How Did the Viral Xiaolatiao Vape Become So Popular on Douyin?

Do you know why the Xiaolatiao vaping device has become so popular on Douyin? Electronic cigarettes have now become the preferred alternative for many Chinese smokers. The tobacco market in China has attracted many businesses, and how to bring electronic cigarettes to their users has made Douyin the top choice for many electronic cigarette businesses. As the leader in the electronic cigarette industry, Xiaolatiao vaping devices certainly won't miss this opportunity. However, the short video landscape is never calm, and there are many sellers on Douyin. Last year, the dominant platform was Kuaishou, leading the public dance craze, but after the Spring Festival, it transformed into Douyin's seaweed dance, changing so rapidly that it is astonishing!

As a rising star, Douyin's charm is undeniable. Many people are addicted to it, unable to extricate themselves, and some deep enthusiasts even spend all night scrolling through videos, feeling unsatisfied.

Some people, in order to resist the temptation of Douyin, have taken the drastic step of deleting the app immediately, thus breaking away from the Douyin army and returning to themselves.

The unusual behaviors of these users make one ponder how this short video platform has achieved such a level of engagement? After some reflection, it becomes clear that besides Douyin, other frequently used platforms such as Moments, Weibo, Zhihu, and games like Honor of Kings share similar characteristics, which is the addictive mechanism. The underlying tactics are the same, leveraging people's emotional responses to achieve control.

Today, this article will delve into how Xiaolatiao vaping devices have leveraged Douyin to become a viral sensation!

1. How do they make you addicted?

In essence, any addictive product needs to possess three key elements to keep people hooked. So, what are these three elements?

1) Action: The initial trigger for people's actions is generally driven by the need for positive experiences. For example, on Douyin, someone might be walking down the street and see an advertisement featuring their favorite celebrity, or they might come across a cool Douyin video on Moments, Weibo, or elsewhere, or they might be strongly recommended by friends. The motivation behind these actions stems from an inner pursuit of pleasure and a sense of belonging that triggers engagement.

2) Variable Rewards: When you download Douyin with anticipation, you are immediately taken to the recommended video page, where the curated popular video content is fun, flashy, and cool, instantly capturing your attention and fulfilling your expectations. At this point, you are halfway there; after receiving your initial reward, you feel great and continue scrolling.

Note that this is the key point! The rewards here are variable and unpredictable. You don’t know if the next video will be even more interesting, which keeps you in a constant state of anticipation. This is what attracts you to discover more fun, interesting, and cool videos, making it hard to stop.

If the rewards were predictable, the enthusiasm would not last. It’s like knowing what a magic trick will be next; after a few times, it loses its charm, right?

Variable rewards are like treasures, enticing you to keep digging; you don’t know if there’s something good inside until you open it.

Sometimes it might be something good, sometimes something bad. When you find something bad, you’ll look forward to the next treasure being good, and when you find something good, you’ll expect the next one to be good too. This keeps you engaged and leads to a cycle of continuous action, ultimately making you addicted.

3) Investment: Having action and rewards is not enough to make you addicted; the final step is crucial. Some people never reach this step and fall off, while those who do usually find it hard to disengage. This step is investment.

After enjoying the rewards, the platform will entice you to invest something, whether it’s sharing videos, commenting, creating videos, adding friends, or filling out personal information. To facilitate your actions, these buttons and processes are designed to be extremely simple and obvious, thus improving action efficiency.

The principle of reciprocity kicks in here; as a survival skill developed throughout human evolution, you will be very willing to invest something in return for the platform, and on a deeper level, you want to mimic others' behaviors to gain social rewards (likes, comments, follows).

As you gradually invest yourself, you will change your attitude. Having invested so much time and energy, you can no longer view the platform as low-quality or uninteresting; otherwise, it would conflict with your actions. To avoid cognitive dissonance, you will continue to maintain the same behavioral attitude as before.

After completing this entire process, the variable rewards will pull you back in. You will look forward to receiving likes, comments, or follows (social rewards). You can’t resist checking to see if many people have liked, commented, or followed you, and when you find that many people have engaged with you, you will feel a sense of achievement (self-reward). Thus, the accomplishments you achieve on the platform provide you with even more reasons to stay.

If there’s a lull, you will search for rewards in the recommended videos on the homepage, continuously scrolling. To better draw you back in, the platform initially allows you to receive notifications, so when someone posts a new video, notifications keep ringing in your phone, and out of curiosity, you continue to open the app, leading to endless scrolling.
After going through this cycle many times, the triggers for your actions will no longer be positive emotions but negative ones. When you feel bored or annoyed, to escape those negative experiences, you will unconsciously open Douyin again in search of rewards. These negative little emotions are everywhere, and at this point, congratulations, you have successfully become addicted.

2. Why can’t you control yourself?

Many people struggle internally after becoming addicted to certain products, promising themselves they won’t play anymore, yet they still can’t resist. Why is it so hard to control? What governs the willpower of the brain, causing such contradictory behaviors and leading to inner turmoil?

In fact, the brain is controlled by two systems: System 1 (the planner) and System 2 (the doer).

System 1: The planner, who is forward-looking, primarily concerned with the future and has good plans; it is the rational part of the brain.

For example, you decide to wake up early tomorrow, read a book a month, or achieve a weight loss goal this year, striving to get into a good university. These are all long-term plans dominated by System 1.
System 2: The doer, who is reckless, lives in the moment, and drives our desires and emotions.

For example, the planned early wake-up is often thwarted by the warmth of the bed, reading a book feels too taxing, and it’s much easier to binge-watch popular dramas and scroll through Douyin. The weight loss plan? Forget it.

This is similar to the relationship between some company bosses and their employees; the boss talks about goals and plans every day, while employees just hope not to work overtime tonight and wonder if they can get a raise this month, leading to an eternal conflict between some bosses and employees.

Addictive products manipulate System 2, the doer. When feelings of emptiness, boredom, or annoyance arise, the doer will recklessly seek to eliminate negative experiences to achieve inner pleasure. This explains why, when bored, people often feel the urge to smoke, pull out their phones to scroll through Moments, Douyin, Zhihu, etc., and these behaviors often occur unconsciously. It’s only when they realize it that they find themselves playing again.

Summary

Using Douyin to promote electronic cigarettes leverages users' addictive mindset towards Douyin. Of course, this is not harmful to the users themselves, as people generally hope to find pleasure in their immersion in Douyin. The rise of Xiaolatiao vaping devices to become a viral sensation on Douyin is not only due to the right platform choice but also because Xiaolatiao vaping devices themselves are of high quality. In the internet age, reputation is the foundation and lifeblood of a brand.