Coronavirus: How 'Panic Buying' Went Viral
- Helen Luu
- Mar 23, 2020
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 24, 2020
Have you recently gone to the supermarkets and found that the toilet papers were completely emptied on all shelves?
We have seen a lot of news media about Coronavirus and the number of people who are stockpiling as a result of fear - Typically in Australia, the UK and the U.S. So why is this happening more frequently in these countries but not in other countries? The answer is greed!
With Covid-19 being the major topic on media, it spikes more fear and temp consumers to stockpile to prepare themselves for home quarantine. . Although it is difficult to determine what causes panic buying, there is a relationship between media hype and panic buying - This is evident through our toilet paper shortage.
Just before COVID-19 affected hundreds of people in Australia, people were already panic buying all the toilet paper which brought heaps of media attention. On top of that, people were posting videos on Facebook and Twitter of customers fighting over toilet paper in Woolworths which was also shown on the news.
Funny enough, the peak in news mentioning stockpiling came before the spike in the actual practice. Just when it couldn't get worse for consumers, people eventually started stockpiling on other necessities such as pasta, milk and hand sanitisers when the virus became much more prevalent and worse in Australia.
Every day we see topics of Coronavirus and stockpiling on the news. Could this possibly be one of the many reasons why consumers are panic buying and fearing of the worst for the future?
@Vincent Lo Thank you for your service in those crazy-busy times!! I agree, humans are like sheeps! They are easily convinced and its in our nature to grab things for ourselves before anyone else. It is quite sad how just months before the pandemic happened, everyone was generous by donating to those affected by bushfires and donated lots of food. But it is great that our supermarket shelves are fully stocked and slowly going back to normal.
@Chloe Mckenzie Social media plays a huge role in panic buying! It really just confirms that humans are easily influenced by what they see online - even from non-credible sources!!
@Jonathon Papageorgiou Hey Jonathon, my family did the exact same! I felt so…
100% Helen! I remember my family panic buying because they saw a news report telling people to stop panic buying so they went and started panic buying! It's to think and see this happen and makes me think could it be avoided if the news and social media was not bombarded with all these reports against panic buying?
I truely do believe that the media set off this panic buying with scare tactics about COVID-19. I think that a mix of scare tactics and false information being spread on social media created this sort of 'frenzy' in our supermarkets and with consumer behaviour. What is really sad is that the more that people saw this type of behaviour, the more scared they got and then they started panic buying almost creating a domino effect. Loved your blog Helen!
I've witnessed some crazy customer conflict as I work at a Coles Supermarket, its crazy how the media can convey messages like ' Top 10 items you NEED to stock up on ' and then suddenly all hell breaks loose! I remember the first couple weeks of the coronavirus scare the entire store was in chaos, customers fighting over toilet paper and other hygienic products, and of course, the constant repetitive echo of 'Do you have any in the back?' still lingers in my head haha. I reckon customers will continue to follow the concept of being like sheep and following what others do, its the social stigma that drives them to act in a behaviour that is evident in…
@Taylah Faulkner Totally agree! It's just really outrageous that people decided to panic buy toilet paper weeks before they started buying FOOD that is actually more important.
@Vanessa Kadamani The media displays news about coronavirus every day and it definitely doesn't help for those who watch TV frequently. Sometimes we want to stray from the news but at the same time, we need to know what is going on and what new laws have been implemented...
@Rebecca Allaoui It is a huge domino effect in society... As bad as it sounds to panic buy and know that the elderly and others are going to miss out, majority people have the mentality of "if I don't buy as much as I…