Careers Business Ownership The Companies With the Best and Worst Reputations Share PINTEREST Email Print Spencer Platt/Getty Images News Business Ownership Industries Retail Small Business Restauranting Real Estate Nonprofit Organizations Landlords Import/Export Business Freelancing & Consulting Franchises Food & Beverage Event Planning eBay E-commerce Construction Operations & Success Becoming an Owner By Barbara Farfan Barbara Farfan University of Georgia Barbara Farfan is a retail industry expert with more than 20 years as a business consultant for the retail and publishing industries. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 08/05/19 The Axios Harris Poll 100 names the companies with the best and worst reputations among consumers in the U.S. The top-ranked company in 2019 was grocery store chain Wegmans. The entity with the lowest ranking wasn't actually a company; it was the U.S. government. Poll Methodology The ranking was created in two steps. At first, 6,118 U.S. adults were asked the following question in November 2018: "Of all the companies that you’re familiar with or that you might have heard about, which two—in your opinion—stand out as having the best reputations overall?" They were then asked the same question only with "worst" substituted for "best." The 100 organizations that were named most often—as either best or worst—were compiled into a list of "most visible companies." (Subsidiaries or brands were tallied under the parent company.) In online interviews conducted in January 2019, 18,228 Americans were randomly assigned to discuss the reputations of two of the companies with which they were either very or somewhat familiar. Those surveyed were asked to rate the two companies based on the following nine attributes in seven categories: Affinity Company I trust Culture Good company to work for Ethics Maintains high ethical standards Citizenship Shares my valuesSupports good causes Vision Clear vision for future Growth Strong prospects for growth Products & Services Develops innovative products and servicesOffers high-quality products and services Based on the responses, the companies were given a Reputation Quotient (RQ)—with a maximum value of 100—that was used to determine where they stood in the ranking. If a company was not in the list of 100, its reputation wasn't quantified because it wasn't among the most visible companies determined by the initial polling. The Top 10 Grocery retailers, clothing companies, and electronics manufacturers took many of the highest spots in the ranking. Here are the top 10, with each company's RQ. Grocery store chain Wegmans, 83.0Internet retailer Amazon.com, 82.3Outdoor clothing company Patagonia, 81.4Outdoor clothing company L.L. Bean, 80.7Media and entertainment company Walt Disney, 80.4Grocery store chain Publix, 80.3Electronics maker Samsung, 80.0Consumer products company Procter & Gamble, 79.8Software company Microsoft, 79.7Electronics maker Sony, 79.4 Companies that scored 80.0 or higher were considered Excellent. Those that scored 75.0 to 79.9 were considered Very Good. Five of the companies in the top 10 were among the most improved from 2018: Samsung went from No. 35 to No. 7; Sony, from No. 31 to No. 10; Procter & Gamble, from No. 20 to No. 8; L.L. Bean, from No. 15 to No. 4; and Patagonia, from No. 9 to No. 3. The Bottom 10 Banks and investment banks took three of the lowest spots. Also represented was the real estate company with U.S. President Donald Trump's family name. Here are the bottom 10, with each company's RQ. Cable, internet, media, and entertainment company Comcast, 61.4Financial services company Bank of America, 60.9Investment bank Goldman Sachs, 60.0Social media company Facebook, 58.1Satellite television company Dish Network, 56.9Financial services company Wells Fargo, 52.7Retailer Sears, 52.3Real estate company The Trump Organization, 50.1Tobacco company Philip Morris, 49.4The U.S. government, 48.6 Companies that scored 55.0 to 64.9 were considered Poor, those that scored 50.0 to 54.9 were considered Very Poor, and those that scored below 50.0 were considered Critical. Three of the companies in the bottom 10 were among the biggest decliners from 2018: Facebook went from No. 51 to No. 94; Comcast, from No. 78 to No. 91; and Sears, from No. 88 to No. 97.