). Disagreements were resolved by a judge in
consultation with the two coders.
Results and Discussion
Sample
The sample consisted of 2,208 advertisements. The advertisements were
distributed across the networks as follows: ABC (33%), CBS (17%), NBC (32%) and
Fox (18%). The distribution of the ads within dayparts was as follows: morning
5:30-8:00 a.m. (10%), a.m.-daytime 9:00 a.m.-noon (17%), p.m.-daytime noon-3:00
p.m. (25%), early fringe 3:00-7:00 p.m. (22%), primetime 7:00-10:00 p.m. (13%)
and late fringe 10:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. (14%). This is similar to the distribution
of television ads found in media studies done by the American Association of
Advertising Agencies and the Network Television Association. Daytime has the
greatest number of ads followed by primetime (Hayes 1998; Mandese 1992;
Schmuckler 1991). The television programming included: national/local news
(23%), soap operas (23%), talk shows (21%), "others" (e.g., movies) (20%),
situation comedies (7%), news/magazine shows (3%) and dramas (3%). Finally, a
majority of the ads were 30 second spots (76%), followed by 15 second spots
(20%), 10 second spots (3%), 60 second spots (1%) and "others" (e.g., 45
seconds) (1%).
Overall Use of Nostalgia
Nostalgia was used in 8.3% of the ads sampled in this study. Therefore, the
results of the content analysis do not indicate an increase in nostalgic ads
since the finding of 10% in Unger et al.'s study which used a sample of 1987
television advertisements and included duplicates in their findings.
Furthermore, the results of this study do not seem to support Stern's (1992)
idea that nostalgia increases in the last 20 years of a century. As mentioned
earlier, it is difficult to assess this increase without a benchmark prior to
the 20-year mark. The samples for these two studies were 10 years apart (1987
and 1997). It is possible that this is not a sufficient time span to see a
difference in the level of nostalgia being used or that the results for one or
both of the studies is not representative of the advertising being used. It is
also possible that the results disconfirm Stern's proposition.
The specific types of nostalgia used were as follows: period-orientated
symbolism (4.1%), period-orientated music (2.2%), references to "olden days"
(1.4%), references to past family experiences (0.9%), references to old brands
(0.5%) and patriotism (0.1%). The high degree of nostalgic ad which used
period-orientated symbolism or music seems to indicate that the cultural aspects
of nostalgia are deemed more important or prevalent in society. Also, of the
ads which contained nostalgia, 11.5% of them contained more than one type of
nostalgia. Although a fairly low percentage, it does indicate that more than
one appeal can be used in a single advertisement. Another possible explanation
for the somewhat lower percentage of nostalgia ads could be that the increase is
in using more than one type of nostalgia in one ad, thus reflecting a more
focused use as opposed to an overall increase.
Nostalgia and Products
Table 1 shows the presence of nostalgia by product categories. The product
categories which had the highest percent using nostalgic appeals were: real
estate (50%), stereo/telephones/TV (45%), appliances/computers (35%),
sports/leisure (29%), banking/investments (21%), non-alcoholic beverages (e.g.,
coffee, soft drinks, juices) (19%), dairy/desserts/bread products (18%) and
memberships/public activities (e.g., dating services, attorneys) (17%). The
product categories that had the lowest percent using nostalgic appeals were:
children's products (0%), beer/wine beverages (0%), women's beauty aids/personal
products (0%) and cereals/rice/past/pizza/ fruits/vegetables (2%). These
results are interesting because there are several high-tech products (e.g.,
computers, electronics) which used nostalgic appeals to a high degree. This
could indicate that Unger et al.'s (1991) findings that some products (cleaning
products or cosmetics) which want to provide an up-to-date/latest development
image tend not to use nostalgic appeals does not extend to high-tech products.
It is also apparent that nostalgia is not a phenomenon limited to only a few
product categories. Only nine product categories had no ads which used a
nostalgic appeal.
There were also some interesting findings for the specific type of nostalgic
appeal used for different brands. Fifty-five percent of the ads which
referenced old brands were for automobiles. This may be an attempt to
capitalize on established brand equity. The majority (60%) of the
stereo/telephone/TV ads used period-orientated symbolism. This seems
counter-intuitive because this appeal uses a lot of imagery and symbols,
whereas, electronics ads often focus on features and benefits. A high
percentage of home furnishings/home improvements ads (86%) used
period-orientated music which may indicate the preference of the target audience
for older/classic music. These results may be slightly biased because these ads
included several for a music-orientated movie (i.e., Boogie Nights) which would
naturally use this type of appeal.
