We have long heard about the negative impression Americans had of the pharmaceutical industry. However, a recent Harris Poll may indicate the tide is starting to turn. Survey respondents to a Harris Poll taken between April 11 and April 13 indicated that 40% of respondents now had a more favorable view of the pharmaceutical industry than before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
When compared to survey received responses between March 21 and 23, only 33% of Americans said their view of the pharmaceutical was more positive since the beginning of the pandemic.
While the boost given to the pharmaceutical industry was not as high as the boost grocery store retailers and healthcare workers received, its increased at a higher percentage than other industries that may have expected a reputation boost, such as financial services.
Healthcare workers ranked highest in the favorable trend, with 65% of consumers citing a more positive view of that industry, followed by grocery retailers (53%), small business (45%), and food and beverage (43%).
Harris Poll managing director Rob Jekielek said that the pharmaceutical industry tracking so closely with technology (which had a 41% positive change) is also significant because the technology industry halo effect tends to be disproportionately positive to the actual actions companies in the industry take. The pharmaceutical industry, on the other hand, tends to have the opposite effect when one company takes a negative action.
“It’s particularly relevant to see both of those industries on par,” he said. “It fits into the broader narrative that during COVID-19 people are better able to get their heads around what a pharmaceutical company does and can do. It’s become a lot more tangible especially as a variety of pharma companies have moved down the path to create real solutions.”
The negative outlook many had about the pharmaceutical industry has been well-documented over the past few years, including in previous Harris Poll results. Its pre-COVID-19 data from January and February shows that only 32% of Americans had a positive view of the pharma industry at the time, ranking it third from the bottom among 12 industry categories. Only government (25%) and tobacco (17%) had fewer positive opinions.
While industry experts have been hopeful that the industry’s efforts to fight COVID-19 might result in a changed narrative, the Harris Poll data is the first major market survey to show clear evidence that the ride may be starting to turn when it comes to public opinion of the industry.