This study analyzes the dynamics of positive emotion and fear of missing out (FoMO) on online impulse buying, focusing on the mediating role of online shopping attitude. Utilizing an explanatory quantitative design, data were collected from 225 respondents who actively engage in online shopping using TikTok Shop vouchers. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that positive emotion significantly contributes to strengthening online shopping attitude but does not directly trigger online impulse buying. Conversely, FoMO is proven to be a dominant direct driver of online impulse buying without requiring the prior formation of an attitude, due to its reactive nature in avoiding social loss. This study finds that online shopping attitude serves as a crucial mediator bridging positive emotion to online impulse buying, yet fails to mediate the relationship between FoMO and online impulse buying. This indicates a dual-pathway mechanism: a cognitive-affective path that requires attitudinal validation, and an instinctive path that bypasses rational evaluation for the sake of social urgency. These findings provide new insights for marketers to combine aesthetic video content strategies that build positive attitudes with limited-time offer strategies to capture transaction opportunities from FoMO-driven anxiety.
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Bari et al. (2026) studied this question.
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