It came to light in September that Wells Fargo had fraudulently opened over 2 million credit card and banking accounts without approval from customers, allowing the bank to collect $2.6 million in fees from its customers.The bank was fined $185 million by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company. 
 
 The scandal led to a shakeup of the bank’s corporate management, a stumble in share prices, and serious, perhaps permanent damage to the company’s reputation. According to a recently released Harris poll, Wells Fargo now has the second worst reputation of any major, highly visible company. Takata, the Japanese airbag manufacturer responsible for a 42 million vehicle recall, has the worst reputation. 
 
 The Harris Poll Reputation Quotient measures public opinion on the nation’s most recognizable companies. Respondents were asked to rate companies based on six components: emotional appeal, products and services, vision and leadership, workplace environment, social responsibility, and financial performance. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the companies with the highest and lowest reputation quotients. While Takata now has the worst reputation, e-commerce giant Amazon.com remains the best. These are the companies with the best (and worst) reputations. 
 
 Click here to see the companies with the best reputations. 
 
 Click here to see the companies with the worst reputations. 
 
 Many companies on both sides of this list are customer facing, and quality of service is a key part of their reputations — for better or worse. All of the well-regarded companies on this list with data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index have a customer satisfaction score of at least 80 out of 100. Companies with excellent reputations such as Amazon, Apple, and Google have among the highest scores in the ACSI. 
 
 None of the companies with the poorest reputations has a better score than 80 in the ACSI. The subscription television service of Charter Communications, which has the eighth worst reputation of any highly visible company, has a score of just 60 in the ACSI, nearly the worst. 
 
 A company’s reputation can have a meaningful impact on its bottom line, and vice versa. Most of the companies with the best reputations, including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Tesla have likely benefitted significantly from word of mouth about the quality of their products. Nearly every one of the best rated companies has reported considerable profits and several have had stock prices more than double in the past few years. With high sales and healthy profits, these companies can spend more on customer service, product quality, and employee satisfaction, creating a positive feedback loop that can boost reputation in the long term. 
 
 Meanwhile, several companies with poor reputations have lost money and have had plummeting share prices. For example, Sears shares are down by about 90% and the company has reported over $8 billion in losses over the past five years. As the company continues to lose money, it will likely be forced to cut corners, doing itself no favors in terms of customer service and reputation. 
 
 Company reputation is not just determined by the quality of products or services, but often by specific events. Wells Fargo one clear example of this, as the 2016 account scandal caused the bank’s reputation to plummet by more than 20% in a single year. Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal in 2015 destroyed the German automaker’s reputation, and the company still ranks among the 10 worst. 
 
 Several brands on this list, including Takata, are only visible enough to be considered in the Harris Reputation Quotient because they were involved in scandal. Others, such as Monsanto, Halliburton, and Chick-fil-A, have polarizing reputations closely tied to the respondent’s political convictions. 
 
 To determine America’s most and least reputable companies, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed reputation scores among the nation’s 100 most recognizable companies from the 2017 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient (RQ), produced by Harris Interactive. The study consists of two parts: a nominations stage in which consumers identify the nation’s most visible companies, followed by a ratings stage, in which each company’s reputation is measured on a scale of 0-100. In addition, we considered company consumer satisfaction scores from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), and company information from SEC filings. 
 
 These are the companies with the best (and worst) reputations. ||||| Harris Poll: Corporate Reputation Politically Polarized as Companies Wrestle With Taking a Stand for Their Values 
 
 Republicans View Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby Reputations More Favorably 
 
 08:30 AM EST Feb 9, 2017 Rating Share 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vision and Strong Leadership Increasingly Important To a Company’s Reputational Equity Yet Half of Americans Have Negative Views of Today’s CEOs 
 
 Although Tesla Out of Reach for the Masses, Americans Propel Automaker’s Reputation 
 
 Consumers Cite Intentional Wrongdoing and Dishonesty as Top Reputational Threats 
 
 Amazon Records Highest Reputation Rating in 18 Years of Study; Wells Fargo Experiences Largest Reputation Drop in Harris Poll History 
 
 NEW YORK – As companies wrestle with how to approach a divided U.S. political climate, new research from The Harris Poll shows that Americans view the reputations of some companies as aligned with their individual values. Republicans hold the reputations of Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby - companies that have vocally shared their conservative beliefs - significantly more favorably than Democrats do. Democrats perceive Target’s reputation more positively. 
 
 “In such divided times, as companies scurry to figure out if and how to respond to the issues and commentary of the new administration, we find that corporate reputation perceptions can be just as polarizing,” said Wendy Salomon, vice president of reputation management and public affairs at The Harris Poll. “Companies that have taken very public stands for their beliefs are rewarded by consumers of similar conservative or liberal views, but there is also clear risk among those who feel otherwise.” 
 
