# Reframing

> Change what something MEANS before you change what it IS — Rory Sutherland's cheapest lever. Use when a product, price, feature, or message is objectively fine but feels cheap, generic, boring, overpriced, or unjustified; when the user says 'how do we make this feel more premium/valuable/exciting', 'people don't get why it's worth it', 'how do we reposition/rename/repackage this', or wants to raise perceived value without changing the product or cutting the price. Covers renaming, recategorising, mental accounting (price framing), creating artificial value, and context-shifting. Inspired by Rory Sutherland's *Alchemy*. Routed to from psycho-logic. 日本語の相談（「高いと言われる」「安っぽく見える」「値下げせずに高級感を出したい」）にも使う。中文咨询（“被说太贵”“显得廉价”“不降价也想显得高级”）也适用。

- Skill: `meikocho1/reframing` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add meikocho1/reframing`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/meikocho1/reframing/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Finance & Business
- Author: meikocho1 (https://skillmd.com/u/meikocho1)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/meikocho1/reframing

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# Reframing — change the meaning, not the substance

The cheapest thing you can change is what something *means*. Same atoms, different frame, completely different behaviour. Reach for this before anyone proposes rebuilding the product or cutting the price — those are the expensive answers.

## The principle

A thing has no fixed value; value is assigned by context and comparison. Move the frame and you move the value, at near-zero cost. Three reframing moves:

- **Rename / recategorise.** The name is the frame. Change the category a thing competes in and you change what "good" and "expensive" mean for it.
- **Re-anchor the comparison.** Value is relative. What you put next to a thing decides how it's judged.
- **Reframe the cost or the context.** The same money, time, or effort feels different depending on the mental account it lands in.

## Canonical examples (steal these patterns)

- **Diamond Shreddies.** A square cereal was rotated 45° and relaunched as "new Diamond Shreddies" (with the old "Squares" kept on shelf as a contrast). Identical product. Sales rose, and people in taste tests said the diamonds tasted better. The product didn't change — its meaning did.
- **Frederick the Great's potato.** Peasants refused to eat potatoes, so he declared them a royal vegetable, planted a royal field, and posted (deliberately lax) guards. Villagers concluded anything guarded must be valuable, stole the plants, and started growing them. Scarcity and status, manufactured purely by framing.
- **Mental accounting.** "$1 a day" lands in a different mental pocket than "$30 a month" — same money, smaller-feeling cost. "Less than your morning coffee" reframes the expense entirely.
- **Premium by frame, not formula.** Round prices and restrained design signal "quality"; .99 prices and "SALE" signal "value." You choose which by how you frame, not by changing the thing.

## How to apply

1. **Name the current frame.** What category, comparison, and mental account is the thing sitting in right now? That's what's making it feel cheap/generic/expensive.
2. **Decide the meaning you want** ("premium and considered," "the safe obvious choice," "an indulgence you deserve," "a tiny daily cost").
3. **Pick the cheapest frame shift that gets there:**
   - *Rename / recategorise* so it competes against more expensive things.
   - *Change the anchor* sitting next to it (a higher reference price, a worse alternative, a prestige neighbour).
   - *Re-pocket the cost* (per-day, per-use, "the price of X you already buy").
   - *Add a story or ritual* that makes the same act feel meaningful.
4. **Keep it honest.** Reframing the meaning of a real benefit is alchemy; reframing a thing as something it isn't is fraud — and it collapses the moment the customer notices.
5. **Test the frame against the substance fix.** Always show the user: "Reframe = ~free and reversible. Rebuild/discount = expensive and permanent. Try the frame first."

## 日本語の使用例

- 「機能は十分なのに "安っぽく" 見える」→ 商品を変えず**名前・カテゴリ・並べる比較対象**を変える。例：同じサービスを "格安プラン" ではなく "○○専用の上位プラン" として上位帯の隣に置く。
- 「月額3万円が高いと言われる」→ 値下げ（高い解）の前に**メンタルアカウンティング**で言い換え："1日あたり約1,000円"、"スタッフ1人雇うより安い" など、落とす財布を変える。
- 葬儀/シニア領域：「"低価格" を全面に出すと逆に不安がられる」→ フレームを "安い" から "明朗・追加費用ゼロの安心" へ。価格そのものではなく、価格が置かれている意味（不安 vs 安心）を作り直す。

## Cross-check against the canon

Sanity-check any reframe against these; if it contradicts one, name the contradiction and justify it. When a claim is load-bearing or the user asks for evidence or fresh examples, web-search the named theory or case and cite what you find.

- **Kahneman & Tversky, prospect theory / framing effect** — losses loom roughly twice as large as gains; decide whether the frame should present a gain or an avoided loss.
- **Richard Thaler, mental accounting** — every price lands in a mental pocket; a good reframe names which pocket it moves the cost into.
- **Al Ries & Jack Trout, *Positioning*** — the frame lives in the prospect's mind, not in your copy; reframe relative to what's already there.
- **Cialdini's contrast principle** — whatever sits next to the thing sets its value; check what the new frame makes the customer compare it against.

## Related skills

- **psycho-logic** — the router; start there to confirm reframing is the right lever
- **costly-signaling** — when the problem is trust/desire rather than meaning, send a signal instead
- **counterintuitive-tests** — validate a reframe cheaply before committing
- **marketing-psychology** — anchoring, framing effect, mental accounting, contrast effect in detail (separate plugin — only if installed)