“Exploring Panic Buying as a Situational Response – The Role of Fear, Media Exposure, and Context-Specific Paranoia,” International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald.

LSB professors Dr. Mirna Koričan Lajtman and Dr. Goran Oblaković, together with their colleague Matej Nakić, mag. psych., from the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, have published a paper titled “Exploring Panic Buying as a Situational Response – The Role of Fear, Media Exposure, and Context-Specific Paranoia” in Emerald’s International Journal of Emerging Markets (5-year impact factor: 2.9).

IF = 2.7 (2023), 2.9 (5y)

The study examines panic buying during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of prospect theory, terror management theory, and social influence theories. It identifies fear of COVID-19, increased media exposure, and context-specific paranoia as key situational triggers for panic buying, differentiating it from compulsive buying. Using a cross-sectional study of 621 Croatian participants, the findings reveal that fear and media exposure significantly contribute to panic buying, while context-specific paranoia plays a lesser role. The study highlights panic buying as a situational, reactive behavior rather than a dispositional trait, offering insights into how media sensationalism amplifies irrational spending during crises.