Amy Merrick sees the phenomenon on the rise in advertising:
Taco Bell’s target customers are Millennials, most of whom weren’t even born in the eighties. Microsoft and RadioShack want to reach younger shoppers, too. So does the nostalgic approach make sense in these cases?
According to [research by Erica Hepper, a psychologist at the University of Surrey], the other time nostalgia tends to peak is when people are in their late teens and early twenties. They’re facing a series of anxious life transitions, such as starting a career and moving out of their parents’ homes. Millennials, in particular, are facing a tough job market and crushing student loans. People can feel a vicarious nostalgia for an era they didn’t actually live through: witness the appeal of Renaissance fairs, or of steampunk subculture, with its quasi-Victorian costumes.
She also notes, “Millennials know more about the eighties than might be expected, partly because of all the TV reruns they watched as kids.”
The Dish 