Saturday's surprise six-wicket defeat in Wellington was followed by Tuesday's humiliating 10-wicket mauling in Hamilton, which was only the fourth time in England's one-day history they had lost by such a margin.
The desperate displays with the bat, ball and in the field at Seddon Park prompted Moores to temporarily drop the relaxed approach he has introduced to the England set-up since taking over from Duncan Fletcher at the start of last summer.
Instead, Moores spelt out his disappointment at their performances in no uncertain terms as England attempt to plot a way back into the five-match series, which continues at Eden Park on Friday.
"We had honest words and they can come across as hard, but you've got to be fair," stressed Moores. "There's a time and a place to say things and I think yesterday was a time for a reality check for everybody about what's required and we've done that.
"We had a decent talk, let's put it that way, and things needed to be said and the key for me is to use two tough days as a watershed to move on.
"We need to find why it happened, discover if there are some lessons to be learned, however tough they are, learn them and become a better team for it."
The last few days have been the toughest test of England's young team since they were assembled at the end of last summer and exceeded expectations by beating India at home and then triumphing in Sri Lanka last October.
They are, Moores admits, still a work in progress and may even have to have changes in personnel - possibly as early as Friday - before they are able to improve their level of performance.
But Moores believes there is enough talent there to still believe they can triumph in the remaining three matches of the series and complete a notable hat-trick of successive one-day series wins.
"We know the side is young and we know there is a chance they are going to be inconsistent," he conceded. "That is in no way trying to excuse the last two performances, but you are assessing people all along.
"We've got nine players in the squad under 25 so they will go through different things and we've also got some guys who have played quite a lot of one-day cricket who have to deliver as well.
"We're still in this series and we have to give it a real go to try and win three series in a row - that is important for this team.
"They've won two very tough series and been behind the eight ball before and they have to learn and show they can go out and fight. If they do that then they'll have won something else as a team together."
If they are to achieve such a stunning turnaround, however, they will need greater contributions from their senior players, none of whom have really fired in the opening two matches of the series.
Kevin Pietersen is yet to reach 30, Ian Bell has scored only five runs in the two matches and captain Paul Collingwood has contributed only 13 runs to the cause.
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