A recently released study by research-based consulting firm Reputation Institute, found that BMW is considered the world’s most reputable company in the automotive sector and fourth overall behind Google, Apple and the Walt Disney Company. German automakers in general performed well in the study with Daimler, owner of Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart, ranking 7th overall, while Volkswagen finished in 10th place, followed by Honda (29), Toyota (60), Nissan (61) and Suzuki (63).
The institute began the first phase of the study in January 2011 by measuring the reputations of more than 1,000 of the world’s largest companies in their home countries.
The 100 highest-ranking firms across 41 countries were then selected for the second phase of the study that took place in April with online consumers from 15 major markets (including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States), asked to rate a maximum of five randomly assigned companies from the list with which they were somewhat or very familiar with.
One of the key findings of the study was that most companies have stronger reputations in their home markets than abroad as none of them made the top ten in all 15 countries. Apple, Google, LEGO, and Sony came somewhat close as they were ranked in the top ten in nine of the 15 countries. Overall, only 12 companies made the top ten in five or more of the 15 markets polled.
“The results of the Global RepTrak 100 Study confirm that, when evaluating companies, consumers and investors are aligned,” said says Reputation Institute Chairman, Dr. Charles Fombrun.
“The greater the reputation of a company, the more support it earns from consumers, the better its operating performance, and the more money investors are willing to pay for its shares. This is a key feature of the emerging Reputation Economy we now live in,” he added.
Scroll down for the complete list of the Top 100 most reputable companies in the world for 2011.
