The most and least reputable Nordic companies studied – Temu and Shein at the bottom

Temu and Shein are among the least reputable companies in all the Nordic countries, according to the Reputation&Trust study conducted in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. IKEA is a perennial favorite among Nordic consumers.

The list of companies with a good reputation is led by IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, which appears on the list of reputable companies in all countries except Finland—although the company last appeared on Finland’s list of most reputable companies in 2023.

 

“At the top of the reputation rankings, we find traditional companies—sort of like national treasures—such as IKEA in Sweden, LEGO in Denmark, and KONE in Finland. According to our study, the Nordic alcohol monopolies Systembolaget, Vinmonopolet, and Alko also enjoy the trust of their citizens,” says Riku Ruokolahti, Development Director at Reputation and Trust Analytics.

 

Temu and Shein Rank Last in All Nordic Countries

The e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu rank at the bottom of the list of companies operating in the Nordic countries. Both Chinese-owned companies received very low ratings in terms of reputation.

 

“Temu and Shein also rank at the bottom of the list in Germany’s Reputation & Trust study. The number of e-commerce deliveries from outside the EU has skyrocketed in a short time. Temu has rushed into the Nordic markets and is a new entrant on the list of all countries studied. There are no guarantees regarding the ethics, responsibility, safety, and quality of products available from ultra-cheap online stores. Local retailers operating in accordance with local regulations are understandably puzzled by the situation,” says Ruokolahti.

Imports of low-cost e-commerce products into the EU have increased dramatically in recent years, and in 2024, packages arrived in the EU at an average rate of 12 million per day. The European Commission is taking action to tighten customs controls on low-cost shipments from outside the EU.

 

How We Conducted the Research

The aim of the Reputation & Trust studies was to investigate the reputation of companies operating in the Nordic countries among the residents of those countries. Data for the studies was collected via an online questionnaire from July 1 to August 5, 2024, in Sweden; July 1–29, 2024, in Norway and Denmark; and June 3 to July 8, 2024, in Finland.

Organizations were evaluated using Reputation and Trust Analytics’ Reputation&Trust research model, in which an organization’s reputation score is calculated as the average of eight different dimensions. These areas are corporate governance, financial performance, leadership, innovation, dialogue, products and services, workplace, and responsibility. The study used a five-point evaluation scale (1–5).
The study included 4,612 Swedes, 3,657 Norwegians, 10,575 Finns, and 3,788 Danes. The target group consisted of citizens aged 15–65. The samples were weighted to be representative of the population in terms of gender, age, and region.

The publicly traded companies with the best and worst reputations were selected for the group of companies to be studied based on a preliminary study conducted earlier in 2024. In the preliminary study, respondents from each country spontaneously named two companies they considered to have particularly good reputations and two with particularly poor reputations. Reputation and Trust Analytics does not influence the selection of companies.

The thirty companies that received the most mentions were analyzed in greater detail using the Reputation&Trust model in each country. The lists include the ten companies with the highest scores and the ten with the lowest scores.

 

For more information

Riku Ruokolahti
Development Director, Reputation and Trust Analytics
riku.ruokolahti@t-media.fi
+358 400 512 200

Harri Leinikka
CEO, Reputation and Trust Analytics
harri.leinikka@t-media.fi
+358 40 505 5001