Many of us in our daily lives often come across people with upbeat personalities or appearance traits, and we extrapolate these traits to other positive attributes. For example, if we see an attractive, polite person, we conclude that he is also generous and honest. We call this predetermined evaluation the halo effect. The halo effect also applies to objects, events, and anything else. For example, when we use a brand’s product and think it is excellent, we unconsciously try any other product, assuming it is perfect. Is this effect good or bad? Could it affect our judgments or decisions? In this article, we want to answer such questions about the halo effect. Stay with us.
What is the halo effect?
The halo effect is a type of cognitive bias. A cognitive bias is a preconceived view of people or things. This bias is not based on objective analysis and is formed without any real reason and only based on something we encounter by chance.
The halo effect can be considered a stereotype; our general impression of a person affects how we feel and think about him. Therefore, when we say that Mr. “A” is good, we unconsciously conclude that he is also intelligent. This issue may affect how we evaluate others and make important decisions about them in society or at work. We may trust someone too easily or attribute positive qualities to them that they don’t have.
A great example of the halo effect is our general perception of celebrities; Many of us judge the personality traits of actors and singers based on the movie’s character or the song’s content. For example, we consider an actor who played a positive role upbeat in real life, or if a singer sang a very emotional song, we consider him romantic. Usually, famous people who are successful, beautiful or attractive are also kind and benevolent in our opinion!
The halo effect is about the positive characteristics of people. The counterpart of the halo effect about negative assumptions is called the “Horn effect.”
The history of the halo effect; The halo effect is related to which theory?
The halo effect was introduced by Edward Thorndike, an American psychologist, in 1920. In a study titled “Permanent Error in Psychological Ratings,” he asked military officers to rate their soldiers. It was thought that they would evaluate each characteristic separately with a fair approach, but this did not happen.
Thorndike found that officers rated soldiers based on their first impression of their physical or behavioral characteristics. When they discovered a particular trait in a soldier, they would quickly conclude and rank him. Their final evaluation was precisely the same as the initial impression. Therefore those soldiers who appeared more attractive, fitter, more polite, or more charismatic at the first moment received higher ratings!
The effect of the halo effect on daily life
Defaults are helpful in many cases. With the help of these defaults, we quickly check our surroundings and, for example, conclude whether we are safe or not. From a social point of view, we also use these assumptions; We can interpret others’ unspoken information to ourselves and react appropriately. For example, when someone cries, they don’t need to tell us anything about their sadness, and our default tells us that they are sad and we should calm them down.
However, biases such as the halo effect may distort the truth and hurt our awareness. The halo effect can play a role in different parts of our daily life and make us see people or other things from behind this effect and may make mistakes or misjudgments. Of course, escaping biases and leaving them behind is challenging; we need a conscious effort and self-awareness. Let’s look at some critical issues the halo effect plays into.
1. Misplaced trust in others
A typical example of the halo effect is when a person’s attractiveness or physical beauty causes us to attribute other positive characteristics to them. When we see beautiful people, most assume they are also generous, intelligent, or trustworthy. In short, whatever is beautiful is good!
According to one of the researchers, people generalize these assumptions about youth. For example, older people with a younger appearance or so-called baby face create more favorable perceptions in us.
2. Unreasonable assessment in the workplace
The halo effect is abundantly observed in the workplace. For example, we may consider a colleague who has studied in a prestigious university more qualified than others, while this may not be the case. It is also possible that one of our colleagues wears severe and formal clothes and we think he is hardworking, but maybe only his appearance shows that.
This phenomenon even affects people’s income. For example, according to research, female servers who are more attractive receive more tips than male servers or ordinary female servers (in terms of looks and appearance). You have probably noticed often in the restaurant that customers pay more attention to prettier servers.
3. Confidence in the healthiness of food
Many of us, seeing the fancy packaging and information on food labels, think they are healthy and nutritious.
Researchers gave participants in a study the same food and attached an organic label to half of them. People were willing to pay more for it just because of the organic label and not only considered that food to be healthier but also attributed irrelevant features such as being low in calories. In contrast, the organic label had nothing to do with the calories of the food.
