A famous experiment by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky went as follows:Imagine that the US is preparing for an outbreak of an unusual disease, which is expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative medicines to combat the disease have been proposed.
Assume that the exact scientific estimates of the consequences of the medicines are as follows:
If treatment A is undertaken, 200 will be saved.
If treatment B is undertaken, there is a one-third probability that 600 people will be saved and a two-thirds probability that no people will be saved.
Which one of the two treatments would you prefer?
Kahneman and Tversky found that a substantial majority of people would choose treatment A.
Then they gave another group of people the assignment but with the following description of the (same) options:
If treatment A is undertaken, 400 people will die.
If treatment B is undertaken, there is a one-third probability that nobody will die and a two-thirds probability that 600 people will die.
They found that, in this case, a clear majority of respondents favored treatment B! But the treatments really are exactly the same in both cases…!? How come people’s preferences flip although they are confronted with the exact same set of choices (be it described slightly differently)?
It is due to what we call “framing effects”, and they greatly affect people’s preferences and decisions.
For instance, In the first case, treatment A is described in terms of the certainty of surviving (which people like), but in the second case it is described in terms of the certainty of dying (which people don’t like at all!). Therefore, people choose A when confronted with the first treatment description, while in the second case they favor B, although the treatments are the same in both situations.
This effect is quite omni-present. How you frame a problem or solution to someone (e.g. your boss) is going to influence substantially what option he is going to prefer. How the people who work for you frame a situation while presenting to you, is also going to determine what you will choose.
Did I frame this in a way that can be of help to you?
74 comments:
For both questions, I fell into the majority and chose A and B respectively. I chose those answers because they seemed to be “correct” and that the survival rate was higher in one instance than the other. I think although they may be the same just worded differently, people don’t have the time to truly calculate and realize that they are indeed the same. Instead we take it on the surface and understand what it is generally saying to us and the more favorable outcome, or what seems to be the more favorable outcome, is the one we choose.
I think the “framing effect” has everything to do with your ability to persuade people. By being able to choose the right words, you are able to lead a person and make them see what you want and basically make the decision for them. By telling people the information they need to know and leaving out certain details that they shouldn’t know, you are able to shape the minds of the person (s) you are talking to and make them agree with you. The power of persuasion and manipulation, I think, is the true framing effect.
This is an interesting story. I completely agree that people's preferences flip when they are approached differently with the same option. In order to get a good response from people I am always trying to make sure that I word things properly so that they understand what I am trying to convey. An e-mail response is a perfect example. When you send an e-mail response to someone they might take your response to be different than what you actually intended to say. That is because they have only words in front of them and they are not able to tell if you've been sarcastic, joking, or sincere about your response. But when you're in front of that person responding to the exact same issue they have visual stimuli in addition to what you are telling them and their reaction may be completely different.
I also chose A and then B. It is basically just marketing. You are phrasing the statements to make them sound better for people to choose. Putting words in like "survive" or "die" are huge causes for which statement you will pick. Companies always do this when they make a product that has side effects or percentages for how it will work. I actually just saw a Rogaine commercial and it said "85% of men grew their hair." They aren't going to end the commercial with "15% of men did not grow hair" because it is negative and will not attract customers. Watch any commercial and you will see that they always use the positive statement because no one wants to hear the negative sides. It is good to read statements like this because even though you know that companies do this it refreshes your mind to make sure you are not tricked by these "framing effects."
Very interesting experiment from both psychological and managerial points of view! Clearly, the same exact treatments A and B were presented twice, but presented in a different light: the first time the focus is on life and the second time the focus is on its absolutely opposite, death. I'm quite sure the participants could figure out the math, so the sole reason for different responses lies exactly in wording. The way something is presented matters a lot on a subconscious level: those "framing effects" do affect our decisions!
Another example that I could think of which is quite relevant at this time of academic year is the process of picking professors. Before making the decision of what professor to pick and spend the next semester with, we normally do research by looking up the average ratings as well as asking our fellow students for their opinions. Quite often we find that the same professor is presented in two different perspectives: some students absolutely loved professor's teaching method and complimented it greatly, while for someone else the same thing was a reason to drop out and was described in a very negative light... Well, it's up to us to decide.
Because you prefaced the question with the fact that 600 people are expected to die, the presentation of the question lead me to choose A BOTH times. I’m not discounting the significance of framing a question, I know it really does have an impact on the answer one will receive to the question. Nevertheless, if you pay attention to the facts, then it is apparent that both sets of questions are asking the same thing. Jut like so many other marketing ploys, I didn’t fall for it!
The point is well taken: I agree that framing effect really does impact our decision making.
Wow. I didn’t realize this has been happening in our lives. Actually descriptions of A and B treatment were different but they both mean same meaning.
If I had a choice for first experiment, I would choose A, too. Using opposite words about same content brings the influence on someone’s decision. A treatment talked about how many people can be saved while B treatment talked about how many people will not saved. It was based on same content.Even though A treatment has small percentage of saving life, it sounds much better than not-saving life which was mentioned in B treatment. I was saying like “Oh my god, two thirds of people from 600 will not be saved! I had better choose A” . That’s why I chose A because it sounds much more positive way.
I realized interesting point from this experiment that people feel much stronger about something negative like death than positive things like saving lives. That’s why people prefer to choose something which sounds better and positive (obviously survival rate than death one in this experiment).
