Corporate Reputation Rankings: It's Not Been A Great Year For Many In Tech

Facebook, Tesla and Google are down significantly.

Interestingly, the makers and marketers of stuff - Samsung, Sony, Home Depot, Procter and Gamble, LL Bean, LG, Patagonia - are way up. The question is whether their quality has improved or whether, given the growing disquiet about the power of intangibles' providers, they just appear more reliable on a relative basis. JL


The Harris Poll reports:

Several of the country's most well-known brands lost favor among Americans with Facebook, Tesla Motors taking the biggest dives. "For two years in a row, the public has ranked data privacy America's most pressing social issue and consequently, tech giants perceived as egregiously mishandling users' personal information had severe reputational losses. Americans are emotionally drained and disillusioned by corporate misdeeds and rebuked companies wracked by ethical or financial misdoings and rocky leadership."
The Axios Harris Poll, which ranks the reputations of the 100 most visible companies in the US by consumers, shows that Americans value stability and steadfastness, embracing brands untainted by deception or corruption, with Wegmans, Amazon, Patagonia, LL Bean, and Walt Disney ranking highest.

Several of the country's most well-known brands lost favor among Americans with Facebook, Tesla Motors, McDonalds, Target and Nike taking the biggest dives while others remained at the bottom of the annual reputational list, such as Dish, Wells Fargo, Sears, the Trump Organization, Phillip Morris and the US government.

"For two years in a row, the public has ranked data privacy America's most pressing social issue and consequently, it's no surprise that tech giants perceived as egregiously mishandling users' personal information had severe reputational losses," said John Gerzema, CEO, Harris Poll.

Other big tech brands saw their reputations rise or remain steady with Samsung (+28 / #7), Microsoft, and Sony. More specifically, Microsoft has been on a steady incline in the RQ since 2016, ranking at #20 in 2016-2017, #11 in 2018 and now breaking into the top ten in 2019 at #9. Additionally, Microsoft ranked high on key RQ dimensions taking #4 for Business Trajectory and taking high marks for Trust (#19) and Character (#18).

"Americans are emotionally drained and disillusioned by corporate misdeeds and rebuked companies wracked by ethical or financial misdoings and rocky leadership, and rewarded those who stayed out of the fray," continued Gerzema.

In 2018, Tesla took the #3 spot, however this year, perhaps impacted by its controversial CEO, Tesla's ranks dropped 39 points to #42 and had significant declines along ethical attributes such as Trust - from #14 to #46 and Ethics - from #5 to #56.