J&J, Kraft Top Most Reputable List
May 6, 2009 -- Last month, the Reputation Institute's 2009 U.S. Reputation Pulse was released, revealing the U.S. Top 25 most reputable companies. Johnson & Johnson took the lead this year as the most reputable U.S. company with Kraft Foods and General Mills rounding out the top five. In fact, nine of the 25 most reputable U.S. companies operate in the consumer goods market:
1. Johnson & Johnson
2. Kraft Foods
4. General Mills
6. Whirlpool
12. 3M
13. Colgate-Palmolive
14. Kimberly-Clark
15. Procter & Gamble
16. PepsiCo
But, what do these findings mean?
According to the study, excellent reputations are built across seven dimensions of reputation management: Products/Services, Innovation, Governance, Workplace, Citizenship, Leadership and Performance. Another key finding is that U.S. consumers feel the most respected and reputable industries are 1) Consumer Products, 2) Transportation & Logistics, 3) Industrial Products, 4) Computers and 5) Food Manufacturing.
In addition to the findings, a company's reputation score has a positive and direct link to consumer attitudes and behaviors. For example, by improving its reputation score five points, a company can increase recommendations within the general public by 6.5 percent. In cases like Johnson & Johnson and Whirlpool, word of mouth was used as a way to use recommendations to drive business and reputation in a time when consumer confidence is on a continuous decline. In fact, 65 percent of consumers said they would recommend one of the top 10 most reputable U.S. companies to others, and The Reputations Pulse also shows that 54 percent of consumers would give the most reputable U.S. companies the benefit of the doubt in a time of crisis.
For Kimberly-Clark, which ranked No. 14 in 2009, being included on this year's list is evidence that its efforts over the years to build a solid reputation in every country where it does business are paying off. "Millions of people around the world trust our well-known brands. I'm proud of our company's reputation, especially being cited as a top 10 company in the area of citizenship," says Kimberly-Clark Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tom Falk. "I'm even prouder of the people at Kimberly-Clark who make recognition like this possible."
To see the complete list of reputable companies and read more about the study, click here.
1. Johnson & Johnson
2. Kraft Foods
4. General Mills
6. Whirlpool
12. 3M
13. Colgate-Palmolive
14. Kimberly-Clark
15. Procter & Gamble
16. PepsiCo
But, what do these findings mean?
According to the study, excellent reputations are built across seven dimensions of reputation management: Products/Services, Innovation, Governance, Workplace, Citizenship, Leadership and Performance. Another key finding is that U.S. consumers feel the most respected and reputable industries are 1) Consumer Products, 2) Transportation & Logistics, 3) Industrial Products, 4) Computers and 5) Food Manufacturing.
In addition to the findings, a company's reputation score has a positive and direct link to consumer attitudes and behaviors. For example, by improving its reputation score five points, a company can increase recommendations within the general public by 6.5 percent. In cases like Johnson & Johnson and Whirlpool, word of mouth was used as a way to use recommendations to drive business and reputation in a time when consumer confidence is on a continuous decline. In fact, 65 percent of consumers said they would recommend one of the top 10 most reputable U.S. companies to others, and The Reputations Pulse also shows that 54 percent of consumers would give the most reputable U.S. companies the benefit of the doubt in a time of crisis.
For Kimberly-Clark, which ranked No. 14 in 2009, being included on this year's list is evidence that its efforts over the years to build a solid reputation in every country where it does business are paying off. "Millions of people around the world trust our well-known brands. I'm proud of our company's reputation, especially being cited as a top 10 company in the area of citizenship," says Kimberly-Clark Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tom Falk. "I'm even prouder of the people at Kimberly-Clark who make recognition like this possible."
To see the complete list of reputable companies and read more about the study, click here.