News release

From: University of the Sunshine Coast

Panic buying doesn’t just respond to shortages - it creates them. And according to a University of the Sunshine Coast behavioural scientist, the lessons learned during COVID-19 remain critical for preventing future buying frenzies.

Dr Karina Rune, a researcher in health and behavioural sciences at UniSC, says panic buying is driven less by who people are and more by how risk and social behaviour are communicated during times of uncertainty.

“We saw this clearly during COVID,” said Dr Rune, who led collaborative research published in a recent paper in Behavioral Sciences, 'Reducing Panic Buying During Crisis Lockdowns: A Randomised Controlled Trial of a Theory-Based Online Intervention'.

“People weren’t panic buying because they were anxious personalities or poor planners," she said. "They were responding to the belief that stockpiling was sensible, necessary, or something everyone else was doing.”

During Australia’s COVID-19 lockdowns, supermarket shelves were stripped bare of toilet paper, cleaning products and long-life food as consumers rushed to stock up.

Similar behaviour continues to re-emerge during fuel shortages, extreme weather events and other disruptions, despite repeated assurances that supply chains are stable.

Research led by Dr Rune and colleagues published in December 2025 found that people were more likely to buy extra when they believed there was a risk in not stockpiling, or when they perceived social approval for doing so.

“When people think, ‘If I don’t buy now, I’ll miss out,’ or ‘Everyone else is doing it,’ panic buying becomes a rational response to uncertainty,” Dr Rune said.

“The problem is, when lots of people do this at once, it creates the very shortages they’re trying to avoid.”

Importantly, the research also showed what does not drive panic buying. Demographic factors such as age, gender, income and household size were not reliable predictors, nor were personality traits like intolerance of uncertainty or previous hoarding behaviour.

“This tells us panic buying is a collective behaviour problem, not an individual failing,” Dr Rune said.

Building on these insights, Dr Rune’s team tested whether panic buying could be reduced by changing the way messages are framed.

In a randomised controlled trial, Australian shoppers were shown brief, evidence-based messages designed to challenge beliefs about risk, social norms and the perceived ‘smartness’ of stockpiling.

The result was a significant reduction in people’s willingness and intention to panic buy, particularly for hygiene products and nonperishable food.

"The takeaway from COVID is that telling people 'don't panic' doesn't work," Dr Rune said.

"What does work is explaining how panic buying harms everyone, reinforcing that most people are buying normally, and addressing risk perceptions before shelves start to empty.”

As Australia continues to face climate-driven disasters and supply disruptions, Dr Rune says applying these behavioural lessons early could help prevent panic buying before it takes hold.

“COVID showed us panic buying is predictable, which means it’s preventable,” she said.