Scope insensitivity and embedding are very often used synonymously. Carson
and Mitchell (1995) attempt to clarify the terminological confusion about the
correct use of the term embedding. They distinguish between the term “quantitative
nesting” (i.e., a larger value on a single scale) and “categorical nesting” (i.e., a
composition of e.g. two objects). However, the distinction between these two terms
is a relative one (Carson and Mitchell 1995). We adopt the following definition.
Scope insensitivity is present when respondents do not sensitively react to the extent
of improvements in a single risk to consumer safety but value the risk reduction in
general (Olsen et al. 2004). The term embedding refers to the phenomenon that
consumers do not respond adequately to health risk reductions for different diseases
or symptoms.