Festive nostalgia in COVID-19: an empirical investigation

ABSTRACT

The COVID−19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of positive memories. Therefore, our study develops a measurement instrument for festive nostalgia, composed of seven dimensions and measured through 28 items. A rigorous scale development process was adopted and validated through two main studies. While a convenience sample (303 participants) was used to assess the initial validity through exploratory factor analysis, a final sample of 412 respondents was used to assess the second-order factor structure of festive nostalgia through CFA and structural equation modelling. Findings suggest festive nostalgia can significantly predict intention to recommend and revisit intentions. Also, the study suggested that festive nostalgia is manifested through festivals, festive experience, festive environment, festive socialization, festive identity, cultural identity and festive activity involvement. Based on the findings, managers of festive destinations can formulate strategies to draw tourists willing to participate in festivals and develop the attractiveness of such destinations.

Résumé

La pandémie de COVID-19 a renforcé l’importance des souvenirs positifs. C’est pourquoi notre étude développe un instrument de mesure de la nostalgie festive, composé de sept dimensions et mesuré à l’aide de 28 éléments. Un processus rigoureux d’élaboration de l’échelle a été adopté et validé par deux études principales. Un échantillon de commodité (303 participants) a été utilisé pour évaluer la validité initiale par le biais d’une analyse factorielle exploratoire, tandis qu’un échantillon final de 412 répondants a été utilisé pour évaluer la structure factorielle de second ordre de la nostalgie festive par le biais d’une AFC et d’une modélisation par équations structurelles. Les résultats suggèrent que la nostalgie festive peut prédire de manière significative l’intention de recommander et l’intention de revisiter. L’étude suggère également que la nostalgie festive se manifeste à travers les festivals, l’expérience festive, l’environnement festif, la socialisation festive, l’identité festive, l’identité culturelle et l’implication dans des activités festives. Sur la base de ces résultats, les gestionnaires de destinations festives peuvent formuler des stratégies pour attirer les touristes désireux de participer à des festivals et développer l’attractivité de ces destinations.

KEYWORDS:

• festivals
• nostalgia
• memories
• COVID-19

MOTS-CLÉS:

• festivals
• nostalgie
• souvenirs
• COVID-19

Disclosure statement

The authors have no competing interest or any financial interest towards the development of this manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Payel Das

Payel Das, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communications at XIM University, Bhubaneswar. Previously, she was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in New Delhi, India. Her research includes New media & Social media discourse, AI, Integrated Marketing Communications, Consumer Behaviour, Tourism, and Media Culture & Society.

Sangeetha Gunasekar

Dr. Sangeetha Gunasekar is an Associate Professor at Amrita School of Business, Amrita Viswa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India. Her current research interests include tourism, text analytics and consumer behavior.

Ritesh Kumar Dubey

Dr. Ritesh Kumar Dubey (Ph.D.) is an Assistant professor (Accounting & Finance) at XIMB Bhubaneswar. His research interests are in the field of Sustainability, Green Bonds, Green Transformation, Algorithmic Trading, Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, FinTech, and the use of Technology in Management. He is an active mentor to several impact focus start-ups across the country. He is a National University of Singapore (NUS) certified Fintech and Innovation professional. He was a visiting scholar at Fogelman College of Business and Economics, The University of Memphis, Tennessee, USA (Aug 2012 – May 2013).

Santanu Mandal

Dr. Santanu Mandal is a Professor of Business Analytics and Operations at Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amaravati. With a PhD in Management and MBA in Marketing, he has been a fully funded visiting scholar at Spear School of Business, Oklahoma State University, USA. He has published in several reputed journals and has served as ad hoc reviewer for many reputed journals. His research interests primarily lie in services operations, technology management, big data analytics and customer relationship management.