Buy now or regret later: Social media-induced panic buying of medical supplies during COVID-19

Abstract

A huge body of research analyzed panic buying during the pandemic; however, there is a dearth of studies scrutinizing social media triggering panic buying of drugs and medical supplies. This study assesses the impact of social media on panic buying of drugs and medical supplies during COVID-19. An online survey was conducted in the Delhi-NCR region (India) using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The data were collected from the respondents (N = 250) who were youngsters considering their pivotal role in the battle against COVID-19. Regression analysis in SPSS was used to process the data. The results manifested a strong impact of social media on buying behavior during COVID-19. Perceived scarcity (p = .000), perceived quality (p = .000), perceived cost (p = .000) of medical supplies, and fear-of-missing-out (p = .000) were found to strongly influence panic buying. Further, perceived scarcity was found to have a significant impact on FOMO (p = .0400). At the same time, perceived cost also had a substantial effect on perceived quality (p = .0100). The results indicated that perceived scarcity did not affect perceived quality (p = .0600). People indulged in hoarding during COVID-19 to remove their fear of missing out. The perception of scarcity of medicines, the quality degradation that may happen later, or the likelihood that costs may increase in the future contributed fairly to people stockpiling. Perceived scarcity also induced fear of missing out, while perception about the quality was dependent on perceived cost.

Digital Marketing Potential in Indonesia

“…Social media is significantly influencing purchasing behavior during COVID-19 (Parveen et al, 2022). The use of social media such as Instagram and Facebook is a very effective online marketing strategy (Atmaja & Verawati, 2020).…”

Preference for Online Shopping

“…Studies have revealed that the typical Internet user of the twentieth century is found to be young, professional and affluent with higher levels of income and higher education (Palumbo and Herbig, 1998;Khaled, A. S et al, 2022;Almugari et al, 2022;Parveen et al, 2022;Al-Homaidi et al, 2020;Al Maqtari et al, 2020). Such an individual value time more than money and therefore the working population and dual-income or single-parent households who face time constraints are better candidates to be targeted by non-store retailers (Burke, 1997;Salah et al, 2023;.…”

“…For example, global mobile app revenues are projected to surpass 30 billion US dollars in the coming year (statistics portal, 2016;Khaled, A. S et al, 2022;Almugari et al, 2022;Parveen et al, 2022;Al Maqtari et al, 2020).…”