Bankers respons på koronakrisen. En studie av Sparebank 1 SR-Bank og Jæren Sparebanks kommunikasjon under koronapandemien.

Abstract

The purpose of this master thesis is to study how Sparebank 1 SR-Bank and Jæren Sparebank have responded to the corona pandemic, a crisis they had not planned for or anticipated. The study examines how the banks have communicated with their private,-and corporate customers during the crisis in relation to Coombs ́ theory about crisis communication. The methods used consist of qualitative interviews with the banks ́ marketing and communication executives,and text analysis of their Facebook-posts from the first phase of the corona crisis in Norway. The analysis and discussion show that the banks ́ crisis response was a combination of improvised and strategic crisis communication.They have avoided the problems associated with too much planning, because they did not have specific plans for a pandemic.However, they took advantage of former crisis exercises, and Jæren Sparebank used emergency plans for other crises.It resulted in a quick response from the banks.The emphasis in their crisis response has been on telling the customers how to protect themselves physically and especially financially from the corona crisis (instructing information).The discussion shows that Sparebank 1 SR-Bank and Jæren Sparebank have thought differently about communicating about the banks' corporate social responsibility during Covid-19.