With the coronavirus now savaging Europe, many in China and elsewhere in Asia have been perplexed at the seemingly random, but panic-driven purchasing of toilet paper. Masks, gloves, superior-formula hand santiser, they can all understand. But the humble bog roll?
随着冠状病毒肆虐欧洲，中国和亚洲其他地区的许多人对看似随意但恐慌的卫生纸购买行为感到困惑。口罩、手套、高级配方洗手液，他们都能理解。但是不起眼的沼泽滚动呢？
The answer it turns out, is two fold.
事实证明，答案是双重的。
A Preoccupation with Toilet Paper
对卫生纸的关注
Toilet paper has been a first-world comfort for centuries. In most Western countries, people cannot possibly fathom any other way to get things done.
It’s never been that way in Asia. In Japan for instance, electronic bidets are almost ubiquitous. Even highway service stations’ public toilets are equipped with them.
几个世纪以来，卫生纸一直是第一世界的舒适之物。在大多数西方国家，人们不可能想出任何其他方法来完成工作。在亚洲从来没有这样过。例如，在日本，电子坐浴盆几乎无处不在。就连高速公路服务站的公厕也都配备了。
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Asians are also more likely to improvise. The Nanjinger has investigated this phenomena in the article, “Maintaining Personal Hygiene in Ancient China”.
亚洲人也更倾向于即兴发挥。 《南京人》在《中国古代的个人卫生》一文中对此现象进行了调查。
“After the Han Dynasty, there was a special tool, which was ‘chuugi’ (籌木). Made by cutting bamboo slices into strips, its shape was thin and flat, slightly wide with rounded edges. The better models had great water absorption and a light fragrance. The upper classes would also wash themselves afterwards with water and then employ aromatherapy for greater fragrance”.
“汉代以后，出现了一种特殊的工具，就是‘筹木’。用竹片切成条状制成，形状薄而扁，边缘稍宽，边缘圆润。较好的吸水性好，有淡淡的香味。上层人士还会用水清洗后，再用香薰，香气更浓”。
So for the East, there have always been many more options than a simple roll of paper.
所以对于东方人来说，总是有比简单的一卷纸更多的选择。
Supermarket Toilet Paper Psychology
超市卫生纸心理学
In western countries, supermarkets are gigantic. The world’s largest is in Crossgates Commons in Albany, New York, and occupies 24,000 square metres. That’s excessive by anyone’s standards, but it serves to illustrate how much space they have for commodities.
在西方国家，超市是巨大的。 世界上最大的位于纽约奥尔巴尼的Crossgates Commons，占地24,000平方米。 按照任何人的标准，这都过分了，但它有助于说明他们有多少商品空间。
And for showing them off.
并且为了炫耀他们。
Toilet paper in such hypermarkets is sold in very large packets. It also has a long shelf life which is attractive to shop owners as it can be put out on display in large quantities. As such, it’s pretty eye catching.
在这种大卖场，卫生纸以非常大的包装出售。 它的保质期也很长，对店主很有吸引力，因为它可以大量展示。 因此，它非常引人注目。
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All it takes is a few people to buy some extra packs to make the shelves look obviously depleted. From then on, it’s a snowball effect, and the panic quickly sets in.
只需要几个人多买一些包装，就能让货架看起来明显枯竭。 从那时起，这就是滚雪球效应，恐慌迅速开始。
Elsewhere in the supermarket, there are many other, smaller items that have also been snapped up, but it takes closer inspection to realise that fact.
在超市的其他地方，还有许多其他较小的物品也被抢购，但需要仔细检查才能意识到这一事实。
Expert in consumer and behavioural science at University College London, Dr. Dimitrios Tsivrikos, spoke with Sky News about the toilet paper panic buying. He said, “The bigger they are, the more important we think they are.
伦敦大学学院消费者和行为科学专家Dimitrios Tsivrikos博士与天空新闻谈论了卫生纸恐慌性购买。 他说：“它们越大，我们认为它们就越重要。
“If we had an international sign for panic it would be a traffic warning sign with a toilet paper roll in the middle.”
“如果我们有一个国际恐慌标志，那将是一个交通警告标志，中间有一个卫生纸卷。”
