FOMO AND INSTAGRAM INFLUENCERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ON MILLENNIAL BUYING BEHAVIOR IN DIGITAL MARKETING
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This systematic literature review examines the influence of Instagram influencers and Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) on millennial consumer behavior. Analyzing 45 studies published between 2019 and 2024, the review highlights that influencer credibility enhances trust and purchase intentions, while FOMO acts as a strong emotional trigger for impulsive buying. Parasocial interactions between consumers and influencers further strengthen brand engagement and advocacy. Bibliometric analysis indicates a research convergence on emotional marketing and social influence. The findings underscore the need for ethical strategies that balance emotional appeal with consumer well-being, offering insights for future research and digital marketing practices.
Article Details
References
Ali Al-Abyadh, M. H. (2025). The fear of missing out and social media addiction: A cross-sectional and quasi-experimental approach. Heliyon, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e41958
Al-Saggaf, Y., Rahman, M. A., & Wiil, U. K. (2024). Using data mining to discover new patterns of social media and smartphone use and emotional states. Social Network Analysis and Mining, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-024-01243-8
Amson, A., Bagnato, M., Remedios, L., Pritchard, M., Sabir, S., Gillis, G., Pauzé, E., White, C., Vanderlee, L., Hammond, D., & Kent, M. P. (2025). Beyond the screen: Exploring the dynamics of social media influencers, digital food marketing, and gendered influences on adolescent diets. PLOS Digital Health, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000729
Anisa, N., Ariana, P. M., & Ramadhani, A. (2024). Digital Marketing Strategy Through Social Media: Analysis of the Effectiveness of Health Seminar Promotion on Instagram Account @Indonesianmedicalcenter. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 40(4), 466–484. https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2024-4004-26
Anisimova, T., Billore, S., & Kitchen, P. (2025). Self-regulation and panic buying: examining the brake mechanism effect on fear of missing out. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 37(2), 294–313. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-12-2023-1254
Bakioğlu, F., Deniz, M., Griffiths, M. D., & Pakpour, A. H. (2022). Adaptation and validation of the Online-Fear of Missing Out Inventory into Turkish and the association with social media addiction, smartphone addiction, and life satisfaction. BMC Psychology, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00856-y
Barari, M. (2023). Unveiling the dark side of influencer marketing: how social media influencers (human vs virtual) diminish followers’ well-being. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 41(8), 1162–1177. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-05-2023-0191
Bonilla-Del-río, M., Figuereo-Benítez, J. C., & García-Prieto, V. (2022). Influencers with physical disabilities on Instagram: Features, visibility and business collaboration. Profesional de La Informacion, 31(6). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2022.nov.12
Chen, S.-C., Chang, Y.-H., Huang, J.-H., Hsu, C.-W., Lin, C.-H., & Kuo, P.-Y. (2022). Exploring the Effect of Emotion Awareness Intervention on Reducing FoMO. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3519839
Deng, X., Li, J., & Huang, Y. (2025). Social media-induced fear of missing out (FoMO) in the workplace: the influence on job burnout and workplace relations. Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-02-2024-0244
Fadli, M. R., Rosyid, A., Hapudin, M. S., Rosidi, M. I., & Afwan, B. (2025). The effect of using social media and fear of missing out on emotional wellbeing in children in the digital age. Journal of Education and Learning, 19(2), 900–908. https://doi.org/10.11591/edulearn.v19i2.21862
Fitriati, R., & Madu Siwi, I. S. (2023). Mega-Influencers as Online Opinion Leaders: Establishing Cosmetic Brand Engagement on Social Media. Journal of Promotion Management, 29(3), 359–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2022.2143992
Gil-Quintana, J., & Vida de León, E. (2021). Educational influencers on instagram: Analysis of educational channels, audiences, and economic performance. Publications, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/publications9040043
Halka, M. A., & Nasereddin, S. (2024). The Role of Social Media in Maternal Health: Balancing Awareness, Misinformation, and Commercial Interests. International Journal of Computational and Experimental Science and Engineering, 11(1), 1600–1605. https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.1365
