Traditional political participation is at an unprecedented low among American youth. But while youth voter turnout is suffering, alternative forms of political participation are on the rise—namely, political consumerism, the intentional buying or abstention from buying specific products for political, social, or ethical purposes. This research seeks to understand the motivating factors behind the youth shift toward political consumerism as a means of representation. Three possible explanations were tested: First, youth choose political consumerism because they receive immediate material benefits from the products and services they buy, a feature absent from traditional participation. Second, youth choose political consumerism because of convenience; they have too many other pressing priorities to engage in more time-consuming forms of participation like voting or writing to officials. Third, youth choose political consumerism because they prefer corporate actors over political actors to enact change because the latter has failed them. In order to test these explanations, I conducted a public opinion survey, interviews with leaders in consumer advocacy, and research on the evolution of youth political participation and consumerism. The analysis finds that the second hypothesis has the most explanatory power. Youth recognize that corporate actors have significant influence on political outcomes, but usually opt for convenience when it comes to making politically-informed consumer decisions. If sufficient information about the political context of products and services is given to youth, it affects their decision-making process. A surge in political consumerism among youth can be consequently be explained by a surge in available information due to the Internet and social media platforms. The results of this research demonstrate the importance of information framing in the digital age, efforts by companies to appeal to young consumers on a political level, and the relationship between political knowledge and participation.