R2 — Reweight marketing portfolio toward in-group reputation accrual; reduce reliance on homeowner-targeted lead-gen and agency-directory listings

Rule: More hours into BILD / WRHBA / OHBA event attendance, more named-byline writing in Canadian Contractor / Ontario Home Builder / Better Builder Magazine / BTA-adjacent media, more sponsorship of HBA dinners and certification cohorts, more deliberate cultivation of supplier-rep and subcontractor-broker relationships. Reduce reliance on lead-gen ads aimed at homeowners (which is not the buyer anyway) and on agency-directory listings.

Why: In-group reputation dominates market reputation for high-ticket residential/ICI vendor selection ([[rindova-2005-being-good-vs-being-known]], [[in-group-vs-market-reputation-trades-distinction]], [[why-in-group-dominates-three-compounding-mechanisms]]). The buyer is operating in a credence-good regime ([[dulleck-kerschbamer-sutter-2011-liability-verifiability-credence-goods]]) where market signals carry little independent weight.

How to apply:

• Quarterly portfolio review: list the channels in which Candid currently invests time and money. Mark each as in-group accrual vs market accrual. Target a deliberate rebalance over four quarters.
• Allocate at least one named team member to in-group presence (HBA membership, event attendance, named-byline placement) as a primary KPI, not a side activity.
• For homeowner-targeted homeowner-targeted ad spend: keep only what is producing actual qualified leads in the contractor channel, not the homeowner channel. Most of it should be reallocated.