The Influence of Exposure to Influencers and Materialism on Purchase Intention through Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) on Pop Mart Labubu Products

Abstract

The increasing integration of social media into everyday life has amplified the influence of digital content creators, particularly among younger consumers. This study examines how exposure to influencers and materialistic values affect purchase intention toward Pop Mart Labubu products, with Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) serving as a mediating variable. Employing a quantitative approach, data were collected via online questionnaires from 208 respondents familiar with Labubu and regularly exposed to influencer content. SEM PLS was applied using SmartPLS 4.0 to analyze the relationships among variables. The results reveal that both influencer exposure and materialism significantly increase FoMO, which in turn positively influences purchase intention. Notably, FoMO fully mediates the effect of influencer exposure on purchase intention and partially mediates the effect of materialism. The model explains 80.2% of the variance in purchase intention (R² = 0.802), indicating strong predictive power. These findings underscore the psychological mechanisms behind consumer behavior in digital environments and provide valuable insights to maximize influencer-based strategies, particularly in promoting exclusive or trend-driven products.