Facilitating information exchange in small decision-making groups

The present study examined the effects of several conditions on the information flow during unstructured discussion in small groups. We build on the experimental work of Stasser and his colleagues on information sampling. The results of their research suggest that groups often fail to exchange information effectively. Three experiments with a 2 x 2 factorial design were set up to look for conditions that could facilitate the exchange of unshared information in particular. In a first study, we replicated the experiment of Stasser and Titus (1987). The main results of the original study were confirmed; additional discussion content analysis of video-recorded material made further differentiation possible. Apart from the mere mentioning of items during discussion, the reactions to and the repetition of the items were analysed. In the second experiment we introduced partially shared information and we made group members aware of the unique information that they can contribute. In the third experiment the nature of the task was manipulated and an attempt was made to prevent an information bias in favour of decision-supporting items. Conditions that significantly enhance the dissemination of unshared information were found. An empirical basis was gathered so that the guidelines for effective information sampling as they were laid down by Stasser (1992) could be reformulated.