Supply Chain Management in Times of Supply Disruption Risk and Consumer Panic Buying: A Systematic Review

Rui Zheng, Bowen Gu, Shiqi Yin and Kin Keung Lai ()
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Rui Zheng: School of Safety Science and Emergency Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Bowen Gu: School of Safety Science and Emergency Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Shiqi Yin: School of Safety Science and Emergency Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Kin Keung Lai: International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China

Mathematics, 2025, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-31

Abstract: This paper provides a systematic review of supply chain management strategies in the context of supply disruption risk and consumer panic buying. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across major databases, including Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, using Boolean operators to combine keywords such as “supply disruption”, “panic buying”, and “supply chain management”. After manual screening based on titles and abstracts, 134 relevant studies were identified for the final analysis. The review examines how supply disruptions triggered by natural disasters, epidemics, or other unforeseen events lead to consumer panic buying, resulting in substantial fluctuations in demand. The study explores the underlying drivers of consumer panic-buying behavior, including information asymmetry, the perception of resource scarcity, social influence, and individual psychological factors like fear and anxiety caused by unknown risks. It further analyzes the multifaceted impact of panic buying on supply chain performance and social welfare, encompassing higher costs, inventory mismatches, price fluctuations, exacerbation of the bullwhip effect, reduced supply chain efficiency, and loss of consumer welfare. The paper reviews a spectrum of supply chain management strategies to mitigate these adverse effects, such as flexible inventory management, supply chain elasticity enhancement, dynamic production capacity adjustment, diversified supplier networks, and collaborative interventions by governments and retailers. The findings underscore the intricate interplay between supply chain dynamics and consumer panic-buying behavior, providing valuable insights for the development of resilient supply chains.

Keywords: supply chain management; supply disruption risk; consumer panic buying (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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