Bargaining in the Shadow of Attorney Advice: The Effect of Defense Attorney Framing, Social Influence, and Source Credibility in Plea Decision Making

To expand knowledge around plea decision making, we drew upon theories of valence framing, social influence, and source credibility to explore the effects of goal framing, attorney recommendations, and attorney trust on acceptance of a plea offer and following attorney advice. Relying on two national samples, we fielded factorial vignettes manipulating these factors. Trustworthiness of the defense attorney was, by far, the most consequential factor in plea decision making. Respondents followed attorney recommendations when the attorney was presented as trustworthy and went against their advice when not trustworthy. Any goal frames established were inconsequential. The findings highlighted the importance of building trust in attorney-client relationships, which can overcome frames, cues, and heuristics at play in the context of decision making.