Digital Media in Sports Organizations: The Mediator Role of Social Media Addiction in FoMO and Compulsive Online Shopping

The impact of communication on individuals and the masses is undeniable. Now, every domain of daily life is influenced by the power of communication thanks to developing technology. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between fear of missing out (FoMO) and compulsive online shopping and investigate the mediator role of social media addiction on this relationship. The sample consisted of randomly selected 205 sports volunteers, 77 females (37.6%) and 128 males (62.4%), taking part in the 16 th NKolay Istanbul Half Marathon on April 4, 2021. We collected the data using the “Fear of Missing Out” scale (FoMOS) consisting of 10 items within a subscale, the “Social Media Addiction” scale (SMAS) composed of 20 items within two subscales, and the “Compulsive Online Shopping” scale (COSS) consisting of 28 items within five subscales. We sought answers for seven hypotheses in the study employing a correlational design. The results confirmed our three hypotheses, partially confirmed two hypotheses, rejected the other two hypotheses. We determined that the SMAS were positively correlated with the FoMOS and the COSS. In addition, the FoMOS was positively correlated with the COSS. On the other hand, we concluded that social media addiction partially mediated the relationship between fear of missing


Introduction
In the global context, the spread of the internet since the 1990s has allowed the digital culture to begin dominating. Digital media also has emerged in this period, especially at the beginning of the 2000s, and gained noteworthy momentum. While communication used to be interpersonal, it has started to appear more in mass communication today. The impact of communication on individuals and the masses is undeniable. Now, every domain of daily life is influenced by the power of communication thanks to developing technology.
Internet-related technologies have introduced digital media to be among the most significant innovations in communication. Thus, such sites allow any shared information to instantly spread to the whole world (Palmer & Lewis, 2009), informing the masses about the events around the globe. From its very introduction, digital media has manifested itself in a different place; thanks to the mutual communication opportunities it offers, people have started to use digital media more intensively. Besides, digital media mechanisms have features such as creating a perception against discrimination, spreading the perception, and setting the agenda (Eraslan, 2016).
There are many definitions of the internet, which is derived from the combination of the English words 'network' and 'international.' The internet can be defined as a tool where information produced and compiled by individuals, institutions, organizations, and businesses can be published and which enables easy and quick access to any needed information 24/7 (Tsai & Lin, 2003). Since the internet brings with it new forms of addiction, it may be needed to lay a theoretical ground for internet addiction. The prevalence of internet addiction is deemed essential for understanding the contemporary order, digital media, FoMO, and novel marketing practices.
The reason why we used social media addiction as a mediating factor between FoMO (fear of missing out) and compulsive online shopping is that digital media is always human-oriented, although it is digital in essence. Understanding how FoMO affects individuals, especially the young, who use digital media more frequently, should build another comprehension of compulsive online shopping. Nowadays, corporate strategies are the major determiners of personal preferences and direct individuals to purchasing behavior out of necessity. Compulsive online shopping practice creates a perceived sense of obligation and compels individuals to consume products and services based on fear of missing out.
Human is the primary factor at the center of any communication means. Human is also prioritized as the one using these means and perceives the message from the means. Consequently, starting with the traditional and digital media discussion and shifting such a discussion to the field of public relations, this study was designed to analyze the impacts of FoMO on compulsive online shopping and the mediating effect of social media addiction. In this context, this study aimed to uncover the current importance, position, and role of sports volunteers and the impacts of FoMO on compulsive online shopping considering the mediating role of social media addiction.

Method
Based on study hypotheses, this section presents the methodological approach to reveal the relationships between the data collected through the scales measuring FoMO (fear of missing out), social media addiction, and compulsive online shopping.

Design
The present research employed a correlational design to examine the mediating role of social media addiction in the relationship between FoMO and compulsive online shopping. The correlational studies are those exploring the degree of relationships between two or more variables while at the same time examining the effects of variables on each other and their co-changes (Karasar, 2009;Creswell, 2014).

Hypotheses
We identified FoMO as the independent variable while compulsive shopping was the dependent variable, and social media addiction was the mediator variable. Accordingly, the study hypotheses are given below: H1: FoMO is positively associated with compulsive online shopping.
H2: Social media addiction has a mediating effect on the relationship between FoMO and compulsive online shopping.
H3: FoMO has a positive impact on social media addiction.
H4: Social media addiction has a positive impact on compulsive online shopping.
H6: Social media addiction significantly differs among volunteers by their demographic characteristics (age, educational attainment, marital status).
H7: Compulsive online shopping significantly differs among volunteers by their demographic characteristics (age, educational attainment, marital status).

