Nostalgia has a long history; the term was derived in 1688 to refer to homesickness (Hofer, 1688/1934). Since the origination of the term, nostalgia has transformed to mean a preference for an object in the past (Fairley, 2003). A distinction between first and second hand experiences with the past has previously been termed personal nostalgia (Stern, 1992) and vicarious nostalgia (Goulding, 2002). This study uses Jim Thorpe, an athlete for which the sample was too young to have experienced first-hand. Therefore, vicarious nostalgia was used in this study.
Current literature lacks understanding of nostalgia’s antecedents and outcomes. The general purpose of this study was to expand the understanding of nostalgia antecedents and outcomes, especially as they relate to sport nostalgia. Specifically, this study explored the effects of familiarity with a vicarious object on evoked nostalgia. The study also explored the relationship between evoked nostalgia and nostalgic intended behaviors. Gender and race were also investigated in the study as they relate to evoked nostalgia and nostalgic intended behaviors.
A non-random convenience sample consisting of undergraduate students from a large, Midwestern university were asked to participate in the study. The participants watched a video about Jim Thorpe and then complete a questionnaire. The purpose of the video was to evoke the participants with nostalgia. The Nostalgic Intended Behavior Questionnaire consisted of items designed to measure evoked nostalgia (NOST), intended behaviors as they relate to an object of nostalgia, familiarity with Jim Thorpe, nostalgia proneness (adapted TPI), and demographics. Of the 306 respondents, 303 of the questionnaires were useable.
The results indicated a significant relationship between familiarity and evoked nostalgia. A significant relationship was also found between evoked nostalgia and nostalgic intended behaviors. No significant relationships were found for race and gender as they relate to evoked nostalgia and nostalgic intended behaviors. These findings suggest that sport organizations should promote and celebrate their history to continually create opportunities for consumers to become familiar with the past of the organizations. The findings also suggest that it is beneficial for sport organizations to use nostalgia as a tool to persuade consumer behavior.