Since 1999, Harris Interactive has published surveys of the reputations of the 60 most visible companies, based on six dimensions. Though the top 10 companies are all in either very good or excellent standing (see here), the bottom 10 companies are in poor, very poor or critical standing.
The majority of these 10 companies are in financial services or banking, of which 75% and 70% of Americans see as hurting the economy, respectively. In fact, 17% of those surveyed had a positive view of the financial services industry, while 62% had a negative view. For banking, 16% perceived it positively and 67% negatively. Financial services witnessed four of the five worst losses in reputation this year.
Three companies rank in critical standing, compared to 2011’s two. Take a look and see which companies have the worst reputations.
#10 ExxonMobil (XOM)
2012 Rank/Score: 51 / 60.01
2011 Rank/Score: 53 / 61.09
ExxonMobil climbed up to No. 52 this year, although its score dropped by a point. Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999 to form the world’s largest publicly traded petroleum and petrochemical enterprise.
#9 Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)
2012 Rank/Score: 52 / 59.50
2011 Rank/Score: 45 / 66.15
Dropping down seven slots to become one of the 10 least favorite companies, Wells Fargo & Co. scored almost seven points worse than last year. Henry Wells and William Fargo initially started the company in California to provide banking and express services in the West. More recently, the corporation has acquired many other financial services groups and banks, including Wachovia.
#8 Comcast (CMCSA)
2012 Rank/Score: 53 / 59.1
2011 Rank/Score: 50 / 62.05
No longer the company with the worst reputation on the list, Comcast still scored three points less this year than last year. It provides video, high-speed Internet and phone services. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Comcast has one of the worst customer satisfaction levels in the country.
#7 News Corp* (NWS)
2012 Rank/Score: 54 / 57.14
2011 Rank/Score: *New to study and/or not measured in 2011 RQ
With allegations of a phone-hacking scandal in mid-2011, News Corp is a newcomer to this poll. The media conglomerate, started by Rupert Murdoch in Australia, moved to the United States, acquiring newspapers, a movie studio and a television network. Although it closed down its News of the World, News Corp still owns 20th Century Fox and its properties and many papers.
#6 Citigroup (C)
2012 Rank/Score: 55 / 55.95
2011 Rank/Score: 57 / 57.45
Although it improved its ranking, Citigroup still scored lower than it did last year. Celebrating its 200th anniversary this year, the financial services company ranked eighth in the Fortune 500 lists in 2006, 2007 and 2008, but fell to 12 in 2009 after the financial crisis.
#5 JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
2012 Rank/Score: 56 / 54.84
2011 Rank/Score: 52 / 61.15
Sliding down into one of the five least favorite companies, JPMorgan Chase scores almost six points lower than it did last year. This global financial services firm has assets of $2.3 trillion operating in more than 60 countries. Despite its Chase Community Giving program and supporting various elementary and high schools, JPMorgan Chase has hovered in the last rankings of the list since 2009.
#4 BP (BP)
2012 Rank/Score: 57 / 53.50
2011 Rank/Score: 59 / 49.82
After the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that caused the largest offshore spill in U.S. history, BP appeared on the 2011 RQ report at No. 59. It actually is the company with the third best improvements from last year’s scores, especially within the social responsibility category. Though it has inched up a bit in the rankings, the upcoming trial over the Deepwater Horizon incident may affect its reputation for next year.
#3 Bank of America (BAC)
2012 Rank/Score: 58 / 49.85
2011 Rank/Score: 55 / 58.93
Dropping just over nine points in its index, Bank of America had the most significant decline of all the companies since 2011. It has slid into critical standing, making it the worst-reputable commercial bank on this list.
#2 Goldman Sachs (GS)
2012 Rank/Score: 59 / 47.57
2011 Rank/Score: 58 / 53.90
Slipping into the critical level, Goldman Sachs has faced much controversy over the past few years, including a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other companies that have scored under 50 in the past include Enron, Adelphia and WorldCom — none of which are still around.
#1 AIG (AIG)
2012 Rank/Score: 60 / 46.18
2011 Rank/Score: 60 / 47.77
Although scoring much better than it did in 2009 with an index of 39.23, AIG still stays at the bottom of the list. The financial services and insurance corporation has lingered as the bottom two companies on RQ Report after the government bailed it out in 2008.