Population and Sample
The research population consisted of the volunteers taking part in the 16 th NKolay Istanbul Half Marathon on April 4, 2021. On the other hand, the sample was composed of a total of randomly selected 205 volunteers, 77 females (37.6%) and 128 males (62.4%), among these volunteers.

Data Collection Tools
In this study, we administered an online survey covering several scales to the participants. While the first part of the survey included a demographic information form, the second part included the "Fear of Missing Out" scale (FoMOS). Przybylski et al. (2013) Table 1 presents the distribution of the participants by their demographic characteristics. Accordingly, 62.4% of the participants were males, while the majority of them were married (80.3%). We discovered that most of the participants were aged 26 years and over (87%). Finally, when it comes to educational attainment, more than half of the participants (67.8%) held an undergraduate degree.

The Mediating Effect of Social Media Addiction on the Relationship Between FoMO and Compulsive Online Shopping
We adopted Baron and Kenny's (1986) approach to investigate the mediating role of social media addiction. Accordingly, four steps must be fulfilled in determining the mediating role of a variable: 1) independent variable predicting the dependent variable, 2) the mediator variable predicting the dependent variable, 3) the independent variable predicting the mediator variable, and 4) the independent and mediator variables predicting the dependent variable together. The realization of these assumptions reveals the mediating effect of the variable, and the Sobel test is used to determine the significance of such a mediating effect.
In the first step, we sought how significantly the independent variable predicted the dependent variable. Accordingly, we found that FoMO significantly predicted compulsive online shopping (p < 0.05).

Figure 1. Path diagram of the FoMOS
In the second step, the regression model tested for whether the mediator variable predicted the dependent variable revealed that virtual communication significantly predicted compulsive online shopping, while it was not the case for virtual tolerance. In the third step, we built a regression model to test whether the independent variable (FoMO) predicted the mediator variable (social media addiction). We found the model to be significant for both subscales of the mediator variable. In other words, there were moderate and significant relationships between FoMO and virtual tolerance and virtual communication.  We also calculated good fit indices for the models created to test our hypotheses. ISSN 2377-2263

Comparisons of the Participants' Scores by Marital Status
This section presents the participants' mean scores on the mentioned scales and the results of the Independent Samples T-test to reveal whether these scores differed by their marital status. We could not find significant differences in the participants' scores on the FoMOS by marital status (p > 0.05). In other words, the single and married participants got similar FoMOS scores. As in Table 4, the participants did not differ significantly in their SMAS total and subscale scores by their marital status (p > 0.05). Namely, the social media addiction levels of the single and married participants were relatively similar.  We did not find any significant differences between the participants in their COSS total and subscale scores by their marital status (p > 0.05); the single and married participants demonstrated similar levels of compulsive online shopping.

Comparisons of the Participants' Scores by Age
We run a one-way ANOVA to determine the differences among the participants' scores on the mentioned scales by their ages. The results are given below.  The results revealed no significant differences between the participants' scores by their ages (p > 0.05). That is, FoMO levels were the same for our participants in different age groups. As in Table 7, the participants' SMAS total and subscale scores significantly differed by their ages (p < 0.05). ISSN 2377-2263  We found that the participants did not significantly differ in their COSS total and subscale scores by their ages (p > 0.05). Namely, different age groups adopted similar compulsive online shopping behaviors.

Comparisons of the Participants' Scores by Educational Attainment
The below are the results of the one-way analysis of variance to reveal whether the participants significantly differed in their scores on the FoMOS, SMAS, and COSS by their educational attainments. The results demonstrated that the participants did not significantly differ in their FoMOS scores by educational attainment (p > 0.05). Therefore, the participants with different educational backgrounds had similar levels of FoMO.  Note. * p < 0.05.

