Unpacking the spillover effect of liminality: preteens’ mothers’ experience as emotionally connected participants

ABSTRACT

Although liminal theory explains transitional periods in consumers’ lives – such as preadolescence – the impact of these transitions on emotionally connected actors and the transformations that the latter endure have been largely overlooked. Through a qualitative study of the mothers of preteen girls, we show that liminality spills over and that mothers transform from fully needed to authoritative-friendly moms. During this process, these mothers engage in spilled-over liminal consumption (SOLC), which comprehends concomitantly loosely and creatively crafted rituals and new and re-signified routines. However, amid the process of assuming a new mother’s role and helping their daughters’ transformation, these mothers unreflectively reinforce traditional gender norms. Based on our findings, we discuss the process of SOLC and how it ends in reproducing gender and class-based stereotypes.

KEYWORDS:

• Motherhood
• liminal consumption
• preadolescence
• rituals
• routines
• spillover effect

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the associate editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments and guidance. They also express their gratitude to Professor Flavia Cardoso for her recommendations on an initial draft of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this article: This work study was financed in part by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – Brasil (CNPq – National Council for Scientific and Technological Development).

Notes on contributors

Adriana Schneider Dallolio

Adriana Schneider Dallolio is an assistant Professor of Marketing at EACH-USP, Brazil. Her research interests include consumer culture, social media, and critical marketing studies. Her research projects cover life transitions, the interplay between the consumer market and the social and familial environments, and the impacts of consumption and technology on young consumers’ socialization.

Maria Carolina Zanette

Maria Carolina Zanette is an assistant Professor of Marketing at Neoma Business School (Rouen, France). Her research interests center around gender, the intersections of technology and society, social media, consumer resistance, and consumer culture theory in general. Her work has been published in journals such as Journal of Business Research, Sociology, and Consumption Markets & Culture.

Eliane Pereira Zamith Brito

Eliane Pereira Zamith Brito is an Associate Professor at FGV EAESP, Brazil. Her research interests lie in consumer culture studies.