Investigating the Impact of Fear of Missing Out on Impulse Buying Behaviour in E-Commerce

The Fear of Missing Out represents a persistent psychological apprehension that others are securing rewarding experiences, exclusive products, or lucrative deals before they permanently disappear. In digital commerce, this anxiety is systematically activated by interface level urgency cues, which diminish deliberate cognitive evaluation and accelerate spontaneous transactional commitments. This empirical investigation confirms that digital scarcity mechanisms predominantly ticking countdown timers and real time low stock alerts function as the primary catalysts driving unreflective consumer checkouts. Through rigorous statistical evaluation, the study demonstrated that scarcity cues, FOMO, and perceived time pressure jointly account for 58.6 per cent of the variance in online impulse buying behaviour. Furthermore, significant variations emerged across demographic cohorts, proving that young adults, private-sector employees, and consumers with lower educational attainment exhibit greater susceptibility to urgency nudges and subsequently experience elevated post purchase remorse. The broader outcomes of this research underscore that while manufactured urgency delivers rapid conversion gains for online platforms, it simultaneously generates substantial downstream challenges for both consumers and retailers. Unplanned, FOMO induced transactions frequently culminate in acute buyer guilt, budgetary strain, elevated return requests, and a gradual deterioration of consumer trust toward e-commerce brands. These findings highlight that sustainable digital retail cannot rely indefinitely on manipulative psychological pressure or exploitative dark patterns that compromise customer welfare. Consequently, the study emphasizes the critical imperative for online service providers to transition toward transparent inventory messaging, ethical user experience designs, and balanced promotional strategies. Simultaneously, it advocates for enhanced digital literacy and mindful consumption habits, enabling shoppers to recognize artificial scarcity tactics, regulate impulsive spending impulses, and maintain financial well-being in an increasingly automated marketplace.

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