An Investigation into the Motivations Behind Panic Buying During Times of Crisis

Abstract

This dissertation aims to identify the reasons why individuals participate in panic buying during times of crisis. The purpose of this study is to investigate how panic buying impacts the demand and supply of essential goods. The study will help understand what factors influence panic buying as well as acknowledge the impact panic buying has on an individual. There is strong literature on panic buying from Yeun et al. (2020) and Sheu and Kuo (2020) which both focus on times of crisis. As the coronavirus pandemic is a recent and ongoing event there are very few studies about it, meaning there is a gap in the literature. However, previous crises such as the 2011 Christchurch earthquake (Forbes 2017), has indicated what can be anticipated in terms of consumer behaviour. A quantitative methodology is used for this study, with online questionnaires distributed to gather data. In total, 208 responses were collected; the respondents consisted of 171 females, 35 males and 2 non-binary individuals. Furthermore, the majority of respondents are aged 41 to 64. The key findings of this study show that some consumers were panic buying during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic which meant that others experienced shortages of essential products. Furthermore, there are various factors that prompt individuals to panic buy such as herd mentality, fear and perceived scarcity.