A consistency account of advice taking: Integrating the effects of advice consensus and advice distance

Which factors determine how individuals utilize advice? Previous research focused on either the consensus or the proximity of advice. We develop a general account of advice taking, arguing that both consensus and proximity influence the consistency (or variance) of the information on hand. From this account, we derive a number of predictions regarding the effects of consensus, distance, and amount of advice on confidence, judgment revision, and advice weighting. Across three experiments, we orthogonally manipulated the distance and consensus of advice. The amount of advice was either measured (Experiments 1 and 2) or manipulated (Experiment 3). The results provide strong support for our consistency account of advice taking. It allows explaining a complex pattern of findings that neither consensus nor proximity alone can account for. This research advances our theoretical understanding of advice taking, while adding to a broader literature that highlights the importance of consistency of information for judgment and decision making.