Sweden Knocks Canada Off Top Spot in World's Largest Survey of Country Reputation

Happiness, peace, government integrity drive positive reputations in 2016 Country RepTrak®

BOSTON, June 23, 2016 /CNW/ - As if their on-ice rivalry were not intense enough, Sweden has supplanted Canada atop the latest list of the world's most reputable countries, the Reputation Institute announced today with the release of the 2016 Country RepTrak®, the world's largest annual survey of country reputations.

"The 2016 Country RepTrak® shows that traditional, objective measures, such as size and economic output have little bearing on the general public's emotional connection to a nation," said Nicolas Trad, executive partner at the Reputation Institute. "Being welcoming, safe and beautiful are the top three drivers of a country's reputation, and nations with a strong reputation are better positioned to welcome more tourists, increase exports, improve diplomacy and attract foreign investment, knowledge and talent."

The Top 10 countries in the 2016 Country RepTrak® are:

1. Sweden		6. Finland
2. Canada		7. New Zealand
3.  Switzerland		8. Denmark
4. Australia		9. Ireland
5. Norway		10. Netherland

The 2016 Country RepTrak® scores and rankings are based on more than 58,000 ratings collected in the first quarter of 2016. They measure consumer perceptions of whether the country has an advanced economy, an appealing environment and an effective government. While few of the world's largest and most powerful countries earn strong reputations, scores closely align with rankings of other measurements, such as happiness, peace and government integrity.

Canada leads in appealing environment, lags in perception as business destination

"While Canada leads the world in external perceptions as a great place to study or visit, the research shows we can improve the perception of the nation as a business destination and desirable investment environment," said Daniel Tisch, President and CEO of Argyle Public Relationships, a leading Canadian expert in reputation management. "With a long-term program to build a better business brand, backed by tangible policy change and delivery of positive business experiences, Canada can regain its status as the world's most reputable nation.

Consumers who perceive a country as having a strong reputation report being more likely to visit it or to recommend living in, working in, investing in, studying in or buying products from, that country.

Other key findings of the 2016 Country RepTrak® include:

• Sweden claimed the top spot after two consecutive years in third place.
• Ireland moved into the top 10, while Belgium dropped out.
• No countries rated as "excellent" (identified by a Pulse score of 80 or higher).
• Since 2015, France has seen the biggest improvement in reputation, up 4.9 points.
• Russia also saw a significant reputation boost of 4.7 points, but it still rates as "poor" with a Pulse score of 39.82, good enough for 65^th place on the list, ahead of only Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.
• Turkey saw the largest drop in reputation, down 7.0 points to 42.73 and 58^th place overall.

The full list of the most reputable countries in the world can be found online at https://www.reputationinstitute.com/research/Country-RepTrak.

About Reputation Institute

Reputation Institute (RI) is the world's leading consulting and advisory firm for reputation. RI enables many of the world's leading companies to make more confident business decisions that build and protect reputation capital, analyze risk and sustainability topics, and drive competitive advantage. RI's most prominent management tool is the RepTrak® model for analyzing the reputations of companies and institutions — best known via the Global RepTrak® 100, the world's largest and most comprehensive study of corporate reputations, as well as Country RepTrak® and City RepTrak® studies that look at reputation across organizations within a given geography.

Learn more at: http://www.reputationinstitute.com/

About Argyle Public Relationships™

Argyle helps major brands and respected organizations build and strengthen their relationships with the stakeholders who drive their reputations, brands and business success – across Canada and beyond. For more than 35 years, Argyle has been chosen by some of the world's biggest brands, has put big ideas onto the public agenda, and has become one of Canada's largest independent communications firms. Argyle is a Canadian leader in awards for consumer marketing, corporate communications, health communications, public affairs, digital communications, branding and design. In 2015, Argyle was named by PROFIT 500 as one of Canada's fastest growing companies. Argyle has offices in Toronto and Ottawa with affiliates across the country and around the world.

Learn more at: http://www.argylepr.com/

SOURCE Reputation Institute

Image with caption: "Top Countries, RepTrak (CNW Group/Reputation Institute)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160623_C3963_PHOTO_EN_720728.jpg

Image with caption: "Reputation Institute (CNW Group/Reputation Institute)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160623_C3963_PHOTO_EN_720727.jpg

Image with caption: "Argyle Public Relationships (CNW Group/Reputation Institute)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160623_C3963_PHOTO_EN_720726.jpg

Mary Zajac, Argyle Public Relationships, 416-968-7311 ext. 260, [email protected]