There’s a new survey out by by Axios and Harris Poll that ranks the reputations of the 100 most well-known U.S. brands, and the results are rather telling.
While Amazon commands the top tier in second place, it’s fallen from the No. 1 spot it held last year.
More notable are the gains made by some leading consumer tech companies. Samsung saw the greatest improvement of all 100 badges in the course of a year, rising from 35th to seventh place, and Sony was the second-highest climber, moving up to 10th place from 31st.
LG wasn’t far behind, with its reputation ranking jumping from 25th last year to 15th place, while Apple trailed at No. 32, down three spots from last year.
On the retail side, The Home Depot shot up 14 places to No. 12; Costco slipped one spot to 18th place; and Lowe’s rose two ranks to No. 20. Best Buy trailed at No. 34, but that represented a 12-place improvement over last year.
See: The TWICE Top 100: Call It A Comeback
The biggest reputation losers included Target, falling 23 places to No. 72; Walmart, dropping 10 places to No. 79; and Sears, slipping nine spots to 97th place, just ahead of the Trump Organization.
The most highly regarded contender: Wegmans, at No. 1. The least liked: the U.S. government, in last place at No. 100.
The pollsters said the survey is a measurement of “what real people think right now” about the companies that either excelled or faltered in society. The survey was conducted November 2018 to January 2019 among more than 24,000 U.S. adults.