The growth of e-commerce and social commerce has reshaped consumer behavior, creating digital environments in which purchasing decisions may be influenced by social and time-sensitive cues. This study examines the relationship between Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and impulsive buying among digital consumers through a systematic literature review of scientific articles published between 2019 and 2026. The reviewed literature indicates that FoMO is associated with emotional urgency and spontaneous purchasing decisions. Digital marketing features—including flash sales, countdown timers, limited-time offers, live-stream interactions, and influencer promotions—may intensify this relationship by heightening consumers’ perceptions of scarcity and social participation. The literature also identifies social proof, hedonic shopping motivation, self-control, and electronic word of mouth as factors that may mediate or moderate the relationship between FoMO and impulsive buying. These findings offer a basis for further research on digital consumer behavior and suggest that businesses should consider the ethical implications of marketing practices that rely on urgency and scarcity. The review’s conclusions are limited by the included studies and the review procedures; therefore, the search strategy, databases, selection criteria, and synthesis method should be reported clearly to support reproducibility.
Keywords
Fear of Missing Out, impulsive buying, digital consumers, social commerce, live-stream commerce, systematic literature review