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 gains, judgment revision, and advice weighting. In two experiments, we manipulated advice distance continuously and consensus orthogonally to distance, while observing the amount of advice that individuals sampled. 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.

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation under grants HU 1978/3–2 and HU 1978/7-1 awarded to Mandy Hütter.