Shopping Centers in Change: : A multiple case study of shopping centers´ communications strategies during a social crisis

Sammanfattning: The emergence of covid-19 resulted in a new way of living for the whole world. One of the areas that would come to be highly affected was the retail industry and more specifically shopping centers. The advice given by the government to citizens regarding the spread of the virus urged people to limit their time spent in public places. The purpose of the study is to investigate how a social crisis can affect the communication strategies of Swedish shopping centers. Moreover, the study aims to create a better understanding of how businesses communicate during challenging situations and how they maintain a strong brand image. Therefore, the study intends to answer the following research question: How does a social crisis affect shopping centers' communication strategies in competition with e-commerce? The research is based on semi-structured interviews with center managers and marketing managers for five shopping centers in Sweden. The results indicated that there has been a shift in communication strategy as a result of the investigated social crisis. More specifically, shopping centers have gone from a sales focus to instead promoting what changes they have done to create a safe environment for the visitors.