Panic Buying Situation during COVID-19 Global Pandemic

Abstract

After the Coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) outbreak, the Whole world witnessed the strangest buying behavior within the customers. Suddenly masks, hand sanitizers, and toilet papers became the priority list of the customers. High demand and lesser availability of essentials products like masks, toilet papers, and hand sanitizers create a chaotic situation inside the retail outlet's stores. The buyer’s behavior and the chaotic scenario inside a retail outlet drew the attention of several consumer psychologists, academicians, and researchers. A panic buying situation is the most common behavior that exists in a time of crisis. This paper discusses the panic buying situation briefly during COVID-19. However, a few types of research and studies were captured in the panic buying behavior. The current study examined the factors that influenced the customers buying decisions during the COVID-19 outbreak and secondly, it examined to what extent the buying decision of a customer creates a panic situation. Furthermore, the study looked at the emotional and cognitive responses of the individuals which play a pivotal role in influencing customer decision making the journey. Qualitative content analysis and thematic methodology were considered for data analysis. The results indicated that fear and uncertainties were the key emotional responses; whereas rumors, fallacious thinking, and survivalist psychological were the key cognitive responses that influenced the customer decision journey.