Brands' use of FoMO in social media: A research on brand strategies

Today, digital media alternatives that can be updated at any time and the emergence of different channels offer new opportunities to both individuals and institutions. Social media platforms, which are used as communication channels, have also been rapidly adopted by institutions, aiming to surround the target audience from all sides and to convince them of the reality and necessity they have constructed. The concepts of marketing and purchasing have also been included in new definitions with technology, and the target audience has also taken its share from this. While the consumer uses digital platforms for purposes such as entertainment, obtaining information, or socializing, they are also faced with discount opportunities provided by brands. With the discount campaigns and messages, they publish at certain times of the year, commercial enterprises remind the consumers that they should not miss the opportunity. It is to direct the consumer to the purchase action with a limited time frame and limited stocks. The researched subject was determined as FoMO (Fear of Missing Out) marketing and the effect of brands on digital marketing strategies. Although FoMO is a new concept in the literature, it is related to the need for socialization and inclusion in a social group of individuals whose origins are as old as society. The starting point of the study is to increase their sales and target audience by creating a FoMO perception through the campaign messages they create at certain times of the year. It is often repeated in campaigns that the "opportunity" should not be missed through some word patterns presented to the masses, and the time and stocks are limited. To contribute to the conceptualization and use of FoMO, which is called the fear of missing opportunities/developments in the literature, and to analyze the messages of the November campaigns of e-commerce brands such as "Black Friday" and "Single Day", which is the most selling period of the year, and the purchasing behavior of the consumer. It is the motivation of the study to investigate the effects on In this context, the posts regularly shared by Trendyol and Hepsiburada brands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for the campaigns they carried out in November 2020 were analyzed and analyzed in terms of content and discourse analysis by dividing them into certain categories. In the light of the findings, it has been observed that there is a regular relationship between the frequency of use of FoMO messages by brands and the increase in sales figures. Social Media, FoMO, Fear of Missing Out, Black Friday, Online Marketing, Trendyol, Hepsiburada