How We Get to Yes Matters! The Influence of Negotiation Tactics on Interpersonal Trust

Abstract: Trust is widely recognized as essential for effective negotiation, yet prior research has largely treated trust as an antecedent rather than an outcome. We reconceptualize trust as an emergent product of negotiation and examine how both negotiating itself and enacted tactics shape post-negotiation trust. Using a longitudinal field experiment in MBA courses, we collect pre- and post-negotiation measures of trust toward negotiation partners and non-negotiating classmates. Our difference-in-differences design isolates the causal effect of negotiating on perceived trustworthiness and assesses how specific tactics influence trust development. Conceptualizing trust as a multidimensional construct – ability, integrity, and benevolence— we distinguish interpersonal tactics from traditional integrative and distributive tactics. Results show that negotiation itself increases trust, while tactics exert dimension-specific effects: integrative tactics enhance ability, distributive tactics undermine integrity, and interpersonal tactics strengthen benevolence. We further examine how these tactics relate to negotiation outcomes, revealing alignment and tension between relational and economic effectiveness.

Keywords: Trust, Negotiation, Negotiation processes