In Japan, it’s not easy right now to find a supermarket stocked with the national staple — rice.
Store holders have put up signs asking consumers to limit purchases to one bag per person and social media is awash with images of empty shelves.
Tokyo resident Mito Mitsue told the ABC she had been to four supermarkets but had no luck.
“The shelves of rice in supermarkets are empty,” she said.
While Ms Mito said she was not worried for herself and was happy to substitute rice with noodles and bread, she said others were taking it very seriously.
Local media have called it the “Reiwa rice crisis” (Reiwa is the name of the current imperial era) and blamed a range of factors including a poor yield last year, climate change, and an influx of international tourists.
Panic buying has also played a big part.
Japanese citizens — who are regularly reminded to stockpile dry goods in case of emergency — have this month dealt with a major 7.1-magnitude earthquake, warnings of a potential “megaquake” and a series of typhoons.
Some alerts explicitly instructed households to ensure they had a plentiful supply of rice.
Kanda University of International Studies social studies expert Jeffrey Hall said it was common for people in Japan to rush to buy bread, rice, or bottled water when wild weather alerts were issued at short notice.
Social media encouraged panic buying by contributing to feelings of unease, he added.
“Twitter users sharing photos of empty supermarket shelves cause other users to rush to their own supermarkets to buy staples such as rice or water before they run out,” he said.
The Japanese government has authorised the release of emergency rice stocks in Osaka. (AFP: Takumi Harada/Yomiuri Shimbun)
Media reports about stocks being low and in-store price hikes just made the problem worse, he said.
This week, there has been debate in Japan’s parliament about the release of stockpiled rice.
However, the Japanese government has maintained there is no national shortage and that stocks will return to normal next month in line with the 2024 rice harvest.
Nakayachi Kazuya, a Doshisha University expert in risk psychology, said the government’s repeated reassurances were not cutting through, and that for consumers, daily visuals of empty aisles spoke louder than official announcements.
“If supermarkets have fewer items on their rice shelves or limit purchases to one bag per person, consumers will be more and more inclined to stock up while they still can,” he said.
Panic buying caused shortages of toilet paper across Australia during the early stages of the pandemic. (Supplied: Shari Hams)
What triggers panic buying?
Panic buying is not unique to Japan.
Across the world, due to real or perceived supply chain shortages, it has affected all sorts of products from toilet paper to baby formula and even cucumbers.
An avian influenza outbreak across several states in recent months led to some Australian supermarkets temporarily limiting egg purchases to two cartons per person.
Professor Nakayachi said governments, businesses, media reports, and social media all influenced consumer behaviour but messages gained most traction when they were reinforced by repetition and cross-over.
This was true regardless of whether the information was factual or not, he said.
Australian National University marketing lecturer Andrew Hughes said it was human nature to worry about running out of essentials.
In Japan, a country prone to typhoons and earthquakes, Dr Hughes said the memory of “not enough supplies” played a big part in panic buying.
The Japanese government says supplies of rice will improve soon. (AFP: Philip Fong)
Numerous studies have shown humans are programmed to remember negative experiences more clearly and for longer periods of time than something positive.
Dr Hughes said government and business often leveraged this to promote or discourage certain behaviours, including disaster preparedness.
Is there an antidote?
The biggest problem with countering panic buying, Mr Hughes said, was marketers themselves.
He said they had little interest in correcting the record on perceived shortages because it led to increased sales and allowed them to hike prices.
Government messaging, he added, had little influence compared to the “TikTok brigade”, because it was too often on the backfoot and not specific enough about which particular products were in short supply and when that supply would be fixed.
“I’d also have a website, like we do for dam levels, where you can look and see what the current levels are,” he said.
For Japan, Professor Nakayachi said the government needed to rely less on numbers and more on compelling visuals if it wanted to counter consumer concern.
“Showing images and videos of rice being shipped out and harvested in large quantities will be more influential than showing statistics of rice inventories,” he said.
