Scarcity Effect, FOMO, WOM, and Influencers in Iftar Snacks: A Study of Marketing Strategies During Ramadan in Indonesia

Authors

  • Sora Baltasar Universitas Pamulang
  • Dani W Wibowo Pamulang University
  • Phintoko Akhbar Akriyono Pamulang University
  • Ana Rohana Pamulang University
  • Sandi Yuda Wardani Pamulang University
  • Dini Puspitasari Pamulang University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54099/ijibmr.v5i2.1388

Keywords:

Ramadan, s, , consumption behavior,, Scarcity, FOMO, , Social media influencer

Abstract

This study examines the sale of takjil (iftar snacks) by Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during Ramadan in Indonesia, emphasizing the integration of social, cultural, and religious values in business practices. Using a narrative review method, this research analyzes relevant literature to explore iftar snacks consumption patterns and marketing strategies adopted by MSMEs. Findings indicate that Ramadan is not only a spiritual occasion but also a time of increased social cohesion and economic opportunity. The tradition of iftar snacks stalls, embraced by both Muslims and non-Muslims, reflects local wisdom and a spirit of togetherness. Marketing strategies based on Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), scarcity, and word of mouth have proven effective, particularly through digital platforms. However, many MSMEs still struggle to understand consumer behavior and manage excess inventory. The study concludes that MSME success during Ramadan depends on their ability to present products attractively, build emotional connections with consumers, and implement marketing strategies that are responsive to cultural and social values.

References

Alfina, Hartini, S., & Mardhiyah, D. (2023). FOMO related consumer behaviour in marketing context: A systematic literature review. Cogent Business & Management, 10(3), 2250033 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2023.2250033

Al-Najjar, D., Assous, H. F., Al-Najjar, H., & Al-Rousan, N. (2023). Ramadan effect and indices movement estimation: a case study from eight Arab countries. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 14(8), 1989-2008. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-01-2022-0008

Alvionita, G., & Auliahadi, A. (2020). Dinamika Islam di Indonesia Awal Abad-21. Khazanah: Jurnal Sejarah dan Kebudayaan Islam, 10(1), 13-24. https://doi.org/10.15548/khazanah.v10i1.259

Aminah, S., & Muyassaroh, S. (2024). Analisis Konten Tiktok War Takjil Ramadhan dalam menumbuhkan Sikap Toleransi antar Umat Beragama. Jurnal Bisnis dan Komunikasi Digital, 2(1), 11-11. https://doi.org/10.47134/jbkd.v2i1.3186

Bacay, E. F., Angangan, J. S., Fernes, M. L. T., Francisco, J. J. A., & Ricohermoso, F. M. D. (2025). Scarcity Marketing: The Role of Consumer Behavior in the Rise of the “Anik-Anik” Trend of Pop Mart’s Collectible Blind Box Figurines. American Journal of Economics and Business Innovation, 4(2), 157-167. https://doi.org/10.54536/ajebi.v4i2.4949

Balqissyah, D. N., Siregar, D. E. C., Khairani, A., Erizal, A. H., Sipangkar, C. P., Sembiring, S. B., & Adhitya, W. R. (2024). Eksplorasi Makna Dan Nilai Sosial Pada Perilaku Konsumen Non Muslim Dalam Berburu Takjil Di Bulan Ramadhan: Studi Kasus Di Kota Medan. Intellektika: Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa, 2(4), 119-131. https://doi.org/10.59841/intellektika.v2i4.1308

Barton, B., Zlatevska, N., & Oppewal, H. (2022). Scarcity tactics in marketing: A meta-analysis of product scarcity effects on consumer purchase intentions. Journal of Retailing, 98(4), 741-758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2022.06.003

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1997). Writing narrative literature reviews. Review of general psychology, 1(3), 311-320. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.1.3.311

Berger, J. (2025). What gets shared, and why? Interpersonal communication and word of mouth. Annual Review of Psychology, 76. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-013024-031524

Brown, D., & Hayes, N. (2008). Influencer marketing. Routledge.

CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme). (2018). CASP Checklists. Retrieved from https://casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists/

Chen, T. Y., Yeh, T. L., & Wang, Y. J. (2021). The drivers of desirability in scarcity marketing. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 33(4), 924-944. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-03-2020-0187

Chen, Z., & Yuan, M. (2020). Psychology of word of mouth marketing. Current opinion in psychology, 31, 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.06.026

Civelek, A. B., & Tığlı, M. (2023). The use of FOMO theory in marketing. Turkish Journal of Marketing Research, 2(1), 50-63. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/4264548

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications

Dimofte, C. V., Haugtvedt, C. P., & Yalch, R. F. (Eds.). (2016). Consumer psychology in a social media world. Routledge

Febriyanti, O. D., Hasasah, N., Rahmadhanti, K. O., & Puspita, A. M. I. (2024). Fenomena Berburu Takjil dalam Meningkatkan Toleransi di Indonesia sebagai Implementasi Nilai Pancasila. Civic Society Research and Education: Jurnal Pendidikan Pancasila dan Kewarganegaraan, 5(2), 52-69. https://doi.org/10.57094/jpkn.v5i2.1864

Gass, R. H., & Seiter, J. S. (2022). Persuasion: Social influence and compliance gaining. Routledge.

Good, M. C., & Hyman, M. R. (2021). Direct and indirect effects of fear‐of‐missing‐out appeals on purchase likelihood. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 20(3), 564-576. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1885

Hadi, M. W. H. L., Kurniaji, J. R., & Hidayat, S. (2024). ANALISIS NILAI MANFAAT DALAM FENOMENA PEMBAGIAN TAKJIL GRATIS DI BULAN RAMADAN. Jurnal Bilqolam Pendidikan Islam, 5(2), 90-100. https://doi.org/10.51672/jbpi.v5i2.447

Hamilton, R., Thompson, D., Bone, S. et al. The effects of scarcity on consumer decision journeys. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 47, 532–550 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-018-0604-7

Hartati, C. D., Wirawati, S. M., Fahmi, A. R., Gymnastiar, I. A., & Manggala, K. (2025). RAMADAN AND THE STRENGTHENING OF SOCIAL COHESION: A STUDY OF LOCAL WISDOM IN MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. Indonesian Journal of Studies on Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, 2(1), 53-71. https://doi.org/10.54783/0b8b7f64

Hassan, S. H., & Low, E. C. (2024). Spur of the moment: the unintended consequences of excessive food purchases and food waste during Ramadan. British Food Journal, 126(7), 2732-2745. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2023-0917

Hellman, J. (2008). The significance of eating during Ramadan: Consumption and exchange of food in a village in West Java. Food and Foodways, 16(3), 201-226. https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710802304176

Hodkinson, C. (2019). ‘Fear of Missing Out’(FOMO) marketing appeals: A conceptual model. Journal of Marketing Communications, 25(1), 65-88. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2016.1234504

Hosen, M. Z. (2024). Effect of Ramadan on purchasing behavior: a panel data analysis. International Review of Economics, 71(2), 325-341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12232-024-00445-y

Hudson, S., Roth, M. S., Madden, T. J., & Hudson, R. (2015). The effects of social media on emotions, brand relationship quality, and word of mouth: An empirical study of music festival attendees. Tourism management, 47, 68-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.09.001

Jin, S. V., Muqaddam, A., & Ryu, E. (2019). Instafamous and social media influencer marketing. Marketing intelligence & planning, 37(5), 567-579. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-09-2018-0375

Joshi, Y., Lim, W. M., Jagani, K., & Kumar, S. (2025). Social media influencer marketing: foundations, trends, and ways forward: Social media influencer marketing: foundations, trends...: Y. Joshi et al. Electronic commerce research, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-023-09719-z

Juliyani, E. (2024). Strategi Sukses Wirausaha Perempuan Menghadapi Tantangan dan Peluang di Bulan Ramadhan. Al-Maqashid: Journal of Economics and Islamic Business, 4(2), 67-77. https://doi.org/10.55352/maqashid.v4i2.1173

Juntunen, M., & Lehenkari, M. (2021). A narrative literature review process for an academic business research thesis. Studies in higher education, 46(2), 330-342. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1630813

