The Impact of Fomo (Fear of Missing Out) and Culinary Viral Marketing on Street Food Consumers' Buying Interest in Tembilahan

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FORMOSA NEWS - Riau - Viral Marketing and FOMO Drive Buying Interest in Street Food Consumers in Tembilahan. Viral marketing strategies and the psychological drive known as Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) significantly increase consumer buying interest in street food products in Tembilahan City, Indonesia. This insight comes from a peer-reviewed research study conducted by Zulkifli, Widyawati, and SM Guntur from Indragiri Islamic University, published in August 2026 in the Formosa Journal of Sustainable Research. The findings highlight how social media engagement, creative digital content, and trend-driven consumer behavior shape modern purchasing decisions in local culinary markets.

The street food sector plays a vital role in local economic growth, micro-business survival, and urban food consumption. In Tembilahan City, street food vendors face intense market competition, particularly in high-density commercial hubs like the Hangtuah Street night culinary area. Local business data indicates that Hangtuah Street hosts 71 night culinary enterprises offering diverse products such as Padang satay, frozen food, pempek, seblak, dimsum, soto, noodles, and contemporary snacks. Notably, 51 of these businesses sell coffee-based beverages as their primary offering. With identical or similar menu items competing for the same customer base, street food vendors must rely on digital promotion, visual presentation, and trend creation to distinguish their offerings.

To examine how digital communication influences consumer decisions, the researchers at Indragiri Islamic University designed a quantitative study using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) executed via SmartPLS software. The study surveyed 60 active street food consumers in Tembilahan selected through purposive sampling. Eligible participants were at least 17 years old, resided in or visited Tembilahan City, possessed buying interest in local street food, and had encountered digital street food promotions or reviews on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The structural model was evaluated through outer model validity and reliability tests, inner model collinearity assessments, and bootstrapping with 5,000 subsamples at a 5 percent significance level.

The empirical results show that viral marketing and FOMO jointly account for 47.4 percent of the variance in consumer buying interest ($R^2 = 0.474$). The remaining 52.6 percent of purchasing interest is determined by external factors such as taste quality, price, physical location, hygiene, food safety, and direct customer service.

The primary findings of the research include:

• Dominance of Viral Marketing: Viral marketing exerts a direct, positive, and powerful effect on consumer buying interest, generating a path coefficient of 0.521, a $t$-statistic of 5.406, and a $p$-value of less than 0.001. With an $f^2$ effect size of 0.473, viral marketing stands out as the primary driver of consumer interest in Tembilahan.
  
• Impact of FOMO: Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) positively and significantly influences consumer buying interest, yielding a path coefficient of 0.324, a $t$-statistic of 3.163, and a $p$-value of 0.002. Its effect size ($f^2 = 0.183$) reflects a moderate but meaningful impact on consumer behavior.
  
• Effectiveness of Digital Channels: High-performing indicators for viral marketing include creative visual media, compelling promotional messages, short-form video engagement, and the ease of sharing content across social networks.
  
• Social Proof and Trend Awareness: Consumer purchasing interest increases when individuals observe long customer lines, viral recommendations, positive customer reviews, and trending social media posts regarding specific street food menu items.
  

These findings offer clear practical benefits for micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) owners, digital marketers, and local economic planners. Street food vendors can expand their market reach by producing concise, visually appealing digital content and encouraging authentic customer reviews. However, the researchers emphasize that digital marketing must align with real-world product quality. Generating artificial hype without delivering consistent taste, reasonable pricing, clean dining conditions, and prompt service can erode long-term customer trust and prevent repeat sales.

Author Profiles
Zulkifli, S.E., M.M. Lecturer and researcher at Indragiri Islamic University. His academic research focuses on marketing management, consumer behavior, and digital marketing strategies for small enterprises.
Widyawati, S.E., M.M. Faculty member at Indragiri Islamic University specializing in business administration, strategic marketing, and micro-enterprise development.
SM Guntur, S.E., M.M. Academician at Indragiri Islamic University with expertise in operations management, entrepreneurship, and quantitative marketing research.

Source
Zulkifli, Widyawati, SM Guntur. The Impact of Fomo (Fear of Missing Out) and Culinary Viral Marketing on Street Food Consumers' Buying Interest in Tembilahan. Formosa Journal of Sustainable Research (FJSR). Vol. 5, No. 8, hlm. 633–648
DOI : https://doi.org/10.55927/fjsr.v5i8.57
URL: https://journalfjsr.my.id/index.php/fjsr