12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands YY Business School How TikTok Has Impacted Generation Z’s Buying Behaviour and Their Relationship With Brands? Martina Ngangom Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MSc in Digital Marketing At Dublin Business School Supervisor: leva Masevic August 2020 about:blank 1/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands DECLARATION I declare that this dissertation that I have submitted to Dublin Business School for the award of MSc in Digital Marketing is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated, where it is clearly acknowledged by references. Furthermore, this work has not been submitted for any other degree. wr Name: Martina Ngangom Student Number: 10532125 Date: 23 August 2020 about:blank 2/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Ieva Masevik at Dublin Business School for guiding and supporting me during the whole research process. She made this journey smooth and seamless and I couldn't have asked for a better supervisor.
I am grateful to my classmates, who made this research study less challenging. I sincerely would like to thank all the participants who agreed to take part in the study and provided valuable insights. Finally, I am thankful to my family and friends for their constant love and support. about:blank 3/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands TABLE OF CONTENTS: ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1.
PRACTITIONER IMPLICATIONS CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. USER GENERATED CONTENT 2. WORD OF MOUTH 2. IMPACT OF USER GENERATED CONTENT 2.
USER-GENERATED BRANDS 2. INTERNET INFLUENCERS/CREATORS: 2. FUNCTIONALITY AND FEATURES 2. MARKETING ON TIKTOK: A, CREATORS B.
MUSIC ON TIKTOK 2. BRANDING ON TIKTOK 2. BRANDS ON TIKTOK CHIPOTLE THE ORDINARY GUESS TOOFACED PRODUCT REVIEWS ON TIKTOK 2. TIKTOK’S PRIVACY AND OTHER ISSUES 2.
GENERATION Z AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS 2. CHARACTERISTICS about:blank 4/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands 2. GENERATION Z AS CONSUMERS 30 2. LITERATURE REVIEW CONCLUSIONS: 31 3.
RESEARCH CHOICES: MONO METHOD 35 3. RESEARCH TIME FRAME 35 3. RESEARCH DATA COLLECTION: 36 3. MODES OF COMMUNICATION: 39 3.
THEMATIC DATA ANALYSIS: 39 3. CHALLENGES OF THEMATIC ANALYSIS - 41 3. RESPECT FOR PERSON 42 3.2, CONCERN FOR WELFARE/BENEFICENCE: 42 3. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS: 43 4, CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 44 4.
CODING: INDUCTIVE OR BOTTOM-UP APPROACH 46 4. REPORTING THE FINDINGS: 47 4.2, MAIN THEMES 48 THEME 1: PERCEPTION OF BRANDS: 49 THEME 2: PRODUCT CONSUMPTIONS: 51 THEME 3: PREFERRED CONTENT: 53 5. THEME 1: PERCEPTION OF BRANDS 56 5. THEME 2: PRODUCT CONSUMPTIONS 57 5.
THEME 2: PREFERRED CONTENT 57 about:blank 5/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands 3. CHAPTER TIME MANAGEMENT: 63 BIBLIOGRAPHY 64 APPENDICES 76 APPENDIX 1: NVIVO CODE BOOK 76 APPENDIX 2: NVIVO: IDENTIFYING THEMES 77 APPENDIX 3: EMAIL TO PARTICIPANTS: 78 APPENDIX 4: INFORMATION AND CONSENT FORM 79 APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 81 APPENDIX 6: INTERVIEW PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE: TIKTOK VIDEOS 82 about:blank 6/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands ABSTRACT AIM: This research aims to explore the new phenomenon of TikTok and how using this application has impacted Generation Z as consumers. The study contributes to further identify if this social media platform has had any change in attitude towards brands by gaining comprehensive views and mindset into the evolving needs and expectations of iGen. DESIGN: Due to the subjective nature of the study, a qualitative design approach has been utilised to discuss the experiences and opinions of Generation Z on TikTok.
For data collection, semi-structured interviews have been conducted with participants who were in the 18- 23 age group. METHOD: To analyse the data, thematic coding by Braun and Clarke (2006) has been employed and the six-phase assisted in uncovering several patterns and themes. The findings and insights could offer academic researchers and practitioners to implement marketing strategies to engage with these younger consumers. about:blank 7/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands 1.
BACKGROUND With the constant change in the digital landscape, the way users consume content online has altered the paradigm of traditional marketing. The emergence of new platforms has accelerated the way individuals communicate and share consumption experiences irrespective of geographical location (Dahl, 2018, p.26) ultimately shifting the way consumers interact with brands. Consumers want personalised messages as they find value — emotional or functional — while interacting with that content (Bradey, 2019) and TikTok’s algorithm successfully delivers videos based on the users’ interactions (Herrman, 2019), and ‘each person's feed is unique and tailored to that specific individual’ (TikTok, 2020). Technology Times reported that the revenue by the quarter of this year on TikTok may surpass 300 percent plus US revenue on this app is expected to reach US Dollar 500 million in 2020 (Naqvi, 2020).
This video-sharing app has become a cultural phenomenon with 42 per cent of the users falling between the age of 18-24 (Sehl, 2020). Generation Z is becoming a lucrative market segment (Meola, 2020) and examining the success of TikTok amongst this cohort can provide insights into how today’s youth interprets cultural trends and their cross-generational dialogue with brands (Mintel, 2019). about:blank 8/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands TikTok's short video format and its playful nature force brands to capture consumer attention within the first few seconds (Meola, 2020) and they are showcasing their products through user-generated content to get more engagement. The main driver of Gen zers’ content consumption is the entertaining element and unlike its former predecessor, this younger generation exactly knows what they want and they value honest portrayal.
