Only a third of Russians have at least once in their lives refused the goods and services of a company that was involved in a scandal. Almost 70% of respondents said that they had not encountered such cases, experts from the Anketolog service found. 2,000 people took part in the study.
At the same time, Russians have become more active in reading reviews about businesses, checking ratings and studying recommendations. 87% of respondents said that they would refuse to buy products if the manufacturer was involved in a scandal with consumer poisoning. The same applies to the service sector: the overwhelming majority of respondents will not visit a beauty salon or clinic because of a master or doctor who was involved in a scandal.
Reputation is no less important in construction: 90% of respondents will refuse to buy real estate from a developer who previously missed deadlines for the delivery of projects. In the case of the auto industry, 78% will not buy a car that is “famous” for a manufacturing defect.
According to the study, the middle class and wealthy consumers turned out to be more demanding of the reputation of companies, especially in the field of medicine, everyday goods and finance.
Large companies with a loyal audience can survive a scandal without long-term losses: the negative quickly disappears if the company reacts correctly, the researchers note. At the same time, for small brands, the crisis can be disastrous due to limited resources. At the same time, it can also pass unnoticed if there is no wide publicity.