Ever heard of the marketing term “Health Halo”?
No? Here is what it is:
The health halo effect refers to the act of overestimating the healthfulness of an item based on a single claim, such as being low in calories or low in fat. US researchers report that consumers frequently confuse “low fat” with “low calorie”, resulting in the overconsumption of certain foods.
John Peloza and William Montford The Guardian (2015)
Why am I bringing this up?
I wondered if we should coin the following term “Access Halo”?
Defining it as the overestimating of the accessibility of an event or venue?
For example:
Venue: “We have wheelchair spaces and the venue is accessible.”
Reality: The wheelchair space is not in an accessible space to sit with family and certain parts of the venue are not suitably accessible.
The venue statement implies they have done enough and the reality is that it is not the case. This is why we have a problem with the Equality Act 2010 (UK), it encourages the bare minimum effort and by doing so it negates the importance of long term planning/expense.
Can this be changed?
Yes, through transparent communication, reactive actions and seeking affordable sustainable solutions which allows smaller venues/organisations to change their practices.
It can be as small as:
- changing the layout of a communal space by moving some chairs and tables around.
- changing the lighting set up in the reception area.
- using a pen and paper to communicate.
More importantly feeding back customer feedback to the management team and for that team to be reactive to ensure that customer experience is more than just “satisfactory”.
Just think about how would you want your experiences to be?
Obstructive, awkward and demeaning?
I will assume that the chances are that you will say “No, I would not want that experience.”
It may shock many of you that this is what many people experience especially if they are:
- Disabled.
- D/deaf.
- Blind.
- Neurodivergent.
- Chronically ill.
(…this list is not exhaustive.)
If you want a great experience when you go out, you should try to provide the same for everyone to the best of your ability and try to be as reactive as possible.
It is not possible to satisfy everyone consistently but if you make an effort….you’re more likely to get it right than wrong.