Deinfluencing
Deinfluencing is a social media trend where individuals discourage their audience from making a purchase. Deinfluencing started at the end of 2022 and became popular in the early part of 2023. It started with the hashtag #deinfluencing on TikTok.[1][2]
Deinfluencing differs from influencer marketing, because creators are paid to promote a product. Deinfluencers usually write negative reviews about over-the-top, overpriced, and/or poorly functioning products, and they strongly recommend that you do NOT spend your money on them.[3]
Origins and Development
The movement originated in December 2022 within the lifestyle and beauty sectors of TikTok (known as “Beauty TikTok”) with creators becoming fatigued with being continuously marketed products, and therefore began creating content about products they regretted purchasing.[4]
According to data released by PR News Online, there was a 240% increase in post counts of the #deinfluencing hashtag from January to February 2023. Additionally, from January to February 2023, TikTok deinfluencing posts received over 281 million views within the two-month period.[2]
Socio-Economic Context
Cost-of-Living Crisis
Researchers usually attribute the popularity of deinfluencing with the high inflation and cost-of-living crises that occurred worldwide during 2022–2023. The reason behind the high inflation rates and high cost of living costs was the fact that young consumers, especially generation Z and millennials, were forced to stop spending money due to high price tags associated with the items they could purchase.[5]
According to an article in Media, Culture & Society, people were not experiencing feelings of guilt for failing to purchase luxury items due to the financial crisis they experienced.[5] Finally, according to the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), the trend can be attributed to consumer resistance to traditional forms of advertising.[6]
Influencer Fatigue
Influencer fatigue is another reason for this trend. In other words, it leads to social-media users becoming distrusting of online recommendations due to a large volume of sponsored posts and advertisements that do not clearly show that they are indeed sponsored.[7]
The Behavioral and Psychological Mechanisms
Deinfluencing attempts to disrupt the ongoing effects of FOMO and social proof on the decision-making behaviours of consumers. Whereas the typical influencer promotes the concept that the consumer needs to have a product in order to ‘fit in’ with others, deinfluencing is based on the concept of JOMO (Joy of Missing Out), and the consumer feels a sense of reward from saving money. Online communities form through their collective skepticism for traditional advertisements and traditional incentive structures.[5][6]
Environmental and Ecological Implications
While creators argue that deinfluencing is a useful and environmentally conscious thing to do because it reduces the amount of waste, critics disagree. Once the movement started growing, it happened to coincide with the rise in popularity of ultra-fast fashion webshops.[5] Today, many people are being encouraged to buy multiple cheap alternatives (aka "dupes") instead of purchasing one expensive luxury item, which, unfortunately, will still produce excessive amounts of plastic and textile waste.[1][7]
Critics
Redirected Consumption
The journalists from the Washington Post and CNN observed that most people don't stop shopping because of "deinfluencing." The majority of the videos show that you shouldn't buy a $60 product and instead go and buy a $10 "dupe" product from a major brand.[1][3]
Commercialization
Marketing companies quickly adapted to the trend. Brands now pay creators to "deinfluence" products made by their competitors while pretending the review is independent and honest.[3][6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Washington Post (2023). The new TikTok trend is convincing people not to buy things.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 PR News Online (2023). Explainer: What is Deinfluencing?.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 CNN (2023). Forget the influencers. Here come the "deinfluencers".
- ↑ Know Your Meme (2022). Deinfluencer / Deinfluencing Trend.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Media, Culture & Society (2025). Deinfluencing TikTok During the Cost-of-Living Crisis. DOI:10.1177/15274764251348596.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Association of Internet Researchers (2023). Trending Resistance: A Study of the TikTok #Deinfluencing Phenomenon.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 BuzzFeed News (2023). Deinfluencers Are Sharing The Things That People Should Stop Buying.
Bibliography
- Association of Internet Researchers (2023). Trending Resistance: A Study of the TikTok #Deinfluencing Phenomenon.
- BuzzFeed News (2023). Deinfluencers Are Sharing The Things That People Should Stop Buying.
- CNN (2023). Forget the influencers. Here come the "deinfluencers".
- Know Your Meme (2022). Deinfluencer / Deinfluencing Trend.
- Media, Culture & Society (2025). Deinfluencing TikTok During the Cost-of-Living Crisis.
- PR News Online (2023). Explainer: What is Deinfluencing?.
- The Washington Post (2023). The new TikTok trend is convincing people not to buy things.
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