In this paper we explore the complex mediation of selves and symbolic resources that occurs on the threshold between two sociocultural identities. Using the anthropological theory of liminality as a lens of analysis, in line with the inherent interdisciplinary genesis and practice of interpretive consumer research, a theory of liminal consumption is presented. This theorization of the consumption practices of young adolescents, who belong neither in world of child nor of teen but who are concurrently embedded in both, is characterized by stillness and movement, darkness and light, ambiguity and focus. Thus this shadowed reality, this fruitful darkness belies agentive consumption and active engagement with signifiers of a duality of mediated selves. In thus considering liminal characteristics as congruent with furthering theorization of identity and consumption, we highlight the inherent problematization of an integral aspect of marketing theory and practice, specifically the notion of age alignment and boundary creation at the heart of marketing segmentation strategies, in the process contributing to a debunking of the ‘tween’ myth, as marketing’s final frontier of target segments.
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