Debiasing omission neglect

Two experiments investigated the effectiveness of two new procedures for improving judgment by increasing sensitivity to missing information. When consumers are insensitive to important missing information, overly extreme product evaluations are formed. However, when consumers are sensitive to important missing information, they form more moderate and appropriate evaluations. Sensitivity to missing information was increased by encouraging consumers to consider their criteria for judgment before receiving product information (Experiment 1) and by asking consumers to rate presented and missing product attributes before providing overall product evaluations (Experiment 2). Both procedures were effective for improving judgment by reducing omission neglect.