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Commercialised nostalgia Commercialised

nostalgia
Staging consumer experiences in small
businesses
Kathy Hamilton and Beverly A. Wagner 813
Department of Marketing, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
Received 30 May 2012
Revised 6 February 2013
Abstract Accepted 27 May 2013
Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to develop a framework linking the concept of nostalgia and
experiential consumption, articulating the transformation of a mundane activity to a special experience,
using the context of the small business and afternoon tea.
Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on a grounded theory approach and
draws on multiple methods of data collection including participant observation, in-depth interviews
with afternoon tea room managers, researcher introspection and consumer interviews.
Findings – By employing nostalgia cues through product, ritual and aesthetics, an idealised home can
be constructed emphasising belonging and sharing. The small business owner can be effective in
transforming an ordinary activity to an experiential event. Contemporary tea rooms do not replicate
tradition; they use it as a cultural resource to construct something novel.
Research limitations/implications – This paper demonstrates how the careful configuration of
the retail space can be a key success factor, not only for marketers in large flagship brand stores,
but also for smaller, independent and local businesses. The essential interplay between product,
ritual and aesthetics creates positive moods of belonging and sharing and may increase
satisfaction.
Practical implications – Understanding the emotional value of everyday experiences is a point of
differentiation in a crowded marketplace and may directly influence consumer loyalty. Staging
experiences is a key competitive strategy.
Originality/value – This paper is one of the few to empirically assess links between the nostalgia
paradigm and experiential consumption. Existing research has emphasised large retail spaces; in
contrast, the authors demonstrate how consumer experiences can be staged in smaller, independent and
local businesses.
Keywords Small business, Nostalgia, Retail, Home, Afternoon tea, Consumer experience
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
In this paper, we address the following research question: How do small businesses
stage consumer experiences through nostalgic references? Various authors have
highlighted the hedonistic, playful, enchanting, aesthetic and emotional side of
consumption (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Featherstone, 1990; Ritzer, 2005).
However, much of the research interest has focused on grand cathedrals of consumption
(Ritzer, 2005), emphasising large retail spaces that encompass spectacular themes, European Journal of Marketing
Vol. 48 No. 5/6, 2014
advanced technological media and architectural sophistication; cost millions to build; pp. 813-832
attract millions of visitors per year; and are often associated with a global brand such as © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0309-0566
Nike or Coca-Cola (Hollenbeck et al., 2008; Kozinets et al., 2004; Peñaloza, 1998). In DOI 10.1108/EJM-05-2012-0325
EJM contrast, drawing on a grounded theory approach, our contribution is to demonstrate
how careful configuration of the retail space can be a key success factor, not only in large
48,5/6 flagship brand stores, but also for smaller, independent and local businesses. By
focusing on the small business context, this paper discusses how “a theatrical approach
can perform the task of making the familiar become unfamiliar” (Anderson, 2005,
pp. 587-588). Using the context of afternoon tea consumption in the United Kingdom, we
814 illustrate how small businesses can transform an in-home everyday activity to an
out-of-home consumption experience.

Staging consumer experiences and retail theatre

Deighton (1992, p. 362) suggests that “marketing reveals itself as an intrinsically
dramatistic discipline”. A vocabulary of performance describes marketers who script
and provide the props and stage for consumers to enact various roles, culminating in a
kind of retail theatre. This becomes significant in an experience economy where both
goods and services are increasingly commoditised (Pine and Gilmore, 1998). Pine and
Gilmore (1998) suggest that staging experiences should be a key competitive strategy
for all companies so that experience design is as much a business art as product and
process design. They identify five principles to guide practitioners:
(1) theme the experience;
(2) harmonise impressions with positive cues;
(3) eliminate negative cues;
(4) include memorabilia to make the experience tangible; and
(5) engage all five senses.

