Nostalgia, once considered a psychiatric disorder, has proven to be an effective marketing tool to tap into customers’ emotions, providing them some comfort in an uncomfortable time. For restaurants, nostalgia has been coming on strong since the pandemic, successfully tapping into the feelings of those longing for simpler and happier (pun intended) times (see McDonald’s “adult Happy Meal.”)
Nostalgia comes in many forms, from your standard nostalgia for a childhood experience, to short-term nostalgia (aww, remember paper menus?) and to what author Douglas Coupland referred to as “ultra-short-term nostalgia” or homesickness for the extremely recent past (aww, remember how much cheaper this sandwich was last week?) Despite being an owner of a four-eyed Grimace, I don’t consider myself overly nostalgic in the standard sense. The clothes I wear and the music I listen to have remained constant over many decades, so how can I be nostalgic for a time I haven’t stopped living in?
Conversely, can one be nostalgic for a time they’ve never lived in? Absolutely, just look at how Gen Z has embraced 90s and Y2K fashion. But is it false nostalgia or just something new to them? And how should restaurants think about nostalgia when it comes to attracting younger guests who have a shorter frame of reference and were coming of adult restaurant age during the pandemic?
In the Generational Consumer Trend Report, Technomic surveyed consumers of all ages to understand foodservice preferences and behavior across generations. Gen Z was more likely than other generations to have had dinner picked up or delivered while growing up, raising the question whether nostalgia marketing would resonate in the same way for them as previous generations.
I spoke with resident young people to get their take on this and the curious case of early-onset and false nostalgia among Gen Z and the implications for restaurants. Three common threads emerged: social media, newness, and family connections. Delivery and takeout experiences were not top of mind; however, operators will should still factor in the shift to off-premise ordering that shaped the restaurant experiences for younger Gen Z and even Gen Alpha.
When it comes to family connections, parents and older family members can induce feelings of second-hand nostalgia and FOMO (fear of missing out), indicating that nostalgic menus and marketing that directly resonate with parents may also resonate with their adult children. “When we went to Taco Bell, the only thing my mom ever ordered was the Mexican Pizza,” said Kathleen Lahey, data scientist at Technomic. “My mom was very excited when it came back out. I never got to try it as a kid, and knowing my parents loved it, I thought ‘now is my chance!’. “ And, according to Ms. Lahey, thinking that the Mexican Pizza could one day be removed from the menu again only made the FOMO stronger.
For Liv Eidukat, research analyst at Technomic, restaurant nostalgia comes from special occasions such as stopping at Culver’s on a family road trip or ordering food that they normally wouldn’t have eaten at home like at Japanese or Indian restaurants. In today’s world, this highlights the importance for restaurants to appeal to the parents of young children, primarily millennial consumers, to boost long-term brand loyalty across generations. New experiences in the past evoke the strongest memories today, and Gen Z has been chasing that feeling of uniqueness ever since. In fact, Technomic’s Ignite Consumer survey reports that 26% of Gen Z consumers purchased an LTO on their last visit to a QSR, 8 points higher than average.
Ms. Eidukat believes that tapping into nostalgia directly, not just through the parents, can be effective in reaching younger consumers, particularly through social media. “Nostalgia is always going to be appealing because people are infatuated with the past,” Ms. Eidukat said, “especially when tying in music or other pop culture references from the era.”
Even for those who seem too young for nostalgia or think they’re immune to it, it’s hard to resist a pop culture tie-in. I admit that if McDonald’s ever brought back the Beef Wennington to Chicago, I’d be first in line.
Technomic's Take is a weekly column on the industry from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic. For more information on custom research, click here or reach out to Technomic at info@technomic.com or technomic.com.