The Role of Fear of Missing Out and Experience in the Formation of SME Decision Makers' Intentions to Adopt New Manufacturing Technologies

Corporate decision-makers form their intention to adopt new technology for their venture based on their perception of its usefulness and ease of use. However, the formation of this intention might be influenced by the fear of missing out (FOMO), making decision-makers fear losing their relatedness with fellow managers and leading to decisions based on irrational considerations. We draw on and extend the technology acceptance model to explain the potential bias caused by FOMO and expect that this bias is contingent on the level of decision makers' prior experience with the new technology in other contexts. Moderated OLS regressions on 514 observations collected from a representative sample of decision-makers of Austrian SMEs show that FOMO is positively related to the intention to adopt new technology. Moreover, we find that the relationship is mitigated by the decision maker's prior experience with that new technology. We highlight the relevance of the FOMO bias in technology acceptance, adding to the growing research stream on the role of emotions in adopting novel technologies. We further show how experience can effectively counter the FOMO bias for many decision-makers and extend the scope of technology acceptance models by illustrating their applicability to novel manufacturing technologies.

Automated summary

Corporate decision-makers' intention to adopt new technology is influenced by FOMO, which is contingent on their prior experience with the technology. Our study of a representative sample shows that FOMO is positively related to the intention to adopt new technology, but this relationship is mitigated by decision makers' prior experience. We highlight the importance of FOMO bias in technology acceptance and demonstrate how experience can counter this bias.