Stocking up to prepare for a crisis isn't 'panic buying'. It's actually a pretty rational choice
- Written by David A. Savage, Associate Professor of Behavioural Economics , Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle
Recent days have brought reports of shoppers clearing out supermarket shelves from Wuhan and Hong Kong to Singapore and Milan in response to the spread of coronavirus. This behaviour is often described as “panic buying”.
However, the research shows that what’s going on here is nothing to do with panic. It’s a perfectly...