A Field Investigation of the Nostalgia Effect

Satisfaction is a key indicator of system success, and so has been the subject of much IS research. The nostalgia effect, whereby individuals feel satisfied or dissatisfied when thinking about past goal attainment or failure, has been observed to influence analysts' decisions with respect to ongoing systems development. The Yield Shift Theory (YST) of Satisfaction offers an explanation for the nostalgia effect as a function of changes in an individual's active goal set. This paper reports on an exploratory field investigation of nostalgia effect among 105 working IS/IT professionals in India reflecting on past collaboration experiences. The study revealed a measurable nostalgia effect, and revealed a strong association between satisfaction responses and the antecedents proposed by Yield Shift Theory.