The Impact of FOMO, Instant Gratification, and Social Validation on Consumer Behavior in Online Marketing

Abstract

As the digital platforms are growing fast, the online consumer purchase behaviour is becoming more and more influenced by social and psychological factors in addition to the traditional demographics. Based on the viewpoints of behavioural and social influence, this paper discusses how the fear of missing out (FOMO), instant gratification, and social validation affect the online consumer purchase behaviour, factoring in the demographic variations. Primarily, data were collected by the utilisation of a quantitative, cross-sectional research approach, where an online survey was carried out on 380 consumers aged between 20 and 40 who had completed an online purchase in the last month. The instrument used to measure was valid scales, which were modified with respect to the previous research works, and data were analysed under the SPSS. Demographic differences were evaluated with the help of one-way ANOVA, and the relationships proposed were evaluated with the help of the linear regression analysis. The results indicate that demographic factors have a great impact on the online purchase behaviour, which proves the existing validity of demographic segmentation in online markets. In addition, fear of missing out, instant gratification, and social validation have a statistically significant positive impact on online consumer purchase behaviour and underscore the influence of emotional urgency, immediacy, and influence of peers in digital decision-making. The research adds to the social literature of online consumer behaviour through the incorporation of the demographic and psychological motivators into one empirical ground. In terms of managerial implications, the findings place an emphasis on the need to create online marketing campaigns that make use of the urgency indicators, convenience, and the social proof to increase consumer involvement and likelihood to purchase. The research also provides the future research directions in digitally mediated consumption situations.