What is the Halo Effect?
By: Sarah Schake
Research1 shows that if someone visits a place, they are:
- 54% more likely to think of it as a good place to start a business
- 76% more likely to consider it a good place to live
- 106% more likely to think it’s a good place to start a career
This is called the Halo Effect. It tells us that positive impressions of people, brands, products, or places in one area positively influence our feelings in another area. In Otter Tail County, MN, we’ve used the Halo Effect in our tourism and economic development efforts for over five years.
We look at tourism as the front door for economic development because if Otter Tail County can successfully attract visitors to our region, those same people might view the county more favorably as a place to live, purchase a home, find a career, start a business, and raise a family.
The Halo Effect creates a win-win for our local economy. Tourists and visitors eat out at our local restaurants, buy bait and boat gas at the convenience stores, spend the night on the lake at our resorts, and shop locally to take souvenirs home with them.
Then, after stockpiling memories of a great getaway, these visitors are more likely to come back again and again, eventually moving here to live and work. Once these visitors-turned-residents make Otter Tail County home, our employers benefit from their skills and knowledge in the workforce, our school districts grow, and our communities flourish with the energy of newcomers who love where they live.
Let me give you something to ponder as you page through our 2025 Otter Tail Lakes Country Magazine – Do you love where you live? Does visiting Otter Tail County feel like an escape from the hustle and bustle of your everyday lifestyle? Have you ever thought about creating a lifestyle that you don’t need to escape from?
Let me give you something to ponder as you page through our 2025 Otter Tail Lakes Country Magazine – Do you love where you live? Does visiting Otter Tail County feel like an escape from the hustle and bustle of your everyday lifestyle? Have you ever thought about creating a lifestyle that you don’t need to escape from?
Open the front door and visit us up here in lakes country. You might find that there’s some truth to the Halo Effect, and the next door you open could lead to a rural by choice lifestyle in Otter Tail County.
Read our “Rural By Choice” stories to meet locals who experienced the Halo Effect and now call Otter Tail County home.
1 (Minnesota 2017 Advertising Evaluation and Image Study, Longwoods International)
