Reputation is the general opinion of the public towards a person, a group of people, or an organization. It is an important factor in many fields, such as business, online communities or social status.

Many businesses have public relations departments dedicated to managing their reputation. Incidents which damage a company's reputation for honesty or safety may cause serious damage to finances. For example, in 1999 Coca Cola lost $60 million (by its own estimate) after schoolchildren reported suffering from symptoms like headaches, nausea and shivering after drinking its products. [1]

Reputation is a factor in any online community where trust is important. Examples include Ebay, an auction service which uses a system of customer feedback to publicly rate each member's reputation. One study found that a good reputation added 7.6% to the price received [2].

See also

• Face (social custom)
• Honour
• Reputation management