Negotiating via tex massaging

– 61 — Negotiation via Text Messaging Noam Ebner* Editors’ Note: “Never!” That’s the typical reply, says the author, when he queries a negotiator about negotiating through text messages Not so fast, Ebner says—look closely at how your day goes and how your various forms of communication fit together, and you may well find yourself already handling part of that traffic via text Furthermore, he says, in the future you can expect to use this medium more, as more and more of your counterparts depend on it Yet negotiating via text is significantly different even from email negotiation Ebner walks you through the assets, and the liabilities Negotiation via Text—Who, Me? Many professionals I speak with regarding negotiation via text messaging are surprised, saying they would never commit negotiation processes to this medium I don’t press the point But if I did, I’d recall hearing the same responses ten years ago, with regards to negotiating via email, and that they petered out quickly as use of this medium spread [see NDR: Ebner, Email] With young professionals and students, on the other hand, any surprise is limited to “Hey, that’s right—I never thought of it that way!” If any of the three conversations captured below is familiar to you, you already negotiate via text messaging If not, I’d suggest, you will in the future—and soon Noam Ebner is a professor in the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program, at Creighton University’s Department of Interdisciplinary Studies Previously an attorney and a mediator, he has taught mediation and negotiation in a dozen countries around the world He was among the first teachers to engage in online teaching of negotiation and conflict studies, and to explore the potential for Massive Open Online Courses in these fields Noam’s research interests include online negotiation and dispute resolution, trust and its role in dispute resolution, negotiation pedagogy and online learning Noam can be contacted at NoamEbner@creighton.edu; his work can be found at ssrn.com/author=425153 Electronic copy copy available at:at:https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 Electronic available https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 134 NEGOTIATION VIA TEXT MESSAGING Electronic copy copy available at:at:https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 Electronic available https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 THE NEGOTIATOR’S DESK REFERENCE 135 Entire Negotiations, or Elements of Negotiation In saying that many of us already negotiate via text messaging, I take into account that in many cases, multiple media are used over the course of a negotiation—and that text often plays a role even when it is not the primary negotiation medium While negotiation is sometimes entirely conducted through text messaging, in many other cases, this medium supports negotiation processes being held through other media The nature of this support varies from case to case A text message might call attention to the primary communication medium (e.g “I tried to call you, but you weren’t in; please call me back so I can respond to your offer”) It might be the channel for a sub-negotiation that the negotiation process involves (e.g “I can’t meet you at six as you requested; come by my office at seven?”) It might provide a channel to bring another figure into a face-to-face negotiation (e.g., a prosecutor texting his boss to ask her authorization to a plea bargain being cut on the courthouse steps) [Suggestions for when text messaging should be the medium of choice for different purposes can be found in NDR: Schneider & McCarthy, Communication Choices] Such use of text messaging for supporting all, most, or some of the negotiation process can be illustrated by the following two demonstrations of how text messaging is woven into the professional practices of two attorney colleagues of mine—with quite different approaches to its role in their negotiation activities with clients One attorney, specializing in expunging criminal records, generally conducts her initial client intake over the phone After a short conversation, she asks them to obtain a copy of their record (from the police, or the courts, depending on the case), take a picture of it using their mobile phone (this document is generally 2-4 pages long), and send it to her via WhatsApp, the most common messaging app in her area Having received and reviewed the records, she responds through WhatsApp to coordinate another call, in which she and her client discuss the situation and decide what services are necessary Her fee is discussed and agreed to on the phone, and a fee contract is delivered via fax or email As text messaging has already become a normal part of their interaction, most future interactions are initiated with WhatsApp—setting meetings, clarifying timetables, etc Many of these interactions involve negotiation, and while she does her best to avoid negotiating the fee itself via text, other financial issues (payment schedule, payment method and more) are often negotiated through this medium Another attorney, specializing in immigration law, prefers to hear the client’s full story on the phone, rather than review documents early on Having heard the case, he promises the client to be in touch with a fee proposal He does this via text messaging—a brief message along the lines of “I’ll handle the case for $X” He prefers this method as it gives him time to consider the amount of effort the case might require, and a Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 136 NEGOTIATION VIA TEXT MESSAGING more relaxed space in which to organize his thoughts A conflict-averse person, he feels this also allows him to request higher fees than he could comfortably request in a face-to-face