'On Transit' - Changes of Role Identity and Consumer Brand Relationships during Transition from Student to Professional Life

摘要

Faced with major changes in life due to role transitions, consumers not only re-construct their identities, but also change consumption pattems and brand preferences. Especially in liminality, tensions between social compli-ance and individuality seeking become visi-ble. Existing literature analyses role transitions retrospectively, when consumers have incorporated new role identities already into the new self-concept, and adopted new consumption patterns. The study presented here investigates how consumer-brand relation-ships are changing in liminal phases of tran-sition. The study specifically focuses on consumers' transition from Student to profession-al life, according identity changes and how they resonate with brands. The findings re-veal that individuals support role identity change through the acquisition of brands that are perceived as prototypical for the new role, but also maintain valued brand relation-ships to ensure stability. Identification with the new versus the old role is strongly related to consumers' adoption of new brands or rather maintenance of existing brand rela-tionships. Both old and new brand relation-ships support the Separation from an old and the incorporation of a new role. Liminal brands help coping with role ambiguities and dual roles, while also providing excitement in anticipation of the future role.