Exhausted by the rising cost of living and constant promoting, some young adults are fighting back on TikTok.
“When every moment of your life feels like you’re being sold something and the price of that item is constantly going up, people don’t feel like spending money anymore,” Kara Perez, influencer and financial educator, told AFP.
Social media has long been home to picture-perfect homes, lavish closets, and an abundance of beauty products, but a brand new trend is moving in the opposite direction: it’s calling for repurposing, a more frugal lifestyle, and prioritizing quality over quantity.
Known because the “underconsumption core,” it focuses on sustainable living and using what you may have—a reversal of the surplus and wealth that dominates ad-heavy Instagram and TikTok.
“When you get 300 videos on TikTok of people having 30 Stanley cups, you want to have as many as you can afford. People want to be part of it,” says Perez, who repurposes glasses as cups.
Consumer fatigue
In a video viewed over 100,000 times, TikTok user loveofearthco criticized the trend of overconsumption that is usually reinforced and encouraged on social media: “I spent money I didn’t have on things I didn’t need.”
Another account, nevadahuvenaars, shared what “normal” consumption looks like: used furniture, a modest wardrobe, decorations recycled from glass bottles, food prep, and a scaled-down skincare collection.
Despite the financial difficulties felt especially by Generation Z and Millennials, the US economy is prospering. Companies are posting record profits and costs on the shelves are high.
In some ways, “it almost feels like ‘gaslighting’ for consumers” amid a time of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, culture and consumer marketing analyst Tariro Makoni told AFP.
She argued that the buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans common within the budgets of many young adults exacerbate consumption and deform access to wealth.
But years of inflation have forced many to conclude that they cannot sustain with the spending habits of those of their social media feeds.
A Google Trends evaluation shows that searches for “underconsumption” within the US reached an all-time high this summer, appearing alongside queries for “overproduction” and the “Great Depression.”
Many young adults have developed a “compulsive behavior of spending every last pound on a fashion item,” said UK-based influencer Andrea Cheong, who recently shared an “underconsumption core”-style video of herself mending old clothes.
It is an addiction that comes with the pressure to “express who we are through possessions,” Cheong noted.
In contrast, the “underconsumption core” breaks with traditional core trends promoted by influencers, who Cheong said often sell an ever-changing buying plan that embodies the most recent trend and aesthetic. She and Makoni agreed that the shift also reflects increasing demands for authenticity from content creators.
Today, “saving is cool,” says Makoni – “we observed very similar patterns during the 2008 financial crisis.”
More than half of Generation Z adults – ages 18 to 27 – said in a 2024 Bank of America survey that the high cost of living was the most important obstacle to their financial success, adding that many don’t make enough money to live the life they need.
Sustainability concerns
“The social media trend of ‘underconsumption’ is another way for Generation Z to make the most of their money while being environmentally friendly,” said Ashley Ross, head of consumer customer experience and management at Bank of America.
While younger generations are fascinated about making sustainable selections, their decisions are influenced by an absence of economic autonomy.
“Let’s face it, nobody is going to change their GDP to be sustainable. We don’t live in that world… People’s motivation for doing these things has always been to save money,” Cheong said.
But she told AFP that the trend toward “underconsumption” ultimately represents essentially the most accessible approach to sustainability for many who aspire to it. The message is easy: “Buy less, buy better.”
Initiatives for low-consumption brick-and-mortar stores span a broader network of profiles and generations.
Anjali Zielinski, 42, attended a “Mending 101” workshop in Georgetown, DC, hoping to learn latest skills. She brought her 7-year-old daughter, Mina.
She hopes that the craft is not going to only give her daughter the chance to precise her creativity, but will even teach her the “value of our possessions and the work that goes into them.”