Such principles are aimed at creating an experience or even entertainment for the
consumer (Verhoef et al., 2009; Baron et al., 2001) and, if successful, can have a positive
influence on consumer behaviour as well as economic value for the firm (Michon, Chebat
and Turley, 2002 cited in Ulrich and Bourrain, 2008).
Various researchers have developed this line of inquiry by focusing on large
spectacular themed environments. Peñaloza (1998) investigated the staging of consumer
experience in Niketown, where visitors are engaged in innovative displays and
immersed in the story of the brand. Brown (2001, p. 135) suggests that Niketown is the
“mother ship” monument to retromarketing with its mix of “merchandise and
memorabilia”. Kozinets et al. (2004, p. 660) focused on ESPN Zone Chicago, which they
describe as one of the most “elaborate themed retail environments ever designed” in the
form of a 35,000-foot entertainment and dining complex that provides a stage for
consumers to perform their own sports-related fantasies. Maclaran and Brown (2005,
p. 319) focused on the utopian marketplace of a festival shopping mall that offers a
“retreat for shoppers from the overtly mass-marketed nature of mainstream shopping”.
Many studies in this research stream emphasise that the physical environment is
important not only from a material sense but also a social sense (Aubert-Gamet and
Cova, 1998). For example, drawing on the case of American Girl Place, Borghini and
colleagues (2009, p. 124) describe an outlet that emplaces the brand in an experiential
world intertwining commerciality and domesticity as it facilitates intergenerational
bonding among female family members and creates family identity.
 Critical reflection on these studies leads us to the proposition that staging an Commercialised
experience involves transforming something ordinary into something memorable. For
example, watching a baseball game or purchasing sports clothes or a child’s doll
nostalgia
becomes a process of playful engagement with the retail environment. Early use of the
drama metaphor tended to view customers as an audience who were passively scripted
and staged by marketers (Goodwin, 1996). However, more recently, researchers have
highlighted the performative element of consumer behaviour (Deighton, 1992; Giesler, 815
2008) and the potential for co-creative practices (Kozinets et al., 2002, 2004). Thus, retail
theatre encourages subtle interaction between service provider and user; visual cues and
artefacts allow the consumer to play out symbolic narratives as part of the retail
experience (Healy et al., 2007). In this paper, we suggest that nostalgic references
facilitate symbolic narratives and the following section discusses nostalgia and its effect
on consumer behaviour.

Nostalgia
The concept of nostalgia has its origins in medicine where it was a pathological
condition associated with homesickness (Kessous and Roux, 2008). Its meaning has now
been extended to reflect nostalgia as a sociological phenomenon (Davis, 1979) and a
contemporary obsession with the simulacra of the past (Hines, 2007). Lowenthal (1985)
states that nostalgia is a universal catchword for looking back, an emotional state in
which people yearn for the idealised past. Although various definitions of nostalgia
exist, a common theme is the positive emotions associated with objects, places, people,
experiences and ideas from the past (Hirsch, 1992; Holbrook, 1993; Holak and Havlena,
1998; Holbrook and Schindler, 2003). For example, Holbrook (1993, p. 245) defines
nostalgia as “a longing for the past, yearning for yesterday, or a fondness for
possessions and activities associated with the days of yore”.
Hirsch (1992, p. 390) suggests that nostalgia is an “idealized emotional state” that is
manifested as individuals attempt to recreate a past era by reproducing activities and
using symbolic representations of the past. Consistent in the literature is that the
nostalgic experience filters the past and recall is selective through rose-coloured glasses,
indeed some of the memories are fantasy-like representing a utopian version of
yesteryear (Stern, 1992). Generally the negative content is screened out and is often
sentimentalised to create positive emotions (Holbrook, 1993; Holak and Havlena, 1992).
However, even though the emotion is predominantly positive, it may also be tinged with
sadness (Holak and Havlena, 1992). Researchers have highlighted the bittersweet nature
of nostalgia, indicating both positive and negative emotions; positive emotions evoked
by fond memories and negative emotions due to the realisation that one can never return
to this period (Davis, 1979).
There are both cognitive and affective dimensions to nostalgia (Werman, 1977). The
cognitive focuses on memories of the past and the affective, the emotions that these
memories evoke. Drawing on social identity theory, Sierra and McQuitty (2007) suggest
that both emotional and cognitive responses to the past are based on group membership
from that period and have the capacity to influence consumer behaviour. They confirm
a dual-process model of nostalgic decision-making where both cognitive (e.g. attitudes
to the past) and emotional (e.g. yearning for the past) simultaneously affect consumer
behaviour.
EJM Davis (1979) highlights three nostalgic orders or levels of experience. First-order or
simple nostalgia pertains to beliefs that things were better in the past. Second-order or
48,5/6 reflexive nostalgia entails a thorough analysis of the past and a reflection on the
accuracy of interpretation. Third-order or interpreted nostalgia means that individuals
compare the nature and meaning of nostalgic feelings with present circumstances to
enhance their life situation. Second-order nostalgia attempts to analyse the past
816 critically, while third-order nostalgia analyses the nostalgic response itself.
Likewise, Baker and Kennedy (1994) identify three types of nostalgia, namely, real,
simulated and collective. Real nostalgia is personally experienced past, for example,
memories evoked from a particular song. Research has shown that by stimulating the
consumer’s memory, they can be made to feel the emotions they felt when they had the
original experience (Braun-LaTour and LaTour, 2005). Simulated nostalgia is indirect
and can be experienced through the eyes and stories of others. Collective nostalgia
relates to the past which represents a culture, a generation or a nation.
Warm memories that evoke nostalgic emotions are exploitable assets in today’s
marketplace. In this respect, consumers are increasingly presented as “yearning for
yesterday” (Davis, 1979) and the “remembrance of times past is a burgeoning business
in almost every country” (Lowenthal, 1985, p. 6). Marketers are striving for the
“commodified authentic”, a “sustained contradiction” that allows consumers to connect
“to a range of values roughly aligned with authenticity and yet also to be fully modern”
(Outka, 2009, p. 4). The following section outlines the context of our study as an example
of this “sustained contradiction”.

