Marketing Communication of Multinational Retail Chain during Global Pandemic in the Online Environment

Abstract

Research background: The epidemic that has hit us on a global scale has had a negative impact not only on the work-related, social, and personal lives of each individual or household, but also on the economies of different countries and, last but not least, on decision-making of companies. One of the areas in which we noticed clearly the influence of the pandemic was the communication of retail chains with their customers: e.g., Kaufland stopped the unaddressed distribution of its promotional leaflets and tried to redirect the interest of customers to the digital (online) environment. With our paper we respond to this measure. The object of our research is the posts of the multinational retail chain Kaufland published on its Facebook account, intended for customers on the Slovak and German markets, during the period when a state of emergency was imposed in Slovakia. Purpose of the article: The main purpose of the content analysis is to find out the topics of the online contents of the retail chain Kaufland in Slovakia in communication with customers during an emergency state on its Facebook pages and compare them with the topics of articles posted during the observed period on the company´s Facebook pages in Germany. Methods: Digital contents are divided into contributions related and not related to the pandemic. As Germany did not impose general restrictions, we found out that in comparison with Slovakia, some themes related to the health protection or social responsibility did not appear on the Facebook pages of Kaufland in Germany. Findings & Value added: Conversely, Kaufland Slovakia did not assure customers that stores were regularly supplied and customers did not have to fall into purchasing hysteria, did not encourage customers to move to digital (online) environment and also did not publish job offers (for temporary work) in its shops or by its suppliers. The number of pandemic-related posts has been declining over the examined period.