The Halo Effect: Why Attractiveness Matters in PR

Have you ever con­sidered choos­ing a brand spokes­per­son based on their good looks and cha­risma? According to the Halo Effect, you wouldn’t be wrong.

Cognitive Dissonance: Mental Harmony Above All Else

The the­ory of cog­nit­ive dis­son­ance, for­mu­lated by American social psy­cho­lo­gist Leon Festinger in the late 1950s, is a corner­stone concept in psychology. 

Leon Festinger — The Psychologist Behind Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger’s the­or­ies are import­ant in PR. Cognitive dis­son­ance is a phe­nomen­on that leads to con­firm­a­tion bias and caus­al self justifications.

The Anatomy of Attention

Explore how digit­al media reshapes cog­ni­tion and atten­tion spans. Studies reveal impacts on focus, memory, and mul­ti­task­ing in today’s fast-paced digit­al world.

150 — Dunbar’s Number

Discover Dunbar’s Number, the magic­al ‘150’ that reveals the lim­it of our social con­nec­tions and rela­tion­ships. It’s sci­ence shap­ing soci­ety’s structure.

The Amplification Hypothesis: Counter Extreme Arguments

The amp­li­fic­a­tion hypo­thes­is tells us about atti­tude cer­tainty. To per­suade, align your atti­tude with the tar­get. Otherwise, you will act to cre­ate resistance.

The Hostile Media Effect: Why We Demonise the News Media

Fear makes us para­noid about media bias. The hos­tile media effect refers to the tend­ency amongst indi­vidu­als to see media bias where there is none.

What If Napoleon Never Existed

What if Napoleon nev­er exis­ted? Explore this intriguing con­spir­acy the­ory that casts doubt on the exist­ence of one of the most prom­in­ent fig­ures of history.

The Borg Complex: I’m Guilty of this Psychological Fallacy

The Borg Complex refers to a spe­cif­ic form of tech­no­lo­gic­al determ­in­ism, but in my case, it’s also a psy­cho­lo­gic­al fallacy.
- Advertisement -

Subscribe to SpinCTRL today!

Join 2,000+ fel­low PR lov­ers and sub­scribe to Jerry’s Substack news­let­ter on com­mu­nic­a­tion and psychology.
What will you get?

> PR com­ment­ary on cur­rent events.
> Subscriber-only VIP content.
> My per­son­al PR slides for .key and .ppt.
> Discounts on upcom­ing PR courses.
> Ebook on get­ting bet­ter PR ideas.
Subscribe to SpinCTRL today by click­ing SUBSCRIBE and get your first FREE send-out instantly!

🔒 Your email address is safe with me.