Storm after the Quiet: how Marketplace Interactions Shape Consumer Resources in Collective Goal Pursuits

Raising a child is a life project that involves setting goals, making plans, and acquiring the means to execute the plans. This article examines how families modify their goals, plans, and means after learning a child is disabled. An inductive investigation of nine families who have a child with hearing loss emphasizes the pivotal role of individual and collective consumer resources in attaining central well-being goals (e.g., social inclusion). Results show that consumer resources are partly endowed, yet dynamically shaped by marketplace interactions. These resource dynamics unfold in both positive (e.g., creating family routines) and negative (e.g., losing trust in service providers) ways. Typically, goal pursuit determines resource acquisition; however, in certain conditions, resource availability also can influence goal pursuit, with potentially detrimental outcomes. Fully appreciating consumer resource dynamics is crucial for understanding how consumers pursue life themes and projects for significant others and for the family as a collective.