Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. The under-consumer core encourages people to buy only what they need. AleksandarNakic/Getty Images Gen Z has embraced the “under-consumer core.” This trend involves buying only what you need and rejecting influencer marketing. Economic pressures like inflation and debt are partly driving Gen Z’s shift to reduce consumption.
Influencer marketing has become a staple in the social media era, with Gen Z being one of its most prime targets.
For many members of Gen Z, the age group between 12 and 27, TikTok is the primary social media platform where they research products to buy. But while the influencer marketing industry is thriving, some young online users are tired of the constant product promotions.
This is where the “under-consumption core” comes into play.
At its core, underconsumption is similar to the trend of “deinfluence,” another common response to online shopping culture. Deinfluence involves highlighting and questioning popular products that are often promoted by creators online.
According to the core creators of Under Consumption, who spoke to The New York Times, the idea behind this latest trend is to encourage people to buy only what they need. In simple terms, it’s just regular shopping with a more Gen Z-friendly title.
Creators who have embraced the trend often share videos that show them with minimal or second-hand clothing in their closets, a handful of beauty products on the counter, and little to no Stanley Cups in their cupboards.
“Once an aspirational display of wealth, it now seems insensitive and outdated,” sustainable fashion creator Jade Taylor told The New York Times.
Gen Z doesn’t trust influencers much anymore
Research shows that influencers don’t seem to have as much influence among younger audiences as they once did.
According to a survey provided to Yahoo News by GenZ and millennial marketing research firm Y-Pulse, 45% of 13-22 year olds don’t believe content creators have the same authority as before, and 53% say they prefer to buy things recommended by regular people.
Some influencer marketing experts told Business Insider that consumers may feel misled by creators who want to make money off of them.
Influencers are not always trustworthy, and scams are rife on social media due to limited regulation of social media advertising space.
For example, influencers may buy followers to add credibility or may not disclose that they are being paid to promote products.
Gen Z’s tight budgets may be making them rethink unnecessary purchases and sometimes resent the wealthy influencers who encourage them to make such purchases.
Gen Z faces inflation, health care costs, ever-increasing housing and auto costs, and mounting debt, while also facing a competitive job market and earning less than millennials did a decade ago.
When it comes to big purchases like buying a home, younger generations have low confidence, and some evidence suggests that while Gen Z benefits financially from living at home, they may not feel the benefits because of financial impairment, which can be fueled by social media displays of wealthy lifestyles.
Brett House, an economics professor at Columbia Business School, told the Times that economic anxiety has influenced the shift toward simplification, and that a similar change occurred after the 2008 recession.
“There’s very little new here other than the names we’re giving to macroeconomically-driven changes in consumer behavior and the pace at which we move from one meme to the next,” House told The New York Times.
