The impact of FoMO and FoBO on YouTube summary video consumption: A social identity perspective

Abstract

The rise of over-the-top (OTT) services provides users with an enormous amount of contents, but the increased choice can lead to user fatigues. Faced with time constraints and difficulties in content selection, individuals increasingly turn to summarized content to quickly obtain the information they seek, potentially leading to heightened media dependence. Additionally, social anxiety—specifically the fear of missing out (FoMO) and fear of better options (FoBO) — arising from social comparison is a critical factor that motivate people to actively engage with digital media to avoid exclusion. This study aimed to examine how individuals use and depend on media to construct social identity within their social groups in the digital era. A survey was conducted among those who watched YouTube summary video (n = 483). The result revealed that individuals with a strong social identity experience higher levels of both FoMO and FoBO. Notably, FoMO significantly influenced dependence on summary videos, as anxiety about missing out on information related to popular content led viewers to rely on these videos for quick updates. This study elucidates the role of social anxiety in shaping media consumption behavior in the digital age and provides insight into the psychological mechanisms underlying a new form of content consumption— summary videos. These findings have significant implications for content creators and platforms in designing effective marketing strategies that account for the psychological drivers of consumer behavior. Furthermore, this study suggests the need for a more flexible copyright policy regarding summary videos to facilitate content expansion.