The importance of expectations on negotiation results

Investigation into negotiation has shown that there is a correlation between high expectations and the results attained: “the higher the expectations, the better the results”. This study investigates other effects of expectations on results including the influence of equally high expectations by both negotiators, the influence of the fallback position at which a negotiator is willing to settle, and the relative influence of high and low expectations on outcome, all of which are critical to managers who are negotiating either purchases or sales. In this study, negotiation experiments encompassing a total of 24 negotiations were conducted. The study demonstrated that the negotiator with the highest aspiration level did not necessarily win when both sides had similar aspiration levels. Moreover, it was found that maximum aspiration has a greater influence on positive outcome than minimum aspiration (fallback position) and that high aspiration has a greater influence on positive outcome than low aspiration.