How Do You Ask Questions? The Effects of Confirmation versus Information Requesting Questions on Negotiation Outcomes

Abstract: This research delineates between the specific modes of information seeking – confirmation requesting questions and information requesting questions, and investigates how the relative frequencies of these specific information seeking behaviors differently affect negotiation outcomes. Drawing on the model of interpersonal intimacy, we predict that asking confirmation requesting questions signals more warmth than asking information requesting questions, leading to a more mutually beneficial outcome. Through coding the two information seeking behaviors in two buyer-seller negotiation simulations (N = 45 dyads in Study 1 and N = 64 dyads in Study 2), we found that when the seller asked more confirmation requesting questions (rather than information requesting question) to the buyer, the dyad was more likely to generate higher joint gains. This research advances theoretical knowledge about specific forms of information seeking and their distinct impacts on negotiation outcomes.

Keywords: Information seeking; Integrative negotiation; Joint gains