Brand love: Teens, social media and brand activism

Lance Porter, Wenwen Jiang (Ph.D. student), Joshua Cloudy, Sanghyeon Jeon, and Ben Libon (Ph.D. student), “Brand love: Teens, social media and brand activism,” Paper to be presented at the annual conference of the American Academy of Advertising, Austin, March 26-29, 2026. Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between teen political activity on social media and brand love. Using a national survey of U.S. adolescents aged 13–17, we examine how online political engagement correlates with emotional attachment to activist brands. Results show that online political activity is positively associated with brand love, while offline activity is not. Liberal teens and female adolescents exhibit higher brand love levels. Platform-specific effects reveal stronger brand love among users of Facebook, TikTok, and X. Socioeconomic resources also predict brand love, with affluence positively associated. Race moderates the relationship, weakening the effect for White teens. These findings suggest that social media–based political engagement influences brand preferences, highlighting implications for marketers targeting politically active youth.