"rub off on" and "affect" usually mean different things rub off on means that one person's behavior is going to or might become the other person's behavior, in a good way or bad way. the older brother's laziness was rubbing off on his younger brother, so his mother told him to work harder The older brother's laziness negatively affected his younger brother, who started to behave like his older brother Affect means to create a change in the other person His anger affected his sister who started crying You cannot say "His anger rubbed off on his sister who started crying"

In the example you have given, the three options are interchangeable, and I would agree with you that they are interchangeable most of the time. In a formal text, for example an academic paper, you would be unlikely to use 'rub off on', but most other instances you could decide to use whichever you feel most comfortable with.