以往研究发现,风险回避领域存在着一种经典的＂图形效应＂（即图形会比数字激发出个体更强的风险回避行为）。但以往研究通常只采用灰色或黑色来呈现风险信息。基于近来关于红色效应的探讨,本研究试图将颜色因素引入到图形效应中以探讨不同颜色下的图形效应特点。结果发现,相比于蓝色,红色能激发出个体更强的风险回避行为,且颜色对图形效应具有调节作用,即与蓝色相比,红色条件下出现了增强的图形效应,即＂红色图形效应＂。有关结果说明,红色作为一种危险警示颜色可以激发出个体更强的风险回避行为,且会诱发更大的图形效应。

The description invariance principle, which is one of the axioms of normative economic theory, requires that equivalent descriptions of a problem yield the same preference ordering. However, several studies have revealed that people often violate the invariance principle in real world decision-making. This action is known as preference-framing effects in decision-making. We reviewed new findings on the framing effect in the field of risky and intertemporal decision-making. We presented the framing effect research with a verbal as well as graphical frame. We also introduced compensatory models (e.g., prospect theory) and non-compensatory models (e.g., equate-to-differentiate model) as the psychological mechanism. This review encourages future researchers to extend the study of framing effects.

特征框架效应是指当分别以积极框架和消极框架来描述给定情境中某 一事物或事件的关键特征时,一般情况下人们更偏好以积极框架来描述其关键特征的事物或事件的现象.特征框架效应广泛的存在于消费、医学及政治等领域.目 前,它的解释机制主要包括效价加工的认知机制、参照依赖、查询理论以及认知神经机制.它的影响因素主要包括经验、人格特质、计算能力以及认知闭合需要等. 未来的研究应该从深入探索特征框架效应的产生根源和影响因素,拓展其应用研究,深入探索偏好消极框架下的特征框架效应以及探讨该现象与其它现象之间的关系 等五方面展开.

When consumers consider a package (multi-item) price, which presentation order is more appealing, price first ($29 for 70 items) or item quantity first (70 items for $29)? Will this depend on package size (larger [70 items] vs. smaller [7 items]) or unit price calculation difficulty (higher [$29 for 70 items] vs. lower [$20 for 50 items])? Why? Three studies demonstrate how presentation order affects package evaluations and choice under different levels of package size and unit price calculation difficulty. The first piece of information becomes salient and affects evaluations when packages are larger and unit price calculations are difficult (i.e., price-item [item-price] makes price [items] salient, negatively [positively] affecting evaluations). These effects do not persist with smaller packages or easier unit price calculations. Our findings contribute to several literatures (e.g., numerosity, computational difficulty) but primarily to the order effects literature and have implications for measurement and practice (e.g., pricing).

61The effects of messages on reducing meat consumption by the elderly were examined.61Messages were focused on health vs. well-being outcomes of meat consumption.61Messages were also framed as either factual or prefactual (“If … then”) statements.61Prefactual, not factual, well-being-focused messages reduced intentions to eat meat.61Factual, not prefactual, health-focused messages reduced intentions to eat meat.

Comment on Arch Surg. 2012 Oct;147(10):961-8.

78 We describe how messages can be framed and predict when and for whom frames will be most effective. 78 The content of a message is essential; different topics induce different regulatory orientations. 78 Describing the pleasures of adhering is most effective for promotion focus recipients. 78 Describing the pains of not adhering is most effective for prevention focus recipients. 78 We integrate previous theories into a single framework emphasizing self-regulatory principles.

This research investigates how the valuation of delayed consumption of hedonic products, such as concerts and chocolate, varies with the passage of time between choice and consumption. The authors find that when consumers make their own choices, they exhibit increases in evaluations of delayed consumption, but only if the interval between choice and consumption is relatively short. The effect attenuates over longer periods, resulting in an inverted U-shaped relationship between evaluations and time. In contrast, when somebody else chooses the same option for the consumer, evaluations decrease with the passage of time. These effects depend on the extent of intrinsic motivation toward the object of consumption and occur only for consummatory consumption that is of inherent interest. Moreover, anticipatory increases in evaluations before consumption have ironic negative effects on postconsumption evaluations. The authors discuss implications and directions for further research.

Background: Message framing outcomes of healthy behaviours as occurring ‘every day’ vs. ‘every year’ can influence the temporal proximity and perceived likelihood of these outcomes. However, it is not known how pre-existing beliefs such as confidence in one's ability to perform health-related behaviour interact with such messages. Objective: The purpose of this research was to investigate whether eating self-efficacy moderates the effect of temporal framing (day-frame vs. year-frame) on snacking behaviour. Methods: Participants (N65=6595) completed the short form of the Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire (WEL-SF) and read either a day-framed or year-framed message about the health benefits associated with avoiding snacking. Consumption of snacks was reported 7 days later. Findings: For those with low levels of eating self-efficacy (WEL-SF score65<654.3 on a 7-point response scale), the year-framed message was associated with lower levels of snacking than the day-framed message. Discussion: The current research identifies a key role for eating self-efficacy in shaping recipients’ responses to temporally framed messages about the health benefits associated with the avoidance of snacking.

