Earlier this year, TikTok creator Jacquelyn Larson posted a video debunking the hype surrounding popular products from high-end brands such as Olaplex, Charlotte Tilbury and Kevin Murphy. Larson offered affordable alternatives and helpful insight on why they were the better choice over their high-end competitors.
This was just one video featured in her “deinfluncer” playlist.
Larson is one of the many TikTok creators that have started using their platforms to dissuade followers from buying high-end products. TikTok has become one of the most popular ways to influence consumers, and brands recognize this. Many brands use partnerships and ambassadors to promote their products on social media platforms, but this new trend of deinfluncing might impact that practice.
To deinfluence, creators buy a popular product, compare it to a more affordable product and then advise consumers against buying the more high-end product. This has shifted the current trend of materialism, begging the question of how brands will capitalize off consumers if TikTok has the power to deinfluence them with a simple video.
According to CNN, nearly all of the deinfluencing hashtag’s 584 million views on TikTok came from the last 12 months. This statistic was recorded in May, but as of September 2023, the hashtag has 840.4 million views. This is only four months apart, and the difference is striking.
Another way TikTok creators have deinflunced consumers is by promoting dupe culture. A dupe is “a shortened version of the word ‘duplicate,’ and is often used to refer to a product that is very similar to a product from a popular brand, but cheaper,” according to Dexerto. Dupes have become more and more popular since the trend of deinfluncing emerged.
Dupes can be found for all products from shoes, fragrances, clothes and more.
The most popular dupes I’ve seen are the SKIMS dupes. SKIMS is a popular shapewear brand by Kim Kardashian that has had the internet in a chokehold. Since its debut, numerous companies such as Amazon, Abercromie & Fitch and Target have made dupes of the brand’s clothing.
The soft lounge long slip dress is one of the most trending items on the SKIMS website, with a starting price of $78. The dupe for this dress comes from Amazon, and its price is $30.
This is a drastic cost difference for a similar product, and consumers are starting to realize this. The soft lounge long slip is just one example of how dupes can save consumers money.
Deinfluncing culture has completely changed the concept of influencing for brands and influencers. It has given influencers the chance to consider if they want to continue influencing or start deinfluncing.
Brands also have to start considering what they can do to start appealing to consumers again without the help of influencers, since consumers are starting to become wary of influencer-endorsed products.
What will the future of society be if all influencers become deinfluncers, and consumers don’t depend on materialism?
Lindsay Bickham is a 19-year old mass communication sophomore from New Orleans.
