Halo vs. Horn Effect
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Ever notice how your impression of someone instantly changes when you learn they graduated from Harvard? Or how finding one tiny flaw in a product suddenly makes everything about it seem worse?
I’m sure you have.
What that is, is called the Halo effect.
And it comes with an antagonist: the Horn effect.
Let me break this down with a real example from my Heineken days:
When people discovered The SUB (a little home draught machine for beer) was made by Heineken, their perception shifted. Some loved it more because “Hey, it’s Heineken — they know beer!” Others instantly disliked it because “You know what they should do? Start making real beer.”
That’s crazy right? Same product, different reactions based on one detail.
Here’s what happens:
Halo effect: One positive thing makes everything look better
Horn effect: One negative thing makes everything look worse
Their both a cognitive bias. Like all biases it’s good to be aware of their existence.
Think about Apple for a sec. People love their phones soooo much, they assume Apple’s new products will be amazing too. Some of them will just wait in line to spend €4450 on a pair of augmented reality glasses that are way too heavy and unpractical, but it’s Apple.
Or remember the $999 monitor stand? Some people actually defended that price — that’s the halo effect at work.
The halo of the iPhone makes everything Apple does shine brighter.
But it works both ways:
→ Find a hair in your food? Suddenly the whole restaurant seems dirty
→ Love your gym trainer? Their workout plans must be perfect
→ Had a bad experience with customer service? The whole brand becomes “terrible”
Why should you care as brand marketer?
Because it affects everything:
How people see your brand
How you judge products
How you make decisions
How others perceive you
Here’s something funny, which you might recognize: When I started at Sound United (Which owns Denon, Marantz, Bowers & Wilkins), people assumed I was an audio expert. Truth is, I just knew marketing, and yep I did love audio, but I was no expert.
The more common version of that story: You work in digital marketing, social media, e-commerce. You’re family thinks you’re good with tech, with computers. So now whenever you come to visit guess what: “Hey you’re good with computers, can you fix my Wi-Fi?”
So in my case the company’s reputation created a halo effect around my expertise.
Want to use this knowledge?
Try this:
Spot your strongest positive point
Connect it clearly to other aspects
Fix negative experiences fast
Build on what works — success breeds success
The trick isn’t to make a fake image by using this as trick. It’s always about being aware and authentic, but you can definitely use this to your advantage.
So whenever you catch yourself thinking something is amazing, or something sucks and you only really have one point to prove that…., ask yourself: “Is this real, or is this really the halo effect talking here?”
That’s probably the most valuable lesson here. Being aware of these effects helps you make better decisions — in brand marketing and in life.
What’s your experience with the halo effect? Ever caught yourself judging something entirely based on one detail?
