Social determinants of panic buying behaviour amidst COVID-19 pandemic: The role of perceived scarcity and anticipated regret

Abstract

Panic buying behaviour is inherently undesirable due to its detrimental impact on community's resources and disruptions to supply chain systems. The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic has seen a resurgence of this phenomenon across the world, leaving supermarkets in stockout situations. While panic buying is largely reasoned as a psychological reaction to an extreme event, it is also a socially relevant behaviour as our perception of a crisis can be shaped by our observations and interactions within the society. The social determinants of panic buying behaviour, particularly on how these factors heighten one's perception of scarcity, and trigger panic buying behaviour, are studied. A theoretical model is developed to explain panic buying behaviour in a social context by synthesizing various social and behavioural theories, and the inter-relationship among the latent constructs is analysed using the structural equation modelling approach. Accordingly, an online survey was administered and analysis of the data confirmed that non-coercive social influence, social norm and observational learning directly influence one's perception of scarcity. Additionally, perceived scarcity can motivate panic buying behaviour directly or indirectly through feelings of anticipated regret. This study has contributed to the limited literature on panic buying. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of panic buying will aid policymakers and businesses in developing intervention or support strategies to cope with such behaviour.

The impact of paid social Q&A on panic buying and digital hoarding at the stage of coexistence with COVID-19: The moderating role of sensitivity to pain of payment

“…The COVID-19 has caused great obstacles to the global economy, resulting in serious economic recession, companies and industries closing and unemployment rate rising [ 94 ]. Therefore, the current research on panic buying is of great value for current global marketing and enterprise decision-making [ 95 ]. Reviewing previous studies, digital content payment has become a new consumption trend in China especially in recent years.…”

Understanding the role of anticipated loss and gain during consumer competition: the moderation of purchase importance and prior brand attitude

“…In a recent study, the mediating role of anticipated regret was suggested as an explanation for consumers' competitive behavior in a scarce situation formed by marketers (Gupta and Gentry, 2019). In addition, a feeling of anticipated regret was presented in relation to panic buying in a retail environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Yuen et al. , 2022).…”

A Cross-sectional Study of Antecedents and Consequence of Panic Buying Behavior: The Moderating Effect of COVID-19 Rumors

“… 2 For instance, hashtags related to COVID-19 on social media platforms caused panic buying behavior among the general public. 3 Such panic behavior led to an increase in sales of online groceries by 51.5% in the UK compared to pre-pandemic time. 4 Many people suffered from anxiety and stress due to empty shelves in supermarkets that was caused by consumer panic buying behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…A considerable amount of research has investigated panic buying behavior. These studies examined where and when panic buying behavior occurs, 11 social determinants of panic buying behavior, 3 ways to prevent panic buying, 12 and effects of national culture on the extent of panic buying. 13 Although extensive research has been carried out on panic buying behavior, no single study exists that examines the role of informational experience and stimulation experience of COVID-19 CRT on panic buying behavior and how such behavior leads to psychological reactions, including the sense of security.…”