GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- A recent Gallup poll finds that the American public gives the computer and restaurant industries the highest positive ratings among 24 industries measured, with farming and agriculture, and the grocery industry close behind. At the low end of the scale, with net negative ratings, are the oil and gas industry, the legal industry and electric and gas utilities.
The August 16-19 poll asked: "For each of the following business sectors in the United States, please say whether your overall view of it is very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative or very negative." The results are shown in the graph below:
| Business and Industry Ratings Summary % Net positive |
 |
Among the 24 industries, 18 receive net positive scores, while six receive net negative scores.
- Overall, 67% of Americans give a positive rating to the computer industry, with just 10% giving it a negative rating, for a net positive score (percent positive minus percent negative) of 57 percentage points. The only other industry to achieve a score above 50 is the restaurant industry, with a net score of 54.
- The farming and agricultural industry and the grocery industry each receive net positive scores of 44, as close to six in 10 Americans rate each industry positively, while only 13% to 15% rate them negatively. Not far behind are the accounting and travel industries, with scores of 39 and 37, respectively.
- The next four industries receive scores in the 26 to 30 range, with close to half of all Americans rating them positively and about one in five rating them negatively. They include the retail industry (net score of 30), the publishing industry (29), banking (27), and the real estate industry (26).
- The next three industries receive similar scores, with just about half or a little less of the public giving them a positive rating, and a quarter or more a negative rating: the automobile industry (19), education (18), and the Internet industry (17).
- Six industries receive net positive scores in the poll, but the margin of positive to negative ratings is less than 10 points, and suggests the public is ambivalent about the industry. These include the airline (7), advertising and public relations (6), TV and radio (6), sports (5), telephone (2) and pharmaceutical (1) industries.
- On the negative side of the ratings -- where the negative ratings are only slightly greater than the positive ratings -- are two industries, again indicating a public that is ambivalent about the industry. The health care industry finds a net rating of -7, followed by the movie industry with a -8.
- More decidedly negative ratings are given to the electric and gas utilities industry (-16) and the legal field (-16). By far the worst rating goes to the oil and gas industry (-30), the only industry to find a majority of Americans giving it a negative rating.
Ratings Vary by Geographical Region
While most of the industries receive ratings that are fairly similar across the four geographical regions of the country, some industries do especially well and others especially poorly in one region compared to another. The oil and gas industry, for example, gets net negative ratings of -16 and -23 in the South and East, but in the Midwest -- where gas prices exceeded $2 a gallon in some areas last spring -- the industry gets a net negative rating of -39. And in the West, where there have been rolling blackouts and periods of very high prices for electricity and gas, the oil and gas industry gets a net score of -45 -- with 62% of Westerners rating the industry negatively, and just 17% positively.
Similarly, the electric and gas utilities industry fares worst in the West and Midwest, with net negative scores of -45 and -23, respectively, while it receives scores of -3 in each of the other two regions, the South and the East.
An odd variation in prestige occurs for the grocery industry. In the West and East, it receives net positive scores of 53 and 50, respectively, with more than six in 10 rating the industry positively. In the South, the rating is somewhat lower, at 41, but still with close to six in 10 giving the industry a positive rating. Midwesterners, however, seem much less positive about the industry, giving it a net positive score of just 34 points and with less than half of the people in that region rating the industry positively.
In general, Midwesterners and Westerners appear to be stingy with their ratings, compared with people in the East and South. The average positive rating in the Midwest is 40.3, compared with 41.0 in the West, 46.1 in the South, and 50.6 in the East.
Survey Methods
The results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 504 adults, 18 years and older, conducted August 16-19, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 5 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
For each of the following business sectors in the United States, please say whether your overall view of it is very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative or very negative. How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?
BASED ON -- 504 -- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM A; ±5 PCT. PTS.
