TikTok Trend: Underconsumption Core
Updated 2024.10.02
Underconsumption is a technique to reduce debt. The idea is that when you go into debt, you have “over consumed” a certain amount of something in the present, and to pay back the debt, you have to under consume for sometime into the future.
Underconsumption is also an economics theory that implies recessionary and stagnant growth, stemming from insufficient consumer demand.
The concept of underconsumption dates back to 1598, and its core principle is the idea that workers produce goods and services that are paid in wages less than they produce, so they cannot buy as much as they produce. Thus, there is always inadequate demand for the product produced.
Recently, underconsumption has been trending as a direct response to the overconsumption trend on social media that involves influencers sharing giant luxury shopping hauls that often display more money and spending than most households can afford in any one given trip.
In many of the overconsumption product haul videos and content shares, social media influencers show off their recent haul, then show off their storage areas filled with copious amounts of goods - hundreds of sneakers, body sprays, drink cups and beauty products, and so on.
These hoards can go into the thousands and millions of dollars and they are housed in display cases or overtaking entire spaces in the house.
To push back on the pressure from social media influencers to own or acquire copious amounts of things that may never be used before they go bad, the TikTok Underconsumption Core trend was born.
As part of the Underconsumption Core trend, TikTok users show off their cheaper bath and beauty products, panned makeup tins they’re still using from years ago, the single perfume they own, or the few pairs of shoes - and their goal is to reinforce the idea that normal and even low consumption can be an everyday way of life.
The Underconsumption Core trend is one way to embrace sustainability, by reducing, renewing and reusing what you have.
You can also use it as a springboard for closing the loop on the waste cycle - by minimizing what you consume, and reusing what you have by keeping it in the use cycle for longer, you minimize the waste going to the landfill.
If you’re enjoying the TikTok Underconsumption Trend, here are a few resources you may enjoy:
Whether you’re enjoying the Underconsumption Core trend because you need to save money, you’re a minimalist, you don’t have the storage space for hauls, or you’re an environmentalist, you can tap into it for your benefit and the benefit of the planet.
At the end of the day, Underconsumption may really just be a more efficient use strategy for the limited resources we have on Earth.
The goal of under consumption is to maximize the benefits of the money spent and keep goods in circulation for longer, while conserving energy in terms of money and goods needed to achieve a goal. It could be a method of optimizing your materials that we can all gain something from learning more about.
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