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TikTok Drives Restaurant Discovery

Specialty Food Association

Over half of TikTok's millennial users in the U.S. have visited or ordered food from a restaurant after seeing it on the app, according to data provided by MGH, a marketing agency that surveyed TikTok users about the social media platform's influence on their dining behaviors.

The survey found that across generations, 38 percent of U.S. TikTok users have visited or ordered food from a restaurant after seeing a video on the app about it and approximately 51.8 million restaurant-goers exhibit dining behaviors influenced by the platform.

The survey also found that TikTok videos have prompted roughly 30 percent of users to travel longer distances for new dining experiences and encouraged about 28 percent to spend more money than they usually would on dining out.

"This once-dismissed social network, TikTok, has completely changed the way people behave, where they spend their time, and more importantly, how they spend their money," said Ryan Goff, EVP and social media marketing director at MGH, in a statement. "TikTok truly is a restaurant marketer's dream come true. There aren't many other tools we have left in our marketing toolbox that can drive the sort of impact promised by TikTok through this survey."

Additional insights into why TikTok users chose to visit a restaurant after seeing it on the platform are:

• Appetizing-looking food (72 percent)

• Unique menu item (45 percent)

• Fun place to go with friends or family (42 percent)

• Cool way of serving food or drink (38 percent)

• Cool atmosphere (37 percent)

• Had a great view (30 percent)

Related: Butter Boards Create Platform for Specialty Ingredients; Dave's Gourmet, TikTok's Chef Pii Partner to Launch Pink Sauce