The current study looks at the role working memory plays in risky-choice framing. Eighty-six participants took the Automatic OSPAN, a measurement of working memory; this was followed by a risky-choice framing task. Participants with high working memory capacities demonstrated well pronounced framing effects, while those with low working memory capacities did not. This pattern suggests that, in a typical risky-choice decision task, elaborative encoding of task information by those with high working memory capacity may lead them to a more biased decision compared to those with low working memory.

In an experimental study, we investigated how decisions in social dilemmas are affected by the valence of outcomes that are at stake. Prospect theory states that individuals are risk-averse when outcomes are framed as gains, and risk-seeking when outcomes are framed as losses. On the basis of this framework, previous research on social dilemmas has addressed the question of whether people are more cooperative in the negative domain than in the positive domain, but this research has led to inconsistent results. A possible explanation for this is that in many social dilemmas it is unclear whether cooperation or defection is the risky choice. In the current paper, we compare the well-studied prisoner’s dilemma with the less studied chicken game. Whereas in the prisoner’s dilemma it is unclear what constitutes the risky option, in the chicken game the risky option is quite clear. Consistent with predictions, we found in the chicken game more defection in the loss frame than in the gain frame, but no difference between the gain and loss frame in the prisoner’s dilemma. Moreover, choices were predicted by risk attitude in the chicken game, but not in the prisoner’s dilemma.

While the expanding body of attribute framing literature provides keen insights into individual judgments and evaluations, a lack of theoretical perspective inhibits scholars from more fully extending research foci beyond a relatively straightforward examination of message content. The current research applies construal level theory to attribute framing research. The authors conduct a meta-analysis of 107 published articles and then conceptually expand this knowledge base by synthesizing attribute framing research and construal level concepts. Results suggest that attribute framing is most effective when there is congruence between the construal level evoked in a frame and the evaluator’s psychological distance from the framed event. A follow-up experiment confirms that the congruence between a frame’s construal level and psychological distance—not simply its valence—appears to be driving attribute framing effects. This research proposes to shift the focus in attribute framing research from that of message composition to a more complex relationship between the message and the recipient.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: This study examined the role of three distinct beliefs about risk (risks associated with screening, construal of the function of screening as health-affirming or illness-detecting, and perceived susceptibility to breast cancer) in moderating women's responses to framed messages that promote mammography. DESIGN: Three hundred fifty-five women recruited from an inner city hospital, nonadherent to guidelines for receiving annual screening mammograms,were randomly assigned to view a gain- or loss-framed video message about the importance of mammography. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Mammography screening was self-reported at a 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Only perceived susceptibility to breast cancer significantly moderated the effect of message framing on screening. Women with average and higher levels of perceived susceptibility for breast cancer were significantly more likely to report screening after viewing a loss-framed message compared to a gain-framed message. No effects of framing on reported screening were observed for women with lower levels of perceived susceptibility. CONCLUSION: The study identifies a key role for perceived susceptibility in shaping responses to framed messages that promote cancer screenings. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

The majority of organizational justice research is underscored by the assumption that individuals form justice perceptions based on deliberate processing of information, using various justice judgment criteria. Taking an alternative view, this research examined how individuals form fairness perceptions in less deliberate ways—in particular, based on the way in which a decision outcome is framed. Drawing on prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), we argued that decision outcomes that are framed in line with prospect theory’s predictions would attenuate counterfactual processing because those outcomes are consistent with individuals’ biased preferences. Drawing on fairness theory (Folger & Cropanzano, 1998, 2001), we argued that lower levels of counterfactual thinking increases the tendency for a decision to seem fair; therefore, framing a decision in a way that is consistent with a pre-existing bias could increase the extent to which it is perceived as fair. We found support for our hypotheses in two experiments.

Abstract Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)-including HIV/AIDS-are among the most common infectious diseases in young adults. How can we effectively promote prevention and detection of STDs in this high risk population? In a two-phase longitudinal experiment we examined the effects of a brief risk awareness intervention (i.e., a sexual health information brochure) in a large sample of sexually active young adults (n = 744). We assessed the influence of gain- and loss-framed messages, and visual aids, on affective reactions, risk perceptions, attitudes, behavioral intentions, and reported behaviors relating to the prevention and detection of STDs. Results indicate that gain-framed messages induced greater adherence for prevention behaviors (e.g., condom use), whereas loss-framed messages were more effective in promoting illness-detecting behaviors (e.g., making an appointment with a doctor to discuss about STD screening). The influence of the framed messages on prevention and detection of STDs was mediated by changes in participants' attitudes toward the health behaviors along with changes in their behavioral intentions. Moreover, when visual aids were added to the health information, both the gain- and loss-framed messages became equally and highly effective in promoting health behaviors. These results converge with other data indicating that well-constructed visual aids are often among the most highly effective, transparent, fast, memorable, and ethically desirable means of risk communication. Theoretical, economic, and public policy implications of these results are discussed. (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

