Financially struggling Generation Z has a bizarre new status symbol: “affordable wealth”

While previous generations ate their snacks in the privacy of their own homes, many members of Generation Z proudly post their grocery purchases online – with expensive and organic products considered status symbols.

Lily shared a TikTok video showing off the $500 worth of snacks she bought while grocery shopping in Erewhon, while another TikToker named Viktorija received more than 270,000 likes for a video in which she tried $200 worth of different Erewhon smoothies.

“Everything is happy,” author Andrea Hernández told Business Insider of the phenomenon. “Everything has to signal something.”

However, Hernández describes the status symbol snacking phenomenon as “the new lipstick effect,” referring to an economic theory that suggests that during economic downturns, people spend money on “more affordable luxuries like lipstick.”

“It’s a form of affordable wealth,” Hernández explained. “We are now dealing with the phenomenon that food is not a basic need, but a luxury experience.”

In fact, many Zoomers are so interested in snacks that they have taken up “grocery store tourism.”

The trend involves heading to a local grocery store while on vacation to browse the aisles for local snacks that aren't available in their home country – making them an even more sought-after status symbol.

A user who posted a video of shopping in a Spanish supermarket explained: “Visiting the grocery stores in different countries is sightseeing.”

The poster and his friends found all sorts of unique items that they couldn't get at home, including the “Ultra Red” Monster Energy drink, which comes in a red can.