Key points on how The Halo Effect impacts consumer psychology

• Research suggests that consumers often feel that there’s a trade-off when it comes to sustainable products: the more environmentally friendly they are, the worse they perform

• This research suggests that there are several conditions in which perceptions of sustainability, through the mechanism of a halo effect actually boost perceived performance 

• Specifically, consumers perceive sustainable products more positively when 1) they have strong environmental values themselves, 2) when the sustainability claims are about the company, as opposed to the product, and 3) when the motivations of the company are made salient

 Imagine being an Olympic sprinter, about to step onto the track for the 100m dash. You’ve trained hard for this moment, and now it’s time to put all the hard work to the test. The time has come. You’ve eaten your pre-game meal, completed your visualization exercises, and gone through your stretching regiment in the locker room. 

But before you step onto the track, there’s one final decision to make: which track shoes should you wear? Your coach offers you a choice: do you want one made from sustainable materials, or a traditionally built model?  

If you’re like most people, you’d opt for the non-sustainable version. Consumer psychology research has found that sustainable products are often assumed to be weaker, less durable, and perform worse than their non-sustainable counterparts. Put simply - when you really need the product to work - as in the case with the track shoes on the big day - you steer clear of the sustainable model.

But just how far does this go? Are there instances in which sustainability is not a liability? To investigate this, Alexander Chernev of Northwestern University and Sean Blair of Georgetown University conducted a series of studies. They hypothesized that under some circumstances, sustainability may provide a halo effect, meaning that being perceived as sustainable also leads consumers to assume other positive traits about them as well. 

Methodology of the Study on Consumer Values, Perception on Product Performance and Messaging

Study 1. In the first study, the researchers examined the effect of the consumer’s environmental values on perceptions of product performance. 595 participants were recruited online and were asked to make judgments about several household products such as laundry detergent. In some conditions, they were told that these products were sustainably produced and did not damage the environment. They also asked participants about their attitudes towards environmental issues, more generally.  The results suggest that one’s values do indeed play a role: people with higher environmental values viewed sustainable products as also being higher-performing, thus lending support for the halo effect hypothesis.  

Study 2: The second experiment looked specifically at the effect of messaging, testing to see whether focusing the sustainability claims on the company, as opposed to the product, would be more effective in driving perceptions of product performance. 270 participants were recruited to take part in the study. Overall, the results suggest that associating sustainability with the company has a much larger impact than messaging about product sustainability. This indicates that the intentions of the company, and its perceived pro-sociality, might be a key variable in driving these attributions. 

Study 3 & 4: Underlying Mechanisms. Study 3 sought to further flesh out these mechanisms by examining the influence of societal impact. If a product is described as benefitting society, above and beyond merely being sustainable, would that further increase perceived performance? To find out, the researchers recruited 148 participants who saw various advertisements for products that were either described as having a ‘sustainable benefit’, or ‘societal benefit’. 

Participants were more likely to see the products as being of higher performance if they were framed as positively impacting society. The results support the idea that the halo effect is driven by the perception of the company as a moral agent engaged in prosocial behavior. This effect was further probed in the final study, which directly tested the impact of the core motivations of the company (e.g. Greenworks believes they have a moral responsibility to use environmentally friendly ingredients). 

The Results and Implications of Consumer Beliefs and Motivations

Contrary to previous thinking, this study illustrates that in fact, there are several conditions where sustainability claims can produce positive beliefs about product performance. Specifically, these studies suggest that sustainability produces a positive, halo effect for the product when the sustainability claims are aligned with the values of the consumer base, when the claims are made about the company itself, and when the prosocial motivations of the company itself are made salient.

Like the track star lining up before a big race, consumers often feel that sustainability and performance are mutually exclusive. This research indicates that when the brand frames it just the right way, there doesn’t need to be a trade-off. These can be one and the same. 

Photo by Gert Muller on Unsplash

References for The Halo Effect for Consumer Psychology and Sustainability

Chernev, A., & Blair, S. (2021). When sustainability is not a liability: The halo effect of marketplace morality. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 31(3), 551-569.