When individuals are asked to rate the effectiveness of condoms, they would rate a condom as effective if they were told:
A) that only 5 condom users out of every 100 are not protected against the AIDS virus.
B) any of the options listed here, because each option describes the same probability.
C) that the condom had a 5% failure rate in protecting against the AIDS virus.
D) that the condom had a 95% success rate in protecting against the AIDS virus.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

People generally perceive the effectiveness of a method in terms of success rates rather than failure rates. Therefore, telling individuals that the condom has a 95% success rate in protecting against AIDS virus would be more effective in communicating the effectiveness of condoms.

When Individuals Are Asked to Rate the Effectiveness of Condoms