Effects of Attribute Framing on Cognitive Processing and Evaluation

10 Pages Posted: 26 Sep 2012

See all articles by Marcus Selart

Marcus Selart

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Strategy and Management

Bard Kuvaas

Norwegian School of Management - Department of Knowledge Management

Date Written: 2003

Abstract

Whereas there is extensive documentation that attribute framing influences the content of peoples thought, we generally know less about how it affects the processes assumed to precede those thoughts. While existing explanations for attribute framing effects rely completely on valence-based associative processing, the results obtained in the present study are also consistent with the notion that negative framing stimulates more effortful and thorough information processing than positive framing. Specifically, results from a simulated business decision-making experiment showed that decision makers receiving negatively framed information had significantly better recall than those receiving positively framed information. Furthermore, decision makers in the negative framing condition were less confident than decision makers in the positively framed condition. Finally, compared to a no-framing condition, decision makers receiving positive framing deviated significantly more in evaluation than decision makers receiving negative framing did.

Keywords: Attribute framing, Cognitive processing, Susceptibility to framing

Suggested Citation

Selart, Marcus and Kuvaas, Bard, Effects of Attribute Framing on Cognitive Processing and Evaluation (2003). Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 95, 198-207, 2004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2152417

Marcus Selart (Contact Author)

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Strategy and Management ( email )

Breiviksveien 40
N-5045 Bergen
Norway
+47 55 95 96 95 (Phone)

Bard Kuvaas

Norwegian School of Management - Department of Knowledge Management ( email )

P.O. Box 580
N-1302 Sandvika
Norway

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