The retail and pharmaceutical industries have taken a hit amid culture war battles over the last two years, according to new polling released Wednesday by Gallup.
Just 36 percent of Americans hold a positive view of the retail industry, down from 47 percent in 2022, according to the new data from Gallup.
The closings of stores in the wake of the pandemic have contributed to the slide, Gallup said.
“Over the past year, major U.S. retailers took center stage in the culture wars, while also making news for closing big-city stores and putting more merchandise behind locked glass, in response to what retailers are describing as an increase in organized retail crime,” Gallup analysis of the data read.
Separately, just 18 percent of Americans hold a positive view of the pharmaceutical industry, down from 25 percent in 2022.
This shift was in large part because of Republicans, as Republican and Republican-leaning independents’ perceptions of the pharmaceutical industry slid by 13 percent in the last year amid battles over vaccines.
In contrast, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents’ positive perception of the industry rose by one point.
“The pharmaceutical industry’s decline over the past year is the result of a 13-point drop in Republicans’ positive score, from 26% to 13%,” Gallup analysis read. “This spans a period when some leading Republicans and conservative figures have been critical of the pharmaceutical industry generally, and of COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots specifically.”
The airline, publishing industries and travel industries gained the most positive view percentage points in the last year, up by 8, 6 and 6 percent respectively.
This poll was taken between Aug. 1 and 23, with a sample of 1,014 adults 18 and older across all 50 states. Each of the business sector ratings are based on interviews of approximately 500 adults 18 and up. According to Gallup, for samples of that size, there is a margin of sampling error of 5 percent.