In a large three week longitudinal study, we investigated the efficacy of framed messages for promoting condom use in sexually active young adults. We also investigated the influence of key risk literacy skills (i.e., numeracy and graph literacy) and visual aids (i.e., icon arrays) on the efficacy of framed messages. Finally, we investigated the underlying psychological mechanisms of behavioral change on the ability of icon arrays to improve message effectiveness. Results showed that framed messages including icon arrays increased adherence to self-reported condom use by giving rise to enduring changes in attitudes and behavioral intentions, which influenced behavior. Icon arrays were found to be most beneficial among young adults with relatively low numeracy as long as they had high graph literacy. These findings build on the previous research in risk communication and extend psychological theories of health-related decision making such as the theory of planned behavior. These findings also map the conditions under which well-constructed visual aids can be among the most effective, transparent, and ethically desirable means of risk communication. Implications for risk communication and informed medical decision making are discussed. Copyright 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

BACKGROUND Patients must be informed about risks before any treatment can be implemented. Yet serious problems in communicating these risks occur because of framing effects. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of different information frames when communicating health risks to people with high and low numeracy and determine whether these effects can be countered or eliminated by using different types of visual displays (i.e., icon arrays, horizontal bars, vertical bars, or pies). DESIGN Experiment on probabilistic, nationally representative US ( n 65=65492) and German ( n 65=65495) samples, conducted in summer 2008. OUTCOME MEASURES Participants’ risk perceptions of the medical risk expressed in positive (i.e., chances of surviving after surgery) and negative (i.e., chances of dying after surgery) terms. KEY RESULTS Although low‐numeracy people are more susceptible to framing than those with high numeracy, use of visual aids is an effective method to eliminate its effects. However, not all visual aids were equally effective: pie charts and vertical and horizontal bars almost completely removed the effect of framing. Icon arrays, however, led to a smaller decrease in the framing effect. CONCLUSIONS Difficulties with understanding numerical information often do not reside in the mind, but in the representation of the problem.

Four experiments were conducted to explore the robustness of risky choice framing among military decision makers. In the first experiment the original version of the Asian disease problem was administered. In contrast to Tversky and Kahneman's (1981) original findings, military decision makers were not influenced by the gain and loss framing. They demonstrated risk-seeking behavior in both domains. In the second experiment, we administered a military version of the Asian disease problem. We found a significant framing effect, but it was unidirectional: The decision makers were risk seeking in both domains, but significantly more risk seeking in the loss domain. To explore the strength of this risk-seeking preference, we altered the problem in a third experiment, making the risky alternative 12.5% less attractive than the certain one. Again, we found risk-seeking behavior in both domains. Finally, we explored reasons for these deviations from prospect theory by comparing the responses of business students and military officers. In this analysis, we observed significantly higher levels of self-efficacy in the military sample, as compared to the civil sample, and that the self-efficacy influenced risk seeking only in the military sample. In a post hoc analysis we also found that years of education reduced risk-seeking preference. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Exploiting findings that losses loom larger than gains, studies have shown that framing manipulations can increase productivity of workers. Using a natural field experiment that exogenously manipulates wage bonuses within contests in a Chinese high-tech manufacturing facility, we show that how loss aversion affects worker behavior critically depends on the incentive scheme as well as the framing manipulation. Four sets of two identical teams competed against each other to win a bonus given to the team, within a set, with the higher average hourly productivity over the week. In each set, the bonus was framed as a reward or gain for one team and as a punishment or loss for the other. Average weekly productivity was slightly higher under the loss treatment, but this increase was statistically insignificant. However, the team under the loss treatment was at least 35% more likely to win the contest. As teams payoffs are based on relative productivity under a contest, framing effect is much stronger in terms of relative productivity. Finally, workers seemingly responded to the bonus by increasing the quality of production as well as quantity efect rate fell as productivity increased.

The present study investigated how task domain moderated sex differences in framing effects. Five hundred and 86 participants (63.3% female) were randomly assigned to different frame valences (i.e., positive vs. negative) and different task domains (i.e., life-death vs. money vs. time). A participant finished all three framing task types: attribute, goal, and risky-choice frames. Results showed that in the life-death domain, females (vs. males) exhibited stronger responses to negative frames. In the monetary domain, males (vs. females) showed a greater response to negative frames. In the time domain, the patterns of sex differences were inconsistent across different framing tasks such that in the goal framing task, females were more willing to take actions under negative (vs. positive) frames while males were just the opposite; in the risk-choice task, female were more inclined to take risks under positive (vs. negative) frames while males did not show significant framing effects. These results indicated that the framing effect is sex-specific, varying according to the gender role in different task domains. The present research highlights the necessity to distinguish, rather than combine, individual judgments and decision-makings in different task domains when investigating framing effects.

Deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are required to mitigate climate change. However, there is low willingness amongst the public to prioritise climate policies for reducing emissions. Here we show that the extent to which Australians are prepared to reduce their country's CO2 emissions is greater when the costs to future national income are framed as a "foregone-gain"--incomes rise in the future but not by as much as in the absence of emission cuts--rather than as a "loss"--incomes decrease relative to the baseline expected future levels (Studies 1 & 2). The provision of a normative message identifying Australia as one of the world's largest CO2 emitters did not increase the amount by which individuals were prepared to reduce emissions (Study 1), whereas a normative message revealing the emission policy preferences of other Australians did (Study 2). The results suggest that framing the costs of reducing emissions as a smaller increase in future income and communicating normative information about others' emission policy preferences are effective methods for leveraging public support for emission cuts.

Prior research on attribute framing has documented a robust valence-consistent shift whereby positively valenced options (e.g., 75% lean beef) are preferred over equivalent negatively valenced options (e.g., 25% fat beef). However, this research has typically explored how labels influence judgments of prospective or hypothetical consumption. In contrast, we examine how frames interact with actual consumption experiences to influence both immediate and retrospective judgments. We find evidence of asleeper framing effectwherein a valence-consistent shift emerges for retrospective judgments even when absent immediately after consumption. We attribute this effect to differences in how consumers integrate the more cognitive information of the frame with the more affective information acquired during consumption. Specifically, three experiments show that consumers attend to and rely relatively more on affective information from experience when making immediate judgments, but relatively more on cognitive information from the frame when making retrospective judgments. In addition, we identify the valence of the experience as an important boundary condition, such that the sleeper framing effect is most pronounced when the experience is relatively neutral in valence.

Previous research has shown that strength of handedness predicts differences in sensory illusions, Stroop interference, episodic memory, and beliefs about body image. Recent evidence also suggests handedness differences in the susceptibility to common decision biases such as anchoring and sunk cost. The present paper extends this line of work to attribute framing effects. Sixty-three undergraduates were asked to advise a friend concerning the use of a safe allergy medication during pregnancy. A third of the participants received negatively-framed information concerning the fetal risk of the drug (1 3% chance of having a malformed child); another third received positively-framed information (97 99% chance of having a normal child); and the final third received no counseling information and served as the control. Results indicated that, as predicted, inconsistent (mixed)-handers were more responsive than consistent (strong)-handers to information changes and readily update their beliefs. Although not significant, the data also suggested that only inconsistent handers were affected by information framing. Theoretical implications as well as ongoing work in holistic versus analytic processing, contextual sensitivity, and brain asymmetry will be discussed.

This study analyzed the interaction between message frames and recipients’ prior knowledge. The hypothesis is that less prior consumer knowledge will result in a larger framing effect. That is, if the subjective knowledge of the public is low, then the controversy created by mass media regarding a specific food-related event will be larger. Empirical results show that message frame has an influence on college students’ purchasing intentions. College students showed distinct responses in purchasing intention based on different headlines and different amounts of information within articles. The results further suggest that the framing effect depends not only on message frames, but also on the prior knowledge of the message recipient. Those who have less knowledge have larger variation in their purchase intention when responding to different message frames. This suggests that people with less knowledge are more likely to panic due to mass media reports regarding a food hazard issue. More informed consumers have less dramatic responses to food safety issues compared to less informed people.

An actor's frame of reference significantly affects that actor's risk attitude. Although the frame of reference is often taken as a given, earlier work shows it to be the result of an actor's assumptions and beliefs, which can be manipulated by a second actor in a bargaining situation. As modeled here, confidence in selected assumptions can be manipulated by one of two means: changing the confidence of the actor about the future domain, and getting the actor to adopt a particular domain by discounting the utility of a course of action. Both methods force a change in the perceived domain and a shift in risk attitude. In addition to showing manipulation of an actor's frame, the model adds to our understanding of Kahneman and Tversky's original expression of prospect theory.

Colors are widely present in the financial decision making arena: at firms’ and data providers’ websites; television reports; newspaper publications; advertizements; security market displays, with colors such as red and green prominently employed. Our experimental analysis involves a between subject design exposing subjects to financial substance on colored backgrounds and exploring the effect on their investment decisions. We focus on financial decisions under uncertainty about probability, examining subjects’ investment valuations and the probabilities they assign to the possible outcomes. This study explores the role of color exposure as a priming factor in financial decision making. Priming is a process of activating particular connections or associations in memory prior to carrying out an action or task. The associations occur when a certain stimulus or event increases the availability of specific information categories and, as a result, affect decision making. The results indicate that red color priming emphasizes value losses of the underlying asset. To wit, subjects who were exposed to red (R) assigned higher valuations and probabilities to events involving the loss domain, than to events involving the gain domain, relatively to the valuations assigned by subjects who were exposed to green (G). The aggregated evaluation given by the R subjects when the investment payback was subject to negative (positive) underlying asset returns was higher (lower) than that of the G subjects by roughly 15% (19%) of the invested amount.

