The Importance of Framing in Ballots: An Example

In 2000, two virtually identical popular initiatives, both demanding a decrease in the legal retirement in Switzerland, led to very difierent approval rates. Using community level and individual (telephone survey) data, we provide evidence on the importance of emphasize framing efiects in political decision making outside the controlled settings of laboratories. The results suggest that frames determine behavior through in∞uencing the perceived content, the importance of beliefs and the interaction of the two. Interest in politics and the existence of prior opinion were found to reduce the susceptibility to emphasize framing efiects. Moreover, we identify age and wealth as signiflcant determinants of the probability to vote difierently. Both aggregated and individual level data suggest that some part of the difierence in approval rates can be attributed to the use of endorsement heuristics. JEL{Classiflcation: D72, H55, J26