It seems that framing effect has really power to impact on people’s decision. I guess lots of companies use this effect to advertise their products. They prefer to describe their products with good words rather than negative words. Even though it's process of management,it’s kind of tricky to control our emotions by the way of description with words. aha~~I had better be more careful when I face with thses kind of problems.
Humm...Something tricky?
During reading the theory, I did not realize it the same, but both A and B the same. Humm..Probably, but I am not sure and but both are probably the same. However, if I have to choose one of them, I will choose B. Why? Because I am an optimistic person, so they would survive all, 600. If I choose A, I will be in an awkward dilemma, how to choose people, who will be saved or who will be died.
"To be or not to be". It is so important to people as long as we live. The frame effect made me think my life seriously.
Framing effects can come out any where and any situation like when we had a decision making.
This is very interesting staff and confirms something very valuable I have learnt from my literature professor: "the way you say something is by far much worthy than what you say." There could not be a better way to illustrate the framing effect than this experiment. I think presentation is very important and definitely influences our choices. I used to have a roomate who was an Art major, but I remember a used to not like some of his paintings, but as soon as he framed them, I totally changed my mind.
The results of the experiment definitely make sense as myself before reading the result at the end picked A for the first group experiment and B for the second group.
It's obviously that how someone word a sentence can influence people's decision on their choice. Personally, I didn't fall into the majority of chosing A in the first set and the B in the second set. Before I make my own decision, I actually pay attention to the word so closely which I figure out that A and B in both sets actually has the same meaning.
But when I was young, I always fall into the trick that my mom played using the "framing-effect".
When I was young, my mom always used the "framing effect" technique whenever I or my brother wanted to buy toys. Whenever I want to buy a toy, my mom will say that she will buy it for me when she becomes a millionaire. And I at that time was still young believe that we will actually get the toy in the future without notice that the possibility of my mom being a millionaire is so tiny. However, we will be very satisfy when we hear our mom informs us in this way that she will buy the toys for us when she becomes rich. However, if she just directly tells us that she is not going to buy us any toy; we will just cry and mad at her. Even though she said she will buy the toy for us when she becomes millionaire actually mean the same that she is not going to buy the toy for us because the possibility of become a millionair is so tiny, we are still more satisfy in hearing the first response rather than just say she is not going to buy it for us. My mom "framing-effect" trick always work for us when we keep ask for new toys when we was young and sometimes it still works now.
Framing effect can be very effective in changing people's mind if you know how to word the sentence in a way that will satisfy people's want and also reach your purpose. For my childhood's example, my mom know that what we want is not the toy physically but actually some kind of hopes that we will eventually have the toy in the future. Therefore, she framed her response to us in a way that we believe that we will eventually have the toy even though we don't have it now. Therefore, in order for the "framing-effect" to be effective, first you have to know what is your purpose for your statements and how you want the respondant to react. By knowing this two, you can shape people's mind in a way that they will listen to you and follow your idea.
I guess that I didn't fall into the framing effect of the problem that you post into the blog probably because I fool too much by my parents when I was young; therefore, now I become smarter when I face this kind of problem.
I chose treatment A and B respectively for this experiment like the majority of the people. I took marketing 3000 last semester at Baruch and my professor presented a similar case like this to the class. She showed us that the way marketers write things a certain way has a huge affect on which option we will choose. I think this is because certain words are more favorable than others. For example, in the second one, it said, 200 are saved. It sounds optimistic because it is certain that 200 is saved where for the second case, it says 400 will die. Although it still means 200 will be saved, it is presented with a certainty of death and people see that negatively and will stray away from it.
I think this can affect the real world in many ways. For example, when you are presenting options and proposals to your boss or clients, careful wording can determine your future. I think statements like "400 will die" are less preferred than positive ones. For the most part, people like things set in stone with as little ambiguity as possible. I think if a leader and/or manager can master and use the framing effect to their advantage, they can "manipulate" and get their employees to do things the way they want them to.
I would also choose A in the first case. First of all, I know that in both treatment A and B presented in the first case, only 200 people will be saved. It’s just that A said nothing about the dying people. With that first statement, it is more positive about the treatment. As for B, it clearly stated that 2/3 of 600 will not be saved. By that, it creates this negative rational reason for people to see how it is beneficiary. And as for the second case, A said 400 people will die, and that totally shows the negative side of the treatment. For B, although one third will not die and 2/3 will die show both pros and cons, so in comparison of these two treatments in second case, B is more favorable than A. I think this case models a real life scenario in all areas of life. This put emphasis on how important communication is—verbally. In managerial environment especially, a manager needs to communicate effectively with others and be persuasive. Just like treatment A and B in both cases, they produce same result but people had different perceptions of it and of its outcome. The importance of that is to state the choices differently just by using words, and this way, the same outcomes for the treatments produce a different degree of persuasion.
I will face the same situation in the workforce, such that I will have to come up with ideas for projects but with those ideas I need to make wise decision using the best description so my boss will favor it more. In life, there are many choices we have to make, and maybe some of those choice lead us to the same outcome but we tend to overlook them.
Yes, your example is quite helpful.
I reread example one three times and made my choice before I moved on to the rest of the blog. When I reached example two and realized that it was the same situation just presented differently due to the words “saved” and “die”, certainly example two was presented more positively. I agree that presenting the positive first will help in reaching your desired result. People always like to hear the positive first, hence, “I have some good news and then I have some bad news”. When the good news is received first it can outweigh the bad or alleviate the pain of the bad because it is the “brighter” side.
