The Harris Poll^® #38, May 28, 2004

Supermarkets, Food Companies, Airlines, Computers and Banks Top the List of Industries Doing a Good Job for Their Consumers

Tobacco, managed care, health insurance and oil score the worst

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – May 28, 2004 – Supermarkets and packaged food companies top the list of industries which get the best marks for serving their customers, in the annual Harris Poll ranking 15 industries on how well they serve consumers. Fully 87% believe supermarkets do a good job of serving their consumers, and 77% feel this way about the packaged food companies. Next on the list come airlines (74%), computer hardware (73%), banks (73%), and software (72%) companies.

At the bottom of the list, only 30% think tobacco companies and managed care companies do a good job. Oil companies (32%) are only marginally better.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll^®, a survey of 979 adults surveyed by telephone between April 8 and 15, 2004.

Trends over time

There have been two quite substantial changes between 2003 and 2004. Airlines which fell very sharply in 2001 have bounced back, gaining ten points from 64% last year to 74% this year. This is an increase of 23 percentage points since the airlines’ lowest number, 51% in 2001.

Oil companies, on the other hand, have slipped 10 points this year from 42% in 2003, to 32%. This is a fall of 32 percentage points since their best number, 64% in 1998. It clearly reflects the impact of high fuel prices.

When it comes to long-term trends over the last seven years, since we first began asking this question in 1997, five industries have fallen by 19 percentage points or more. Pharmaceutical companies have fallen the furthest, down 35 points from 79% in 1997 to only 44% now.

Oil companies have fallen 27 points since 1997, from 59% to 32%.

Telephone companies are down 24 points from 80% to 56%.

Managed care companies are down 21 points, from 51% to only 30% now.

And health insurance companies are down 19 points, from 55% to 36%.

Reasons for these changes

Concerns about prices are clearly the reasons for the decline in the ratings of oil companies and pharmaceutical companies. Health insurance and managed care companies declined sharply because they have had a very bad press over the last several years, even though member satisfaction with health plans has not changed significantly over this period. The decline in the image of telephone companies mostly occurred when they were locked in telemarketing battles which probably turned off many people. Quality of service may also be an issue.

TABLE 1

INDUSTRIES DOING GOOD/BAD JOB OF SERVING THEIR INDUSTRIES

"And now some questions about different industries. Do you think (READ EACH ITEM) generally do a good or bad job serving their consumers?"

Base: All Adults

RANK ORDER		Good Job	Bad Job	Not Sure/ Refused
		%	%	%
1	Supermarkets	87	8	5
2	Packaged food companies	77	15	9
3	Airlines	74	13	12
4	Computer hardware companies	73	9	18
5	Banks	73	21	6
6	Computer software companies	72	10	19
7	Hospitals	70	21	9
8	Car manufacturers	68	24	8
9	Telephone companies	56	39	4
10	Life insurance companies	55	28	18
11	Pharmaceutical and drug companies	44	48	8
12	Health insurance companies	36	56	9
13	Oil companies	32	57	11
14	Managed care companies such as HMOs	30	53	18
15	Tobacco companies	30	60	10

TABLE 2

INDUSTRIES DOING GOOD JOB OF SERVING THEIR CONSUMERS - TRENDS

"Do you think (READ EACH ITEM) generally do a good or bad job of serving their consumers?"

Base: All Adults

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2003- 2004	1997- 2004
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	Changes
Supermarkets	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	85	87	+2	N/A
Packaged food companies	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	75	77	+2	N/A
Airlines	N/A	78	71	66	51	63	64	74	+10	-4**
Computer hardware companies	80*	78	80	76	78	59	71	73	+2	-7
Banks	75	72	68	73	71	74	72	73	+1	-2
Computer software companies	80*	77	80	78	80	60	70	72	+2	-8
Hospitals	77	73	71	72	67	73	73	70	-3	-7
Car manufacturers	70	69	70	67	67	64	64	68	+4	-2
Telephone companies	80	76	67	64	61	58	57	56	-1	-24
Life insurance	64	63	61	62	60	55	56	55	-1	-9
Pharmaceutical and drug companies	79	73	66	59	57	59	49	44	-5	-35
Health insurance companies	55	48	41	39	38	51	40	36	-4	-19
Oil companies	59	64	55	39	27	38	42	32	-10	-27
Managed care companies	51	45	34	29	29	33	30	30	-	-21
Tobacco companies	34	32	31	28	28	25	30	30	-	-4

NOTE:

*In 1997 "computer companies" were rated together (i.e., hardware and software companies were not measured separately).

**Because airlines were not included in 1997, the trend for airlines is from 1998 – 2004.

Methodology

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the United States between April 8 and 15, 2004 among a nationwide cross section of 979 adults (ages 18+). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of ±3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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