In health halo, the word halo functions as a metaphor for ‘being good’, used by analogy with the circle of light around the head of angels and holy people in religious paintings. There’s a clear link here to the term halo effect, coined in the 1920s by psychologist Edward Thorndike to refer to the evaluation of someone as a ‘good’ person merely because they look attractive, are well-dressed, etc. rather than because of any empirical evidence about their behaviour. Though initially used in reference to people, halo effect later became associated with brand marketing, and there’s even in fact a contrastive term horn/devil effect – equating to the assumption that if something/someone looks unpleasant/ugly, then they’re inherently ‘bad’ (sometimes also known as the reverse halo effect).

In health halo, the word halo functions as a metaphor for ‘being good’, used by analogy with the circle of light around the head of angels and holy people in religious paintings. There’s a clear link here to the term halo effect, coined in the 1920s by psychologist Edward Thorndike to refer to the evaluation of someone as a ‘good’ person merely because they look attractive, are well-dressed, etc. rather than because of any empirical evidence about their behaviour. Though initially used in reference to people, halo effect later became associated with brand marketing, and there’s even in fact a contrastive term horn/devil effect – equating to the assumption that if something/someone looks unpleasant/ugly, then they’re inherently ‘bad’ (sometimes also known as the reverse halo effect).