The acquisition of information is crucial for animals during decision-making to survive and reproduce. Information can be acquired by individuals not only through their own trial and error but also from those of conspecific individuals, known as “social information.” The widespread reliance on social information raises a question of how the animals manage potential risks of social information use, such as errors and resource competition. It is expected that decision-makers utilize direct information from resources and modify their responses to social information accordingly. In the adzuki bean beetle Callosobruchus chinensis, we have found that the attractiveness to potential resources affects the usage of social information, i.e., the presence of conspecific eggs, in their decision making. In this study, we show that the social information is based on the beetles’ chemical recognition. Females avoided laying eggs onto beans that already had egg-sized dummy composed of some fatty acids, confirming previous studies. However, when females were provided bean-sized glass beads with and without the dummies, they preferred to add eggs onto beads with dummies. This study highlights the high flexibility in the decision-making of insects and provides a novel opportunity for studying their cognitive abilities.