Teens love brands - 46 percent say they are loyal to the brands they really like - but more than half say brands "are created by marketers just to get more money," according to a Teen + Brands study by Viacom's The N channel, reports BrandWeek (via MarketingCharts).

The study tested 47 brands, finding Apple's iPod is the brand "absolutely essential to teens." Other brands that define the current teen generation include American Eagle Outfitters, Axe, Baby Phat, Facebook, Google, Hollister Co., MTV, MySpace, Vans and YouTube.

When it comes to brands, teens are apparently polarized, have multiple personalities - or both: a third agreed with the statement that "[if] there were no brands, the world would be better," but nearly the same proportion - 29 percent - said "having cool brands makes me feel cool" and that they are "obsessed with brand names."

Moreover, often, those claiming to be the most loyal nevertheless say they would abandon one brand for another: 19 percent would do so due to boredom; on in four would switch if a brand were to become too popular.

Interestingly, the new generation of teens tends to be family-oriented: Some 39 percent said their family defines them, and 38 percent said moral values do.

"The millennial's relationship with the parent is completely different. There is no angst. [Parents] can be a best friend," Radha Subramanyam, VP of research and planning for MTV Networks kids and family group, is quoted as saying.

Although brands focus on influential teens, "parents can be the biggest influencer, especially when it comes to big-ticket items," she added.

MarketingCharts provides more findings from the study.