Brainrot content strategies and their impact on generation Z’s brand engagement
Thi-Thao Nguyen, Thai-Thinh DangPurpose
This study aims to examine how brainrot content strategies drive Generation Z’s brand engagement and the psychological and social mechanisms behind their virality.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study analyzes 42 TikTok videos from nine brands and 20,919 electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) comments via content and sentiment analysis, integrating uses and gratifications, emotional contagion and social influence theories.
Findings
Brainrot content drives engagement through absurdity, product personification, addictive audio-visual contrasts and bizarre artificial intelligence (AI)-generated visuals. e-WOM reveals four themes: surprise at official accounts, admiration for marketing teams, “unseriousness” as engagement and humorous sarcasm enhancing brand friendliness. Sentiment polarity is 70.6% positive.
Research limitations/implications
The qualitative, single-platform sample limits generalizability; future research should use longitudinal, cross-platform and experimental designs to test AI disclosure effects and long-term impacts on brand loyalty and Gen Z mental health.
Practical implications
Brands should prioritize product personification and audio-visual contrast over generic humor, offer cognitive decompression and high-arousal amusement, align with meme culture norms while protecting brand values and monitor e-WOM continuously.
Social implications
The addictive nature of brainrot raises concerns for Gen Z’s mental health, urging ethical content creation amid digital overload.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, as one of the first empirical examinations of brainrot as an emerging marketing practice, this research applies a theoretical triad to explain absurdity-driven brand engagement. Within the scope of the studied brands and a single platform, it offers novel insights into brainrot content strategies and AI’s role in fostering authentic Gen Z-brand connections, while indicating that these strategies are context-dependent rather than universally generalizable.