Halo effect: Conceptual definition and empirical exploration with regard to South Korean subsidiaries of US and Japanese multinational corporations

Evaluation literature has found a halo effect wherein raters allow overall or trait impressions to colour the evaluation of other traits of the ratee. Despite some conceptual and operational issues with halo, the study of halo is prevalent in many fields from job performance to marketing. This paper attempts to clarify definitions of halo, paring them down to overall impression halo, salient‐trait, and inter‐trait halo, and argues that reasons for halo should not become or be incorporated into definitions of halo. It also argues for and uses an operationalisation for the measurement of halo that considers trait evaluations in light of overall impression and therefore is in line with the original definition of halo. Finally, it applies halo to international public relations by studying its effect in the evaluation of South Korean subsidiaries of Sony, Japan and Coca‐Cola, USA. The study finds overall and salient‐trait halo for both subsidiaries in a convenience sample of residents of Seoul, South Korea.