Panic Buying – A Scared Response

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COURT HOUSE – Court House resident Audrey Annunziato stopped at Somers Point Shoprite on a return trip from a doctor’s appointment, thinking she would get just a few necessities including toilet paper. Annunziato said she was shocked to find that the store placed a limit on what she could buy. She was allowed one roll only. 
Carole Weisman, also of Court House, went to the local Acme two days later, expecting shortages of certain paper goods and disinfectants. She discovered empty compartments where frozen dinners are normally stacked high.
Lia Smith, of Rio Grande, shopped for her mother at the local ShopRite and found common items, like russet potatoes, gone from their bin and unavailable.
A recent visit to a local supermarket found not a single box of spaghetti available, but penne could still be bought.
Nielson reports that nationally, dog and cat food sales are up 52%.
One day, at the Marmora ShopRite, milk was available only in gallon containers with all other sizes gone. The same Marmora market pulled shades down over empty meat cases of chicken and ground beef.
The daughter of a local resident lives in San Diego. California resident Rebecca Little could find no toilet paper anywhere in area stores. Friends arranged for an online order to reach her. The toilet paper arrived from China.
Cape May County has not experienced the extreme ravages of the COVID-19 virus, but people have been hoarding for the day when it might. 
Problem of Demand Not Supply
Economists call panic buying a problem of demand-side scarcity. Supply of products is what it has always been, but a sudden spike in demand has upset the balance faster than supply chains can adjust. 
Ronald Manderscheid, of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Policy, says that people respond to a crisis in different ways, with about one in three functioning normally. Others may become immobilized, hyperactive or hypervigilant.
The mental health impact can lead to fear, paranoia and even anger. Coping with stress is even harder in an environment that places an emphasis on isolation.
A series of studies show four common factors coming into play and affecting individuals in varied ways.
Psychologists argue that some people go into, what they term, “survival mode,” a situation in which expert advice is often ignored, and a more primitive need to assure one’s survival drives behavior. 
Another factor is that behavior like panic buying of “necessary” items can lead to temporary scarcity. The perceived scarcity induces a sense of vulnerability. This is termed the “scarcity effect.”
Weisman said the most common comment from other shoppers as they stood at a distance from each other was, “Can you believe this?” 
The comment was often made while people engaged in the behavior they were commenting about. This third factor is known as “herd behavior.” 
Studies also argue that people will sometimes buy what they can because it provides some “sense of control” in an environment they have never experienced before. 
Stores Respond
Stores have responded by hiring additional staff to implement stiffer cleaning protocols. They have curtailed hours to give staff time to restock selves, while they also work with suppliers to ramp up supply chains. 
Until there is product to meet the spiking demand, stores are also imposing limits on the purchase of certain goods. 
Annunziato found that out when she was limited to one roll of toilet tissue. 
Panic buying’s impact has gone beyond the supermarket aisles. Uncertainty breeds a fear of social unrest, with Fortune reporting a spike in the sales of guns and ammunition across the country. Adweek reported that pandemic and disaster related programming has surged on streaming services.
One academic study done, following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, noted that “Households that did engage in panic buying appear to have done so quite randomly for a wide range of products.” 
Perhaps, that explains why a mail-order seed emporium, Victory Seed Company, has been forced to issue “pandemic ordering terms,” which anyone wishing to order from the company must indicate they have read and agreed to. 
 Scarcity of products has even led New Jersey officials to expand the choices available to those using Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) funds. The Department of Health website notes that the step was taken because of “limited food selection related to recent events.” 
Supply Chains Are Adjusting
Experts advise that the supply chains are relatively resilient. Yet, seemingly random, rolling shortages still are prevalent. 
The problem is that the uncertainty is growing at the same time as the supply chains adjust. The country’s major urban centers are in chaos or expecting it soon. 
Progressively draconian lockdowns have been ordered in virus hot spots. 
A degree of panic buying may ebb and flow as the uncertainty does even with resupply happening as fast as retailers can make it happen.
During a recent afternoon, several people stood outside the door to the butchers’ workspace, at the Court House Acme. All ground beef was gone from the cases. As a man in a bloodied white coat came out with a tray of packaged beef, it was all taken before it reached the cases. 
He explained that there were two men in the back working on grinding more. “Fifteen to 20 minutes,” he promised. 
This reporter had gotten his and left, but others waited patiently standing at a distance from each other. 
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.