Harris Poll: Wal-Mart Stores ranks 76 out of 100 on corporate reputation

The annual Harris Poll for Corporate Reputation pegs Wal-Mart Stores near the bottom of the pack at 76 out of 100 companies surveyed. Some of the retail giant’s largest competitors ranked in the top three spots. Amazon, Wegmans and Publix led this year’s rankings, respectively.

Bentonville-based Wal-Mart ranked just ahead of General Motors and just behind AT&T in a new poll from Harris.

The survey used a reputation quotient that examines six different elements from social responsibility, products and services, vision and leadership, emotional appeal, workplace environment and financial performance. Retailers overall scored well in this year’s survey besides taking top three spots. Four other retailers ranked in the top 25: No. 14 Costco; No. 17 L.L. Bean; No. 19 Lowe’s; and No. 21 Kroger.

Scores above 80 were deemed excellent in terms of corporate reputation. The top three rankings and Costco and L.L. Bean scored higher than 80. Apple ranked No. 5 overall as Walt Disney ranked No. 7 overall. Lowe’s and Kroger scored slightly below 80 and were deemed to have “very good” reputations. Other retailers deemed to have “very good” reputations included Hobby Hobby at No. 32, Whole Foods at No. 34, and Walgreen’s at No. 36.

Following are retailers deemed to have a “good” corporate reputation better than Wal-Mart:
No. 28 Aldi
No. 39 Kohl’s
No. 41 eBay
No. 44 Home Depot
No. 45 Nordstrom
No. 46 Best Buy
No. 51 Macy’s
No. 52 CVS Health
No. 57 JC Penney
No. 58 Target
No. 68 Dollar General

Wal-Mart ranked among those with “fair” corporate reputations at No. 78, and slightly ahead of Family Dollar at No. 81. Only Sears, at No. 94, ranked in the “poor” reputation category among retailers.

Aside from retailers, suppliers also were ranked. Johnson & Johnson, 3M, Coca-Cola and General Mills all garnered “excellent” ratings. Nestle, General Electric, Kellogg, Mondelez, Sony, Kraft-Heinz and Samsung all received the “very good” rating. PepsiCo, and Procter & Gamble each pulled a “good” rating. Just one supplier, Monsanto, landed in the bottom with a “poor” rating.

The Harris Poll noted the reputation scores also are impacted by political values. For instance, the researchers said Republican respondents ranked Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby ahead of Amazon and Johnson & Johnson. While Democrats highly favored Target over other retailers.

“As companies struggle with questions around how prominent their values should be and whether their leaders should ‘speak up’ on society’s issues, the reputation quotient confirms both the reward and the risk of such choices,” the report said.