Coronavirus: to quell panic buying, be more like Singapore and less like Japan

To instil a sense of calm, governments have to inspire confidence and make people believe that everything is under control

Success depends upon how individualistic their people are, and how much trust they generally have for each other and their government

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People carry bags of newly purchased toilet paper while crossing a road in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 9:27am, 11 Mar 2020Updated: 9:27am, 11 Mar 2020

The worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus is leading to some curious side effects: Store shelves are being stripped bare from Singapore to Seattle. Supermarkets in the UK have started rationing items. In Hong Kong a delivery man was reportedly robbed at knifepoint of hundreds of rolls of toilet paper. Australia has seen brawls break out in supermarkets prompting police to taser one man. And France effectively nationalised all production of face masks after people began depleting the supply.

Panic buying has emerged as reliable a feature of the coronavirus epidemic as a fever or dry cough.

Psychologists view control as a fundamental human need. With a disease that is highly infectious and can turn deadly, this epidemic violates a sense of control in fundamental ways. Unless policymakers can find a way to restore that feeling, the cycle of panic buying, hoarding and scarcity only stands to escalate.

“People are really not equipped psychologically to process this type of thing,” said Andrew Stephen, a marketing professor at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School. “So that just makes it worse for a lot of people in terms of uncertainty, and then they do whatever they need to do to try and get back some control.”

Shoppers pass empty shelves at a supermarket in Hong Kong. Photo: Edward Wong

The panic buying is already threatening to do real damage. The US Surgeon General has pleaded with Americans to stop buying face masks to ensure that health care workers have them, while Japan has said it will introduce penalties for reselling masks. eBay banned new listings for health products after instances of price gouging became common, with packs of hand sanitiser that usually sell for US$10 popping up for US$400.