Asking Open-Ended Questions Increase Personal Gains in Negotiations

We analyzed 37’529 speech turns from 239 negotiations. We found the negotiators that asked more open-ended questions tended to get more favorable deals. In contrast, asking closed-ended questions was not beneficial to individual gains. At the turn level, open-ended questions elicit responses that are twice as long compared to close-ended questions and statements. Responses to open-ended questions partially explain why inquisitive negotiators gain more. This research contributes theoretically to the literature of the effect of question-asking in negotiation. Finally, it is the first empirical study that disentangles the effect of open vs. close-ended questions.