Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic Lockdown on the Consumer Panic Buying-a Empirical Study

Abstract

If I panic, everyone else panics. -Kobe Bryant Corona is a different virus responsible for a pandemic well-known as COVID-19. The first case was detected during early December in Wuhan, China. It has spread to 215 countries around the globe. Corona has been declared as Civic Health Emergency of International Concern by World Health Organization. Its Impact has wider implications all across the globe. World has stopped working and many countries have locked-down all businesses and social transactions. India also announced a lockdown for 21 days just after the "Janata Curfew" on March 22, 2020. As the lockdown announced, buying of day-to-day home essentials and groceries across India increased bizarrely. This indicates an enormous rush in panic buying among customers as they be scared the restrictions could go long and get worse the situation. Days before the lockdown was declared, panic-buying began among customers, just like in other countries. This lockdown was the world's largest, restricting 1.3 billion people and it was extended until 3 May 2020.This study is an in-depth analysis of “panic buying behavior” including overstocking, increased shopping frequency, unplanned purchasing, etc. of consumers of Madhya Pradesh state in India during the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis in March 2020 and the consequent lockdowns till May 2020. The study focuses on finding the impact of  six factors namely restricted buying, brand consciousness, apprehensive behavior, Safety measures, digital transactions, Available services on the consumers’ panic Buying. The results reveal that Restricted buying, apprehensive behavior has significant impact on panic buying during lockdown. Whereas Factor Available services has negative impact on panic buying.