While consumer cosmopolitanism has become a popular topic in international marketing, little is yet known about the way in which people become consumer cosmopolitans in the first place. This study examines reciprocal relationships among antecedents of cosmopolitan consumers with a global identification (CCGI). Through a combination of C-COSMO and Consumer Localism scale, CCGI were extracted from Japanese students as prospective interviewees. Subsequently, interviews were conducted with twenty theoretically sampled CCGI. Grounded theory approach analysis of the qualitative data revealed the following four categories of antecedent characteristics: Influence of immediate family; Personal international social networks; Education; and Personality, and the following three moderators: Kyōiku mama; Reaffirming national identity; and Adaptation stress. Subsequently the relationship between antecedents and moderators is developed as a transition process to becoming a cosmopolitan consumer. We also specify influence of immediate family as a key antecedent in the transition process, and found cosmopolitanism as a situational identity strategy activated in particular contexts.