18 • September | October 2026 • abasto.com BY HERNANDO RAMÍREZ-SANTOS A childhood cookie craving. A song playing over the super- market radio. Packaging that looks pulled from another decade. Increasingly, these details are no ac- cident — they’re strategy. And accor- ding to recent data, they’re working. Research firm CivicScience, which tracks U.S. consumer sentiment in real time, reports that 68% of U.S. adults say nostalgia influences their purchases at least “a little.” Even more telling: the share who say they feel “a lot” of influence hit a yearly high of 17%, a jump of more than 40% since 2023, according to the firm. For grocery chains and food ma- nufacturers serving Hispanic consu- mers, the figure is no small detail. It confirms that appealing to memory — a flavor, a brand, a familiar label — is no longer just a sentimental marketing device. It is, increasingly, a measurable sales lever. The Science Behind the Craving The trend CivicScience documents doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it aligns with decades of academic research. Psychologist Constantine Sedikides of the University of Southampton and his colleague Tim Wildschut have shown Nostalgia Opens Consumers’ Wallets Memories of the past are driving today’s purchasing decisions that nostalgia functions as a positive psychological resource that reinforces identity and social bonds, especially during times of uncertainty. Likewise, a 2014 study by Janni- ne Lasaleta, Sedikides and Kathleen Vohs, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, adds a key pie- ce: evoking nostalgic memories re- duces people’s attachment to money and makes them more willing to spend. In the food space, the link is even more direct. A 2019 study by Xin- yue Zhou, Wijnand van Tilburg and Sedikides, published in the journal Appetite, found that product labels with nostalgic messaging increase both purchase intent and actual con- sumption. In other words, emotion translates into measurable sales on the shelf. The Generational Gap Is Narrowing Nostalgia is often associated with younger consumers, and the num- bers partly bear that out: 26% of adults ages 18-29 and 25% of tho- se ages 30-44 say nostalgia weighs “heavily” on their purchases, accor- ding to CivicScience. That share drops to 11% among Generation X (ages 45-64) and to 6% among those 65 and older. Still, the phenomenon isn’t limited to younger shoppers. Among tho- se who acknowledge feeling at least some nostalgic influence, a majority holds steady across every age group, with shares ranging from 54% to 79%, the same source shows. In other words, no segment of the grocery aisle is beyond the reach of this emotional pull. The Main Triggers What sparks the longing that ends at the register? Music tops the list: 46% of consumers say listening to old songs makes them feel nostalgic “ex- tremely” so, ahead of visiting places from the past (38%) and watching old videos or movies (33%), CivicScience reports. For the food industry, the key data point comes next: 30% of respon- dents link that emotion to eating a favorite dish from years past. Close behind are seeing a childhood toy or game (29%) and recognizing cha- racters or celebrities from the past (22%). The message for Hispanic food ma- nufacturers is direct: a traditional re- cipe or a classic package can trigger the same emotional mechanism as a 1990s song. • Continues on page 20 • ECONOMY FOCUS