setting Clients sometimes text him back with agreement; other times, with a request for a discount; still other times, they request a phone conversation for this purpose Once a client agrees to the fee in principle, they receive a full, detailed, fee and services agreement by email What might best practices be for negotiating via text messaging? The negotiation literature’s cupboard is fairly bare, at this point in time This chapter will delve deeper into the wide variety of uses we have for this medium, noting how these uses are expanding Applying communication theory, it will explore how people’s capacity for text messaging is expanding together with their perception of its richness and effectiveness Exploring all this through a negotiation perspective will generate suggestions for how to become an effective text messaging communicator in negotiation contexts We Do Text a Lot, Don’t We? Negotiation activity is only one area in which text messaging plays a much more significant role today than it did just a few years ago; we have woven it into the very fabric of our interactions Research now shows that everybody texts While text messaging frequency is inversely related to age (causing generational differences, which will be discussed below), we all use this medium to some extent (Forgays, Hyman and Schreiber 2014) The more our use of this medium increases, the more likely we are to use it for increasingly significant interactions, including negotiation interactions To understand just what types of interaction are intended by the term “text messaging,” let’s review a bit of our recent interactional history Casting a Wide Net for Text Messaging While text messaging of sorts has been around since humans etched characters on rocks, this chapter discusses messaging taking place via information technology The past twenty years have offered different methods to conduct such interaction, each enjoying its moment in the spotlight Peer-to-peer interaction via “instant messaging” programs became popular in the mid-1990s with the spread of AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, and other platforms While some programs allowed for more robust interactions beyond conveying text (such as transferring files), their primary use, in practice, was allowing text-based conversations, supported by a limited range of emoticons In that same period, chat rooms allowed multiple users to discuss, through text conversations, specific topics or shared interests Somewhat in parallel, Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging debuted on mobile phones in the mid-1990s and proliferated in the early 2000s Further boosts to text Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 THE NEGOTIATOR’S DESK REFERENCE 137 messaging were provided by instant messaging—like functions offered by Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks Text messaging-related divides between mobile phones, smartphones, mobile devices and computers then diminished (e.g., many mobile providers now allow subscribers to send SMS messages from their computers; a single Facebook account can be used to message on multiple devices connected to the internet) For the purposes of this chapter, all such interactions are bundled together under the term “text messaging” Writing in 2017, the current chapter in text messaging’s evolution incorporates two branches: the spread of mobile-based messaging systems combining elements of social networks and SMS, and the devolution of some email platforms into media resembling text messaging more than they traditional email With the spread of the smartphone, typical phone-based text messaging—once primarily in the form of SMS text messages, limited to 140 characters—has evolved into a much richer medium, with much wider capacity for communication Messaging apps (e.g., WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram) are displacing SMS as the primary means for quick communication These apps allow for much richer communication than text messaging—longer messages, embedded pictures, video clips and other multimedia, and more They facilitate group discussions, with ease As they work over the internet rather than over phone systems, they allow access even when cellular service is not available (or comes at high cost) In many contexts, messaging systems which cast aside the formalities of email are on the rise The distinctions in functionality and capacity between these and other messaging systems embedded in social networking platforms (e.g., Facebook’s messaging system) as well as in other online platforms (such as online learning management systems) are increasingly blurred More stylized and somewhat more versatile and formal systems are making quick advances in the business world; corporations are adopting and branding internal platforms for intra-organizational communication (see Baldwin 2014) As some email systems devolve into messaging systems on the one hand, and text messaging gains richness and flexibility on the other, we face an emerging array of primarily text-based communication systems perceived to be less formal than email—yet still supporting substantial interaction Negotiation interactions certainly already take place over intra-organizational email-like systems They also take place over phonebased text messaging, as discussed above My decision to include all these types of messaging systems under “text messaging,” for the purposes of understanding this medium’s uses for negotiation, does not intend to imply that differences don’t exist Indeed, I look forward to research delineating between such tools, based on meaningful distinctions For the purposes of this chapter—a first attempt to apply a negotiation lens to text messaging—I will settle for Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 138 