After spending quality time with family, friends and food this weekend, the conversation will quickly turn to shopping for the upcoming holiday season.
These days, some rely on internet personalities, known as social media influencers, to give reviews and feedback on products they may consider purchasing. Their critiques significantly impact what someone buys and how much of a product one should buy.
However, there’s a new force pushing back. It’s called “deinfluencing,” a new social media trend that urges users not to purchase products because influencers promote them.
The craze is helping some cut back on overspending caused by purchasing the latest item pushed on social media.
Bankrate analyst Sarah Foster spoke to WTOP’s Dimitri Sotis on Wednesday about this new trend, how it is helping some shoppers avoid overspending and what you should do to budget enough funds for the upcoming holiday season.
Listen to the full interview below or read the transcript, which has been lightly edited for clarity.
Sarah Foster: I think deinfluencing can easily be described as the times when you’re scrolling through your social media feed and you see someone kind of almost discouraging you from buying those hottest new items. But the irony here, I think, is that a lot of Americans, we certainly buy things when influencers tell us, and now it’s like this new trend. We’re not going to buy things as soon as the influencers tell us that. So I think what’s really important, as a consumer, is to just make sure you’re the one deinfluencing yourself, not listening to someone else.
Dimitri Sotis: The Bankrate article about this begins with the story of a young woman who goes through her closet and pulls out sweaters and tops, all kinds of clothes that are pretty much brand new or barely worn. I was wondering if taking a little inventory around the house of things you already have may help offer some perspective.
Sarah Foster: Absolutely. I think the most important step that you can take to help limit yourself from frivolously spending, maybe impulsively shopping this holiday season, is making sure that you think hard about a purchase. So really taking the time to go through what you have is a great step. My favorite kind of philosophy is following the 24-hour rule. So if I see something, I don’t just necessarily discourage myself from buying it if it fits within my budget, but I take some time to really think it over, let it sit in the cart for 24 hours. And nine times out of 10, I almost think about it differently the next day where I realized I didn’t want that item as much as I probably thought I did, and therefore I saved some money.
Dimitri Sotis: Of course, these days, our relationship with influencers, in some cases, is almost like there are far away friends there speaking to us through the phone screen. And I don’t think anybody’s talking about taking your phone away or shutting down your Instagram. I suppose it’s mostly about letting those influencers have far less influence over you by maybe thinking a little bit about what they’re saying and kind of the products they’re pushing.
Sarah Foster: That’s absolutely true. It’s hard for any of us to really walk through Target and prevent ourselves from buying anything. And if we thought that that was hard, imagine how it feels scrolling your feed when it’s this perfectly curated inventory of items. Not just from brands and retailers, but from individual people who you trust and who you look up to, as far as wanting to achieve the same lifestyle that they have. But, really try to just make sure to take some time away from the phone when you’re thinking about buying something and make sure it fits in with your own life. A lot of us really feel that serotonin when we order something, and we have that anticipation of it arriving on our doorsteps. But maybe when we opened that box, we realized that it was a little bit more wasteful than we thought it would be.
Dimitri Sotis: I realize this could be a conversation of itself instead of a last answer from you, but a quick thought on revamping your budget this holiday season.
Sarah Foster: Well, what I like to do is make sure I go through my monthly expenses. I see how much I’ve been setting aside over the year, because saving for the holidays is something that should be happening year round. And then I calculate for myself how much I can afford to spend without going over my budget, dividing that by all the people that I need to buy gifts for. So really, just thinking about holistically budgeting for the holidays, in addition to your other financial goals, is the best piece of advice.
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