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ARE YOU ALL FOMO’D? June 29, 2011 (0 comments)
New York, NY—Are you afraid to put down your Blackberry or turn off your computer, lest you miss some critical word, tweet, offer, or message? Do you worry that you’ll be conspicuous by absence if you beg out of a big event? Or do you simply find yourself giving up hours that once were spent relaxing in order to keep up with the constant influx of information?
If so, you’re not alone. A new study by J. Walter Thompson says a fear of missing out (FOMO) is a widespread phenomenon. In a study conducted among more than 1,000 Americans, Britons, and teens, the agency found a pervasive and growing sense of uncertainty over making the right choice of where to go and what to do. People always have had a fear of missing out, says the report, but with the onset of social media and real-time or location-based tools, worry that your friends or peers know something or have access to something you don’t is magnified—whether as simple as a new TV show or essential as key business intelligence.
Marketers, however, can use the FOMO syndrome to their advantage. While FOMO may be most relevant to social-media hooked generations (aka those bridal-age Millennials), it is trickling up to older cohorts as they continue to adopt social tools, says the report. With smartphones, it’s predicted that almost everyone will be on social media in the near future. But broadcasting one’s life online is a constant game of one-upmanship, whether conscious or not. This in turn feeds into a feeling of relative deprivation when people compare their own possessions or experiences to others’.
Brands and marketers have many opportunities to fine-tune their messaging to tap into consumers’ fears of missing out. Tactics include reassuring people they’re not missing out on much after all—or suggesting ways to avoid feeling like one is missing out in the first place. And, there’s always the time-tested concept of explaining why your brand is better than the one they think they might be missing.
Click here to access more information or download the full report.