Do Consumers Care More About Businesses' Competence or Morality?
From MarketingProfs : Consumers generally value competence more than morality when choosing among service providers, but that effect is weakened if the less-competent provider is seen as an underdog, according to recent research published in the AMA's Journal of Marketing... The researchers conducted five studies to compare the impact of competence, morality, and warmth on consumers' choices. The first study analyzed Yelp.com reviews of businesses to see how different attributes correlate to positive evaluations. Some 88% of the positive online reviews examined mentioned competency attributes (reliable, knowledgeable, etc.). In contrast, only 56% of the positive online reviews mentioned warmth attributes (friendly, etc.), and just 18% mentioned morality attributes (honest, trustworthy, etc.).