The present study examines the evolution of Consumer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) within the native TikTok Shop ecosystem. The relevance of the topic is driven by the accelerated development of social commerce, which reached a volume of USD 1.2 trillion by 2025, as well as by brands’ forced adaptation to a discovery-led paradigm in which purchase initiation follows a logic of discovery rather than pre-formed intent. The analysis centers on a structural dilemma between short-term virality and long-term resilience, whose operational expression is Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). It is demonstrated that, in this environment, trust is formed not only through communicative signals but also through institutionalized reliability markers, including independent product certification such as “Lab Tested,” while operational excellence in logistics and post-purchase service attains the status of a key determinant of retention. The theoretical foundation draws on the S-O-R (Stimulus–Organism–Response) framework and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), while the empirical base includes a large-scale statistical dataset for 2010–2025 that makes it possible to track the dynamics of factors shaping the transition from impulsive involvement to stable consumer preference. This paper argues that, within TikTok Shop’s native architecture, operational metrics, specifically the Shop Performance Score (SPS), do not merely serve as external quality-control tools but become embedded in brand equity, shaping perceptions of brand reliability and predictability. As a result, product quality and the seamlessness of the consumer experience are interpreted as the main conditions for converting viral traffic into durable loyalty, linking marketing performance and operational capability within a single, unified contour of CBBE formation.
Yernur Nurmukhambet (2026) studied this question.