TikTok Stars purchase scores very low : IIHB report

The second Report of the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) on the TikTok influencer eco-system looks at the qualitative metrics and looks at the aspects of these influencers as ‘human brands’. 

The second report focuses on two dimensions : empathy + Emulatability (e2 Index) and the influencer index (i2) which is a combination of familiarity, trust, content, fun and likability.  

The e2 Index: Empathy / Emulatability 

- The e2 Index determines the commercial value of the celebrity’s fame. It is the ability of the said celebrity to get the fan or the follower to behave in such a way as to influence the fan or his/her consumer behavior.  

Compared to Bollywood or Cricket celebrities, TikTok followers did not quite look up to their heroes the same way. While they are a brilliant source for entertainment and fun, they didn't consider them as role models. 

The TikTok heroes fare worse when we look at their ability to sell through movies and music. While their empathy and trust scores is average, this is dramatically lower than sport celebrities and film.  

When TikTok stars try to sell products like a Car or a gadget, their emulatability score isn't up to the mark. Bollywood and top cricketers have much higher scores.  

e2 index top scorers: 

- Jannat Zubair leads on the empathy attributes that check how much the follower or fan wants to be like the influencer. Zubair top scored on being the most sought after for her messaging on getting dressed, choice of accessories, hair-styling and make-up. Avneet Kaur was in second place. 

“The e2 Index of top TikTokers trails celebrities from tinsel town and cricket quite tremendously. Their followers are their fans, but don’t really want to be like them in dress, appearance, demeanour or taste. Our similar studies on Bollywood stars show, on an average 20-25% higher scores,” says Sandeep Goyal, chief mentor, IIHB. “This therefore converts into lower revenue generation potential from brands for the TikTok toppers.” 

- Awez Darbar leads by far on the emulatability attributes. Tops as the best source of advice on movies, music, purchase of personal use devices like a mobile and for buying a bike. 

All TikToke influencers fare poorly when it comes to giving financial advice or money matters. Followers don't consider their advice to be much of value. Their scores on purchases like mobiles and bikes is poor too.  

Goyal added, “The scores on the ability to actually sell a tangible product are surprisingly even lower. Emulatabity of the influencers as a credible source for messaging on purchases again trails the sell-through power of Bollywood by a 50 per cent margin or more based on our past studies,”  

The IIHB Report also looks at the attributes that help build familiarity, relevance, esteem & differentiation (FRED)for India’s most followed TikTokers, each of whom had amassed millions of ardent followers. 

Each of the top TikTokers has been analysed over 32 key attributes, ranging from trustworthy to topical to trendy, and from entertaining and engaging to fun and friendly.  

“I personally find the entire TikTok tribe extremely fascinating. Almost all of them are small towners with huge reservoirs of talent. And ambition. And tenacity. To be honest, the creative output of most of them was pretty average and without much finesse. But then who are we to judge?” concludes Goyal. 

All TikTok leaders score very high on being entertaining, which surely was the reason for their fan following running into millions. They are also seen to be good looking, stylish, trendy and with tonnes of swag. Interestingly, followers felt the Top 10 were rich – a very aspirational description that put these influencers on a pedestal with their tribes.