Direct and indirect effects of fear‐of‐missing‐out appeals on purchase likelihood

Researchers typically treat fear‐of‐missing‐out (FOMO) as a personality trait or a general sense of anxiety about “missing out on” activities with others. If messages with FOMO‐laden appeals can induce context‐specific FOMO responses, FOMO is crucial to consumer behaviour scholars and marketing practitioners. Also, certain emotions may moderate the effect of such appeals on consumers' purchase intentions toward the recommended hedonic service/experience. The vignette‐based experiment summarized here suggests that FOMO‐laden appeals can influence consumers' purchase intentions. Specifically, such appeals can strengthen purchase intentions by boosting consumers' anticipated elation and self‐enhancement or weaken purchase intentions by boosting anticipated expense regret.