Kantari, S., Ashari, F., & Purnawan, E. (2023). The blessing of umkm will be “war takjil” and become a symbol of tolerance in ramadan culture. Southeast Asia Journal Of Graduate Of Islamic Business And Economics, 2(2), 97-100. https://doi.org/10.37567/sajgibe.v2i2.3087

Karimkhan, F., & Chapa, S. (2021). Is fear of missing out (FOMO) a cultural construct? Investigating FOMO from a marketing perspective. Journal of Cultural Marketing Strategy, 5(2), 169-183. https://doi.org/10.69554/GZXP2281

Keller, E. (2007). Unleashing the power of word of mouth: Creating brand advocacy to drive growth. Journal of advertising research, 47(4), 448-452. https://doi.org/10.2501/S0021849907070468

Kozinets, R. V., De Valck, K., Wojnicki, A. C., & Wilner, S. J. (2010). Networked narratives: Understanding word-of-mouth marketing in online communities. Journal of marketing, 74(2), 71-89. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.74.2.71

Kumar, A., Shankar, A., Behl, A., Arya, V., & Gupta, N. (2023). Should I share it? Factors influencing fake news-sharing behaviour: A behavioural reasoning theory perspective. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 193, 122647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122647

Lamba, S. S. (2021). Fomo: marketing to millennials. Notion Press.

Lambert, V. A., & Lambert, C. E. (2012). Qualitative descriptive research: An acceptable design. Pacific Rim international journal of nursing research, 16(4), 255-256. https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/PRIJNR/article/download/5805/5064

Leung, F. F., Gu, F. F., & Palmatier, R. W. (2022). Online influencer marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-021-00829-4

Leung, F. F., Gu, F. F., Li, Y., Zhang, J. Z., & Palmatier, R. W. (2022). Influencer marketing effectiveness. Journal of marketing, 86(6), 93-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429221102889

Maarif, A. S. (2019). Membumikan Islam. IRCiSoD.

Maysitoh, M., Ifdil, I., & Ardi, Z. (2020). Fomo (fear of missing out) tendency in millennials. Journal of counseling, Education and Society, 1(1), 1-4. http://dx.doi.org/10.29210/08jces44700

Morsi, N., Sá, E., & Silva, J. (2025). Walking away: Investigating the adverse impact of FOMO appeals on FOMO-prone consumers. Business Horizons, 68(2), 197-212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2024.11.001

Oba, D., & Berger, J. (2024). How communication mediums shape the message. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 34(3), 406-424. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1372

Odabas, Z. Y., & Attar, G. E. (2018). Celebratıon of Ramadan: The Case of Turkey. Global leisure and the struggle for a better world, 75-94. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70975-8_4

Odabasi, Y., & Argan, M. (2009). Aspects of underlying Ramadan consumption patterns in Turkey. Journal of international consumer marketing, 21(3), 203-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530802202891

Park, S., & McCallister, J. (2023). The Effects of Social Proof Marketing Tactics on Nudging Consumer Purchase. Journal of Student Research, 12(3). https://www.seanswpark.com/s/0-Sean-Park-The-Effects-of-Social-Proof-Marketing-Tactics-Submit.pdf

Pick, M., & Sarstedt, M. (2022). Communications: A Bibliometric Analysis. Commodity Marketing: Strategies, Concepts, and Cases, 293.

Purbohastuti, A. W., Hurriyati, R., Widjajanta, B., & Gaffar, V. (2023, September). Exploring the Definition of WOM, Word of Mouth Communication Media, and Influencer Marketing. In 7th Global Conference on Business, Management, and Entrepreneurship (GCBME 2022) (pp. 781-787). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-234-7_82

Rachmania, V., Ramadhan, M. I., & Fatimah, S. E. (2025). The Impact of Scarcity and Flash Sale Techniques on Impulse Buying of Cosmetics. Journal of Management and Entrepreneurship Research, 6(2), 113-123. https://doi.org/10.34001/jmer.2025.6.06.2-64

Rachmawati, A., Ardiansyah, D. C., Siti Alya Noviani, Nurul Azizah, Fani Khoirotunnisa, & Ira Wikartika. (2022). PEMBERDAYAAN DAN PEMASARAN WISATA KULINER MELALUI BAZAR TAKJIL & UMKM DI SENTRA WISATA KULINER PONDOK MARITIM KELURAHAN BALAS KLUMPRIK KECAMATAN WIYUNG KOTA SURABAYA. KARYA: Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat, 2(1), 92–96. Retrieved from https://jurnalfkip.samawa-university.ac.id/KARYA_JPM/article/view/98

