Macy's brand health plummets among women after petition to dump Trump

Data released on Wednesday showed that the Macy's department store brand name has been taking a beating ever since a petition began urging the company to drop real estate mogul Donald Trump's merchandise.

YouGov's BrandIndex indicated that Macy's Recommend score among women had fallen by more than 40 percent after a MoveOn.org petition began asking CEO Terry J. Lundgren cut ties with the billionaire birther.

The BrandIndex is an industry standard score that determines brand health by averaging measurements like “quality, impression, value, reputation, satisfaction and willingness to recommend.”

Macy's enjoyed a Recommend score of 31 on Nov. 19 as coverage of the petition was hitting the national media. By Tuesday of this week, that index -- which asks female respondents if they would recommend the store to a friend -- had plunged to 17, two points below the national average for the department and discount store sector. In comparison, JCPenny has seen its sales slide by 27 percent in the last quarter but maintains a Recommend score of 34.

"Macy’s loyalty score with women is now behind many of its major competitors, including Target, J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart, Kohls, Sears, Kmart and TJ Maxx," YouGov's Ted Marzilli observed.

Macy's CMO Martine Reardon said recently that the company was ignoring the protests and sticking with Trump because "we try to let the customer vote on that."

"As long as that customer is still voting by wanting to buy that product, then that's what it's all about," Reardon explained at a business conference earlier this week.