Avanthi Chrystine has been boycotting specific fast food brands due to media exposure of their treatment of animals since she was 10-years-old.
Since then the 25-year-old from Granville in NSW has continued to stop shopping with brands when they go against her ethics, including refusing to buy from a fashion chain due to comments made by the founder that she found discriminatory.
"When I boycott, I avoid buying and look for ethical alternatives," she said.
"I also have really open conversations with [friends] about the brands."
New research shows this is typical among younger Australians, who simply cut off their spending when they are unhappy.
Millennials are more likely to ditch a brand due to a public scandal than any other age group, a brand loyalty survey by digital messaging company LivePerson found. They are also far less likely to voice feedback to the company about their complaints.
About half of 18- to 24-year-olds who are displeased with a company choose to stop shopping with the brand or not tell them at all.
Only one in 10 would pick up the phone and call the company, with most taking the option of a silent protest leaving companies in the dark about their reasons to switch.
"I do silently boycott a lot," Ms Christyne said. But because of social media, it's actually a lot easier to be more vocal and reach a wider demographic," she said.
A third of the oldest cohort surveyed, those 65 plus, would call with negative feedback, while one in 10 of those aged 25 to 34 would use social media to voice their opinion.
If Millennials found a brand inconvenient to use they were twice as likely to switch than any other age group.
Overall, young Australians are less loyal to brands with lower tolerance for poor service and quality, LivePerson regional vice president Andrew Cannington said.
"This lower tolerance means that brands targeted toward young Australians have far less room to slip up," he said.
"The reality is, younger people have grown up in a world of improved convenience and heightened expectations but they are time-poor and once they've determined a brand is not worth their time, end of story."
Quality and price were consistently important across all age groups, though younger people were the most likely to be sensitive to price hikes.
The youngest cohort was also most likely to ditch a preferred brand after a public scandal with one in five prepared to boycott, compared to one in 10 overall.
Despite this, Gen Y was the least likely to have already boycotted a brand with about 40 per cent saying they would stop using a company due to poor customer experience, compared with half of all Australians.
Overall, loyalty to brands varied depending on the type of industry regardless of age group.
Customers were most patient with media companies, with a third prepared to tolerate five poor experiences before switching media outlet. The average for all industries was two.
Financial institutions had the longest relationships with customers, with 71 per cent sticking with their bank for more than 10 years.
The electronics industry was least likely to hold onto consumers long term.
