Americans still mostly like Amazon, it turns out. But they're not so fond of Facebook, Tesla, or, most notably, their own government.
At least that's what the annual Harris Poll, which for 20 years has been measuring the reputations of the United States' most visible companies based on the opinions of consumers, says. The poll ranks the country's 100 "most visible" — as opposed to best — companies on merits such as vision, growth, character and ethics, with data taken from 18,288 Americans.
Wegman's, the Rochester-based supermarket chain, came out on top. But, Amazon, which held the top spot last year, held relatively steady - only dropping into the second spot. The polling took place from November to January, before Amazon controversially pulled its proposed headquarters from New York. Regardless, the poll says the top five companies — including Amazon — show that Americans "value stability and steadfastness."
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Apparently, those words do not define Facebook and Tesla, which were not able to shake off public controversy in the eyes of the consumer. Facebook, which has taken the brunt of the public backlash against tech companies amid privacy scandals, took the biggest hit in the rankings, falling 43 spots from no. 51 to no. 94. Tesla, which shot all the way up to no. 3 last year, dropped 39 spots after founder Elon Musk's wild year.
But the most surprising aspect of the poll, Axios reports, is the first ever inclusion of the United States government, which came in dead last — behind tobacco company Phillip Morris and the Trump Organization. It was a bipartisan opinion, as well, with Republicans ranking it 95th, Democrats 98th, and independents all the way at the bottom. "They're just fed up," Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema told Axios.
The Harris Poll was conducted between Nov. 2018 and Jan. 2019, polling 18,288 Americans from the general public online. No margin for error was indicated. Take a look at the rankings at The Harris Poll.