Adolescence is a period of life in which peer relationships become increasingly important. Adolescents have a greater likelihood of taking risks when they are with peers rather than alone. In this study, we investigated the development of social influence on risk perception from late childhood through adulthood. Five hundred and sixty-three participants rated the riskiness of everyday situations and were then informed about the ratings of a social-influence group (teenagers or adults) before rating each situation again. All age groups showed a significant social-influence effect, changing their risk ratings in the direction of the provided ratings; this social-influence effect decreased with age. Most age groups adjusted their ratings more to conform to the ratings of the adult social-influence group than to the ratings of the teenager social-influence group. Only young adolescents were more strongly influenced by the teenager social-influence group than they were by the adult social-influence group, which suggests that to early adolescents, the opinions of other teenagers about risk matter more than the opinions of adults.

This research demonstrates that people's goals associated with regulatory focus moderate the effect of message framing on persuasion. The results of 6 experiments show that appeals presented in gain frames are more persuasive when the message is promotion focused, whereas loss-framed appeals are more persuasive when the message is prevention focused. These regulatory focus effects suggesting heightened vigilance against negative outcomes and heightened eagerness toward positive outcomes are replicated when perceived risk is manipulated. Enhanced processing fluency leading to more favorable evaluations in conditions of compatibility appears to underlie these effects. The findings underscore the regulatory fit principle that accounts for the persuasiveness of message framing effects and highlight how processing fluency may contribute to the "feeling right" experience when the strategy of goal pursuit matches one's goal.

An interesting phenomenon, which we dub the ‘pseudo‐immediacy effect’, was detected in intertemporal choices. The majority of our participants preferred the smaller but sooner (SS) outcome to the larger but later (LL) outcome when a pseudo‐immediacy reward was framed, but a higher proportion of participants preferred the LL outcome to the SS outcome when the pseudo‐immediate format was removed. Such a shift violated the invariance principle which requires that the preference order between options does not depend on the manner in which they are described. With reference to the pseudo‐certainty effect reported by Kahneman and Tversky in 1984, our findings typically support the notion that risk and delay are psychologically equivalent and that the same psychological process underlies risk and intertemporal choice.

Choices of multiple items can be framed as a selection of single offerings (e.g., a choice of two individual candy bars) or of bundled offerings (e.g., a choice of a bundle of two candy bars). Four experiments provide strong evidence that consumers seek more variety when choosing from single than from bundled offerings. The offer framing effect shows that the mechanics of choosing—the ways consumers go about making choices of multiple items—affect variety seeking in a systematic manner. The data also suggest that the effect is largely due to the single offering frame. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Quantitative changes may be conveyed to consumers using small units (e.g., change in delivery time from 7 to 21 days) or large units (1–3 weeks). Numerosity research suggests that changes are magnified by small (vs. large) units because a change from 7 to 21 (vs. 1–3) seems larger. We introduce a reverse effect that we term unitosity: changes are magnified by large (vs. small) units because a change of weeks (vs. days) seems larger. We show that numerosity reverses to unitosity when relative salience shifts from numbers to units (study 1). Then, arguing that numbers (units) represent a low-level (high-level) construal of quantities, we show this reversal when mind-set shifts from concrete to abstract (studies 2–4). These results emerge for several quantities—height of buildings, time of maturity of financial instruments, weight of nutrients, and length of tables—and have significant implications for theory and practice.

It is becoming increasingly evident that current patterns of consumption are not sustainable in the long term. Clearly, the need to persuade consumers to adopt more sustainable lifestyles has never been more urgent. The present research contributes to our understanding of the effects of message framing by considering the potential moderating influence of consumer concern about global climate change within the context of sustainable consumption. The results of two experiments demonstrate that the US consumer level of concern for the message-specific issues moderates the strength of the framing effect; effects are larger when concern about climate change is low. In addition, when concern is low, more negative framing and a prevention focus have more favourable persuasive effects. The implications of these findings for consumer welfare and public policy are discussed. Sustainability is achieved when all people on Earth can live well without compromising the quality of life for future generations.(Jucker 2003) Sustainability is achieved when all people on Earth can live well without compromising the quality of life for future generations.

This research investigates the impact of the nature and framing of gambling consequences in responsible gambling advertisements. Two experimental studies are conducted to assess (1) the construal level of gambling consequences, and (2) the influence of the nature and framing of gambling consequences on advertising effectiveness for both recreational and problem gamblers. The results show that, compared to material consequences, social consequences are at a higher construal level and are more effective in reducing the propensity to gamble. This differential impact of social versus material consequences is stronger among problem gamblers (vs. recreational gamblers) and when the consequences are presented as losses (vs. gains). Implications for public health agencies and social marketers are discussed.

