Abstract

The paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marketing. The main purpose of the research is to analyze how COVID-19 has affected the critical messaging strategies in the Saudi food industry. Systematization of scientific background on the investigated issue indicated that pandemics and epidemics significantly impact business processes, including marketing activities. The motivation behind this study is derived from several observations on how companies have adapted their business goals to contribute to tackling the impact of COVID-19. With changes in consumers’ behavior, companies had to readjust their strategies to address the anticipated short- and long-term changes in market dynamics. The research aims to reveal trends in marketing communication in the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 eras. Therefore, the process of investigation of the topic in the paper is carried out using quantitative approaches. The article specifically focuses on the objectives such as 1) establishing how Shawarmer SA, Maestro Pizza, and Hungerstation interacted with their customer before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; 2) uncovering changes in social media messaging strategies used by Shawarmer SA, Maestro Pizza, and Hungerstation. Specifically, online survey on three major companies in Saudi Arabia, Shawarmer SA, Maestro Pizza, and Hungerstation. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of data from each of the above company’s Twitter pages, which showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed how companies interact with their customers. Therefore, the author sought to identify the appropriate strategies adopted by the three major players in the Saudi food industry, Maestro Pizza, Hunger Station, and Shawarmer, to interact with customers. The research empirically confirmed and theoretically proved that messaging is a crucial aspect of marketing. The results of the study can be helpful in the development of customer-oriented marketing strategies.

Keywords: customer-oriented marketing strategies, food industry, business communication, messaging, marketing, COVID-19.

JEL Classification: M10, M30, I12.

Cite as: Almutairi, F. A. (2021). From marketing to crisis management: how key messages changed during corona pandemic in Saudi food industry. Marketing and Management of Innovations, 2, 179-190. https://doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2021.2-15

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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