On the Borderline: Metaconsumption and the Liminal Tween
The following paper details specific aspects of a research project which explores the consumer culture of a liminal group – tweens, using the anthropological theory of liminality as a lens of analysis. The lived experience of a tween is explored using personal diaries, in-depth interviews and accompanied shopping trips. Outcomes of one aspect of this longitudinal research project – the theory of metaconsumption - are presented, suggesting a divergent theoretical path from the ‘effects’ dominated consumer socialization approach to researching young people and their relationships with consumption. We conclude that those in a shadowed reality, those social neophytes no longer children but not yet teens engage with consumption practices and spaces particular to those who must exist mid-way between two spheres of identity. Thus this shadowed reality, this socially indiscernible identity belies agentive consumption and active engagement with signifiers of a duality of mediated selves.
Citation:
Kevina Cody, Katrina Lawlor, and Pauline Maclaran (2011) ,"On the Borderline: Metaconsumption and the Liminal Tween", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Alan Bradshaw, Chris Hackley, and Pauline Maclaran, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 385-393.
Authors
Kevina Cody, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Katrina Lawlor, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Pauline Maclaran, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Volume
E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9 | 2011
Share Proceeding
Featured papers
See MoreFeatured
Linguistic Antecedents of Anthropomorphism
N. Alican Mecit, HEC Paris, France
tina m. lowrey, HEC Paris, France
L. J. Shrum, HEC Paris, France
Featured
Preferences for Insight and Effort Differ across Domains and Audiences
Gaetano Nino Miceli, University of Calabria
Irene Scopelliti, City University of London, UK
Maria Antonietta Raimondo, University of Calabria
Featured
Repeat Performances Decrease Consumer Perceptions of Authenticity
Rachel Gershon, Washington University, USA
Rosanna Smith, University of Georgia, USA