 According to Harris Poll’s research, Chick-fil-A earns a higher reputation score among Republicans than any other company, scoring 17.4 points higher among Republicans (“excellent”) than among Democrats (“good”). Hobby Lobby also scores 17 points higher among Republicans (excellent” compared to “fair” among Democrats). Democrats score Target 11.8 points higher (“very good”) compared to Republicans (“fair”). 
 
 “Values play a bigger role than ever before in corporate reputation, and the business significance of a company’s reputation has never been higher,” said Mark J. Penn, managing partner and president of The Stagwell Group LLC, which owns The Harris Poll. “Consumers are keenly interested in how companies engage with the world, and that includes corporate ideals. As the red versus blue duel of politics impacts corporate reputation, we expect to see more alignment along party beliefs.” 
 
 The Harris Poll Reputation Quotient (RQ), which identifies movement, trends and insights in a changing corporate reputation landscape, reveals reputation ratings for the 100 most visible companies in the U.S., as perceived by the general public. A trusted baseline for understanding and managing corporate reputation and identifying new market risks and opportunities, the RQ measures companies’ reputation strength based on the perceptions of more than 23,000 Americans across six corporate reputation dimensions: Social Responsibility, Emotional Appeal, Products and Services, Vision and Leadership, Financial Performance, and Workplace Environment. In this year’s study, 17 of the 100 most visible U.S. companies earned “excellent” reputation scores and 34 companies received “very good” scores. The Harris Poll 2017 Reputation Quotient Summary Report can be found at www.theharrispoll.com/reputation-quotient/. 
 
 The Harris Poll 2017 Reputation Quotient 
 
 Top Ten 
 
 Top Ten Top Ten RQ Score 1. Amazon.com 86.27, Excellent 2. Wegmans 85.41, Excellent 3. Publix Super Markets 82.78, Excellent 4. Johnson & Johnson 82.57, Excellent 5. Apple 82.07, Excellent 6. UPS 82.05, Excellent 7. The Walt Disney Company 82.04, Excellent 8. Google 82.00, Excellent 9. Tesla Motors 81.70, Excellent 10. 3M Company 81.50, Excellent 
 
 
 
 The Harris Poll 2017 Reputation Quotient 
 
 Bottom Ten 
 
 Bottom Ten Bottom Ten RQ Score 91. Volkswagen Group 63.46, Poor 92. AIG 63.22, Poor 93. Charter Communications 62.80, Poor 94. Sears Holdings Corporation 62.74, Poor 95. Bank of America 59.69, Poor 96. Halliburton 58.30, Poor 97. Monsanto 56.61, Poor 98. Goldman Sachs 56.32, Poor 99. Wells Fargo & Company 49.11, Critical 100. Takata 48.70, Critical 
 
 
 
 Vision and Leadership More Important Than Ever, Yet CEOs’ Reputations Failing 
 
 Harris Poll’s analysis shows that while Vision and Leadership attributes are increasingly important to reputation equity, an astounding half of Americans rate the reputations of today’s corporate leaders and CEOs as “bad.” Only one-quarter of the public rates CEOs with “good” reputations; 26 percent are neutral. Americans cite trusted, ethical and accountable as the most important traits for CEOs, while it is less important for business leaders to be curious, visible, bold and risk takers. 
 
 “Vision and Leadership impact a company’s reputational equity now more than it did ten years ago, meaning today’s CEOs and business leaders have a major reputation issue,” said Salomon. “It’s important that companies continue to find ways to demonstrate the value their vision for the future delivers, and how their team of leaders can make that vision a reality.” 
 
 Tesla Unobtainable for Many Yet Reputation High 
 
 Tesla Motors makes its RQ and top ten (#9) debuts with an “excellent” reputation rating, despite the fact that many Americans may never purchase one of its products – or even ride in one. 
 
 “Many companies with high reputations are fairly ubiquitous; you interact with them in your home, you shop at these stores and you use their services,” said Salomon. “What’s interesting about Tesla is that while Elon Musk undoubtedly brings a ‘celebrity CEO’ factor, it’s a company that isn’t accessible to most consumers. Given this strong reputational backdrop, and that Musk has the ear of the Trump administration, Tesla will be a fascinating company to watch moving forward.” 
 
 Highly Visible for the Wrong Reasons 
 
 The RQ study shows that Americans have a deeper knowledge of how companies behave with companies like Takata (massive airbag scandal) and Mylan (EpiPen pricing scandal) more visible due to reputational crises. This year marks the first time Takata and Mylan have appeared on the Most Visible Companies list, with “fair” (Mylan) and “critical” (Takata) ratings. 
 
 “Takata and Mylan are not household names, yet due to recent events, they are well known,” said Salomon. “It’s a clear indication of the level of understanding and engagement the public has in the granular details of crisis situations. Corporate behavior has become common dinner table conversation.” 
 
