Stockpiling During COVID-19: The Solicitation of the Stimulus– Organism–Response Model

Abstract

Stockpiling emerged as a common feature during the second wave of COVID-19 as people rushed to markets to stock up everything from packaged foods such as biscuits, noodles, packaged rice and edible oils, to hygiene and sanitizing products, to medicines and oxygen cylinders, the list is endless. Accordingly, it becomes imperative to investigate this stockpiling behaviour to get better insights into the phenomenon and to provide implications for both marketers as well as the government. Based on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) model, this study aims to investigate how in the stress and tension resulted in the second stage of COVID-19, stimuli like perceived risk, perceived scarcity and social influence affect the judgement of consumers for perceived benefits of stockpiling, which in turn motivate them to stockpile. Additionally, the study examines the mediating effect of perceived benefits. The proposed model is tested and validated using structural equation modelling and bootstrapping based on 309 responses collected from Indian consumers who were involved in stockpiling during the second stage of COVID-19.