Table 2 further details the percentage of ads from each product category which
used a particular appeal. For example, 67% of "chewing gum, candy, cookies and
snacks" nostalgic ads, 71% of "sports, leisure" nostalgic ads and 70% of
"banking, investments" nostalgic ads used period-orientated symbolism. Each of
these categories seems to have its own particular reason for using
period-orientated symbolism. For example, sports and leisure ads may benefit
from invoking positive memories of past great athletes while banking and
investment ads remind consumers how banking was done in the '70s.
Nostalgia and Possible Audience Segmentation
An investigation of what daypart and what type of program the nostalgic ads are
placed may give an indication of what type of audience is believed to be best
suited to this appeal. For example, people will watch more TV during the day
versus the evening depending on their lifestyle (e.g., work at home during the
day or work outside of the home during the day). Likewise, different types of
people watch different programs (e.g., adults watch the news, people looking for
humor watch situation comedies or talk shows, women tend to watch more soap
operas than men, etc.).
Table 3 shows the presence of the different types of nostalgia by daypart. It
is important to note that the primetime and late fringe dayparts have a heavier
concentration of nostalgic ads overall (12.0% and 23.1%, respectively). This is
logical because nostalgia has been theorized to be formed during adolescence and
early adulthood and assuming that young adults and adults are the largest
audience watching at this time because the kids are asleep. Advertisers appear
to be using more nostalgia to reach this older audience. The type of nostalgia
being used also supports this conclusion. Period-orientated symbolism is used
most often during primetime (7.6%) and late fringe (8.5%). Followed by a high
percentage of period-orientated music during late fringe (6.2%). These two
types of nostalgia may be tapping into the "personal nostalgia" of these
individuals who experienced the symbolism and music of the past.
Examining types of nostalgia by program type supports and expands on these
findings (see Table 4). Programs that tend to be viewed by adults have a higher
incidence of nostalgia ads whether or not they are only on at night, such as
news/magazine show (22.4%), situation comedy (16.6%), talk show (10.2%), other
(i.e., movies) (12.5%). Again, ads in these shows tend to use period-orientated
symbolism and music with one notable exception. Seven percent of ads in
news/magazine shows used "references to past family experiences" which was the
second most used type of nostalgia for that type of program. This could be due
to the family-orientated nature of the content, that families (i.e., parents,
grown siblings) tend to watch these shows together which presents an opportunity
to reminisce. Most of the types of nostalgia can be collective instead of
solitary experiences, however; nostalgia about family experiences is most often
a shared event.
Limitations and Directions for Future Research
The major limitation of this study is the type of analyses that can be
performed on content analysis data. Descriptive statistics are a good
indication of advertising elements from the sample but it is difficult to infer
what this indicates about the audience or society as a whole. It is also
difficult to assess the reason why a certain type of message appeal is used or
who the target audience was for the ad. It could be assumed that the advertiser
used the appeal because it is the most affective but this is difficult to prove.
In addition, these results are limited to television advertising and may not be
generalizable to other media.
Another limitation involves the product categories used to code the ads. While
most of the categories seemed logical, some limited the conclusions that could
be drawn because of the way products were categorized. For example, appliances
and computers were coded as one category but are admittedly quite different.
Given the degree that the world has become one of high technology and
information, computers may be better considered a category by itself for future
studies.
Future research should investigate the role that nostalgic advertising plays in
consumer's lives and whether or not it helps establish a collective identity and
relieve stress in times of great transitions. This research could consist of
focus groups or one-on-one interviews which would explore consumer's thoughts
and feelings about nostalgia, specifically nostalgic advertising. Research
should also examine the use of nostalgic advertising in different media (e.g.,
print, radio). The coding scheme for nostalgia ads used in this study seems
appropriate overall. However, future studies may consider eliminating
"patriotism" due to its low incidence in this study (0.1%) and in Unger et al.'s
study (3%). Patriotism is an appeal that may only be used during times of war
or for economic reasons (i.e., "Buy American").
