The Creativity Allocation Problem in Integrative Negotiation: Balancing Trade Optimization and Issue Generation

Abstract: Creativity is widely viewed as central to integrative negotiation because it enables agreements beyond compromise. Yet most experiments fix the issue set, making it hard to observe what creativity is used for when negotiators can also introduce issues. We distinguish trade optimization (discovering hard-to-see tradeoffs within known issues) from issue generation (expanding the issue space). When both are feasible, negotiators face a creativity allocation and sequencing problem: scarce attention must be distributed across processes, and early feedback can sustain one path or trigger a shift to the other. We investigate this problem in two planned Prolific experiments. Study 1 establishes a behavioral baseline by comparing fixed versus open issue structures and the presence versus absence of a generic creativity prompt, documenting how negotiators naturally allocate and sequence effort when both processes are available versus when they are not. Study 2 then compares common forms of guidance and a process-oriented intervention derived from Study 1 to assess how guidance redirects creative effort and shapes joint value. An LLM-based scoring layer enables open-ended offers with consistent payoffs.

Keywords: Integrative Negotiations; Creativity; Decision-Making