Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Introduction The social media world is becoming a place that no longer offers users only communication and entertainment, and a main player in the advertising industry, but has also become a place where there are an increasing number of malicious scams, which can cause great financial and emotional damage to users. As Baltezarevic 1 noted, there is a lot of pressure on people to live up to the imposed social norms and expectations, which primarily concerns beauty, clothing. That is, products that simply must be had, so that the individual does not feel excluded from the group. Aware of such conformist tendencies of a large number of people, companies often resort to deceptive (misleading) advertising messages to reach naive consumers. 2,3 These messages often make untrue claims about the quality or usefulness of products and services. Online applications like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok, which are widely available today, are also used to enhance the images and videos of supermodels promoting brands in such advertisements. Increasingly, social media influencers are being hired to launch this kind of misleading content. 4 They recommend products to their followers that companies have paid them to promote, which they probably wouldn’t use themselves. 1 Influencers on TikTok are perceived by consumers as creators of public opinion and credible sources of information that can be trusted. 3,5 However, when they come into possession of a product advertised with such deceptive advertising, consumers realize that they have been deceived, which results in their disappointment, anger and financial loss. Hyman, Franklyn, Yang and Rahmati 4 found that on average, 29% of respondents believed paid marketing content from six different influencers were not paid ads and 8% were unsure, with significant variation by influencer. The labelling used by influencers to identify influencer marketing content is not consistent – let alone clear and conspicuous. With evidence of two-way blurring; on average, 29% of respondents thought unpaid influencer content on Instagram and TikTok were paid ads, and 9% were unsure, with significant variation by influencer. Neubaum 6 (2020) noted that while there is plenty of opportunity for advertising on the TikTok, multiple ethical dilemmas arise for advertisers. Therefore, it is important to investigate the deceptive adverts on TikTok. Recently, in many countries, this kind of deceptive advertising has become increasingly common, both in the real world and in the online environment, which is why companies are increasingly being sanctioned for such misleading activities. 1 In the race for higher profits and better sales, companies are not aware that by such action they can cause great damage to themselves, which is primarily reflected in the loss of good reputation and trust of consumers. These new forms of advertising found in mobile and interactive media and smart technologies, often powered by personal data, are more difficult to identify”. 7 According to TikTok, the app’s algorithm is very user- specific, and curates each user’s feed with a recommendation system. 8 The personalised “for you” page recommends content specifically tailored to the user’s interests and past activity on the app. This can become confusing for young users due to the four types of advertisements available on TikTok: in-feed ads, brand takeovers, branded hashtags, and branded effects. In-feed ads appear in between regular videos, making them difficult to distinguish from native content, while brand takeovers appear when users first open the app. Hashtag challenges allow users to create their own content to go along with the campaign, and the branded lenses allow users to try different effects and filters. The personalised content, powered by the collection of personal data, along with the interactive and in-feed ads, makes it easy for advertisers to persuade children and teenagers on the app. This ethical quandary has already been seen on TikTok. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has received backlash for allowing fake advertising on the app for products such as low-interest loans and “miracle drugs”. 9 Other products advertised on TikTok, like freemium games that charge additional fees, “entice young users to open their wallets”. 9 Aside from false advertisements, many legitimate Sociol Int J. 2025;9(4):156‒164. 156 ©2025 Guanah et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Deceptive online advertising: An exploratory study of TikTok advertisements in Nigeria Volume 9 Issue 4 - 2025 1 Department of Mass Communication, University of Africa, Toru-Orua, Nigeria 2 Department of Theatre and Film Studies, Federal University Otuoke, Nigeria Correspondence: Osakue Stevenson Omoera, Professor, Department of Theatre and Film Studies, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, Tel +2345714679 Received: May 27, 2025 | Published: July 09, 2025 Abstract The study investigated the deceptiveness of online advertisements on TikTok in Nigeria, their socio-economic impact on university students in Bayelsa State, and adherence to ethical standards. The study was grounded in the Nudge Theory, supported by Persuasion Knowledge Model, and adopted quantitative and qualitative methods. The study population comprised students of Federal University Otuoke (Federal government-owned), Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island (state government-owned), and Hensard University (privately-owned). The findings revealed that most TikTok advertisements in Nigeria are deceptive, and have a socio-economic impact on university students in Bayelsa State. Advertisers of food, medicine, cosmetics, and skin care products on TikTok often fail to adhere to advertising ethical standards. It was concluded that social media advertising in Nigeria, especially on TikTok, enables dishonest commercials that mislead consumers into purchasing undesirable goods and services. It was recommended that regulatory bodies such as the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) closely monitor social media advertising to prevent deceptive practices. Keywords: advertising, deception, socio-economic impact, TikTok, populace, unethical practice Sociology International Journal Research Article Open Access