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
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Table 1
Presence of Nostalgia by Product Category
Product Category
Presence of Nostalgia (n=2,208)
Real Estate
50%
Stereo, Telephones, TV
45%
Appliances, Computers
33%
Sports, Leisure
29%
Banking, Investments
21%
Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Milk, Soft Drinks, Juices, Bottled Water
19%
Dairy Products, Desserts, Baking/Bread Products
18%
Memberships, Public Activities
17%
Home Furnishings, Home Improvements
12%
Automobiles, Cycles, Trucks, Vans
10%
Batteries
10%
Restaurants, Stores, Grocery Shopping
9%
Soap, Laundry, Paper Products, Kitchen Wraps
8%
Automotive Products, Services
7%
Chewing Gum, Candy, Cookies, Snacks
7%
Men's, Women's Apparel
7%
Telephone Company
7%
Insurance, Credit Cards
7%
Household Cleaners, Room Deodorizers, Pest Control, Pet Foods
7%
Other
6%
Soups, Meat, Fish, Poultry, Condiments, Dressings
5%
Hair Care Products, Shaving Products
4%
Games, Toys
4%
Cereals, Spreads, Rice, Pasta, Pizza, Mexican Foods, Fruits, Vegetables
2%
Oral Hygiene Products, Skin Care, Deodorants
2%
Health Care Products, Remedies
2%
Travel
0%
Books, Records, Tapes, Compact Discs
0%
Jewelry, Watches, Luggage
0%
Children's, Babies' Apparel & Specialty Products
0%
Photography
0%
Malt Beverages, Wine
0%
Women's Beauty Aids, Cosmetics, Personal Products
0%
Car Rental
0%
Cable TV Channel
0%
Sewing, Garden Care
*
Direct Mail, Other In-Home Shopping, Florists, Telegrams, Greeting Cards
*
Pens, Pencils, Stationery
*
Tobacco Products
*
Distilled Spirits, Mixed Drinks
*
* No ads fell under this category.
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
Table 2
Types of Nostalgia by Product Category
References to past family experiences
References to "olden days"
Period-orientated symbolism
Period- orientated music
References to old brands
Patriotism
Automobiles, Cycles, Trucks, Vans (n=31)
13%
26%
55%
0%
16%
3%
Automotive Products, Services (n=2)
0%
0%
100%
50%
0%
0%
Banking, Investments (n=10)
10%
30%
70%
0%
0%
0%
Memberships, Public Activities (n=5)
0%
0%
20%
60%
0%
20%
Insurance, Credit Cards (n=3)
33%
0%
0%
67%
0%
0%
Stereo, Telephones, TV (n=5)
40%
0%
60%
0%
0%
0%
Appliances, Computers (n=8)
0%
0%
50%
38%
13%
0%
Home Furnishings, Home Improvements (n=7)
0%
0%
14%
86%
0%
0%
Sports, Leisure (n=14)
0%
0%
71%
43%
7%
0%
Restaurants, Stores, Grocery Shopping (n=22)
5%
18%
59%
27%
0%
0%
Men's, Women's Apparel (n=1)
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
0%
Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Milk, Soft Drinks, Juices, Bottled Water (n=8)
13%
0%
63%
25%
0%
0%
Dairy Products, Desserts, Baking/Bread Products (n=13)
23%
46%
23%
8%
8%
0%
Cereals, Spreads, Rice, Pasta, Pizza, Mexican Foods, Fruits, Vegetables (n=2)
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
0%
Soups, Meat, Fish, Poultry, Condiments, Dressings (n=2)
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
0%
Chewing Gum, Candy, Cookies, Snacks (n=6)
0%
17%
67%
17%
17%
0%
Soap, Laundry, Paper Products, Kitchen Wraps (n=7)
14%
0%
14%
71%
0%
0%
Household Cleaners, Room Deodorizers, Pest Control, Pet Foods (n=3)
33%
33%
33%
0%
0%
0%
Health Care Products, Remedies (n=4)
25%
50%
0%
25%
0%
0%
Oral Hygiene Products, Skin Care, Deodorants (n=2)
0%
0%
0%
50%
50%
0%
Hair Care Products, Shaving Products (n=2)
0%
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
Games, Toys (n=2)
0%
50%
50%
0%
0%
0%
Batteries (n=1)
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
0%
Real Estate (n=3)
0%
0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
Telephone Company (n=2)
50%
0%
50%
0%
0%
0%
Other (n=17)
12%
35%
59%
35%
0%
6%
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
Table 3
Types of Nostalgia by Daypart
References to past family experiences
References to "olden days"
Period-orientated symbolism
Period- orientated music
References to old brands
Patriotism
Total
Morning (5:30-8am)
0.5%
0.0%
0.9%
0.0%
0.5%
0.5%
2.4%
AM-Daytime (9am-noon)
0.5%
1.6%
5.2%
4.2%
0.3%
0.3%
12.0%
PM-Daytime (noon-3pm)
0.5%
0.9%
2.2%
1.3%
0.0%
0.0%
4.9%
Early Fringe
(3-7pm)
0.2%
2.1%
1.9%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
4.4%
Primetime
(7-10pm)
0.4%
0.7%
7.6%
2.2%
0.7%
0.4%
12.0%
Late Fringe
(10pm-1am)
3.6%
2.9%
8.5%
6.2%
2.0%
0.0%
23.1%
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
Table 4
Types of Nostalgia by Program Type
References to past family experiences
References to "olden days"
