Fear of Missing Out in the Experience Economy: A Conceptual Framework for Event Attendance

The experience economy revolution has transformed events into carefully designed emotional encounters that deliver more than entertainment through the promise of identity and social capital and exclusive experiences. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) functions as a fundamental psychological force that directs consumer engagement, specifically among digitally connected audiences in the present context. Research has studied FOMO in relation to social media and impulsive behavior, yet the conceptual application of FOMO in event design and marketing requires further development. The research fills this knowledge gap through its proposed conceptual framework, which demonstrates how FOMO functions as an intentionally designed element in event marketing strategies. The paper examines how event marketing uses psychological mechanisms from Self-Determination Theory and Social Identity Theory to enhance emotional engagement through social proof and scarcity, exclusivity, and post-event content. The mechanisms operate within the event experience timeline to influence how people feel before events and during them, and after they finish. The marketing and design practices incorporate these triggers to create emotional urgency and influence identity signaling while driving attendance intentions. The framework shows that FOMO functions as a purposefully developed mechanism that connects with fundamental human requirements for relatedness and belonging, and status. The paper develops FOMO as an event experience framework that expands emotional behavior knowledge while creating ethical marketing methods for audience participation. The model serves as a foundation for future research to study FOMO's impact on decision-making processes while reinforcing involvement across physical and digital spaces.