Don't ask, don't tell: The problems with soliciting advice

Abstract

In everyday life, we are constantly bombarded with decisions: How should I invest my money? Which dessert should I order? What should I wear? Fortunately, we can turn to others for advice. We ask financial advisors whether we should invest in stocks or bonds; we ask waiters whether we should order the dacquoise or the tiramisu; and we ask our sartorially inclined friends whether this belt matches these shoes. Of course, asking for advice is simply one way to receive it. Sometimes others are so eager to offer their advice that they do so without being asked. This distinction between solicited and unsolicited advice raises two interesting questions. As advisors, does the quality of our advice change when we are solicited? And as advisees, do we respond similarly to solicited and unsolicited advice? The present work explores these questions and arrives at a paradox in advice giving. Solicited advice is, on average, worse than unsolicited advice, but once people have asked for advice, they heed it more. In a series of eight studies, I demonstrate that: 1) advisors are more confident and more accurate when providing unsolicited advice relative to solicited advice; 2) advisees incorporate solicited advice into their decisions more frequently and more completely than unsolicited advice; and 3) observers evaluate advice they overhear equally, regardless of whether or not that advice was solicited or unsolicited. Finally, I explore whether the act of soliciting advice lowers advisees’ confidence, thus driving them to incorporate solicited advice into their decisions more frequently.