A recent Harris Poll asked the following:

“Which
of these industries do you think should be more regulated by government
— for example for health, safety or environmental reasons — than they
are now?”  The poll also asked the respondents to assess how
honest and trustworthy the industries were in their opinion.

Industries that are deemed more honest and trustworthy tend
to have a lower percentage of individuals thinking they should be
regulated.  The opposite was true for less popular industries.

55%
of those surveyed said oil companies should be more regulated. 
Oil companies also had the lowest percentage of individuals thinking
they were honest and trustworthy.

Other interesting findings: 

In only two out of the 17 industries listed did a majority of the respondents want more regulation.

25% of the public believed none of the industries should have more regulation.

In
2003, 59% of the respondents thought health insurance companies should
have more regulation–the 2005 number has dropped all the way down to
46%.  Managed care companies had a drop from 60% to 43%.

Supermarkets had the fewest people wanting more regulation: only 6%–they also were considered the most honest and trustworthy.

The moral of the story, I guess, is good public relations can reduce your regulatory costs.