Is It Really “panic Buying”? Public Perceptions And Experiences Of ...

The meaningful motivations behind increased purchases: Reducing trips to supermarkets, preparing for product shortages and longer stays at home, or guarding against those who ‘panic’

Preparedness featured heavily in participants’ accounts of their experiences at the early stages of the pandemic. As this theme highlights, participants reported shopping behaviours through explanations of fear for potential product shortages, reduction in their trips to the supermarkets to reduce their exposure to the virus, preparation for longer stays at home (because of the lockdown or due to potential illness), or fear of other people ‘panicking’.

Our participants used these rationalisations for understanding their own and others’ shopping behaviours. One risk that participants argued that they were trying to protect themselves against was that of potential product shortages. This is illustrated by accounts from P1 and P2, as well as in the statement of P10 below:

Extract 8

I: In terms of shopping behaviours, why did you start shopping for longer time, as you said like a, two weeks in advance.

P1: I think there was

P2: I was, so it was very much just in case we weren’t able to- be able to access

I: Yeah.

P2: shops like for example with, we’ve only got small shops nearby us.

I: Yeah.

P2: And it could’ve been closed. There was also like the mad panic about certain things not being in supply and not coming into the country.

I: Okay.

P2: But it was just like a case of, if we act now, it makes our lives easier in the future.

P1: Yeah.

P2: While still being done in a sensible controlled manner rather than panic shopping.

And

Extract 9

P10: if somebody has a family and has to keep feeding their children, then they can’t take the risk that there won’t be enough food in a few months. So they have lower risk tolerance.

Participants stated that their shopping patterns changed, and they started making larger and less frequent shops. The main reason provided was one of perceived inability to access shops as well as warnings about potential items not being in stock. However, participants were careful in framing increased shopping as a means of rational future preparedness rather than as irrational behaviour. Similarly, when referring to other people’s increased purchases, participants attributed increased shopping to lower risk tolerance that some people might have due to various life conditions. For example, having to feed one’s family can result in increased purchases under conditions of a perceived potential shortage of products.

The second reason that was commonly used in our participants’ responses for increasing their shopping was the inclination to reduce trips to the supermarkets as well as because of actual changes in their routines (such as prolonged stays at home) due to restrictions in movement placed by governments:

Extract 10

I: Yes. So, in general, would you say that you bought more than you would usually buy?

P11: Yes. Also, in the sense that, instead of going to the shop maybe two or three times a week in smaller amounts, I would just go once a week. So, obviously, I would buy more but overall, the amount would be the same. Also, because I was at home and cooking the whole time rather than going out, sometimes. So, I bought more but the amount of food I’ve consumed stayed constant.

Preparedness manifested in participants’ accounts concerning their wish to reduce their trips to the supermarkets. In some cases, more frequent trips to supermarkets with smaller purchases were replaced by less frequent trips and larger purchases. On other occasions, there were reports of increased purchases compared to before the pandemic.

Extract 11

I: But overall would you say that you bought more than you would usually buy?

P14: Yes. Maybe 5% and 10% more.

I: What do you think might be the main reason for that?

P14: I think the stuff I was saying before about wanting to extend how long it was between shops was the main factor. I was very aware that I did not want to run into the supermarket, take all of the tinned tomatoes, and leave none for anyone else. I wanted to feel that I had found a balance between feeling we had a bit of a buffer and still leaving enough for other people to have a buffer.

The main reason, as illustrated by P14 above, was similarly associated with reducing one’s trips to the supermarkets. However, the latter was compounded by wanting to provide oneself “a buffer” through means of some additional stocks at home while allowing other consumers to also increase their purchases slightly. Overall, reducing the number of trips to the supermarkets was a main reason that participants reported buying more items, either by actually slightly increasing their purchases or by making larger and less frequent shops while not changing the amounts. A third motivation for participants’ preparedness was associated with their perceived potential need to stay at home for prolonged periods:

Extract 12

Ι: Did you prepare in any way to protect yourself against the outbreak, or are you preparing now?

