With the coronavirus now savaging Europe, many in China and elsewhere in Asia have been perplexed at the seemingly random, but panic-driven purchasing of toilet paper. Masks, gloves, superior-formula hand santiser, they can all understand. But the humble bog roll?
The answer it turns out, is two fold.
A Preoccupation with Toilet Paper
Toilet paper has been a first-world comfort for centuries. In most Western countries, people cannot possibly fathom any other way to get things done.
It’s never been that way in Asia. In Japan for instance, electronic bidets are almost ubiquitous. Even highway service stations’ public toilets are equipped with them.
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Asians are also more likely to improvise. The Nanjinger has investigated this phenomena in the article, “Maintaining Personal Hygiene in Ancient China”.
“After the Han Dynasty, there was a special tool, which was ‘chuugi’ (籌木). Made by cutting bamboo slices into strips, its shape was thin and flat, slightly wide with rounded edges. The better models had great water absorption and a light fragrance. The upper classes would also wash themselves afterwards with water and then employ aromatherapy for greater fragrance”.
So for the East, there have always been many more options than a simple roll of paper.
Supermarket Toilet Paper Psychology
In western countries, supermarkets are gigantic. The world’s largest is in Crossgates Commons in Albany, New York, and occupies 24,000 square metres. That’s excessive by anyone’s standards, but it serves to illustrate how much space they have for commodities.
And for showing them off.
Toilet paper in such hypermarkets is sold in very large packets. It also has a long shelf life which is attractive to shop owners as it can be put out on display in large quantities. As such, it’s pretty eye catching.
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All it takes is a few people to buy some extra packs to make the shelves look obviously depleted. From then on, it’s a snowball effect, and the panic quickly sets in.
Elsewhere in the supermarket, there are many other, smaller items that have also been snapped up, but it takes closer inspection to realise that fact.
Expert in consumer and behavioural science at University College London, Dr. Dimitrios Tsivrikos, spoke with Sky News about the toilet paper panic buying. He said, “The bigger they are, the more important we think they are.
“If we had an international sign for panic it would be a traffic warning sign with a toilet paper roll in the middle.”