Discussion
The present study scrutinized the relationship between FoMO and compulsive online shopping among sports volunteers and explored the mediating effect of social media addiction on this relationship. Accordingly, we administered a demographic information form, the FoMOS, the SMAS, and the COSS to a total of 205 volunteers taking part in the 16 th NKolay Istanbul Half Marathon on April 4, 2021. In the study, we sought answers for seven hypotheses employing a correlational design.
Regarding the demographic characteristics of the participants, we found that 62.4% were males, while the majority of them were married (80.3%). We also discovered that most of the participants were aged 26 years and over (87%). Finally, when it comes to educational attainment, more than half of the participants (67.8%) held an undergraduate degree.
Our results confirmed the first hypothesis, "FoMO is positively associated with compulsive online shopping." In parallel with this finding, Bekman (2020) previously determined a positive link between FoMO and compulsive online shopping behaviors. In another study, Aydın et al. (2019) investigated the relationships between compulsive online shopping and biological rhythm, impulsivity, and FoMO among consumers and concluded a significant association between compulsive online shopping behaviors and FoMO and that impulsivity and biological rhythm mediated such a relationship. Accordingly, FoMO is often used as an impulsive tool in marketing and communication activities aimed at boosting the online shopping behaviors of consumers. Especially in social networking sites, it can be thought that marketing and communication practices designed with impulsive messages for FoMO play a role in triggering compulsive shopping behaviors. In this context, we can claim that the relationship between FoMO and compulsive online shopping makes a noteworthy contribution to marketing and communication literature. mediating effect on the relationship between FoMO and compulsive online shopping." The relationship between FoMO and compulsive online shopping was significantly mediated by virtual communication, while it was not the case for virtual tolerance. Yet, (Bekman, 2020, p.219) determined that social media addiction had the full mediation in this relationship.
The third hypothesis, "FoMO has a positive impact on social media addiction," was also confirmed. We determined that FoMO had a positive and moderate impact on social media addiction (both virtual communication and virtual tolerance). Many studies in the literature showed that FoMO positively influences social media addiction, supporting our findings (Blackwell et al., 2017;Fuster et al., 2017;Casale et al., 2018;Tunç-Aksan & Akbay, 2019;Bekman, 2020;Fabris et al., 2020;Hishan et al., 2020;Kargın et al., 2020;Weaver & Swank, 2021). It would be useful for further research to consider FoMO an important variable contributing to social media use and addiction and explore its relationship with other relevant variables using more comprehensive measures. For example, one's attachment style with their parents may influence the extent to which one fears social exclusion. Also, other aspects of personality, such as narcissism and loneliness, and other Big Five components, such as conscientiousness or agreeableness, may contribute to such dynamics. In this context, it may be possible to identify the components affecting FoMO and adopt appropriate measures against the factors triggering social media addiction among growing generations.
Moreover, the results confirmed our fourth hypothesis, "Social media addiction has a positive impact on compulsive online shopping." We determined that social media addiction (both virtual communication and virtual tolerance) had a positive and moderate impact on compulsive online shopping. The findings of Bekman (2020) also support our results. The literature hosts studies reporting that excessive use (implying a probable addiction) of social media triggers compulsive online shopping behaviors among people (Pahlevan et al., 2021;Sultan, 2021). Ultimately, it would not be wrong to assert that such a relationship may arise due to user information on social network sites, allowing companies to continuously flash various product and service advertisements suitable for users' characteristics.
Nevertheless, we could not confirm our fifth hypothesis, "FoMO significantly differ among volunteers by their demographic characteristics (age, educational attainment, marital status)." We did not find significant differences between FoMO and marital status, age, and educational attainment. Previoulsy, Bekman (2020) also examined relationships between FoMO and age and educational attainment. She found that the participants' FoMO scores significantly differed by their ages, but it was not the case for educational attainment, similar to our study. We think that the discrepancy between the studies may have arisen due to the sample size differences. While we recruited 205 volunteers in this study, Bekman (2020) carried out her study with 590 people. Furthermore, unlike this study where most of the participants were aged 26 and over, the age groups distributed relatively homogenous in her study. In another study, Özcan and Koç (2019) determined significant differences between FoMO and age and educational attainment. What may have led to such a result is thought to be sample difference. (Özcan & Koç, 2019) studied bank employees, whereas this study included sports volunteers. On the other hand, the participating bank employees may have more desirable educational backgrounds and occupy important positions in their business lives, which may imply that these people may have received better education, have higher self-esteem, and not experience the feeling of deprivation, which is one of the underlying components of FoMO. Yet, parallel to this study, Özcan and Koç (2019) found no significant difference between marital status and FoMO. Regarding the relationship between age and FoMO, many other studies suggested a reversed association between these two variables (Przybylski et al., 2013;Abel et al., 2016;Blackwell et al., 2017;Gezgin, 2017). This situation is often interpreted as that the young are more sensitive to what is happening around them and have a greater sense of curiosity, which may drive them to spend more time on social media. Accordingly, it is not surprising that they have higher FoMO levels (Özcan & Koç, 2019). However, as mentioned earlier, the age group of 26 and over constituted 87.3% of the participants, which may be a reason for no relationship between age and FoMO in this study.
