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Business Issues in the News: Archive
All data are from nationwide surveys of Americans 18 & older.

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ATM fees | Big business | Business leaders | Business values | The euro | Firestone tires | Mergers | Microsoft | Online shopping

ATM Fees

*Gallup/CNN/USA Today* Poll**. Nov. 18-21, 1999. N=1,010 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
			.
"Next we have a question about ATM fees, meaning the fees which some banks charge people to use their banking machines to withdraw cash. In your view [rotate:] should banks continue to be allowed to charge ATM fees to people who are not their customers, OR, should the federal government pass a law which would prohibit banks from charging ATM fees to people who are not their customers?"
		%
	Allowed to charge ATM fees	38
	Pass a law to prohibit fees	57
	No opinion	5

Big Business

ABC News Poll. Sept. 13-17, 2000. N=931 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3. Field work by ICR.
					.
"Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement: Large corporations have too much power for the good of the country."
		9/00	8/96	7/92
		%	%	%
	Agree	63	71	73
	Disagree	31	23	21
	No opinion	7	6	6

*CBS News/New York Times* Poll.** June 7-9, 1998. N=1,126 adults nationwide. .
		ALL	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.
		%	%	%	%
"Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? In many of our largest industries, one or two companies have too much control of the industry."
	Agree	69	61	73	72
	Disagree	25	34	19	23
	Don't know	6	5	8	5
	.
"Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? For the good of the country, many of our large companies ought to be broken into smaller companies."
	Agree	49	40	52	53
	Disagree	42	52	40	36
	Don't know	9	8	8	11

Business Leaders

CBS News/MarketWatch Poll. Dec. 17-19, 1999. N=1,026 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
			.
"Who do you think was the most important American business leader of this century?" Open-ended question.
		%
	Bill Gates	34
	Henry Ford	9
	John D. Rockefeller	2
	Donald Trump	2
	Lee Iacocca	2
	Malcolm Forbes	1
	Ross Perot	1
	Alan Greenspan	1
	Other	11
	Don't know	37

*NBC News/Wall Street Journal* Poll** conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Robert Teeter (R). Sept. 9-12,1999. N=1,010 adults nationwide.
			.
"Which one of the following do you consider to be the most important American business leader of the 20th century? . . ."
		%
	Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft	32
	Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company	28
	Andrew Carnegie, found of U.S. Steel	8
	John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil	7
	Thomas Watson, founder of IBM	6
	Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart	6
	Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's	3
	All (vol.)	6
	None/Other (vol.)	1
	Not sure	3

Business Values

Shell Oil Company Shell Poll conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates (D). March 16-20, 1999. N=639 adults nationwide.
						.
"Let me mention a few values that some people think are important for businesses to uphold, and please tell me how good a job you think businesses are doing generally in that area today -- excellent, good, just fair, or poor. . . ."
		Excellent	Good	Just Fair	Poor	Not Sure
		%	%	%	%	%
	"Providing a good return to investors"
		11	41	30	7	11
						.
	"Providing quality products and services to consumers"
		8	44	39	8	1
						.
	"Contributing to the local community"
		6	33	41	18	2
						.
	"Having ethical business practices"
		5	28	43	20	4
						.
	"Protecting the environment"
		3	25	39	31	2
						.
	"Sharing profits with employees"
		3	18	38	35	6
						.
"Let me mention those values again, and please tell me which one or two you think are the most important for businesses to uphold. . . ." (Up to two responses accepted.)
					%
	"Providing quality products and services to consumers"				40
	"Having ethical business practices"				39
	"Protecting the environment"				25
	"Contributing to the local community"				19
	"Sharing profits with employees"				17
	"Providing a good return to investors"				7
	All equally/None of these (vol.)				9
	Not sure				1

The Euro

*NBC News/Wall Street Journal* Poll** conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Robert Teeter (R). January 16-18,1999. N=500 adults nationwide.
			.
"In the hopes of competing better with the U.S. dollar, eleven European countries have just launched their own united currency, called the euro. Do you think that the euro does or does not threaten American economic power? "
		%
	Does	27
	Does not	58
	Not sure	15

Firestone Tires

*CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll*. June 8-10, 2001. N=1,011 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
					.
Form A (N=504, ą 5): "Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the following products? . . ."
		Favor- able	Unfav- orable	Never Heard Of	No Opinion
		%	%	%	%
	Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles	36	51	1	12
	Firestone tires	23	64	1	12
					.
Form B (N=507, ą 5): "Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the following companies? . . ."
		Favor- able	Unfav- orable	Never Heard Of	No Opinion
		%	%	%	%
	Ford Motor Company	57	35	-	8
	Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.	31	56	2	11
					.
Total sample: "In the dispute between Firestone and Ford over who is more to blame for the accident rates on Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires, whose side are you more likely to believe: [rotate] Firestone's side or Ford's side?"
		%
	Ford's side	52
	Firestone's side	23
	No opinion	25

Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. Sept. 7-8, 2000. N=756 registered voters nationwide. MoE ą 4.
						.
"Now I have a few questions about the safety problems of Firestone tires used on Ford Explorer SUVs. Which company do you hold MOST responsible for the failure to warn consumers about the dangers of rollover accidents associated with these tires: Firestone, Ford, or both equally?"
		%
	Firestone	48
	Ford	6
	Both equally	35
	Neither/Other (vol.)	2
	Don't know	9
						.
"Does the news about these tire safety problems make you feel that large SUVs like the Ford Explorer are not as safe as most other vehicles on the road today, or not?"
			%
	Yes		37
	No		47
	Already thought were less safe (vol.)		4
	Don't know		12
						.
"To make sure consumers are better protected from product safety problems in the future, how important is each of the following. What about [see below]? Do you think this is very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important?"
		Very	Some- what	Not Too	Not At All	Don't Know
		%	%	%	%	%
	"Bigger penalties if companies fail to disclose product safety problems"
		78	13	2	2	5
						.
	"More government oversight and requirements that companies report product safety problems to the government"
		63	23	6	4	4
						.
	"Not limiting private liability lawsuits that can penalize companies and bring product safety problems to light"
		55	26	6	7	6

Mergers and Acquisitions

Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. Jan. 13-14, 2000. N=754 adults nationwide. MoE ą 4.
						.
"In general, do you think the U.S. government has been too approving or too disapproving of corporate mergers and acquisitions these days, or has handled the situation about right?"
		%
	Too approving	36
	Too disapproving	13
	Handled about right	33
	Don't know	18
						.
"Please tell me whether you think companies getting bigger through mergers and acquisitions makes things better or worse in each of the following areas -- or doesn't make much difference either way. In general, what effect do you think mergers and acquisitions have on [see below]? Do mergers make this better, worse, or not make much difference?"
		Better	Worse	No Differ- ence	Don't Know
		%	%	%	%
	"Companies' ability to compete with other companies, especially in other countries"
		44	20	24	12
						.
	"The choices of products and services available to consumers"
		31	29	33	7
						.
	"Companies' support for local communities where they have plants and offices"
		21	36	32	11
						.
	"The prices consumers have to pay for products and services"
		19	49	26	6
						.
	"How well companies take care of their workers"
		17	46	27	10
						.
	"How responsive companies are in handling consumer complaints"
		16	41	35	8
						.
"Now I have a few questions about the recent merger between AOL -- this country's largest Internet provider -- and the media company Time Warner. In general, do you think this merger will be a good thing or a bad thing for [see below], or won't make much difference either way?"
			Good Thing	Bad Thing	No Differ- ence	Don't Know
			%	%	%	%
	"Competition among media and communications companies"
			29	37	23	11
						.
	"The country as a whole"		25	25	33	17
						.
	"People like you"		18	19	52	11
						.
"Please tell me how concerned you are, if at all, about each of the following things happening as result of the AOL-Time Warner merger. How concerned are you that [see below]: very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not at all concerned?"
		Very	Some- what	Not Too	Not At All	Don't Know
		%	%	%	%	%
	"The new merged company will have too much information about the viewing, buying, and on-line communication of people like you"
		25	31	17	25	2
						.
	"Time Warner publications and news operations won't be as accurate or unbiased when they report on one another or on the areas in which the new merged company operates"
		23	31	17	26	3
						.
	"It will be more difficult to find news, opinion, and entertainment from sources that aren't a part of the new merged company"
		20	28	19	30	3
						.
"Thinking again about corporate mergers in general, please tell me how concerned you are, if at all, that such mergers will result in companies becoming so large that they will have too much influence in some different areas. How concerned are you that mergers will result in very large companies having too much influence over this country's [see below]: very concerned, somewhat concerned, not too concerned, or not at all concerned?"
		Very	Some- what	Not Too	Not At All	Don't Know
		%	%	%	%	%
	Health care	52	24	11	11	2
	Politics	48	27	10	13	2
	Banking and investment	44	29	13	12	2
	Culture	40	33	12	13	2

Microsoft

Ipsos-Reid Express. Dec. 7-10, 2001. N=1,000 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.1.
			.
"The U.S. government and Microsoft have come to an agreement to settle the anti-trust case. Nine state attorneys general, however, argue that the anti-trust case against Microsoft should continue. Which of the following two statements comes closer to your opinion? The U.S. economy and consumers would be better off if this issue were settled as soon as possible. The court should continue to investigate whether Microsoft should be punished for its business activities."
		%
	Settle as soon as possible	70
	Continue to investigate	24
	Not sure	6

