Tagged: competence cues

Today, your website serves as the best place to make a positive first impression on potential customers. According to behavioral investigator Vanessa Van Edwards, it’s a powerful tool that can actually project charisma and establish credibility without even meeting face-to-face.

By strategically incorporating warmth and competence cues, she says, you can create a website that exudes charm and expertise, captivating your audience from the moment they land on your page.

Counting Warmth and Competence Cues

To effectively infuse charisma into your website, Van Edwards says, it’s crucial to evaluate and balance the number of warmth and competence cues. Warmth cues elicit positive emotions, foster connection, and make visitors feel comfortable. Competence cues, on the other hand, showcase your expertise and reliability.

Competence cues include elements such as awards, certifications, degrees, and concrete data that prove your capabilities. These demonstrate that you know your stuff and can deliver on your promises.

Warmth cues encompass personal stories, smiling faces, anecdotes, case studies, and elements like GIFs, funny videos, and memes that create a sense of relatability and approachability.

The Art of Blending Warmth and Competence

One company that exemplifies the art of balancing warmth and competence cues is Casper, a mattress company renowned for its effective marketing. Let’s explore how they masterfully blend these elements to create an engaging and charismatic website experience. (Website design elements may have changed since these comments were recorded.)

The Perfect Tagline

Casper’s tagline, “Obsessively engineered with outrageous comfort,” strikes the perfect balance between competence and warmth. The words “obsessively engineered” convey competence, while “outrageous comfort” appeals to the emotional side, inviting visitors to imagine a cozy and relaxing experience.

Visual Storytelling

Casper’s website employs imagery of floating clouds