| Home > Technology > Halo, Shmalo - it's not the iPod Halo effect that will sell Macs I keep telling you. It's about breaking Windows-users restraint. |
| Halo, Shmalo - it's not the iPod Halo effect that will sell Macs I keep telling you. It's about breaking Windows-users restraint. | | Date Created: 14 Apr, 2006, 08:24 AM |
 Every time I see someone trotting out or using in conversation the iPod Halo effect, I am tempted to correct them.
Indeed, I've done so several time in this blog, because its use mainly by analysts like Gene Munster (although I don't know if he was the earliest user of the term) gets the term wrong, at least by social psychology standards where the term was derived 50 years ago.
Halo effects are usually defined as people offering positive qualities about other people based on one characteristic (good looks). Thus the halo effect of good looks is good looking people are more intelligent. It's not quite stereotyping, since this can involve negative attributions. Halos of course refers to angels or angelic behaviour, and it is in this context that the iPod Halo effect has been considered positive for Apple, with the expectation that the positive relationship between the "goodness" of the iPod and people's appreciation of it would carry over into appreciation of other Apple products, like the Mac.
The essence of studying halo effects is how neutral or or even negative subjects can be ascribed positive qualities based on one superficial characteristic. My argument has been that the iPod is merely one of Apple's most popular products which emcompasses all that is good about Apple design and implementation. It is not a false representative of Apple (although some might argue that the iPod's reliability doesn't match that of Apple's other hardware or software), but is a good example of the Apple brand: innovative, disruptive, thinking different, attractive, easy to use, desirable, reflective of good taste and thoughtfulness of purchase.
Recent Forrester research suggests that perhaps that hasn't happened. Or that any increase in Mac sales can't necessarily be attributed to the iPod getting into Windows-using households and converting them into Mac buyers.
The Forrester research suggests there is still great resistance on the part of Windows users to leaving the safety of the herd, even though the herd isn't particular safe. If anything, staying within the herd increases the individual's chances of becoming infected and ill, while the small number of Mac users graze away in the distance somewhat immune from the disease ravages inflicted upon its Windows cousins.
What will cause some brave souls to leave the herd? The iPod Halo theory suggest using an iPod long enough will do the trick. I've suggested in a previous post that this is not so or at least is insufficient, and invoked a more recent theory known as Restraint Theory, usually used to describe the negative impact of a diet-for-weight-loss regime, where breaking the diet sees the dieter's resolve break too. Not just do they go back to previous eating styles, but they do so with a vengeance - and hence set themselves up for an eating disorder such as bulimia. I never met a bulimic who didn't start out with a diet regime of restriction, whether it be caloric or specific foods.
Applied to the iPod, you have to remove the restraints from Windows users leaving the herd, and the good looks of the iPod I think are insufficient for many if not most.
You have to ease them out of the herd by promising them safety and a better user experience where they can connect with other users. Again, there is safety in numbers: those numbers could be people who use Apple hardware and can offer assistance (Apple - promote your user groups, especially in non-US locations), or the numbers could be software varieties to continue to offer plentiful choice.
The numbers could also be the sales price of new Macs, which while affordable for a certain demographic, are perceived as out of reach of those who get no pleasure from technology but must use it because more and more daily chores require its access, e.g., banking, airline ticketing, bill paying etc. This group, who has seen the Mac as out of its reach and who are aesthetically challenged, would probably start to enjoy their computing if only given a chance to use a Mac - we know that to be true.
But the tough ask is to reach out to them, break their restraint keeping them tethered to their Windows boxes, and help them make the adjustment to using a new OS, so they go out and tell their friends. Right now, using Windows they bitch and moan and kvetch about computing and what's needed just to log on safely each day.
The Forrester research suggesting that many distrust Microsoft is most telling here. Take advantage of it, Apple, and start promoting the joys of the Mac. Bootcamp has gotten a buzz, and even local newspapers have reported it and pondered its meaning. It's not ready for Mom and Pop usage, but I bet it will be in Leopard in early 2007, when Microsoft's Vista is "supposed" to be released.
What a Perfect Storm that will be for Apple.
(A postscript: The picture at the top of this post is a screen shot from the now infamous "Microsoft designs the iPod Box" parody, produced internally within Microsoft, representing a small group who "get" Apple, and acknowledge their employer's aesthetic shortcomings. The herd doesn't care about aesthetics, they want safety, and this is Apple's challenge if it is to increase market share significantly) |
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