In January 2023, there were 57.1 million social media users in the UK. Social media is therefore hugely popular among UK adults, but is it encouraging us to feel like we are ‘missing out’ if we don’t overspend?
FOMO
Aqua’s survey of 2,006 UK adults over age 16 found that 28% of participants said that FOMO (fear of missing out) played a big role in their overspending habits.
As you can see above, younger age groups are more pressured to overspend compared to those in age groups 45 and above. Perhaps a big part of this can be attributed to social media, which is more typically used by younger generations.
Social Media Encourages Feelings of ‘FOMO’
According to Credit Karma, 76% of Gen Z respondents admit to going into debt as a result of FOMO, as well as 69% of Millennials.
Whilst we traditionally associate FOMO with things like social events with friends, social media can also create this sense of missing out if you don’t buy certain things.
People on social media often present a false, or at least a heavily censored, version of their lives. You see the nice holidays, the expensive meals, the perfect outfits, but you often see little beyond this screen.
Seeing people present their lives in a particular way online can often make us wish for the same. We want that lifestyle, those shoes, that shiny hair.
More and more, influencers, especially on sites like TikTok, are doing clothing and makeup hauls, ‘get ready with me’ videos, and showing us their skincare routines. They show us their everyday products and their new spending hauls. All of a sudden, it makes parts of their lives seem attainable to us. Maybe if we buy all of those expensive skincare products, our skin will look as airbrushed as theirs. Maybe if we buy those clothes we will magically like our bodies more.
A lot of the time, influencers are being paid a commission to promote these items, or they have been sent to them for free as gifts.
We are being encouraged to buy these products, and a lot of the time, people are spending beyond their means to do so.
Generational Differences
Credit Karma found that holidays seen on social media influence 38% of Gen Z and 28% of Millennials to spend money they don’t have on travel. In comparison, only 15% of Gen X and 7% of Boomers + were influenced to do so.
This again supports the notion that social media is having a disproportionate effect on younger generations in its influence to overspend.