Stockpiling intentions and customer well‐being during the COVID‐19 pandemic

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Gurmeet Singh,Neale J. Slack,Shavneet Sharma,Amandeep Dhir
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12522

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Stockpiling intentions and customer well-being

during the COVID-19 pandemic

Gurmeet Singh

1

| Neale J. Slack

1

| Shavneet Sharma

1

|

Amandeep Dhir

2,3,4

1

School of Business and Management,

The University of The South Pacific,

Suva, Fiji

2

School of Business & Law, University of

Adger, Kristiansand, Norway

3

Norwegian School of Hotel

Management, University of Stavanger,

Stavanger, Norway

4

Optentia Research Focus Area, North-

West University, Vanderbijlpark,

South Africa

Correspondence

Gurmeet Singh, School of Business and

Management, The University of The

South Pacific, Suva, Fiji.

Email: gurmeet.singh@usp.ac.fj

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated factors

influence customers' stockpiling intentions. This study

examines the impact of various factors on customers'

stockpiling intentions. It develops a model combining

threat severity and fear of COVID-19, customer well-

being dimensions, and constructs relating to the theo-

ries of planned behavior and competitive arousal to

explain the effect of these on stockpiling intentions.

Adopting a quantitative design, we analyzed data from

476 respondents using covariance-based structural

equation modeling. The empirical results confirm that

threat severity (with the fear of COVID-19 as a media-

tor) and fear of COVID-19 positively influenced indi-

viduals' attitudes toward stockpiling. Additionally, a

positive attitude toward stockpiling, subjective norms

that support stockpiling, the degree of perceived behav-

ioral control, perceived scarcity, and time pressure pos-

itively influence stockpiling intentions. This study's

findings thus contribute to a better understanding of

customers' stockpiling intentions during a crisis and

assist policymakers in developing effective COVID-19

response and recovery strategies.

KEYWORDS

competitive arousal theory, COVID-19, customer well-being,

stockpiling intentions, theory of planned behavior

Received: 29 October 2020 Revised: 1 November 2022 Accepted: 24 February 2023

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12522

© 2023 American Council on Consumer Interests.

J Consum Aff. 2023;57:1039–1065. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca 1039

1|INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the world (WHO, 2020). Governments have

enforced population-wide physical distancing measures and movement restrictions. These

restrictions, which aim to limit contact between individuals and suppress the community trans-

mission of COVID-19, include limits on business trading as well as self-isolation requirements

for returning overseas travelers and individuals who are victims of the virus (Loxton

et al., 2020; WHO, 2020). With further outbreaks of the virus possible, uncertainty abounding,

and government-enforced restrictions continuing to change, people must adapt, and businesses

must transform to meet new and evolving norms (WHO, 2020). Researchers attempting to deci-

pher the magnitude of the pandemic's consequences have noted unprecedented changes in cus-

tomer behavior (Demetriou, 2020), such as altered consumption patterns in terms of what,

when, and how many items are purchased (Chen et al., 2020; Loxton et al., 2020). Practitioners

have attempted to respond to the shifting business landscape by altering prices, volumes,

values, and supply chains. During these unprecedented times, information is often limited, mis-

represented, and conflicting, generating confusion and atypical behavior in customers' decision-

making processes. Panic buying (also known as stockpiling) is one of the most common and

widely reported aberrant customer behaviors and has been seen during the COVID-19 pan-

demic, other humanitarian crises, and natural disasters (Laato et al., 2020).

The pandemic has seen widespread irrational stockpiling by customers, with people con-

verging on stores and wiping shelves clean of essential household items and medical supplies

(Chen et al., 2016). Importantly, this stockpiling is considered a socially undesirable form of

herd behavior (Steven et al., 2014). It creates sporadic surges in demand for consumer goods

and thus contributes to supply chain disruptions, stockouts, and price increases (Yuen

et al., 2020).

In addition, stockpiling prevents other customers and vulnerable groups in society from

accessing daily necessities and medical supplies from retail markets (Wesseler, 2020). Largely

motivated by observations during the COVID-19 pandemic, customer behavior research on

stockpiling intentions during pandemic conditions has continued to advance (Kirk &

Rifkin, 2020). This research is based on the views and assertions of medical professionals, aca-

demics, and journalists, as well as content on social media platforms (Yap & Chen, 2020). Nev-

ertheless, the extant literature and understanding of stockpiling intentions during pandemic

conditions remain quite limited. Even more scarce is empirical evidence on the causes of

stockpiling intentions during a pandemic (Yuen et al., 2020) and the influence of customer

well-being on those intentions.

Noting these gaps in the extant research and the continued effects of COVID-19 on cus-

tomers' behavioral intentions across the globe (Demetriou, 2020), this study synthesizes the

scant and disjointed literature on stockpiling (Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational

Research, 2020) and contributes new empirical knowledge on antecedent factors that

influenced customers' stockpiling intentions during COVID-19. Rather than taking a cursory

view and providing superficial insight into the complex phenomenon of stockpiling intentions

with a single-theory approach—for example, the theory of planned behavior (TPB)—in a single

model, we employ a broader approach.

We synthesize several elements into a more integrated model, these being the influence of

threat severity and fear of COVID-19, competing theories (i.e., the competitive arousal theory

and TPB) and their associated constructs, as well as the multidimensional facets of customer

well-being (i.e., subjective, psycho-social, and financial well-being and life satisfaction). In so

1040 SINGH ET AL.