The halo effect is a cognitive bias whereby the perception of one trait (i.e.

a characteristic of a person or object) is influenced by the perception of another trait (or several traits) of that person or object. An example would be judging a good-looking person as more intelligent. Edward Thorndike was the first to support the halo effect with empirical research. In a psychology study published in 1920, Thorndike asked commanding officers to rate their soldiers; he found high cross-correlation between all positive and all negative traits. People seem not to think of other individuals in mixed terms; instead we seem to see each person as roughly good or roughly bad across all categories of measurement. A study by Solomon Asch suggests that attractiveness is a central trait, so we presume all the other traits of an attractive person are just as attractive and sought after. The halo effect is involved in Harold Kelley's implicit personality theory, where the first traits we recognize in other people influence our interpretation and perception of later ones because of our expectations. Attractive people are often judged as having a more desirable personality and more skills than someone of average appearance. Karen Dion's 1972 study showed the same result. She set an experiment in which she showed photographs to people, and asked them to make a judgment of the people in the photos. In the result, attractive people are assumed to have a good personality as well as being sexually warm and responsive. The term has also been used in regard to human rights organizations who use their status but move away from their stated goals. For example, Gerald M. Steinberg claims that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) take advantage of a "halo effect" and are "given the status of impartial moral watchdogs" by governments and the media.
Contents
[hide]
[1]

1 Reverse halo effect 2 As a business model 3 Unconscious judgments 4 See also 5 Notes

6 Further reading 7 References

[edit]Reverse

halo effect

A corollary to the halo effect is the reverse halo effect where individuals, brands or other things judged to have a single undesirable trait are subsequently judged to have many poor traits, allowing a single weak point or negative trait to influence others' perception of the person, brand or other thing in general.
[2][3]

The iPod has had positive effects on perceptions ofApple's other products

[edit]As

a business model

In brand marketing, a halo effect is one where the perceived positive features of a particular item extend to a broader brand. It has been used to describe how the iPod has had positive effects on perceptions of Apple's other products.
[4]

The effect is also exploited in the automotive industry, where

a manufacturer may produce an exceptionalhalo vehicle in order to promote sales of an entire marque. Modern cars often described as halo vehicles include the Dodge Viper, Ford GT, and Acura NSX.
[citation needed]

[edit]Unconscious

judgments

In 1977, social psychologist Richard Nisbett demonstrated that even if we were told that our judgments have been affected by the halo effect, we may have no awareness of when the halo effect influences us.
[5][6]