Media portrayal of panic buying: A content analysis of online news portals

Abstract

ObjectivesMedia reporting has an influential role in panic buying (PB). We aimed to evaluate the media portrayal of PB during this COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe searched, collected, and analysed the news reports from the English media discussing the PB events. The search was done between 23 and 30 May 2020.ResultsA total of 525 news reports were analysed. Approximately half (49.3%) discussed the government action to handle the situation, 36.4% discussed the expert opinion regarding PB, 20.6% discussed the psychology of PB, 21.5% discussed the rumours, and 18.5% suggested remedial measures. Concerning the negative aspects, 96.6% of the titles mentioned panic buying, 75.4% mentioned the cause, and 62.3% mentioned the photos of empty shelves. The media in low–middle-income countries are 1.5 times more likely to include expert opinion (p = 0.03), 2.1 times more likely to discuss rumours regarding PB (p = 0.001), almost thrice more likely to report the cause of PB (p = 0.001), and thrice more likely to mention its impact (p = 0.001).ConclusionMedia has been portraying more negative aspects of PB. Further, there are variations in reporting patterns between high-income and low–middle-income countries.

Responsible Factors of Panic Buying: An Observation From Online Media Reports

“…In case they were unable to reach an agreement, the issue was resolved by involving all authors in a group discussion. The above methodology was adapted from previous media-based studies on PB that used a single keyword search strategy (1,4).…”

“…Based on the existing literature (3, 5, 6) and our previous works (1,4), the team formulated the questionnaire through the Zoom meeting. The instrument had two sections consisting of (a) the identification section and (b) the attributed factors section.…”

“…Panic buying (PB) is an erratic human behavior that has been reported irregularly and episodically; however, PB has been reported since long before and appeared especially during a major emergency event (1)(2)(3). It has been noticed and reported in online media during this COVID-19 pandemic in several countries in the world (1,4,5). It has been explained as "the phenomenon of a sudden increase in buying of one or more essential goods in excess of regular need provoked by adversity, usually a disaster or an outbreak resulting in an imbalance between supply and demand" (4).…”

“…However, there are also challenges to studying the phenomenon systematically as it is erratic, irregular, episodic, sudden, unpredictable, and mostly happens during emergency situations (10). Interestingly, PB is a newsworthy issue and has been frequently reported (1,4). Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the responsible factors of PB extracted from online media reports.…”

The Impact of COVID-19 and Public Health Emergencies on Consumer Purchase of Scarce Products in China

“…Although exploring psychological mechanisms is important for people to understand and manage panic buying (3,4), the influence of the media on panic buying cannot be ignored. This is because, psychological factors may in turn be influenced by the media (52) and panic buying can also be caused by unbalanced media coverage. For example, when media display the photos of empty shelves indicating the scarcity, they help to increase tension, anxiety, and fear among the general population, resulting in further increase in panic buying (2).…”