Research context: afternoon tea consumption in the UK

If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will
cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you (Gladston, 1865).
The UK has a long-standing reputation for being a nation of tea drinkers, and tea
remains the most popular drink with a daily consumption of more than 165 million cups
(United Kingdom Tea Council). Cultural and social etiquettes, customs and traditions
surrounding the preparation and consumption of tea are numerous. Within this paper
we consider the distinction between private (in-home) and public (out-of-home) tea
consumption. Within the home, tea consumption becomes part of one’s daily routine (tea
can be drunk at any time of the day) and features at social occasions as a way of
demonstrating hospitality to visitors. In relation to public tea drinking, the most recent
trend is the popularity of afternoon tea. Afternoon tea is a meal in itself that follows a
ritualised script: food is served on a tiered cake stand, the bottom tier consists of
sandwiches, the middle tier is scones, normally with cream and jam and the top tier is a
variety of cakes. The food is accompanied with vast amounts of specialised tea (Plate 1).
Afternoon tea attracts a broad customer base and is regarded as an affordable treat.
The following comment from Gill Hesketh, head of marketing at Clipper’s Teas (cited in
Boughton, 2009, p. 38), highlights its experiential dimension:
Afternoon tea is about taking an everyday happening and making it a special treat. It’s about
serving a delicious combination of sweet and savoury with a superb tea, and about providing
your customer with an extraordinary experience of taste and style. Afternoon tea is not about
a snatched cuppa with a scone.
 Commercialised
nostalgia

817

Plate 1.

Clearly, afternoon tea is about transforming something that is consumed daily within
the home from an ordinary experience to something special.
Afternoon tea is regarded as a nostalgic activity; it developed as a social event in the
late 1830s and early 1840s (Pettigrew, 2001) but has been rediscovered and even
EJM reinvented by contemporary consumers. By combining elements of old and new in the
form of commercialised nostalgia, tearooms may be regarded as an example of
48,5/6 retroscape (Brown, 2001). Existing research on retroscapes has centred on large-scale
immersive environments. As Brown (2001, p. 146) suggests, retroscape developers are
“trapped on an extremely expensive treadmill of competitive conspicuousness […]
where thematic signifiers are evoked, evaluated, evaded and evicted in rapid succession,
818 only to be eclipsed by even more extravagant encapsulations”. Our focus illustrates that
“competitive conspicuousness” is equally important to the small business. In particular,
we reveal how tea room managers successfully employ nostalgic representations of the
idealised home to enhance the consumer experience.
As McCracken (2005, p. 32) suggests, the homey space can be “embracing” in terms
of a “descending pattern of enclosure” where the occupant is “protected from the outside
world by an intricate series of baffles and mediants”. In this way, McCracken (2005)
argues that the homey space has the same symbolic and psychological value as a
parental embrace, offering protection from both real and imagined dangers. This
strategy results in the transformation of afternoon tea from an ordinary in-home activity
to an out-of-home consumption experience.

