Glucomannan: from TikTok trend to top-of-mind product on Amazon Italy

In recent years, trends related to beauty and wellness have been strongly influenced by social media, particularly TikTok, which has seen exponential growth as a go-to platform for everything related to beauty tips, travel suggestions, home management advice, health, fitness, and nutrition tips.

Skincare and hair care products, exercises to improve posture, small mindfulness practices, dietary supplements, and home solutions: attention and interest in these aspects often originate from TikTok. Among the latest and most popular trends on the platform is glucomannan, a supplement known for its appetite-suppressing properties.

Derived from the root of Amorphophallus konjac, a plant from the Araceae family native to China, glucomannan is a polysaccharide that can aid in weight loss when combined with a low-calorie diet and a healthy lifestyle, always respecting specific dosage and intake methods, and strictly taken in agreement with one's doctor.

As a dry extract, glucomannan is a dietary fiber capable of absorbing large amounts of liquids (expanding up to 60-100 times) and reducing the assimilation of nutrients ingested with it. Given its gelling properties, it increases in volume when ingested with a significant amount of water, creating a mass in the stomach that increases the feeling of fullness. Hence its use as a slimming agent and remedy for constipation.

Almost completely absent in previous years, in the first quarter of 2024, interest in glucomannan saw a significant spike starting from TikTok, with countless content related to the topic promoted by influencers, nutritionists, and pharmacists, but also simple users who have tried it or are looking for information about it (source: TikTok Creative Center).

The main storytelling around glucomannan is that of an aid in weight loss. The suggested mechanism is simple: this supplement increases the feeling of fullness, thereby reducing food intake and facilitating weight loss.

The trend quickly conquered the web, with users extending their searches to Google and Amazon. In Italy, the first searches for the keyword "glucomannan" on Google Trends date back to last February.

The trend on Amazon.it

From the study conducted by Witailer on user searches on Amazon Italy with the term "glucomannan," it emerges how quickly the product gained popularity from the beginning of the year, becoming the most searched term in the "Appetite Suppressants" subcategory (part of the "Health and Personal Care" macrocategory).

Through STAT, a proprietary business intelligence platform that allows the identification of actionable opportunities by intercepting new search trends in advance, in the December 2023 – May 2024 semester, a volume of 679,000 searches was recorded, with a peak of 237,000 in March, an absolutely exponential result compared to 14,000 in March 2023.

In the "Appetite Suppressants" subcategory, glucomannan dominates the searches: three of the ten most popular search terms, between the end of 2023 and May 2024, concern this supplement, in the form of pills or sachets.

Regarding branded searches, those made by specifying the names of specific brands, the top #5 includes Aboca, Matt, Longlife, Zenement, and Konjac.

How have brands reacted to this trend? Many have adapted quickly, launching new products based on glucomannan. Many of the search results on Amazon for "glucomannan" show products available on the market for less than six months.

The trend on social media

According to the survey conducted by Connexia, through a social listening platform, the topic of glucomannan has seen significant growth on social networks since January 2024, generating a total of about 8,000 discussions on the open web in the first quarter of this year.

TikTok has played a crucial role in increasing interest in this supplement, proving to be the channel that generated the highest volume of mentions (65%), followed by Facebook (25%), Instagram (6%), X (3%), and news sources (1%).

The spread of content on TikTok has undoubtedly boosted word-of-mouth related to glucomannan. Being an uncommon product and therefore still little known, about half of the comments (47%) on the platform are informational requests about purchase channels (pharmacy/parapharmacy, marketplace, etc.), price, and possible side effects/contraindications.

Continuing with the sentiment analysis, it emerges that 21% of TikTok users shared their personal experience with this supplement, reporting disappointing results regarding the product's effectiveness, which, although used in association with a proper diet, did not bring the expected benefits (decrease in hunger), with the added disheartenment of having wasted money uselessly.

17% of the results, on the other hand, come from those who report their positive experience with the use of glucomannan, which, always combined with a balanced lifestyle and correct intake, allowed them to lose weight significantly. In this case, the product is highly recommended and considered a valid alternative to other supplements. The remaining group of comments on TikTok, about 15%, consists of off-topic, tagging between users, etc.

Even when the word is passed to health professionals, opinions are divided: among nutritionists, there are those who advise against its use as glucomannan would not bring any benefit in terms of weight loss, even if taken during a low-calorie diet, and others who, instead, are in favor of its intake, always with prior medical advice and in the absence of contraindications.

In the case of pharmacists, alongside those who simply highlight the product's peculiarities to promote its sale (most cited brands being Matt and Revollmed Nutrition), there are other professionals who add a disclaimer to emphasize how essential a prior medical consultation is to confirm that it is a suitable product for the intended use and to prevent adverse reactions.

Although divisive, the glucomannan trend highlights how social media can significantly influence consumption habits and the demand for specific products. With summer around the corner and the "bikini test" just ahead, it's no surprise that many users have sought quick solutions for weight loss, making glucomannan one of the most searched supplements in the first half of 2024.