Impact of Scarcity on Panic Buying: Assessing the Mediating Role of Anxiety and the Moderating Role of Event Perception

Purpose: The main aim of this research is to explore the factors that contribute to panic buying behavior and to propose ideas for government control in such events.   Theoretical framework: scarcity is the theoretical basis of current research in the context of COVID-19 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. Collect and review previous relevant studies by theme to understand the latest literature trends of scarcity, anxiety and panic buying.   Method: This research takes 213 customers from Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, China as a sample, and uses SPSS and AMOS questionnaires to investigate the status of panic buying.   Findings: This research uses questionnaire data, through empirical research, to explore the important role of anxiety as a mediating variable in panic buying in the COVID-19 epidemic.   Research, Practical & Social implications: Research has found that scarcity has a significant positive correlation with panic buying and anxiety; Scarcity has a significant impact on panic buying through the mediating effect of individual anxiety. Personal cognition has a significant moderating effect on scarcity on panic buying and anxiety on panic buying.   Originality: The research problem addressed in this study is the phenomenon of panic buying during public crisis events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. this study proposes ideas for guiding government control in public crisis events.