NEGOTIATION VIA TEXT MESSAGING acknowledging this, and continue painting with a broad brush Casting this wide net will allow drawing in a larger body of research on text-focused interactions, and applying it to a wider range of text-focused negotiation interactions Generally speaking, very little is known about negotiation through such systems; what limited research there is has focused on computer-based instant messaging in contrived and controlled settings So much has changed since then—in terms of the hardware typically used, the functionality of the messaging platforms, environmental factors (most of your text messaging no longer takes place as you sit at your desk, and you don’t often set an agreed and dedicated time to engage in a text messaging exchange), and more—that such research needs to be applied with caution In order to expand the available base of knowledge, I will foray beyond the negotiation literature and couch negotiation via text messaging against a background of communication theory Text Messaging Surprises Communication Theorists Text messaging’s specific applications and challenges as a tool for negotiation relate to its nature as a communication medium in a more general sense What are its major attributes, and in what areas is it significantly different from other media? These attributes create unique “media effects”—elements altering the communication loop on either end, resulting in messages being sent, and understood, differently, owing to the medium through which they were conveyed As I’ve noted elsewhere, a large body of research shows that: The communication channel through which negotiations are conducted is neither passive nor neutral; it affects what information negotiators share, and how that information is conveyed, received and interpreted [NDR: Ebner, Email] To explain the media effects of text messaging, I will first apply a model of communication theory called Media Richness Theory Media is “rich” to the extent that people using it as a communication channel can convey “understanding-changing” information within a limited time period; it is “lean,” to the degree that they cannot The more conducive the medium is to a mutual learning process developing for parties using it for communication, the richer it is Richer media offer more channels for cues to pass through (sight, sound, smell, hearing, and taste) and more types of communicative cues (verbal, non-verbal, visual) It primes and allows users to employ more types of language (e.g., natural, formal, or technical) and allows them to personalize their messages It allows higher degrees of interactivity, i.e., it supports providing instant feedback between communicators (Daft Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 THE NEGOTIATOR’S DESK REFERENCE 139 and Lengel 1984) This notion of instant feedback involves the nature of the medium’s interactivity: Is interaction synchronous or asynchronous? Is it sequential, involving parties taking turns? It also incorporates the notion of parallel processing—does the medium support both parties transmitting and receiving simultaneously? (see Bhappu and Barsness 2006) Media Richness Theory suggests that the richer the medium, the more conducive it is to clear, unequivocal communication, reducing uncertainty and ambiguity Richer media are therefore more suited to complex tasks requiring and precise comprehension They are more conducive to tasks requiring relationship-building based on mutual understanding, in order to avoid conflict and its escalation Negotiation is an excellent example of such a task Looking at text messaging through a media richness lens, it would seem to fall into a category of somewhat lean media, most closely compared to email Text messaging seems to fall below email on some indicia of richness, whereas it enjoys advantages over email on others Communicating through text messaging, parties are denied some of the nonverbal cues common in emails—e.g bolding, underlining or italicizing text, using different fonts or font sizes, utilizing bullets, numbering or paragraph-separation to convey intent and facilitate proper interpretation Parties are left with straight text, augmented only by the ability to write in capital letters, and emoticons In some forms of text messaging, messages are limited to 160 characters, further diminishing richness This tends to guide many into using informal language; indeed, adding any formality, even into text messages unfettered by character-count, requires some effort On the other hand, text messaging is conducive to short, snappy, responsive interactions, with a high degree of interactivity which sometimes involves some degree of parallel processing However, this is not always the case While messaging can be used in this way, it can also often be asynchronous, with long time-lags between interactions Elsewhere, I’ve discussed how the spread of smartphones has put our email inbox in our pockets, changing the nature of email synchronicity; I suggested that email has now become a semi-synchronous medium [NDR: Ebner, Email] I suggest that text messaging is also a semi-synchronous medium The difference between them on the synchronicity front might be a matter of perceptions and expectations; text messaging communicators may have higher expectations of synchronicity than they with email Given this application of media richness theory to text messaging, one might easily reach the conclusion that text messaging is a fairly lean medium, with low capacity for clear communication, open conversation, explicit and detailed interchanges, relationship-formation and trust-building Or, in short, not a very suitable medium for negotiation Surprisingly, some of the research conducted on text messaging as a communication and a negotiation medium runs counter to this concluElectronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 140 NEGOTIATION VIA TEXT MESSAGING sion This research has found that text messages tend to be linguistically simpler, more personal and more affective than phone calls, a seemingly richer medium (Holtgraves and Paul 2013) People have reported they feel more able to honestly express their feelings through texts, than through other media (Crosswhite, Rice and Asay 2014) Much of the research on text messaging has focused on students and young adults Indeed, for all the confusion this may cause an older generation, text messaging of one form or another has increasingly been a primary mode of communication for younger people for well over a decade now It is not just a coordination tool, or something to pass time with (under the table) in boring meetings—it is a communication channel through which people connect, interact, fight and make up—or break up (Forgays, Hyman and Schreiber 2014) They use it to maintain family relationships (Crosswhite, Rice and Asay 2014), form and support romantic relationships, and engage in sexual activity (see e.g Drouin and Landgraff 2012; Luo and Tuney 2015) It is such an integrated element of daily living that restraint from texting causes people to suffer anxiety (see e.g Skierkowski and Wood 2012) For many adolescents, texting is the last thing they before falling asleep (Troxel, Hunter and Scharf 2015) In short, many people, particularly younger people, use text messaging for a wide variety of purposes, and see it as suitable for affect-related tasks and tasks requiring cognitive effort as well as creativity What might explain the discrepancy between the suggestions of Media Richness Theory and these findings of actual practice? Texting: A Rich Medium, Especially if You Are Under 30 Two suggestions might explain the divergence of these findings from what would be expected based on a media richness analysis: Either text messaging is a richer medium than initially thought, or it is perceived by some to be a richer medium, and is therefore being used as one As it turns out, both of these are probably true Text messaging—particularly for those who began using it on pre-smartphone phones—was originally heavily text oriented Character-based emoticons, e.g., ;-) were the only cues that could be added —and their use was often discouraged However, as computer and smartphone-based messaging developed, text messaging evolved in terms of the cues it afforded Many phones and services now accommodate sending SMS with unlimited characters Messaging apps such as WhatsApp also have no character limitations, allowing users to send text messages as detailed as emails, should they choose to Twitter, the last holdout in this regard (its character limit had become part of its brand) has recently foregone character limitations in its direct messaging Ambiguous, character-based emoticons have given way to a wide range of Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 THE NEGOTIATOR’S DESK REFERENCE 141 colorful and even animated emoji Even basic phone-based text messages can include attachments—pictures, audio files, documents and more, which will be conveyed either as an SMS or as an MMS (multimedia messaging service) Messaging apps allow for sending multimedia-heavy files, incorporated into the flow of the message rather than as a separately-accessed attachment This paints a new picture—of a cue-rich medium, allowing multiple types of language usage In addition to the medium becoming richer, I suggest that text messaging, in particular, brings to light a strong subjective element of media richness It seems to be one particular mode of communication in which there is a very tangible generational divide I’ve noted above that research has found an inverse correlation between age and texting: The older you are, the less you text However, I suggest that numbers not truly capture the generational divide Adolescents and young adults use text messaging for different purposes, and in different ways, than older people do, and this is all related to a generational divide regarding how text messaging is perceived Findings on text messaging could be reconciled with Media Richness Theory, if our understanding of richness would involve a subjective measure: If someone sees text messaging as a rich medium, they will use it as one, and so effectively To understand the effects of such a subjective measure, I will introduce another communication model, Channel Expansion Theory, which contributes a subjective expansion to Media Richness Theory This theory suggests that media should not be measured in the abstract, focusing on specific richness characteristics Instead, richness has a subjective element; it is not dependent on inherent characteristics of the channel—but on how a particular user perceives the channel’s capacity for reducing equivocality and diminishing uncertainty These perceptions are based on each user’s experiences; the greater the user’s experience, the richer the medium will be perceived to be (Carlson and Zmud 1999) Experience is important, as it allows individual communicators to “develop associated knowledge bases that may be used to more effectively both encode and decode rich messages on a channel” (Carlson and Zmud 1999:155) Specifically, four types of experience build up such knowledge bases: experience with the medium, partner, topic and context The more you are experienced with a medium, the more you will understand about using it skillfully This will enhance your perception of its richness The more experienced you are with the topic under discussion, with the organizational context in which the discussion is being held, and with your counterpart, the more adept you will become with the tasks of coding and decoding the cues that are the building blocks