Results of The Harris Poll in August 2011 by Harris Interactive, shows massive changes over the last two years in how the public perceives twenty-two of the nation's largest industries. The
biggest changes since 2009, when the survey was last conducted, are a huge improvement in the number of people who think that the automobile industry is doing a good job of serving consumers and a
very large increase in those who give the airline industry bad marks.
One key measure, the difference between those who think the industry is doing a good and a bad job of serving their
consumers, shows a 36 point improvement, from plus 6 to plus 42 for the car industry and a 27 point decline, from plus 34 to plus 7 for airlines.
Other sizable changes since 2009 include an
11 point improvement in public attitudes to online search engines, from plus 63 to plus 74, and a 10 point improvement in attitudes to the still unpopular health insurance industry, from minus 19 to
minus 9.
The industries with the best images among the public are:
- Supermarkets (plus 80)
- Online search engines (plus 74)
- Hospitals (plus 66)
- Computer
hardware companies (plus 61)
- Computer software companies (plus 55)
The least popular industries are:
- Oil companies (minus 31)
- Tobacco companies
(minus 21)
- Managed care companies (minus 13)
- Health insurance companies (minus 9)
- Investment and brokerage firms (plus 3)
Because The Harris Poll has been
asking these questions almost every year since 1997 it is possible to look not just at short term trends but also at changes over 14 years, although some of the industries were not included in the
earliest surveys.
The biggest changes (all of them declines in the images of the industries involved) over this time are:
- Oil companies: 55 point drop, from plus 24 to minus
31
- Pharmaceutical companies: 43 point drop, from plus 60 to plus 17
- Telephone companies: 37 point drop, from plus 61 to plus 24
- Banks: 31 point drop, from plus 52 to plus 21,
for
- Managed care companies: 26 point drop, from plus 13 to minus 13
- · Health insurance companies: 22 point drop, from plus 13 to minus 9
Several important conclusions can be reached from these findings, says the report. There are huge differences between the reputations of different industries, some of which are widely liked and
respected and some of which are very unpopular.
- Events, as well as the services that they provide, can have a huge impact on how people feel about different industries, says the report,
as shown by the roller coaster ups and downs of many of these industries over the last 14 years. During these years public attitudes have moved up and down in response to events and, no doubt, by the
media coverage of those events.
- Politicians may draw another set of conclusions, that it is not a good thing to be seen as supporters of very unpopular industries, and that there may be votes
to be won by Democrats if they can label their Republican opponents as being too close to "big oil" or the health insurance industry.
And, some details about industry
findings:
Respondents Perceptions in How Industries Are Serving Their
Consumers (% of Respondents; Variable Base) |
| Good Job | Bad Job | Not Sure/Refused | Good
Job Minus Bad Job |
Supermarkets | 90% | 10% | n/a% | 80% |
Online search
engines | 82 | 8 | 10 | 74 |
Hospitals | 82 | 16 | 2 | 66 |
Computer hardware companies | 77 | 16 | 7 | 61 |
Computer software companies | 72 | 17 | 12 | 55 |
Online retailers | 70 | 16 | 13 | 54 |
Internet service providers | 71 | 21 | 8 | 50 |
Packaged food companies | 71 | 24 | 5 | 47 |
Car manufacturers | 69 | 27 | 4 | 42 |
Electric and gas utilities | 70 | 29 | 1 | 41 |
Online social media sites | 56 | 26 | 19 | 30 |
Life insurance companies | 60 | 32 | 8 | 28 |
Telephone companies | 61 | 37 | 3 | 24 |
Banks | 59 | 38 | 2 | 21 |
Pharmaceutical and drug companies | 57 | 40 | 3 | 17 |
Cable companies | 54 | 43 | 3 | 11 |
Airlines | 50 | 43 | 8 | 7 |
Investment and brokerage firms | 46 | 43 | 11 | 3 |
Health
insurance companies | 43 | 52 | 6 | -9 |
Managed care companies, such as HMOs | 39 | 52 | 9 | -13 |
Tobacco companies | 36 | 57 | 7 | -21 |
Oil companies | 33 | 64 | 3 | -31 |
Source:
Harris Interactive, September 2011 |
For additional information about the study from Harris Interactive
may be found here.