The Impact of Time Pressure and Information on Negotiation Process and Decisions

The amount of time available to reach an agreement, information about a negotiator's own position, and information about the opponent's position were manipulated in a simulated contract negotiation. As in decision making research, time pressure in negotiation was expected to decrease response time and change response strategy. Information was expected to be an advantage to negotiators when clarifying their preferences but a disadvantage if information about competing opponent interests was present. Results supported this expectation. Different patterns of concessions and in concessions and inconsistencies were found under high and low time pressure and type of information.