Toyota, Honda and Ford Show in Annual 'Best Brands' Harris Poll- Sony First
Next Three Places Taken by Dell (No. 2), Coca Cola (No. 3), and Toyota (No. 4)
ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 12 -- Sony tops the list in the annual Harris Poll of "best brands" for an impressive seventh consecutive year. Dell retains its No. 2 spot, while Coca-Cola, previously in the fourth position, moves up to No. 3.
These are some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,351 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive(R) between June 7 and 13, 2006. Survey responses were unaided and a list of brand names was not presented to respondents. The results from this survey cannot be compared to results of the Harris Interactive 2006 EquiTrend Brand Study results, as the methodologies for the surveys differ (1).
The other places on the top-10 list of best brands are taken by Ford (No. 5), Honda (No. 6), Hewlett Packard (No. 7), General Electric (No. 8), Kraft Foods (No. 9) and Apple (No. 10). Two brands dropped out of this list this year, General Motors and Microsoft.
Other brands that receive a substantial number of mentions but not enough to make the top-10 list include Chevrolet, Panasonic, Pepsi Cola, Nike and Maytag.
Analysis by industry
Half of the top-10 brands are for electronics products; three are for automobile and two for consumer and packaged goods.
Changes since last year
Most of the brands in this year's top-10 list have not moved up or down substantially. The most notable changes are Kraft Foods, falling from No. 3 to No. 9 and General Motors which dropped from No. 8 to No. 17.
TABLE 1
BEST BRANDS "We would like you to think about brands or names of products and services you
know. Considering everything, which three brands do you consider the best?"
(All three replies combined)
Base: All Adults
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Sony 3 1 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Dell * * * * * 5 * 2 3 3 2 2
Coca-Cola * 8 7 7 * * 6 5 7 2 4 3
Toyota * =10 * 6 =6 =7 4 * * 5 6 4
Ford 2 3 1 3 1 4 2 3 6 6 5 5
Honda * * * * * * * 9 * 7 =7 6
Hewlett
Packard * * * * * * 9 * * * =10 7
General
Electric 4 4 2 4 3 2 5 10 4 10 8 8
Kraft
Foods * * * * * * * 4 2 4 3 9
Apple * * * * * * * * * * * 10
Note: These are spontaneous replies. Respondents are not read or shown a list of brand names.
* Not in top 10.
BRANDS THAT DROPPED OUT OF TOP-10 THIS YEAR
General Motors and Microsoft
TABLE 2
NUMBER OF INDUSTRIES REPRESENTED IN THE TOP-TEN LIST
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Electronics* 5 3 4 3 5 5
Automobiles 3 3 2 4 4 3
Consumer &
packaged
goods 2 3 4 3 2 2
* Includes General Electric and Microsoft
Methodology
This Harris Poll(R) was conducted online within the United States between June 7 and 13, 2006 among 2,351 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
All surveys are subject to several sources of error. These include: sampling error (because only a sample of a population is interviewed); measurement error due to question wording and/or question order, deliberately or unintentionally inaccurate responses, nonresponse (including refusals), interviewer effects (when live interviewers are used) and weighting.
With one exception (sampling error) the magnitude of the errors that result cannot be estimated. There is, therefore, no way to calculate a finite "margin of error" for any survey and the use of these words should be avoided.
With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 2,351 adults one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- two percentage points. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
(1) See the latest 2006 EquiTrend Brand Study data and methodology information at http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1063.
W28028 Q707-Q709-Q710 The Harris Poll(R) #55, July 12, 2006 By Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll(R), Harris Interactive(R) About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is the 13th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides research-driven insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what could conceivably be the world's largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in France and through a global network of independent market research firms. The service bureau, HISB, provides its market research industry clients with mixed-mode data collection, panel development services as well as syndicated and tracking research consultation. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.
To become a member of the Harris Poll Online, visit www.harrispollonline.com.
