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Few people turn away recommendations, and in 2021, the digital era of oversharing, FOMO unpacks why we are drawn to buy from social media.
FOMO or fear of missing out, in light terms means a concern we feel about missing an opportunity that others are currently experiencing. The fear of missing out can occur as easily as when you click a link to an ad. Seeing “the amount of people viewing the same product” in real-time creates an all-consuming urgency to buy. If a viewer doesn’t purchase the item right away, the 1000 other customers viewing the same item may beat the customer to it.
The FOMO people experience is usually from short-term unsettlement, and for this, certain companies struggle to turn a FOMO purchase into a long-term customer conversion.
A popular video swirling TikTok rates the new weekly flavors of iced cookies from Crumbl and I had to see what the craze was all about. Paying $17.48 for six cookies (when I only wanted one), and driving an extra twenty minutes to a mall, I secured the famous cookies. As many other Gen Z people do, I tried them on camera to mimic the TikTok’s flavor reviews like on @thehungryfoodie and @crazycrumblcousins. The over iced cookies gave me nostalgia for cupcakes. As Gigi Cupcakes peaked in 2014, with over 50 locations, to its demise with only one location open today, Crumbl Cookie ran into a similar business problem. Cupcakes were a commodity until frozen yogurt. Crumbl will need to maintain relevance after losing the consumer urgency from its trend status. Crumbl Cookies state they have not yet implemented paid influencers. As there is a cult following for the brand, they must maintain a strong marketing strategy when the TikTok stardom cracks.
When a trend hits consumers, the average joe has already been primed through fashion bloggers or our beloved influencer. Influencers are the modern-day catalog and as a consumer continues to see a product, they continue to think about and want it.
Crumbl can keep the momentum by implementing people that target their brand flawlessly. It’s not that their target hasn’t heard of their brand, it’s about reminding their customers to purchase the item again to feel at par with their icons.
Influencers give the unique experience of drawing clothes off a hanger and an object off the bottom shelf to an experiential purchase. Influencers spark FOMO, not always in an envious manner, but in a spirit of being a confidante to good style, taste, and advice.
