How does social class shape women's alcohol stockpiling during COVID-19? A qualitative study in South Australia during the 2020 lockdown

A pervasive response to a disaster or crisis is stockpiling, colloquially known as hoarding or panic buying (Chen, Rajabifard et al., 2020). In the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020), stockpiling was more extreme and widespread in Australia than most of the 54 countries analysed in one study (Keane & Neal, 2021), with researchers arguing that consumer panic underpinning stockpiling was spreading faster than the virus itself (Arafat, Kar et al., 2020; Arafat, Kar et al., 2020; Depoux, Martin et al., 2020). Indeed, stockpiling is directly correlated with the introduction of government lockdowns, with people stockpiling foods and other necessary items directly after news of imminent lockdowns (Prentice, Chen, & Stantic, 2020). The phenomenon of stockpiling alcohol represents an intention to consume as well as concern about potential unavailability of product for purchase. Stockpiling behaviour can thus be read as an important indicator of attitudes toward alcohol and its place in midlife women's lives during times of crisis.