Methodology
Our methodology was based on a grounded theory approach (Glaser, 1978, 1992) and
our interpretation was guided by the data (Goulding, 2005). The focus on the
transformation of afternoon tea from an in-home everyday activity to an out-of-home
consumption experience through nostalgic references in the marketplace offering
emerged inductively via the data collection and interpretation process.
Research on small business is increasingly conducted from an interpretive
perspective (Cope, 2005). In line with previous culturally oriented research on consumer
experience (Haytko and Baker, 2004; Borghini et al., 2009; Hollenbeck et al., 2008), we
draw on multiple methods of data collection over a two-year period. This included
participant observation in tea rooms, in-depth interviews with afternoon tea room
managers, researcher introspection and consumer email interviews. This was
supplemented by information collected from newspaper articles and websites. This mix
of data sources and methods encourages a holistic and in-depth understanding of the
afternoon tea phenomenon and ensures robustness of data collection and validity of
research findings (Sayre, 2001).
Participant observation was based in 14 afternoon tea venues in two UK cities. This
was driven by the rationale that immersion in the research context allows researchers to
“experience what is being expressed, listen to what is being said and witness what is
being done” (Healy et al., 2007, p. 756). In an unobtrusive way, researchers can “gain an
insider’s look into the living and authentic ‘world’ of their subjects” (Healy et al., 2007,
p. 757). Establishments were selected purposefully to capture a variety of afternoon tea
venues; some had historical significance while others were newly established, some
were licensed and others served afternoon tea associated with particular themes (such as
ice-cream or chocolate). Some venues were visited on multiple occasions. During visits
we engaged in informal conversations with waiting staff. Following each visit, both
researchers compiled extensive field notes covering a range of topics including the
selection of food and drink, the presentation of food and drink, the décor, behaviour of
staff and other customers and the ambiance. Photographs supplemented these notes and Commercialised
provided visual documentation (Peñaloza, 1998).
Additionally, both researchers completed introspective reflections after each visit; a
nostalgia
useful approach for studying hedonic consumption experiences (Gould, 1991; Brown,
1998; Holbrook, 1995). Researcher introspection can be described as “an examination of
one’s own individual mental experiences […] private self-reflection on joys and sorrows
related to consumption” (Holbrook, 1995, p. 201). It has been argued that researchers 819
have difficulty accessing behaviours of others due to problems of “cognizance” (Caru
and Cova, 2008, p. 168). In other words, given the personal nature of experience,
researchers can gain more in-depth understanding through themselves than via other
informants. At this stage, there was no discussion or trading of thoughts until individual
accounts were complete. An on-going submersion in the personal experience meant that
introspection often evolved over a period of several days, as continual reflection on the
experience created a closer relationship between data and researcher.
The second phase of data collection involved interviews with the tea room
owner-managers. We used the Member’s Directory of the Tea Guild to identify potential
participants. The Tea Guild was founded by the UK Tea Council in 1985 and is
described as “a prestigious and unique organisation that represents and encourages
those outlets who are dedicated to both brewing and serving tea to the high standards
desired by the United Kingdom Tea Council” (www.tea.co.uk/teaguild). Initial contact
was via email when we described the nature of our research and asked the tea room
managers to answer several broad questions on their afternoon tea offering, its
popularity and customer base. We obtained 12 email responses from this request and ten
of these participated in follow-up interviews. Given that the sample was geographically
spread across the UK, interviews were conducted via telephone and arranged at a
convenient time for the respondent. Our respondents were based in both urban and rural
tea rooms and had varying levels of experience; for some it was a relatively new venture
to capitalise on the growing popularity of afternoon tea and others had long-standing
family businesses. The discussion guide was informed by phase 1 of the research and
covered topics such as business background, tea room aesthetics, customers,
promotional strategies, pricing, product and menu information and staffing. Some
respondents emailed us photographs after the interview to supplement their oral
descriptions. Telephone interviews lasted between 45 and 90 minutes and were
audio-recorded and transcribed.
We also collected additional data to support the customer perspective. One of the tea
room managers runs a “Tea Club” and helped us to negotiate access. This theoretical
approach to sampling (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) allowed us to access those who had
significant experience of afternoon tea, resulting in deeper insight. Ten tea club
members responded, via email, to four open-ended questions about their experiences of
taking afternoon tea.
To understand the phenomenon as a whole, analysis and interpretation required
on-going scrutiny of the data collected. We followed an iterative approach to
interpretation because the overlapping of data collection and analysis is considered to
improve both the quality of the data collected and the quality of the analysis (Patton,
2002). The process of analysis was thematic (Spiggle, 1994) and followed a constant
comparative method (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). Each of the authors separately analysed
the data and then combined and refined their analyses. Initially analysis was at a
EJM descriptive level, moving towards theoretical explanation as time passed. We moved
between the data and the literature as analysis evolved, comparing our work with
48,5/6 existing material to gain deeper insight. This back and forth movement between the
literature and the data highlighted the broad scope of the afternoon tea experience.
Collectively the multiple concepts we discuss contribute towards the transformation
from an in-home ordinary event to an out-of-home consumption experience.
820
Findings: construction of the idealised home
An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses […] Whence could it have come to me, this
all-powerful joy? I was conscious that it was connected with the taste of tea and cake, but that
it infinitely transcended those savors (Proust, 1981).

There is something quite magic about this. I am not trying to be twee-it is about time out and
relaxing (Robert).

The afternoon tea experience is decadent with memories of a time gone by, it is log fires, and
cold winter days, or long summer afternoon sipping champagne in the garden, of taking tea
and catching up, its friends getting together, taking time out, its romantic (Beth).
Tea room managers unanimously agree that afternoon tea is increasing in popularity
and they report improved trade and “phenomenal success”. All of our respondents
employ positive, poetic vocabulary to describe the experience. For tea room managers, it
is “calming, good for the body and soul”; “comforting, quiet and polite”; “leisurely and
elegant”; “quaint”; and “a genteel civilised experience”. For consumers, it is “relaxing”,
“bliss”, “a joy”, “pleasure”, “refreshing” and “luxury break”. We present the findings in
relation to four key subthemes: product, ritual, aesthetics and belonging. The
overarching theme that filters through each of these discussions is the way in which
afternoon tea provides an illusion of the ideal home, a nostalgic representation that
transforms afternoon tea from a mundane in-home activity to a memorable out-of-home
consumption experience.

