Negative connotation to having Support (as in customer support) in primary navigation?

Question

I'm not sure where this idea originated, but for some reason I have in my brain the notion that placing Support in primary navigation can have negative connotations, e.g. our customers need help/assistance so much that we deemed it necessary to put it in primary navigation.

Right now, the client has Support in the utility navigation at the very top of the page, where it seems to be performing just fine. They haven't given any specific reason for wanting to move it to the primary nav, except that it's popular.

I'm having our analytics guy poke around their Google Analytics to see if he can dig up any data that would suggest that such a move would be either beneficial or detrimental, but I also wanted to ask whether anyone knew of any research that did the same but from a more user-centric, psychological, or content strategy perspective. I can't seem to find anything, though...which makes me think I'm probably operating under a false pretense. :)

Anybody know anything, either way? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

From experience, consumers have come to expect digital technology to be buggy and complicated. Many have experienced the inability to get a new product to work, both at home and at work. Thus, I speculate, consumers may be reassured to see you offer support. They may be encouraged to get something knowing you’ll be there after the acquisition to help them if (when?) they have trouble. But I suppose it depends on what you’re selling. Support for a smartphone app is good. Support for an extension cord may be considered a bad sign.