IME, it is quite hard to discover seat pitch when booking. I have chosen to fly Air NZ, rather than cheaper alternatives, because their economy cabins tend to be better suited for long haul, but that could change without my knowing.
Competition is supposed to be good for customers, not businesses. But this only has a chance to work if the customer has reasonably good information. It would be nice if we knew about flight crew recruitment policies, too: or should that just be left to the profit motive, too?