Back in Style: The Impact of Nostalgia on Sport Fans' Feelings Toward Team Apparel.

Retro jerseys across many sports have grown increasingly popular in recent years and previous research has given credence to their use by sport organizations. Specifically, recent research has found the freshness and outdatedness of retro jerseys to impact consumer attitudes (Dwyer et al., 2020). Although nostalgia is at the core of literature on retro merchandise, scholars have yet to examine various types of nostalgia and their impact on retro merchandise. Therefore, the current study sought to assess the influence of nostalgia -- and specifically its three dimensions personal, historical, and collective -- on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. An online sample of 434 participants were surveyed and results exhibited mixed findings, with the three dimensions of nostalgia varying in impact toward the outcomes of team attitude and purchase intentions. Also, examination of the role of age, income, and length of time as a fan were also explored with results exhibiting differences based upon consumer income and length of time as a fan. Although the results varied based on type of nostalgia and consumer outcome, it was clear that nostalgia plays a role in consumers' feelings toward their favorite team's merchandise. Further examination of these results are provided and suggestions for future research on the topic of sport retro apparel are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]