The interplay of emotions and consumption in the relational identity trajectories of grandmothers with their grandchildren

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Purpose – This paper aims to examine the interplay of emotions and consumption within intergenerationalexchanges. It shows how emotions pervade the trajectories of grandmothers’ relational identities with theirgrandchildren through consumption practices.Design/methodology/approach – This study analyses qualitative data gathered via 28 longinterviews with French grandmothers and 27 semi-structured interviews with their grandchildren. Thisstudy draws on attachment theory to interpret the voices of both grandmothers and their grandchildrenwithin these dyads.Findings – This study uncovers distinct relational identities of grandmothers linked to emotions and theage of the grandchild, as embedded in consumption. It identifies the defining characteristics of the trajectoryof social/relational identities and finds these to be linked to grandchildren’s ages.Research limitations/implications – This study elicits the emotion profiles, which influencegrandmothers’ patterns of consumption in their relationships with their grandchildren. It furtheruncovers distinct attachment styles (embedded in emotions) between grandmothers and grandchildrenin the context of their consumption experiences. Finally, it provides evidence that emotions occur at theinterpersonal level. This observation is an addition to existing literature in consumer research, whichhas often conceived of consumer emotions as being only a private matter and as an intrapersonalphenomenon.Practical implications – The findings offer avenues for the development of strategies forintergenerational marketing, particularly promotion campaigns which link either the reinforcement or thesuppression of emotion profiles in advertising messages with the consumption of products or services bydifferent generations.Social implications – This study suggests that public institutions might multiply opportunities forfamily and consumer experiences to combat specific societal issues related to elderly people’s isolation.Originality/value – In contrast to earlier work, which has examined emotions within the ebb and flow ofindividual and multiple social identities, this study examines how emotions and consumption play out insocial/relational identity trajectories.