Small businesses continue to enjoy the most positive standing among a variety of public and private entities, according to a comprehensive new study released by the Pew Research Center.
Polling more than 5,100 people, the survey indicated that an overwhelming 86% said they had a positive view of small businesses, compared with only 12% who held a negative view.
The disparity between those who like small businesses and those who don’t, with a 74-point gap in the positive and negative responses, was substantially wider than for any other unit.
The only other closest response came in the category of the military, which enjoyed a 60% positive rating in the survey, and 36% negative response, for a 24% gap. That 60%, says a Pew press release, is “similar across most demographic and political groups.”
Five categories—churches and religious organizations, labor unions, technology companies, K-12 public schools, and colleges and universities–continue to enjoy majority support in the Pew Survey ranging from a high of 59% and low of 53%.
But respondents were feeling decidedly negative when it comes to banks and other financial institutions, with only 37% saying they viewed such institutions positively and 60% expressing negative views.
At the bottom of the list: large corporations, a rather amorphous category, garnering the support of only 29% of respondents, with a 68% negative rating. Thus, while small businesses in the Pew survey enjoyed a 74% gap between their positive and negative numbers, large corporations were underwater by a nearly 40% margin.
Interestingly, in what some regard as today’s hyper partisan atmosphere, 88% of Democrat respondents and 87% of Republican respondents view small businesses positively.
At the same time, notes a Pew narrative, “members of both partisan coalitions have nearly identical—and mostly negative—opinions of banks and financial institutions and large corporations.”
“Just 38% each among Republicans and Democrats view banks positively,” notes Pew, while only 32% of Republicans and 26% of Democrats have a good image of large corporations.
The unprecedented 86% support recorded for small business is up over a similar Pew survey released in 2022, which was already strong with 80% of respondents expressing positive views and 18% responding negatively.
By Garry Boulard
