Abstract: In contrast to the axiom of description invariance, researchers interested in decision framing effects are accumulating evidence that different representations of the same problem do not yield the same preference. Traditional research on framing effects has commonly utilized verbal scenarios. In contrast, the current study manipulated the graphical representation of options by framing the physical characters in figures and found that preferences could be affected even when the words and numbers of the problem were constant. Our evidence showed that such graph framing effects could be detected across different types of graphical displays and different question scenarios. Based on attribute substitution theory and an equate-to-differentiate approach, we proposed a two-process model of graph framing effects: The Graph- edited Equate-to-differentiate Model (GEM).

Key words: decision making, framing effect, graph, equate-to-differentiate approach, axiom of invariance