Nah, Don’t Need It – Underconsumption Core Is Here 

After decades of media, influencers and big box stores speeding up the seasonal cycle, rushing fashion into frantic micro-trends and pushing the narrative that you need a 10-step skincare routine, people have begun to reject the notion of “need need need” and promote the idea of underconsumption.  ‍

There are countless reasons this underconsumption trend is rising: rampant inflation, a lack of purchase pleasure and a feeling of disconnect between what’s being marketed and what’s realistic. Take the summer of 2024, for instance. Brands brought young 20-something influencers to The Hamptons, supplied them with summer houses (a typical three-bedroom house rents for between $60,000 and $100,000 for the summer) and free dinners at the hottest restaurants (Duryea's continues to go viral for its $97 lobster salad), and outfitted them with free cars (influencer-turned-DJ Xandra was gifted an electric Hummer for her Hamptons escapades).

These influencers’ young audiences were born with the internet – they are savvy to the marketing - and most of all, they are over it. They aren’t able to recreate this kind of summer experience, or even a fraction of it, without serious financial commitment and consequences, and it’s swinging a pendulum back into a new counter culture of underconsumption.  

So, what does underconsumption look like? You can see it with #underconsumptioncore on TikTok. One user shows that it’s not about going without – and it’s not even about shunning things like luxury goods – it's about taking what you need and nothing more. In fact, underconsumption has taken the tone of curated, intentional and chic, rather than frugal and cheap. Trends that align with underconsumption include capsule wardrobes and no-spend challenges.  

Could this be the end of the haul era? Probably not, but it is a welcome change.