Wegmans, Publix Make Reputation Poll’s Top 10
According to new research from The Harris Poll. Americans hold a particularly favorable view of the reputations of Wegmans Food Markets and Publix Super Markets, as both landed in the top 10, at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Etailer Amazon nabbed the top spot for the second straight year, with an 86.7 “excellent” reputation score – the highest ever achieved by any company in almost 20 years of Harris’ Reputation Quotient (RQ) insights.
“Leveraging the intimate connection grocers have with the marketplace, these companies are seen as trusted, engaged community partners,” noted Wendy Salomon, VP of reputation management at public affairs, The Harris Poll. “Wegmans and Publix are seen as doing it better than the rest.”
Added Salomon: “Looking at the dimensions of corporate reputation, both Wegmans and Publix scored in the top five on Social Responsibility. Emotional Appeal, and Workplace Environment. Wegmans also scored high on Products & Services, Vision & Leadership, and Financial Performance. Their scores are being driven by what they are doing in the communities where they operate. The programs they have at the local level – for employees or the surrounding communities – are really resonating with consumers, which are helping drive that sense of emotional appeal that is lifting their overall reputation score.”
Other grocers appearing in the results were Costco (No. 14), The Kroger Co. (No. 21), Whole Foods Market (No. 34), Aldi (No. 38), Target (No. 58) and Walmart (No. 76). Drug store chains Walgreens and CVS came in 36th and 52nd, respectively, and Family Dollar ranked 81st, while the financially embattled Sears Holding Corp., parent company of Kmart, was near the bottom, at No. 94. CPG companies on the list included Johnson & Johnson (No. 4), Coca-Cola (No. 12), General Mills (No. 13), Nestle (No. 27), Kellogg Co. (No. 31), Mondelez International (No. 35), Kraft Heinz (No. 43), PepsiCo (No. 53), and Procter & Gamble (No. 54).
In keeping with pollsters’ finding that companies earned higher reputational scores among consumers who share their individual values and political views, Democrats scored Target 11.8 points higher (“very good”) than Republicans did (“fair”).
“Values play a bigger role than ever before in corporate reputation, and the business significance of a company's reputation has never been higher,” noted Mark J. Penn, managing partner and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Stagwell Group LLC, which owns The Harris Poll. “Consumers are keenly interested in how companies engage with the world, and that includes corporate ideals. As the red-versus-blue duel of politics impacts corporate reputation, we expect to see more alignment along party beliefs.”
The Harris Poll RQ measures the reputations of the 100 most visible companies in the United States, as perceived by the general public. The RQ gauges the companies’ reputation strength based on the opinions of more than 23,000 Americans across six corporate reputation dimensions: Social Responsibility, Emotional Appeal, Products and Services, Vision and Leadership, Financial Performance, and Workplace Environment.