The Ethical Reputation Index (ERI) found that 53 per cent cited newspaper articles and 63 per cent said TV news most influenced their opinion of a firm’s ethics in the past year. Just 27 per cent said advertising.
Karen Fraser, ERI founder, said: ‘People hold a great amount of trust in editorial coverage.’
Boots was rated as the most ethical firm for the first time in the twice-yearly index, followed by M&S and The Body Shop. Some 1,000 people were polled.
