Why Is Toilet Paper Running Out During The Pandemic?
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has already reached 159 countries, infecting more than 180,000 people. As a result of this pandemic, a true crisis has been created at an economic and social level, and its consequences, although clearly devastating, are still unpredictable.
In this article, however, we will focus on explaining a curious social phenomenon that is occurring as a result of this entire crisis, which affects purchases and has to do with the “collective madness” that is being established in practically all countries. . And toilet paper is running out. It seems like a bad joke, but it isn’t. Why is toilet paper out of stock?
We are going to respond to this social phenomenon and, in addition, we will discover its similarities with the phenomenon of banking panic.
Why is toilet paper running out due to fear of coronavirus?
Why is toilet paper running out these days of the pandemic? The reality is that it is not that there is a shortage of toilet paper, but that people are afraid of running out of it, for fear that others will hoard it.
The result is that many end up accumulating paper (more than they need), which has the direct consequence of many others being left without it. And so, it is like a fish that bites its tail; “I accumulate, but others do too, because they fear that I accumulate.”
The phenomenon actually works like the one that occurs in banks (that is, in the face of the banking panic of losing our money, which we will discuss in more detail later). In this way, the “toilet paper exhaustion phenomenon” affects us all, but it is a fact that not all of us run out of it, since many people accumulate it, and therein lies the error
This also affects people who are not scared by the coronavirus pandemic, but who are nevertheless worried that other people are scared or worried, which causes us to hoard toilet paper (for fear of not having it available later).
In this way, trying to answer the question of why toilet paper runs out, we know that this occurs because, Wanting to avoid running out of it, we end up buying too much
How do we act and why?
Basically what many people do is run to get their toilet paper, with that “panic” of running out of it, created in a totally irrational way (as if we were going to die from not being able to dry our asses with paper). This is reinforced by the fact that the toilet paper packages are quite bulky, so their scarcity draws attention, by leaving large empty spaces on store shelves
They go to the supermarket and get their paper, but not just a “pack” of six, or twelve, but several packs, lest someone else (who also wants to accumulate their five “packs”) come and “steal” it from them. , or that they go another day and there is no “pack” left.
So, we act totally irrationally (albeit somewhat sensibly), fearing that someone else will run (just like us) to the store to get their hoard of paper, leaving none for us. Read like that, it sounds quite absurd, doesn’t it?
What happens then? That we got our long-awaited role, not so much out of fear that it would run out due to lack of resources, as a consequence of the very uncertain moment we are experiencing due to the epidemic… but for the simple and sole reason that we fear that others will get it before us (and finish it).
Result of this dynamic of fear
The result of all this explanation to the question of why toilet paper runs out is, logically, the arrival of images that many of us have seen throughout these days on networks and other platforms: Store and supermarket shelves, where paper should be, empty
What happen? That in turn, those images end up penetrating us, and awaken a certain feeling of “anxiety” that makes us go into “panic”, making us quickly go for our loved one (at that moment in our head, even essential! ) toilet paper.
We could say that In practically all countries, the sale of toilet paper has skyrocketed , and even in Australia we recently experienced an extreme situation; According to the BBC, a person pulled out a knife in the supermarket during a dispute over toilet paper.
Normal situation vs. collective “crisis”
In this way, analyzing why toilet paper runs out, we observe two types of totally antagonistic situations:
1. Normal times
People believe that there will be toilet paper and that no one will store “extra” amounts of it Therefore their purchases are “normal” (proportionate, rational, meaningful…).
2. Times of panic
People fear not having access to paper, that is, that it will run out. They fear a shortage of the product, which causes them to accumulate it. This, in turn, creates shortages, and everything becomes a vicious cycle
Similarities with the banking panic
In this way, from everything explained we see why toilet paper runs out, and we also find a parallel between the situation of toilet paper depletion and the banking or financial panic
Thus, the situation of banking panic (also called bank stampede, bank run or bank siege, and in English “bank run” or “run on the bank”) consists of a social phenomenon by which a large part of a bank’s clients They withdraw their money massively, and in a short period of time.
This withdrawal of money is made out of fear of being unable to withdraw the money in the near future and this fear arises from bank insolvency (since banks only have a certain amount of money in their accounts).
The massive withdrawal of money generally appears due to the anticipation of a financial or economic crisis in the banks, although another possible cause is a change in the economic policy of the country in question. There are, however, more possible causes in this regard (although less likely).
As we see, the same thing happens in the banking panic as in the toilet paper situation: a fear of not having something appears, which causes the “urgency” to have it (moreover, in the form of “accumulation”, in case perhaps), what generates a shortage of the product, which ends up not reaching all customers (or people) who really need it.
Thus, we can talk about similarities in the reasons that explain why toilet paper runs out, and why money runs out in banks in situations of this type.
Rational or irrational behavior?
Thus, the answer to why toilet paper runs out in this pandemic, Can it refer to rationality or logic? Or rather to “collective madness”? Surely the second option; Although it is evident that we buy “more” to avoid running out “without”, the basis of all this is quite irrational.
In relation to this issue, according to experts, it is rational for people to prepare (on a psychological level, on a material level, etc.) for a negative situation that is occurring (or is about to arrive). However, what is no longer rational is acquiring an exaggerated number and disproportionate products; That goes beyond mere supply.
All this without mentioning the lack of solidarity and selfishness of the people that we find at the base of this type of behavior (although sometimes they may arise “unconsciously”).
The consequences of panic buying
As we have seen, Behaviors of this type (buying madness) worsen the shortage and fuel “collective madness” in which we have immersed ourselves little by little without realizing it.
Additionally, stocking products irrationally and disproportionately can lead to price gouging by companies, according to Steven Taylor, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of British Columbia, author of “The Psychology of Pandemics.”
What would happen then? According to Taylor, if the price of toilet paper increased excessively, we would begin to see this product as a scarce good, which would could further increase our anxiety and impulsivity when purchasing this or other similar types of products
In fact, these price increases have already occurred in various products since the arrival of the coronavirus (COVID-19); An example is masks, which were sold for prices of up to $100 per unit on platforms such as eBay.
