Framing effect

What is the Framing Effect?

A framing effect occurs when different presentations of equivalent information change judgments or choices. This differs from providing new substantive information that reasonably changes a decision.

How the framing effect works

Tversky and Kahneman (1981) reported preference shifts in equivalent decision problems described in different ways. In their disease-program example, descriptions in terms of lives saved or lives lost produced different choice patterns between a certain outcome and a gamble.

Gain frame

The hypothetical outbreak threatened 600 people. In the gain frame, one program would save 200 for certain; the other offered a one-third chance of saving all 600 and a two-thirds chance of saving none. Of 152 respondents, 72% chose the certain program.

Loss frame

A different group of 155 saw the equivalent loss frame: 400 would die for certain, or there was a one-third chance of no deaths and a two-thirds chance of 600 deaths. Here, 78% chose the gamble. The underlying outcomes matched, but the majority preference changed. This is the direction observed in that study, not a rule that every positive or negative frame produces the same response.

Examples of framing effects

“90% survival” and “10% mortality” describe equivalent probabilities when they refer to the same event and period. Likewise, “75% lean” and “25% fat” emphasize different aspects of the same composition. These are examples of alternative frames. Whether they change understanding, preference or purchasing needs to be measured; those are different outcomes.

Why it matters

How a risk, policy or product is described can affect the decision people see in front of them. To examine that effect, hold the underlying facts constant and measure the outcome that matters. A more appealing description is not automatically a better-informed decision.