A field study on the role of ease-of-retrieval in procedural justice judgments

The present field experiment investigated how job applicants form procedural justice judgments. Drawing on previous research, we put forward the idea that individuals base their justice judgments not merely on content information (e.g., ‘What are fair aspects of the application process?’), but rely on the ease or difficulty with which this content information is retrieved (e.g., ‘How easily can I recall fair aspects of the application process?’). This assumption was tested in a field experiment, in which 517 job applicants evaluated a company’s online application procedure and indicated their justice perceptions. Results indicate that individuals rely on content information or ease-of-retrieval to form justice judgments. This finding was moderated by participants’ uncertainty about the online application procedure and their general experience with online applications. Experienced applicants who were certain based their judgment on ease-of-retrieval, whereas experienced applicants who were uncertain relied on content information. Inexperienced participants did not show a dominant reliance on either source. Implications for research on justice judgment formation as well as practical applications are discussed.