in ,

This is why everyone is hoarding toilet paper, Ars Technica

This is why everyone is hoarding toilet paper, Ars Technica

      Wipe out stockpiling –

             

A consumer behavior researcher explains why toilet paper shelves are bare.

      

      

It’s easy to see the logic — even if it’s irrational — behind frantic stashing of soap or hand sanitizer. But why toilet paper?

Yarrow says that is a bit unusual. “I don’t think most people think about toilet paper during panic buying-times like hurricanes and so on. This is kind of a first,” she told Ars. The run on toilet paper (sorry, not sorry) is what happens when social media-driven communication meets human instinct in the middle of a crisis.
The optical illusion of a shortage You know it's crazy when they even take the letter “We’re social animals,” Yarrow told Ars. “In times that are really kind of unprecedented and uncertain, we do look to other people for cues about what to do. Unfortunately, other people are doing kind of crazy things, so it makes us feel like we should do it too.”
And today, most of us find out what our fellow humans are doing through social media, or through news reports filled with images and video. So the cues we’re getting are very visual, which affects how we process certain information. Big, bulky items like toilet paper leave more noticeable, visible gaps on store shelves than smaller items like canned tuna — especially when toilet paper takes up most of an aisle in its own right, while tuna may take up just a few feet of shelf space .
“A picture of an empty toilet paper shelf is really a lot more dramatic than an empty tuna shelf, and a picture of somebody walking out of the store with two big things of toilet paper is a more dramatic picture than a picture of somebody walking out with a bag of tuna, “Yarrow told Ars. “Toilet paper sort of became the thing that the media in particular was really focused on, and that then cued people into thinking about [it].”
Don’t stockpile the Charmin
So what should be we be doing instead of building toilet-paper forts?

“I’m not going to tell people to not be prepared, because I think that there’s so many ways that that’s satisfying to them, both practically — I think people need to be prepared — but also emotionally. It feels really good to prepare, “said Yarrow.

But once people have what they actually need, it’s time to look for other ways to gain a sense of control in an uncertain world.

“Keep in mind that what we want to do is feel like we’re being productive and in control in this weird, open, loose space of uncertainty that we’re in, so control what you can control, “Yarrow suggested.

Assert some control over your socially-distanced days by scheduling and establishing a routine; assert some control over your environment by cleaning or organizing. And seek out as much human connection as possible within in the bounds of social distancing; video chats, walks at the park, or phone calls.

                                                     Read More

What do you think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings

webartifex / intro-to-python, Hacker News

webartifex / intro-to-python, Hacker News

Microsoft Teams and OneNote Essentials for Educators | 100% OFF