of richer use, and of greater apparent richness, of the medium you are using A loop forms: You grow more skilled with using any medium as a rich medium with experience, and you perceive higher media richness as you grow more skilled with it Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 142 NEGOTIATION VIA TEXT MESSAGING Channel Expansion Theory, therefore, suggests that media richness is not static—it is dynamic, it is subjective, and it increases over time The more you use a medium, the more things you will be able to use it for, and the better you will be able to identify and decode rich elements that less experienced users might be blind to This would explain why teens and young adults (as well as some less-young adults) are able to communicate very explicitly through emoji, understanding the differences in nuance between a dozen different smiley faces and having a vocabulary of emoji to demonstrate a variety of emotions or to call to mind a wide range of situations and places People less experienced with texting might easily dismiss this as frivolous or ambiguous—which it sometimes is—without appreciating the rich package of intent and meaning it conveys, and conveys well—provided that the coder and decoder are both experienced with the medium as a rich medium.1 Channel Expansion Theory has been tested through a number of empirical studies, holding true across a range of media, including instant messaging (D’Urso and Rains 2008) A final theoretical model contributing to understanding of text messaging is that of Use Richness Whereas Channel Expansion Theory explores perceived media richness, capturing users’ perceptions about a medium’s capabilities, Use Richness Theory reflects users’ behaviors regarding the medium’s capability It suggests that communicators are more likely to utilize the communication medium features when these are perceived to be capable of supporting their communicative tasks (Anandarajan et al 2010) Use richness is not limited to measuring how often a user employs the communication medium in general, but also explores the extent to which a sender utilizes any and all of the capabilities of a given communication medium to broaden communication bandwidth in ways that eliminate ambiguity and reduce uncertainty These include utilizing any features allowing instant feedback, conveyance of nonverbal cues, personalization of messages and alternation between language types This theory provides additional closure to the loop described above: Media richness is determined subjectively by users’ experience with it; users gather such experience through accumulating instances of actual use; actual use of a medium increases with increased perception of the medium as rich enough to facilitate mutual understanding In the emoji-related example given above, Media Richness Theory and Channel Expansion Theory explained why some people are so skilled at conveying and decoding meaning through emoji; Use Richness Theory explains why they continue to get better at this, and why they are likely to use emoji across an ever-widening span of interactions This also explains why, even if you think that text messaging is largely frivolous, or only to be used for short notifications or to send an address and a phone number, others see it as a rich, multifunctional, Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 THE NEGOTIATOR’S DESK REFERENCE 143 high-capacity tool to be used across a wide range of contexts The subjective nature of media richness and adoption therefore explains why text messaging’s spread to business and formal contexts, including widespread negotiation activity, is inevitable and unpreventable—your assumptions about appropriateness notwithstanding Appropriate? Depends Who You Ask As this chapter begins to segue into the latter half of the theory-to-practice flow, I’d like to acknowledge, and assuage, a feeling I know some readers may experience—both in reading about users’ behavior when communicating via text-messaging, and while experiencing those behaviors in real life The material discussed above suggests that there are several divides with regards to text messaging: Generational, experiential and contextual When someone uses a communication medium in a way we are not accustomed to, we might cognitively categorize this to be inappropriate behavior Beyond this, we might emotionally experience a jolt of annoyance or feel affronted With regards to text messaging, I experienced this myself, the first time a student texted me to ask for an extension on a paper’s deadline, and included a “;-)” as part of her explanation I felt it again the first time a counterparty texted me his counterproposal for the sum of child support his client would pay Others have shared experiencing this same type of reaction with me, across a number of divides For example, when others text them on formal business issues, text them late at night, or text them on a private line, as opposed to a work phone, they are annoyed Or, for another category of examples—when others use abbreviated spelling (common to texting, but uncommon in formal settings), adopt informal language, or incorporate emoji I am not recommending that anyone adopt any of these behaviors, as a necessary element or form of text communication However, my first piece of practical advice is, should you find yourself on the receiving end of any such behaviors, and, as a result, you experience annoyance or feel disrespected: get over it By “get over it” I don’t intend that this must become a new norm you allow If you think such communication is unsuitable, inappropriate, or lowers effectiveness, deal with it through setting organizational norms, or by direct or indirect channeling of communication For example, when negotiation counterparts contact me via Facebook Messenger, I