New research by John Gilfeather, Vice Chairman-Roper Public Affairs, NOP World, and Tina Carroll, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Miami, comes to a strong conclusion: Corporate management that under-invests in communications simply is not fulfilling its stewardship responsibilities.

The researchers analyzed reputation data for 30 global companies based on responses from 6,000 Americans. The companies represented six different industries: consumer products, automotive, pharmaceutical, entertainment, technology and financial services. For every industry and on every measure studied, the results are consistent (see table). People who report that they are extremely or very familiar with a company have more favorable impressions than people who say they are somewhat familiar or only know the name of a company.

Just how widespread is the impact of this? Respondents who described themselves as extremely or very familiar are more likely to:

• recommend a company's products and services to a friend
• recommend investment in a company
• say that a company gives back to the community
• believe that a company is open and honest
• believe a company will prosper in the long run
• say a company has high-quality products
• say a company cares for its employees

Click here to download the Gilfeather/Caroll paper