Canada Drops From the Top in Country Reputation Survey
Declines in perceptions of government, economy & environment drop Canada to seventh place
TORONTO, June 21, 2018 /CNW/ - Canada has lost the title of the world's most reputable country, according to the world's largest survey of country reputations, with declines in perceptions of the nation's government, economy and environment.
After six years in first or second place, Canada has fallen to seventh in the Reputation Institute's annual Country RepTrak® rankings, based on more than 58,000 individual ratings among the general public in the G8 economies. Sweden tops this year's rankings, followed by Finland, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand and Australia.
"Since reputation has a huge economic impact, so do changes in the perceptions of potential visitors and investors," said Daniel Tisch, President and CEO of Argyle Public Relationships, one of Canada's foremost reputation management experts. "After celebrating the top ranking on our 150th birthday in 2017, we've seen a dip in international perceptions of our government, economy and environment. While Canada remains widely respected and admired, this is a wake-up call that we can never take our global reputation for granted."
Canada: Still among the leaders, but down in all categories
Canada's overall score declined by 3.5 points, from 82.8 to 79.2, with the largest drop (2.9 points) in perceptions of its government.
"Canada's reputation is still strong, but the drop correlates with a decline in perceptions of effective government and a lessening of the belief that Canada has an advanced economy that can compete on a global scale," said Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, Chief Reputation Officer at the Reputation Institute. "Not only did the reputation of Canada fall among the general population who reside in other leading economies, but it also fell amongst Canadians."
The economic impact of country reputation is significant, with each one-point increase in country reputation score correlating with a 0.9% annual increase in the number of tourists per capita and a 0.3% rise in export rates.
The study also revealed that underlying feelings of geo-political tension, nationalism, and social unrest have resulted in an overall decline in country reputation and support worldwide.
USA: Strong scores for business, weak scores for government
For Canada's American neighbours, the news is mixed: the U.S. has strong scores for its well-known brands (79.9), technological advancement (77.7) and natural beauty (77.6), but weak perceptions of its ethics, transparency and corruption levels (49.6), effectiveness of its government (49.8) and efficiency (51.6). While overall U.S. reputation has rebounded slightly in the last year (1.7 points), the nation's reputation is down significantly (7.7 points) since President Trump's election, with a seven-point drop among Americans themselves.
Who's on top?
With almost universally excellent reputation scores, Sweden is seen as the world's most ethical country, with high transparency and low corruption, as well as the country with the most progressive social and economic policies. Right behind Sweden, Finland is the highest climber, rising from #7 to #2.
The top 10 most reputable countries in 2018 are:
- Sweden
- Finland
- Switzerland
- Norway
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Canada
- Japan
- Denmark
- Netherlands
To access the full list of the most reputable countries please visit:
https://www.reputationinstitute.com/2018_country_reptrak
About Reputation Institute (www.reputationinstitute.com)
Reputation Institute powers the world's most reputable companies. By tracking and analyzing stakeholder perceptions, we unleash the power of reputation to enable leaders to build better companies. Our RepTrak® model analyzes the reputations of companies and is best known as the Forbes-published Global RepTrak 100. Underlying the model is the RepTrak methodology, the global gold standard for measuring reputation.
About Argyle Public Relationships™ (www.argylepr.com)
Argyle helps major brands and respected organizations build and strengthen their relationships with the stakeholders who drive their reputations, brands and business success – across Canada and beyond. For more than 35 years, Argyle has been chosen by some of the world's biggest brands, put big ideas onto the public agenda, and become one of Canada's largest independent communications firms.
SOURCE Argyle Public Relationships
For further information: Vasiliki Zobolas, Argyle Public Relationships, 416-968-7311 ext. 233, [email protected]
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