The Psychology of Panic Buying

Supermarkets around the world are enforcing item limits for a number of household and food products as the coronavirus sparks a wave of ‘panic buying’. In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned people to “stop hoarding”, saying it’s “one of the most disappointing things I’ve seen in Australian behaviour in response to this crisis”. NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has also warned against panic buying, saying, “If you need a bottle of milk, go and get it. If you don’t, do not react in any other way than you would any other day.”

So why do people do it? According to expert social psychologist from Edith Cowan University, Dr Eyal Gringart, leadership has a lot to do with it: “People had more information about the occurrences in other countries than about clear plans and measures offered by our leadership.”

Without clear plans and measures in place, it meant people felt they needed to fend for themselves and protect loved ones in an uncertain situation. “With the exception of a handful of cases where civility was compromised, people behaved rationally in accordance with the information that was available to them.”

Dr Gringart says the psychology behind panic buying is that people feel more in control when they act rather than waiting passively to an unknown detriment. “People would like to prepare for the worst even though they may hope for the best. Being cognisant of the successful quarantining strategy China implemented and not having clear and explicit information about our own government’s plan made it feasible that we may follow China’s strategy. With this in mind, the so-called ‘panic buying’ seems reasonable.”