Abel 1

Marlin Abel
Professor Guenzel
ENC 1102
31 March 2021
Final Draft
Coronavirus: The Psychology of Panic Buying
“Why the hell does anyone need so much toilet paper?” Early 2021 was a strange time for

most people, and mass panic was spread by numerous means. One such fear was that essential

supplies would not be available to most customers. Such fear drove people to over-purchase

these supplies, called panic buying. This topic was a very pressing issue, and shoppers globally

needed to know if their actions were rationalized or not. This rationalization and explanation is

something I needed to do more research on, instead of the logistics and supply of products.

My research question asks why people panic bought masks, sanitizers, and toilet paper. I

chose this article from BBC because it brought up very good points about the human faults that

can lead to panic buying. All 3 of my products were briefly mentioned in this article, so reasoned

it would be applicable enough in that regard at least. The author claims that panic buying has

negative consequences, but more importantly explains the several reasons that people still panic

buy. The reasons for such was my primary question when looking for this article. Human

psychology is very complex (like humans in general), and covering this issue would explain

most other strange phenomena in my paper.

In order to successfully complete my analysis I needed a source about the psychology of

panic buying, and BBC published this article a year ago about the psychology of panic buying

and the effects of it during covid-19. I chose this article because BBC is a trusted news source
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internationally. They have over two thousand journalists and talk about many different areas of

news. Instead of using older formats, this article was published electronically, which reflects how

current the events are. Due to this structure, hyperlinks can be used whenever an outside source

is referenced, which is very useful. A formal tone is used throughout the article, which is to be

expected. This particular author argues against panic buying, but also gives some valid reasons

why it still happens. The author has good reason to take this side, as they believe it is in the

collective's best interest to share instead of hoard. These values are something I also believe in,

but I can understand the other side of the argument.

The audience for this article is phrased as if the reader doesn't panic buy, but I imagine

the author wants panic buyers to hear their information. The author talks about the media’s

influence can affect panic buying, which is a noble reason for them to spread their viewpoint.

Spreading true information is the easiest way to combat false information I imagine, and the

writer didn’t want to create any more mass panic than was already afoot.

The article includes pictures of empty shelves, full carts, and out of stock signs, which are

good examples of pathos to make the reader feel empathetic for those without supplies. Not

much bias is present in this article, presumably because they know as little as anyone else about

the virus. Regardless, opinion isn't used as a substitute for facts, and several trusted individuals

are quoted in the article. These sources are used to give reasoning for panic buying and to bring

credibility to the article. Like I said previously, hyperlinks are an extremely useful way to show

the audience where the information comes from. These make it more accessible to a casual

audience

The structure of the article first tells the story-in-motion of stores being out of stock, and

people being worried about the future. This is a strong way to set the urgency and need for this
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article to be published (kairos). A tweet from a worried shopper creates a small emotional

connection to the audience and the article too. The reader would feel empathetic for someone

having to wait 3 hours for a quick shopping trip, which is a good way to make your problem

seem personal. This wasn’t all deceptional of course, it did affect everyone.

The article then goes on to explain the downsides of panic buying with specific statistics

and evidence (logos). David Savage, a professor of behavioural and microeconomics is quoted

about the rationality of panic buying, adding more credibility. A professor and clinical

psychologist are also used as sources to describe the effects of panic buying. The credibility of

these authors could also be classified as ethos, which most of the article is full of. If this section

were longer, It would be the strongest section by far, but it falls a little short in my respect for

what I need it for. When covering economic factors of panic buying, I will use this section.

Overall I will use this one less than the next part.

The psychology of panic buying is the next and largest section. The argument made isn't

that panic buyers are selfish people. There isn’t much bias in this section either. It even claims

that using the term “panic” isn’t appropriate, because the buyers’ decision is based in reason.

Several good points are produced, like being in control of the situation, peer pressure, or fear of

the unknown. Wanting to feel in control of the situation is something everyone wants to do, yet

some get carried away with due to fear. Being told to do normal everyday things like wash hands

doesn’t seem like an adequate way to respond to a pandemic, so people take it too far.

Another expert, Owen Kulemeka at University of Illinois, is quoted in this section. He

brings up a new perspective about shoppers waiting to the last minute to buy, in case the storm

never comes (metaphorically). A professor of psychology, Helene Joffe, at University College

London, makes another good connection to past events. When people compare Covid-19 to a
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past outbreak like the black plague or Sars, peoples’ sense of risk can be misguided from what it

actually should be. Joffe is in favor of spreading truthful information like the author, which

makes me trust the article as a whole even more. Simply saying that people are overreacting is a

common stance that this author isn’t taking.

Many other panic buying situations in history are also rationalized in this section too. The

cuban missile crisis and Y2K are closely related to this situation, so both are compared. These

are both worth citing to give reasoning for panic buying. Using proof from past events makes for

strong evidence, especially when the situations were so similar. The people in those times were

preparing for a crisis, which is something the article is empathetic of. Being empathetic to the

other side is a strong perspective to include in your article. Knowing both sides of the argument

and choosing the stronger side is a good idea, and similar to the rogerian argument. A small point

I noticed in this section was that distrust in the government can lead to panic buying too. I

wished the author would talk more about this, but I can understand if they would want to only

briefly cover it. Telling people that others don’t trust their own governments might leave the

reader feeling uneasy, going against the whole point of the article.

I will for sure use this section the most. I don’t care as much about the other sections, but

I will have some use for the effects of panic buying. I really focused myself on the “why” for my

products, so this part will be very useful.

The final section is about alternatives to panic buying. The writer describes being stocked

year-round and thinking rationally before buying. This part is in strong favor of their argument of

not being selfish. Keeping yourself stocked year-round and keeping a calm head will benefit

everyone, and is something the author is in support of. Once again, false information is
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something the author actively speaks against. They use a source that showed how false social

media rumors can lead to confusion and panic.

In conclusion, I will be using this article as a source in my research project. Deep

reasoning about psychology, and also sources from professors line up well with my questions.

Instead of specializing on 1 product, this article looks at the large picture. I’m more than

comfortable with accommodating this into all 3 perspectives myself, though. In my opinion, the

author and the sources seemed lenient on people that panic bought. This was something I was

slightly surprised by, but it makes sense assuming they want to be unbiased. I will also be

looking at the other articles from those professors. They took all the same sides as the author and

myself. My overall takeaway from this writer would be the following: people panic buy for fear

of the unknown, ceasing apparent control, following the herd, and believing misinformation

(typically online). I found exactly what I was looking for in this article, and can’t wait to use it in

my project.

Works Cited
Lufkin, Bryan “Coronavirus: the Psychology of Panic Buying” BBC, $ March. 2020,
bbc.com/worklife/article/20200304-coronavirus-covid-19-update-why-people-are-stockpiling