In my professional and personal life, I try really hard to practice this because it helps to get my point across and it can produce a positive interaction. I personally dislike when someone starts a conversation with the negative. Life and living are positive.
I remember in psychology class freshman year, the professor had a lecture where she showed the students how the “frame” can affect a person’s reaction. I do not recall too clearly, but there was this game, and a student was chosen to play it. In the game, there was a terrorist attack on America and he had to shoot down the terrorist airplanes. However, there were also American airplanes flying in the same area as well. He was given two scenarios. In scenario one, his goal was to shoot down all the terrorist planes in a limited amount of time, knowing that he was to under no circumstances allow any terrorist airplanes through. In scenario two, his goal was to shoot down all the terrorist planes in a limited amount of time, knowing that he was to under no circumstances shoot down any American airplanes. Needless to say, he shot down a lot more planes the first time around, terrorist and American. Though this is not quite the same as your example (in your example, the two scenarios were exactly the same except worded differently, in my example there are very slight changes to the scenario but the ultimate goal remained the same), I still feel it illustrates your “frame” point very well. Just adding minute changes to a question can dramatically change the answer. I am quite sure that political science or marketing courses have lectures devoted to framing. By framing a poll or survey, they can influence people and get a desired response. To me, it seems a little bit deceptive and bordering on the line of cheating, is that ethical?
I had the honor of another professor asking me the same type of question and it was about how one can change their ideas by simply rewording. Thinking about the first question I had that saving 200 would mean that 400 would die, which means that 1/3 of the population would be dead. I had chose answer B because I cheated and I had done something like this before.
I think that the frame effect only works when people do take time to fully read the statements and just jump to a conclusion. If someone were to sit down and just think about it for a second they would realize that saving 200 means that 400 would die therefore its a bad idea. Disagreeing with some of my colleague, I think that the framing effect is not about persuading people, its more like only giving them part of the truth because if you say we can save 200 but 400 would die then people would come to understand more of what the statement really means.
What an unusual result! I can’t believe people who actually choose the “brighter” one among the choices. I mean this is a life and death question. If I were asked by such question, I would take my time to analyze it first before I make any decision. But then again, who am I to say that? I’m pretty sure everyone panic when it comes to a situation like this. And they would definitely follow where the light of hope shines.
I think the main point here is putting your words properly in order to avoid any misunderstanding. By turning the “neutral” words into “positive” sentence, that’s more like a marketing skill. I used to get these telemarketing calls from companies and these people are very good in persuading you to buy their products. They are very good in using their words to make potential-customers happy. I remember I told this one telemarketer to remove my number from the database. A week or two later, this same company called me back to offer some new products again. This time I was a little smarter and said, “Would you be KINDLY enough to remove my number from the database?” Since then, I don’t get any call from them anymore. ~The Power of Words~
"Framing effect" yes that is also a part of marketing strategy I learned this semester. It depends on how your use the words, obvious there is no difference between two statement in treatment b, but when second group read it, it makes them believe treatment b is better because it sounds like less people will die. People tend to go for less lost than risk of no gain at all. If I have to frame a situation like this to my boss to buy my idea, I would try to make it sound as positive as possible, point out all the benefits more. Many sales people do that, they would say all the great things about a product and minimize the bad part or play around the words, twist the meaning so the catch of it won't sound so bad.
That's an interesting experiment, and it makes sense that people will choose the option that sounds better. I think this experiment was also mentioned in "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the book that I greatly enjoyed.
In today's world, framing error creates unfairness when managers are affected by this kind of psychological misleading. Therefore, my conclusion is that luck is a great determinant of one's success.
Being able to frame something perfectly is a gift. Not many people can do it. The "framing effect" has a lot to do with the way the words chosen and the way you say it. Giving someone information and saying it in two different ways can lead to two different outcomes. No one likes to think negative they like thinking positive. So when you are talking about something frame it so it comes out positive, that way you can get the majority to agree with you.
It's always been like that, people are very easily influenced by what they hear or read. Do you want a glass that's half empty or one that's half full? Half full of course! But why? It's exactly the same thing.
Many leaders in the world are very aware of the power of choosing "the frame that complements the picture" best. They point out the positive outcomes and downplay the negative ones or simply choose the wording that sounds more appealing.
There are always many ways to present ideas. It pays off to take another look at them and determine: "Is this the most attractive form to present my idea or is there a better way? Will this convince my boss, co-workers, family etc.?
On the other hand, if you are presented with an idea, be critical enough to not be fooled just because it sounds good. Not everything is gold that shines...
In that sense, yes Prof. Kurpis, you framed this blog effectively! It's a perfect reminder of the importance of choosing "the best frame" but also to take a closer look at it.
Interesting test. When I looked at it, i thought they were the same. But I would have chose A. I think this has a psychological effect as well as a test of personality. The difference between the two deals with survival or death. If you choose A, people tend to play it safe and those who choose B are riskier.
Upon first reading the scenarios, I was trying to decide myself which alternatives I would prefer. I could not decide, but generally I thought that A seemed a lot less severe. After realizing that the results were the same, the strategies were less effective.
I think that this little mind trick gave me an insightful view of a play on words and the presenting different phrases for situations. I would agree that we can manipulate results for our benefit by 'framing' our words around a certain situation. This is a powerful and useful strategy, especially when used to present problems to our employers.
