Coronavirus: Now Tom Hanks has it, are we ready to get serious?

Our consumer decisions are often irrational, say behavioural economists and marketing experts, who study us, and the purchase trails we leave behind, closely.

Now, watching people deal with the coronavirus - and the changing estimates of how serious is the threat - I can't help but wonder how large really is the gap between what we say, and what we really think. And eventually, what we do.

Have the people who laughed at the toilet paper hoarders last week now run out themselves, and are looking to restock?

So many folks pride themselves in blaming all the "media hype", refusing to deviate from their usual routines, and laughing at the rest.

And all of a sudden in one day, the NBA suspends its season, the US bans travel from Europe, and Tom Hanks tests positive. Can we say it's serious now?

Fear and anxiety aren't always rational, but they've helped keep us alive since caveman had to dodge sabre-tooth tiger.

In his book The Idiot Brain, neuroscientist Dean Burnett traces the gap between how our brains think we live, and what we actually do, concluding that much of how we respond to stimuli is virtually automatic.

Its overreactions and idiosyncrancies are usually beyond our control. So it sure is nice when its behaviour is laid out before us for all to see.

Everyone laughs at the hoarders but someone's buying that stuff, every day, and there's a lot of them.

Which isn't to say they're rational. At the supermarket San Remo pasta is virtually sold out - but beside it a similar organic range is well stocked, even though at $1.80 it's cheaper. Apparently, that organic stuff's not going to get you through a crisis.

Does our fear of organic food trump our fear of starvation in isolation?

Watch as our use of cash is rapidly driven well below the already-low 30 per cent of transactions, as people try to avoid touching others (and things others have touched).

UOW Professor Charles Areni says this is irrational - not because it's right or wrong, but because it's based on perception rather than on any medical evidence.

Irrational perhaps, but isn't it nice to slip through an already open door without having to grab the handle? I was at a regional swimming carnival on Tuesday and I've never appreciated Paywave so much than at that kid-filled kiosk.

We have our favourite brands of petrol - ascribing it certain qualities - although much of it is the same.

Hey, at least we're not trying to make a living by attracting tourists to Dismal Swamp, like this guy.

Which brings us back to toilet paper.

Other people say "why toilet paper - there are other things you can use" but I doubt anyone would be in a hurry to go outside and source some nice soft leaves from a tree, unless things had really gotten pretty grim.

One friend of mine has by chance emerged the winner of the whole shebang. He cared for his stepfather over a long, sad descent into dementia, during which the elder would often come home from the shops with his mobility scooter laden with bulk toilet paper - a task which he might repeat the next day.

With the elder now passed, the younger now finds himself in possession of a stockpile of dunny rolls 300-deep, just as it became rare. What are the odds?