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Bentley University-Gallup Force for Good Report

Americans' Perception of Business and Its Impact on Society

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Though the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted businesses throughout the U.S., it also provided many examples of ways businesses can help Americans facing adversity.

Urgent large-scale challenges -- like climate change, rising income inequality and uneven access to high-quality education and healthcare -- require the participation of private sector businesses in finding solutions.

To address these problems and promote the broad-based prosperity they need to thrive and grow, businesses must recognize and act on their potential as "forces for good."

The Bentley University/Gallup Force for Good study is an effort to identify areas where people think businesses are succeeding in bringing about positive change and, just as importantly, where they are falling short.

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Download this report to learn:

  • whether Americans believe businesses have a positive impact on people's lives
  • where they think businesses are falling short
  • what people look for in a company when searching for a job
  • what different age groups expect from businesses
Download NowThe Bentley Report

The Bentley/Gallup Force for Good study is based on a Gallup Panel web survey completed by 5,757 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted June 8-19, 2022. The Gallup Panel is a probability‑based longitudinal panel of U.S. adults whom Gallup selects using random-digit-dial phone interviews that cover landline and cellphones. Gallup also uses address‑based sampling methods to recruit Panel members. The Gallup Panel is not an opt-in panel.

The sample for this study was weighted to be demographically representative of the U.S. adult population, using the most recent Current Population Survey figures.

For results based on this sample, one can say that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Margins of error are higher for subsamples.

Gallup Panel members self-report their gender (What is your gender?), race (Which of the following describes your race? You may select one or more.) and ethnicity (Are you, yourself, of Hispanic origin or descent, such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or other Spanish background?) when they are invited to join the Gallup Panel. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Read the Report Press Release

The Bentley University-Gallup Force for Good Report finds that most people believe businesses have a positive impact on people's lives.

View Press Releaseto read about The Bentley University - Force for Good Report
89% of Americans say businesses have "a great deal" of power or "some" power to make a positive impact on people's lives
82% of Americans say it is extremely important for businesses to offer fair wages to all workers
69% of Americans say businesses that prioritize making a positive impact on society are just as profitable or more profitable than their competitors