This is definitely something that I believe everyone should think about. I believe that everyone's reactions differ upon the perspective they're given. The "framing effect" is everywhere and is definitely a skill that will benefit in all different kinds of situations. Whether it's speaking or listening, I have to agree, it's all about the wordplay.
If you know how to frame something a certain way, it can definitely benefit you. The opposite is also true that if you say something the wrong way, it could hurt you. But I think it's just a matter of manipulating your words. Indeed, in both cases, they mean exactly the same thing, but if 400 people are going to die, then they're going to die. By saying that 200 people will be saved is sort of like putting icing on the cake. It's a matter of making the pessimistic situation into a optimistic one which is really what marketers do all the time as well as politicians.
As i read the story, i also choose A first and then B. In the beginning, i choose option A because when i compare the option B where it says that only one third of a chance that the medicine is able to save people, but two third of chance that people will die. The medicine A is more prefer since we just want to know how many people certainly will be saved.
When it goes to second scenario, Medicine A's description is to scary and disappointed because the word is certainly 400 people will die. When i read the scenarios, i didn't think about the actual numbers, i just look at the numbers that is presented in front of me, and i make decision based on that.
I feel "framing effect" is truly a powerful tool if you can use it effectively. This is just like you try to sell a pen for $50 when it just cost $1. You can repack the pen or say a famous person used the exact pen before, then people will see the pen differently even though it is the same $1 pen.
The "framing effect" is something come out so naturally that it is very hard for you to watch and pay attention for, meaning that people will fall into the trap and won't even realize it.
I chose A and B, respectively, as the majority of people did. I think this "framing theory" also relates to what we have talked in class about "communication". I view it as the way people choose different words to communicate, to obtain different results. Learning to "frame" would be a beneficial and powerful technique to have. I view "framing" very related to "persuading", since to be successful in both of them, the communicator needs to know which words to use and how to approach other people. However, the opposite can also occur; failure to efficiently "frame" can lead to unsuccessful communication.
After reading both options it appeared to be that either options will generate the same results so I couldn't pick a specific option but I can see why people would pick option A in the first case and B in the second. It all has to do with how something is worded or framed as mentioned in the article. People generally favor an outcome that seems certain once it is explained in simple terms and they can see the benefit immediately without have to do too much thinking and analysis.
As mentioned in the article this can be very helpful in one's dad to day situations and even at the job. If you want a desired response or reaction from your employer one just has to know how to word their approach in order to get what they want.
I've always thought that presentation is very crucial part of every day life. Whether thats presentation of the self, presenting foods, or in this case presenting information. How you present information or "frame the picture" can be the deciding factor in most cases. Some people are none the wiser to look deeper into the information past all the decoration. Also those with a keen ability to persuade can more effectively frame the picture in a way that benefits them.
I agree that framing the picture is a big part that weighs in on the decision making process, but it is up to us as decision makers not to be fooled. Because sometimes the "framing effect" can frame us the fool too :/
This is observable on so many levels in life.
Just a few things that come to my mind is, giving a presentation, writing your resume, political debates... it is all about the marketing and putting it into the words that will be most appealing to the majority.
Another example of this is that people will prefer glass that is half full than the one that is half empty. It is important to be aware of this psychological trait in humans in order to be successful in life. Like we discussed in class, there are people that are great in what they do, have the expertise but their communication skills are not at a high level and might be struggling with advancing further simply because they have hard time putting their achievements into words.
On the other hand there are people not necessarily that good ate their jobs but have a way of communicating and presenting their work as greatest achievements ever, and in majority of case they do better in life.
So my advice is be aware of this my fellow students when looking for a job and be ready to distinguish yourself from others by putting it into words that will make your future employer think that you are one in a million and that he will be crazy not to hire you.
I kind of know this technique already. I always use this when I'm trying to get my way and I know people use this too. The way people wor things has great effect on what the result or reaction of the person they are telling to will be. If you choose the right words you will get your way.
But you should also watch out when people use this framing effect on you because it can lead to a negative outcome on you. Poeple try to munipulate others mostly to get there own way so you should always know that and see the benefits and negativity that can come to you from that decision. Before I make a decision about something someone les wants me to do I always think of why that person wants me to do that what benefit is he or she receiving from me doing tht. Also what benefit am I going to get from that. The framing effect is a very helpful way espically for us the future graduates of baruch. We are going to need this effect in getting jobs and so many other situations in our life.
The content in this blog is extremely relevant to a class that I am currently taking called Marketing Research. Marketing Research is in the industry of gaining insight to marketing problems that a client has through the use of surveys and other methods.
So How does this apply to the post? Well after the marketing research firms analyze the result, their main objective is to convey their results to their employers liking. They must find clever ways of reporting the data so that it sounds the best way possible. If you do not frame your results well, you will not be in business for very long. We have all seen the results of these claims from surveys, such as something have "100% customer satisfaction" according to surveys. These things were probably the result of someone skewing information to make it favorable such as in the example of the study in the blog.
This is funny that majority people choose A first and then B. Even though the solutions are the same but people tends to go with the one is more positive. For me, I chose B for both cases. It is because that I believe we should always try to save as many people as possible, so if we choose A then only 200 will be saved. But if we take the chance for B, then we have one-third of the chance to save all 600 people, so that is why I choose B both time. I guess the “framing effect” makes the positive side for choice A the first time; normally people will tend to choose the positive one than the negative one without thinking deeply to the situation. So I believe that “framing effect” can change one’s decision easily. Therefore, different way of framing the problem or solution might lead to a different result, so knowing the “framing effect” is important.
