Heimat: Anchor in a Globalized World

In globalized environments consumers tend to feel conformity, loneliness, and estrangement.Striving for belongingness and identification consumers rediscover “Heimat”, a term without exact equivalence in English or French. Local marketers build new product and communication strategies on Heimatwithout much theoretical basis and empirical results.This study provides insights into multi-sensory elements used in individual construction processes of Heimat. Heimatturns out to be the construction of a virtual space in a familiar natural and social context that is a part of consumers´ self, which allows mental balance and selfdetermination. Marketers who useHeimat to differentiate from global competitors should provide consumers with room for self-determination and should refrain from new economic or social pressures for their target customers.