Does pre-play social interaction improve negotiation outcomes?

Brañas-Garza, Pablo and Cabrales, Antonio and Mateu, Guillermo and Angel, Sanchez and Sutan, Angela (2020): Does pre-play social interaction improve negotiation outcomes?

Abstract

We study experimentally the impact of pre-play social interactions on negotiations. We isolate the impact of several common components of interactions: conversations, food, and alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. Participants perform a standardized negotiation (complex and simple) under six conditions: without interaction, interaction only, and interactions with water, wine, water and food and wine and food. We find that none of the treatments improves the outcomes over the treatment without interactions. We also study trust and reciprocity, where we find the same lack of superiority of interaction.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: negotiation, trust, business meals, social interactions, alcohol.
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C9 - Design of Experiments > C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy ; Regulation ; Public Health; M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M1 - Business Administration > M11 - Production Management

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