Florida International University

Analyzing The Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and Scarcity in Social Media: When You

Can’t Go to The Event of the Year

Name

Florida International University

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to assess the fear of missing out (FoMO) and scarcity in social media. In study one, 119 participants of age bracket (15-67) were selected randomly. The participants were to look at a Facebook page for a person named Ben Addams. The participants had to read five responses. They then rated their feelings about their imagined response to not being able to attend the event and described how the five statements relate to their general lives. That participants in the “All and Limited” condition would have higher feelings of FoMO and frustration in comparison to all the other conditions The dependent variables in this study were “feel frustrated” and “like I was missing out.” Independent variables were (Limited or Unlimited) and attendance (All or None). This study predicted that people would feel more frustrated and have higher feelings of FoMO if tickets were limited than if tickets were unlimited. In the second study, there were 209 participants. Scarcity (Limited and Unlimited) served as the independent variable, and the recall of how many available tickets served as the dependent variable. According to the two studies, participants had a significant impact on their well-being when forced to be the only ones not attending. Scarcity did not create any undesirable feelings in participants.

References

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Journal of Consumer Research, 43(5), 683-706. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucw056 Song, M., Choi, S., Moon, J. (2021). Limited time or limited quantity? The impact of other consumer existence and perceived competition on the scarcity messaging – purchase intention relation. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 47, 167–175.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2021.03.012