The beneficial effects of gain-framed vs. loss-framed messages promoting health protective behaviors have been found to be inconsistent, and consideration of potential moderating variables is essential if framed health promotion messages are to be effective. This research aimed to determine the influence of highlighting autonomy (choice and freedom) and heteronomy (coercion) on the avoidance of high-calorie snacks following reading gain-framed or loss-framed health messages. In Study 1 (N = 152) participants completed an autonomy, neutral, or heteronomy priming task, and read a gain-framed or loss-framed health message. In Study 2 (N = 242) participants read a gain-framed or loss-framed health message with embedded autonomy or heteronomy primes. In both studies, snacking intentions and behavior were recorded after seven days. In both studies, when autonomy was highlighted, the gain-framed message (compared to the loss-framed message) resulted in stronger intentions to avoid high-calorie snacks, and lower self-reported snack consumption after seven days. Study 2 demonstrated this effect occurred only for participants to whom the information was most relevant (BMI>25). The results suggest that messages promoting healthy dietary behavior may be more persuasive if the autonomy-supportive vs. coercive nature of the health information is matched to the message frame. Further research is needed to examine potential mediating processes.

Using five variants of the Asian Disease Problem, we dissected the risky-choice framing effect by requiring each participant to provide preference ratings for the full decision problem and also to provide attractiveness ratings for each of the component parts, i.e., the sure-thing option and the risky option. Consistent with previous research, more risky choices were made by respondents receiving negatively framed versions of the decision problems than by those receiving positively framed versions. However, different processes were evident for those scoring high and low on numeracy. Whereas the choices of the less numerate showed a large effect of frame above and beyond any influence of their evaluations of the separate options, the choices of the highly numerate were almost completely accounted for by their attractiveness ratings of the separate options. These results are consistent with an increased tendency of the highly numerate to integrate complex numeric information in the construction of their preferences and a tendency for the less numerate to respond more superficially to non-numeric sources of information.

“Numeracy,” so-called on analogy with literacy, is essential for making health and other social judgments in everyday life [Reyna, V. F., & Brainerd, C. J. (in press). The importance of mathematics in health and human judgment: Numeracy, risk communication, and medical decision making. Learning and Individual Differences.]. Recent research on numeracy in health decision making has shown that many adults fail to solve simple ratio and decimal problems, concepts that are prerequisites for understanding health-relevant risk communications. In addition, adults exhibit a ratio bias, in which higher frequencies bias probability judgments, and denominator neglect, described by Reyna and Brainerd (e.g., [Reyna, V. F. (1991). Class inclusion, the conjunction fallacy, and other cognitive illusions. Developmental Review, 11, 317–336.; Reyna, V. F., & Brainerd, C. J. (1994). The origins of probability judgment: A review of data and theories. In G. Wright & P. Ayton (Eds.), Subjective probability. (pp. 239–272). New York: Wiley.]) and independently by Epstein (e.g., [Epstein, S. (1994). Integration of the cognitive and psychodynamic unconscious. American Psychologist, 49, 709–724.]). Along with research in education and cognitive development, this work demonstrates that adults have difficulty with a broad range of ratio concepts, including fractions, proportions, risks and probabilities. The psychological mechanisms underlying this difficulty are characterized using dual-processes approaches such as fuzzy-trace theory, simple and effective interventions are described that eliminate common problem-solving errors, and implications for the effective use of numerical information in risk communication are discussed.

Abstract Health-relevant communications can be framed in terms of the benefits (gains) or costs (losses) associated with a particular behavior, and the framing of such persuasive messages influences health decision making. Although to ask people to consider a health issue in terms of associated costs is considered an effective way to motivate behavior, empirical findings are inconsistent. In evaluating the effectiveness of framed health messages, investigators must appreciate the context in which health-related decisions are made. The influence of framed information on decision making is contingent on people, first, internalizing the advocated frame and, then, on the degree to which performing a health behavior is perceived as risky. The relative effectiveness of gain-framed or loss-framed appeals depends, in part, on whether a behavior serves an illness-detecting or a health-affirming function. Finally, the authors discuss the cognitive and affective processes that may mediate the influence of framed information on judgment and behavior.

We conduct a natural field experiment to test for the effect of framing on prices paid in two customer-selected price mechanisms. In two framing conditions, we sell a soft drink and provide customers with a reference price for this drink. In the pay-what-you-want (PWYW) condition, customers are told that they can pay much as they want. In the mark-off-your-own-price (MOYOP) condition, customers are told that they can reduce the price by as much as they want. We find that prices are significantly lower and that more customers choose a price of zero in the MOYOP compared to the PWYW condition. We conjecture that the explicit request to reduce the price in MOYOP is a strong signal for customers to adjust their perception of the appropriate price downwards.

