FOMO-DRIVEN PURCHASING IN E-COMMERCE FLASH SALES: AN INTEGRATIVE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19674728Abstract
Flash sales on e-commerce platforms have become one of the most widely used promotional formats in digital
retail, generating billions of dollars in transactions during single-day events worldwide. Yet the psychological mechanisms
that make these events effective — and potentially harmful to consumers — remain undertheoretically integrated. This
article examines how the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) operates as a central mediating force between platform-level
design stimuli and consumer purchase behavior during flash sale events.
This study adopts an integrative review approach, synthesizing peer-reviewed literature published between 2019 and
2025. Sources were retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using keyword combinations covering
FOMO, scarcity marketing, social proof, impulse buying, and e-commerce interface design. The conceptual framework
was constructed by mapping findings onto the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theoretical model.
The review demonstrates that FOMO is not simply a personality trait but a context-activatable psychological state that
platform designers can deliberately trigger. Countdown timers, low-stock alerts, and real-time social proof indicators
function as environmental stimuli that elevate FOMO, which in turn amplifies both impulsive and compulsive purchasing.
However, the same tactics that boost short-term conversions risk eroding consumer trust and generating post-purchase
regret when overused or deceptively applied.
The article makes three contributions: first, it reframes FOMO as a strategically activatable state rather than a stable trait;
second, it integrates scarcity theory, social proof theory, and behavioral economics within a single SOR-anchored model;
and third, it introduces ethical boundaries as a structural dimension of the framework, connecting platform design choices
to long-term brand outcomes.
Keywords
FOMO; flash sales; e-commerce; impulse buying; scarcity marketing; social proof; urgency cues; SOR framework; dark patterns; consumer psychologyReferences
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