More than just words - The use and influence of discourse particles in the negotiation process

In this joint work a connection is made between negotiation research and linguistic research. Therefore, discourse particles in the context of negotiations with a sample of 34 parleys are investigated. The effects of the specific word’s nur (English ‘only’), auch (‘also’), bloß (‘mere’) and sogar (‘even’) are analysed. For this purpose, different application modes of discourse particles among the negotiating persons are distinguished and the resulting impact on the negotiation process (or in linguistics: the level of how the discourse unfolds) are measured. Implications of this paper will help to give guidance how language can be used more effectively in negotiation situations and further, in the long-term, to help the development of human-like negotiation bots.