Jeanne Edwards works as a campaign manager at Rainforest Alliance Trust, a forest protection organization in Indonesia. She is currently working on the Palm Oil Campaign, which aims to establish stringent laws against companies which aggravate deforestation by extracting palm oil for commercial use. Her role is to establish allies with other forest protection organizations and companies which use eco-friendly products that set good examples for other companies to follow. Jeanne allied with Griffin and Powell, a large multinational company, which, unknown to Jeanne, also has strong ties with local logging groups in Jakarta. Which of the following, if true, would strengthen the argument that Jeanne had an availability bias while establishing an ally with the company?
A) Griffin and Powell ensures that all their CSR initiatives on forests are regularly and substantially publicized.
B) Jeanne has adequate experience in leading such campaigns.
C) Jeanne is well acquainted with various research techniques.
D) Jeanne has access to environmental records maintained by the Information Ministry.
E) Rainforest Alliance Trust has strong networks with local environmental research organizations.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is readily available to them refers to availability bias. If Griffin and Powell ensures that all their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on forests are regularly and substantially publicized, then this supports the argument that Jeanne has availability bias and made her decision to ally with the company after learning about their CSR initiatives. If Jeanne has adequate experience in leading such campaigns and is well acquainted with various research techniques, it weakens the argument because it would mean that she would tend to be unbiased while making decisions. If Jeanne has access to environmental records maintained by the Information Ministry, it would imply that she has access to a wide range of information and would not make a decision based on readily available information. If the Rainforest Alliance Trust has strong networks with local environmental research organizations, then this would also mean that Jeanne has access to a wide range of information and would not make a decision based on readily available information.

Jeanne Edwards Works as a Campaign Manager at Rainforest Alliance