What you expect is what you see

Abstract

In this paper an experiment was conducted to measure the effect of framing a high definition television (HDTV) clip. One group of participants was told they were watching a brand new HDTV clip while the other group was told they were watching a digital DVD clip. Both groups were in fact watching the same (low) quality DVD clip. After watching this clip the beliefs of participants and their viewing experience was measured through a questionnaire. A significant more positive viewing experience for people framed to watch the HDTV clip was found. This means participants were unable to discriminate properly between digital and high definition signals and were influenced by the frame set for them. This effect has been shown in many different situations and now it has been established for watching HD-quality television as well. The results still indicate that the HDTV-frame is already associated with a high quality viewing experience, which may influence the selling strategy and/or adoption speed of this technology. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.