The study investigated the effects of incidence rates stated as a probability (e.g., 0006) and incidence rate information expressed in terms of frequency (e.g., 600 in 1,000,000) on risk-avoidant behavior. Subjects were informed about the risks associated with an old and a new, improved medication. They were asked how much they were willing to pay for the safer medicine. Risk information was given either in a frequency or a probability format. The second factor manipulated was the level of risk, either high or low. As expected, analysis of variance yielded a significant interaction. Subjects confronted with high risk in the frequency format were willing to pay the highest prices for the improved medication. The choice between frequency or probability format can be made according to the goal of the communication of risk.

61We examine energy engagement impacts on perceptions and behaviour intentions.61CO2 energy frames increase salience of climate change.61Climate change frames relate to increased environmental behaviour intentions.61Salience of climate change mediates spillover on environmental intentions.

Communications regarding climate change are increasingly being utilised in order to encourage sustainable behaviour and the way that these are framed can significantly alter the impact that they have on the recipient. This experimental study seeks to investigate how transferable existing research findings on framing from health and behavioural research are to the climate change case. The study ( N = 161) examined how framing the same information about climate change in terms of gain or loss outcomes and in terms of local or distant impacts can affect perceptions. Text on potential climate change impacts was adapted from the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, alongside maps and images of potential flooding impacts. Participants then completed measures of various relevant socio-cognitive factors and questions assessing their responses to the information that they had received. Results indicated that, ceteris paribus, gain frames were superior to loss frames in increasing positive attitudes towards climate change mitigation, and also increased the perceived severity of climate change impacts. However, third variable analyses demonstrated that the superiority of the gain frame was partially suppressed by lower fear responses and poorer information recall within gain framed information. In addition, framing climate change impacts as distant (whilst keeping information presented the same) resulted in climate change impacts being perceived as more severe, whilst attitudes towards climate change mitigation were more positive when participants were asked to consider social rather than personal aspects of climate change. Implications for designing communications about climate change are outlined.

61Both environmental and monetary appeals increase electricity saving intentions.61Environmental appeals promote intentions for further climate-friendly behaviour.61Monetary appeals do not change further climate-friendly intentions.61This study discovers mediating mechanism for framing and environmental spillover.61Effects of environmental appeals are mediated by personal norm and self-efficacy.

The purpose of this research was to determine the mechanisms underlying the graphical effect identified by Stone, Yates, and Parker (1997), in which graphical formats for conveying risk information are more effective than numerical formats for increasing risk-avoidant behavior. Two experiments tested whether this graphical effect occurred because the graphical formats used by Stone et al. highlighted the number of people harmed by the focal hazard, causing the decisions to be based mainly on the number of people harmed (which we label the “foreground”) at the expense of the total number of people at risk of harm (which we call the “background”). Specifically, two graphical formats were developed that displayed pictorially both the number of people harmed and the total number at risk, and use of these display formats eliminated the graphical effect. We thus propose that the previously discussed graphical effect was in fact a manifestation of a more general foreground:background salience effect, whereby displays that highlight the number of people harmed at the expense of the total number of people at risk of harm lead to greater risk avoidance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

According to most prescriptive decision rules, formally equivalent methods of communicating risk information should have identical effects on risk-taking behavior, even if the pertinent displays are different. The present work takes two methods commonly employed in epidemiology, incidence rates and relative risks, and examines their comparative effects on risk-avoidant behavior. In Experiment 1, we presented 108 undergraduates with information about risks associated with different brands of tires and toothpaste and displayed that information either as incidence rates or as a relative risk ratio. For the tires product, subjects given the relative risk format were willing to pay more money for a safer product than were subjects given the incidence rate format. There were, however, no differences between the two conditions for the toothpaste product. Experiment 2 evaluated two potential explanations for the difference in findings between the two products. The majority of the data supported an "editing" hypothesis, which suggests that extreme low-probability risks, such as those associated with tire blowouts, are edited to "essentially nil risk," while more moderate risks, such as those associated with periodontal disease, are considered to be small but significant. These findings are discussed in the context of fuzzy trace theory and related models, which suggest that people reason on the basis of simplified representations rather than on the literal information available.

ABSTRACT In 3 experiments, the authors examined alternative formats for displaying low-probability risk information and the effects of these formats on professed risk-taking behavior. In Experiment 1, participants who were presented with numerically displayed risk information stated that they would be willing to pay less money to reduce a risk than were participants given the identical information by means of stick figures. Experiments 2 and 3 evaluated 3 potential explanations for this finding by including additional formats where the risk information was displayed as asterisks, bar graphs, or faces. The data did not support explanations focusing on the discrete character of stick figures or their possible humanizing nature but instead suggested that the graphical nature of stick figures increased risk avoidance. These results suggest that depicting risk information graphically as opposed to numerically is a potentially useful technique for decreasing risk-taking behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

