And the most emblematic product of 2020 is … toilet paper

TOILET paper confirmed its popular status when new stay-at-home mandates were issued this autumn, as shoppers continued stockpiling this more than “essential” product.

It’s a phenomenon that has been noticed worldwide since the onset of the pandemic. But why do people stock up on toilet paper during a coronavirus pandemic?

A global phenomenon

Toilet roll sales were selling at record levels back in March, when videos showing shopping carts overflowing with toilet paper went viral.

This toilet paper craze is a global one. During the first stay-at-home mandate back in March, Australian researchers tried to answer this question asked by the World Economic Forum: why do people stockpile toilet paper?

According to Niki Edwards, from the School of Public Health and Social Work (Queensland University of Technology), toilet paper symbolises control.

“We use it to ‘tidy up’ and ‘clean up’,“noted the researcher interviewed by the World Economic Forum. “It deals with a bodily function that is somewhat taboo. When people hear about the coronavirus, they are afraid of losing control. And toilet paper feels like a way to maintain control over hygiene and cleanliness.”

Many people use toilet paper as tissue

Non-perishable in essence, stockpiling doesn’t mean that you have to use it right away, noted David Savage, a Newcastle Business School researcher.

Another researcher from the University of Melbourne, Brian Cook, added an interesting analysis quoted by the World Economic Forum. “Toilet paper is a product that takes a lot of space, and is therefore not something people have a lot of under normal circumstances.

“A lot of people likely also use toilet paper as a tissue, and therefore imagine themselves needing a lot if they have the flu or a flu-like illness.” – AFP-Relaxnews