When TikTok’s underconsumption pattern meets festive excess

Christmas is typically a period of excess, but this year TikTokers have been sharing advice for buying less

Getty Images Christmas shoppers in London. A window display is packed with Christmas trees and decorative presents wrapped in shiny paper and tied with ribbons. Outside, a shopper dressed in a warm coat carries shopping bags. — Christmas is typically a period of excess, but this year TikTokers have been sharing advice for buying less

Secret Santa, stockings and presents under the tree – gift-giving is at the heart of Christmas Day.

But should it be?

This year more people have been exploring underconsumption – the pattern where shopping hauls and miracle must-buys are replaced with reusing beloved possessions and purchasing less.

It’s taken off on TikTok, where mentions soared by almost 40,000% in the UK earlier this year.

Experts declare it’s resonated with younger people affected by the expense-of-living crisis and concerned about the climate as they look to make sustainable changes.

But can you mix that lifestyle with a period of year many people associate with overspending and indulgence?

Underconsumption means buying fewer unnecessary things and making the products you already own leave further.

It might not sound that radical, especially if you’re used to stretching your weekly monetary schedule.

“It’s highlighting a behaviour that’s quite normal,” author and creator Andrea Cheong tells BBC Newsbeat.

“But in the realm of TikTok or Instagram it feels so unnatural it’s gone viral.”

On platforms built around ads and glamourised lifestyles the hashtag stands out, and Andrea does depend that underconsumption is different because “it’s a habit, not a pattern.”

“The people who are sharing what they’ve done in their daily lives, they’ve been doing this forever,” she says.

“They were probably taught by their parents to do it.”

Andrea Cheong has written a book about how to make more sustainable fashion choices

Andrea Cheong Andrea Cheong pictured outside a shop window. She wears a green overcoat and an orange tartan-patterned top. She has a blonde bob and looks at the camera. — Andrea Cheong has written a book about how to make more sustainable fashion choices

At Christmas, choosing to buy and consume less can feel like a test in the face of large-monetary schedule marketing campaigns, the pressure to distribute gifts and the perfectly placed extravagant home decor shared online.

“Companies are spending millions of pounds on ads that make you desire to leave out and buy that thing correct now,” says Darwin Alford, a retail worker living in Brighton.

Darwin, who shares sustainability tips online in her spare period, says she doesn’t desire presents this Christmas.

She admits the “hardest step” is telling your household members.

“My nan, she’s one of those who loves having all of the gifts under the tree,” she says.

“It’s her way of showing adore, it’s her way of making me feel special.”

Darwin says it pays to be straight-up with loved ones and it helps to recommend alternative ideas for gifts, such as experiences, rather than products.

Darwin Alford says pausing before buying something helps stop impulse buys

Darwin Alford Darwin Alford smiles at the camera while taking a selfie inside a room painted white. She wears a fluffy pale purple cardigan and a green beaded necklace, her braided hair worn loose over her shoulders. — Darwin Alford says pausing before buying something helps stop impulse buys

Influencer Charlie Gill, from Manchester, has been sharing sustainability tips on social media for six years now and says her content has taken off since the underconsumption pattern began.

She’s turned her focus on to Christmas, suggesting ways that decorations, gift wrap and even Christmas dinners can be stripped back.

“There are so many tiny steps anybody can do,” she says.

“Considering how much food you’re purchasing, don’t buy things in excess, make sure you’re actually eating your leftovers.”

Charlie makes her own decorations, and this year she’s created a Christmas tree out of a magazine, as well as “stars out of toilet rolls, all that benevolent of thing”.

Some people aren’t fans of the homemade aesthetic and Charlie admits she got some despise online over a TikTok of her festive decorations last year, but says it doesn’t put her off.

“I don’t ponder there’s anything incorrect with people celebrating Christmas in a different way,” she says.

“There are different ways of gifting and creating the benevolent of Christmas you desire whilst also underconsuming and not creating excess waste.”

Charlie Gill thinks Christmas can still be special without buying lots of things

Charlie Gill Charlie Gill rests her head on her hand while leaning on a white painted chair. She wears a grey T-shirt with a shark printed on it and smiles at the camera. She has long curly brown hair which she wears half-up-half-down — Charlie Gill thinks Christmas can still be special without buying lots of things

Underconsumption might be a recent hashtag, but it’s not a recent concept.

“It’s not a recent concern but it is an enduring phenomenon that’s been labelled in different ways in different times,” says Prof Caroline Moraes, of the University of Birmingham.

One example is the voluntary simplicity movement in the 19th Century, she says, which advocated for an anti-consumerist lifestyle.

Prof Caroline, a marketing and customer specialist specialising in sustainable consumption, says the renewed earnings in 2024 can inform us about modern-day worries.

She says it points to a greater concern over the surroundings and the expense-of-living crisis but also a greater awareness of brand ethics and where the things we buy arrive from.

‘The part we require to play’

Earlier this year, quick fashion giant Shein said it found two cases of kid labour in its supply chain, some luxury perfumes have also been linked to kid labour and concerns about the fashion industry’s environmental credentials are widely reported.

“I ponder all of us are beginning to realise the part we require to play in terms of tackling the sustainability challenges and the climate crisis we’re facing,” says Prof Caroline.

Author Andrea thinks the sudden rise in earnings also shows a fatigue with customer population.

“I ponder people like myself are so enthusiastic about underconsumption because we distribute the same mission, which is ‘let’s just leisurely down’,” she says.

“But really it’s rooted in a lack of control over the expense of living.”

Last week, figures showed prices were rising at the fastest rate since March.

While the expense of turkey and sprouts has driven down the expense of a Christmas dinner this year, what you pay for potatoes, carrots and parsnips has shot up.

“When life feels disordered and overwhelming, you’re always going to have this human retreat to something slower,” says Andrea.

Trends arrive and leave but the people Newsbeat spoke to aspiration that underconsumption might spark meaningful changes in our shopping habits all year around.

“We are conditioned to depend we require to be consuming more because this is the period of year to do so,” says Prof Caroline.

“Trying to reduce consumption goes against the norms of customer population.

“So I ponder it’s a really excellent thing these influencers are out there because they’re questioning excessive modes of consuming, they’re questioning some of these lifestyles that have appeared alongside social media and trying to bring us back to a normal way of consuming.”

Charlie says she’s witnessed conversations in the comments under her videos and believes “many people are really engaging with it”.

“It’s just about everybody trying to live a little bit more sustainably in whatever way that is, because every little thing we do is going to make an impact.”