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A look at vintage consumption as psychological defense, sign of societal problem

There is mounting evidence that shows vintage pieces also serve to stimulate a mental connection with the past, which helps consumers defend themselves against psychological threats.

Joseph R. Daniel (The Jakarta Post)
SoE, East Nusa Tenggara
Fri, April 28, 2017

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A look at vintage consumption as psychological defense, sign of societal problem Vinyl records are making a comeback. (Shutterstock/File)

People love vintage products for a variety of reasons.

First, vintage products are often perceived to have better a quality and are less expensive than new, contemporary products. They are often designed to be stronger and durable, while some of recent products are usually manufactured in the most “efficient” way possible.

Secondly, as enduring emblems of another time, vintage products represent meanings, values and aspirations of a society in an earlier era. Consumers often use these representations to construct personal images, signaling their unique taste and identity. In addition to this economic benefit and self-expressive function of vintage products, now there is mounting evidence that shows vintage pieces also serve to stimulate a mental connection with the past, which helps consumers in defending themselves against a psychological threat.

Read also: What makes us proud to consume a product?

In their 2010 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Katherine Loveland, Dirk Smeesters and Naomi Mandel examined conditions that increase consumers' likelihood to consume nostalgic products, which are defined as products that were more common or popular when one was younger.

Across five experiments, their study demonstrated that when people experience a heightened need to belong, either triggered by the feeling of being socially excluded or not, they will have a stronger preference for nostalgic products over contemporary products. The study further confirmed that nostalgic products indeed fulfill this need. The authors conclusively suggest that whenever we feel left out, we should try watching our favorite old TV show, or eating our favorite food when we were a child. It will really make us feel better.

Another study conducted by a group of researchers led by Ling Zhou of Hunan University, China, supports this findings. Their study published in the Journal of Business Research in 2013 showed that consuming nostalgic products helps people deal with insecurities. While providing evidence that nostalgic consumption is also a cross-cultural phenomena, Zhou and her colleagues explained that in a disruptive environment, personal struggle and social pressures can cause major anxiety among consumers. As an alternative mechanism to deal with the anxiety, consumers will look for emotional comfort from past experiences, which is facilitated by nostalgic products. 

Read also: Five classic and memorable Indonesian movies to watch

Another similar explanation is provided by Zehra Gülen Sarial-Abi and her team of researchers in their Journal of Consumer Psychology’s article, published three years after Zhou and her colleagues released their research. They argued that sometimes people experience psychological threats against their beliefs about the world and their place in it, like being reminded of their approaching death or when they feel socially isolated. In a series of experiments, they found that people who experience this kind of threat subsequently demonstrate a high preference for vintage products over contemporary products. The symbolic representation of the vintage products will create a sense of interconnection with the consoling past, thus fueling anxious consumers with mental and psychological energy to deal with their current uncertainty.

All these studies are mostly discussed tangible vintage products like cars, motorcycles, foods, glasses or clothing, but if we broaden the range to encompass intangible, experiential products like songs, movies, stories, games, ideas and even social practices – as those kind of products have equal capacity to evoke nostalgic memories – we will find that vintage consumption is extremely prevalent in our every day life. It is not difficult to find communities where previously popular songs, old movies and TV programs are far more appealing and fondly embraced rather than similar present-day offerings. In such communities, people still play games that were popular in their childhoods, use outdated slang in their daily conversation and share the same old stories with each other over and over again.

Read also: Reminiscing the good old days at Triwindu Market, Surakarta

Such phenomena occur in the virtual world as well. If you browse through a social media platform like Facebook, you can find groups for people who were born in a certain period of time. In such groups, they often share photographs of "artifacts" that characterize the period and recall memories. The next thing that usually happens is interperiod comparison with a predictable result: the old times are gold.

While in some instances this is no doubt a matter of personal taste, pride and identity, I firmly believe, based on the studies described above, that if vintage consumption occurs in a widespread, increasing and collective fashion, then it may be a sign that people are struggling against some significant societal problems that make them feel uneasy to look forward. This is not coincidental because “recent upticks in embracing vintage items co-occurred with the largest global economic recession in many generations," according to Sarial-Abi and her colleagues.

In Indonesia, events that threaten our social cohesion and sense of unity as a nation happen almost every day. In this case, consuming vintage products is the consumers’ silent scream, a protest, that society needs a sense of direction and a better life. Sadly, some people who hold enormous power to make that happen are often unable to recognize this sign as they are dazzled by a "modern," corruptive lifestyle.   

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Joseph is a consumer and organizational psychology enthusiast who lives in SoE, East Nusa Tenggara. He likes reading, watching TV series and supporting his favorite team, AC Milan. Visit his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/joserobertd.

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