Development of a model of rule use in negotiation interaction

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of negotiation rule use that incorporates both content and relational dimensions of communication and focuses upon interaction as the dependent variable. Fourteen negotiation rules are hypothesized to structure the negotiation interaction. From these rules fourteen interaction analysis categories are developed—with seven assessing how negotiators respond to one another and seven assessing how negotiators cue or constrain the opponent's next utterance. Interactions in mock negotiations are coded using this category scheme and placed into cue‐response transition matrices. The differences in interaction patterns among winners and losers are used to assess the extent to which the rules structure the negotiation interaction.