Product
Tea room managers emphasise a production process that focuses on freshness,
high-quality ingredients (often local suppliers) and preparation on the premises.
Although labour-intensive and more costly, many proprietors believe this is crucial to
the appeal of afternoon tea:
We strive to ensure very high standards of quality by sourcing from very good suppliers-and
our products are made from scratch in our kitchen […] Every morning I am baking bread and
making teacakes, scones and cakes. We do a variety of sandwiches and cut them into shape
and 4/5 different cakes, such as rich fruit cake, lemon drizzle cake, chocolate cake etc. It makes
a real difference. For example many places use scone mix to make scones and the results speak
for themselves. In our kitchen we take the time and effort to make scones using organic flour
and fresh butter, making them in the traditional, but labour intensive way of rubbing butter
into the flour and then adding fresh milk and so on. The result is a scone that has a great
buttery taste and when you eat it and it doesn’t stick to the roof of your mouth. We know that
people are impressed because of the comments left behind in our visitors’ book (Steve).
This emphasis on fresh preparation is central to the idealised home. Time poverty has
altered the socio-spatial relations surrounding food consumption and we have
witnessed an increase in convenience and fast foods (Brewis and Jack, 2005). For many Commercialised
households, finding time to prepare homemade food has become increasingly
challenging, creating a sense of nostalgia for an earlier era where traditional cooking
nostalgia
and fresh ingredients were commonplace. Tearooms have responded by providing
products reminiscent of this image of the idealised home. The time invested in acquiring
competencies associated with afternoon tea provision is undertaken by the tearoom
staff, liberating consumers from the labour associated with fresh food preparation. 821
For respondents, the emphasis on freshly prepared food also provided a point of
differentiation with coffee culture.
The reason that I decided to go down the route of a tearoom was because we seem to be
saturated with coffee shops, with Starbucks and Costa and they’re all very similar, they all
offer primarily coffee and if they do have tea it’s generally a tea-bag dumped in a cup. It’s not
done very well […] And the food is brought in, it’s pre-packed in a factory and it’s brought in.
It’s not made on the premises and it’s not particularly fresh, not in the way that we prepare
food. Our profit margins are less so it’s probably not as attractive a proposition to do as a chain
but I think customers are looking for more individual service and for products that are
homemade and a friendly approach. Whereas coffee shops are chains aren’t they? You go in a
coffee shop in one town and it’s the same as the next town and everything’s identical. There’s
no individuality and it’s not particularly authentic […] and it’s not very interesting really
(Sarah).
The wording of the menu in one tearoom draws attention to the personalised service “If
there’s anything that we’ve not covered and you would like it then don’t be afraid, just let
us know”. Here our owner-manager respondents point towards a dichotomy between
mass-processed food representative of coffee culture (in their view, inauthentic) and
freshly prepared food (in their view, authentic) offered by tearooms. Many tea room
managers agree that the personalisation available in tearooms has recaptured the
British public’s imagination, given the growing dissatisfaction with mass production
and the homogeneous nature of much of our marketplace offerings. Although afternoon
tea involves the transformation of a previously private activity into a commercial
experience, over-commercialisation is avoided and tea rooms “are made as individual as
they can be”.
Proprietors also emphasise the choice of tea blends they offer and many documented
their extensive range from around the world:
We have 20 teas on our menu and I could quite easily have 400. Our teas have been
specially tasted and tested so we have the best in each category. Our Darjeeling is the best
Darjeeling of that particular vintage of that year. My supplier is always sending me new
teas and improved teas and the tea is a massive part of the tearoom. This goes back to the
quality. It has to, all our teas are authentic, the best that you can get. It has not been
processed and made to last longer, it is exactly as it is (Beth).

We offer about 50 different types of loose tea, some are quite unusual such as real fruit teas and
also display teas. These are expensive and are actual flower buds, hand sown and as they
infuse the flower opens up […] This is our top end tea range and its very visually appealing
and also very good tea. We serve it in double walled glass teapots […]. They are really
impressive (Steve).
This choice far extends the range of teas that the average consumers would have
available in their homes. It represents a move away from simple commodification to a
EJM level of luxury that would not necessarily be associated with tea drinking. Talk of
vintage blends, freshness (“not been processed” “actual flower buds”) and visual
48,5/6 presentation reinforces the transformation of afternoon tea from a quick drink to a
consumption experience.

