The analytics company Gallup has been polling Americans on their opinions of various businesses and industries. This year’s poll, which came out on 3 September, states, “For the first time in Gallup’s 20 years of tracking Americans’ views of various business and industry sectors, farming and agriculture is the clear leader.”
Farming and agriculture had been rated favorably before 2020, but now, with a 69 percent positive rating, an 11 percent improvement from last year, it has risen to the top.
It’s interesting to note that all three of the top-rated industries were food-related. The grocery and restaurant industries ranked second and third.
Computer companies gained favorable ratings, ranking fourth. The Internet received a 6 percent boost in favorable rating compared to last year.
With the coronavirus being the major story in 2020, the U.S. healthcare industry was ranked 13th on the list of 25 (see end of article for complete list), with just over 50 percent of those polled viewing it positively. Finishing in the middle of the pack, however, was a significant improvement as last year healthcare was ranked third from the bottom.
As for the pharmaceutical industry in the year of the coronavirus, it came in second to last based on the poll’s “net-positive score which subtracts the percentage of those polled viewing an industry negatively from the percentage of those viewing it positively.” As low as Americans view drug companies, they showed even less respect for the federal government, which finished at the bottom.
Some pharmaceutical websites, such as FiercePharma.com, tried to paint a “glass half full” picture by highlighting the fact that according to the poll, “Americans pushed the pharma industry’s positive perception to 34% overall, a jump of seven percentage points over last year.”
True, but it can’t hide the fact that other than the government, drug companies are viewed more negatively than any other business category.
The travel industry, hampered by social distancing mandates and a reluctance of so many people to get on a plane, saw its positive rating fall 11 points to 41 percent.
“Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?”
The biggest slide in favorable rankings in the Gallup poll went to the sports industry. Compared to last year, the positive view of sports dropped from 45 percent all the way down to 30.
The distaste for the sports industry can be seen even more clearly when comparing what Gallup calls the “net-positive” score. Last year, the net-positive number for sports was a “plus 20.” This year: “minus 10.”
Gallup notes that sports lost most of its support from Republicans and independents. Democrats continued to view the industry the same as last year. Also, enthusiasm for the sports industry weakened more with women and older adults while maintaining a strong connection with non-white Americans.
Gallup revealed white adults are now more negative on sports by a 22-point margin.
The report mentions the drop is likely due to both inconsistent scheduling due to the virus as well as “public displays of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.”
The report adds, “The greater social and political activism of players and, in some cases now, coaching staffs and entire leagues appears to have turned off Americans who disagree with their messages or the way they express them. The net effect at this point has been negative for the industry’s image.”
Media Mediocrity
Television & radio finished in the bottom tier, 19th out of 25, sandwiched between the oil and gas industry and the legal field.
As for social media, the report commented, “At a time when social media has been an amplifier for political and social movements in the country, and internet companies like Facebook, Google and TikTok have faced scrutiny from the Trump administration, the internet has also seen its rating improve slightly; however, this has occurred disproportionately among Democrats.”
It should be noted that a previous survey of 20,000 Americans conducted by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, published on 4 August, titled, “American Views 2020: Trust, Media and Democracy,” found:
- Half (49 percent) of all Americans think the media is very biased. Fifty-six percent say their own news sources are biased, and seven in ten are concerned about bias in the news others are getting.
- Americans think the media is pushing an agenda. Three in four people (74 percent) worry owners of media companies are influencing coverage, up five points since 2017.
- They also suspect inaccuracies in reporting are purposeful, with 54 percent believing reporters misrepresent the facts and 28 percent believing reporters make them up entirely.
- Americans think the media is vital for democracy. The vast majority of Americans (84 percent) say that the news media is “critical” (49 percent) or “very important” (35 percent) to provide accurate information and hold the powerful accountable.
Following is the 3 September Gallup Poll list of industry rankings from the highest to lowest based on net-positive percentages:
Farming & Agriculture
Grocery Industry
Restaurant Industry
Computer Industry
Retail Industry
Accounting
Automobile Industry
Electric and Gas Utilities
Real Estate Industry
Telephone Industry
Banking
Internet Industry
Healthcare Industry
Education
Travel Industry
Publishing Industry
Airline Industry
Oil and Gas Industry
Television and Radio Industry
The Legal Field
Movie Industry
Advertising and Public Relations Industry
Sports Industry
Pharmaceutical Industry
The Federal Government