 Most Damaging Scenarios to Corporate Reputation 
 
 According to the RQ study, the biggest risks to corporate reputation are intentional wrongdoing or illegal actions by corporate leaders (cited by 85 percent of Americans), lying or misinterpreting the facts about a product or service (83%) and intentional misuse of financial information for financial gain (82%). Other risks to reputation damage include security or data breaches (74%), unfair workplace conditions and culture (67%), workplace discrimination (65%), product recall due to contamination (65%) and poor leadership conduct (64%). 
 
 When asked which company damaged their reputation the most this past year, most consumers cited Wells Fargo (23%), followed by Volkswagen (9%) and Samsung (5%). 
 
 “Incidents that introduce reputational risk are not created equal,” said Salomon. “Some crises that we’ve seen play out in the past few years cut at the core of what the public sees as most damaging, while other situations aren’t such a big deal. Reputation managers often face great internal and external pressures to respond, so the more they can understand the scale of response that makes sense the better.” 
 
 Amazon, Wells Fargo Make RQ History 
 
 Wells Fargo & Company, tainted by a fake accounts scandal, fell 20.6 points, surpassing Volkswagen’s 2016 decline (-20.5) as the largest drop in RQ’s 18-year history. 
 
 Amazon.com - claiming the top spot for the second consecutive year and marking the ninth consecutive year the online retailer has ranked in the top ten - recorded the highest rating (86.27) by any company during nearly two decades of RQ corporate reputation insights. 
 
 Driven by its product offerings and an emotional connection with consumers, Amazon.com is unsurpassed in four areas important to reputation – Emotional Appeal (includes elements of trust, admiration and respect), Products and Services (includes elements of quality, innovation and good value for money), Vision and Leadership and Financial Performance. 
 
 Notable Improvements, Prominent Declines 
 
 Volkswagen Group, plagued by an emissions scandal in 2016, is starting to show signs of reputational recovery, rebounding 8.7 points to an RQ score of 63.46 (poor). The company tied with Toyota Motor Corporation (80.21, excellent) for the largest RQ increase in 2017. JCPenney (+6.4) also shows notable improvement, earning the highest RQ score the company has had in the past decade. UPS (2012) and 3M (2011) return to the top ten after multi-year absences. 
 
 Wells Fargo and Takata are the only companies to score at “critical” levels. Wells Fargo fell 20.6 points, from a “fair” (69.73) score in 2016 to 49.11. Takata debuted at the bottom (#100) of the RQ list with a score of 48.70. 
 
 Other companies showing marked declines are Procter & Gamble Co. (-5.3), Samsung (-5.3), Chipotle (-4.6) and Bank of America (-4.6). Procter & Gamble’s decline is evident across all reputation dimensions, but particularly pronounced with Workplace Environment. 
 
 Methodology 
 
 The 2017 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient was conducted online in English, among 23,633 U.S. respondents from November 29 - December 16, 2016, with preliminary nominating waves of research conducted among 4,092 respondents from September 13 -15 and October 4 – 6, 2016. 
 
 The Annual RQ study begins with a Nomination Phase, which is used to identify the companies with the most "visible" reputations. All respondents are asked, unaided, to name companies that stand out as having the best and worst reputations. Online nominations are summed to create a total number of nominations for each company. The final list of the 100 most visible companies in the U.S. is measured in the RQ Ratings Phase. In the ratings phase, respondents are randomly assigned to rate two of the companies with which they are "very" or "somewhat" familiar. After the first company rating is completed, the respondent is given the option to rate the second company. Companies are rated on their reputation on 20 different attributes that comprise the Reputation Quotient instrument. The attributes are grouped into six different reputation dimensions: Emotional Appeal, Financial Performance, Products and Services, Social Responsibility, Vision and Leadership, and Workplace Environment. 
 
 Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll and sample partner surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in an online panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. 
 
 About the Reputation Quotient 
 
 The Harris Poll Reputation Quotient (RQ), an established annual measure of the understanding of corporate reputation in America since 1999, identifies movement, trends and insights in a changing corporate reputation landscape. It quantifies reputation ratings for the 100 most visible companies in the U.S., as perceived by the general public. 
 
 About The Harris Poll 
 
 Over the last five decades, Harris Polls have become media staples. With comprehensive experience and precise technique in public opinion polling, along with a proven track record of uncovering consumers' motivations and behaviors, The Harris Poll has gained strong brand recognition around the world. The Harris Poll offers a diverse portfolio of proprietary client solutions to transform relevant insights into actionable foresight for a wide range of industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer packaged goods. 
 
