Beyond Keeping It Neutral: How Discrete Emotions in Small Talk Shape Swift Trust among Strangers in Virtual Encounters

Abstract: We often negotiate with strangers online. In zero-acquaintance interactions, emotional cues conveyed in pre-negotiation small talk can facilitate swift trust, although lay beliefs and our qualitative pilot study (N = 67 MBA students) suggest such expressions should be limited and, if expressed, mainly positive. Across three negotiation experiments with different online panels of participants (N total = 1,444), we show that multiple emotions can facilitate swift trust, but via distinct pathways. Compared to a neutral partner, angry and relieved partners were perceived as more authentic, which was associated with higher trust. Relieved and happy partners elicited greater rapport, which in turn increased trust, whereas anger reduced rapport and indirectly undermined trust. Happy and relieved partners also increased identification, further promoting trust. Exploratory analyses of subjective value yielded parallel patterns, underscoring that discrete emotional expressions can carry different relational benefits and costs in virtual negotiations.

Keywords: Emotional expression; Online negotiations; Swift trust; Experimental research