Joan Jett may not have given a damn about her“bad reputation,” but perhaps you should.

According to the annual Harris Poll 2014 RQ (ReputationQuotient) report, based on the responses of more than 14,000consumers, the power of a business' good reputation has a hugeimpact on the company's bottom line.

The names topping the list of the 15th annual RQ study aren't asurprise. They are: Amazon.com, RQ 83.87; The Coca-Cola Co., RQ82.68; Apple, RQ 81.76; The Walt Disney Co., RQ 81.50; Honda MotorCo., RQ 80.87; Costco, RQ 80.75; Samsung, RQ 80.75; Whole FoodsMarket, RQ 80.45; Microsoft, RQ 80.11; and Sony, RQ 79.77.

It's also no surprise that there are no insurers in the top 10;USAA comes in at No. 11, with an RQ of 79.23. The only otherinsurance companies on the list are Allstate at No. 33 (RQ 72.80),and AIG at No. 54 (RQ 58.26). Scores 80 and above are “excellent,”75 to 79 “very good,” 70 to 74 “good,” 65 to 69 “fair,” and 55 to64 “poor.”

What makes for a high RQ? Harris breaks it down into 20attributes folded into six dimensions: social responsibility,emotional appeal, products and services, workplace environment,financial performance, and vision and leadership. And whilehigh-quality products and services and outperforming competitorsare in the mix, the “softer” attributes include supporting goodcauses, environmental and community responsibility, rewardingemployees fairly, and consumers feeling good about, trusting andrespecting a company.

The good news for insurance is, we're on the upswing. Insurancecarriers had an overall 36% positive rating in 2014, compared with33% in 2013 and 29% in 2012. Not great, but at least it's notbanking (31%), tobacco or government (sharing the bottom of thelist at 13%).

So how can we as an industry improve our RQ? Additional findingsmay provide some clues.

More than three-quarters of the general public are concernedabout the amount of private information companies capture abouttheir customers, and less than half trust them to act responsiblywith it.

When broken down into “seekers” and “bystanders,” seekers rule:in 2014, 56% of respondents proactively try to learn more about thecompanies they hear about or do business with, compared with 44%that do not.

Six in 10 decided not to do business with a company based onsomething they learned about the company's conduct.

Technology continues to have the most positive “reputationhalo,” while financial services industries remain polarizing.

Only Coca-Cola scores as “excellent” in all six dimensions.Granted, insurance isn't fizzy sugar water with a reputation stokedby cute animated polar bears and Santa Claus. It also doesn't sellsexy mobile devices, industrial-sized packages of toilet paper oroverpriced organic quinoa. But it also hasn't been linked tochildhood obesity or diabetes, Chinese sweatshops, questionableworkforce treatment or Johnny Depp as Tonto in “The LoneRanger.”

Once again, the onus is on us to tout the good our industrydoes, starting with putting people's lives back together after acatastrophe. Or charitable efforts like the IICF, Disabled VeteransInsurance Careers (DVIC) and the thousands of everyday charitiesthat agents and brokers take part in. Or the great opportunitiesjust waiting for young people in an industry where hiring is poisedto boom.

And that beats a Coke and a smile any day.