The Impact of Media Exposure and Fear of COVID-19 on Panic Buying: A Study of Indian Consumers During the Second Wave of COVID-19

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine how media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic affected people’s fear and panic buying behaviour during the pandemic’s second wave, which appears to be an under-researched area in the literature. Data were collected from 205 respondents in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India through email and social media platforms. Partial least squares structural equational modelling was used to validate the measurement model and subsequently analyse the hypothesised relationships. Findings revealed that media exposure and fear of COVID-19 have a significant positive influence on panic buying behaviour. However, the mediation effect of fear of COVID-19 in the relationship between media exposure and panic buying behaviour was found statistically insignificant. These findings implied that the media coverage of stockouts and empty shelves (rather than fear-inducing media coverage related to medical aspects) may have elevated the levels of panic buying by people

Keywords

• fear of covid-19
• media exposure
• panic buying behaviour
• pandemic
• second wave