Rijal, S., Ausat, A. M. A., Kurniawati, R., & Suherlan, S. (2023). Opportunities and Challenges for MSMEs in Indonesia in the Face of Ramadan. Community Development Journal: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat, 4(2), 2035-2039. https://doi.org/10.31004/cdj.v4i2.13936

Robiyanti, D. (2024). Didikan Budaya Berbagi Di Ramadhan 1443 H Ke-20 Himfah–Upmi Bagikan Ta’jil Di Panti Asuhan Mamiyai Jalan Bromo Kota Medan. Jurnal Cahaya Mandalika ISSN 2721-4796 (online), 5(2), 657-670. https://doi.org/10.36312/jcm.v5i2.2978

Rosen, E. (2002). The anatomy of buzz: How to create word of mouth marketing. Crown Currency.

Roux, C., Goldsmith, K., & Cannon, C. (2023). On the role of scarcity in marketing: Identifying research opportunities across the 5Ps. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 51(6), 1197-1202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00956-0

Rudnyckyj, D. (2009). Market Islam in Indonesia. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 15, S183-S201. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2009.01549.x

Santy, R. D., & Andriani, R. (2023). Purchase decision in terms of content marketing and e-WOM on social media. Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research (JEECAR), 10(6), 921-928. https://doi.org/10.15549/jeecar.v10i6.1502

Shi, X., Li, F., & Chumnumpan, P. (2020). The use of product scarcity in marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 54(2), 380-418. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-04-2018-0285

Sun, W. (2020). Online marketing innovation of e-commerce enterprises based on consumer psychology. Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica, 29(2), 737. https://doi.org/10.24205/03276716.2020.304

Van Parijs, A. (2020). The effect of fomo in advertising on consumer desire (Doctoral dissertation, Doctoral Dissertation, Ghent University).

Vrontis, D., Makrides, A., Christofi, M., & Thrassou, A. (2021). Social media influencer marketing: A systematic review, integrative framework and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), 617-644. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12647

Wahid, N. K. A., & Husain, W. R. W. (2023). The Limited-Edition or what they call as “Scarcity Marketing”: A propaganda or a promotional strategy. IIUM Journal of Case Studies in Management, 14(2), 49-52. https://doi.org/10.31436/ijcsm.v14i2.213

Wahyudin, A. (2023). Communicating the Message Analysis on Tiktok@ Huseinjafar to Maintain Interfaith Tolerance. Jurnal Ilmiah LISKI (Lingkar Studi Komunikasi), 9(2), 107-113. https://doi.org/10.25124/liski.v9i2.6457

Weinstein, M. (2022). The power of scarcity. McGraw-Hill Education

Wijaya, S. (2019). Indonesian food culture mapping: a starter contribution to promote Indonesian culinary tourism. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 6(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-019-0009-3

Wolters, M. (2022). The effect of social proof on customer purchases: an experiment with client testimonials and online reviews on website conversions (Master's thesis, University of Twente). http://essay.utwente.nl/93680/1/Wolters_MA_BEHAVIOURAL%20MANAGEMENT%20AND%20SOCIAL%20SCIENCES.pdf

World Population Review. (2020). Religion by country. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/religion-by-country#world-population-by-religion

Zhang, Z., Jiménez, F. R., & Cicala, J. E. (2020). Fear of missing out scale: A self‐concept perspective. Psychology & Marketing, 37(11), 1619-1634. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21406

Downloads

Published

2025-08-10

How to Cite

Baltasar, S., Wibowo, D. W., Akriyono, P. A. ., Rohana, A. ., Wardani, S. Y. ., & Puspitasari, D. . (2025). Scarcity Effect, FOMO, WOM, and Influencers in Iftar Snacks: A Study of Marketing Strategies During Ramadan in Indonesia . International Journal of Islamic Business and Management Review, 5(1), 148–161. https://doi.org/10.54099/ijibmr.v5i2.1388

Issue

Section

Articles