User:Asmodoues/sandbox

Negative Effects
The halo effect can have a negative impact on perception (sometimes called the Devil Effect) as well, depending on the context in which an observer is required to make a judgement. One example is the relationship between attractiveness and the nature of a crime. A study presented two hypothetical crimes: a burglary and a swindle. The burglary involved a woman illegally obtaining a key and stealing $2,200; the swindle involved a woman manipulating a man to invest $2,200 in a nonexistent corporation. The results showed that when the offense was not related to attractiveness (as in the burglary) the unattractive defendant was punished more severely than the attractive one. However, when the offense was related to attractiveness (the swindle), the attractive defendant was punished more severely than the unattractive one. The study imputes that the usual leniency given to the attractive woman (as a result of the halo effect) was negated or reversed when the nature of the crime involved her looks. Attractiveness is also subject to the halo effect. In Nisbett and Wilson's study on likeable versus unlikeable lecturers, it is demonstrated that a negative halo effect spurred by a dislike for a lecturer can significantly lower ratings of their attractiveness.

Brand halos
Extensive use of the halo effect is made in brand marketing. One common halo effect is when the perceived positive features of a particular item extend to a broader brand. In the automotive industry, a manufacturer may produce an exceptional halo vehicle in order to promote sales of an entire marque. One famous example is how the popularity of Apple’s iPod has generated enthusiasm for its other products. Another example is Subway's brand image as a healthy variety of fast food. The perception of a restaurant as 'healthy' causes consumers to underestimate the caloric content of its dishes. The term "halo effect" has been applied to human rights organizations that have used their status to move away from their stated goals. Political scientist Gerald Steinberg has claimed that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) take advantage of the "halo effect" and are "given the status of impartial moral watchdogs" by governments and the media. A brand's halo effect can even act as a shield against damage to their reputation from a crisis. An event that a non-positively viewed brand would find detrimental to their reputation among consumers would have less of an impact on a brand that consumers view favorably.

Criticisms and limitations
Murphy, Jako and Anhalt argue "Since 1980, there have been a large number of studies dealing directly or indirectly with halo error in rating. Taken together, these studies suggest that all seven of the characteristics that have defined halo error for much of its history are problematic and that the assumptions that underlie some of them are demonstrably wrong." Their work claims that the assumption that halo effects are always detrimental is incorrect, going so far as to say that some halo effects in fact increase the accuracy of the rating. Additionally, they discuss the idea of 'true halo' - the actual correlation between, for example attractiveness and performance as an instructor, and 'illusory halo', which would be cognitive distortions, errors in observation and judgement, and rating tendencies of the individual rater. They claim that any true differentiation between true and illusory halos is impossible in a real-world setting, because the different ratings are strongly influenced by the specific behaviors of the person observed by the raters.

Gender differences
Kaplan’s 1978 study yielded much of the same results as are seen in other studies focusing on the halo effect—attractive individuals were rated high in qualities such as creativity, intelligence, and sensitivity than unattractive individuals. However, in addition to these results Kaplan found that women were influenced by the halo effect on attractiveness only when presented with members of the opposite sex. When presented with an attractive member of the same sex, women actually tended to rate the individual lower on socially desirable qualities. Dermer and Thiel continue this line of research, going on to demonstrate that jealousy of an attractive individual could be a major factor in evaluation of that person. Their work shows this to be more prevalent among females than males, with females describing physically attractive women as having socially undesirable traits.

Asmodoues (talk) 23:45, 8 November 2013 (UTC) My instinct here to to say this isn't really a criticism of the halo effect at all; these women's judgements were influenced by their perception of the target as attractive, which is textbook halo effect, just not in a positive direction. But I'm not sure if the research bears that out or not.