Corporate reputations on a net basis have declined this year, though not as precipitously as they did last year, according to the latest annual?Axios Harris Poll 100. Close to half (46%) of all corporate reputations measured declined, against 37% that improved, per the report.
The blame is placed on “greedflation,” which many Americans think has been occurring. To wit, 7 in 10 believe companies are taking further advantage of inflation to increase their profit margins. An even greater 77% feel that companies often sell lower-quality products and services while charging higher prices. And with tariffs affecting consumers’ spending intent, 6 in 10 feel that companies will use them as an opportunity to raise prices more than they need to in order to boost profits.
Value is clearly at the forefront for consumers, who are more than twice as likely to say that the quality of goods and services is falling behind (48%) rather than exceeding (22%) their current prices.
As such, as The Harris Poll notes, “inflation fighters” come out on top in the reputation rankings, led by Trader Joe’s. The company enjoyed a 3.5-point increase in reputation score (to 82.1 on the 100-point scale), the sixth-largest overall of the top 100 companies. It rose 12 positions to capture the top spot.
Just behind Trader Joe’s is Patagonia (82.0), rising from the 7th spot last year and marking the 7th time in the past 12 years that it has ranked in the top 10. It’s followed by Microsoft (80.7), Toyota (80.6), and Costco (also 80.6). Last year’s leader, Nvidia, tumbled down to the 8th spot. All told, 10 of the 100 most visible companies in the US (by familiarity) had an Excellent score, meaning that they ended up with a Reputation Quotient of 80 or higher.
Despite corporate reputations trending lower, that’s is a departure from last year, when only 2 companies had an Excellent score.
The fastest-rising companies in terms of reputation rankings were:
- Home Depot (up 24 to #15)
- ExxonMobile (up 20 to #66)
- Chipotle (up 19 to #56)
- Lowe’s (up 18 to #23)
Conversely, the largest falls in company reputation rankings were for:
- Tesla (down 32 spots to #95)
- Adidas (down 28 spots to #33)
- Alphabet (Google) (down 23 spots to #40)
- CVS (down 21 to #57)
- PepsiCo (down 20 to #42)
Spirit Airlines slid 2 spots to become the worst-performing company in terms of corporate reputation (58.5). Joining it as the only companies with a “Very poor” reputation were The Trump Organization (#99; 58.6) and X (#98; 59.8).
For more, check out the top 100 rankings?here.
About the Data: The Reputation Quotients are based on March interviews with 16,585 Americans who ranked the 100 “most visible companies” on reputation. The “most visible companies” were first determined via a January survey of 6,231 Americans who rated the companies that were most top-of-mind for reputation (both good and bad).
Contextual data about brands are based on May surveys among 2,123 and 2,117 US adults (18+).
