Study Shows Photos of Empty Supermarket Shelves Instigate Panic Buying

As part of the research, respondents were shown fictional news items accompanied by either images of empty supermarket shelves or full shelves. They were then asked to record their level of panic and intention to stockpile, amongst other variables.

In addition, the study also asked the participants to rate how likely they were to click on one of the fictional articles if the headline was accompanied by a picture of empty shelves. The articles with empty shelves received 36% more clicks compared to full shelves.

Dr Rob Angell, Associate Professor in Marketing Research from University of Southampton, said: “When the imagery shows an empty shelf, people are drawn to the fact that others have already acted and that they are potentially behind the curve. This ends up negating positive and pro-social messages in the article itself. If a picture is worth 1000 words, then getting it right, at a time of such importance, is absolutely necessary.”

Dr Ben Marder, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at University of Edinburgh Business School, said: “In these uncertain times with the coronavirus outbreak affecting all our lives, using images of empty shelves is a critical mistake in trying to calm panic buying. As such, we urge news and government communications to be extremely cautious. It is important to be aware that with a picture of full shelves the message that there was no need to panic buy succeeded.

“In addition, the fact that news articles receive more clicks if they used images of empty shelves, shows that measuring the success of stories by the number of clicks can detract from the media’s ability to convey important social messages.”

*The study was carried out between 15 and 16 March among 230 adults residing in the UK. This was a joint project by University of Edinburgh Business School and the University of Southampton.

Contacts and sources:
Dr Rob Angell BA(Hons), MSc, PhD Associate Professor in Marketing Research
University of Southampton