Big fish: Leveraging the fear of missing out in equity crowdfunding in the post-COVID-19 era

The aim of this study is to inform entrepreneurs about how best to implement the positive face of the fear of missing out (FOMO) to foster brand community building in the context of equity crowdfunding in the post-Covid era. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with crowdinvestors from Europe and North America investing via different equity crowdfunding portals, to obtain primary in-depth qualitative data. Using thematic analysis, the authors investigated how FOMO influences the crowdinvestor’s decision making. Findings suggest that FOMO is a powerful belongingness facilitator to support the crowdinvestor’s self-determination strategies and thus their willingness to be part of a crowdfunding community to share in its values and beliefs. As such it can be used by entrepreneurs to activate identification mechanisms through which they can create a loyal fan base. An entrepreneurial action plan is proposed to guide the entrepreneur in making the most of the equity crowdfunding opportunity through the positive face of FOMO.