EXPRESS: Consumer Stockpiling Across Cultures During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ahmadi, Iman Habel Johannes Jia Miaolei Lee Nick Wei Sarah

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak a pandemic. In the following days, media reports showed that consumers increasingly stockpiled groceries and household supplies. Interestingly, behavioral data shows that this stockpiling exhibited considerable heterogeneity across countries. Building on cultural dimension theory, the authors theorize that this heterogeneity can be explained by countries' cultural values: Consumer stockpiling after the WHO's announcement was more pronounced in countries whose residents show high uncertainty avoidance, low long-term orientation, low indulgence, and high individualism. The authors confirm these propositions using global mobility data from Google matched with country-level data on cultural values, pandemic reaction policies, and other key variables. This research note thereby integrates the previously disconnected literature on cultural dimension theory and consumer stockpiling in general, as well as providing new and significant knowledge about cross-cultural consumer behavior in crises. Furthermore, the authors provide actionable insights for international policymakers and business managers who aim to predict or control consumer stockpiling in future global crises, in order to enhance consumer well-being.