Rethinking Urgency Cues: Scarcity Messaging, Credibility, and Purchase Intention in a Survey of Social Media Fruit Advertising.

Scarcity appeals are widely used in social media advertising, yet their influence on purchase intention may involve both cognitive and affective mechanisms. This study examines the relationships between scarcity message intensity and purchase intention through perceived credibility and fear of missing out (FOMO), with consumer skepticism and household income level as moderators. Drawing on the Elaboration Likelihood Model, Signaling Theory, and the Persuasion Knowledge Model, survey data from 272 Chinese social-commerce users were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Scarcity message intensity was positively associated with perceived credibility, contrary to the negative relationship proposed in Hypothesis 1, and was also positively associated with FOMO. Both perceived credibility and FOMO were positively associated with purchase intention. Although the direct relationship between scarcity message intensity and purchase intention was non-significant, both indirect pathways were positive and statistically significant, with the indirect effect through perceived credibility larger than that through FOMO. Consumer skepticism significantly moderated the scarcity-FOMO relationship, but in the direction opposite to that hypothesized; therefore, H6 was not supported. Household income did not significantly moderate the perceived credibility-purchase intention relationship, and H7 was not supported.