Budgeting is a key factor in determining an individual’s financial success, and in a world that revolves around consumerism, such budgeting can often be extremely difficult. This consumerist culture is fueled not just by advertisement, but everything around us, like social media, or pressure from our friends. One of the mots prevalent of these examples is TikTok, an online social media company that has quickly risen to one of the most prevalent apps in the world. Throughout it’s existence, TikTok’s role in fueling consumerism has been unrelenting. In this article we will examine how TikTok is changing teen spending habits and how you should respond.

One way TikTok is influencing teen spending is by actually advertising for companies itself. Throughout it’s existence, TikTok has boasted it’s role in helping support businesses, small and large, by helping them create an easy platform to advertise on and reach a wide, diverse, audience. This combined with TikTok’s “TikTok shop” feature and it’s algorithm that is tailored to fit all audiences helps lead to impulsive spending, particularly from teens who are more prone to feed into this impulsiveness.

Another way TikTok has influences teen spending is by propping up influences and supporting the empowerment of societal/peer pressures. On the TikTok platform, you can find content in all kinds of different categories, like fashion, food, and more. Because of this, influencers across the platform often use products to prop up their favorability among viewers for their own benefit. By using said products, these influencers thus encourage their audiences to buy them and make owning them something to be proud of. This subsequently leads to teen viewers feeling inclined to buy said products and showcasing them to their peers, who then also strive to purchase them.

So how do you combat this? Well, you need to be mentally resilient and realize that these products you are feeling inclined to buy are not as incredible as you may think. So, set a budget, think before purchasing, and most importantly, have pride in yourself and the things you currently own.