822 Ritual
Afternoon tea has a ritualistic element and respondents describe it as “steeped in
tradition” and a “throw back” creating “memories of a time gone by”.
There is a ritual in it without a doubt. This stems from the history, ladies in waiting, in the
gentry and Royal family, would have this ritual of Afternoon Tea[1]. It is just something that
is in us all. Somewhere in our lives, we would have sat with our grandmother. There is very
much a ritual in it, even though we don’t realise there is a ritual. There is a comfortable,
comforting, homely, secure thing with it all (Alison).
Meaning is assigned to the experience based upon historical knowledge (Chronis, 2005)
and consumers engage with these connections with the past that contribute to both
personal and national identity (McDonald, 2011). For example, the ritual of taking
afternoon tea may be linked to the concept of gentrification due to its historical links to
Royalty, but at the same time, it may form part of personal history and be “homely” and
“comfortable”. In other words, afternoon tea can be both real and simulated (Baker and
Kennedy, 1994).
Alongside food quality, the presentation approach to afternoon tea is also important
(Plate 1). Tea room managers make efforts to ensure stylistic and visually appealing
presentation that stands out from other items on their menu, for example, one
respondent describes it as “a little bit of theatre” that engages the senses (Pine and
Gilmore, 1998).
The impact of afternoon tea is quite distinctive, people are really impressed and they often take
photographs. Customers get very excited with the presentation of the food. Afternoon tea is an
opportunity to show off the higher end of food, through the quality and the presentation. It is
very pleasing to the eye (Steve).
Tea room managers use various props to enhance the experience, for example, loose leaf
tea “served in silver teapots and food delivered on beautiful silver cake stands”,
“covering the table with a cloth and flowers” or investing in expensive china because
“you want to have it served in the nicest possible way.”
If you talk to anybody who had won an award for excellence [from the Tea Guild], they will all
be using china, bone china at that. It will all be white and it will be done in conjunction with
what the tea council are looking for in their judging criteria and so one would not have
packaged sugar but in a proper nice dispenser. We use Royal Dolton, Royal Dolton Stratford
which is the same crockery that they used on Concord so really good. It costs a lot of money to
do it, I’ll tell you. Once you’ve done it, it is worth it, you see people coming in and saying “that’s
lovely”, that’s what chuffs me about it (Stuart).
The presentation is central to the ritual and, in turn, there are certain etiquettes such as
high-quality china and accompanying tableware. Although expensive, just like the tea
itself, these “props” (Rook, 1985) are essential for the construction of the ideal as the
aesthetic appeal of the food transforms afternoon tea beyond the everyday to the
experience level.
 Another element of the ritual relates to the behaviour of staff who help make Commercialised
afternoon tea a gentrified experience. Emphasis is placed on “high service content” and
“thoughtful customer care” and staff are trained to devote time and attention to
nostalgia
customers. Tea room managers aim to provide a “perfect experience” by creating a
retroscape with a spell-like quality where consumers can take time out to be “served at
leisure” away from “a fast self-service orientated world”. Their attention to detail often
extends to engaging customers in small talk, encouraging them to prolong the stay, 823
tailoring the food selection to suit individual preferences and offering advice to help
customers decide from the extensive choice of tea that may be beyond their normal
repertoire:
We serve the tea at the table, we have a tea trolley, we talk to customers about the tea. All our
team are trained up to know all about the different teas and they encourage customers to take
something different instead of traditional breakfast tea. We ask them what they like and don’t
like and then get them to try different teas. You need a passion for it, I love what I do and
hopefully my staff share the same sort of passion, for giving the customers a really special,
calming and happy experience (Beth).
The fact that afternoon tea is based on table service is also important, as this allows the
work to remain out of sight. Consumers are removed from the production and are free
from the effort that would be involved in recreating afternoon tea in their own homes.

Aesthetics
In terms of physical environment, many tea room managers attempt a nostalgia
aesthetic as their central theme. For some this involves obvious visual cues and for
others, it is more subtle:
Very very classic reproductions, because again with the way my family has been involved in
the trade, I’ve got reproductions of grandpa’s old packaging from the 1920s in there and all
sorts of things up on the wall (James).

Last year there was a major refurbishment and the tea lounge was taken back to what it
originally looked like in 1906. They used a lot of old photographs; they opened up an old
cloakroom, found comfortable seating and couches (Caroline).
In these examples, managers promote the genuine historical significance of their tea
rooms.
In contrast, another prominent strategy related to the staging of the home, for
example, one participant observation site is a deliberately nostalgic anachronism of an
English breakfast room. It is clear that the décor is an intentional effort to create a feeling
of tradition and a past time, described in field notes as “like entering a Granny’s dining
room”. There is deep pink wallpaper with a hunting motif, and the room is filled with
wooden tables, each covered with a hand-embroidered table cloth and a bronze
candlestick (Plate 2).
This home-like aesthetic is also evident in another participant observation site in a
more opulent fashion. A wood fire burns in the grate of a grand fireplace, surrounded by
carved wooden panels and a large gilded mirror centred above the mantelpiece. On the
opposite wall, from floor to ceiling, is a wood and glass cabinet filled with bottles of
vintage whisky. The room is crowded with brown leather chairs and settees, and the dim
lighting is supported by candles on each table (Plate 3).
EJM
48,5/6

824

Plate 2.

This demonstrates that it is not only large spectacular themed environments that have
aesthetic appeal (Kozinets et al., 2004; Diamond et al., 2009), but such strategies can be
equally applicable on a smaller scale. While previous research has considered themed
environments that globalise the brand (Hollenbeck et al., 2008), this study offers an
alternative approach of more localised contextualisation. Indeed, smaller environments
may be more appealing to “nostalgic hedonists” and their quest for uniqueness and
pleasure (Guiot and Roux, 2010). Drawing on Outka (2009), we suggest that these
carefully staged environments deliberately construct the security of the home so
that the consumer becomes the beneficiary of the maternal homelike comfort, but
does not have to produce and maintain the comfort. In line with Aubert-Gamet and
Cova (1998), the aesthetic environment is important from a social perspective as will
be discussed in the following section.

