Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

226 Understanding Intuitive Decision Making

In politics, opposing sides on an issue often compete to frame the issue in the audience’s mind.

Framing an issue can result in a contest over the issue’s scope, who is responsible for it, who is

affected by it, and which values are relevant to it.^202 The success of a particular policy option often

depends upon the number and infl uence of people who subscribe to the way it is framed.^203 Alter-

ing how social policies are framed (e.g., naming a policy affi rmative action vs. equal rights) alters

how citizens value and/or discount those policies.^204

For politicians, framing is a strategic choice.^205 They recognize that framing a debate takes

them a long way toward winning it.^206 In August 1990, Representative Lee Hamilton, chairman

of the House Foreign Affairs Middle East Subcommittee, spoke to Congress about the best way to

frame the Persian Gulf War, saying that “The United States must not go it alone. We must frame

this confrontation as a confrontation between the international community, on the one hand, and

Iraq, on the other.”^207 Political psychologist Drew Westen makes the case that Republicans have

regularly won the hearts and minds of U.S. voters because they have been better at framing issues

than Democrats:

[Republicans] have kept government off our backs, torn down that wall, saved the fl ag, left

no child behind, protected life, kept our marriages sacred, restored integrity to the Oval

Offi ce, spread democracy to the Middle East, and fought an unrelenting war on terror... I

have it on good authority (i.e., off the record) that leading conservatives have chortled with

joy (usually accompanied by astonishment) as they watched their Democratic counterparts

campaign by reciting their best facts and fi gures, as if they were trying to prevail in a high

school debate tournament.^208

Across a variety of political scenarios, moral policy frames, such as those Westen attributes to Re-

publicans, elicit more audience support than more pragmatic or economic frames.^209

Films, TV news shows, newspapers, and magazines also frame issues and use specifi c techniques

to do so.^210 Framing techniques used in the design of newspapers, such as page placement, infl uence

the degree of concern readers express about current issues.^211 Framing techniques also infl uence the

Changes in message frames infl uence both the process and outcome of a wide range of

business and economic decisions. Superfi cial differences in the naming of fi nancial products

with identical returns lead investors to make different investment decisions.^198 Managers evalu-

ate the same employee more favorably when their performance is framed positively—“The

employee was present 97% of the time”—than when it is framed negatively—“The employee

was absent 3% of the time.”^199 Tax cuts framed as a “bonus” are more likely to be spent than tax

cuts framed as a “rebate.”^200 Merely renaming the prisoner’s dilemma game the “Community

Game” leads to twice as much cooperation among student negotiators as renaming it the “Wall

Street Game.”^201

Which frame makes the thing described sound more appealing?

“Our burgers are 25% fat” “Our burgers are 75% lean”

Wall Street bailout Economic rescue

Capitalism Free enterprise

Treated wastewater Recycled water

High-risk loans Subprime loans

Socialized medicine National health care