Is Trend-induced Underconsumption Performative?

Does underconsumption have a place in platforms that are usually flooded with advertisements and sponsorships?

Words Erika Anne Sulat
Art by Martina Reyes
October 24, 2025

How often do you scroll on TikTok and see an influencer promoting a brand from a PR package they’ve received? Or when you watch a video on YouTube and there’s an allocated section for brand sponsors?

Social media today has transformed into an advertising behemoth, with popularity becoming a useful currency in gaining the attention of big brands for user-generated content and sponsorships. In fact, sponsorships and affiliate links have now become one of the main drivers of why most influencers continue to post content on social media. 

While an interesting and innovative opportunity to earn money, it also raises concerns about how social media is becoming a vessel for consumerism, driven by clicks and engagement. 

However, a trend on TikTok that has been simmering in small circles for a while now, has found itself on my for you page: Under-consumption ‘core.’ with ‘core’ being a suffix for certain aesthetics attributed to the prefix. 

Under-consumption core is a trend that goes against the hyperconsumerist nature of TikTok. Examples of videos under the tag are de-influencing audiences on the products they don’t need, using makeup products and sticking to what they have until they’re empty, and tips for audiences on how to lessen their spending. 

On an app that mainly functions on advertising and sponsorships, this trend is a refreshing new take on how to live life. It doesn’t encourage people to spend on a shiny new item, but rather, encourages them to lessen the habit. Because of its emerging popularity, a lot of the influencers on my feed are beginning to create content related to underconsumption.

But one could not help but think that, like other trends that came and went in our most used platforms, this would be just another fad that everyone will forget about as the weeks go by. In fast-paced environments like social media, especially in platforms with content creators that function on revenue from advertising, a trend that decreases consumption is bound to be buried in the dirt when a new product launches or when a new trend arises.

With this, Art+ talk to Catalina Sy, a content creator and creative consultant for a beauty company. Having just started posting serious content in June last year, Catalina’s content mostly revolves around beauty, but some of her more specific niches are her project pan journey, a movement in the beauty community where the goal is to finish a product until you hit the pan, and tips on how to reduce consumerism.

As a content creator, Catalina admits that there’s no running away from having a lot of things and promoting products. “I’ve come to terms that it is part of the job. That is what content creation is about, but another part about it is that when you do project pan or when you do underconsumption–it’s the effort of trying, really.” 

While this is a reality that content creators face online, Catalina likes to balance it by producing content such as project pan videos and promoting the idea of being contented with what you already have.

But will the trend stick long enough to influence audience consumption? Catalina acknowledges that, while we still live in a capitalistic society, awareness remains key. 

“There’s an audience for everything, and while it might be a trend now, I just like how it really spread, especially here in the Philippines. That underconsumption is a choice you can live through. I think a lot more people are aware of the impact of buying too much.”

Like many movements born within the internet sphere, the first step in promoting underconsumption as a lifestyle is spreading awareness. So, while the trend might not last long enough to create significant change among consumers, at the very least, it encourages people to be more conscious of what they consume. 

Perhaps the next time someone scrolls past an ad for the newest lipstick or bag, they pause, consider what they already own, and simply scroll to the next post.