MKT Consumer Behavior

Traditional Rival Strategies Versus Competitor Praise

Brand rivalries and how companies address their competitors and their products directly influence how consumers perceive and engage with brands. Traditional rivalry strategies often criticize competitors and focus on how one product or brand is better than the other. The “Mac vs. PC” advertising campaign personified the Mac as the new, younger man and the PC as an older, traditional man (Cutright et al., 2022). However, a new, more effective rival strategy has emerged. Competitor praise is a rival strategy in which a brand emphasizes its competitors’ strengths rather than its flaws. The competitor praise approach positions a brand as more credible and confident, as it does not need to put other brands down to emphasize its own strengths.

How Consumers Respond to Competitor Praise

Praising the competition rather than criticizing them leads to a more positive consumer attitude toward a brand, leading to a stronger willingness to buy. Consumers perceive the brand that praises its competition as more trustworthy, authentic, and kind (Cutright et al., 2022). This reaction is supported by the thin-slice theory which suggests people make decisions or judgements based on limited information (McLeod, 2024). If a brands advertisement or campaign is perceived as authentic and kind, an unfamiliar consumer would develop a positive attitude toward the brand.

When Competitor Praise is Not Effective

There are instances in which competitor praise is not effective. If the praise comes off as disingenuous, consumers will not respond well to it. Also, if there is no correlation between the two brands, it does not make the brand appear more trustworthy since the praise is unrelated. Finally, if the brand doing the praising fails to highlight it’s own value and differentiate its product, the strategy is not effective because it will push consumers to the other brand (Zhou, 2021).

References

Cutright, K., Katherine, D., Zhou, L. (2022, March 24) Research: When Praising Competition Benefits Your Brand. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/03/research-when-praising-the-competition-benefits-your-brand

Mcleod, S. (2024, January 09). Thin-Slicing Judgements in Psychology. SimplyPsychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/thin-slicing-psychology.html

Zhou, L., Katherine, D., Cutright, K. (2021, November 17). How Brand-to-Brand Praise Influences Consumer Perceptions and Choices. American Marketing Association. https://www.ama.org/2021/11/17/befriending-the-enemy-the-effects-of-observing-brand-to-brand-praise-on-consumer-evaluations-and-choices/