Effects of numerical and graphical displays on professed risk-taking behavior

In 3 experiments, the authors examined alternative formats for displaying low-probability risk information and the effects of these formats on professed risk-taking behavior. In Experiment 1, participants who were presented with numerically displayed risk information stated that they would be willing to pay less money to reduce a risk than were participants given the identical information by means of stick figures. Experiments 2 and 3 evaluated 3 potential explanations for this finding by including additional formats where the risk information was displayed as asterisks, bar graphs, or faces. The data did not support explanations focusing on the discrete character of stick figures or their possible humanizing nature but instead suggested that the graphical nature of stick figures increased risk avoidance. These results suggest that depicting risk information graphically as opposed to numerically is a potentially useful technique for decreasing risk-taking behavior.