Negotiation residue: The affective transference of negotiation experience to a negotiated object

We draw from contagion theory to propose that the negotiation process affects negotiators’ attitudes toward the objects for which they negotiated. We demonstrate that the object negotiators obtain can carry an affective residue from the negotiation. Across two studies, we find that the pleasantness of the negotiation experience is positively related to negotiators’ fondness for the negotiated object. We first establish this relationship in a correlational study in which negotiator recalled a negotiation for a good and rated their fondness for this negotiated object (Study 1). We then manipulate buyers’ experience during a negotiation for water bottle by varying whether sellers behaved rudely or politely (Study 2). We find a positive relationship between the pleasantness of buyers’ experience during negotiation and their fondness for the water bottle. We discuss the implications of these findings for how we negotiate and whether we choose to negotiate at all.