The experiment began by randomly dividing 100 research subjects into two groups of 50. Next, the members of each group were shown a short video ad promoting a “Cajun Grill Chicken Sandwich” that, they were told, would soon be added to the menu at McDonald’s restaurants. The main character in the ad, a man, sat eating the sandwich while his surroundings slowly picked up the characteristics of a Louisiana bayou.

The ads were identical with one exception: The man in one group’s version of the ad had an obviously lean, muscular “buff” physique, while the man in the other group’s version of the ad had a rounder, less athletic “dad bod” physique. Both men wore identical clothing: Jeans and a plain, blue shirt.

After viewing their group’s ad, subjects were asked a variety of questions about things like how tasty the sandwich looked, how much they would be willing to pay for the new sandwich, and so forth. These questions included a question asking them about how many calories they thought the sandwich contained.

Using the data provided, design, describe, execute, summarize, and publish the results of an analysis that tests for a framing effect. Here are the variables in the data file:

Actor: An indication of the body type of the actor in the ad each group viewed. “Buff” indicates that the row’s individual saw the ad depicting the “buff” actor. “Dad bod” indicates that the row’s individual saw the ad depicting the “dad bod” actor.

Calories: Each subject’s estimate of the number of calories in the new sandwich.

Independent Samples t-Test Results
Welch's t-test (unequal variances assumed)
Group 1 Group 2 Mean (Group 1) Mean (Group 2) t Statistic Degrees of Freedom p-value 95% CI (Lower) 95% CI (Upper)
Buff Dad bod 584.26 656.28 −2.671 97.069 0.009 −125.53 −18.51