Designing Effective and Ethical Fear-of-Missing-Out Appeals in Tourism

This research investigates how businesses can design effective and ethical Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) appeals in tourism marketing. We introduce a four-dimensional framework that identifies content (trip desirability and social presence), source (from social connections vs. businesses), style (explicit/direct or implicit/indirect in expressing FOMO), and orientation (focusing on missing personal growth opportunities or social comparison) as critical design elements. Four experiments show that FOMO messages that are rather explicit/direct or that compare people socially can backfire, making tourists feel uncomfortable and less positive about the business. Conversely, messages highlighting the potentially missed personal growth opportunities are more likely to create positive reactions. Integrating insights from past FOMO and tourism marketing research with ethical design principles and consideration of emotional well-being, our work theoretically adds to the underexamined domain of business-generated FOMO appeals and provides actionable guidance for developing FOMO-based strategies that foster engagement without compromising tourists’ autonomy or well-being.