14 Feb 2021
In an invited documentary interview on the Covid-19 impact and resilience, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan, who is also author of "Combating a crisis", explained two psychological factors underlying the panic buying of food supplies in early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first is about self-preservation in the context of basic needs and resource scarcity when we are concerned for ourselves and our loved ones. The second is about contagion when herd mentality leads us to buy because we see others buying even when we do not need to or we are not sure if we need to.