Watch now or never: fear of a better option (FoBO), maximizing tendencies, and decision-making on video streaming services

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how affective experiences associated with Fear of a Better Option (FoBO) and Maximizing Tendencies (MT) are reflected in consumer decision-making in Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD) environments. Specifically, it investigates how choice overload and social comparison relate to maximizing behavior and how these processes contribute to decision avoidance and post-decision regret. A mixed-methods design was employed. Study 1 uses survey data from 205 SVOD users and partial least squares structural equation modeling to examine relationships among choice overload, social comparison, recommendation system strategy, maximizing tendencies, decision avoidance/paralysis and post-decision regret. Study 2 comprises 20 in-depth interviews exploring consumers’ experiences during content selection, providing qualitative evidence that participants’ descriptions of affective experiences are conceptually consistent with FoBO and their relationship to maximizing behavior. Choice overload and social comparison were associated with maximizing tendencies, which in turn were associated with decision avoidance/paralysis and post-decision regret. The recommendation system strategy was positively associated with maximizing tendencies but did not mitigate their effects on decision outcomes. Qualitative findings suggest participants described concern about overlooking better alternatives before making a decision and extensive search and comparison as responses, complementing the quantitative results by showing how affective experiences and cognitive-behavioral processes jointly shape decision-making in SVOD environments. The results highlight the need for SVOD services to tailor decision-support features to different decision-making styles and to develop strategies that reduce choice anxieties. By integrating quantitative and qualitative evidence, it advances understanding of decision anxiety in high-choice digital environments and clarifies the FoBO affective experience and MT cognitive-behavioral orientation relationship.