So marketers working with video creators on TikTok can help bring authenticity in their brand communications (Poelking, 2019). What is TikTok? It is a social networking platform for short-form mobile video and the foundation of this app is creative expression and gives users the tools to produce fun, joyful content (TikTok, no date). Users have the ability to search for sounds from an array of music options to score into the video and engage with other individuals through response or duets. They could join a challenge, or participate in a dance meme, or make humour (Herrman, 2019).
TikTok consists of audiovisual controls to make looping 15-second videos. These editing features contain “in-camera speed controls, tmage-tracking composites, collaborative split-screens, and a shortened video timeline” (Bresnick, 2019, p. The simplicity and ease of using these facilities help users produce enjoyable and stimulating content that is why this app appeals to many content creators across the world. The entertainment style of this social media platform sets it apart from other channels attracting many users worldwide (Mohsin, 2020).
This form of communication is redefining the relationship between audience and brands as user-generated content (UGC) format has given individuals to create and share experiences about:blank 9/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands which is why influencer and content marketing on social media platforms have become powerful marketing tools. RESEARCH PROBLEM The new way of marketing communication which is predominantly on social media poses opportunities and new challenges for brands as purchase decisions are highly influenced by social media interactions (Dennhardt, 2012, p. Due to its massive engagement rate, brands have started to focus their marketing campaigns. For Instance, Mac Cosmetics collaborated with three TikTok influencers for a hashtag challenge called #YouOwnlt.
In the span of 6 days, a total of 635,000 videos were created and had an approximate total of 1.6 billion video views (Meola, 2020). But the gap in reach could be examined as TikTok surpassing the 2 billion download mark and becoming bigger than Instagram (SensorTower, 2020) Post Millennials will become a fundamental group in the marketing sector as the Mckinsey (2019) report stated that by 2020, Generation Z will account for 40 per cent of global consumers (Amed et al. The rise in popularity of TikTok within the current youth has skyrocketed dramatically and the application has been downloaded more than 2 billion times globally (SensorTower, 2020). It continues to outperform Instagram and Snapchat (Mediakix, 2020) impacting Generation Z’s consumptions ultimately a change in their attitude towards brands.
For about:blank 10/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands instance, E. cosmetics hashtag challenge #eyeslipsface on TikTok received 1.7 billion views in just over a week. The challenge broke several TikTok records, including having the most users participating in a branded hashtag challenge (Liffreing, 2020). Gen Z appreciates the entertaining and transparent narratives of real-life which are projected online (Poelking, 2019) and the essence of TikTok is the authenticity and originality of the content from users (Mintel, 2019).
Comprehending this global phenomenon could provide deeper insights into the minds of younger consumers and their viewpoints, preferences, and buying behaviour. This research study could provide a better understanding of the role TikTok plays and why it appeals to 800 million users worldwide (Mintel, 2020). RESEARCH GAP The popularity of TikTok has been investigated by Ligian (2018) where product positioning and original content variety were proven to be the significant contributors on this application but the type of user-generated content that influence users to engage with brands have not been explored. The motivation of participating in hashtag challenges on TikTok has been captured by Ahlse, Nilsson and Sandstrém (2020).
As Gen Z gravitates toward genuineness, TikTok could be an instrumental platform to engage fan relationships, tapping into new audiences, and promoting branded content (Su et al. Further Qiyang (2019) identified that TikTok allows more interactive features than Instagram enabling users to co-create and share videos. This interactive feature permits users to showcase talents and skills but this could have more negative impacts than positive towards the younger age group due to its unfiltered and illicit content (Jaffar, Riaz and Mushtaq, 2019, p. Moreover, Khattab (2020) studied to analyse the self-representation 10 about:blank 11/83 12/10/24, 11:08 AM Tik Tok impacted Gen Z buying behaviour and relationship with brands of the body image and sexuality on TikTok.
The subject area of the social and psychological effect of TikTok on users have been deeply scrutinised while there have not been any studies on their shift in buying pattern. Further, the impact on the younger demographic’s attitude towards brands has not been elucidated on any reported study. This gap could exhibit an opportunity for marketers and researchers to harness the potential prospects of the platform. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES RO1: The purpose of this study is to understand if the usage of TikTok has had any positive or negative impact in attitude, concerning a brand.
Several companies have started to use TikTok as a new marketing tool and the likes of Sony Pictures, Pull & Bear, Clarins, Adidas, Nike and Samsung have already set a firm foothold on this platform (Barker, 2019). These brands are participating to entice these consumers and analysing the effect it had on TikTok users by conducting semi-structured interviews. This will help understand Generation Z’s opinions on brands or product consumptions via TikTok with the help of this exploratory research. RO2: Another aim of this study is to identify if and how this platform has influenced users to purchase or consume products.
The essence of TikTok and its content is mostly based on authenticity and other unfiltered commentaries (Mintel, 2020) and since generation Z consumers seek recommendations from family and peers and also draw inspiration from social media bloggers before deciding what to buy (Accenture, 2017).
