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Spend any time on TikTok and you’ll likely hear the word “dupe” a lot. The term, short for “duplicate,” has become a catch-all descriptor for cheaper alternatives to popular premium or luxury products.
What exactly constitutes a dupe, however, varies. Some creators highlight actual knockoffs of designer items, while others discuss where to find similar versions of high-end goods at lower prices, often citing the likes of Walmart or DHgate.com. TikTok videos with the #dupe hashtag have racked up nearly 6 billion views to date, and playful variations of the phrase, such as #doop or #doupe, account for hundreds of millions more.
Many category and brand-specific dupe hashtags have also gone viral on the platform. Those driving the highest viewership primarily reflect the interests of young women, who are some of TikTok’s most active users. Skims, Lululemon, Bottega Veneta and Ugg are among the apparel brands consistently tagged by users who claim to know about dupes. On the beauty and hair care front, cult-favorite products from Charlotte Tilbury, Dior, Olaplex and Dyson are regularly referenced. And while dupe discourse is strongly associated with TikTok, it’s not limited to it. The topic permeates nearly every online medium, from YouTube and Instagram to digital magazine listicles and blogs.
The rise of this subculture raises questions for brands about the extent of which internet interest in dupes drives purchasing behavior, and also concerns about reputational risks of either being duped or being known as a dupe. New research from Morning Consult provides further context: Roughly one-third (31%) of all U.S. adults said they have intentionally purchased a dupe of a premium product at some point, with this figure being much higher among Gen Z adults (49%) and millennials (44%). In response to a separate question, an overwhelming majority of respondents described the presence of dupes as either a minor or entirely non-issue for brand reputation.
These results suggest that consumers, especially young ones, are eager participants in the dupe economy and view it, on balance, as nontoxic to the perceptions of involved companies. Though being duped in a prominent way is undoubtedly an operational nuisance, brands should consider it an opportunity to light-heartedly (and authentically!) engage with popular culture. Of course, the data is also good news for brands like E.l.f. Beauty, which has embraced the positioning of a lower-priced alternative and seen sales skyrocket in recent quarters.
Dupe shoppers are young and online
Because dupe culture found a microphone in TikTok, we asked respondents how virality impacts their shopping decisions — and the results were not insignificant. More than a third of U.S. adults (36%) said a product going viral is important to them when considering whether or not to purchase it, and much larger shares of Gen Z adults (46%) and millennials (50%) said the same. These groups are also most likely to report having purchased a dupe.
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