The Influence of Past Negotiations on Negotiation Counterpart Preferences

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.