In the present study, our sixth hypothesis, "Social media addiction significantly differs among volunteers by their demographic characteristics (age, educational attainment, marital status)," was partially confirmed. While there was no significant difference between social media addiction and marital status, it was the case for age and educational attainment. In parallel with these findings, (Bekman, 2020) also discovered significant differences between social media addiction and age and educational background. Yet, Ateş (2018) could not find significant differences between social media addiction and the above demographic characteristics. On the other hand, unlike this study, there are studies reporting a significant difference only between social media addiction and marital status (Tiryaki, 2015;Tutgun-Ünal, 2015;Andreassen et al., 2016;Azizi et al., 2019;Sağar, 2019). In general, this situation is explained as that being in a relationship helps reduce social media addiction; yet, situations, such as divorce and being alone, trigger the addiction. We think that there was no significant difference between social media addiction and marital status because married participants constituted a large part of the sample (80.3%). On the other hand, the literature findings suggest that age is not a factor affecting social media addiction among adults. In this study, most of the participants were aged 26 and over, which may have led us to get different results from the literature.
Finally, the results rejected our seventh hypothesis, "Compulsive online shopping among volunteers significantly differs by their demographic characteristics (age, educational attainment, marital status)." We could not reach significant differences between compulsive online shopping and marital status, age, and educational attainment. The findings of Türker (2019) and Bekman (2020) also support our results. Besides, the relevant literature suggests mixed results (Lejoyeux et al., 2007;Otero-Lopez & Villardefrancos, 2014;Türker, 2019;Bekman, 2020). The studies reaching significant differences between compulsive online shopping and marital status uncovered that individuals reporting their marital status to be "Other" had more compulsive online shopping behaviors than married and single individuals between whom there were no differences. Considering that those in the "Other" category were widowed or divorced in those studies, we can assert that these people, under stress and uncertainty, consoled themselves more often with such compulsive behaviors. When it comes to our study, the insignificant difference by marital status may be explained by the difference in the number of single and married participants. In this context, it may be helpful to replicate the study where participants' marital status is evenly distributed. By the way, the literature fully supports our findings between educational attainment and compulsive online shopping (Lejoveux et al., 2007;Manchiraju et al., 2016;Türker, 2019;Bekman, 2020).
Overall, our results confirmed three of the seven hypotheses, partially confirmed two, and rejected two of them. We found out that social media addiction had a positive relationship with FoMO (r = 0.537) and compulsive online shopping (r = 0.656), while FoMO was positively correlated with compulsive online shopping (r = 0.782). In general, Bekman's (2020) findings also overlap ours. She previously reached similar correlation values with this study; social media addiction was positively related to FoMO (r = 0.624) and compulsive online shopping (r = 0.549), while FoMO had a positive link with compulsive online shopping (r = 0.608).
We detected social media addiction to partially mediate sports volunteers' FoMO and compulsive online shopping; the mediation was originated from virtual communication. Previoulsy, Berkman (2020) discussed the same topic in her doctoral dissertation titled "The Use of Digital Media in Public Relations Practices: The Mediating Role of Social Media Addiction in FoMO and Compulsive Online Shopping." Her results showed that social media addiction has a full mediating effect on the relationship between dependent and independent variables. While we evaluated the mediating effect through the dimensions of social media addiction, Bekman (2020) considered it directly through social media addiction, which may have caused some differences between the findings. On the other hand, no other studies did not juxtapose the variables in this study; therefore, our research can be considered among the pioneering studies in the literature.
Further studies may discuss social media addiction, FoMO, and compulsive shopping behaviors separately, as well as exploring their relationships and mediating situations on each other. On the other hand, the national literature hosts studies on FoMO (Aydın, 2018;Çetinkaya, 2019;Göksun, 2019;Bekman, 2020;Kartol & Peker, 2020;Özdemir, 2021), but only a few of them associated FoMO with compulsive online shopping (Bekman, 2020). Hence, we recommend performing further studies to identify the association between these variables.