Online product research as a labor of love: motherhood and the social construction of the baby registry

Abstract

This article examines how women engage in online product research as a means to negotiate their transition into motherhood. Drawing upon data from in-depth interviews with 32 expectant mothers, we demonstrate how the process of constructing baby registries is mediated by intensive online product research. By exploring the role of online resources in consumer decision-making and the different strategies that women employ to meet the perceived challenges of consumption, we show how expectant mothers work to gain entry into the social world of motherhood in an age of intensive mothering and risk society.

Keywords:

• online product reviews
• motherhood
• consumer culture
• risk society

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Doris Westmoreland Darden Professorship and the Remal Das & Lachmi Devi Bhatia Memorial Professorship of the Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University. Special thanks to colleagues Drs. Lisa Lundy and Nicole Dahmen for their critical contributions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Felicia Wu Song is a cultural sociologist and was Assistant Professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. She is author of Virtual communities: Bowling alone, online together (Peter Lang, 2009). Her research focuses on the intersections of digital technology, community, identity, and consumer culture. She is currently Associate Professor and Chair at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA. [emails: [email protected]; [email protected]]

Newly Paul was a doctoral student at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. Her research focuses on race and gender issues in political communication. She also has a special interest in ethnic media. She is currently Assistant Professor at the Communication Department, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. [emails: [email protected]; [email protected]]

Notes

1. The participants were mostly from Texas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina. Some were residing in Maryland, Arizona, and Oregon.

2. Observations made at http://www.toysrus.com/registry/. Accessed 13 June 2012.

3. Observations made at http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm. Accessed 13 June 2012.

4. Observations made at https://windsorpeak.com/babybargains/. Accessed 12 June 2012.