Message framing and buying behavior: On the difference between artificial and natural environment

Abstract Many marketing communication decisions are based on data generated in the laboratory. This paper demonstrates the risk of this practice by comparing the effect of message framing in a laboratory environment to its effect in a real environment. It is shown that in a laboratory environment, a loss message (e.g., if you will not buy the product, you will lose the following benefits…) is more persuasive than a gain framing (e.g., if you will by the product, you will gain the following benefits…) On the other hand, in a natural environment, a gain message is more persuasive than a loss message. It is suggested that involvement mediates this effect of framing on persuasion.