Belonging
[…] the chance to meet up with the people who you love and enjoy the simple pleasure of
taking afternoon tea (Alison).
Exposure to nostalgic references can satisfy consumers’ need to belong (Holak and
Havlena, 1998; Loveland et al., 2010). Afternoon tea is not just about the self, rather it is
a social activity, a shared consumption ritual (Gainer, 1995). The experience provides
space and time to talk; as the tea flows, so too does the conversation. Field notes reveal
that part of this involves people watching, looking at faces, imagining lives and catching
 Commercialised
nostalgia

825

Plate 3.

snippets of conversation. By watching others we catch a part of local culture, benefit

from free entertainment and see life.
Findings suggest that the afternoon tea experience unlocks a door to a flood of
childhood memories for sharing, reinforcing the emotional component of nostalgia
(Holak and Havlena, 1998). Introspections and consumer interviews disclose
personal memories of family members who used to (or still do) make similar types of
treats:
My grandmother was from Newfoundland and my grandfather came from Liverpool. My
grandmother had a beautiful tea set and we used to make everything by hand ourselves and
bake everything the day before. It was a real event. We would watch one of those great black
and white movies too, it was grand (consumer interview).
In my head I have an enduring picture of my grandparent’s room and my grandfather drinking
tea. The memory is so vivid bringing with it smells, colours and textures of that country home
(researcher introspection).
Similar to Borghini et al. (2009), images of the home encourage new forms of reflection on
family. Consumers may be moved emotionally and transported on a nostalgic journey as
memories are evoked by the settings, colours, lighting, food, artefacts, objects and other
aesthetic codes. The design and combination of product, ritual and aesthetic have the
effect of creating “personal idiosyncratic memories” (Costa and Bamossy, 2003, p. 255)
of friends and family, motivating consumers to share these stories, thereby creating a
sense of belonging in the present. This is attractive because consumers do not have to
EJM choose between the past and the present; all desires are united in one complete
experience (Outka, 2009).
48,5/6 Many of our consumer and proprietor informants agreed that taking time out is
important to the experience. As one manager explained, “you cannot have a sense of
urgency or rushing these people”, a sentiment that is reinforced in our introspective
accounts.
826 We eat slowly […] we want to make it last as this is not an experience that one gets to enjoy on
a regular basis. It’s a feeling of contentment that just outside the doors the city is buzzing with
people, those working in the nearby offices and shoppers racing up and down the busiest
shopping street. In contrast as if captured in a spell we are cocooned in an oasis of calm for a
few hours.
This may be interpreted as a form of time indulgence, a self-gift (Mick and DeMoss,
1990) to calm the mind and ease away tensions. The combination of high-quality,
homemade indulgent food meets our body’s need for “pampering the soul” (Warde, 1997,
p. 78) and the aesthetically appealing environment offers mood regulation (Arnold and
Reynolds, 2009). Afternoon tea could therefore be described as “a rich tapestry of
hedonic activity which provides the customer with real emotional benefits” (Healy et al.,
2007, pp 756).

Conclusions
We demonstrate that small business marketers striving to create an experiential
environment can employ a strategy of commercialised nostalgia that embeds values of
belonging. Consumption spaces staged to evoke personal and collective memory
intermingle in collaborative and interactive processes to create a valued and often
deeply moving (nostalgic) experience (Figure 1). We link the experiential view of
consumption within the nostalgia paradigm. Merging these two streams of thought puts
theorists and practitioners in a better position to extend understanding in this area and
to develop appropriate strategies in this realm of business. Within our research context,
we have demonstrated the relevance of Pine and Gilmore’s (1998) five design principles:
theme the experience (nostalgia), harmonise impressions with positive cues (product,
ritual and aesthetics), eliminate negative cues (discussed later), make the experience
tangible (use of nostalgia staging props) and engage all five senses (a culmination of
home-like sensory cues). This is important given the scant attention paid to the influence
of nostalgia cues in the retail context (Ulrich and Bourrain, 2008).
Previous work has focused on immersive leisure environments, global brands,
flagship stores and large-scale multi-sensory, interactive, theatrical experiences
(Hollenbeck et al., 2008; Ritzer, 2005). We suggest that small business owners can be
equally effective in constructing consumer experiences that transform an ordinary
activity to an experiential event. Activities such as afternoon tea allow the past to be
re-accessed, albeit in a contemporary way. By remaining the same, yet also evolving,
they become more attractive to customers (Balmer, 2011). In this sense, contemporary
tearooms do not simply replicate tradition, they use it as a cultural resource to construct
something novel. Whereas well-known coffee chains are critiqued for “propagating a
soul-numbing aesthetic homogeneity” (Thompson and Arsel, 2004, p. 634), tearooms can
remain outside this hegemonic consumptionscape.
We have profiled small business owners who employ nostalgia via the construction
of an idealised home through product, ritual and aesthetics. This is in line with Davis’
 Commercialised
nostalgia

827

Figure 1.
Engagement in
experiential consumption

(1979) first-order nostalgia that sentimentalises and celebrates the past. Marketers
present a utopian version of the past; this is an illusory representation but appealing;
consumers do not question its accuracy. Similar to Pine and Gilmore (1998), negative
cues are deliberately eliminated by the owner-manager, for example, the labour
associated with production, the maintenance of the homelike environment and the
efforts involved in gaining necessary competencies are all invisible.
Such an approach can allow for the surfacing of consumer emotions, and drawing on
Sierra and McQuitty’s (2007) dual-process model of nostalgic decision-making, our
research reveals that affective responses become more important than cognitive
responses to the past in some situations. Some argue that the artificial environment in
restaurants and cafes restricts “authentic social participation”, as the need for civility
and manners can repress true emotions and, instead, emotions are commodified through
ritualised conventions (Finkelstein, 1989 cited in Lupton, 1996, p. 99). We would argue
that it is possible for the consumer to express real emotions during the dining out
experience and that these real and personal emotions mask the inauthenticity and
staging of the nostalgic codes. The real and the simulated are deeply intertwined and,
indeed, it is futile to attempt to make a distinction between the two; consumers do not
stop to question the authenticity of their emotions. Although the consumer is aware that
the context is staged through lighting, furnishings and artefacts, they still welcome any
opportunity that serves the purpose of mood regulation and escapism that is afforded to
them by the artificial separation “from the bustling and commercial public sphere”
(Outka, 2009, p. 113).
EJM Appreciating the link between nostalgic references in the marketplace offering and
consumer emotional response has important marketing implications. The essential
48,5/6 interplay between product, ritual and aesthetics creates the positive moods and pleasure
and may increase satisfaction. From this we can deduce that managers who use
emotion-evoking elements such as nostalgia may improve the consumer experience.
Retailers who wish to create such spaces need to understand the emotional value of
828 everyday experiences and consider ways to facilitate consumers’ personal and social
experience. This supports Desai and Mahajan (1998), who found that such emotions
play a crucial role and directly influence consumer loyalty.
It has been suggested that marketing is one of the biggest challenges for small
business owners (Huang and Brown, 1999). In line with Fillis (2004), this study
reinforces how creative marketing enables the smaller firm to gain competitive
advantage despite limited resources. This offers a stark contrast to high-cost solutions
and its success calls to mind Goulding’s (2001, p. 578) suggestion that some people view
the present as “volatile, intimidating, pressurizing and impersonal, a society where
machines have taken over artisan skills”. Our focus illustrates how familiar experiences
can be made special through personalisation and dedicated interaction between staff
and consumers.
The nostalgic references can persuade and influence consumption preferences and
patronage because it satisfies consumers’ needs in a hedonic and aesthetic sense (Joyce
and Lambert, 1996). Nostalgic cues evoke nostalgic thoughts and may be a powerful
opportunity to position the service offering.
Finally our study demonstrates the value of researching small business
environments and we encourage future lines of enquiry in this domain. It would be
useful to extend the study into different cultural contexts. This would help to explain
how traditions and customs from one culture are taken up and adapted in others.
Afternoon tea is not the only context where retailers exploit nostalgia. Future studies
concentrating on other industries such as home cooking, sewing and knitting classes,
sports or local produce retailers and farm shops would offer an interesting comparison.
Research in these contexts could provide greater and more generalisable understanding
of the role of nostalgia in the consumption experience.

Note
1. The generally accepted legend surrounding the invention of afternoon tea is as follows: Anna
Maria, wife of the 7th Duke of Bedford, is said to have experienced a “sinking feeling”
mid-afternoon and as a result, she requested some food to fight the hunger. This soon evolved
into a social occasion, as the Duchess began to invite friends to join her.

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About the authors

Kathy Hamilton is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Her
research is aimed at understanding and theorising consumer culture and has been conducted in
various different contexts. Kathy’s work has been published in a range of journals including
European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, Sociology, Marketing Theory
and Journal of Consumer Behaviour. Kathy was co-organiser of the ESRC seminar series on
“Nostalgia in the 21st century”. Kathy Hamilton is the corresponding author and can be contacted
at: kathy.hamilton@strath.ac.uk
Beverly Wagner is a Reader in the Department of Marketing, University of Strathclyde. Her
research interests are related to aspects of contemporary consumer behaviour. Beverly is
co-organiser of the ESRC seminar series on “Nostalgia in the 21st Century”, which aims to
encourage dialogue between different disciplinary approaches in order to promote further enquiry
into the uses of nostalgia in contemporary culture.

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