It always depends on how you "read" and interpret a particular situation. You could come up with different answers from different people based on their beliefs and convictions.
It always depends on how you "read" and interpret a particular situation. You could come up with different answers from different people based on their beliefs and convictions.
I agree that “framing effects” our decisions and preferences. However, I would make decision in this case depending on what is most important (supposing that I have the authority to make decision). If it is very significant to save 200 people then I will choose “treatment A”, and if it is not that significant to save 200 people then I will choose “treatment B” where all 600 people will have equal chance (one third probability) of survival.
This experiment reminded me of a tale of my native country. The goes like this: The king saw a dream that his all teeth fell. So, he announced that he will reward who can explain his dream (In India, there used to be small kingdoms). So many people came to explain his dream. The first person said “his whole family will die before him”. By the explanation the king got disappointed thus he ordered to kill that person. Another person came in to explain the dream. This person said “you will have a very long life; you will live long enough to see all your family members death”. So, the king got happy by the explanation that he will live for a long time thus the king ordered to reward that person with gold and pearl.
Basically both persons said the same thing that his whole family will die but “framing” played a huge role. The second explanation deemed to be preferable because it contained more positive remarks such as the king will have a long life.
Wow, I really like how psychology plays such an important role in management. Similarly, to the test subjects I also chose A for the first set and B for the second set. My reasons for choosing these options were explained perfectly by Kahneman and Tversky. At first, I did not even realize that the 2 set of options were different. Without even having much thought I simply gravitated to the option that seems to have a higher chance of saving the most amount people. This is a great example of an effective persuasion technique. By wisely, manipulating certain words and presenting information differently can lead others to be attracted to a particular idea or option.
Although the term “Framing Effect” is new, it is however an old concept. I am quite certain most of us use the “Framing Effect” in many instances of our lives, whether it is with our friends, families, coworkers, or bosses. There are many situations were we need to use this persuasion technique to obtain a certain outcome.
Professor,
What is really great about your posts is that they are so easy to relate to. The other day I was browsing the web and I saw a message from a Cancer Society saying that 15,000 students attend Baruch College and 5,000 of them will develop cancer. (Huh?) And that is why we should all donate to the Cancer Society.
I am not against donations to scientific research but what a manipulative marketing technique is that?!
By the way, speaking of commercials, do you know why the Funny Face was banned? It looked rather friendly to me. (Maybe I should watch it with the sound)
I believe the way that a sentence is structure will make others favorable or unfavorable. Therefore, mastering a language is difficult. And if one actually master the language, he can use the language to the best of his ability. For example, presenting a proposal and wanting to make it executed depend on how persuasive one is, and that depends on how he structure what he says and make others have faith in him, and proceed the proposal.
In fact, as people, we all like to listen to something that is good in general.
This blog post is definitely an eye-opener. The art of “framing effects” is utterly fascinating. This is the “magic” of being able to stimulate and sway the subconscious mind of individuals through a play on words. After reading the two scenarios thoroughly, I realized that they were in fact the same; therefore it wouldn’t matter which one I chose. This is kind of skill one needs to possess to succeed in Corporate America. I believe this is why we have to choose our words carefully when we speak to our employers, professors, parents, and people in general. The choice of words can greatly help to get your point across or even influence people around you.
In the field of accounting and finance, it is very crucial to be competent to turn a negative into a positive through the way you frame it. For example, being able to show productivity and efficiency by “cooking the books” can make a company look very attractive in the eyes of potential investors (i.e. General Motors). This may lead to more capital in the company. In terms of investments, you can make a return on investments seem better than it really is by phrasing it in an appealing way such as treatment B in the second scenario.
The ability to frame effectively is definitely a skill I want to learn and master in the near future. I believe it will open many doors and opportunities as I move forward toward my career goals in business.
I think that everything we read and what we are presented in our lives has a framing effect. Everything in the world has to do with the abliity to be able to persuade people. Someone that wants to frame a sistution they will have to be able to choose the right words, by making them see what yoou want them to see. I think by leaving out certain information, one is able to shape there minds and making them agree with your ideas. Framing is a very powerful tool in this world we live in.
I agree that framing the question in no one would die is more attractive than 600 people will survive, because we did not know the total number of the people, so when the alternative states that 600 will be saved, we did not conclude as all the people will be saved, rather "only 600 will be saved". However, when the alternative stated "no one will die", it is more clear, and we are more willing to take the risk.
I think this is a way how "communication" works. If we can stated the pro and cons in clarify form, then people will have better understandings. So..it is really important for us to address a problem or solution in a right way.
It's true, it's all about how you frame your diction. People only want to see the bright-side of life and never the dark-side, which lies the truth people do not want to hear, so ultimately making the positive decision is how people make their decisions in life. If I had to choose either A or B, I would have chose A for the first experiment because it just sounds better even though the results are the same.
i bet if this was read to us in class, the class would be in chaos because they wouldn't see that both sets of options are the same. words like "saved" and "nobody" set the crowd off. the way people absorb information is different from the next guy, the positive sounding and the negative sounding is what will sway the crowd.
the framing affect can trap people's answers into choosing the better sounding. it can be a useful or harmful tool depending on how it is used.
