Extending the Reminiscence Bump Effect in Nostalgic Advertising from the United States to South Korea

Abstract

Research has suggested that advertisements framed in reference to the reminiscence bump (i.e., adolescent and early adulthood years) are more effective than advertisements that focused on other periods within a U.S. sample. The current study examines whether the bump effect varies across culture (the United States vs. South Korea). Using a 3 (time frames: bump advertisements, non-bump past advertisements, present-focused advertisements) × 2 (nations: the U.S. and South Korean participants) between-subjects design, our results showed that the effectiveness of the reminiscence bump-framed advertisements was not affected by nations. Across the United States and South Korea, the reminiscence bump-framed advertisements elicited a greater feeling of positive nostalgia, more positive attitude toward the advertisement, and stronger purchase intention. In addition, the positively evoked nostalgia mediated the effect of the bump-framed advertising on both ad attitude and purchase intention.