#Toiletpapergate is a strange study into consumer behaviour, but it will be over by Friday
Thinkerbell’s Adam Ferrier explains why the toilet paper shortage in response to coronavirus fears began, and why it won’t last.
Last week, I spent a fair amount of time doing interviews for the most absurd of topics: the frenzied stockpiling of toilet paper in response to the coronavirus.
Here’s the Google Trends image showing the term ‘toilet paper’ fast catching up on, and (arguably) giving new life to, the far more bleak ‘Coronavirus’.
(Click to enlarge)
Subsequently, I’ve given the phenomenon more thought than most on the planet. So at the risk of documenting something that no one cares about, here’s the reason why there was a toilet paper frenzy in Australia (and other parts of the world).
What a waste of time explaining appalling behaviour…….”fuck you, I’ve more than I need and I don’t give one about you”. Crazy, illogical, selfish. That’s it.
Not a waste of time at all, Adam. Really enjoyed reading this. While I’ve read many boring comments like Ann’s, I haven’t read anything like this 🙂
Ignorance is active
Basically this should see the sell of bidet skyrocket in Australia. Instead of another wasted amount of paper. And Adam, you’ve repeated yourself a few times there. Same point reiterated.
Australia’s think back to front. Ass first.
Toilet paper makes a better smokescreen for the government’s shenanigans than..smoke..my first thought was that Morri Antoilette was saying”Let them eat lav paper”..and there are now recipes…
However the other factor here is the creation of scarcity. We know the scarcity state depletes this finite capacity of decision-making and people do crazy stuff when they believe there are scarce resources. I’m so pleased for our subscription to Who Gives a Crap right now, I wouldn’t want to be out there fighting for my rolls 😉
I disagree with some points… to your point about empty shelves of toilet paper rolls making good photo opps, Pasta shelves were empty too… but didn’t make headlines. Because there was still more rationale there. Re: tp rolls in trolleys again being more interesting to see, photograph and share against vegemite, I again disagree. It got interesting to photograph and share, because of the frenzy and absurdity associated with it. And then it triggered a viral effect… the fear that tp may actually run out, sparked a new wave creating more such victims who purchased merely out of fear, but not because they considered it most important to stock on.
Good Points Adam but I think a big part of it is people thinking they’re missing out as the Shelves are emptying and so they grab more and then the next people see that and they grab more and so it gathers pace and perpetuates.
I even did a bit of this Myself … OH the Shame !!
Social norming would be a part of it but there would also be a bit of bank run mentality – if everyone is doing this, maybe it will run out and I need to get some quickly
And unfortunately, I doubt Friday will be the end. The moment a gov lead advertising campaign starts, the next spike will happen.
Adam, a lot of guessing but no science. Seeing the distress on a aged disabled person looking at the empty toilet paper shelves is heartbreaking. Retailers were too slow to act with a social interest. It shouldn’t have taken a call from the PM to start rationing. The government needs to fund scientific consumer research to understand the range of beliefs driving hoarding, so that next time a catastrophe happens, the right messages and policies can be actioned. Otherwise, my guess is as useless as yours Adam.
Data shows no shortage in supply chain. Pain point shows time of delivery restrictions on restocking. Wake up call. Stop talking BS without facts. https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/plenty-of-stock-but-truck-curfews-hinder-shops-from-replenishing-shelves-20200311-p5493n.html
Wrong! Just been to Coles, Woolies (3 stores) and Aldi and still no bog rolls.
There goes Friday …
Baaa! Baaa!
Adam never said which Friday. ????
Fantastic analysis, Adam. A slap for certain elements of the media, especially those who succumbed to the sector’s own form of social norming…
yes, very wrong on timings!!
Adam, can you please update your theorem to include the current frenzy surrounding meat?
We the hysterical people require answers to stop us taking to the streets with flaming torches and bandannas over our mouths!
This aged perfectly…
Honestly, can this be a lesson for ‘consumer psychologists’, and anyone in the marketing and ad industry to NOT:
1. Try and make any prediction related to the coronavirus
2. Not post think pieces around ‘What x* can teach us about coronavirus’
*Behavioral economics, brand building, anything with the world agile in it, user experience, machine learning, artificial intelligence etc etc
Why? This is an Opinion section on an ad industry site. This opinion is exactly where it should be.
There are certainly other places you can go for your daily corona update.
Some suggestions:
NewsCorp – hysteria and panic
Fairfax – balanced reporting
Aus Gov – medical updates
etc
One only has to watch the news to see why there is panic, they are practically salivating – but sadly the PM saying don’t do it makes no difference, because if you go to the supermarket and there is empty shelves after empty shelves you are going to panic – stock up or miss out. I live in a large apartment block and their is huge packages being delivered every day – people are stocking up, nothing the PM says will stop that.
Well, its Friday week and the frenzy is still on. Production of toilet paper is now at 3 times normal rates, retailers are reporting 7 weeks of normal toilet paper is being sold daily.
Where is all this toilet paper going?
Now it’s grog, and just after the restrictions DIDN’T include bottle shops. Do you think Dan Murphys and others some how started the panic in some subtle way???
Now almost two Fridays on and my supermarket still doesn’t have a single roll to buy, even though the delivery restrictions have been lifted. I thought it would blow over quickly, too, but now I wish I did pick up a pack or two when all this started happening because our household supply is running low. Curious to know what is really driving this behaviour. Rather than being over, it seems to be spreading – now there are restrictions posted across multiple categories – practically every aisle of the supermarket has a section depleted of stock and a sign on the empty shelf stating “limit 2 per customer”. What are your thoughts now?
Over by Friday?
Which Friday is that, then?