Should you hop on the de-influencing trend?

Written by Brook Schaaf

Over the last few months, #deinfluencing has become a thing, with over 386 million views on TikTok alone at the time of this writing.

Put succinctly, a de-influencer tells their audience to buy something else or even not to buy something at all. This brings to mind an anecdote by author Robert Cialdini wherein he, while working as a busboy, observed that the most successful waiter would unfailingly steer a customer away from a food item, no matter what it was. The practice seemed to engender trust, thereby resulting in more orders and bigger tips.

Sound familiar? As Practical Ecommerce noted, “De-influencing helps influencers rebuild trust with their audience as genuine and independent.” Furthermore, environmentally-conscious brands that offer products with gradual obsolescence might benefit from it.

In other words, de-influencing can be a great opportunity for more affiliate-style relationships. Influencer marketing is projected to grow to $21 billion this year, and with almost half of Gen Z turning to influencers when making purchase decisions, it might be worthwhile to check out this new trend.

One might even call it the next iteration of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt.