Beyond Bond: Branding Regressive Nostalgia

Written by Farhana Tabassum, BI Norwegian Business School

The past we hold onto is often imagined and not always inclusive

Why Bond and Why Nostalgia

Nostalgia was not what Chloe began with in this project, in fact, it was this question: Why are James Bond fans so intensely devoted to the franchise? Based in the UK, Chloe and her co-authors saw Bond not just as entertainment, but as part of British cultural heritage embedded in everyday life and symbolic of national identity.

"All of us on the author team are based in the UK, and James Bond is kind of seen as part of British cultural legacy. When we first started the project, it was around the 2012 Olympics, and he featured in the opening ceremony. We wanted to understand why the fans seem to be so fanatical about this particular franchise. It’s just something that is always around. It's a Christmas tradition. So it felt culturally very significant to us." - Chloe Preece

Through interviews and fan forum observations, the pattern that fans drew on a particular vision of the past to imagine what Bond should be became obvious. While this resembled nostalgia in its familiar, positive form, the tone of the conversations suggested something different. Fans' attachment to ‘how things used to be’ was selective, idealized, and often exclusionary. This understanding steered the authors to a new angle of nostalgia, a force that can reinforce social boundaries. From this emerged the concept of regressive nostalgia, characterized by three key elements.

Temporal Dislocation: Idealizing the Past

The first element of regressive nostalgia is temporal dislocation, characterized by a return to an imagined and idealized past. In the context of Bond, this refers to the early years of the franchise, including the 1950s novels and the first 1960s films. Fans invoke these periods as representing the ‘true’ Bond. At a personal level, fans’ nostalgic preferences are shaped by the first Bond they encountered, often tied to childhood memories. Thus, both collectively and individually, temporal dislocation anchors fans’ expectations in a selectively remembered past.

Racial and Cultural Purity: Defining Who Belongs

The second element constructs boundaries around race and British national identity. In fan discourse, Bond is positioned as a symbol of Britishness, yet this identity is narrowly defined. While some variation is tolerated, there is notable resistance to non-white actors portraying Bond. This dimension of regressive nostalgia is exclusionary, reinforcing specific ideas about who legitimately belongs to the brand.

Heroic Masculinity: Preserving Traditional Gender Roles

The third element of regressive nostalgia is the emphasis on heroic masculinity. Fans express an attachment to Bond as dominant, emotionally detached, and sexually assertive. Diehard fans criticize more emotionally complex or less traditionally masculine reinterpretations of Bond that challenge these traits. Similarly, while female characters in the franchise have evolved, some fans continue to prefer earlier portrayals that align with more objectified traditional gender roles. This reflects a desire to preserve established gender hierarchies. Advice for Managers

The paper offers a managerial toolkit for identifying and managing regressive nostalgia. To manage regressive nostalgia, brands should be deliberate about their use of the past. This means selectively emphasizing elements that align with contemporary values while avoiding or reframing those that reinforce exclusionary hierarchies. Evolution is therefore about curating heritage, not abandoning it.

“Bond is interesting because, while some fans are stuck in the past, the producers have actually moved with the times. They update gender roles, race relations, and geopolitical contexts not radically, but gradually. And even though fans often threaten to quit, they don’t. They stay loyal, partly because they are so attached to the franchise and what it represents to them, and also because the changes are not drastic enough to push them away.” - Chloe Preece

A Rather Smooth Ride

Chloe’s paper emerged from a shift in focus rather than a linear progression. The authorial team had built a strong collaboration and collected a rich data set. An earlier publication focused on the production side of the Bond franchise, making the consumer data available for analysis. Revisiting this material with a fresh perspective, unexplored patterns began to stand out, particularly around nostalgia’s regressive and exclusionary aspects. The main challenge in the review process was to accentuate conceptual rigour. The authors needed to articulate their insights and demonstrate their marketing relevance. Rather than major changes, reviewers pushed the authors to refine their arguments. Through this dialogue, the concept of regressive nostalgia became more precise, grounded, and clearly defined.

As Chloe reflects: “It was actually quite a smooth process. We submitted around October 2022, had two rounds of revisions, and the final was in September 2024. The reviewers were extremely generous, they gave really useful feedback. The main issue was really showing how it fit within the journal, and what the marketing implications were.”

A Lesson for Researchers

For Chloe, one unexpected aspect of the project was the normative dimension. She notes that she was not particularly attached to the franchise at the outset and became less so over time. Reflecting with co-authors proved essential for her, as navigating such material alone would have been more demanding. The research exposed unanticipated normative challenges. Some of the views fans expressed were discomforting. Therefore, an important takeaway for researchers is that projects that appear light can expose challenging dynamics, and it is important to be prepared for that possibility.

Eager to read this paper? Click here.

Cite this paper. Preece, C., Kerrigan, F., & O’Reilly, D. (2025). Theorizing regressive nostalgia: Understanding exclusionary consumers as a brand threat. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 42(2), 411-432.

More about Chloe

Chloe Preece Professor in Marketing and Head of Research, ESCP London

Can you tell us a bit about your academic journey?

“I am originally from Switzerland. My father is British, but I grew up in Switzerland. I did my master’s and PhD at King’s College London. I fell in love with London because of the arts, theatre, and film. My undergraduate degree was in cultural studies, and my master’s was in creative industries. I worked in film and theatre production before doing a PhD. Eventually, I moved into arts marketing. After my PhD, I worked at the University of Kent, then Royal Holloway, and now I am at ESCP in London. It is a European business school, very multicultural, and there is a strong focus on creativity, which fits my research.”

What is the essence of marketing to you?

“For me, it is about value creation, but not just economic value. I am interested in social and cultural values as well. We need to think beyond purely economic models, especially given climate change and broader societal issues. Marketing can shape perceptions of value in ways that go beyond money.”

What principle drives you personally?

“I guess integrity. Trying to do things I believe in and care about. And trying to be kind or at least understand other people’s perspectives.”

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This article was written by

Farhana Tabassum

BI Norwegian Business School