What do I mean by ‘betwixt and between’?

There are times in life when we feel betwixt and between, when our identity is shifting. It is as if we are standing at a doorway with no clear feeling about whether to stay or go. Three classic examples are:

• Adolescence
• Caring for a newborn, and
• Approaching retirement

Adolescence is the time when teenagers want to transition away from childhood to an adulthood that they can’t quite envisage, or don’t feel ready for. They are betwixt and between.

Carers of newborns who left a structured day in a work environment where identity was marked by titles and hierarchy. They have now become immersed instead into the chaos of parenting where there is no structure, there are no titles and only one hierarchy – the baby whose needs must be met. Carers in this situation have left their old identity behind but have not yet taken on a new role of parent-in-charge. They are betwixt and between.

People approaching retirement may feel that work is no longer as interesting or as rewarding as it used to be – but at the same they may have no idea what they would do if they stopped work. They are betwixt and between.

What is liminality

When we stand at these metaphorical doorways, we can feel full of uncertainty about who we are.

The anthropological term for this is ‘liminality’. Liminality in anthropology is a state of transition between one stage and the next, especially between major stages in life. It has been used more recently by consumer researchers (like me) to refer to all sorts of transitions that affect our sense of identity, including for example what to do about greying hair as you age.

Liminality and customer journeys

At liminal times, we question who we are. We feel in limbo – like standing in a doorway one foot on each side, not knowing which way to go. Choosing who you want to be takes time and some trial and error.

• An investor we interviewed told us that he ”zigs and he zags” when it comes to investing as he vacillates between his more adventurous and more conservative sides of his personality.
• Another said they fumble, bumble and stumble when choosing investments for the same reason.
• Someone forced into retirement after redundancy said she “stumbled and fell‘” trying to work out who she was and what she wanted to be and do.
  

Zigs, zags, fumbles, bumbles, stumbles and falls don’t fit well into the standard linear customer journey pathway, but they do fit the liminality concept well. This is because liminality is about the transformation you feel when you go from one state or stage to another, and how uncertain and difficult that can be. Your customers may say they are ‘dipping their toes” into a behaviour – for example people who ‘wind down’ into retirement may make subtle shifts to how they look during this period as they play with the ‘retiree aesthetic’.

If your customer journeys are characterised by twists and turns, then consider whether liminality is the cause. Make sure you talk to us to find out what is really going on in the lives of your customers.

What matters is how people’s needs change as they transition from one life stage to another.