Hattingh, M., Dhir, A., Ractham, P., Ferraris, A., & Yahiaoui, D. (2022). Factors mediating social media-induced fear of missing out (FoMO) and social media fatigue: A comparative study among Instagram and Snapchat users. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122099
Hsu, K. K. L., & Hung, W.-H. (2024). The Impact of VTuber Endorsements on Consumer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty in Digital Marketing. In E. Y. Li, P. Y. K. Chau, & C. M. K. Cheung (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Electronic Business (ICEB) (Vol. 24, pp. 450–457). International Consortium for Electronic Business. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85213379426&partnerID=40&md5=cc043b3d263360371d3fba151c5fe853
Islami, R. B., Wardhana, A., & Pradana, M. (2021). The Influence of Social Media Influencer and Product Quality on Purchase Decisions (Case Study on Promotion of Hand & Body Lotion Scarlett Whitening in Instagram). In M. Fargnoli, M. Lombardi, M. Tronci, P. Dallasega, M. M. Savino, F. Costantino, D. G. G, & R. Patriarca (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (pp. 560–567). IEOM Society. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85126177203&partnerID=40&md5=63ab293fb02ec04d18f46be0daef2211
Karadag, A. S., Kandi, B., Sanlı, B., Ulusal, H., Basusta, H., Sener, S., & Calıka, S. (2024). Social Media Use in Dermatology in Turkey: Challenges and Tips for Patient Health. JMIR Dermatology, 7. https://doi.org/10.2196/51267
Khoa, B. T., Tuan, N. M., & Duy Phuong, N. (2025). Exploring the Impact of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) on Youth Shopping Intentions in Social Commerce Landscape. Qubahan Academic Journal, 5(1), 598–610. https://doi.org/10.48161/qaj.v5n1a1403
Klütsch, J., Schwab, J., Böffel, C., Zimmermann, V., & Schlittmeier, S. J. (2024). Friend or phisher: how known senders and fear of missing out affect young adults’ phishing susceptibility on social media. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03412-8
Kumar, S., & Kumar, S. (2025). Social media’s sway: how social comparison on social media stimulates impulse travelling; serial mediation study on Indian millennials tourists. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 8(1), 138–160. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-01-2024-0004
Kumaran, P., & Chitrakala, S. (2023). Topic adaptive sentiment classification based community detection for social influential gauging in online social networks. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 82(6), 8943–8982. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-021-11855-3
Lee, J. A., Bright, L. F., & Eastin, M. S. (2021). Fear of Missing out and Consumer Happiness on Instagram: A Serial Mediation of Social Media Influencer-Related Activities. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 24(11), 762–766. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0431
Liao, C.-P., Wu, C.-C., & Chiu, E. C. H. (2025). Digital Vulnerability: Exploring the Mediating Role of FoMO in the Relationship Between Dark Triad Personality and Social Media Addiction. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 59(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.70002
Maciel-Saldierna, M., Méndez-Garavito, I. R., Elizondo-Hernandez, E., Fuentes-Orozco, C., González-Ojeda, A., Ramírez-Ochoa, S., Cervantes-Pérez, E., Vicente-Hernández, B., Vázquez-Sánchez, S. J., Chejfec-Ciociano, J. M., & Cervantes-Guevara, G. (2024). Social Media Use and Fear of Missing out: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study in Junior High Students from Western Mexico. Pediatric Reports, 16(4), 1022–1033. https://doi.org/10.3390/pediatric16040087
Martínez-Cardama, S., & Gómez-López, E. (2023). Impact of Social Media on Self-esteem and Emotions: An Instagram-Based Case Study. In I. Sserwanga, A. Goulding, H. Moulaison-Sandy, J. T. Du, A. L. Soares, V. Hessami, & R. D. Frank (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics): Vol. 13972 LNCS (pp. 109–122). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_9
Matthias Metzler, J., Kalaitzopoulos, D. R., Burla, L., Schaer, G., & Imesch, P. (2022). Examining the Influence on Perceptions of Endometriosis via Analysis of Social Media Posts: Cross-sectional Study. JMIR Formative Research, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.2196/31135
McCulloh, I., & Cohen, B. (2023). Fragile Minds: Exploring the Link Between Social Media and Young Adult Mental Health. In A. P. B, D. Wang, & T. Weninger (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining, ASONAM 2023 (pp. 475–479). Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1145/3625007.3627490