 The Harris Poll Reputation Quotient results disclosed in this press release may not be used for advertising, marketing or promotional purposes without the prior written consent of Harris Poll. ||||| 1. Amazon.com 
 
 Reputation score: 82.62 
 
 2012 score: 81.92 
 
 1-yr. stock performance: 45.2% 
 
 12-month sales: $61.09 billion 
 
 Amazon.com Inc. US:AMZN is considered the most reputable company in the world, according to Harris Interactive. It was the fourth-most reputable company in 2012 and eighth-most reputable in 2011. Amazon.com received the highest scores for its emotional appeal and its products and services. It also scored in the top five in vision and leadership, financial performance and workplace environment. More than 53% of participants in a survey by MSN Money and JZ Analytics rated Amazon.com’s customer service as “excellent”—the highest percent for any company—while a mere 1.8% rated it as “poor.” Customer happiness seems to be reflected in the online retailer’s financial performance. Its sales in the trailing 12 months were greater than $61 billion, and sales for the most recent quarter were 22% higher compared with the same time a year earlier. Check out MarketWatch’s slide show on the 10 U.S. companies with the worst reputations.See the full reports on the companies with the best and worst reputations on 24/7 Wall St. ||||| When Time Warner Cable merged with Charter Communications earlier this year and the new public-facing operation rebranded, changing its name to Spectrum, it was likely for good reason. For many Americans, each name had come to be associated with poor customer service. 
 
 The long erosion of reputation has the power to destroy businesses. Today, in the internet age, news of a single scandal can spread quickly and seriously cripple a previously respected brand. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a range of information, including customer survey results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, employee reviews on Glassdoor, as well as our own annual customer satisfaction survey. We identified 12 companies hated by customers, employees, and the general public. 
 
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 A single bad experience can forever ruin a company’s image in the mind of a customer. While these are bound to happen at any organization, many of the companies on this list have developed a reputation for consistent poor performance. Most of the companies on this list score worse than the average in their industries in the ACSI. This fact is all the more serious given that many of these companies are in industries with generally poor reputations for customer service, including cable and internet service providers, airlines, and subscription television services. 
 
 In 24/7 Wall St.’s annual customer satisfaction survey, the majority of these companies had among the highest share of respondents reporting generally negative customer experiences. In the case of Comcast and Sprint, more than half of respondents had a negative customer experience, the only two existing brands out of the more than 100 we surveyed for which this was the case. 
 
 At several of the companies on this list, employee satisfaction is also extremely poor. 24/7 Wall St. spoke to Scott Dobroski, community expert at Glassdoor, a site that allows employees to rate their employment experience. Dobroski explained that it is not surprising to see unhappy employees and unsatisfied customers at the same businesses. “The risk when you have employees that are generally dissatisfied is that they are not willing to bring their best selves to work, to produce, to be engaged, and to fulfill responsibilities," Dobroski said. "When employees are generally satisfied in their jobs -- we know that there's a direct tie to the customer experience.” Dish Network and Sears each have close to the worst employee satisfaction scores earned by large corporations on Glassdoor. 
 
 In the case of Sears, Dobroski suggested that poor employee satisfaction might also be tied to dread of the company failing, as Sears has been in dire financial straits for years. The company has averaged $1.65 billion in net losses over the last five fiscal years and closed hundreds of locations. 
 
 Several of the companies to make the list this year, rather than suffering from long-term damage to reputations, have only recently earned the ire of the general public. Pharmaceutical company Mylan has been exposed to severe public outcry after it was revealed the company hiked prices of life-saving allergy treatment EpiPen by more than 500%. Wells Fargo lost the public's trust after news broke the bank had created millions of fake accounts to inflate sales numbers. 
 
 To identify the most hated companies in America, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a variety of metrics on customer service, employee satisfaction, and financial performance. We considered consumer surveys from a number of sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and a Zogby Analytics poll created in partnership with 24/7 Wall St. We also reviewed employee satisfaction based on worker opinion scores on Glassdoor — this is not a Glassdoor commissioned report. Finally, we reviewed management decisions and company policies that hurt a company’s public perception. 
 
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 These are America's most hated companies. 
 
 1. Comcast (CMCSA) 
 
 The internet service provider and subscription television service industries are not known for superior customer service. In fact, the two industries have the worst average scores in the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Still, Comcast has a significantly worse customer satisfaction score than either industry average. 
 
 Story continues
– Congrats, Amazon. The company has the best reputation among American consumers, according to 24/7 Wall St., which lists the companies with the best and worst reputations based on the 2017 Harris Poll and American Customer Satisfaction Index. The top five in each category, with a reputation score out of 100: Best: Amazon.com: 86 Wegmans: 85 Publix: 83 Johnson & Johnson: 82.5 Apple: 82 Worst: Takata: 49 Wells Fargo: 49 Goldman Sachs: 56 Monsanto: 57 Halliburton: 58 Click to see both lists in full, or the companies with the best reputations in 2016.