Yes / With a long history and strong culinary heritage, time-honored restaurants are often associated with the phenomenon of nostalgia. However, research on nostalgia and nostalgic experiences in time-honored restaurants is largely absent. This study built a framework for nostalgic experiences to understand nostalgia triggers as antecedents and consumers’ revisit intention as the outcome. A survey of 366 residents in Beijing and Shanghai, China, revealed that nostalgia triggered by food and service staff significantly evoked consumers’ memories, and the food and restaurant environment stimulated the communitas component of nostalgic experiences. Memory had a positive effect on both communitas and positive emotions, while communitas had a positive effect on positive emotions. Finally, positive emotions resulted in significantly increased revisit intention.

Yes / This study addresses a lack of research on the effects of consumer brand authenticity, brand image, and age, on brand loyalty in time-honored restaurants. Time-honored restaurants are long-established and well-recognized traditional restaurants that offer local or national foods and culinary culture. Empirical data were collected from 437 respondents in Beijing, China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to ascertain relationships between variables, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) validated the SEM results. The three brand authenticity dimensions were found to have differing effects on brand image and loyalty. True-to-fact authenticity had a significant effect on true-to-self authenticity, while true-to-ideal authenticity had a significant effect on brand image. True-to-self authenticity affects brand loyalty directly and indirectly through brand image. Some of the relationships were also moderated by consumer age. The results uncover the complexity inherent to consumer brand authenticity evaluations. They have implications for time-honored restaurants’ marketing and brand positioning strategies.