Rejuvenate Empathy to Curb Panic Buying

Any frontline employee in a grocery store has witnessed one customer helping another. People are by nature empathic, at least during carefree times. In times of product shortages, such as the supply line disruptions from a natural disaster or pandemic, that empathy may be tough to spot, though. Shoppers engage in panic buying, cleaning out inventory, depriving their fellow consumers of items they need. They may then hoard the items at home.
     A team of researchers at ETH Zurich and University of St. Gallen sees panic buying as contagious. Bulk purchases by a few highly anxious customers result in stockouts which, because of the general anxiety from the natural disaster or pandemic, trigger a panic buying mindset in other shoppers.
     To disrupt this spiraling, the researchers say, rejuvenate the faded empathy. In one of their studies, some participants were shown a picture of a relatively empty supermarket shelf with a customer notice containing a personalized appeal: “Think of nurses like me. If you buy too much, there won’t be enough left for me. Buy only what you need. Amy P.”
     This message tapped into associations with nurses as helping professionals who worked extremely long hours during the COVID-19 pandemic and so had limited time to go grocery shopping.
     Each study participant was also presented with a description of panic buying as a worldwide phenomenon during the first wave of the pandemic and asked to state how many days of supplies everyone should stockpile at home in anticipation of an upcoming wave of infections.
     Data analysis showed that the average number of stated days was significantly lower than from another set of participants not shown the Nurse Amy message. Still other sets of participants were shown a notice reading, “89% of our customers currently buy 2 units at most…. Buy only as much as you need,” or, “The nation is currently experiencing a shortage of various products and common sense. So buy only as much as you want….” Neither of these was as clearly effective as the Nurse Amy empathy appeal.
     Also, there was no evidence that the picture of the relatively empty supermarket shelf mattered. The Nurse Amy message worked even when the picture was of a relatively full shelf.
     Retailers can use empathy appeals to curb panic buying. Public policy organizations could use empathy appeals to discourage hoarding and encourage sharing of purchases during times of shortages.

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