Buying into motherhood? Problematic consumption and ambivalence in transitional phases

Current theory on transitional consumption seems to rest on the premises that (1) consumption facilitates role transitions; (2) consumers know how to consume their way through these transitions; (3) consumers are motivated to approach new roles; and (4) consumption solves liminality. This perspective, however, offers an incomplete picture of consumption’s role in the management of major life transitions. This article explores the ways in which ambivalence is woven through consumption experiences in times of liminality. It reviews prior research on consumption, role transitions, and ambivalence in the context of women’s transition into motherhood. Findings are presented from an international interpretive study of women’s consumption experiences during their transition to motherhood. This paper’s findings suggest that while consumption can indeed play a positive role during role transitions, it can also, at other times, make transition a complicated, complex and confusing process

Moving beyond binary opposition: exploring the tapestry of gender in consumer research and marketing

The last two decades have seen an exponential growth in research pertaining to gender issues in marketing and consumer research. This special issue of Marketing Theory, together with the ongoing Association for Consumer Research Gender, Marketing and Consumer Research conference series, now approaching its tenth iteration, demonstrates the continued interest in gender issues in our disciplines. Introducing the special issue, this paper’s remit is threefold: it maps the substantive and theoretical developments of gender research within our discipline; it locates this work on gender within its broader context in humanities and social science; and it introduces the reader to the four papers in this special issue. The paper concludes that gender research has moved from the margins to become a strong body of work within marketing and consumer research. That said, there remains substantive opportunity for further development, where gender and feminist research can offer new insights, critiques, theories and approaches