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Article
The Influence of Past Negotiations on Negotiation Counterpart Preferences
Group Decision and Negotiation
  • Jochen REB, Singapore Management University
Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
8-2008
Abstract

Choosing the right counterpart can have a significant impact on negotiation success. Unfortunately, little research has studied such negotiation counterpart decisions. Three studies examined the influence of past negotiations on preferences to negotiate again with a counterpart. Study 1 found that the more favorable a past negotiated agreement the stronger the preference to negotiate with the counterpart in the future. Moreover, this relation was mediated through liking of the counterpart. Study 2 manipulated the difficulty of achieving a favorable agreement in the negotiation and found a significant effect of this situational factor such that subsequent counterpart preferences were less favorable when the negotiation was difficult. Similar to Study 1, this effect was mediated through liking of the counterpart. Study 3 examined the possibility of debiasing negotiator preferences from the biasing influence of situational characteristics by providing relevant information about the negotiation situation. Replicating the results of Study 2, negotiation difficulty affected counterpart preferences before additional information was given or when irrelevant information was given. However, once negotiators received relevant information on the negotiation situation, the effect of negotiation difficulty disappeared. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords
  • Interpersonal liking,
  • Negotiation,
  • Negotiation bias,
  • Negotiation counterpart decision,
  • Negotiation counterpart preference,
  • Negotiation preparation
Identifier
10.1007/s10726-008-9130-1
Publisher
INFORMS
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-008-9130-1
Citation Information
Jochen REB. "The Influence of Past Negotiations on Negotiation Counterpart Preferences" Group Decision and Negotiation Vol. 19 Iss. 5 (2008) p. 457 - 477 ISSN: 0926-2644
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jochen_reb/15/