Exploring senses of place and belonging in the Finnish, Italian and U.S. craft beer industry: a multiple case study

Abstract

This paper explores how microbreweries are engaged within the local communities they serve. It investigates whether the relationship between microbreweries and their home localities is driven by microbreweries’ senses of place and belonging or by market-driven rationales instrumentally promoted through territorial branding strategies. Drawing from earlier literature the paper proposes a typology of microbreweries’ senses of place and belonging based on their place embeddedness and community engagement that functions as the analytical framework for this study. The feasibility of the framework is tested drawing on qualitative data collected via in-depth interviews with representatives of microbreweries in North American and European regions. The data shows that the framework allows for distinguishing between those microbreweries that are highly place embedded and community engaged from those that are not.