Understanding the psychological mechanisms and moderating effects of fear of mising out in Vietnamese shopping malls
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractConsumer Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) has emerged as a pervasive psychological driver of purchasing decisions. In today’s experience-driven retail environment exemplified by Vietnam’s rapidly expanding modern shopping malls, FOMO may prompt consumers to buy impulsively and unplanned. However, most FOMO research focuses on online or social media contexts, leaving its role in offline retail underexplored. This study fills that gap by examining how FOMO influences shoppers’ psychological states and subsequent buying behaviors in Vietnamese malls. We conducted a structured questionnaire survey of 428 mall patrons in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024, and analyzed the data using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results confirm that FOMO significantly heightens consumers’ financial risk-taking, emotional arousal, and reduced self-control. In turn, these states strongly predict purchase behaviors: risk-taking drives impulsive and repeat shopping, emotional arousal fuels impulse, and repeat buying, and diminished self-control leads to unplanned spending. Notably, the strength of these effects varies by consumer segment and context: younger, more tech-savvy shoppers and those in high-end malls showed stronger FOMO effects, and frequent shoppers were especially susceptible. These findings extend FOMO theory into physical retail and offer practical insight: marketers can leverage FOMO cues but must do so ethically, as this tactic powerfully drives consumption. The study concludes that FOMO is a key stimulus in malls, calling for future research to examine its long-term impact and boundary conditions.
Source: Innovative Marketing
Authors: Nguyen Duy Phuong, Bui Thanh Khoa
Institution: Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $641
OpenAlex ID: W4416740965