Morelli, M., Rosati, F., Chirumbolo, A., Baiocco, R., Nappa, M. R., & Cattelino, E. (2025). Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and sexting motivations among Italian young adults: Investigating the impact of age, gender, and sexual orientation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 42(2), 633–654. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075241303854
Moreno, D. R., Quintana, J. G., & Riaño, E. R. (2023). Impact and engagement of sport & fitness influencers: A challenge for health education media literacy. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/13309
Muhammad, A. S., Adeshola, I., & Isiaku, L. (2024). A mixed study on the “wow” of impulse purchase on Instagram: insights from Gen-Z in a collectivistic environment. Young Consumers, 25(1), 128–148. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-04-2023-1728
Murari, K., Shukla, S., & Dulal, L. (2024). Social media use and social well-being: a systematic review and future research agenda. Online Information Review, 48(5), 959–982. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-11-2022-0608
Park, I.-Y., & Kim, H.-M. (2025). The impact of FoMO and FoBO on YouTube summary video consumption: A social identity perspective. Telecommunications Policy, 49(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2025.102909
Pratiwi, B. E., Ayuningtyas, R., Fajriawan, Z., & Fahlevi, M. (2023). Dissecting Instagram’s Impact on Brand Image and Customer Behavior for Ramu Nostalgia Indonesia in an Era of Rapid Digital Marketing Evolution. 2023 IEEE 9th International Conference on Computing, Engineering and Design, ICCED 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCED60214.2023.10425761
Putri, U. A. G., Hurriyati, E. A., & Hassanbasry, M. V. (2023). Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) and Instagram Social Media Addiction Among Early Adulthood. In T. N. Mursitama, N. null, D. N. Utama, & S. A. Abrori (Eds.), E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 426). EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202342601032
Rossi, G., Fiorilli, C., Angelini, G., & Capitello, T. G. (2025). Social media in the adult population: Potential outcomes and its relationship with self-esteem and well-being - A systematic literature review. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100555
Rozgonjuk, D., Sindermann, C., Elhai, J. D., & Montag, C. (2020). Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and social media’s impact on daily-life and productivity at work: Do WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat Use Disorders mediate that association? Addictive Behaviors, 110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106487
Şanlı, Y., Aypar Akbag, N. N., & Dinçer, Y. (2025). The impact of social media addiction on pregnancy stress and prenatal attachment. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 29(1), 118–126. https://doi.org/10.29063/ajrh2025/v29i1.12
Shane-Simpson, C., & Bakken, T. (2024). Students’ Fear of Missing Out Predicts In-Class Social Media Use. Teaching of Psychology, 51(2), 141–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283211060752
Sixto-García, J., Rodríguez-Vázquez, A. I., & López-García, X. (2023). News Sharing Using Self-destructive Content in Digital Native Media from an International Perspective. Journalism Practice, 17(7), 1341–1356. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.2000883
Sun, J. (2023). #ProblematicInstaUser: Motivations and the mediating role of fear of missing out among young adults. Current Psychology, 42(17), 14919–14928. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02775-y
van der Schyff, K., & Flowerday, S. (2023). The mediating role of perceived risks and benefits when self-disclosing: A study of social media trust and FoMO. Computers and Security, 126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2022.103071
Veysuei, M., Amini, M., Fattahi, A., & Mojarad, S. M. (2023). Psychometric Properties of the Farsi Version of the Fear of Missing out Scale and the Phubbing Scale. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 17(1). https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85162245573&partnerID=40&md5=f98698179d8b815f162c83d1aa523cf2
Wei, Z., Guo, Y., Tsang, M. H. L., Montag, C., Becker, B., & Kou, J. (2024). Social media distractions alter behavioral and neural patterns to global-local attention: The moderation effect of fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108258
Wu, W., Zhang, J., & Jo, N. (2025). Fear of Missing out and Online Social Anxiety in University Students: Mediation by Irrational Procrastination and Media Multitasking. Behavioral Sciences, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15010084