Period-orientated symbolism
Period- orientated music
References to old brands
Patriotism
Total
situation comedy
0.6%
1.3%
8.3%
3.8%
2.5%
0.0%
16.6%
drama
0.0%
0.0%
6.5%
1.6%
0.0%
0.0%
8.1%
soap opera
0.4%
0.8%
1.4%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
3.0%
talk show
0.6%
0.6%
4.3%
4.3%
0.2%
0.2%
10.2%
news/
magazine show
6.6%
2.6%
7.9%
5.3%
0.0%
0.0%
22.4%
national/
local news
1.0%
2.5%
3.1%
1.0%
0.2%
0.2%
8.0%
other
1.4%
1.9%
5.6%
2.5%
0.9%
0.2%
12.5%
Appendix A
Coder Training
Codesheet
1. Date: _________________
2. Network: 1. ABC 2. CBS 3. NBC 4. FOX
3. Daypart: 1. Morning (5:30-8 am) 2. AM-Daytime (9 am-noon) 3.
PM-Daytime (noon-3pm) 4. Early Fringe (3-7 pm) 5. Primetime (7-10 pm) 6.
Late Fringe (10 pm-1 am)
4. Ad Length: 1. 10 seconds 2. 15 seconds 3. 30 seconds
4. 60 seconds 5. Other _________
5. Program Type: 1. Situation Comedy 2. Drama 3. Soap Opera 4. Talk
Show 5. News/Magazine Show 6. National/Local News 7. Other:
_______________
6. Program Name: ________________________________________________
7. Product Category: (attached, please write in code) ________
8. Product Brand Name: ______________________
9. Local or national advertisement:
1. Local 2. National 3. Co-op
10. Nostalgia used in ad: (Circle all that apply)
1. References to past family experiences 2. References to "olden days"
3. Period-orientated symbolism 4. Period-orientated music
5. References to old brands 6. Patriotism
7. None
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
Codesheet Definitions
Nostalgia (#10 on codesheet)
1. References to past family experiences-
y Fond memories of growing up
y fond memories of family member interaction
y fond memories of friends
2. References to "olden days"
y old-fashioned quality
y old-fashioned values
y good old days
y use of older people as spokespersons in nostalgic way
y use of older celebrities in nostalgic way
3. Period-orientated symbolism
y imagery from '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, 70s, '80s
y imagery from other periods
y references to earlier symbols or icons (art, religion, education, fashion)
4. Period-orientated music
y use of golden oldies
y popular music from'50s, '60s, 70s, '80s
5. References to old brands
y use of old brand names
y use of old brand characters/spokespersons
y revival of old brand names
y use of actual old ads or clips
6. Patriotism
y buy American
y celebration of American heritage
The Presence of Nostalgia in Television Commercials
Product Categories
1. Automobiles, Cycles, Trucks, Vans
2. Automotive Products, Services
3. Travel
4. Banking, Investments
5. Memberships, Public Activities
6. Insurance, Credit Cards
7. Books, Records, Tapes, Compact Discs
8. Stereo, Telephones, TV
9. Appliances, Computers
10. Sewing, Garden Care
11. Home Furnishings, Home Improvements
12. Sports, Leisure
13. Restaurants, Stores, Grocery Shopping
14. Direct Mail, Other In-Home Shopping, Florists, Telegrams, Greeting Cards
15. Jewelry, Watches, Luggage
16. Pens, Pencils, Stationery
17. Men's, Women's Apparel
18. Children's, Babies' Apparel & Specialty Products
19. Tobacco Products
20. Photography
21. Distilled Spirits, Mixed Drinks
22. Malt Beverages, Wine
23. Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Milk, Soft Drinks, Juices, Bottled Water
24. Dairy Products, Desserts, Baking/Bread Products
25. Cereals, Spreads, Rice, Pasta, Pizza, Mexican Foods, Fruits, Vegetables
26. Soups, Meat, Fish, Poultry, Condiments, Dressings
27. Chewing Gum, Candy, Cookies, Snacks
28. Soap, Laundry, Paper Products, Kitchen Wraps
29. Household Cleaners, Room Deodorizers, Pest Control, Pet Foods
30. Health Care Products, Remedies
31. Oral Hygiene Products, Skin Care, Deodorants
32. Hair Care Products, Shaving Products
33. Women's Beauty Aids, Cosmetics, Personal Products
34. Games, Toys
35. Batteries
36. Real Estate
37. Telephone Company
38. Car Rental
39. Cable TV Channel
40. Other
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