A Systematic Literature Review on How Ephemeral Content Creates FOMO and Leads to Impulse Buying Behavior in Consumers

Ephemeral content like Instagram stories, Snapchat snap, YouTube shorts and Facebook stories disappear quickly which makes people feel that they should watch or take action quickly.This type of short-lived content is changing how consumers behave online by creating urgency and exclusivity.This Systematic Literature Review (SLR) explores how content creates fear of missing out (FOMO) and how FOMO leads people to impulse purchase.This review covers studies published from 2013 to 2025 in the field of digital marketing, psychology and consumer behavior.Using the PRISMA method, research papers were selected and analyzed from sources like Scopus, Google Scholar.The review highlights four key ideas are • How ephemeral content creates FOMO?• How features like scarcity, instant and exclusivity make it more effective?• How FOMO pushes people toward impulse buying?• What factors influence this relationship such as social comparison, personality, influencers and the design of the platform?These findings show that ephemeral content increases urgency, raises emotional excitement, reduces the time consumers and without thinking before buying which leads to quick and unplanned purchases.However, several research gaps still exist such as a lack of long-term studies, limited cross-cultural comparisons and almost no research on how AI-generated ephemeral content affects consumers.This systematic literature review provides a clear understanding of how ephemeral content leads to FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and how it translates into impulse buying and suggests important directions for future research and marketing practices