Framing Effects

The presentation of information—both how and when items are presented—may disproportionately influence peoples’ perceptions and decisions.

For instance, on a trip to the grocery store, a woman observes several ads on her way in. Apparently, the initial one influenced her thoughts about the subsequent displays as she’s heading towards the section that positively promotes the product.

In this situation, she’s swayed by the primacy effect—one type of order effect whereby information that’s presented first has more impact on judgment than information arranged later.

Down the aisle, another shopper glances at the same store ads. He seems focused on the last entry, evidently forgetting about the previous ones. As a result, he’s repulsed and quickly moves along to avoid buying the item.

This latter case highlights the recency effect—another type of order effect whereby information that’s presented later has more impact than information given earlier. In other words, the most recently encountered material is more likely to be remembered.

Both of these effects can also be classified as framing effects—influences that occur due to the way information is framed in its appearance, whether it’s purely the order or the specific wording of a message.

For example, as the two approach the checkout line, they pass by different brands of phone-battery boosters: one states “Retains 95% charge!” while the other label says, “Loses 5% charge.”

Here, the former portrays a positive frame, whereas the latter describes a negative frame. Consequently, more customers are likely to buy the positively worded version, even though they both essentially say the same thing!

This example fits into a particular category called spin framing—framing effects that involve varying the content of what is presented.

Nearby, another example can be found in the media section. One paper uses the term “illegal aliens,” whereas the other headlines “undocumented workers” to refer to the same group of farm workers. In general, spin framing can be worded to deliberately influence attention and how strongly people react and make decisions.

After checking out, the woman receives a text: Her friend reminds her that she volunteered to babysit tonight. In her mind, she wonders what she was thinking when she said yes.

Helping a friend last week sounded nice as an abstract thought when the act of generosity seemed so far-off. Now, she’s processing the concrete details of the offer, and the last thing she wants to do is cook dinner for a picky teenager, encourage him to do his homework, and tell him to brush his teeth before bed!

This last example highlights that the temporal framing—whether the situation occurs near or far in time or even distance—also affects how someone interprets occasions.

In the end, the concept of framing reveals how people’s judgments are prone to change, depending on factors such as the specific language used, the order of processing content, and the perspective of time and space.