Michael R. Hyman

Who they are

Hyman works in marketing. This site draws on his two papers with Good.

This page records only what the papers and their published records state. Biography beyond the cited work is not given here.

Key papers

'Fear of missing out': antecedents and influence on purchase likelihood (2020), with Good. The paper treats fear of missing out as something that can rise and fall in a particular situation, not only as a fixed trait. It reports that anticipated elation and anticipated envy from other people can boost the feeling, that comforting rationalisations can reduce it, and that appeals extolling the future experiences of close friends or family members can induce a spike. It argues that marketers and researchers should understand the potential of such appeals to increase sales.

Direct and indirect effects of fear-of-missing-out appeals on purchase likelihood (2021), with Good. In a vignette-based experiment, appeals built on missing out influenced intentions to buy a hedonic service or experience. They could strengthen purchase intentions by boosting anticipated elation and self-enhancement, or weaken them by boosting anticipated regret about the expense.

Key ideas

The papers frame fear of missing out as a lever in advertising, and the experiment shows that the lever has two ends. A message promising an experience that friends will have can raise the desire to join them and, at the same time, raise the thought of what joining will cost. Which effect wins depends on the emotions the appeal stirs in a given person. Because the outcome was stated intention in a scenario, the work speaks to what people say they will buy rather than to receipts.

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