That's a very intriguing study! I think this study goes along with the thought that a message is only as good as the person presenting it. I think that I would have also chose A and B respectively, and that would have been entirely a result of the wording. I think the best explanation for this is, if you present something in a positive way your going to get positive results and if you present it in a negative way, you will get negative results.
As far as how you framed you framed your blog, I think it was great. You drew me in with an interesting study and then related it to management and work at the end to give us a real world example as to how framing may affect us directly.
Thats the power of words for you. The way you phrase certain things will always have an influence on a persons reaction. In this case we can see it clearly. But of course if a person reads its carefully they would realize the similarity in both cases.
In both question, I also choose A and B as answer. As you said, it about how we frame a problem. In first part, it seems like that A will save more people because there is no certainity and same is with B part. If there is a possibility of certainity, we tend to think about it 50% positive and 50% negative.I think thats just the way humans think and thats what there pschyology is. They thend to focus on more favorable items with 100% results, which here shows by A and B.
Also, I want to add that as a manager, framing makes a big difference because if want to say something negative to others but we frame it little bit in a positive atitude , it can make a big difference. So as a manager and leader we must learn how to frame ourself and our words in different situation, so that people can give there best. Also, so that they can see the clear picture of what is going on.
When you want something, you must ask what you want in a way that will manipulate the person to choose the answer you are looking for them to choose. This blog clearly illustrates how the same thing presented in two different ways, can cause a different choice to be chosen each time. Choosing the correct frame is vital at all levels of communication. At work, we learned about correct scripting, which is similar to framing. For example, is someone asks what time we close, we answer "We remain open until 5," instead of saying, "We close at 5." We have to turn everything into a positive, rather than a negative.
This was very interesting... When I read both the descriptions, they were the same. The only difference was how it sounded. One sounded more "positive" or "favorable" than the other. I never was aware of the term "framing effect" but I have an idea of what its all about. After all, we've all done it before. Its a form of persuasion... sales people use it. It's clear that how you word something greatly matters. For example, telling your teacher, "I did all of the HW but I'm missing 3" or "3 HW assignments missing, but I did the rest". I think the first one sounds better... I think this is because people lean towards more positive sounding things. Now I know how to "frame" my words for my benefit.
I too fell with the majority when I read your post. I guess it is a known fact that depending on how situations are framed, it can impact a person's decision. As I also learned in my marketing class and with the studies that we had to do, the way that the questions are asked and the context of the questions before and after affect the participants answers. In one study, they had us write about a moment where we felt accomplished and then it asked us a bunch of questions after it. And the last question was if writing about a moment where we felt accomplished made us feel happier which affected the way we would normally have answered those questions.
There was also an example like this in my marketing class. It was 2 different gas stations, if you pay cash at station A, it would be $3.30 with $.10 discount. Or if you paid with a credit card, it would be $3.20 with a surcharge or $.10 at station B.
So professor, which would you initially pick. That study found that most people would pick gas station A.
As a marketing and advertising student, I have been familiar with the effect and power of persuasion. A single thought can be said many different ways to provoke certain responses in people. The framing effect is a form of persuasion. It is a way to tell someone your idea and make them think that they have thought it all along. In business the, it is very beneficial to know this effect and how to use it to your advantage. For example if I was working for the drug company producing treatment A, I would present it in the way that favors it. In my line of (future) work, most of what I will have to do is master the framing effect and apply it to the products I will be advertising to give them a competitive advantage. Classes that I have seen focuses on this phenomenon are copywriting and persuasion, but I am sure I will come across it again in other marketing courses.
I actually didnt choose B the second time around because the first time I calculated in numbers what one third would be so I was already thinking in numbers and kind of expected the second experiment. But I can def see why people would choose B because they once we focus on the neg sometimes we dont think outside of the box.
Its kind of like when people sugar coat things we dont really think about the bad aspects because all we hear about it the good ones.
Its like when you see job postings online it could be a job posting for a cashier for the christmas season which is mayham!But they market it the right way saying your a sales associate that will bring in thousands of dollars in sales while assisting others in their purchasing decisions. Def not something a qualified college student would really want.
it's actually funny, i caught myself doing the math for the question the second time around and found that they were the same. but i still didn't know which treatment i would use! but as for framing a problem in different ways, it definitely has an effect on a person's impression of it. i actually remember from my journalism class in high school, one of the first days the teacher brought in different newspapers (the metro, the post, daily news, new york times, etc) from the same day. he showed us how depending on how a story was reported/ who was reporting it, people can get different ideas from it. some reports would leave some things out that make it sound like something completely different happened than how others reported it. you can definitely give a problem or market different ideas and then manipulate or change around a few words to get someone to favor you over others.
I think that the choices were different enough to allow for different choices. In the first case, people generally do not like death. There is a potential consquence of not saving any people from this expected threat from treatment B. But with treatment A, 200 is a reasonable amount to save. Instead of a possibility of saving no people, there is at least 200 saved.
In the second description for choice A, the positives of the treatment is not described as in the first description. If we do not think it through, we do not know what would happen to the other 200 people. All we know is that 400 people will die. Information is left out about the probability of the other 200 people dieing or living. All we know is that 400 will definitely die. All aspects of the solution were not given. That is a way I would frame something to influence someone. I would only include information pertaining to the decision I want implemented. For example, if I wanted a raise in pay and gave my boss reasons for the raise. The boss might overlook the consequences or issues that might arise such as fairness.
