Why do our decisions depend on how options are presented to us?

The 

Framing Effect

, explained.
Bias

What is the Framing Effect?

The framing effect is when our decisions are influenced by the way information is presented. Equivalent information can be more or less attractive depending on what features are highlighted.

A stick figure holds up two containers of frozen yogurt. The container on the left is labeled "Frozen Yogurt - 20% Fat," and the one on the right is labeled "Frozen Yogurt - 80% Fat-Free." The text "Framing Effect" is written at the top of the image.

Where this bias occurs

Consider the following hypothetical: John is shopping for disinfectant wipes at his local pharmacy. He sees several options, but two containers of wipes are on sale. One is called “Bleachox” and the other is called “Bleach-it.”

Both of the disinfectant wipes Jon is considering are the same price and contain the same number of wipes. The only difference Jon notices is that the Bleachox wipes claim to “kill 95% of all germs,” whereas the Bleach-it wipes say: “only 5% of germs survive.” After comparing the two, John chooses the Bleachox wipes. He doesn’t like the sound of germs ‘surviving’ on his kitchen counter.

John’s decision to buy the Bleachox over Bleach-it wipes was informed by the framing effect. Although both products were equally effective at fighting germs, and essentially claimed the same thing, their claims were framed differently. Bleachox highlighted the percentage of germs it did kill (a positive attribute), whereas Bleach-it highlighted how many germs it did not kill (a negative attribute).

Related Biases

Sources

  1. Druckman, J. (2001). The Implications of Framing Effects for Citizen Competence. Political Behavior, 23(3), 225-256. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/1558384
  2. Chappell, C. (2018, November 27). Climate change in the US will hurt poor people the most, according to a bombshell federal report. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/26/climate-change-will-hurt-poor-people-the-most-federal-report.html
  3. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1985). The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice. Behavioral Decision Making, 25-41. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-2391-4_2
  4. Thomas, A. K., & Millar, P. R. (2011). Reducing the Framing Effect in Older and Younger Adults by Encouraging Analytic Processing. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 67B(2), 139-149. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbr076
  5. Yacoub, M. (2012). Emotional Framing: How Do Emotions Contribute to Framing Effects?. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://doi.org/10.17615/bgv2-bz55
  6. Raffoni, M. (2014, July 23). How to Frame Your Messages for Maximum Impact. Retrieved July 26, 2020, from https://hbr.org/2009/04/leaders-frame-your-messages-fo
  7. Cheng, F., & Wu, C. (2010). Debiasing the framing effect: The effect of warning and involvement. Decision Support Systems, 49(3), 328-334. doi:10.1016/j.dss.2010.04.002
  8. Kim, S., Goldstein, D., Hasher, L., & Zacks, R. T. (2005). Framing Effects in Younger and Older Adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 60(4). doi:10.1093/geronb/60.4.p215
  9. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science, 211(4481), 453-458. doi:10.1126/science.7455683
  10. Bibas, S. (2004). Plea Bargaining outside the Shadow of Trial. Harvard Law Review, 117(8), 2463. doi:10.2307/4093404
  11. O'connor, A. M. (1989). Effects of framing and level of probability on patients' preferences for cancer chemotherapy. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 42(2), 119-126. doi:10.1016/0895-4356(89)90085-1
  12. Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263–291. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185 
  13. Levin, I. P., Schneider, S. L., & Gaeth, G. J. (1998). All Frames Are Not Created Equal: A Typology and Critical Analysis of Framing Effects. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 76(2), 149-188. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1998.2804 
  14. Cheon, J. E., Nam, Y., Kim, K. J., Lee, H. I., Park, H. G., & Kim, Y. (2021). Cultural Variability in the Attribute Framing Effect. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 754265. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.754265 
  15. Shan, L., Jiao, X., Wu, L., Shao, Y., & Xu, L. (2022). Influence of Framing Effect on Consumers' Purchase Intention of Artificial Meat-Based on Empirical Analysis of Consumers in Seven Cities. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 911462. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.911462 
  16. Vishwanath, A. (2009). From belief-importance to intention: The impact of framing on technology adoption. Communication Monographs, 76(2), 177–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750902828438

About the Authors

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Dan Pilat

Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.

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Dr. Sekoul Krastev

Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.

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