Interactivity and Psychological Immersion in Online Impulse Buying: A Systematic-Integrative Review of FoMO and Telepresence

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FORMOSA NEWS - Padang - Live Streaming Commerce and Impulse Buying: How Interactive Features and FoMO Drive Spontaneous Online Purchases. Consumers browsing live shopping channels are increasingly driven to make rapid, unplanned purchases due to real-time interactive features, social presence, and the fear of missing out. A comprehensive study conducted by researchers Renny Angraini and Dr. Vidyarini Dwita from Universitas Negeri Padang synthesized findings from 24 empirical studies to explain how digital retail environments trigger spontaneous purchasing behavior. Published in 2026 in the Journal of Finance and Business Digital, this research provides crucial insights for e-commerce strategists, digital marketers, and consumer protection advocates seeking to understand the psychological mechanisms behind modern live-stream shopping.

The Evolution of Digital Shopping and Consumer Urgency

Digital commerce has undergone a rapid transformation, shifting from independent web-based product searches to highly interactive, real-time social events. Platforms such as TikTok Live, Taobao, and various social commerce channels integrate live product demonstrations, dynamic streamer interactions, and viewer comments into a single screen. This environment encourages immediate buying decisions while minimizing the time consumers spend evaluating products. Despite the growing popularity of live commerce, businesses and researchers have struggled to isolate the specific triggers of unplanned buying. Previous literature often conflated technological interface design with internal psychological states, making it difficult to determine whether interactive tools or consumer anxieties drive sales. Understanding these distinctions is critical for businesses designing online stores and for policymakers establishing ethical guidelines for digital marketing.

Mapping Psychological Triggers via the S-O-R Framework
To clarify how live-stream selling influences consumer decisions, Renny Angraini and Dr. Vidyarini Dwita applied the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework through a systematic-integrative literature review. The researchers retrieved and analyzed 24 peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2018 and 2026. Using a concept-centric matrix, the team evaluated how external platform features act as environmental stimuli, how internal mental processes act as organismic states, and how buying urges form the behavioral response. This structured approach allowed the authors to categorize findings across diverse media contexts, ranging from mobile live streaming to virtual reality e-commerce.

Key Findings: The Architecture of Spontaneous Purchases
The analysis by the Universitas Negeri Padang researchers identified clear pathways through which digital environment features lead to impulse purchases:

• Three Pillars of Digital Stimuli: Online sales environments rely on technological cues (real-time responsiveness and platform control), social cues (streamer charisma, viewer comments, and social proof), and marketing cues (limited-time discounts and countdown timers).
  
• Interactivity Drives Psychological Immersion: Interactive tools enhance telepresence—the psychological perception of being physically present inside the virtual shopping environment—as well as consumer trust, inspiration, and state of flow.
  
• FoMO Acts as an Internal Psychological State: Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) functions not as a direct platform feature, but as an internal emotional appraisal triggered by scarcity appeals, countdown timers, and exclusive live-only vouchers.
  
• Parallel Psychological Pathways: Interactivity operates primarily through spatial immersion and relationship-building, whereas FoMO operates through psychological urgency and anticipated regret. Both pathways independently accelerate decision-making and reduce deliberation time.
  

Industry Implications and Ethical E-Commerce Practice
The findings offer actionable strategies for digital retailers, e-commerce managers, and consumer policy creators. E-commerce platforms can optimize live streaming by focusing on high-quality, real-time interactivity that builds consumer trust and product diagnosticity. Providing accurate size guides, material details, and prompt answers during live broadcasts enhances perceived usefulness without relying on deceptive pressure tactics. However, the research also highlights potential ethical concerns regarding urgency-based marketing. While countdown timers and artificial scarcity can induce FoMO and drive short-term conversion spikes, overusing these triggers can lead to post-purchase regret, higher return rates, and diminished brand loyalty. Policymakers and consumer protection agencies can use these findings to evaluate transparency standards for live-stream sales promotions and protect vulnerable demographics, such as Generation Z, from predatory digital design. As summarized by the researchers from Universitas Negeri Padang, live-stream strategies must balance immediate conversion goals with consumer well-being. Renny Angraini and Dr. Vidyarini Dwita emphasize that sustainable digital commerce relies on maintaining promotional transparency and building genuine customer relationships rather than exploiting psychological vulnerabilities.

Author Profiles
Renny Angraini, S.E., M.M. is a digital commerce researcher and academic at Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia. Her research expertise includes digital marketing, consumer behavior, and interactive affordances in social commerce platforms.
Dr. Vidyarini Dwita, S.E., M.M. is a senior lecturer and researcher in the Department of Management at Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia. She specializes in marketing management, consumer psychology, and digital consumer behavior.

Source
Renny Angraini, Vidyarini Dwita. Interactivity and Psychological Immersion in Online Impulse Buying: A Systematic-Integrative Review of FoMO and Telepresence. Journal of Finance and Business Digital (JFBD), Vol. 5, No. 2, 2026, Halaman 269-288
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/jfbd.v5i2.30
URL: https://journaljfbd.my.id/index.php/jfbd