When fear of missing out silences sharing social comparison, satisfaction, and consumer experience in concert tourism

Purpose This study examines how fear of missing out (FOMO) influences social media engagement, concert satisfaction, post-event regret, and future concert destination preference among concert tourists. The study draws on the Social Comparison Theory (SCT) to explain why FOMO may suppress engagement rather than drive it in high-visibility event settings. The study also tests if these relationships differ across generational cohorts. Design/methodology/approach The research used snowball sampling via a two-wave survey to collect data from 703 Coldplay concert attendees, who actively posted on social media. The study statistically examined the proposed relationships using structural equation modelling. Also, multi-group analysis was used to identify differences between generational cohorts. Findings Based on the results, the data showed that FOMO negatively affected social media engagement. This could indicate that in a high-visibility setting heightened FOMO suppressed social media sharing. Social media engagement in turn increased concert satisfaction and reduced post-event regret. Satisfaction and regret each mediated the effect of social media engagement on future concert destination preference. Multigroup analysis showed that the satisfaction-to-preference and regret-to-preference paths were stronger for Generation X than for Millennials and Generation Z. Research limitations/implications The research design creates a limitation. The findings are applicable to a very limited complex given the setting of the study and it is possible that for different main acts in concerts these results could vary. More research in different cultural settings and in different type of concerts is required to verify if the findings can be generalized. Practical implications The study offers practical and evidence based insights for event planners to how FOMO plays into concert tourism, on encouraging age-inclusive marketing, transparent digital content to reduce negative psychological effects. Originality/value The study applies SCT to concert tourism. It reports that in a high-visibility setting, like a popular concert, FOMO operates as an inhibitor of social media engagement rather than a driver. It also shows that engagement carries both satisfaction and regret, with reference to future destination preference. It also shows that the strength of these paths differs across generational cohorts.