File photo. Photo: Unsplash / Douglas Bagg
Air New Zealand has held the top spot on the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index for the ninth consecutive year.
The national carrier was followed closely by Mitre 10 and Pak'nSave in Kantar's annual poll of the country's top 50 consumer facing corporates.
Toyota and TVNZ came in fourth and fifth.
The index measured attributes including trust, leadership, fairness, and responsibility using Kantar's own RepZ framework, between February and April 2023.
Kantar's chief client officer of insights, Sarah Bolger, said companies with strong reputations showed respect toward their employees and customers and the call to keep employee wages holding pace with the rising cost of living was gaining traction.
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran credited the airline's success to its 11,000 strong staff, who he said had remained resilient during a tough few years.
Meanwhile, managing director of Foodstuffs New Zealand Chris Quin said PAK'nSAVE's result was a credit to the supermarket's commitment to low prices.
"Fair prices are our why," Quin said.
"I think it would be fair to say that the last 12-months have been tremendously challenging for all New Zealanders, as inflation bites into almost every aspect of our everyday life.
"So, to have ranked first for fairness and to have moved up to third place overall in the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index, confirms we are helping make a difference."