Whose experiences shouldn’t be missed? Influence of social media endorsers and FOMO content on travel decisions

Abstract

While fear of missing out (FOMO) laden content influences audiences’ perceptions and sense of urgency, using FOMO appeals to impact decisions among social media audiences remains largely unexplored. This paper addressed this research gap by presenting the findings of two studies investigating the influence of various endorsers and the interaction with FOMO appeals on travel-related decisions. Study 1 (n = 238) was a cross-sectional survey to validate the hypothesized model. The findings from Study 1 indicate that anticipated elation, anticipated envy, and social influence are associated with personal FOMO, which in turn predicts intentions to visit and recommend. The same pattern is observed for social FOMO, although anticipated elation does not serve as a predictor. Study 2 (n = 600) was an online experiment to examine the interaction effect of content endorsers and FOMO appeals on travel decisions. Results indicated that FOMO-laden reviews are more effective in influencing travel decisions when posted by influencers or travellers, but not by friends and family. Conversely, friends and family are most influential when posting reviews non-FOMO appeals. While prior research showed that user-generated content (UGC) on social media has a significant impact, this study found that audiences are especially influenced by traveler-endorsed content with FOMO appeals. This research contributes to the growing knowledge of FOMO-laden travel content on social media. Specifically, it provides an understanding of the interaction of content endorsers and FOMO appeals on travel decisions.