Publix Scores Big With Consumers

LAKELAND, FL — When it comes to companies with stellar reputations with consumers, only two in the country outshine Lakeland-based Publix. That’s according to the latest Harris Poll Reputation Quotient Ratings report.

Publix earned third-place honors for its reputation among the “most visible” companies in the country for 2017. It was bested only by Amazon.com and fellow grocer Wegmans, which came in first and second, respectively. Other companies to make the top five were Johnson & Johnson in fourth and Apple in fifth.

The Harris Poll has been conducting its consumer survey since 1999. The annual rankings start with a nomination phase to narrow down the companies that are considered the most “visible” by the general public, according to Harris Poll. After that, a survey phase is conducted. During that phase, adults 18 and up are asked a series of questions that relate to two companies on the Top 100 list. Those interviews, which take about 20 minutes each, result in individual company scores. Each company on the list is rated by about 300 adults to arrive at the final ratings.

The rankings are put together each year to gauge public perception about different companies and to identify the factors that boost reputation, according to Harris Poll. Factors that can negatively impact rankings include intentional wrongdoing, misrepresenting information about products or services and lying, the pollsters noted.

Companies that came in at the bottom of the rankings this year were Halliburton, Monsanto, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo & Company and Takata.

Publix, which earned sixth-place rankings in last year’s Harris Poll, tends to do very well in consumer ratings. The grocery store was named America’s second favorite in last year’s Market Force survey. It also came in fifth place in a survey conducted by Daily Meal.

To check out the full 2017 Reputation Quotient Ratings from the Harris Poll, visit the organization’s website.

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