The Psychology of Panic Buying
Kiwi expat Tim Gray was at home in his Barcelona apartment when the Spanish government declared a nationwide lockdown. He shares his experience with MiNDFOOD.
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.”
For the past nine years, Kiwi expat Tim Gray has travelled the globe, calling the likes of London and Vienna home. Since settling in the usually vibrant and bustling city of Barcelona, the gregarious Spanish way of life has become the norm for him.
Gray was at home in his apartment in Barcelona when the Spanish government declared a State of Alarm and imposed a nationwide lockdown due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic. Gray says despite the lockdown happening so quickly, most in Barcelona appeared to handle the situation well.
“For the most part everyone followed instructions,” he says. “Last Saturday afternoon I went out to get supplies before the total lockdown and have never seen Plaza Catalunya (the centre of Barcelona) so empty. For a place that is inundated with tourists year-round, it was quite surreal.”
How are people’s spirits in Barcelona?
People are fine for the moment. Obviously no one likes to be cooped up inside, and that is probably the most difficult aspect. Spanish life is very social and noisy and involves a lot of being out and about daily, drinking coffee, dog walking, taking a beer with a friend on a terrace. As you can imagine, it is challenging to lose that all in a second, but people understand the impact and seriousness of not changing our habits, too. Ask me after a month, though, and I might feel differently.
How has the coronavirus lockdown impacted you?
Personally, it is a little bit of disbelief, to be honest. Just the speed in which everything changed, not only here but for almost every country around the globe, was a surprise. I am handling it fine for now – cooking, reading, catching up with friends on FaceTime. I love to exercise and keep fit so unfortunately living in an apartment in Barcelona isn’t compatible with that – bodyweight circuits and stairs are my go-tos for the foreseeable future!
Do you feel like you were prepared and was there anything you would have done differently?
I feel I was prepared; I didn’t do anything crazy, and wouldn’t do anything differently. I actually began
“I KNEW IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE SAME THING HIT SPAIN.” TIM GRAY