Ipsos-Reid Express. Nov. 2-4, 2001. N=1,000 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.1 (total sample).
			.
"The federal Justice Department and Microsoft have reached an agreement to settle the antitrust lawsuit. How much do you personally think the Justice Department accomplished by bringing this antitrust case against Microsoft? Would you say . . . ?" Asked of half the sample.
		%
	A great deal	7
	Quite a bit	9
	Only some	21
	Very little	27
	Nothing at all	21
	Not sure	16
			.
"The federal Justice Department and Microsoft have reached an agreement to settle the antitrust lawsuit. Do you think this is good news, bad news or does it make no difference for consumers like you?" Asked of half the sample.
		%
	Good news	38
	Bad news	8
	No difference	49
	Not sure	5
			.
"There is still some chance that some state attorneys general might seek to overturn the agreement or force it to go back to court. Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for your attorney general if he or she helps overturn the settlement or send the case back to court, or would that make no difference to you?"
		%
	More likely	11
	Less likely	21
	No difference	63
	Not sure	5

Ipsos-Reid Express. June 29–30, 2001. N=1,000 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
				.
"...In the ruling, the federal appeals court overturned the decision by a lower court judge to break up Microsoft into two smaller companies. When you hear that Microsoft might NOT be broken up, do you consider that good news for consumers like you, or bad news?"
		%
	Good news	58
	Bad news	25
	Don't know	16
				.
"Which of these three statements comes closest to what you think the government should do now? Do you think the government should drop the case; keep pursuing the case of Microsoft's monopoly over operating systems, but drop efforts to break up Microsoft and do not restrict Microsoft's ability to add more features to its operating system; seek to defend the original court ruling and continue to try to get a court order to break up Microsoft?"
			%
	Drop the case		46
	Pursue case, drop break-up efforts		29
	Try to break up Microsoft		18
	Don't know		7
				.
"Do you think that as a result of this antitrust trial experience, Microsoft will be more careful about how it treats customers and competitors, do you think they will be less careful, or do you think this will not lead to any changes at Microsoft?"
			%
	Will be more careful		49
	Will be less careful		7
	Will not lead to any changes		41
	Don't know		3

Bloomberg News Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. May 25-June 4, 2000. N=1,208 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
			.
"A federal judge has ruled that Microsoft is a monopoly and has violated antitrust law. The judge could order Microsoft broken up into smaller companies, or the judge could order limits on what Microsoft can do as a business. Which do you think the judge should do: break up Microsoft or order limits on the company's business practices?"
		%
	Order limits on business practices	50
	Break up Microsoft	24
	Don't know	26

Online Shopping

*CBS News/New York Times* Poll**. Dec. 14-16, 2000. N=608 Internet users nationwide. MoE ą 4 (total sample).
					.
"Have you ever purchased products on the Internet?" If "Yes": "Have you already bought gifts over the Internet this year?"
				%
	Yes -- and have bought gifts this year			32
	Yes -- but have not bought gifts this year			24
	No -- have never purchased products on Internet			45
					.
Asked of those who have bought gifts online this year: "How would you rate your experience holiday shopping online? All things considered, was it better, about the same, or worse than shopping in a store?"
		%
	Better	69
	About the same	24
	Worse	5
	Don't know	2
					.
Asked of those who answered "Better" to question above: "What, specifically, about the experience made it better than shopping in a store?"
			%
	No crowds		31
	Convenience/Do it from home		25
	Speed/Faster than store		17
	Easier overall		14
	More product selection		9
	No sales pressure		2
	Price/Get better prices		1
	Other		0
	Don't know		1

ABC News.com Poll. July 26-Aug. 13, 2000. N=1,529 adults nationwide. MoE ą 2.5. Field work by ICR.
					.
"Have you ever bought anything over the Internet, or not?"
		Yes	No	No Opinion
		%	%	%
	8/00	27	73	0
	1/00	27	73	0
	6/99	19	80	1	.

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. Feb. 9-14, 2000. N=1,330 adults nationwide, including 745 online users.
				.
		ALL	Online Users
		%	%
Asked of half the sample (Form 1): "In your opinion, should there be a sales tax on purchases made on the Internet?"
	Yes	38	31
	No	52	64
	Don't know	10	5
				.
Asked of half the sample (Form 2): "There are currently no sales taxes on purchases made on the Internet. Should the laws be changed to tax Internet purchases, or not?"
	Should be changed	27	20
	Should not be	60	73
	Don't know	13	7
				.
"Have you ever purchased goods or services online?"
	Yes		52
	No/Refused		48

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