The Framing Effect

Your perception is shaped by framing.

Reference how lean a steak is, and you'll boost perceptions of quality.¹

Politicians know this.

Pollster Frank Luntz² reports that 68% of people oppose inheritance tax if it's labelled "estate tax," but the figure jumps to 78% when it's called a "death tax."

And yet most marketers forget this.

We talk about our products and services in unimaginative ways.

At bookshops, marketers promote the top "picks this summer".

This framing is unimaginative. It doesn't change perception.

So, one smart bookshop switched the framing and said:

"Cheaper Than A Movie Ticket"

Genius.

Now the £9.99 novels seem like a bargain.

There's no ad this week, but I do have a recommendation.*

I'm often asked, 'how do you edit your podcasts?'

Unlike most marketing shows, my podcast requires a lot of cuts.

In the past, I used Audacity. This was fine, but very slow.

About 24 months back, I switched to Descript.

Unlike Audacity, Descript lets me edit Nudge like a Google Doc.

I highlight the text I want to cut, hit delete, and it's gone from the audio.

I use their (semi-)reliable AI tools to cut pauses and remove bad takes.

It's made editing Nudge 10x faster and a lot less painful.

So, if you edit a podcast, I'd highly recommend at least trying Descript.

Use my link to get access for free:

Try Descript for free

Have you used framing? Hit reply to let me know. — Phill

¹Levin, I. P., & Gaeth, G. J. (1988). How consumers are affected by the framing of attribute information before and after consuming the product. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(3), 374–378.

²Business Insider. (2017, October 19). Republicans say ‘death tax’ while Democrats say ‘estate tax’. Business Insider.

*To be totally transparent, if you use my link and become a paying customer, I get a small kickback. But I'm sharing this voluntarily (I haven't been asked to or paid to by Descript).

As a behavioural science practitioner, I believe in the peak-end rule.

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