Buyers and e-negotiations: which impact does the communication mode have on results, tactics and behaviour at the negotiation table?

Abstract

We compared E-negotiations with face-to-face negotiations in identical role play situations. E-negotiations seem to lead to a higher probability of failure compared to face-to-face negotiations, but lower results are somewhat less likely than in face-to-face negotiations. Moreover, E-negotiators are more likely to use more competitive tactics and less open communications modes than face-to-face negotiators, certainly towards the end of the negotiation. Thus E-negotiations are a better strategy for quick deals, when many alternatives are available to buyers, towards the end of the negotiations and when chances of success are very low. Our results confirm the fact that for large volumes and with many vendors E-auctions result in very low prices, but may have a negative impact on buyer-seller relationships. Thus a mediated effort to combine auctions with pre- and post-auction face-to-face contact and the use of multi-attribute auctions are also useful from a communication point of view. Selecting the right strategy between both communication modes is becoming essential for buyers, certainly in an era in which several modes are more than ever combined in everyday practice and in-between modes like video-conferencing are used more than ever.