Because it seems that in the second choice A, that no one would be saved, automatically the second choice seems better because at least there is a chance of saving someone. This is a good framing strategy. You fully explain one decision that you favor and make the other decision seem bad by only including negative information. The language used for the decision that one favors is much more familiar and positive.
In the first case, I choose A as my answer too. It shows that at least 200 people are going to alive.
In the second case, I also choose B, because the choose A makes me think it's more negative since 400 people will die.
I think that there are a lot of place are using this technique. Such as those surveys. Those people who make up the questions always trying to write it in a way to get a good result. Just like the way it shows in your blog.
Also those presentation about how a company was doing. They use different way to tell us that their company is doing very good. But actually, their company isn't doing that good.
One word comes to mind after reading this post: Perspective. Personally, I fell into the group of choosing A both times. I took the view of a person in an executive position (President of a nation or a C.E.O.) and decided that the least risky choice was the way handle the situation. However, if I was the one who was in a position of becoming infected, I would have chosen B and then A. Yet this of course does not make sense, considering they are the same results! My goal after Baruch is to attend law school. I think lawyers, by their very profession, must take the view of truth and nothing but the truth. Yet it is evident that tilting the jury towards their "perspective" is ultimately the goal in many cases. Sometimes it's not what you do, but how you do it. Something that is considered "new" and "innovative", is actually something "old" but perspective wise is viewed as new. I think this partly what Marketing Managers do when approaching consumers with a "new product". Interesting post!
I can't help but think of the cup being half full or half empty. Even though many people are pessimistic and see the cup as being half empty, when it comes to human survival, they can't help being hopeful.
My current supervisor comes to mind. I intern for the Dept of Education as an IT for a public school, and my principle is someone I imagine would choose the same options if she was a subject in the experiment. The public school is now working on getting a host where teachers, students and parents can communicate over a website, similar to blackboard. The concept is very appealing to us computer-savvy individuals, but once we sat down and discussed the majority of the users, we realized the cost outweighs the benefit. Everyone agreed that 70% or more of teachers, students and parents will not become users, but she looked at the 'bright side' and at the benefit for the remaining 30%.
Maybe I should show her your blog?! Just to confirm my theory, that her results would be the same.
Framing, as you call it, seems to be another word for marketing. These framing techniques are used by marketers all the time to have results work in their favor.
While most wouldn't think it's such a bad thing to use framing when attempting to "manipulate" an answer out of someone, they probably wouldn't like it if framing was used to work against them. It appears as though the frame of a question has a psychological underline to it.
It is why retailers use 99 cents instead of $1. When someone sees the price tag of $99.99 they may think "Eh, not bad" but if they see $100 they may thing "Eh, maybe next time". The 1 cent difference isn't ultimately what is causing their choice -it's the framing, the psychological aspect of it. And while most people who work in the field of marketing may say "That framing stuff has no effect on me" it certainly does, it's extremely difficult to control it -unfortunately.
Yes you framed it in a helpful manner. My dad always reinforced the concept of the "power of words." What you say and how you say something carries a lot of weight depending on the manner of expression.
It is much easier to embrace a choice when both options provide a positive outcome. Choosing the lesser of two evils require a much deeper thought process.
In a way this is a miscommunication as the person who is telling you problem is wording it in a way that makes the receiver take it in a certain manner. Now while this could have been made on purpose to reach a desired answer or solution, it is still a case of miscommunication. The message was encoded in a manner to have it decoded in a way that the messenger wants it to be.
Wow interesting experiment! I must agree that the way things are worded can affect things differently. I always try to think of a better way of viewing things when the situation doesn't look so appealing. This experiment definitely made me think of the question, "Would you rather be half full or half hungry?" (rather than the cup situation cos I prefer viewing things that can people can relate to) Knowing me, even if I were given the second description, I would've still chose treatment A because I would've probably changed the description in my head to the first description and looked at it the positive way and chose treatment A.
It was very well framed. The example you gave was very clear on what framing meant, and how it is used. While I was reading through the experiment, I found something very odd. Will there be an event where people actually have to make this kind of decision. If there is so, then will it be good old popularity vote, or will it be in the hands of someone. If it was up to me what would I have done. I chose B for the both cases. Because this was all or none situation. If this was the case of global phenomenon, then I would have chosen A no matter what. Because there is 66.67%, rounded, chance of entire human race of getting wiped out. I rather have firm chance of people surviving than extermination. Even though I agree on the concept of framing, it would not work in all situations. When decision like the experiment is needed, I hope it is not in the hands of majority people because it can go bad; by bad, I mean extermination. I believe it is more important for people to be able to see beyond framing rather than framing so they can get the result they desire.
wow, this is a great post. People are often influenced by the way the question is constructed. I know that insurance agents or bank loaner often use this kind of trick to advertise their products or to "burn" people. By the way, this experiment reveal the importance of analysis. We, as consumers should compare things thoroughly and sometimes it's wise to sit back and think twice.
when i first read the problem i was think that i am going to choose A. i think because it give a actual number to view so, it seem to be more people that is going to survive.
And for the second one, there is a visible actual number of people will die, so peopel will pick B.
I think these choices depents on how each person interpret the infos.
i think this is a good test on how the majority of people view stuffs.
Its funny because while reading the blog entry, I chose A in the first scenario, and B in the second. Which turned to be exactly what the researches confirmed. The only explanation is I guess in the first sceneario, option A clearly states that there will be a certain number of people guaranteed to be saved, so you fact that other's will die goes out of your mind, while option B is more of an unkown. In the second sceneario, option A tells you that 400 people are guaranteed to die, so when you take and compare with option B that tells you that there is a chance everybody will live, you tend to go with option B.