respond by asking them to send me an email so that I’ll remember to deal with it when I’m at work However, I recommend recognizing the real causes for your annoyance, and abandoning a direct effort to educate the offender on why they are offensive Our assumptions about what is appropriate and what is not are rooted in our own culture and experience, and augmented by the false consensus bias which, generally speaking, leads us to assume that our opinions, views, and judgements are more or less shared Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 144 NEGOTIATION VIA TEXT MESSAGING by everyone else (Ross, Greene and House 1977) We may have grown up in a world in which bad news was delivered in person and not by email; birthday wishes were sent by a card in the mail and not by three words on a Facebook wall; and people in a hierarchal system needing information from their boss sent them an internal memo and received a response three days later We may have read a corporate memo a decade ago, informing us that emoticons are unsuitable for business communication—and find it hard to understand why people are ignoring that memo Remember, however, that these assumptions—and their resulting delineation of appropriateness—are all in our minds If you desire others to conform to them, clarify your view of the boundaries of appropriateness; don’t expect others to guess them, or take for granted their inherent sharing of those boundaries Unless you have clarified those boundaries explicitly, not infer disrespect, inappropriateness, unprofessional communication or uncouth behavior Best Practices—And the Path to Improvement Whatever your views on its appropriateness, you are likely to find yourself negotiating via text messaging, in one form or another, soon—and increasingly often Sometimes, this will be of your own choosing [on how to conduct such media choice when you have the luxury of doing so, see NDR: Schneider & McCarthy, Communication Choices]; in others, it will just be the way things play out Elsewhere, [NDR: Ebner, Email] I’ve made recommendations for best practices in negotiation via email, some of which are very likely to be pertinent to text messaging as well, given their shared characteristics as somewhat lean media with semi-synchronous interactivity Below, I will list a number of recommendations for good practices relating to text communication specifically, based on the discussion above, specific research, and experience (my way of inviting readers to learn from my own mistakes) Fast typist? Play to your strengths: Research exploring computer-based instant messaging and chat—near-synchronous communication channels—has shown that messaging is a conducive medium for negotiators who are “fast-talkers.” They are able to utilize pre-planned arguments to dominate the conversation and to elicit concessions In email exchanges, the slowed-down pace allows people to protect themselves against competitive fast-talkers; in messaging exchanges, their counterparts are left at a loss to respond, and therefore make concessions (Lowenstein et al 2005) While, of course, counterparts may choose to slow down the interaction and not respond to your message immediately, they might be drawn into a synchronous, rapid-pace exchange anyway Punctuation matters, period In lean media, we strain to infer meaning from any cues we can One recent piece of research shows that Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 THE NEGOTIATOR’S DESK REFERENCE 145 text messages ending with a period tend to be judged, by their recipients, as less sincere (Gunraj et al 2016) Unless you are intentionally adopting a very formal style, forgo periods Always Use synchronicity for rapport-building: The lack of visual cues, and the text-focused medium, affect the way your counterparty perceives you Social distance forms, leading to suspicion and sinister attribution This all has the potential to challenge rapport-forming, the precursor of interparty trust [See NDR: Ebner, Email] Near-synchronous interactions can go a long way towards reducing this sense of distance You don’t always need to respond to a text message the moment it is received; often, you will want to consider it, or wait for an opportune moment to respond However, even one protracted near-instant back-andforth session, which has you both waiting “on the line” to see what the other is typing (on some platforms, you are even notified that the other is typing a response, even if you cannot yet see it) can create a powerful sense of social presence—and facilitate rapport Double-check the spell-checker: While employing spell-checkers is generally a good idea when communicating via text, spell-checkers —particularly those installed on mobile phones—are notoriously prone to the wrong thing at the wrong moment Making an offer to your counterpart, you would not want the autocorrect feature to add another zero on to your offer! Spell-checkers are often programmed to recognize your own language and its usage and add it to its dictionary—which might result in it preferring words that are unsuitable, inappropriate, or downright offensive—and inserting them even when you typed the intended word in correctly The internet is full of horror stories of spellchecker mishaps; my own first negotiation-via-text spellchecker incident occurred when I once suggested to a counterpart that “I think this would be a good time to share our BATNA’s with each other.” My autocorrect changed the acronym BATNAs (Best Alternatives to Negotiated Agreement) to BANTHAS (a woolly, horned, elephant-sized creature native to the sunny planet of Tatooine); my suggestion that we share these with each other received the electronic equivalent of a raised eyebrow Text more than you currently do: Negotiators would be wise to increase their own texting activity