Toilet Paper MADNESS?! – Ben Truong

As the Coronavirus pandemic shows no sign of slowing down many people all around the globe have started panicking. The scare has thrown people into a state of panic buying toilet paper and other hygiene items. Reports have even emerged that a man in Hong Kong has been robbed at knife point for 600 rolls of toilet paper.

Consumers buying rolls and rolls of toilet paper relates in with FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out. In the views of Dr Renata Schoeman, a psychiatrist, the panic buying could come from consumers with pre-existing anxiety or compulsions related to germs, however, she said that this was the minority.

She said that it was quite normal for people to panic buy when faced with uncertainty relating back to the Day Zero incident in Cape Town where people started stocking up with water when they were faced with the issue of the taps running dry.

“When we feel uncertain of something, we resort to things that increase our sense of control.”

The panic buying of all the toilet paper also ties into the herd mentality of consumers.

So what is Herd mentality/Mob mentality?

When confronted by decisions where the outcomes are highly unpredictable, people often follow the crowd, or the ‘general consensus’ because it feels safer. Basically, what this means is that many consumers tend to trust others and their decision making rather than their own decision making because they believe that the other consumers must know more than them.

I mean I understand why hygiene items would be out of stock such as hand sanitizers as it helps combat bacteria however toilet paper is just ridiculous. The current situation is just absurd and there is no correlation whatsoever on toilet paper and the coronavirus. Many consumers went into shock as they saw that other consumers were bulk buying toilet paper which led them to bulk buy toilet papers for themselves causing a domino effect.

“I think it’s ridiculous! Why toilet paper?” a Sydney shopper told A Current Affair. “The only reason I’ve bought it is because I didn’t think I could get any.”

“We see everyone buying, so ‘oh dear’ we must also buy hand sanitiser, face masks or toilet paper when we see others doing exactly the same… people are also scared they might miss out on having a product, thinking they might need it.” Dr Schoeman addressed to News24

It got to the point where Woolworths and many other supermarkets had to implement a restriction on how many toilet papers consumers could buy.

Well all in all I believe that this current situation is very absurd however it also relates to the fact that many of the consumers bulk buying toilet paper don’t have enough information on the current Coronavirus pandemic thus are trusting others. I believe to combat this toilet paper incident the government or supermarkets need to inform the populace on Coronavirus and how to combat it.