Buying on the upstream and downstream of the retailers: Market resilience, self-regulation, and heteronomy during a disaster
Journal
International Journal of Production Economics
Journal Volume
298
Start Page
110036
ISSN
0925-5273
Date Issued
2026-08
Author(s)
Abstract
When a disaster strikes (e.g., COVID-19), we observe "forward" buying from the retailers and "reactionary" buying from the consumers. These two buying activities are intricately intertwined with the retailer in the middle. In response to the disaster, the retailers buy forward on the upstream side, and the consumers on the downstream engage their reactionary buying. Our study investigates how these two buying behaviors correlate with market resilience under the moderating effects of self-regulation and heteronomy. Based on the samples of 136 personal protective equipment (PPE) retail firms and 140 end-customers, our empirical results indicate that heteronomy has a significant influence on alleviating the effects of forward buying and reactionary buying on market resilience. Furthermore, the reverse effect of market resilience on forward buying is verified. We provide theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the correlation between the two disaster-induced buying behaviors and market resilience under the moderating effects of self-regulation and heteronomy.
Subjects
Forward buying
Heteronomy
Reactionary buying
Retail market resilience
Self-regulation
Supply chain risk management
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article