A new study measuring Americans overall sentiment towards the top 60 brands in the US has just been concluded and the darling of the press Apple is also apparently the darling of the masses. The poll, which was conducted by market analysis company Harris Interactive, polled a total of 17,555 people in the US and asked them to score each company across a number of categories.
The categories scored included social responsibility, emotional appeal, products and services, workplace environment, financial performance and vision and leadership. The results revealed that the most respected company in the US this year is Apple, who scored an all time high of 85.62 of 100, the highest any company ever polled in the annual study has ever scored.
Apple effectively beat out last year’s winners Google, who this year came in at 82.82, a slide from their previous score of 84.o5. Other entrants in the top ten include: Coca-Cola (no. 3), Amazon (no. 4), Kraft Foods (no. 5), The Walt Disney Company (no. 6), Johnson & Johnson (no. 7), Whole Foods Market (no. 8), Microsoft (no. 9) and UPS (no. 10).
This interesting study comes during what many are calling Apple’s golden age where everything seems to be working over time to increase the company’s earnings and image. This notwithstanding, the recent Foxconn debacle where Apple are accused of using Chinese factories, especially the now-notorious Foxconn factories, to make their devices while working conditions in these factories are well below fair labour standards.
But it seems this has not dented the bullish run of the company as Apple stocks topped $500 in trading yesterday. This study becomes an additional feather in the crowded Apple hat as the company plans to launch an iPad 3 as well as a 7 inch mini iPad later on this year.
