The victims, villains and heroes of 'panic buying

News media attribution of responsibility for Covid-19 stockpiling

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2399702
AutoresTarryn Phillips (0000-0003-4027-8667, La Trobe University, autor correspondente), Carmen Vargas (0000-0001-6166-8897, Deakin University), Melissa Graham (0000-0002-0927-0002, La Trobe University), Danielle Couch (0000-0002-5206-9072, Monash University), Deborah Gleeson (0000-0001-8021-9130, La Trobe University)
Ano2023
Volume59
Fascículo2
Páginas580-599
Data de publicação2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1440-7833 • E-ISSN: 1741-2978
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/14407833211057310
PMID37168608
OpenAlexW3216963891
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas38

Societies often respond to a crisis by attributing blame to some groups while constructing others as victims and heroes. While it has received scant sociological attention, 'panic buying' is a critical indicator of such public sentiment at the onset of a crisis, and thus a crucial site for analysis. This article traces dynamics of blame in news media representations of an extreme period of panic buying during COVID-19 in Australia. Analysis reveals that lower socio-economic and ethnically diverse consumers were blamed disproportionately. Unlike wealthier consumers who bulk-bought online, shoppers filling trollies in-store were depicted as selfish and shameful, described using dehumanising language, and portrayed as 'villains' who threatened social order. Supermarkets were cast simultaneously as 'victims' of consumer aggression and 'heroes' for their moral leadership, trustworthiness and problem-solving. This portrayal misunderstands the socio-emotional drivers of panic buying, exacerbates stigma towards already disadvantaged groups, and veils the corporate profiteering that encourages stockpiling

Advertising · Attribution · Blame · Business · Collective responsibility · Criminology · Disadvantaged · Humiliation · Moral panic · Political science · Sociology · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Law · Leadership, Courage, and Heroism Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology