The influence of ease of retrieval on information seeking in risky situations

This research was aimed to answer the question whether ease of retrieval affects the information seeking in risky situations. The study design is inspired by the study of Dijksterhuis, Macrae and Haddock (1999). However, in this study the effect of the ease of retrieval on information seeking in risky situations is examined for the first time. To test this, a questionnaire was made using items from other research (Verroen, Gutteling, & de Vries, 2013; Ter Huurne 2008; Witte, K., McKeon, J., Cameron, K. & Berkowitz, J., 1995). Participants were distributed in two conditions (easy retrieval condition and difficult retrieval condition). The results indicate no significant effect of the ease of retrieval on information seeking but did find a significant effect of information sufficiency on the ease of retrieval. The study is a first attempt in finding a relationship between the ease of retrieval and information seeking in the field of risk communication. The current findings indicate that there is no association between both variables. With the help of the recommendations, follow-up research will have to show to what extent this is true.