What’s Halo Effect /Error?

Halo Effect ( also known as Halo error) refers to our behavior when we see one agreeable characteristic in something or someone and we tend to believe that other characteristics of that person ( or that thing ) are also agreeable.

For example, if we’re having an argument in a certain group and if someone supports our side of the argument, we start liking that person and start thinking that he is just like us. Although it may not be true in most of cases.

Another example is evident in our behavior as a customer, we tend to like most of the products of a company because of favorable experience with other products made by the same company.

How people use it?

Organizations and individuals try to take advantage of almost every bias or weakness of human behavior including the Halo Effect.

In Marketing:

Marketers take advantage of the halo effect to sell their products and services. They employ celebrities to endorse products, our positive impressions of that individual in a specific field spread to our perceptions of the product itself.

In Politics:

Politicians happen to use Halo Effect in a very obvious manner- by using local language and manners for greeting, by wearing local dress, by praising local heroes and history, by eating at homes of the locals. And locals believe that the said candidate is one of their own, eats, wears and thinks like them.And who would not like to vote for the one who’s from their own community !(though he may be just pretending!)

In Career :

Going out of the way to create positive impressions in the first few days at a new place- a positive first impression of someone could mean that everyone makes positive assumptions about their skills and abilities.

Why You Should Be Cautious  of Halo Effect :

Halo Effect is like trying to have a nice packaging about some product so as to give a first positive impression and sometimes it is meant to distract you as a customer from the weaknesses of the product or person.