Survey: U.S. Consumers Prefer Not to Ban TikTok
While lawmakers are still (probably) working on regulating China-based social media app TikTok, things have quieted down a bit since CEO Shou Zi Chew made his Capitol Hill debut in March.
And TikTok’s been busy since then. In addition to continuing to vie for Americans’ attention, it appears the company is looking to gain access to wallets, too.
Last week, it was reported by several news organizations that TikTok was planning to launch an e-commerce store in the U.S. as early as this month.
Seems rather bold for a company currently facing a potential ban in the U.S.
But maybe it’s not, because regardless of all the noise, most consumers don’t want TikTok banned in the U.S., according to exclusive data from VIP+’s “Demographic Divide” collaboration with insights expert GetWizer.
42% of respondents said they do not believe TikTok should be banned in the U.S. The survey was written and conducted in May among U.S. consumers age 15 and over.
The lack of support for a ban surely has a lot to do with so many Americans choosing to spend hours on the platform daily. Of the 736 respondents who said they use the app every day, 43% said it takes up 1-3 hours per day, while 19% use it for 3-5 hours and 11% use it for more than 5 hours per day.
Yet more than half of survey respondents said they were concerned the CCP was spying on Americans through TikTok.
And even as most surveyed Americans said they don’t believe TikTok should be banned in the U.S., more than half of the respondents believe we need more regulation.
But let’s say this whole “ban TikTok” movement goes nowhere and the ByteDance-owned property continues its expansion in the U.S. What could that mean for the competition, for U.S.-based rivals like Meta and now potentially Amazon?
Well, if current trends are any prediction, it could be a real threat. TikTok’s already a dominant force when it comes to consumer spending, according to recent data from app analytics tracking firm Data.ai. The firm found that TikTok surpassed $1 billion in consumer spending on the app in a single quarter.
What makes this even more impressive is other apps that lead in consumer spending are bringing in most of their revenue from recurring subscription fees. TikTok is able to bring in money mostly through onetime purchases. Data.ai noted TikTok is the only non-gaming app among the top 10 in the U.S. in terms of revenue generated by onetime purchases. It surpasses apps such as Candy Crush and Roblox.
TikTok has been a rising force within digital advertising, slowly taking market share from Google and Meta, and with an e-commerce launch in the U.S., it could really be a pain for Instagram and Amazon.
All that being said, one thing worth noting is while the e-commerce in the social media structure works well in Asia, it might be a little more challenging in the U.S.
After putting shopping front and center on the Instagram app, Meta has begun scaling back that push. In February, it was reported that Instagram would be stopping its live shopping feature, and just a month prior, Instagram discontinued its “shop” tab.
Instead, as the economy created tougher operating conditions, Meta decided to put yet more focus on its advertising business. While the shopping challenges could be Meta specific, maybe it’s not such an easy business in the U.S.
Either way, the TikTok empire cannot be ignored. And even as the public remains wary of personal privacy, the app remains popular enough that consumers want it to stick around.
