Pathology

Business

Pure mathematics

Indulgence

Disease

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Dimension (graph theory)

Mathematics

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Pandemic

Uncertainty avoidance

Marketing

Political science

Psychology

Economics

Individualism

Consumer behaviour

Market economy

Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

Medicine

Social psychology

Collectivism

Journal of International Marketing

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization 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 show 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 World Health Organization'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 provides new and significant knowledge about cross-cultural consumer behavior in crises. Furthermore, the authors provide actionable insights for international policy makers and business managers who aim to predict or control consumer stockpiling in future global crises to enhance consumer well-being.

Consumer Stockpiling Across Cultures During the COVID-19 Pandemic