A. Accounting
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
10% |
37 |
40 |
7 |
1 |
5 |
|
B. Farming and agriculture
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
23% |
36 |
24 |
10 |
5 |
2 |
|||||
C. Automobile industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
11% |
34 |
28 |
20 |
6 |
1 |
|||||
D. Electric and gas utilities
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
9% |
22 |
21 |
30 |
17 |
1 |
|||||
E. Oil and gas industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
7% |
17 |
21 |
33 |
21 |
1 |
|||||
F. Banking
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
12% |
35 |
31 |
13 |
7 |
2 |
|||||
G. Restaurant industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
15% |
47 |
28 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
|||||
H. Grocery industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
18% |
39 |
29 |
11 |
2 |
1 |
|||||
I. Healthcare industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
11% |
26 |
19 |
29 |
15 |
* |
|||||
J. Internet industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
14% |
30 |
26 |
20 |
7 |
3 |
|||||
K. The legal field
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
7% |
22 |
24 |
28 |
17 |
2 |
|||||
L. Advertising and public relations industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
10% |
28 |
28 |
23 |
9 |
2 |
|||||
M. Television and radio industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
11% |
31 |
22 |
24 |
12 |
* |
|||||
N. Movie industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
9% |
24 |
23 |
24 |
17 |
3 |
|||||
O. Sports industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
14% |
24 |
28 |
21 |
12 |
1 |
|||||
P. Publishing industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
12% |
35 |
32 |
13 |
5 |
3 |
|||||
Q. Pharmaceutical industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
12% |
27 |
22 |
24 |
14 |
1 |
|||||
R. Real Estate industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
12% |
34 |
32 |
16 |
4 |
2 |
|||||
S. Education
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
13% |
37 |
18 |
23 |
9 |
* |
|||||
T. Retail industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
12% |
35 |
34 |
14 |
3 |
2 |
|||||
U. Travel industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
11% |
39 |
35 |
11 |
2 |
2 |
|||||
V. Telephone industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
10% |
29 |
24 |
27 |
10 |
* |
|||||
W. Airline industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
10% |
27 |
29 |
23 |
7 |
4 |
|||||
X. Computer industry
|
Very positive |
Somewhat |
|
Somewhat |
Very |
No |
||||||
|
2001 Aug 17-19 ^ |
27% |
40 |
20 |
9 |
1 |
3 |
|||||
|
^ BASED ON --326 -- NATIONAL ADULTS INTERVIEWED 2001 AUG 17-19; ±6 PCT. PTS. |
|||||||||||
|
* Less than 0.5% |
|||||||||||
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY RATINGS SUMMARY TABLE
|
2001 Aug 16-19 |
Total positive |
|
Total Negative |
Net |
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
Computer industry |
67 |
20 |
10 |
57 |
|
Restaurant industry |
62 |
28 |
8 |
54 |
|
Farming and agriculture |
59 |
24 |
15 |
44 |
|
Grocery industry |
57 |
29 |
13 |
44 |
|
Accounting |
47 |
40 |
8 |
39 |
|
Travel industry |
50 |
35 |
13 |
37 |
|
Retail industry |
47 |
34 |
17 |
30 |
|
Publishing industry |
47 |
32 |
18 |
29 |
|
Banking |
47 |
31 |
20 |
27 |
|
Real estate industry |
46 |
32 |
20 |
26 |
|
Automobile industry |
45 |
28 |
26 |
19 |
|
Education |
50 |
18 |
32 |
18 |
|
Internet industry |
44 |
26 |
27 |
17 |
|
Airline industry |
37 |
29 |
30 |
7 |
|
Advertising and public relations industry |
38 |
28 |
32 |
6 |
|
Television and radio industry |
42 |
22 |
36 |
6 |
|
Sports industry |
38 |
28 |
33 |
5 |
|
Telephone industry |
39 |
24 |
37 |
2 |
|
Pharmaceutical industry |
39 |
22 |
38 |
1 |
|
Healthcare industry |
37 |
19 |
44 |
-7 |
|
Movie industry |
33 |
23 |
41 |
-8 |
|
Electric and gas utilities |
31 |
21 |
47 |
-16 |
|
The legal field |
29 |
24 |
45 |
-16 |
|
Oil and gas industry |
24 |
21 |
54 |
-30 |
