The reversing influence of involvement on the framing effect: The role of emotions and negativity

• Author: Najam U. Saqib
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1286
• Published date: 01 September 2014
• Date: 01 September 2014

The reversing influence of involvement on the

framing effect: The role of emotions and negativity

Najam U. Saqib

Qatar University

Abstract

The Asian disease problem (ADP), as a demonstration of the

framing effect, revealed a preference reversal between

options perceived as risky and those perceived as certain.

This research identif‌ies individuals’involvement level as a

moderator of the framing effect. The framing effect in the

ADP consisted of emotional choice outcomes regarding

human lives. Two studies in this paper demonstrate that

when based on emotional choices, the framing effect in high

involvement conditions increases in size. Interestingly, this

inf‌luence of involvement reverses when the framing effect

is based on rational choices. The studies reveal that the

negativity invoked by the certain loss option is instrumental

in the underlying mechanism of the risky choice framing

effect, such as that demonstrated by the ADP. Copyright ©

2014 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: framing effect, involvement, negativity, emotions,

risky choices

Résume

En tant que manifestation de l’effet de formulation, l’Asian

disease problem (ADP) a mis en évidence une inversion de

préférences entre les options perçues comme risquées et les

options perçues comme certaines. Dans cette étude, le niveau

d’implication des personnes physiques est considéré comme un

modérateur de l’effet de formulation. Dans l’ADP, l’effet de

formulation ne comprenait que les effets du choix émotionnel

sur les vies humaines. Deux études contenues dans cet article

montrent que lorsque l’effet de formulation est basé sur des choix

émotionnels, sa taille augmente en cas de grande implication.

Curieusement, l’inf‌luence de l’implication est inversée lorsque

l’effet de formulation s’appuie sur des choix rationnels. D’après

nos études, la négativité suscitée par l’option d’une perte certaine

joue un rôle important dans le mécanisme qui sous-tend l’effet de

formulation de choix risqué, comme l’a démontré l’ADP.

Copyright © 2014 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mots-clés : effet de formulation, implication, négativité,

émotions, choix risqué

Over the past several decades, framing effects have

received substantial attention from researchers in disciplines as

diverse as psychology, economics, marketing, f‌inance, and man-

agement (Duhachek, Agarwal, & Han, 2012; Kühberger, 1998;

Lawson & Lawson, 2009; McElroy & Seta, 2003; Seo,

Goldfarb, & Barrett, 2010). Different types of framing effects

such as goal framing, attribute framing, and risky choice framing

(Levin, Schneider, & Gaeth, 1998) have been identif‌ied in the

literature. Most illustrations of framing effects are based on a

manipulation of frame valence wherein the frame presents the

same information either in a positive or a negative frame. These

different types of framing effects are treated as a similar set of

phenomena explained by prospect theory (Kahneman &

Tversky, 1979). In their seminal work, Tversky and Kahneman

(1981) provided a demonstration of framing effects involving

risky and certain choices with an experiment involving the hy-

pothetical Asian disease problem (ADP) (Kahneman &

Tversky, 1979; Appendix 1 on ADP available upon request).

The results of this experiment show that when outcomes are

framed positively, certain options are preferred. In contrast, when

outcomes are framed negatively, risky options are preferred.

A large body of research has investigated framing

effects and found them to be robust and consistent

(Kühberger, 1998; Levin et al., 1998). In fact, framing effect

is known to be one of the most striking biases that lead man-

agers to reverse their preferences based on information that

normatively should not affect their behaviour (Bazerman &

Moore, 2009). Thus, the study of framing effects in the con-

text of a business is relevant to managerial decisions that can

be framed positively versus negatively. For instance, a man-

ager may see a potential merger decision either as a loss of a

once-successful business or as a gain that would keep the

business identity alive. A consistent view on the inf‌luence

of framing effects was proffered on adaption of best prac-

tices in organizations (Smith, Stone, Kisamore, & Jawahar,

This research was partly conducted while the author was faculty at Ryerson

University, Toronto, Canada. The research support provided by Ryerson

University Faculty Grant is greatly appreciated.

Please address correspondence to: Najam U. Saqib, Marketing Department,

College of Business & Economics, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha,

Qatar. Email: najam.saqib@qu.edu.qa

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences

Revue canadienne des sciences de l’administration

31: 187–199 (2014)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1286

Can J Adm Sci

31(3), 187–199 (2014)Copyright © 2014 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 187