An explorative study of the individual differences associated with consumer stockpiling during the early stages of the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak in Europe

Abstract

There is little existing research on why some people stockpile goods and others do not at a time of crisis. More research on this phenomenon and the individual differences associated with it is needed in order to gain a better understanding of what is a potentially economically and socially disruptive behavior. In this study, 175 adult participants from Denmark and 90 from the United Kingdom responded to a survey about the activity of extra shopping (stockpiling) during the first weeks of the Coronavirus outbreak. Questions exploring the “big five” personality traits, Social Dominance Orientation, Health Literacy, and attitudes to the governmental response to the crisis were included in the survey. The explorative analysis showed that stockpiling was associated with high scores on Extraversion and Neuroticism, and low scores on Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience. Stockpiling was also associated with the view that the government should be doing more to stop the Coronavirus epidemic. An explorative factor analysis of reasons for stockpiling identified the two factors “Panic” and “Action”.

Age-related differences in the perception of COVID-19 emergency during the Italian outbreak

“…Finally, we did not measure health literacy, which could play a major role in explaining attitudes, emotions and behavior during a health crisis (Graffigna et al, 2020;Wolf et al, 2020). For instance, there is evidence indicating that lower COVID-related health literacy is associated with reduced preventive behaviors and social distancing (Riiser, Helseth, Haraldstad, Torbjørnsen, & Richardsen, 2020;Zhong et al, 2020), and with increased stockpiling behavior (Dammeyer, 2020).…”

Resilience effects in food consumption behaviour at the time of Covid-19: perspectives from Italy

“…The Covid-19 crisis led to a situation of health emergency that is likely to trigger an uncontrollable emotion of anxiety ( Dammeyer, 2020 ). This in turn may lead consumers to preventive behaviours, such as concentrating all resources to store commodities, medicine, and food ( Long and Khoi, 2020 ).…”

A Biopsychosocial Approach to Understanding Panic Buying: Integrating Neurobiological, Attachment-Based, and Social-Anthropological Perspectives

“…When considering the real-world applications of this model, it is worth noting that many of the risk factors for panic buying identified by researchers can be accommodated within this framework. Individual factors such as neuroticism, need for reassurance and a high level of anxiety are—as would be predicted by the literature on hoarding disorder—associated with higher levels of panic buying ( 19 , 21 , 23 , 24 ), as are local conditions characterized by higher levels of social isolation or interpersonal stress ( 13 , 21 ). The model proposed here is also entirely consistent with the frameworks outlined by Alchin ( 25 ) and Arafat et al ( 21 ) and is in many senses complementary to them; while Alchin's model highlights the role of threat perception and social learning in panic buying, and Arafat et al's model integrates psychological and social factors, the current model provides further insights regarding possible biological, psychological and social processes that underpin these constructs.…”

“…Individual factors : male sex ( 18 ); increased extraversion and neuroticism; low conscientiousness and openness ( 19 ); need to belong ( 20 ); need for safety or reassurance ( 21 – 23 ); anxiety or worry ( 8 , 21 , 23 ); reduced adherence to social distancing ( 17 ); conservative attitudes ( 17 );…”

“…Social and economic factors : local severity of the pandemic ( 13 , 20 ); perception of scarcity or of an increase in price ( 21 ); lack of trust in public authorities ( 19 , 21 ); misinformation ( 20 , 21 ); restrictions on internal movement ( 13 ); pre-existing psychiatric illness ( 24 ).…”