Americans splurge nearly $8.7 billion on home decor annually — all due to one key reason
Americans might be caught up in an affordability crisis at the moment, but that isn’t stopping millions from making impulsive purchases that they end up regretting within months. A lot of these purchases are driven by the latest social media trends, especially when it comes to interior decor. It turns out that Americans spend an estimated $8.7 billion annually on trend-driven home decor purchases that are discarded within six to 12 months of purchase.
The data was compiled by online home decor platform AweDeco from online marketplaces and consumer surveys, as per a report in PR Newswire. The report also brings up some figures that may seem shocking at first, but are becoming the norm, especially among youth. Americans now spend an average of $1,598 annually on home decor - much of it driven by viral design trends on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
61% of Americans regret making impulse purchases after being influenced by social media, while 70% of Gen Z and Millennials report buyer's remorse within six months of trend-driven purchases. As far as trendy home decor items go, 74% have reported buyer's remorse after online shopping for such products. 33% of the people who participated in the survey said that their decisions were based on having a social media-worthy aesthetic.
Instagram and TikTok are rife with various trends across the board each year, with home aesthetics being one of the most followed ones. Buyers usually end up spending a ton of money making their homes look like an aesthetic that only lasted for a few months. Some of these styles that seem to have been discarded of late are "Cottagecore" (2020), "Barbiecore" (2023), and "Coastal Grandmother" (2022), as per the report.
This impulse spending of Americans has had a negative impact on the environment. It turns out that citizens discard over 12 million tons of furniture annually. Over 80% of this discarded furniture ends up in landfills, with only a meager 0.3% recovered for recycling purposes. The amount of furniture discarded has grown by an incomprehensible 450% since 1960. Clearly, this is not something that young people, who are usually quite aware of environmental challenges, have realized.
The negative impact of social media is truly taking a toll on Americans mentally and financially. The report states that 64% of consumers who bought something on sale and regretted it later said that they were driven by FOMO (fear of missing out) thanks to social media trends. Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have made it a lot easier for Americans compare themselves to people more successful than themselves, and go out of their way to achieve that lifestyle even temporarily at hefty costs.
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