Model of consumers' stockpiling behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study aims to determine and discuss how perceived threat of COVID-19 disease, exposure to social media, and self-efficacy influence perceived risk and fear of product shortage; and how perceived risk and fear influence consumers' stockpiling behaviour. A questionnaire was created in Google forms and used to collect data from 290 household consumers. After testing the scale items' reliability and validity, structural equation modelling (SEM) and hypothesis tests were used to validate the model. The findings indicate that perceived threat COVID-19 disease and self-efficacy positively influence perceived risk, perceived threat of COVID-19 disease, self-efficacy, and perceived risk affect fear insignificantly, and fear and perceived risk significantly affect stockpiling behaviour. Besides contributing to the literature, this research helps to explore customers' stockpiling behaviour, providing knowledge that will pave the way to balancing the demand and supply in the market. With knowledge of the stockpiling behaviour that occurs during the pandemic, marketers and policymakers in every country can take proactive measures.