I found this to be profoundly interesting and when I think about situations where I presented one aspect in a positive light and another in a negative light in order to get my way, this seemed similar. There are times when you may want to elicit a reaction from your parents in order to have them purchase something for you, and even though it may be more expensive, you can say that it is better quality and then when you present the viable alternative, you make it seem as though that item should not even be sold, let along purchased. This technique is definitely one that should be mastered in order to protect yourself from it and use it to gain an advantage in a situation where you would otherwise not have any advantage at all. In this case, the concepts of survival and death were used. In another scenario, you can speak about how successful something is, as opposed to how often it failed. In doing so, you attract potential clients to the positive aspects and not the negative. It is a very useful marketing technique.
I really found the framing effect very interesting. I chose option A for the first one and option B for the second one. After thinking about it i really found this information very useful. In using this effect you can put problems in a way in which can make you sound less responsible. Its definitely a way to get out of trouble. This effect has to do with manipulating and persuading people. If a manager has mastered this ability he can even use it to persuade and motivate his workers to work harder under the most difficult of circumstances.
I first chose B, does that make me weird? I think it is 100% correct that they way you frame or present the situation is how the other person is going to see it or respond to it, but also a person's perception plays a role here as well. It's kind of like asking the old old question of whether a person sees the glass as half full or half empty. I personally think it really has a lot to do with the fact if the person is an optimist or a pessimist. I consider myself an optimist, so going back to the first example, of A and B, I saw a bigger chance of people surviving in choice B! Because since there was a percentage of a change that more people might live, why not go for that! Hey you never know!, its kind of like in the New York mega millions, although not really because here we are talking about real people. Anyway I think no matter what the situation is, i think its very important to take out only the positive points of it! Life is too short to worry !! :)
Choosing the frame that compliments your picture can have a significant effect on the appearance of your words and ultimatly the message conveyed onto the audience. Even thouugh the two passages say the same things, the wording was a crucial part and it was the deciding point for most people. I think that we, as business major should know how to frame every piece of information we put out. Due to the fact that we are always under careful speculation, this can dramatically help us get ahead in the world or even mask problems. In response to your question, you framed this in way that helped us understand the importance of our wording. But then again, your the teacher.
i don't know why, i picked up the B at the first time, and picked the A at the second test. i do agree people would pick the oppsite way tho. maybe because i am more of the "thinker type", i am type D in DISC =)
for the second one I would definitely picked tratement B over A, since B has 1/3chance of saving everyone, at a risk of 200 more lives. At least it could save everyone?!
for the first one i would pick treatment A, since the ratio of benefit is lower~
Its all about the marketing when it comes to anything. This is especially true with teaching. People understand things in different ways and it alls depends on the method the teacher uses. I think the blogs are an interesting framing idea which really helped a lot of people learn a lot about management.
In sum, the beauty and magical powers of "words".
Yes, this was framed in a way in which it was easy to understand. When I was first reading this I was wondering what it would be about, but then when I read it all it made sense. The framing of this helped because first you explained the details of the experiment that Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky performed, followed by their options and what they got as results then you explained how they changed their wording and got other results. After that you explained how come the experiment had different outcomes, because of the “framing effect.”
The “framing effect” is an effective way to get people to see your view. It depends on how you word your views for the others to understand. This reminds me of today when I was in the Zicklin Office, I had a question but I was unsure how to word it. When I initially asked the lady the question she gave me an answer that was irrelevant to my question. When I reworded the question in a different manner she understood my question and answered it. Then I realized it does matter how you present your wording because at times the simplest things may be the most difficult to understand.
After reading it again, I thought what I would chose if I were told to answer. I would chose choice A, and then B respectively for the questions. That is because the wording seems more “happier” in treatment A for the first set of option and the wording for treatment B seems reasonable for set B. I have fallen victim to this also just because of the framing effect. It is a good way to get someone who is opposing your view to side with you, just by rephrasing your words.
Yes you did – and very impressively indeed. You made a strong case for students of management to not only learn about numbers and bank accounts but to be successful in this field it is equally crucial to be socially literate in how to sell ideas and products. Framing your idea with the right approach and with the right words is a skill that some people are born with, but the rest of us can acquire it and I think that it is indeed so important that it should be offered one way or another in college. Beyond college one has many opportunities to study people and organizations in framing their interests successfully. Good politicians are politicians who can inspire people with their speeches and once you inspire the masses you can also sell your plans, policies and ideas much more successfully. Other examples that come into my mind are good commercials on TV. The Apple versus the Windows commercials are a good example. They managed to frame the apple guy as young, cool and hip whereas the Windows guy is older, unattractive and always the butt of the joke. Who in the world wants to be associated with those attributes? Thank you. Nobody. Apple’s commercial success in the last few years with their ever-changing iPods and more recently with their iPhones is breathtaking. They framed their products in such smart ways that everybody wants to have them and become part of the “young, cool, cutting edge, stylish, hip and “in” crowd.
Successful sales people have that skill of making people want their product as well.
We should definitely learn more about the psychology of selling ideas and products and we should be made more familiar with successful strategies of doing just that in school.
I hope I framed my opinion about the importance of successful framing well enough to have you on my side on this topic!
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