Americans fed up with the shop-‘til-you-drop mentality are trying to make living with less trendy.
Influencers on social media often peddle lifestyles or products to followers, urging them to buy new clothing, high-tech cleaning gadgets or the hottest new haircare product. But some people say they have become disillusioned with what they perceive as pressure to constantly purchase new things.
Enter underconsumption core, or a lifestyle that involves using just a small rotation of things for years rather than chasing the latest trend. Underconsumption influencers show items they say they have used for years — towels inherited from parents, makeup collections featuring just a few products, second-hand furniture bought at thrift shops — and don’t plan to purchase more until those things are spent.
“It’s really pushing back against this idea that you need to constantly be buying things to have a happy and fulfilling life,” said Megan Doherty Bea, assistant professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Searches for “underconsumption core” grew by more than 4,250% over the past 12 months as of Friday, according to Google Trends data, which compares relative popularity of search terms based on when and where those queries were made. Users are posting videos on TikTok showing off their underconsumption core lifestyles, with many receiving hundreds of thousands of likes.
Experts say the underconsumption core trend isn’t just about maintaining a budget or wanting to get rid of stuff. Many consumers are tired of feeling like they have to emulate an unattainable lifestyle. At the same time, they’re looking to minimize their carbon footprint.
Bea notes that a more apt term for underconsumption would be normal consumption. But the trend is an intuitive, direct counter to what critics call overconsumption: cabinets brimming with Stanley travel cups in assorted colors, clothing hauls worth thousands of dollars and shelves full of meticulously organized snacks, cosmetics or personal hygiene products.
The underconsumption core trend is taking hold as consumers grapple with decades-high interest rates and a bout of wayward inflation that has pushed up prices for everything from groceries to dining out to rent. Savings accumulated during the height of the Covid pandemic are dwindling, businesses are laying off workers and some economists worry the United States could enter a recession.
Normalizing spending less
Diana Wiebe, 30, posts “de-influencing” videos on TikTok to her more than 200,000 followers reacting to influencers’ videos. She often refers to the products that influencers show off as garbage, a mantra her followers say they hear in their head during their own shopping trips.
Diana Wiebe posts videos to her audience of more than 200,000 followers "de-influencing" them from buying products. - Courtesy Diana Wiebe
Retailers from Kohl’s to Best Buy to Home Depot have been hit in recent months by a pullback on consumer spending. That’s a shift from just a few years ago, when Americans stuck at home due to Covid pandemic restrictions bought everything from bread-baking supplies to exercise equipment to electronics to keep themselves occupied. As lockdown restrictions lifted, people engaged in “revenge spending,” directing a flood of cash from goods to experiences like vacations and concerts.
“I do see (underconsumption core) as more than a trend. I see it as just normalizing normal life again, and maybe even romanticizing it a little bit too,” said Wiebe, who works in communications for a legal nonprofit organization in Ohio.
Many partaking in underconsumption core also say they’re fed up with what they perceive as inauthentic marketing from companies and influencers alike. Wiebe points out that influencers are often gifted items or paid by companies to promote their products, making their seemingly extravagant spending habits unrealistic for most Americans.
“The warning that I’ve been giving to retailers is that it’s very easy for this to turn over into something a bit negative. … ‘Corporations are forcing these things down our throat, and we need to resist,’” said Nikki Baird, vice president of strategy and product at retail technology firm Aptos.
Katrina Leibee, a social media editor at a Denver newspaper, said she has grown particularly wearisome of videos where influencers peddle “must have” products to followers, including trendy clothing pieces, home decor and beauty products.
“If you needed it, you would already have it,” said Leibee, 24.
Environmental concerns
Underconsumption core supporters say that the trend is also about buying with an eye for quality, a pattern many businesses have pointed to in recent months. With higher prices across the board at restaurants, for example, many diners are opting to eat at a sit-down restaurant with wait service rather than shell out at a fast-food joint.
Eleanor, a 24-year old working part-time at a construction company in Utah, says she prioritizes shopping mindfully rather than pinching pennies. She owns several pairs of jeans worth more than $150 a pair, purchases she believes are worth their lofty price tags for their longevity compared to fast fashion.
Eleanor says that her spending habits stem from her concern for the environment. She used to live in West Africa, where she saw firsthand the tons of textile waste that end up in the continent from a glut of discarded fast fashion.
“Instead of buying 20 swimsuits off of Amazon, I will buy two swimsuits that are more expensive, but that I really love and that I’ll wear for years,” said Eleanor, who asked CNN not to include her last name.
Still, Americans are spending
Despite the underconsumption core trend’s popularity, spending in the US remains strong overall. Sales at retailers jumped 1% in July from the prior month, up from June’s downwardly revised 0.2% decline and blowing past economists’ expectations of a 0.3% gain, according to data from the Commerce Department.
Suzanne Lambert, a 32-year-old consultant based in Arlington, Virginia, said watching underconsumption videos has helped her be more mindful about her spending habits. She has canceled her subscription to a monthly beauty box and decided against replacing glassware she and her husband have owned since his college days.
Suzanne Lambert, a 32-year old consultant based in Virginia, says she canceled her subscription to a beauty box after watching underconsumption core videos. - Courtesy Suzanne Lambert
But she says that underconsumption videos miss the mark when it comes to helping people create better spending habits. “To say there’s over- and underconsumption is saying that there’s an appropriate, one-size-fits-all measure. And I just don’t think that’s true,” said Lambert.
Scott Rick, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, says he has performed research showing that retail therapy can make people feel better. Some people who feel sad, for example, can get past that emotion more quickly when they shop because it gives them a sense of control, he says.
“I don’t necessarily see a problem with either (under- or overconsumption),” said Rick. “I mean, who’s to say what you should be spending your money on?”
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