What’s Up with the Toilet Paper?

Marlin Abel
University of Central Florida
ENC1102: Researching Literacy Practice and Rhetoric in Times of Covid-19
Dr. Steffen Guenzel
April 5, 2021
Draft Outline 1

During the Covid-19 pandemic, unusual habits arose from shoppers, and certain
products were bought sporadically or even out of stock. The products of sanitizer, masks, and
toilet paper were major supplies that people cared about stocking up on. I want to analyze
reasons people bought these particular products, but also other factors that could lead to empty
stock. This topic interests me because it was such important news for several months, and most
people wondered how and why stores were lacking important products for so long.

Everybody acts different in emergencies, and the degree of severity that Covid-19
entailed was also different depending on who you asked. This psychological element is
something that can affect these 3 products, and has a lot of depth to it. The government can
also change the supply of such goods. Tariffs, travel bans, offering replacements are all actions
that greatly change the products available. This can also tie into the psychological side of
things, depending on how much the citizens trust their government. An obvious and simple way
that affects the stock of supplies is the production of said supplies. The logistics and
manufacturing of sanitizer, masks, and toilet paper are all different from each other, and can
yield similarities between them being out of stock.

My audience is intended to be anyone that buys these 3 products during the pandemic,
either for themself or others. I want this information to reach them because my audience is
responsible for the phenomena I will be explaining, and I want to reduce the occurrence of such.

(Psychological part of panic buying)

● Locus of control
● Outside pressure
● Fear of unknown

Here I will talk about the 3 main reasons for panic buying, and how they can be avoided.
I will also bring in social media trends and it will slightly overlap with the next section.

(Government effects)
● Tariffs
● Government-sponsored substitutes
● Orders to hoard (small topic)
● Distrust in government (also psychological)
 Here I will talk about how governments can affect my topic, offering both pros and cons.
I think this will be an interesting section because it can be both a plus and minus for supply
stock.

(Production factors of Supplies)

● Toilet paper being outlier
● DIY alternatives/effectiveness

This section might be the shortest, because there isn’t much arguing to have about
statistics, but I did find some good information about toilet paper being especially difficult to
supply. DIY alternatives to masks and sanitizer can lead to an interesting discussion about if it is
even worth it.

(Conclusion)
● Psychological Aspect having the closest impact with the audience, but the government
and production section being more relevant.

I want to find balance in making sure my research paper can be applied to my readers. I
focusing on the production chains and government policies might make the research seem less
relevant.

References

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