Halo Effect is a cognitive bias in which a single striking feature or dominant impression influences the overall evaluation of a person, product or brand. People tend to draw conclusions about unknown properties based on familiar ones. For example, an attractive person is often automatically perceived as more competent, or a high-quality-looking product is rated as functionally better, even though there is no objective evidence for this.

The influence of the Halo Effect is particularly strong when the evaluator places a high value on the recognized attribute.

In the further course of the evaluation, the progressive assessment is distorted in such a way that deviating experiences fade into the background or are no longer considered at all – see also: Confirmation Bias and First Impression.

Origin

The term was first described by Edward Thorndike (1920) in a psychological study on person perception. Later on, the Halo Effect was examined in various fields, especially in marketing, branding and UX research.

  • Thorndike, E. L. (1920). A Constant Error in Psychological Ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 4(1), 25–29.
  • Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). The Halo Effect: Evidence for Unconscious Alteration of Judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35(4), 250–256.

Application in UX and UI design

The Halo Effect plays an important role in UX and UI design, as visual aesthetics, brand image or first impressions strongly influence how users evaluate a product or application.

For example, a successful design can lead to users perceiving the entire functionality as more intuitive and pleasant – even if the actual usability is not optimal.

Impact on the User Experience

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Further information