Seems the answer lies in a psychological response call the halo effect.  In a classic paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology thirty years ago, R. E. Nisbett and T.D. Wilson found that global evaluations about a person (is she likeable?) affect our judgements about their specific traits (is she smart?).

Nisbett and Wilson examined the way students made judgements about a lecturer. The students were divided into two groups who watched two different videos of the same lecturer. One group watched a lecturer answer questions in a warm and friendly way while the other group saw the same person answer the questions in a cold and distant way. Each group of students was asked to rate the lecturer on physical appearance, mannerisms and even his (Belgian) accent.

Students who saw the ‘warm’ lecturer rated him more attractive, his mannerisms more likeable and even is accent as more appealing. The big surprise was that students had no idea why they gave one lecturer higher ratings, even after it was suggested to them that how much they liked the lecturer might have affected their evaluations. Students were convinced they had made their judgement about the lecturer’s physical appearance, mannerisms and accent without considering how likeable he was.

Halo effect explains a lot about why people embrace certain brands as they seek to emulate their favorite stars. When a well known personality is perceived to be attractive and likeable we naturally assume they are also intelligent, friendly, and display good judgement. Some of us, it seems, want to BE them. And we’ll go to extreme measures to take on their halo.

Marketers know this and they use it to sell more at a higher price. In his book, Reputation Marketing, John Marconi talks about how books that have ‘Harvard Classics’ written on the front demand double the price of the exact same book without the endorsement.

That’s exactly what happens in the fashion industry: Add a well loved and respected designer’s name to a pair of shoes, handbag or jeans, and watch the prices skyrocket.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the halo effect is that even when we know it exists, we are defenseless against it. In fact, we’ll even deny it’s operating as we plunk down our money.

The next time you go shopping and are tempted by a name-brand anything, ask yourself this question: Are you really evaluating the characteristics of the product or has the halo effect got you by the short and curlies?