Occurs when we make judgements about something based on an initial observation, piece of information, or opinion that are often unrelated to the judgement being made.
Examples:
Good looking politicians are considered more trustworthy.
A good looking label makes us believe that the product is higher quality.
Definition: When we make judgements about something based on an initial, unrelated piece of information or judgement.
Example: When we favour products from a company because of the brand.
Example: When it is believed that a successful CEO at one company will thrive in any industry, or in home life.
Insight: We often struggle to see the whole picture, when we focus on a single aspect about something that dazzles us.
Insight: The Halo Effect clouds our view of true characteristics.
Insight: When evaluating businesses, we take simple to obtain or remarkable facts and extrapolate conclusions about the inner workings of the entire organisation.
Insight: Marketers and brands have used the Halo Effect by using celebrities or physically attractive people to sell products.
Insight: The Halo Effect can have deeply negative impacts in our society with stereotyping people based on nationality, gender, race etc.
Principle: When making judgements, factor out the most striking features, dig deeper in your research.
Reference: Edward Thorndike: discovered defined the Halo Effect - "a problem arises in data collection when there is carry-over from one judgment to another."
Reference: Edward Thorndike 1920s: a single quality (e.g. beauty) of someone produces a positive or negative view of that person across all areas.
Definition: A bias where the perception of a positive (or negative) trait in people or products influences our further judgement of those things.
Example: The belief that good looking people are intelligent or kind.
Example: When we buy products because of the brand.
Insight: Our impression of company performance often greatly influences our judgement of company strategy or the management.
Insight: Advertisers take advantage of the halo effect by using famous or good looking people.
Reference: The term 'halo effect' was used by Edward Thorndike in 1920 to describe how commanding officers rated their soldiers. If a solider made a good or bad first impression, it would dramatically impact the officer's judgement going forward.
Definition: The tendency to like (or dislike) all the qualities of a person - including unobserved qualities - based on a few observations.
Example: When a handsome and confident speaker gets up on stage, the audience will judge their comments more favourably.
Example: We are likely to believe that handsome sportspeople are more athletic.
Insight: Systematic errors are known as biases, and they recur predictably in specific circumstances - the halo effect is one example.
Insight: The halo effect contributes to coherences, as we are likely to match our view of people on one significant attribute.
Definition: When one characteristic of a person dominates how they are view in other respects.
Insight: Physically attractive people have a significant advantage in social interaction because of the halo effect - we view a positive characteristic and assume that all the character traits of that person must be positive.
Insight: We are more likely to comply with physically attractive people - compliance and sales professions include grooming and fashion in their training programs.
Insight: Being the bearer of bad news can create a negative halo or "horns effect", which can negatively impact the way that person is viewed.
Definition: When we observe positive or negative qualities in a person, we assume other positive or negative things about them.
Example: Good looking people are trusted more, particularly politicians.
Insight: We see people not as they are, but how they appear to us. And appearances are usually misleading.
Insight: People are trained to present the best or most appropriate side of themselves.
Insight: We often make the mistake of thinking that skills observed in one domain are transferable in other fields or areas of life.
Insight: It is not prudent to believe that skills in talking equate to skills in doing, it is therefore unfair and wrong to measure people by how good they are at talking.
Example: Believing that a good chess player would be good at strategy in real life.
Reference: Thorndike - asked U.S. Army officers to rate men according to physical attributes, then something less tangible like intelligence or leadership. The first ranking impacted the second. If the order was switched, the same thing happened.
Reference: Thorndike based on his observations had: "become convinced that even a very capable foreman, employer, teacher, or department head is unable to view an individual as a compound of separate qualities and to assign a magnitude to each of these in independence of the others."
Insight: We often view people in light of first impressions.
Insight: When rating employees in can be beneficial to do so with each dimension separately, even with different people judging each dimension - to limit the halo effect.
Key Insights & Principles
Work & Relationships
We regularly make judgements of people and things based on easily observable characteristics, facts, or opinions that often have no correlation with those judgements.
In focusing on one or a couple of pieces of information we often fail to see the whole picture.
We are more likely to comply with physically attractive people, and they often have advantages in social or commercial situations.
Just being the bearer of bad news can have a negative halo effect.
People are trained or incentivised to present the best side of themselves, which is often misleading.
Be aware of the Halo Effect when making judgements: dig deeper in analysis, and factor out the most striking features.
Use the Halo Effect to your advantage: first impressions count, spend time on attractive branding.
