Multiple Reference Points, Framing, and the Status Quo Bias in Health Care Financing Decisions

Abstract

Reference effects help account for several behavioral biases, including framing, status quo, and omission effects. Despite the importance of reference effects, little is understood about how decision makers adopt a referent. This study investigates the roles of status quo and framing conditions in the selection of reference alternatives. Full-time employees made health care financing decisions within a problem context containing multiple reference candidates. Results from this work demonstrate that the status quo bias can operate at multiple levels and that the status quo bias does interact with framing. In addition, these results demonstrate that subjects manifest the status quo bias within the domain of health care financing decisions. © 1995 by Academic Press, Inc.