This 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. Based on attribute substitution theory and an equate-to-differentiate approach, we proposed a two-process model of graph-framing effects. In the first mental process, the graph-editing process, the physical features (e.g., distance, size) represented in the graph are visually edited, and the perceived numerical difference between the options is judged based on its physical features. The second mental process, the preferential choice process, occurs by an equate-to-differentiate approach in which people seek to equate the difference between options on the dimension on which the difference is smaller, thus leaving the greater other-dimensional difference to be the determinant of the final choice. Four experiments were tested for graph-framing effects. Experiment 1 found a graph-framing effect in coordinate graphs resting on the (de)compression of the scales employed in the figures. Experiment 2 revealed additional graph-framing effects in other question scenarios and showed that preference changes were mediated by perceived numerical distances. Experiment 3 further confirmed the presence of graph-framing effects in sector graphs similar to those found in coordinate ones. Experiment 4 suggested that such graph-framing effects could be eliminated when logical processing (e.g., introducing a mathematical operation before a choice task) was encouraged. This paper discusses related research and a possible substrate basis for graph-framing effects. Copyright 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study examined the role of women's perceptions about the relative pros versus cons (decisional balance) of mammography in moderating Chinese American women's responses to gain- and loss-framed messages that promote mammography. One hundred and forty-three Chinese American women who were currently nonadherent to guidelines for receiving annual screening mammograms were randomly assigned to read either a gain- or loss-framed culturally appropriate print brochure about mammography screening. Mammography screening was self-reported at a 2-month follow-up. Although there was not a main effect for message frame, the hypothesized interaction between message frame and decisional balance was significant, indicating that women who received a framed message that matched their decisional balance were significantly more likely to have obtained a mammogram by the follow-up than women who received a mismatched message. Results suggest that decisional balance, and more generally, perceptions about mammography, may be an important moderator of framing effects for mammography among Chinese American women. The match between message frame and decisional balance should be considered when attempting to encourage Chinese American women to receive mammography screening, as a match between the two may be most persuasive.

Health message framing is an important aspect of health communication. Over the past 20 ears, researchers have sought to identify the contexts in which gain-framed and loss-framed health messages are most likely to motivate healthy behavior. Two major approaches have emerged: One approach focusing on matching the frame of the message to how people perceive the risks and uncertainties of the advocated health behavior and the other approach focusing on matching the frame of the message to the motivational orientation of the recipient. In this review, we describe these two major approaches to health message framing, identify the most likely psychological mediators that explain why these approaches motivate behavior, suggest a way to integrate these two approaches, and outline several key future directions for both basic and applied research in health message framing.

The present study contributes a cultural analysis to the literature on the persuasive effects of matching message frame to individuals’ motivational orientations. One experiment examines how members of cultural groups that are likely to differ in their regulatory focus respond to health messages focusing on either the benefits of flossing or the costs of not flossing. White British participants, who had a stronger promotion focus, were more persuaded by the gain-framed message, whereas East-Asian participants, who had a stronger prevention focus, were more persuaded by the loss-framed message. This cultural difference in persuasion was mediated by an interaction between individuals’ self-regulatory focus and type of health message. Thus health messages framed to be culturally congruent led participants to have more positive attitudes and stronger intentions to perform the health behaviors, and the interaction between self-regulatory focus and message frame emerged as the pathway through which the observed cultural difference occurs. Discussion focuses on the integration of individual difference, socio-cultural, and situational factors into models of health persuasion.

We investigate how different framing of climate change impacts affects public opinion on the issue. Using an experimental design, we examine the influence of frames presenting local versus global climate impacts and frames discussing projected losses versus those also discussing possible benefits of climate change, on individual perceptions of the severity of climate change, behavioral intentions to address climate change, and attitudes toward climate change policies. The results indicate that our impact frames influence public opinion, although the effects sometimes differ based on individuals partisan predispositions. Specifically, our study shows that local frames increase perceptions of the severity of the problem and support for local (sub-national) policy action for all subjects, as well as behavioral intentions for subjects who are Independents or Republicans. Presenting subjects with information on the potential benefits and losses of climate change weakens perceptions of problem severity for all subjects at the local and national level, decreases support for local policy action among Democrats, and has no effect on behavioral intentions. Overall, these results are consistent with policy research suggesting that perceptions of local vulnerability are an important factor in the adoption of sub-national climate change policies. The findings also imply that the effectiveness of particular climate change impact frames will vary from one state to another depending on a state's partisan leanings.

61We manipulated benefit and temporal framing of messages promoting energy saving.61Environmental framing led to more positive attitudes among those moderate in environmental concern.61Environmental framing led to more positive attitudes among political liberals.61Short-term economic framing led to more positive attitudes among low-CFC participants.61Short-term economic framing led to greater efficacy among low-CFC participants.

An interesting phenomenon called “hidden opportunity cost of time effect” was detected in intertemporal choices. The majority of our participants preferred the smaller but sooner (SS) option to the larger but later (LL) option if opportunity cost was explicit. However, a higher proportion of participants preferred the LL to SS option if opportunity cost was hidden. This shift violates the invariance principle and opens a new way to encourage future-oriented behavior. By simply mentioning the ‘obvious’ opportunity cost of alternatives, decision makers can be more informed in prioritizing their long-term goals rather than short-term goals.