Factors Affecting Panic Buying during COVID-19 Outbreak and Strategies: A Scoping Review

Background: This study aimed to assess factors affecting panic buying and strategies to deal with them during COVID-19 with a scoping review. Method: The review was performed based on Arksey and O’Malley. PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest, and Science Direct databases were selected to search. All English language full-text articles from Jan 2020 to May 2021 were included. Initially, the titles and abstracts of the retrieved articles were read and screening was ac-complished based on the research question. After that, the full text of eligible studies was examined. A third reviewer was resolved disagreements at any stage by a consensus meeting. A self-assessment form was designed for data extraction. The causes of panic buying were assessed as a descriptive study. Results: The search process returned 23 articles after deletion for complete data extraction and analysis. Through thematic analysis, the factors influencing panic buying were divided into six categories including cog-nitive, emotional, behavioral, social, and economic factors as well as government action, and finally, the rec-ommended strategies were categorized in two categories included psychosocial and economic. Conclusion: A holistic view of panic buying’s causes allows planners and decision-makers to design catego-rized strategies beyond the suggested strategies. Increasing customer awareness and monitoring the flow of in-formation through social media and mass media, psychotherapy, counseling, and economic strategies are con-sidered by planners to combat panic buying.