Scarcity, FoMO, and Impulsive Buying: The Mediating Role of Fear of Missing Out in the Context of TikTok Shop Live Selling

Desy Putri Anugrah (Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sains Al-Qur'an, Wonosobo)
M. Trihudiyatmanto (Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sains Al-Qur'an, Wonosobo)
Muhammad Gilang Maulana Azka (Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sains Al-Qur'an, Wonosobo)

Jurnal Riset Bisnis dan Manajemen Tirtayasa
Vol 10, No 1 (2026)

Digital consumer behavior has undergone a profound shift alongside the rapid expansion of live selling on TikTok Shop, particularly in fostering unplanned purchasing tendencies. This study aims to examine how limited quantity scarcity (LQS) and limited time scarcity (LTS) drive impulsive buying, positioning Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) as a mediating variable among Generation Z consumers in Wonosobo Regency who actively engage with TikTok Shop live selling. Employing a quantitative explanatory research design, data were gathered from 210 respondents via purposive sampling and processed through SEM-PLS using SmartPLS 4.0. Results indicate that LQS and LTS each exert a significant effect on both FoMO and impulsive buying. Among all predictors, FoMO demonstrated the strongest influence on impulsive buying (β = 0.364) and served as a partial mediator linking LQS and LTS to impulsive buying. These findings substantiate the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework as a robust theoretical lens for understanding psychological mechanisms in digital consumer contexts, and offer actionable guidance for digital marketers in crafting ethical scarcity based promotional strategies within live selling environments.