First-time mothers & Symbolic Consumption - The role of baby clothing consumption in woman's transition to motherhood

Abstract: The parents growing interest towards children clothing has become apparent when following Finnish media during the past years. In similar vein consumer culture literature has noticed the rise of clothing markets for newborns. It is scientifically proven that consumption objects have a significant role in life transitional phases. Symbolic meanings of consumption objects are used to facilitate the transition to the new role, like becoming a mother for the first time. This study is an attempt to increase the general understanding of baby clothing consumption’s role in mothers’ transition to motherhood. The objective is also to give a coverage of baby clothes as a product category that seems to be blooming but is under-investigated within the domain of consumer research. In addition to this, studies concentrating on motherhood and consumption in a socio-cultural perspective, are insufficient and few in numbers compared to the amount of studies conducted in the field of marketing and psychology. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the socio-cultural research field by examining symbolic consumption of baby clothing among Finnish first-time mothers. The study is grounded in socio-cultural consumer research literature and leans on the Consumer Culture Theory in its theoretical framework, in which the value of meanings and symbolic dimensions of consumption objects is widely acknowledged. The exploratory study is conducted with the mixed method combining Photo-elicitation interviews and narrative inquiry. Based on the findings this study draws a picture of rational and responsible Finnish first-time mothers who value functionality, children’s comfort and ecological values in their baby clothing consumption. Baby clothing consumption has a significant role on the women’s transition process to motherhood. However, consuming wrong items caused contradictions in the process of establishing the desired identity of good mothering, which made the role transition sometimes challenging. The findings evidence that symbolic signals communicated with children clothing, still have a significant role in constructing a moral economy of good motherhood in the contemporary Finnish society.