THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: FACTORS TRIGGERING PANIC BUYING BEHAVIOUR AMONG CONSUMERS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

The primary aim of this paper is to assess the factors that trigger panic buying behaviour among consumers in Malaysia. The paper offers a conceptual framework in understanding the factors that trigger panic buying among consumers in Malaysia. Results indicate five important factors that trigger panic buying behaviour among consumers in Malaysia such as herd behaviour, social media exposure, anxiety sensitivity, price and product availability. The study contributes to our understanding of panic buying behaviour. The most important limitation lies in the fact that this study is based on conceptual in nature and has not been able to confirm the relationship between variables empirically. These findings are relevant to both practitioners, policymakers and researchers. These findings add to a growing body of literature on panic buying behaviour and help other researchers to design their study in panic buying milieu. A future study investigating the mentioned variables would be very interesting. In terms of directions for future research, further work could validate the relationship between mentioned variables and provide an empirical analysis. The importance and originality of this study is that it explores that factors that trigger panic buying behaviour among consumers in Malaysia.