Panic Buying: Modeling What Drives it and How it Deteriorates Emotional Well-being

This study develops a panic buying model that explains its driving forces and adverse consequences. The data were collected from 415 U.S. nationwide consumers during the outbreak of the current pandemic and analyzed through structural equation modeling. Results indicated that although social learning through traditional media did not significantly affect consumers’ fearfulness toward product shortage or panic buying, social learning through social media exerts significant effects on both. The results also provide empirical evidence that consumers’ panic buying can trigger them to experience more negative emotions, which proves why such abnormal buying behaviors are an essential matter to be addressed.