The Impact of Attribute Importance in the Effects of Option Framing on Choice: Budget Range and Justification as Moderators of Loss Aversion

Loss aversion or an endowment-based explanation clearly predicts that subtractive option framing (i.e. deleting mode or starting from a full model) will have a stronger effect on choice than additive option framing (i.e. adding mode or starting from a base model). This research examines whether the differential effects of option framing (additive vs. subtractive) on choice vary depending on the importance of attributes that constitute the defaults. Furthermore, this research proposes that consumers budget range and justification for choice serve to moderate the differential effects of option framing on choice.