Gain without Pain: How to Make Optimal Negotiation Packages

Keywords: multi-issue negotiations, bargaining process, package deal strategies, experimental study

Abstract: In multi-issue negotiations, different issues can be negotiated separately or simultaneously in packages. Although some benefits of package strategies in negotiations have already been examined, recommendations on the concrete compilation of package offers remain rare. Whereas research on the optimal number and type of issues within an effective package exists, it remains questionable though, how package offers should be designed in detail to optimize negotiation outcomes. For example, it still has to be investigated if package offers should include only concessions or if negotiators should also lower their sights in regard to some issues, thereby making trade-offs. To pursue these questions on a theoretical and empirical base, we set up an experimental study to contrast different negotiation tactics with respect to concessions and demands within package offers. Moreover, our research focuses on the effects of different importance of issues within the package to derive specific recommendations for negotiation behavior respectively.