Childhood memories sell... but differently depending on the gender of the target audience

Nostalgia, and in particular nostalgia linked to childhood memories, is an increasingly popular sales tool. In advertising, the use of nostalgia can influence the way consumers perceive products and brands [1].  The reason is simple: we like to buy products that bring back memories we cherish; these memories make them familiar to us [2].

Childhood memories are often associated with pleasant events and the love of family members, and are therefore particularly attractive to marketers. However, childhood memories do not work in the same way for men and women.

The study shows that there are significant differences between men and women in terms of the effectiveness of this type of tool, due to the gender characteristics that permeate the collective unconscious, generating gender expectations and different behaviours between men and women. Men are generally perceived as having "agentic" characteristics, whereas women are seen as having "communitarian" behaviours. Communitarian characteristics refer to attributes such as compassion, generosity, sentimentality and tenderness; agentic characteristics refer to attributes such as dominance, aggression, ambition, independence and self-confidence [3].

In a controlled experiment, we tested the effectiveness of marketing materials (product packaging) that evoked childhood memories highlighting agentic or community characteristics. 162 young Chinese people aged between 19 and 28 took part in the final study. They were randomly assigned to one of our 4 carefully pre-tested packaging designs: a package representing cartoon characters who were not part of their childhood memories, presented either in an agentic posture (design 1) or in a community posture (design 2), or a package representing cartoon characters who were part of their childhood memories, either in an agentic posture (design 3) or in a community posture (design 4).

The results show that visuals are more effective if they depict childhood memories, whatever the gender of the target. However, they also show a very significant effect of the type of posture, agentic or communal, represented in the visual recalling the childhood memory: to be effective, the visuals must illustrate an agentic posture for men and a communal posture for women. Even more problematic: visuals depicting the wrong posture are likely to have a very negative effect!

References

[1] Muehling, D. D., & Sprott, D. E. (2004). The Power of Reflection: An Empirical Examination of Nostalgia Advertising Effects. Journal of Advertising, 33(3), 25-35.

[2] Sierra, J.J., & McQuitty, S. (2007). Attitudes and emotions as determinants of nostalgia purchases: An application of social identity theory. Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, 15(2), 99-112.

[3] Bakan, D. (1966). The duality of human existence: An essay on psychology and religion. Skokie, IL: Rand McNally.