The first coronavirus case on New Zealand soil was confirmed in Auckland on Friday, which saw supermarket shelves around the city emptied over the weekend. Shoppers were accused of “panic buying” as they zeroed in on hand sanitiser, face masks, toilet paper and bottled water, among other items.
Hordes of people flocked to supermarkets on Saturday morning amid fears of Covid-19 spreading, despite reminders from health officials that there was no need to stockpile or worry.
But AUT senior lecturer Jessica Vredenburg told TVNZ1’s Breakfast today the behaviour of shoppers was more rational than some may think.
“They’re sort of calling it panic buying, but panic is more of an uncontrollable fear that drives irrational behaviour," she explained. "This is actually more rational than we might think.
“It’s actually more along the lines of planning ahead. As humans we are able to perceive risk that we might be exposed to and as a result we try and gain control over that risk."
Video and images captured at a number of different supermarkets on Saturday morning, after the coronavirus case had been confirmed, showed people waiting in long queues, and empty shelves.
One shopper, Jamie Pule, told 1 NEWS he could “definitely tell the difference between normal shoppers and people shopping out of panic.”
Crowds of people are flocking to the shops after the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in the city.
Foodstuffs, the parent company of Pak'nSave and New World, said in a statement Saturday that some stores were completely out of stock of hand sanitiser and face masks because of the virus outbreak.
Dr Vredenburg said the “panic buying” was more about about having "control" over the situation.
“If this does, you know, blow up in New Zealand one thing we can do is be prepared by having stuff on our shelves,” she said.
“We don’t necessarily have control over other parts of it.”
She said humans are community focused and "there’s a little bit of herd behaviour or groupthink".
Having supplies to last a 14-day quarantine, she said, is what’s driving the shopper behaviour.
“There is some uncertainty about what is actually going to happen so when you have uncertainty - kind of compounded with heightened emotional states - that also impacts,” said Dr Vredenburg.
“As humans we tend to be overly cautions, especially when it's uncertain...and err on the side of caution over not being prepared.”
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