The Halo Effect

About

The Halo Effect is a concept sometimes called the halo error, a term coined by Edward Thorndike. It describes the tendency for positive impressions of a person, company, country, brand, or product in one area to positively influence one's opinion or feelings in another area. The phenomenon occurs when evaluators are influenced by their previous judgments of performance or personality. It represents a cognitive bias that can prevent people from forming an image based on the sum of all circumstances at hand. A simplified example occurs when people notice that an individual in a photograph is attractive, well groomed, and properly attired, and then assume that the person is a good person. This assumption uses a mental heuristic based on the rules of their own social concept. This constant error in judgment is reflective of the evaluators' preferences, prejudices, ideology, aspirations, and social perception.