3/1/2013
The technology industry has the best reputation among U.S. consumers, as compared to 14 other industries, according to Harris Interactive. Almost eight in 10 Americans view the technology industry’s reputation as positive. Although the industry on the whole earns positive reviews from consumers, half of the individual companies with the greatest declines in reputation between 2012 and 2013 were tech companies. The tobacco industry has the worst reputation, while the U.S. government has the second-worst.
The study measures overall corporate reputation by examining six dimensions, each of which includes specific attributes:
- Vision and Leadership: market opportunities, clear vision for future.
- Financial Performance: outperforms competitors, record of profitability.
- Workplace Environment: rewards employees fairly, good place to work.
- Products and Services: value for money, innovative, high quality.
- Emotional Appeal: feel good about company, trust, admire and respect.
- Social Responsibility: supports good causes, environmental and community responsibility.
Corporate social responsibility, workplace environment, and emotional appeal are more important to consumers in 2013 than they were in 2012. The other top driver of reputation is financial performance. Value for money and high ethical standards have declined in importance.
On the whole, consumers have a negative view of corporate America. More than four in 10 (44%) rate U.S. corporations overall as having poor or very poor reputations, while another 23% rate them as having fair reputations. Only 9% say U.S. corporations have very good or excellent reputations, and another 19% say they have good reputations.
Consumer perception of corporations has improved since last year, however, and positive ratings are nearing pre-recessionary levels.
More than half of U.S. consumers (56%) say they’re making more of an effort now than they did in the past to learn about the companies they do business with or hear about, up from 50% who said so in 2012. These consumers, termed “seekers,” are especially likely to base their purchases on information they’ve learned about companies, and to actively try to influence the purchase decisions of others.
Source: “The Harris Poll 2013 RQ: A Survey of the General Public Using the Reputation Quotient,” February 2013, Harris Interactive, 60 Corporate Woods, Rochester, NY 14623; 585-272-8400; info@harrisinteractive.com; www.harrisinteractive.com.
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