| Abstract | The fear of missing out (FOMO) has been found to increase consumers? purchase likelihood. However, previous research has primarily focused on FOMO appeals made by friends or close others on social media and thus has not explored other situational FOMO contexts. Consequently, this research thesis seeks to investigate different boundary conditions and contexts which might increase feelings of situational FOMO in consumers and elevate purchase likelihood. I test and find that consumers have increased feelings of situational FOMO when celebrities (vs. influencers) post on social media, when they view a social media post about an experience (vs. a product), and when they use their mobile device (vs. computer) to view social media. In all these contexts, FOMO has a positive relationship with purchase likelihood. Taken together, these results indicate that other contexts besides friends or close others can be effective at increasing feelings of FOMO and subsequently, purchase likelihood. These outcomes also have actionable implications for marketers. |