P10: Not really. I was not hoarding stuff or anything like this. I did some estimates, quick in my head, how much food will I have to buy in order to not have to leave my house for a month or two months

When asked whether they prepared in any way against the outbreak participants, as illustrated by P10 above, denied hoarding and contested any notions of irrationality in their behaviour. Rather, they argued that their response was based on a meaningful calculation whereby they bought supplies that would last for approximately one or two months in case they could not leave the house for prolonged periods. Participants reported deciding to shop large quantities of products as a means of preparedness for staying at home for extended periods. Participants also reported considering either actual or potential health issues that might limit their future ability to leave their houses for prolonged periods:

Extract 13

I: Okay. But [inaudible] beginning of it, did you start buying more things and usually in the beginning? At least for some goods as you said?

P3: I tried to make sure that we would have enough not to leave the house for a bit. I didn’t know how long we would be stuck inside. Also, I have asthma, so the NHS was originally advising anybody who had a list of health conditions to, require you to have a flu jab. They said if you’re on this list of conditions, which include asthma, then you should treat this as very serious and protect yourself. So, I’ve been [inaudible] cautious anyway.

And

Extract 14

P15: Well I, I didn’t kind of see it as panicking and I don’t think people were. So I know my neighbours, other people I see around my building, they were also trying to stock up and I didn’t see that as panicking, they were just thinking, “If we’re not allowed to go out and we’re all being quarantined if I feel sick then this is what we have to do.”

Illustrated by the extracts above, participants expressed concerns with prolonged isolation at home due to illness. For example, they bought more items due to her medical condition which could potentially put them at risk of further complications if they caught COVID. Thus, participants decided to buy more items and reduce their trips to the supermarkets to reduce the risk of contracting the virus. Participants also reported how their decision-making and behaviour was also a reaction to the NHS guidelines for reducing risk and staying protected. Finally, preparedness was used by participants as a reason for being adequately stocked. However, they refrained from framing their actions as panic. Rather, they perceived both themselves as well as others stocking up in case they could not leave their houses due to quarantine measures.

From the examples presented here, it becomes clear that participants largely perceived themselves as well as other people as rational social actors who took preparedness measures in the face of uncertainty. However, there were some cases in which preparedness (and by extent some instances of shopping behaviours) was driven by people’s perceptions of how other people would act:

Extract 15

I: Okay. Did you believe any statements that you heard about there being enough food or not enough food and that there was no need to panic?

P19: Yes. I believed that there was no need to panic. My concerns weren’t whether there was enough food and stock. It was whether we would be able to access it once people had started stockpiling.

And

Extract 16

P6: I didn’t, so at some point I did but the thing is when- so I remember still going to the supermarket on a Saturday, a week or two before the lockdown, and everything seemed pretty normal although I noticed that the toilet paper aisle was empty, so I just did my shop that I usually do and then at around lunchtime I saw a message from our Facebook from the same supermarket that I’ve just been in and everything shelf was empty, everything, and that was, and that changed my mentality a bit in that way that I just got worried that just because everyone else is buying stuff I may not get a hold of it, so then I reached the point where I did my buy two instead of one, yeah, I don’t know, tomatoes or pasta or whatever, just so I am on the safe side, but it was more- I would say this is more the second wave response because this was a response to other people panic buying.

As illustrated above, participants reported buying additional products as a means of preparedness against potential shortages. However, from their accounts, their reactions were largely driven by other people’s behaviour. Participants’ concerns were guided not by potential product shortages but due to other people buying extra products, which could potentially render them unable to purchase the products that they needed. Similarly, participants reported that they doubled how many products they bought not as a response to the pandemic itself but due to people’s actual behaviours. The increase was driven by comparisons of the pre- and post-lockdown observations of shortages of some products which were amplified by messages in social media. Thus, some participants did increase their purchases as they were concerned about how other people would react to the pandemic.