Patagonia and Costco are among the brands Americans view most positively, while Twitter, FTX, and Trump came in last, a newly released survey says.
Left: Michael M. Santiago/Getty; Right: Chesnot/Getty.
Retailers including Patagonia and Costco are leading a list of brands that Americans consider to have the best reputation, according to a newly released survey.
Other brands, many of which have drawn negative press over the past several months — including Elon Musk's Twitter, Fox, FTX, and The Trump Organization — ranked lowest among the list of 100 brands. Trump came in last.
Meanwhile, another of Musk's brands, Tesla, fell 50 spots to No. 62 out of 100 companies on the list.
The rankings are part of the 2023 survey by the news outlet Axios and market research firm the Harris Poll, which outlined a list of 100 companies based on surveying more than 16,300 respondents. The survey took place in March, according to the report.
Participants were asked to share their impressions about the companies, and which they considered to have the "best" and "worst" image. Survey respondents also assessed the companies based on a number of indicators of reputation, including company culture, trust, and ethics, according to the report.
Companies like Patagonia and Costco also ranked high among respondents who perceived them as good employers, the report said. Some 18,000 Costco workers are represented by the Teamsters union.
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Representatives for Patagonia and Costco did not immediately respond to Insider's emailed requests for comment on Tuesday morning.
"Core to what is driving reputation this year are companies you can see, touch and trust," John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, said in a statement to Insider on Tuesday.
"This is a reaction to AI uncertainty and digital-crypto meltdowns like FTX, Twitter, and Bitcoin, which all scored poorly with Americans."
Gerzema also said that the survey showed that about 78% of respondents indicated that "companies which make real, tangible items rather than intangible, digital items matter more to me today than ever before."
Brands that seemed to be weathering a hit in the rankings have been in the news in recent months, and often associated with negative coverage. Elon Musk's takeover of the social media platform Twitter has been marked by mass layoffs — the company went from about 7,500 employees before Musk to closer to 1,000 employees, Insider's Kali Hays reported this month.
Fox has faced coverage over its $787.5 million settlement with Dominion, a voting software company that had brought a defamation lawsuit alleging that Fox News amplified misinformation about the 2020 US presidential election results.
Meanwhile, the fallen crypto exchange FTX is contending with its bankruptcy proceedings, and the criminal case against former executives including founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial on a number of fraud and conspiracy charges.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
The Trump Organization, a brand still widely associated with former President Donald Trump, has been beset by its own image issues. Trump was indicted earlier this year in Manhattan in a case involving a hush money payment, and E. Jean Carroll, who had accused him of sexual abuse, also recently won a $5 million jury award against him in a civil trial.
Representatives for Twitter, Fox, FTX, and The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to Insider's emailed requests for comment on Tuesday morning. Emails sent to Musk's Tesla and SpaceX email addresses also did not receive a response.
