City Engagement Messenger

Many cities are confronted with the challenge of decreasing customer frequency due to online retail, shopping malls and shopping tourism to foreign countries close to the border. In this project, a City Engagement Messenger (abbreviated as "CEM" in the following) is developed, which for the first time enables a digital networking of numerous, independent stakeholders (retailers, city associations, city administrations, population, regular visitors, etc.) within a common messenger channel of an existing messenger service (e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram).
The content sent through it aims to increase the conversion rate and strengthen the urban space in terms of perception, build positive attitudes and emotions, increase city engagement and the associated increase in frequency and purchase activity. Content can be sent and managed directly in CEM by retailers, restaurateurs, the city. This enables real-time communication between stakeholders, which can be instrumental in strengthening their (digital) relationship.
This bundling of communicative thrust brings significant added value to all parties involved and creates a common communication channel of independent stakeholders, which has enough interaction / news to establish itself in the long term as a Messenger channel regularly used by a broad mass. Such a solution is not offered by messenger services or third-party providers and is different from previous digital city initiatives such as apps or online marketplaces. The integration of the CEM into a messenger service eliminates the need for a separate app download and is ideal for rapid diffusion and use by all stakeholders.
In the project, the CEM is thus developed and the effectiveness of the content on conversion rate as well as city engagement and the associated relevant pre-tax variables and behaviors is researched.