TikTok product hauls negatively influence viewers

Hauls promote a culture of overconsumption and materialism

By Annie Cameron Lifestyle Editor

TikTok has remained a leading social media outlet in the 2020s; however, a large number of TikTok trends that have emerged promote toxic behavior that needs to be left in 2022, specifically hauls.

The ever-beloved hauls are an extremely popular trend with a largely negative influence. Especially following Christmas, hauls have been in excess throughout TikTok with a variety of creators posting their present hauls for everyone to see. Creators also often post hauls from popular clothing brands such as Shein, Aritzia, Urban Outfitters and Brandy Melville, as well as hauls from stores such as Amazon, Target and Sephora. Although watching hauls can be entertaining, the videos simultaneously promote both overconsumption and materialism. These are two prevalent issues in society, as people often look to material possessions in order to cure stress or emotions, and fill some sort of void inside themselves. These issues already plagued society prior to the influx of hauls on social media, and have since continued to grow as a result. Influencers take pride in sharing clothes or products that have “changed their lives” or that are a “must have,” especially for the new year. Thus, viewers will look to purchase these items in order to enhance their own life. If the influencer owns that product and leads a happy life, then anyone who owns that product will lead a happy life, right? Additionally, influencers will often post these haul videos several times a week, further promoting these unrealistic expectations that are cast upon society. Viewers are overwhelmed with haul-content every day, and naturally feel the need to keep up on the current products as much as possible despite how unrealistic this expectation is. Products are expensive, and prices add up fast when consumers are purchasing items as often as influencers encourage. In most cases, influencers promote the products throughout their videos and highly encourage viewers to invest. However, what is often overlooked, are the paid promotions between influencers and these product brands. Majority of the time, the influencer receives a certain amount of revenue from the brand or company each time a customer purchases their product through their link or using their code. Thus, the influencer has a reason to show these products in a positive light, in order to make more money, neglecting the actual quality of the product. Although some of the products influencers reviewmay be good, they are likely not “life-changing” as described, and just a ploy for more sales. Moreover, influencers often boast about what a good deal buyers will get on these products, or describe them as being a “dupe” or knock-off for a different name-brand product. However, these “cheaper” items are still costly, and add up quickly, which influencers often fail to mention. Despite how unrealistic these standards are, many viewers still feel jealous as a result of these haul videos, which can often lead to more spending. Seeing haul videos constantly flooding social media feeds normalizes these expectations and subsequently causes many viewers to spend unnecessary money on these advertised products in order to “fit in.” As a result, the most popular trend of all is perhaps also the most dangerous: overconsumption.