This study examines how perceived nostalgia and image congruence are associated with consumer attitudes toward traditional clothing and investigates whether image congruence conditions the relationship between nostalgia and attitude. This study aims to clarify the interaction between affective and identity-based mechanisms in culturally embedded fashion consumption contexts.
A quantitative survey was conducted among 350 consumers of traditional clothing. Data were analyzed using principal component analysis, reliability and validity assessments and hierarchical regression with moderation analysis based on Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 1), including mean-centering and bootstrapping procedures.
The results show that both perceived nostalgia and image congruence are positively and significantly associated with attitude. However, the interaction effect indicates that image congruence attenuates the relationship between nostalgia and attitude, with nostalgia being more strongly associated with attitude at lower levels of congruence. This finding contrasts with prior research suggesting a reinforcing interaction and highlights a context-dependent relationship between affective and identity-based mechanisms.
This study contributes to the literature by challenging the commonly assumed reinforcing relationship between nostalgia and self-congruity. By demonstrating an attenuation effect, it introduces a boundary condition perspective showing that this interaction depends on whether product meaning is externally constructed or culturally embedded.
