Purpose The purpose of this study is to characterize how TikTok influencers promote gut-health dietary supplements, focusing on message framing, creator credibility, policy-relevant disclosures and engagement patterns. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 117 English-language TikTok videos about gut-health supplements. Findings Most creators lacked professional credentials. Health claims without supporting evidence were common, while DSHEA disclaimers appeared in only one video. The vast majority of videos utilized gain framing (98.3%) to highlight positive improvements in everday bodilty function. Practitioners more often used scientific framing and cited research; influencers favored soft framing, weight-loss cues and were more frequently engaged in affiliate/paid promotion. Despite lower credentialing, influencer videos received more likes and saves. Originality/value This is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first systematic audit of TikTok gut-health supplement promotions linking framing choices, regulatory indicators and engagement by credential status, yielding concrete targets for disclosure policy and platform enforcement. This study contributes to literature on influencer marketing and supplement advertising by highlighting risks from unregulated health claims and the need for stricter regulations to protect consumers from misinformation.
Park et al. (Fri,) studied this question.