Washington, DC - The first national survey of public attitudes and opinions about Wal-Mart by Zogby International finds American adults hold an increasingly negative view of Wal-Mart. The poll found 38 percent, or nearly 4 in 10 Americans, hold an unfavorable opinion of Wal-Mart, and 46 percent of Americans believe Wal-Mart’s public image is worse than it was 1 year ago.

The poll found that 56 percent of American adults agreed with the statement - "Wal-Mart was bad for America. It may provide low prices, but these prices come with a high moral and economic cost." In contrast, only 39 percent of American adults agreed with the opposing statement - "I believe Wal-Mart is good for America. It provides low prices and saves consumers money every day."

"Despite two high-priced image makeovers, Wal-Mart’s public image is in a tailspin. Over the last year, Wal-Mart’s image has declined at an alarming rate with the American people. Unless Wal-Mart addresses these growing concerns, the company will face a mounting public backlash," stated Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com.

The Zogby poll, commissioned by WakeUpWalMart.com, was a national telephone survey of 1,012 adults conducted by Zogby International from 11/15/05 through 11/18/05 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.2%.

The effect of the WakeUpWalMart.com campaign over the last year can be best assessed by comparing several questions from the new Zogby poll to results from a similar national poll conducted by Lake, Snell, Perry in January 2005.

To read some results and more information, click here [Adobe PDF].

From Reuters: "U.S. majority says Wal-Mart bad for America – poll"

From the Associated Press: "Critics: More Turning Away From Wal-Mart"