Why do we look out for products associated with our childhood?

In a period where a single tweet destroys a career built over decades, and where a leaked video can ruin lives, nostalgia for a period when we had greater control of our lives—seems ever more romantic. It is built on the idea of an age of perhaps greater innocence, free time, and an enveloping sense of virtuous love that many feel they can remember fondly.

Why do people choose to pay money for something they can stream and listen to for free on their phones? For the same reason that thousands buy Paper Boat drinks like jal jeera and aam panna which they could easily make at home—convenience and a powerful longing, and a sense of loss, for an age gone by.

This sense of loss for an age gone by penetrates into the mind through a feeling of growing up or moving on. Thus uniting us to that authentic self and reminding us of who we have been an emotion that is achieved through nostalgia.

How brand names affect our choices of buying stuff - In 2004, researchers at Emory University served Coca-Cola and Pepsi to subjects in an fMRI machine. When the drinks weren’t identified, the researchers noted a consistent neural response. But when the subjects could see the brand, their limbic structures ( brain area associated with emotions, memories, and unconscious processing)showed enhanced activity, demonstrating that knowledge of the brand altered how the brain perceived the drink.

This mainly works through the strategies of Neuro-Marketing-

NUDGE THEORY - Nudging is the process of designing choices in ways that will appeal to the consumer, so the whole process of making the decision is easier. One way of doing this is highlighting specific features of a product to subtly ‘nudge’ or push the buyer to purchase that. 

For example - “ the nostalgic feeling of the caravan radio and its connection to the old songs of Bollywood acts as a nudge to the millennial in order for them to purchase it”

BLEMISHING EFFECT - It refers to the idea that a piece of certain negative information about a product or brand has a greater impact on our perception f that product or brand than positive information.

For Example - the strategy used by Patanjali to promote their noodles and demean Maggi

DECOY EFFECT - The decoy effect refers to the phenomenon where a person’s preference between 2 options changes when a third, seemingly similar option is introduced, making one of the original options appear more appealing.

For Example - At INOX the medium bucket of popcorn is just present to incentivize us to buy the large one. Notice that there is not much of a price difference between the medium and the large bucket

HALO EFFECT - Refers to the phenomenon where our overall positive impression of a person, brand, or product influences our perception of its specific traits or attributes.

For Example - SRK giving an insurance ad makes people believe its really good.

MERE EXPOSURE EFFECT - This effect described the consumer’s tendency to develop a preference for some things merely because they are familiar with them. Thus producers work on brand familiarity for the same reasons

PS: The following is inspired by a piece I'd read on the internet somewhere by a creator. Could'nt source the article tho, cause I don't remember where I read it :(