Escaping to shop: How escapism and fear of missing out drive TikTok induced impulsive buying behaviour among Generation Z consumers

Abstract

TikTok has grown from an entertainment application into a shopping destination in its own right, and its short-form, algorithm-driven content is widely believed to push young users toward unplanned purchases. This study examines whether two psychological drivers commonly associated with social media use, escapism (using TikTok to withdraw from everyday pressures) and fear of missing out (FOMO), predict impulsive buying behaviour among Generation Z consumers. Survey data were collected from 200 Malaysian TikTok users using a structured questionnaire adapted from established scales and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). All three constructs showed satisfactory reliability and convergent validity (Cronbach's alpha .822-.892, composite reliability .883-.927, average variance extracted .638-.808), and discriminant validity was confirmed via the heterotrait-monotrait ratio (HTMT, all values below .80). The structural model explained a moderate share of the variance in impulsive buying behaviour (R2 = .502) with confirmed out-of-sample predictive relevance (Q2 = .389). FOMO emerged as a strong, significant predictor t = 14.73, p < .001, f2 = .922 ,(a large effect), while escapism did not significantly predict impulsive buying once FOMO was accounted for t = -0.42, p = .674, f2 = .001 (negligible). These findings suggest that on TikTok, the anxious urgency associated with FOMO, rather than the pleasurable withdrawal associated with escapism, is what tips browsing into buying. The study extends the uses and gratifications and stimulus-organism-response literature to the TikTok shopping context and offers marketers, platform designers, and consumer-protection stakeholders practical guidance on the psychological levers most likely to turn youth engagement into unplanned spending.