Particularized Conversational Implicature in Mikayla Nogueira's TikTok Beauty Endorsements

Abstract

Influencer marketing has become a major form of promotion in the beauty industry, especially on short-video platforms such as TikTok. In these endorsements, influencers often communicate product evaluation indirectly rather than through explicit advertising language. However, studies that examine how pragmatic mechanisms, particularly conversational implicature, operate in influencer discourse remain limited. This gap is significant given that implicature plays a central role in how meaning is conveyed indirectly, making it especially relevant in digital endorsement contexts where promotional intent is often embedded in seemingly casual speech. This study aims to analyze the use of conversational implicature in TikTok beauty endorsement videos by Mikayla Nogueira. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, fifteen videos posted between 2021 and 2025 were selected through criterion-based sampling and transcribed for analysis based on Grice’s theory of conversational implicature, encompassing both generalized and particularized types. The findings show that implicature appears through three main patterns: indirect evaluation through sensory and result-oriented expressions, personal experience as implicit product endorsement, and conversational framing that creates recommendations without direct claims. The results indicate that persuasion in beauty endorsements often relies on audience inference rather than explicit promotional statements, highlighting the role of shared knowledge within the beauty discourse community.