MCAT® ExamCritical Analysis and Reasoning SkillsMedium
A marketing team is designing a new advertisement for a health drink. They decide to emphasize that '9 out of 10 doctors recommend this product for daily hydration.' However, they omit the information that the survey was conducted among doctors who already specialize in sports medicine and regularly endorse hydration products. This omission, while not a direct lie, leverages which of the following cognitive biases to persuade consumers?
- AAuthority Bias
- BFraming Effect
- CBandwagon Effect
- DAnchoring Bias
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Framing Effect
The framing effect describes how people's decisions are affected by the way information is presented, rather than by the information itself. By selectively presenting only the favorable statistics, the marketing team frames the message to elicit a positive response.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Authority bias is the tendency to attribute greater accuracy to the opinion of an authority figure.
- C. The bandwagon effect describes people doing certain things because many other people are doing them.
- D. Anchoring bias is the tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of information encountered.
Framing Effect
The framing effect is a cognitive bias where people decide on options based on whether the options are presented with positive or negative connotations; e.g., as a loss or as a gain.
- Influences decision-making by altering the perception of choices.
- Can manipulate risk tolerance depending on how outcomes are described.
- Commonly used in marketing, politics, and health communication.
Memory trick: FRAME the picture to make it look good.