Saudi millennials’ panic buying behavior during pandemic and post-pandemic: Role of social media addiction and religious values and commitment

The latest version of the pandemic ravaged the world for almost three years. The world is slowly coming back to normal. Behavioral sciences tried to assess its impact on consumer behavior, and panic buying behavior has become a most sought-after domain for current researchers. Millennials were the most affected as they were at the beginning of their career, and COVID-19 disrupted their plans massively. This study assesses the panic buying behavior of millennials during pandemic and post-pandemic scenarios. Scarcity and uncertainty are used as antecedents. Two opposite moderators, social media addiction and religious values and commitment, are taken as moderators. Five hundred-seven Saudi millennials participated in this study. Building upon the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) along with the latest literature, the conceptual model was proposed using the S–O–B–C (Stimulus/Situation-Organisms-Behavior-Consequences) framework. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the proposed hypotheses. There was no sense of scarcity, panic buying behavior, or social media addiction. On the other hand, there was a high sense of uncertainty, high religious values and commitment, and a positive post-pandemic buying intention. A low sense of scarcity positively impacts panic buying behavior, which was also low, but a heightened sense of uncertainty has a negative effect. Panic buying behavior had no impact on the post-pandemic intentions, which was positive. Social media addiction (low) and religious values and commitment (high) affected the existing direct relationships. The results were unique and broke many myths. The study has specific implications for all the stakeholders.