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New York, NY – April 25, 2024 – MAHA Global, a leading evolutionary AI SaaS company, and the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), a nonprofit foundation dedicated to fostering greater use of research and research-based knowledge in public relations and corporate communication practice, have launched new research demonstrating that companies that follow through on their commitments see better financial returns.
Using MAHA’s Darwin Intelligence platform, data were gathered on 511 publicly traded companies, spanning 16 industries worldwide, including both public perception data (e.g., what is written about them in news and social media outlets) and corporate behavioral data (what companies are actually doing—stemming from disclosed actions an organization takes that impact their various stakeholders) across seven categories of corporate reputation: environmental impact, governance, how organizations treat their employees, community impact, commitment to diversity, customer satisfaction and financial performance, including market cap and total sales. Results found that business performance is more strongly correlated with better behavior than public perception.
“This study underscores the need for corporations to embrace authenticity and action as foundational pillars of reputation management,” said the study’s author Ryan Calsbeek, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College and Chief Science Officer at MAHA. “In a world where so much information is available to the public, companies can no longer make commitments without follow-through.
Another important result from this study shows that certain industries score lower on public perception metrics despite having a strong track record of good behavior. These “misunderstood companies” may have stakeholders who are unaware of the good work organizations are doing in key reputation areas. Public perception of companies in the biotech/healthcare industry, for example, registers among the lowest of any industry, and yet the industry scores better than most others in terms of its actual behavior (e.g., its leadership effectiveness, community service, and the way the industry values diversity). The gaps between perception and reality highlight communications opportunities for companies that are performing well in this space.
“Identifying the gaps between behavior and perception is important for communication functions to help better understand how actions impact stakeholder perception, reputational risk, and financial performance,” said Tina McCorkindale, Ph.D., President and CEO of IPR. “This offers an opportunity for communication teams to be more strategic in how they communicate with their internal and external stakeholders.”
For the full study, please visit: bit.ly/maha-ipr
About the Institute for Public Relations (IPR):
The Institute for Public Relations is an independent, nonprofit research foundation dedicated to fostering greater use of research and research-based knowledge in corporate communication and the public relations practice. IPR is dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations.™ IPR provides timely insights and applied intelligence that professionals can put to immediate use. All research, including a weekly research letter, is available for free at instituteforpr.org.
About MAHA
MAHA Global is a leading evolutionary AI SaaS company that helps companies track and predict corporate reputation and related business outcomes. As a Public Benefit Corporation, MAHA is devoted to helping organizations positively transform and build more trust with their stakeholders. For additional information about the company, please visit https://maha.global/
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Media Contact:
Brittany Higginbotham
Communications & Outreach Manager
Institute for Public Relations
brittany@instituteforpr.org
352-392-0280
