This article lays out a framework for integrating identifications into securitization theory in order to specifically and systematically illuminate the role that identifications play in determining securitization success and in delimiting effective securitization rhetoric. I outline the framework, its theoretical backing as derived from cognitive, identity, and discourse studies, its potential use, and some empirical findings emerging from its current application. The framework holds that identifications consistently affect audience receptivity to securitization rhetoric, but only in certain circumstances (namely, when identifications are strong and thick) does their precise content restrict the parameters and performative power of effective securitization rhetoric. The framework draws insights from the fields of cognitive science, social psychology, and identity studies, and it emphasises a context-specific approach to securitization studies that inquires into, rather than assumes, local situations. As such, the article aims to inform securitization scholars engaged in a range of studies of how they can incorporate local audiences into their work without imposing a universalist logic of security onto disparate circumstances.