In 2001, the year of Gallup’s initial poll on the images of various business and industry sectors, slightly more the one-half of the survey respondents (54%) viewed the oil and gas industry in a negative manner (either “somewhat negative” or “very negative”). One year later, that percentage dropped to 44, and in 2003 it dropped to 43. From 2004 through 2006, however, this declining pattern reversed. The percentages of respondents who rated the oil and gas industry negatively in 2004, 2005, and 2006 were 58, 62, and 77, respectively. According to the most recent Gallup data (as of August 2007), approximately 2 in every 3 respondents (67%) regarded the oil and gas industry in a negative light (Newport 2007). Despite the vast number of macro-level public opinion surveys from the Gallup Organization and other national polling entities, surprisingly little theoretical and/or empirical research has been conducted on perceptual issues of the oil and gas industry in geographical areas where energy development is (or is quickly becoming) an integral part of the local society. The findings from such micro-level work will likely prove beneficial to the oil and gas industry in its decision-making processes |