The more experience you have using text messaging apps on your smartphone to communicate with your family and friends, the better an edge you will have when it comes to negotiating though this medium This has been borne out directly with regards to negotiating via email: Negotiators with higher rates of email affinity (including email preference, email comfort and email clarity, or their ease of understanding and conveying thoughts using email) directly increased individual and joint gains, and were able to affect the way issues are subjectively valued in negotiation (Geiger and Parlamis 2014) Channel Expansion Theory suggests that this would hold true for other media as well Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 146 NEGOTIATION VIA TEXT MESSAGING Learn the characteristics of the platform: Different messaging platforms give you different types of capacities and information For example, WhatsApp lets you know when the last time your counterpart opened the application was—allowing you to keep tabs on their activity Phone-based SMS messaging does not provide this information WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other messaging services indicate whether your counterpart has read a message you have sent them SMS services not Not only should you familiarize yourself with what you might be able to learn from the system about your counterpart’s actions; think about this through a defensive frame as well, in order to not to accidentally let the system divulge information about you which you would prefer not to share At the very least, in addition to the characteristics of your own preferred messaging platform, learn the nature of your phone’s basic SMS delivery system SMS currently remains the default text-messaging option for two people who not tend to use the same messaging platform, or who are not able to connect with each other through one they share Use the system beyond-the-basics: Don’t settle for using the medium the same way, multiple times Use Richness Theory suggests that actual use of the different capabilities of the medium will enhance your overall effectiveness with it, more than repetitive use of the basic features Even if you don’t find it suitable to use emoticons or emoji, practice browsing through the icons your phone offers, and consider which emoji you would insert if you did use them This will give you a better understanding of your counterpart’s intentions, when they text you “Have you considered my offer? Don’t take too long ;-)” Consider using the dark side: If it suits your style of negotiation, you might consider using expressions of anger, strategically Research has shown that expressions of anger may have unique effects via text messaging; responding with an expression of anger to a counterpart’s behavior and offers might lead them to make a larger ending concession (Johnson and Cooper 2015; also see Johnson, Cooper and Holowczak 2016) Examples might be “I can’t believe you’re asking for another discount—we’ve been over this before and I’ve told you I can’t!!! How many times I need to tell you no???” or “First you disappear on me for a month, and then you show up with that insulting offer!!! This is going nowhere!!!” Maybe we think too much for our own good: Using lean media, our strain to infer meaning can carry us away For example, if we see our counterpart has read our message, we might wonder why they have not yet responded As time goes by, we may feel anxious, and infer that they are up to something In reality, of course, they may not have noticed our message, they may prefer to respond when they have cleared quiet time to concentrate, or they may have read it while driving, and are still sane enough to put off responding until they have parked Another example might be us noticing that the other party is responding in 1-2 word Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 THE NEGOTIATOR’S DESK REFERENCE 147 messages, and inferring that they are curt, rude, or annoyed with us In reality, they might be using a phone on which it is less convenient to type than on your own; they might be prioritizing providing us quick answers over later ones, or they might be typing under the table at a meeting, and are keeping it short to avoid getting caught A good rule to remember, in text messaging, is that we infer more than they intend They infer more than we intend: Help your counterpart avoid such overthinking, too If you receive a text and know you can’t fully respond right now, “touch base” with a text saying “Got your offer, will sit down with it tonight” in order to keep the other’s mind in the right zone If you are in the middle of a near-synchronous back-and-forth exchange and need to leave, don’t disappear; explain your leaving, such as by writing “Called into meeting with boss now; I’ll ask her about your proposal and we can continue this later.” Teachers? Encourage In-Class Texting One final recommendation aims at negotiation educators: Incorporate negotiation via text messaging into your course If you have not yet been convinced of its importance, ask your students what they think—and they will likely tell you that they it all the time All it would take, to introduce the topic and connect it to the rest of the material in a negotiation course, is an out-of-class negotiation simulation conducted via text-messaging—and follow-on in-class discussion of it Use a simulation reflecting real-life, everyday text messaging use—in some locales, a typical car sales/purchase bargaining negotiation would be suitable You can ask students for a topic they have experienced negotiating via text—and you may be surprised by the variety of their answers Choose one, and write a simulation-game contextually suitable for text messaging (for the importance of such context/medium matching, and