International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

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 Volume 13, Issue 4 (April 2026), Pages: 54-64

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 Original Research Paper

Fear of missing out (FOMO) and impulsive buying behavior: The role of social media, self-control, and socio-economic factors

 Author(s): 

Suchart Tripopsakul *

 Affiliation(s):

School of Entrepreneurship and Management, Bangkok University, Pathumthani, Thailand

 Full text

    Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8031-8056

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2026.04.006

 Abstract

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) has become an important psychological factor that influences consumer behavior, especially in digital markets. With the rapid growth of social media, FOMO is increasingly associated with impulsive buying behavior. Based on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework, this study examines the effect of FOMO on impulse buying behavior (IBB), the mediating role of social media engagement (SME), and the moderating role of self-control (SC). The study uses data collected from 212 social media users and applies Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the proposed model. The results show that FOMO has a significant positive effect on both SME (β = 0.618, p < 0.001) and IBB (β = 0.435, p < 0.001). In addition, SME partially mediates the relationship between FOMO and IBB (β = 0.353, p < 0.001). The findings also indicate that self-control weakens the effect of FOMO on IBB (β = -0.278, p < 0.01), meaning that individuals with higher self-control are less likely to engage in impulsive buying due to FOMO. Furthermore, age significantly moderates the relationship between FOMO and IBB, with younger consumers showing a stronger effect (β = 0.521, p < 0.001, Z-score = 4.612), while gender, education, and income do not have significant moderating effects. This study contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive view of the role of FOMO in digital consumer behavior and highlighting the psychological processes behind impulsive buying on social media. It also offers practical implications for marketers, policymakers, and consumer protection agencies.

 © 2026 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

Fear of missing out, Impulsive buying behavior, Social media engagement, Self-control, Digital consumer behavior

 Article history

Received 20 November 2025, Received in revised form 27 March 2026, Accepted 1 April 2026

 Acknowledgment

This research was partially supported by the School of Entrepreneurship and Management (BUSEM), Bangkok University. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations:

This study was reviewed and approved (or granted exemption) by the Ethics Committee for Human Research, Bangkok University (Reference No. 416812073). All participants provided informed consent prior to participation. Participation was voluntary, and anonymity and confidentiality were ensured throughout the study. The research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. 

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

Tripopsakul S (2026). Fear of missing out (FOMO) and impulsive buying behavior: The role of social media, self-control, and socio-economic factors. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 13(4): 54-64

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