When lockdowns were implemented in cities and states across the United States, a lot of people started to panic buy goods countering the anxiety due to the pandemic.
For instance, toilet paper sales have skyrocketed to 700% during the second week of March. According to Nielson, toilet paper sales rose about 71% in comparison to previous years in the nine weeks until May 2.
A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE suggests that people who feel more threatened by COVID-19 are most likely to hoard toilet papers during the pandemic.
The study authors wrote, "Subjective threat of COVID-19 seems to be an important trigger for toilet paper stockpiling."
Now, after almost four months into the pandemic with the continued high demands of toilet papers, there is still a low supply of them despite calls from authorities to stop panic buying. The same thing can also be seen for some hygiene products such as cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer.
Personality Influences Panic Buying
According to a report from Forbes, experts believe toilet paper has become a 'panic buy' essential based on how people perceive the fear and the media hype. Others have also suggested that it is a way to control anxiety.
Dr. Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a consumer psychologist at Anglia Ruskin University, told BBC that anxious people have the urge to do something practical to make them feel like they are in control.
Meanwhile, Professor Nitika Garg from the University of New South Wales also told the BBC that the powerful influence of peer pressure is to blame.
But a new study adds personality type could also be a factor of panic buying. Researchers surveyed 1,029 adults from 35 countries and tested them using the HEXACO Personality Inventory. Ranking six personality domains honesty/humility, extraversion, emotionality, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
Their study results showed that people who ranked highly on scales of emotionality and conscientiousness were most likely to panic buy.
They explained that these people are more likely to experience fear and anxiety in response to life stress. They are naturally predisposed to feel threatened by COVID-19, which triggers panic buying.
Moreover, the researchers also said that people who got high scores on the scale of conscientiousness tend to stockpile more toilet paper.
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Proper Communication Is the Key to Avoid Panic Buying
The HEXACO description said that people who scored high on conscientiousness organize their time and physical surroundings carefully when making decisions, including the plan to use toilet papers.
The authors noted that the study results could help with public communication strategies to address people's perception of the threat and their shopping behavior. It stresses the importance of clear communication by public authorities acknowledging anxiety while echoing a sense of control.
"While it is important to communicate the severity of a pandemic and appeal to people's compliance with necessary measures such as social distancing, communicators should be careful not to provoke panic that can eventually result in dysfunctional behavior such as stockpiling," the authors said.
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