Show me the love! Gen Z perceptions of organizations’ love for them

Purpose Relationship management research within public relations literature highlights the value of organizations gaining stakeholders’ affection for them. However, what has not been explored much is a reciprocal focus on organizations’ affection for – or affective orientation toward – stakeholders. Accordingly, drawing on and extending brand love research within marketing literature, this study explores stakeholders’ (i.e. Gen Z) perceptions of an organization–stakeholder love (OSL) orientation toward them. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on Finnish Gen Z participants’ (n = 290) responses to an online structured interview in which three dimensions of brand love (i.e. intimacy, passion and commitment) were explored. Findings Findings indicate that Gen Z perceive an organization demonstrating an OSL orientation toward them when (1) brands/organizations use technology to nurture closer ties with them and (2) organizations take a stand on issues with which they too strongly identify. Practical implications Results of the study offer insight into how organizations may convey an affective orientation toward stakeholders in their communication strategies as well as their organizational culture, systems, policies and practices. Originality/value The study contributes to relationship management literature by providing some initial empirical evidence on the manifestations of love that young adults in Finland see occurring in contemporary brand–customer relationships, thus contributing to an emerging body of work adopting a stakeholder-centric approach to relationship management.