em203panicbuying - Tumblr blog

[em203panicbuying]

Check out my Twitter! :)

[em203panicbuying]

Here’s my presentation! Enjoy :)

[em203panicbuying]

INFOGRAPHIC

Here’s an infographic on what panic buying is and how to prepare effectively against the COVID19 pandemic. The “every man for themselves” mentality is why the Western world is struggling (and will continue to) through the pandemic. Let’s promote a better understanding of collectivism and community and work together during these unfortunate times! 

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CREATIVITY: THE USE OF TUMBLR

To spread the news of panic buying during COVID-19 and its complexities, I chose to use Tumblr’s platform. Tumblr is a microblogging platform made up of shorter posts compared to regular blogs that include a couple sentences, quotes, photos, or videos. On Tumblr, users are able to post photos, GIFS, links, music, and text and other users are able to “reblog” which is equivalent to a “retweet” on Twitter, as per the weekly Twitter challenges in EM203. In other words, “reblogging” posts is another way to spread information and connect with other users locally and globally. Tumblr is an effective platform to communicate on as the sense of community is much stronger than other platforms. It is also a unique way to communicate as it offers a variety of “themes,” which allows me to best create a page that best supports the message I am trying to get across and the type of content I plan to post. 

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THE GLOBAL EFFECT AND SOLUTIONS

Aside from Canada, panic buying has taken off in many other countries such as Mexico, Egypt, and the Philippines. There is a lack of media coverage on non-Western countries. For example, consumers in Mexico are panic buying beer during the pandemic (Kahn, 2020). This has led the Mexican government to order a shutdown of all nonessential businesses, including alcoholic beverage production, for the month of April in hopes of alleviating the spread of COVID-19. Government Jaime Calderon from Nuevo Leon recommended the ban of alcohol sales as well (Kahn, 2020). He is concerned that with families self-isolated in their homes and under stress, this will lead to higher cases of domestic violence because of alcohol consumption. The Mexican brewer of Corona beer has also suspended production due to health emergencies in the country over the pandemic (Bangkokpost, 2020). Hong Kong has also been keeping the public well informed through the use of technology to counteract panic buying and hoarding. An online dashboard of all cases that includes a map of individual buildings where cases were present has been provided by Hong Kong. Other countries like South Korea have issued mobile alerts to let residents know whether they were in the vicinity of a patient (Cheung, 2020). If Canada and North America follow Asia’s footsteps by keeping the public well informed and onboard, policies and enforcement will be adhered to. It is essential to be transparent during a pandemic as this will prevent people from panicking, stockpiling, and hoarding things. 

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Although there is fear of resource scarcity, Canadian supermarket retailers are not short on food and cleaning products. For example, in Ontario, the food supply is robust and manufacturing operations and global supply chains will continue to remain responsive to the needs of Ontarians and effectively operate (statement from Ontario Deputy Premier Christine Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs). A solution would be for media outlets to have government officials, such as Justin Trudeau or Doug Ford address how normal grocery buying habits should be implemented during the pandemic as North American supply chains are long. The issue is in the excessive demand for food products that exceed the supply of the products because a surge of people try to buy everything at once. Food and cleaning products will continue to arrive at supermarkets on a regular basis, but this would not matter if people continue panic buying. Therefore, it is important to note that if you have to panic buy, to consider its negative financial consequences such as increased credit card debt, the financial stress, and the unnecessary overspending before you go panic buying. If people stick to their normal grocery shopping behaviour and only buy what they reasonably need, the financial consequences will not be that harmful. Furthermore, another solution would be to sell grocery items online in the midst of panic buying. Panic buying is an opportunity for companies such as Costco, Amazon, and Walmart to receive more business online during an uncontrollable time where people are self-isolating and social-distancing. This will help alleviate both the anxiety and fear of resource scarcity. It is also not just a matter of business and convenience, but a matter of limiting the spread of COVID-19 and allowing people to cope with the health risks of being in public. Moreover, another way to discourage panic buying is through limiting the number of certain products people can buy; this way there will not be an imbalance in the demand and supply for the products. Overall, these three possible solutions together can effectively counteract panic buying. 

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TOILET PAPER FRENZY

Across social media, there have been memes circulating surrounding the pandemic; more specifically, surrounding the excessive purchases of toilet paper that has led to TP being marketed online at exorbitant prices (Montgomery, 2020).

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THE PROBLEM

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a major reordering of society as people across the world are being self-isolated, quarantined, social-distanced, and travel restricted. In light of this unfortunate and unprecedented instability, empty shelves are seen across Canadian supermarket retailers. People have been rushing to their local supermarket retailers in a ‘herd’ mentality, buying excessive amounts of essential items such as toilet paper, hand sanitizer, face masks, and bottled water as concerns surrounding the virus continue to worsen. Buying more than we need at the expense of others not having enough is why the Western world is struggling through the pandemic because there is a lack of understanding of collectivism and community. This self-fulfilling situation is not a surprise, however, as North Americans are used to seeing abundance; the sight of empty shelves and line-ups at stores poses a psychological threat to the Western world’s culture of abundance. Panic buying is a common human response to a crisis that is caused by a fear of scarcity. This fear is self-fulfilling because it gives way to an anxiety that leads to a bigger panic and food shortage. The way people are behaving right now is similar to how they behaved during earlier pandemics such as the Spanish flu of 1918, when there was a sellout of Vicks VapoRub (Wilson, 2020).