...and how it impacts consumer behaviour
If you sell furniture, accessories and home décor products, or your business focuses on interior design, it’s vital that you get on board the TikTok hype and learn about the trends that are taking over the internet. The platform has a huge impact on consumer behaviour, pushing them to go crazy for certain products and interior styles.
With a growth rate of 325% in 2020 alone, TikTok is officially one of the fastest-growing social platforms that have ever existed. In fact, it currently has over 1 billion users worldwide (and growing).
A common misconception about TikTok is that it is predominantly for younger people. However, only 25% of TikTok’s audience are children and teenagers between 10 and 19. According to a report on the demographics of TikTok’s US audience, 75.4% of users are over 20, with 21.7% of them being 30 – 39 years old.
Since the average age of the first-time homebuyer is 34, this actually makes TikTok an invaluable space to learn about the latest home trends from an audience that is likely to go on to buy trending products and ranges to decorate their own homes.
The Influence of TikTok Trends on Home Décor Consumers
Today, we’re going to show you the impact that viral home décor inspired hashtags have on the behaviour of consumers and potential customers.
To understand the trends that consumers are loving, we reviewed the best performing interior and home décor hashtags on TikTok from the last 12 months. Here are our top 20 (based on total videos and views):
Read More: 2022’s Most Instagrammable Interior Design Styles
Once we found these trends, we compared them to the following Google search volume data points for corresponding keyword terms (e.g., #sunsetlamps = Sunset Lamps):
- Average monthly search volumes from a year prior to # trending on TikTok
- Average monthly search volume from the month that trending started
- Current search volume data
The goal of this exercise was to see if there was a direct increase in Google search volume for a keyword term once its relevant hashtag had started trending on TikTok.
People often search for something they have seen to learn more about it, or with an intent to buy. So an increase in Google search volume along the same timeframe of a term trending on TikTok would show a seemingly direct influence of TikTok trends on the behaviour of consumers.
We discovered that when a home décor trend starts to perform well on TikTok, it almost always results in higher Google search volumes.
Impressive Search Volume Increases
We saw that although Google search volumes tend to decrease once the TikTok viral hype is over, they almost always end up higher than they were before the trend started to pick up on TikTok.
Here are three trends that saw the biggest increases in Google search volume from point A to point C.
1. Sunset Lamp
#sunsetlamp started trending on TikTok in April of 2021. They project a stunning sunset-like light, creating a cosy, warm atmosphere that is perfect for relaxing in. Part of their popular appeal is that they create a unique, impressive-looking backdrop for taking pictures and, of course, filming TikTok videos. They are relatively inexpensive, so it’s no surprise that they can be found in the bedrooms of every Gen Zer.
2. Cottagecore
The tag #cottagecore is another trend which became popular in April 2021. Cottagecore has a lot of similarities with country, or farmhouse interior styles. It’s more than just an interior style though, Cottagecore is more of a mish-mash of lifestyle and home décor. This trend is hallmarked by wooden furniture, cosy fabrics, and a lot of natural sunlight.
3. Japandi
#japandi first came on the radar in early 2021. An eclectic mix of Scandi and Japanese interior styles, Japandi is minimalism at its best. The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi (the appreciation and contentment of leading a simpler, slower life) seamlessly incorporates elements of functional Scandinavian design for a clean, welcoming look.
With the world becoming more aware of the climate crisis, environmentally conscious and simpler design styles like Japandi are naturally becoming much more popular – especially amongst the younger generations, who are taking to TikTok to show off their interpretations of the style.
Here is the full table of trends which saw the biggest increases in search volume.
As you can see in the chart below, each trend started off with a lower search volume, which peaked when there was a buzz around the trend on TikTok. But current volumes are still a lot higher than they were originally, despite them dropping once the initial hype had worn off.
This data shows that there is a long-term benefit to viral trends, they don’t just go away once the hype is over.
Even when trends do die down, they’re still worth pursuing if you can stock relevant products and associate them with these trends. This is especially true in the home décor space – people can’t usually afford to start buying products they like as soon as they see them. Rather, they’ll commit a trend to memory and revisit it once they are ready to decorate.
Up & Coming Home Décor Trends
Whilst conducting our research, we came across several trends which were still on the up, with higher search volumes now than when they started trending. This contrasts with the above pattern of starting to die off after a while.
So, if you were toying with the idea of stocking new home storage solutions so your customers can get the #minimalism look, or you weren’t sure about ordering dark kitchen appliances for a #darkkitchen aesthetic – now is the time to act.
The below table shows trends that have the most views on TikTok, whilst Google search volume appears to still be growing.
This report only offers a small insight into past and present trends, but more than anything, it showcases how valuable platforms like TikTok are when it comes to influencing the behaviours of consumers in the modern-day.
Even if you don’t have the marketing budget to inspire a viral interior trend, you can still benefit from others doing so. Keep an eye on TikTok for new and upcoming trends and see if you can meet the demand that it supplies with your products or services.
Method
Social monitoring tools were used to gather trending TikTok #s from the past 12 months alongside no. of views, dates they started to trend, and no. of videos under each hashtag.
Once this data was gathered, a keyword tracking tool was utilised to find out the search volumes for the keywords associated with these #s (e.g., #sunsetlamp = Sunset Lamp) from the month they began to trend on TikTok, the year before this, and the current monthly search volume (March 2022).
We used this data to form our conclusion that when a term trends on TikTok, it almost always results in higher Google search volumes.
Sources
https://www.aarp.org/home-family/personal-technology/info-2021/tiktok-app-defies-age-boundaries.html
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1095186/tiktok-us-users-age/
