Published Paper Details:

Young Indian consumers have joined a new digital trend that combines their social media usage with their desire to purchase expensive products. The study investigates Instagram's de-influencing trend, which causes content creators to stop people from buying popular but worthless and substandard products. The Gen Z and Millennial demographic group shows advanced influencer fatigue because of influencer marketing, which now reaches its highest saturation point through excessive product endorsements and a lack of marketing transparency. The research study uses qualitative analysis to study messaging patterns and six case studies, which demonstrate how major de-influencers create a new source credibility model. The study shows that current users value perceived authenticity and informational social influence more than traditional celebrity charm. The study examines these trends, affecting 28% of Indian Gen Z through their financial insecurity and increasing dedication to sustainability. The research shows that de-influencing content, which includes genuine product reviews and affordable product recommendations, functions as an educational tool that fights against aspirational spending and excessive consumerism, which traditional marketing drives. The movement promotes conscious consumption, which leads young Indians to choose products based on their practicality and environmental impact instead of social media advertising. The paper shows that de-influencing has evolved into a permanent shift, which has transformed how consumers behave in digital spaces while showing that social commerce enters an age of rationality and consumer empowerment.