The &quot;New Good Old Days&quot;: A comparative analysis of Museums' and Commercial Companies' Nostalgic Marketing Strategies on Instagram

The commercialization of museums as a response to postmodern consumerism stimulates companies like Pizza Hut and the Rijksmuseum to engage with nostalgic marketing on Instagram. The current research aims to understand why museums are engaging in nostalgia marketing and what implications such engagement may have for the educational role of the museum today. It does so by investigating the needs and challenges faced by postmodern museums in relation to the allure of nostalgia. More particularly, this thesis examines nostalgia’s power to produce a comforting sense of continuity in one’s self-identity and a sense of social belonging. The field of nostalgia marketing is also defined and contrasted with other types of marketing strategies and further analyzed through a comparison of two museums and two commercial companies’ posts on Instagram. The conclusions point towards the usefulness of nostalgic marketing to engage museum audiences, while raising awareness of the dangers such...Show moreThe commercialization of museums as a response to postmodern consumerism stimulates companies like Pizza Hut and the Rijksmuseum to engage with nostalgic marketing on Instagram. The current research aims to understand why museums are engaging in nostalgia marketing and what implications such engagement may have for the educational role of the museum today. It does so by investigating the needs and challenges faced by postmodern museums in relation to the allure of nostalgia. More particularly, this thesis examines nostalgia’s power to produce a comforting sense of continuity in one’s self-identity and a sense of social belonging. The field of nostalgia marketing is also defined and contrasted with other types of marketing strategies and further analyzed through a comparison of two museums and two commercial companies’ posts on Instagram. The conclusions point towards the usefulness of nostalgic marketing to engage museum audiences, while raising awareness of the dangers such strategies can pose for the educating role of museums.Show less

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The "New Good Old Days" A comparative analysis of Museums' and Commercial Companies' Nostalgic Marketing Strategies on Instagram