HBR Staff
Summary.
Current marketplace trends suggest that many consumers are seeking products that are local, are manufactured by real people, and traditional or at least remind customers of their childhood. As digitization and globalization have made our social and work lives become increasingly virtual, fast-paced, and mobile, more and more people are coming to feel that they have lost their emotional moorings. Customers have a need to feel grounded, and they do so by buying products that connect them to place, people, and past. Marketers can leverage these emotions by adapting their marketing mix to strategically target customer segments with a higher need for groundedness.Current marketplace trends suggest that many consumers are seeking products that are local, are manufactured by real people, and traditional or at least remind customers of their childhood.