# News Impact Ratings Consumers Evaluate Businesses Based On Company News By NEXT by Ramla | Published 2007-02-26 | Eco Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/do-the-right-thingcom-people-evaluate-businesses-on-news References: [kottke.org](http://www.kottke.org/07/01/do-the-right-thing) & [dotherightthing](http://dotherightthing.com) IKEA will charge customers 5 cents/ plastic bag. Is IKEA "doing the right thing?" Interactive readers at [dotherightthing.com](http://dotherightthing.com), a Web 2.0 site where people can "evaluate" companies based on company news, think "yes". They give this story a rating based on it's **positive or negative impact.** Currently, its showing a 2.2 positive impact rating. This is how it works: members suggest stories, and the community rates the positive or negative impact of the story on society. This "social performance rating" becomes a parameter of evaluating the company. The focus here is not just on "bottom-line," but on the impact that the companies being examined create on the society. So it seems that by way of the people will [Conscious Capitalism](http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/conscious-capitalism-dirty-business-no-more) be ushered in! I like the idea. It is: 1/ participative and democratic 2/ a practical way of evaluating companies: based on news, not promises and forecasts 3/ a small way to influence the big corp 4/ cool to interact with. I haven't yet signed-up, but I am tempted. Again - one of those cool, clean, cheerful yet serious Web 2.0 sites that I love! ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 4.3/10 - Popularity: 57% | Activity: 63% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial - Top markets: North America, Europe ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Eco](https://www.trendhunter.com/eco) ## Key Themes ### What's Driving This Trend - **Social Performance Ratings:** The rise of social performance ratings provides an opportunity for companies to evaluate their impact on society beyond the bottom line. - **Conscious Capitalism:** The increasing focus on conscious capitalism is disrupting traditional evaluation methods by prioritizing the societal impact of companies beyond financial performance. - **Participatory Evaluation:** Participatory evaluation, where individuals rate the positive or negative impact of company news, provides a democratized method for gauging public opinion and influencing corporate behavior. ### Who This Affects Most - **Corporate Social Responsibility:** Corporate social responsibility industries have an opportunity to utilize social performance ratings to evaluate company impact beyond financial performance. - **Online Community Platforms:** Online community platforms, like DoTheRightThing, have the opportunity to continue disrupting traditional evaluation methods by democratizing and prioritizing societal impact of companies. - **Consumer Advocacy Agencies:** Consumer advocacy agencies have the opportunity to leverage social performance ratings to influence corporate behavior and promote conscious capitalism. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Social Good eCommerce Directories](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/socially-minded-companies.md) - [Impact Investing Tools](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/impact-investing.md) - [Social Responsibility-Aligned Corporate Marketing](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/goodbrand-impact.md) - [Value-Based Shopping Apps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/veebs.md) - [Conscious Shopping Assistants](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/better-buy.md) - [Business-Focused Environmental Responsibility Tools](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/wildsight.md) - [Conscious Retailer eCommerce Initiatives](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/klarna-conscious-brands-collections.md) - [Barcode-Scanning Ethical Search Apps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ethical-barcode.md) - [Comprehensive Digital Accessibility Initiatives](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/digital-accessibility-initiative.md)