Cloudonomics: The Business Value of Cloud Computing, + Website

Framing and Context

The way propositions are framed can impact how well they are received.19 Asking the kids “Would you like to go to Disneyworld?” may get a different reception than “Would you like to sit in the car for eight hours?” even though both queries may be semantically equivalent. Anchoring is another bias, where a random starting point, such as the number on a card drawn from a deck, influences unconnected behavior, such as how much to bid for an item.

Framing and transparency can impact cloud satisfaction. Cloudability’s Ellis explained that a bill that indicates “500 hours of use—$500” is preferable to one merely showing an amount.

Framing and the anchoring bias, where certain factors are given more weight than they deserve, are also relevant to cloud decision making. Having a discussion on security vulnerabilities in the cloud may impact cloud adoption decisions negatively; having one regarding the IT application backlog may impact decisions positively.

One of the causes of flat-rate bias—loss aversion—is based on fear of unplanned variability in usage leading to high bills. However, this cognitive bias can—and has been—reframed successfully in other industries. Rather than the variability leading to an increase in charges above a base rate, the variability can be expressed as a refund to a higher rate. Such variability, rather than being a source of angst, then becomes a source of pleasure—a so-called intermittent variable reward (or reinforcement), causing addictive ...