Consumers plan to cut home decor spending by 32% this year — but 58% have still bought something because a content creator told them to

Two consumer spending stories are true at the same time in 2026. The first is a genuine, measurable pullback in a lot of traditional discretionary categories, driven by persistent price sensitivity. The second is that spending hasn't actually contracted everywhere — it's concentrating in categories consumers frame as personal passions, and increasingly, in purchases driven by content creators rather than traditional advertising. This page covers both, without pretending they're the same story.

Consumer sentiment: stable, but strained by prices

McKinsey's ConsumerWise research, surveying US consumers across income levels and generations in late July/early August 2026, found sentiment holding roughly steady quarter over quarter: 34% of consumers felt optimistic in Q3 2026, 41% had mixed feelings, and 25% felt pessimistic. Rising prices and inflation dominate consumer concern, cited by 53% of respondents as a top issue — the clearest signal behind the discretionary spending pullback described below.

A real pullback in traditional discretionary categories

McKinsey's data shows a sharp swing in net spending intent across several discretionary categories in 2026: home decor fell to -32%, apparel dropped to -24% (down from just -1% in 2025 — one of the largest year-over-year swings in the data), and toys came in at -14%. Holiday spending intent held up better in aggregate — 47% of consumers plan to spend about the same as 2025, 23% plan to spend more, and 21% plan to spend less — but that stability masks a generational split: Gen X shows the strongest intent to increase holiday spending (26%), while 34-35% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers plan to cut back.

Price sensitivity is showing up directly in shopping behavior, not just survey sentiment: 46% of consumers plan to use AI tools while shopping in 2026, with 49% using them specifically to compare products or prices and 48% to find deals.

But "lifestyle passion" spending is holding up

Despite that pullback, US retail sales overall rose 2% year-over-year in the first 10 weeks of 2026, according to Circana. Circana's own framing is that growth is concentrating in categories consumers treat as personal passions rather than pure discretionary spend: video games, toys, prestige and mass beauty, auto aftermarket products and tires, retail food and beverage, and fashion accessories all show growth, alongside broader themes Circana names as wellness, functional beverages, flavor innovation, next-gen tech, nostalgia, and viral social moments. As Circana's chief retail advisor put it, "consumers are spending on products that extend beyond the core needs and are increasingly grounded in lifestyle passions — the kind of passion that sparks growth at retail." Notably, toys and video games appear on both the McKinsey pullback list and Circana's growth list, a reminder that these category-level averages can mask very different behavior within a category depending on the specific product and price point.

Creators are an increasingly direct line to the purchase decision

The clearest growth story in consumer lifestyle spending in 2026 may be the creator economy's direct influence on purchases. Roughly 58% of US adults have made a purchase influenced by a content creator's endorsement, according to data from the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs, and about a third of adults aged 18-34 have made a purchase directly on a social media platform, a meaningfully higher share than older age groups. Social media creator revenue is projected to reach $20.6 billion in 2026, up 16.2% year-over-year, per eMarketer — with creators earning the majority of that revenue (59%) from sponsored content, followed by platform payouts (24.4%) and affiliate marketing (8.2%). Brands increasingly treat creator partnerships as essential to their media mix, but measurement remains the industry's clearest unsolved problem: 79% of marketers cite determining ROI as their single biggest challenge in influencer marketing.

Methodology

Consumer sentiment and spending-intent figures are drawn from McKinsey's ConsumerWise research (surveyed late July/early August 2026); retail sales and category growth figures are drawn from Circana's published retail analysis; and creator economy figures are drawn from eMarketer's 2026 forecasts and National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs data, all cited individually below. These sources use different survey methodologies, sample frames, and time periods, so figures should be read as directionally consistent rather than strictly comparable line items. This page presents market research and consumer-spending statistics only, not investment or financial advice.

References

1. McKinsey & Company. (2026). State of the US Consumer: August 2026. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/the-state-of-the-us-consumer
2. Circana. (2026). Consumer Passions & Priorities Are Reshaping Lifestyle Spending. https://www.circana.com/post/consumer-passions-and-priorities-give-lifestyle-spending-new-significance-reports-circana
3. eMarketer. (2026). FAQ on the Creator Economy: How Marketers Can Stand Out in 2026. https://www.emarketer.com/content/faq-on-creator-economy--how-marketers-stand-2026-