The DOI matches its Crossref record; 40 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Consumer Behaviour during Crises: Preliminary Research on How Coronavirus Has Manifested Consumer Panic Buying, Herd Mentality, Changing Discretionary Spending and the Role of the Media in Influencing Behaviour
Open accessAbstract
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic spread globally from its outbreak in China in early 2020, negatively affecting economies and industries on a global scale. In line with historic crises and shock events including the 2002-04 SARS outbreak, the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and 2017 Hurricane Irma, COVID-19 has significantly impacted global economic conditions, causing significant economic downturns, company and industry failures, and increased unemployment. To understand how conditions created by the pandemic to date compare to the aforementioned shock events, we conducted a thorough literature review focusing on the presentation of panic buying and herd mentality behaviours, changes to discretionary consumer spending as defined by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and the impact of global media on these behaviours. The methodology utilised to analyse panic buying, herd mentality and altered patterns of consumer discretionary spending (according to Maslow’s theory) involved an analysis of consumer spending data, largely focused on Australian and American markets. Here, we analysed the volume and timing of consumer spending patterns; the volumes of spending on specific, highly-demanded consumer goods during the investigative period; and the distribution of spending on luxury and non-durable goods to identify the occurrence of these consumer behaviours. Moreover, to identify the presence of the media in influencing consumer behaviour we focused on web traffic to media sites, alongside keyword and phrase data mining. We conclude that, to date, consumer behaviour during the COVID-19 crisis appears to align with behaviours exhibited during historic shock events. We hope to contribute to the body of research on the early months of this pandemic before longer-term studies are available.
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“when others are seen to panic buy, this may intensify the perceived scarcity of a product and increase the motivation to panic buy, resulting in herd behaviour (Baddeley, 2010; Loxton et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2020).”
From Why did all the toilet paper disappear? Distinguishing between panic buying and hoarding during COVID-19 (2021) · cites this paper as Loxton et al., 2020
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“In both countries panic buying peaked in March (Keane and Neal, 2020; Loxton et al., 2020; Prentice et al., 2020).”
From Why did all the toilet paper disappear? Distinguishing between panic buying and hoarding during COVID-19 (2021) · cites this paper as Loxton et al., 2020
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Workie, E., Mackolil, J., Nyika, J. M., & Sendhil, R. (2020) · Current Research in Environmental Sustainability · doi:10.1016/j.crsust.2020.100014 · Cited by 429
Online Shopping Motives during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Lessons from the Crisis
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Psychological factors and consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic
Crosta, A. D., Ceccato, I., Marchetti, D., Malva, P. L., Maiella, R., Cannito, L., Cipi, M., Mammarella, N., Palumbo, R., Verrocchio, M. C., et al. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256095 · Cited by 383
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Online Consumer Purchasing Behavior
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Panic buying research: A systematic literature review and future research agenda
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Metadata
- Authors
- Loxton, M., Truskett, R., Scarf, B., Sindone, L., Baldry, G., & Zhao, Y.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zhao, Yinong
- ORCID
- Baldry, George
- Venue
- Journal of Risk and Financial Management
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2020-07-30
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 166
- ISSN
- 1911-8066 (ISSN-L)
- 1911-8074
- OpenAlex
- W3045639497
- Cited by
- 415
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 81 · 2022: 110 · 2021: 99 · 2020: 15
- FWCI
- 64.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of risk and financial management (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Econstor (Econstor) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- The Sydney eScholarship Repository (The University of Sydney) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Consumer Behavior and Market Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, consumer behavior, panic buying, herding behavior, discretionary spending, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, media influence on consumers, consumer spending patterns, luxury goods, non-durable goods, shock events, SARS, Christchurch earthquakes, Hurricane Irma
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