Is TikTok Creating a New Consumer Culture?

While working my current job in retail, I hear numerous conversations between customers discussing products they are looking for and products they have tried. The most common words I have been hearing are, “Did you see this/that on TikTok?” or “I saw this on TikTok”. This social media platform has reached the minds of so many individuals and has created a culture that promotes products intentionally and unintentionally. 

With brands looking to promote their products and new influencers emerging from TikTok, it is the perfect opportunity for companies to hop on the bandwagon of paying influencers to promote their products and a great marketing technique to reach viewers that use this platform. 

Other social media platforms have adopted this advertising aspect into their functions in the past, yet I find the TikTok community different. Some people are paid to promote the items in their videos if they meet the desired criteria companies usually look for, like if they have enough followers and usually if they are verified. TikTok is different in the sense that users of all kinds, verified or not, can review products on their own without any payment, making it more authentic and consumer-based. This is the more common trend. Some users have even gained fame from videos discussing products openly and honestly and giving very realistic reviews that just end up on the “For You Page”, creating careers for these people on TikTok. I have noticed those individuals that review products are not always sponsored, but instead make their money through TikTok alone for keeping users/fans interested and engaged on the app. 

One example is a TikToker by the name of Remi Bader. She does realistic try on hauls as a midsize woman who promotes body positivity. She started off as a user of TikTok trying to create dialogue that includes women of all sizes and the reality of brands not adhering to all women. Her continued effort and personality gained fame fast as a fanbase developed. Her fame recently took off and she was verified on TikTok. I myself have shopped from the places she has reviewed because I found her reviews trustworthy, honest, and accurate.

I believe that because of the authenticity and intimate setting TikTok allows, a consumer culture unlike any other has developed. Of course, brands still control the market in a monetized way that pays influencers to promote certain products. Yet, with more users gaining fans for being so authentic and so honest, a trend for a new influencer is at large. From now on, consumers may desire this type of information from those they look up to for being honest and realistic. 

Influencers are not only able to rely on pictures alone for clout or a means to keep followers. They, in a way, must be original and entertaining and be an advocate for something their fans will see as notable. From there on out, these influencers will be able to sell to their consumer’s products from brands either sponsored or not, it seems to not matter anymore. But, in my opinion, and from my experience, these influencers are given the credit for the products they promote by TikTok as it is constantly attributed in conversations for the findings of new products which I see as a tactful strategy done by the TikTok team members. 

• tiktok