Sharing Economy and Organizational Communication Practices in Times of Covid-19: Social Brands in Brazil and Portugal

Abstract

The paper deals with the relationship between organizations belonging to the sharing economy and their practices, behaviors and postures in organizational communication due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus. We define the sharing economy (or collaborative economy) as the goods and services provided by the digital platforms of the network through the sharing of resources and trust. We take as a premise the compulsory digitalization that many businesses have been subjected to and we started the reflection from there. Our analysis, based on bibliographic and exploratory research, was located in brands chosen intentionally, in Brazil and Portugal, seeking to reflect on the context of covid-19 and its respective communication actions in their digital properties or in their social media profiles. We illustrated strategies for exposure and communicational visibility from March until August 2020, reaching a reflection on the urgency to act actively in social demands, characterizing them as social brands. In our understanding, a social brand has a strong presence in digital, stands out with good communication practices and, above all, has a performance strategy that goes beyond its business or direct profit not only during a period of crisis, but also aware of its social role and the impact that its responsible performance generates.