In the late 1960s, a psychologist named James Vicary claimed he had cracked the code of human behavior.

With nothing more than a single frame of text—”Drink Coca-Cola” or “Eat Popcorn”—inserted into a movie reel, Vicary suggested that he could manipulate an audience’s desires without them even realizing it. The experiment was later exposed as a hoax, but the idea that consumer behavior follows a predictable and measurable path wasn’t. In fact, it has been the foundation of modern marketing ever since.

If the past decade has taught us anything, it’s that influence is not a single moment, a single advertisement, or a single click. It is a slow, deliberate journey. A complex web of exposures, interactions, hesitations, and eventually, conversions. That is the premise of the O-5A framework, a model adopted by Yuntu and integrated into Douyin’s data-driven marketing ecosystem.

What is the O-5A framework?

Imagine standing in front of a bookstore shelf. Your eyes scan the rows of book spines, and one title—a name you’ve seen before—catches your eye. That’s the first touchpoint. You pull the book off the shelf, skim the back cover, and put it back. That’s a second interaction. A week later, you see a friend post about it online. Now, it’s no longer just a book. It’s a signal. By the time you finally purchase the book, it’s not because of any single touchpoint, but because of the accumulation of exposure, curiosity, and social proof.

This is the premise of O-5A, where consumers move through five distinct psychological phases—from awareness to advocacy—before fully converting into a brand loyalist.

O-5A starts at Opportunity (O)—a broad, often undefined pool of potential customers who have yet to engage with a brand. From there, the journey moves to Aware (A1), where exposure begins to take root. This is followed by Appeal (A2), where curiosity builds and interest solidifies. Then comes Ask (A3)—the tipping point. The moment when consumers actively engage, seek out reviews, click on product pages, or compare options. Lastly, there is Act (A4)—the first purchase—before the final stage of Advocate (A5), where a customer not only returns but begins influencing others through word-of-mouth, social posting, and other forms of endorsements.

SPU 5A: When influence becomes granular

If you walk into a sneaker store, you don’t simply think, “I like Nike.” You think, “I like this Nike shoe.” Every product has its own gravitational pull, its own lifecycle, its own story of exposure, engagement, and conversion.

This is what SPU 5A captures.

Unlike brand-level audience segmentation, which focuses on holistic consumer engagement, SPU 5A zooms in on the product level, mapping how specific items gain traction and convert within the Douyin ecosystem. It breaks down user engagement into five stages, helping advertisers make smarter decisions on product promotion, customer targeting, and lifecycle optimization.

This is particularly powerful in a world where Douyin’s e-commerce model is driven by discovery rather than intent. Unlike search-based platforms where consumers actively look for products, Douyin operates on serendipitous engagement. A consumer doesn’t necessarily start their day looking for a new skincare serum, but after seeing a creator’s video, a few well-placed ads, and engaging with product reviews, they suddenly find themselves checking it out.

SPU 5A breaks this process down into precise, measurable behaviors. It identifies which users are lightly exposed to a product, engaged multiple times, added it to their cart, and purchased once or even twice. More importantly, it allows brands to shift their resources dynamically—adjusting their advertising, retargeting, and influencer strategies based on real-time consumer movement through the 5A stages.