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Summer Pringle

Blink and You’ll Miss It: How Influencers Use Youth To Cash In On TikTok Beauty Trends

Biography

My name is Summer Pringle. I am a fourth-year Professional Communications student with a minor in business at Toronto Metropolitan University. Throughout my time at TMU, I have developed my skills to adapt to new experiences, be collaborative, and be a critical thinker. I am passionate about digital marketing, specifically social media content creation. In the future, I plan to work in the marketing industry. This field is ever-changing, so understanding the “newest” forms of promotional strategies is important to not only adopt and implement but also figure out how to leverage them in a way that differs from competitors. This capstone project allowed me to explore the world of digital marketing, learning about new promotional tactics and possible future trends.

Details of Project

The rise in youth exposure has increased, and TikTok influencers are using various manipulative tactics to pose a certain reality over another to gain the intention of the audience to purchase. This research outlines how influencers on TikTok can create content that manipulates youth into purchasing cosmetic products. This project uses a mixed method approach, analyzing fifty TikTok videos, looking at the meaning behind the work (qualitative) and how that affects the number of likes, comments, and/or shares (quantitative). This research aims to better understand how influencers can deceive youth into purchasing cosmetic products, even after being “cancelled” for producing disinformation. The research addresses the problem of influencers manipulating youth into purchasing beauty products for commodification purposes through various unethical strategies and tactics that frame one reality over another.

This research is important in the field of communication, specifically within the marketing industry, because understanding the manipulative ploys that influencers utilize that work effectively can, in turn, be used for their own campaigns. As the literature review revealed that the public distrusts traditional advertisements because they feel “gimmicky” and/or not relatable. Also, understanding the manipulative ploys these content creators utilize can aid marketing professionals in choosing the best influencer to collaborate with to feature the products, as they can effectively reach the target audience.

 

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