Brand loyalty is back in vogue, according to a new study by CivicScience, the advertising and analytics platform, which noted that brand loyalty among U.S. adults has reversed a decade-long decline, “and the reversal is being led by the age group marketers have long written off as the least loyal.”

“The share of U.S. adults who describe themselves as ‘very loyal’ to their favorite brands rose from 31 percent in 2020 to 36 percent in 2026,” the report’s authors said. “Among adults under 35, the increase was roughly three times that of the general population. In 2020, brand loyalty peaked among 45- to 54-year-olds. By December 2025, it peaked among 18- to 24-year-olds, at 46 percent.”

People under 35 include Generation Z and a portion of millennials.

The report is based on responses from more than one million U.S. adults that were surveyed between January 2020 and January 2026. The researchers noted that the data also revealed that the drivers sustaining loyalty have shifted. “Across 23 demographic groups, emotional connection to brands accounts for as much as 90 percent of the variation in self-reported loyalty,” the report’s authors said, adding that service accounts for roughly half while price and deals account for 10 percent. Quality accounts for 2 percent.

John Dick, founder and CEO of CivicScience, said for decades, “It was believed that brand loyalty is something consumers age into. It’s simply not true anymore. This study has major implications for how companies prioritize brand over performance marketing and where those dollars are best spent.”

The report also found that loyalty is no longer zero-sum. The report’s authors said that while average shoppers said they have fewer favorite brands than they did a few years ago, brand loyalists said they are having more. Eighty-five percent of those polled said they are loyal to multiple brands in at least a few categories.

“Young consumers are the exception,” the report stated. “Adults 18 to 24 stand apart as both the most loyal and the most category-exclusive consumers, tending to commit to one brand, or a few, within a given category. The brand that wins them early may lock competitors out.”

Other key findings include the realization that a consumer’s mindset predicts loyalty better than demographics. Of the 160 attributes tested, the researchers said the strongest predictors were attitudinal. Shoppers who said they follow markets and the economy closely “are 19 percentage points more likely than average to describe themselves as ‘very loyal.’”

The report’s authors said naming the connection breaks it. In a CivicScience experiment, shoppers were asked about loyalty in explicitly identity-based terms. And they “were measurably less likely to describe themselves as ‘very loyal’ than those asked a neutral version of the same question.”

In the conclusion of the 34-page report, the authors said that what sustains loyalty today “is not solely price or convenience. Emotional connection explains the vast majority of variation in brand loyalty across demographic groups—far more than traditional transactional drivers. Modern loyalty, therefore, is an intentional, identity-infused relationship grounded in alignment, meaning and trust.”