When the “600 rolls of toilet paper robbery” occurred in Hong Kong in February, it was also treated as a joke by the group, but with With the epidemic spreading around the toilet paper, toilet paper really stood on the C-bit of this wave of buying, adding a touch of joy to the tense situation.

Japanese people line up long toilet looting papers at drugstores, Australians have a fight over toilet looting papers and ca n’t buy toilets The paper American even called the police for help …

▲ Empty shelves in a supermarket in Brisbane, Australia. Image from: CNN

eachThe local countermeasures also made people wonder “This is all right?” Purchase restriction is only a basic operation. Australia has the most creativity. Not only does it send security patrols, the local newspaper simply has eight blank pages in case readers need it from time to time. “Buy a house The marketing of “delivery toilet paper” is here; in the UK, there are game room owners who have changed the baby machine to a toilet paper machine; Japan has locked toilet paper for public toilets …

▲ Picture from: Daily Mail

When disaster strikes, it is natural for people to hoard food, and supply of masks and disinfection supplies is inexorable, but toilet paper is also exempt. What is it? Faced with the sudden outbreak, why did people from all over the world robbed toilet paper that had no resistance to viruses?

Overreaction in panic

Push purchases are often related to shortages of materials. For example, in the beginning of Japan, “the raw materials used to produce masks will reduce the output of toilet paper Rumors caused people to scramble to buy, but after the official rumors were released, people ’s enthusiasm for storing paper continued. This trend spread to European and American countries. It is not just a matter of supply and demand. Experts explain this more psychologically Group phenomenon.

▲ Picture from: Unsplash

Unlike previous epidemics, the new crown virus is a virus that has never been seen before. Being able to fully grasp the whole picture undoubtedly exacerbates people’s fear. At present, people are always prone to lose judgment.

Steven Taylor, a clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia, Canada, points out that when peopleWhen you hear conflicting information about the risks of new crown virus and how to respond, you tend to resort to extremes. “People are told that danger is coming, but what they need to do is wash their hands. This kind of action seems to be out of proportion to the crisis they face, and special crises require special precautions.

Randy O. Frost, a professor of psychology at Smith College, will hoard the Motives fall into three categories: emotional attachment, aesthetic appreciation, and utility, while toilet paper belongs to the third category. “One of the underlying characteristics of utility is that it cannot tolerate uncertainty, and people need to be absolutely and completely certain that some kind of negative effect will not occur.” 03/30 / what-would-freud-make-of-the-toilet-paper-panic “> The New Yorker said.

There are experts trying to explain this confusing behavior from the perspective of consumer psychology.

Dimitrios Tsivrikos, consumer and behavioral science expert at University College London, says toilet paper has a much longer shelf life than many foods, and The larger volume makes it more visible on the shelf and makes people feel more secure, so people will tend to buy toilet paper in times of crisis.

“The bigger they are, the more important we think they are.” He teased, “If you want to set an international panic flag , It should be a traffic warning sign with toilet paper in the middle.

In fact, toilet paper is not the only thing that has been snapped up. Cans, masks, and hand sanitizers cannot escape the fate of being sold out. The reason why the out of stock toilet paper is noticeable is that the volume is too eye-catching, and the impact once it disappears is too great.