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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Reducing Panic Buying During Crisis Lockdowns: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Theory-Based Online Intervention
Behavioral Sciences, Vol.16(1), pp.1-19
2026
PMID: 41594982
Appears in COVID-19 Research
Abstract
COVID-19 lockdown announcements triggered global waves of panic buying, leading to widespread panic buying of essential goods and supply chain disruptions. Although the acute phase of the pandemic has passed, panic buying continues to emerge during natural disasters, extreme weather events, and other crisis-related disruptions, highlighting the ongoing need for evidence-based strategies to address its psychological drivers. Social cognition constructs, including willingness, intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and risk perceptions, have been identified as modifiable psychological predictors of panic buying. However, few studies have experimentally tested theory-driven interventions aimed at modifying these mechanisms. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief, online intervention based on integrated social cognition models in reducing panic-buying-related cognitions during a hypothetical lockdown scenario. A pre-registered randomized controlled trial was conducted with Australian grocery shoppers (N = 140), who were randomly allocated to an intervention or control condition. Participants completed self-report measures assessing their willingness, intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and risk perceptions at both pre- and post-intervention times. The hypotheses were partially supported. Compared with the control condition, the intervention group reported greater reductions across targeted psychological constructs. For hygiene products, significant decreases were observed across all five constructs, and for non-perishable foods, willingness, intention, and attitudes significantly decreased. For cleaning products, reductions were evident for attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions. These findings suggest that theory-informed, scalable interventions can effectively modify the social cognition processes underlying panic buying. This study extends existing research and demonstrates the potential for brief, theory-based communication strategies to reduce panic-buying-related cognitions. Future research should evaluate these interventions in real-world settings and explore mechanisms to target automatic cognitive processes.
Details
- Title
- Reducing Panic Buying During Crisis Lockdowns: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Theory-Based Online Intervention
- Authors
- Karina T. Rune (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - PsychologyTrent N. Davis - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - PsychologyJacob J. Keech - Griffith University
- Publication details
- Behavioral Sciences, Vol.16(1), pp.1-19
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.3390/bs16010042
- ISSN
- 2076-328X
- PMID
- 41594982
- Copyright note
- © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
- Data Availability
- The materials, data, syntax, and output presented in this study are openly available on the Open Science Framework (OSF) at https://osf.io/2kd9a/ (accessed 17 November 2025).
- Organisation Unit
- Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; Cancer Research Cluster; School of Health - Psychology; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991199049302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
26 Record Views
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Psychology, Multidisciplinary