4. Halo effect in the treatment and drugs sector
This effect is even used to judge medical treatment. Research indicated that the patients treated better in the hospital gave a higher overall score to that hospital and had nothing to do with the quality of medical services, patient safety, and the quality of their health care. If the room was quiet and the nurses treated them well, they would give high scores and think that the best medical services would be provided.
The halo effect may make you think a beautiful person is mentally healthy.
5. Halo effect in the education sector
According to research, the halo effect may also play a role in educational environments. For example, teachers should treat a student differently according to their attractiveness. They may even imagine that prettier children are more intelligent and get better lesson results.
In another study, where the academic records of more than 4,500 students were examined, 28 people rated the students’ attractiveness from 1 to 10 based on their birth certificate photos. Then they were divided into three groups: below average, average, and above average. When the researchers compared students’ grades in traditional face-to-face classes and online courses, they found that students who scored above average in appearance scored significantly lower in online courses than in face-to-face classes.
6. Halo effect in the interview
The halo effect plays a huge role in the interview. When interviewing people, many employers usually evaluate attractive or lovable applicants as intelligent, competent, and qualified. According to research, employers’ first impression of people significantly affects their hiring.
7. Halo effect in marketing
Marketers use the halo effect to sell products and services. When a celebrity endorses a product, fans take it as an endorsement, and because they think the star is bright and doesn’t use anything, they rate the outcome positively.
8. Halo effect in management
The halo effect plays a vital role in managing a business or brand. Using the halo effect, managers can analyze employees and attribute other positive characteristics to them, such as responsibility, creativity, and honesty, based on one of their specific characteristics.
Brands can also use the halo effect to retain customers and create loyalty. When consumers have positive experiences with the products of successful brands, they are cognitively biased to be loyal to the brand and its offers. Of course, this belief is independent of user experience. The user’s basic reasoning is that if one company’s product is excellent, its other products will undoubtedly be good.
The halo effect increases customer loyalty to the brand, strengthens the image and reputation of the brand, and becomes its unique value. Companies use the halo effect to promote themselves as pioneers in their industry. When a positive image of a product is imprinted in the minds of consumers, the success of that product affects other products. For example, Apple makes a massive profit from the halo effect. With the release of the iPod, many said that the sales of Apple’s Mac laptops would also increase. Apple’s success in releasing the iPod also benefited the Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad.
Advantages and disadvantages of the halo effect for brands
The halo effect is a double-edged sword. If the product of a particular brand has features that people consider positively, this positive opinion will be extended to new products of the brand, and customer loyalty will increase. However, this issue does not create immunity for the brand and is enough for the customer to have a bad experience with the brand and ignore it altogether.
Advantages
- The halo effect creates strong brand loyalty and plays a vital role in customer retention ;
- Consumers tend to pay more for a brand they already know and trust;
- New products of that brand may also benefit from the halo effect.
Disadvantages
- Maintaining a halo effect for a brand can be challenging;
- If the brand image is not conducive to the success of a product, the halo effect will not be used.
A book by Hale
The book The Halo Effect by Phil Rosenzweig, a business researcher, is about the halo effect and criticizes the pseudo-scientific tendencies used to explain business performance in businesses. This book was published on February 6, 2007, but it has not yet been translated into Farsi.
What is the difference between the stereotype effect and the halo effect?
The stereotyping error is similar to the halo effect but different. In the stereotype error, we judge people based on the group or society they belong to. This group may be gender, race, political opinion, nationality, etc.
For example, when a woman has an accident, and we say, “The driver was a woman; women are not good drivers,” we have a stereotype error. “All men are lustful and eye-catching,” “Shirazis are lazy,” and “Europeans are lazy” are also examples of stereotype error. You may have heard many times that they say that a girl or a boy is from a religious family. In such cases, most people conclude that because this person is a member of a religious family, he is undoubtedly pious and God-fearing, and marrying him is right.
last word
This article discussed the halo effect and its consequences in different aspects of life. We saw how it might affect our judgments of others, things, or events and even make important decisions in life or work based on it. Because of this halo effect, we may often trust people with predetermined assessments and put ourselves at risk.
When was the last time the halo effect affected your decision-making? What were the consequences for you? Please share your experiences with us and your friends in the comments section on “How To.”
Warning! This article is only for educational purposes; to use it, it is necessary to consult a doctor or specialist.
