Reimer,T.
Kuendig,S.
Hoffrage,U.
Park,E.S.
Hinsz,V.B.

Research on the Information Sampling Model (ISM) revealed that information items that are known to all group members at the outset (shared information) are more likely to be mentioned during discussion than information items that are only known to individual members (unshared information) (Stasser & Titus, 1985; Wittenbaum, Hollingshead, & Botero, 2004). In prior studies involving the ISM, groups typically functioned in a very specific information environment: All information items were provided in form of unique cues, which described only one of the choice alternatives among which the groups had to choose. Because this specific information environment may impact group discussions and decisions, we included an experimental condition incorporating common cues. In contrast to unique cues, common cues provide information on each and every choice option. As expected, groups in the common-cue condition showed a weaker sampling advantage for shared information, and chose the hidden-profile alternative more often than groups in the classic unique-cue condition.

Reimer, T., Kuendig, S., Hoffrage, U., Park, E., & Hinsz, V. B. (2007). Effects of the information environment on group discussions and decisions in the hidden-profile paradigm. Communication Monographs, 74, 1-28.

Publication year	2007
Document type:	Article
Publication status:	Published
External URL:
Categories:	Environment Structure
Keywords:	alternative-based decision strategycommunicationcue-based decision strategygroup decision makinggroup discussiongroup performancehidden profileinformation sharinginformation-sampling modelunique and common cues