general suggestions for conducting simulations at-a-distance, see Matz and Ebner 2011) Another way to generate exercise ideas, or actual simulations, even as students engage in a learning activity, is to have students choose a situation that they view as suitable for text messaging, and design role information for a simulation-game centering on it (see Druckman and Ebner 2008; Druckman and Ebner 2013) Finally, students could also conduct a longer-term negotiation in which they are allowed full discretion as to media choice, and instructed to communicate as they would in real life—with the debrief specifically exploring the multiple ways in which parties communicated—including texting, email, and face-to-face meetings Notes Perhaps the richness of this medium to those viewing it as rich might be demonstrated by the National Young Writers Festival soliciting submissions of stories written solely in emoji-form (see http://theconversation.com/storytelling-with-awink-and-a-smile-the-arrival-of-the-emoji-pocalypse-48308 Emoji are developing as a Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 148 NEGOTIATION VIA TEXT MESSAGING language in their own right, displaying signs of syntax, order, preferred usages and more (see e.g., Robb 2014) References Anandarajan, M., M Zaman, Q Dai and B Arinze 2010 Generation Y Adoption of Instant Messaging: An Examination of the Impact of Social Usefulness and Media Richness on Use Richness IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 53 (2): 132-143 Baldwin, H 2014 Instant Messaging is Going Corporate Forbes, February 17, 2014 Available online at http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardbaldwin/ 2014/02/17/instant-messaging-is-going-corporate/#2715e4857a0b621bd3e26541 (last accessed January 16, 2016) Bhappu, A D and Z I Barsness 2006 Risks of email In The Negotiator’s Fieldbook: The Desk Reference for the Experienced Negotiatior, edited by A K Schneider and C Honeyman Washington, DC: American Bar Association Carlson, J R and R W Zmud 1999 Channel Expansion and the Experiential Nature of Media Richness Perceptions The Academy of Management Journal 42(2): 153-170 Collister, L 2015 Storytelling with a Wink and a Smile: The Arrival of the Emojipocalypse The Conversation Available online at http://theconversation.com/ storytelling-with-a-wink-and-a-smile-the-arrival-of-the-emoji-pocalypse-48308 (last accessed June 20, 2016) Crosswhite, J M., D Rice and S M Asay 2014 Texting Among United States Young Adults: An Exploratory Study on Texting and its use Within Families The Social Science Journal 51(1): 70-78 D’Urso, S C and S A Rains 2008 Examining the Scope of Channel Expansion: A Test of Channel Expansion Theory with New and Traditional Communication Media Management Communication Quarterly 21(4): 486-507 Daft, R L and R H Lengel 1984 Information Richness: A New Approach to Managerial Behavior and Organizational Design Research in Organizational Behavior 6: 191-233 Drouin, M and C Landgraff 2012 Texting, Sexting, and Attachment in College Students’ Romantic Relationships Computers in Human Behavior 28(2): 444-449 Druckman, D and N Ebner 2013 Games, Claims, and New Frames: Rethinking the Use of Simulation in Negotiation Education Negotiation Journal 29(1): 61-93 Druckman, D and N Ebner 2008 Onstage or Behind the Scenes? Relative Learning Benefits of Simulation Role-play and Design Simulation & Gaming 39(4): 465-497 Forgays, D K., I Hyman and J Schreiber 2014 Texting Everywhere for Everything: Gender and Age Differences in Cell Phone Etiquette and Use Computers in Human Behavior 31: 314–321 Geiger, I and J Parlamis 2014 Is There More to Email Negotiation than Email? The Role of Email Affinity Computers in Human Behavior 32: 67-78 Gunraj, D N., A M Drumm-Hewitt, E M Dashow, S S N Upadhyay and C M Klin 2016 Texting Insincerely: The Role of the Period in Text Messaging Computers in Human Behavior 55(B): 1067–1075 Holtgraves, T and K Paul 2013 Texting Versus Talking: An Exploration in Telecommunication Language Telematics and Informatics 30(4): 289-295 Johnson, N A and R B Cooper 2015 Understanding the Influence of Instant Messaging on Ending Concessions During Negotiations Journal of Management Information Systems 31(4): 311-342 Johnson, N A., R B Cooper and R D Holowczak 2016 The Impact of Media on How Positive, Negative, and Neutral Communicated Affect Influence Unilateral Concessions During Negotiations European Journal of Information Systems Available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2016.4 (last accessed June 20, 2016) Luo, S and S Tuney 2015 Can Texting be Used to Improve Romantic Relationships? The Effects of Sending Positive Text Messages on Relationship Satisfaction Computers in Human Behavior 49: 670-678 Matz, D and N Ebner 2011 Using Role-play in Online Negotiation Teaching In Venturing Beyond the Classroom edited by C Honeyman, J Coben, and G De Palo St Paul: DRI Press Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 THE NEGOTIATOR’S DESK REFERENCE 149 Robb, A 2014 How Using Emoji makes us Less Emotional: And What Linguists Say it Means if Your Smiley Face Has a Nose New Republic Available online at https://newrepublic.com/article/118562/emoticons-effect-way-we-communicate -linguists-study-effects (last accessed June 20, 2016) Ross, L., D Greene and P House 1977 The “False Consensus Effect”: An Egocentric Bias in Social Perception and Attribution Processes Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 13(3): 279-301 Skierkowski, D and R M Wood 2012 To Text or Not to Text? The Importance of Text Messaging Among College-aged Youth Computers in Human Behavior 28(2): 744-756 Troxel, W M., G Hunter and D Scharf 2015 Say “GDNT”: Frequency of Adolescent Texting at Night Sleep Health 1(4): 300-303 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104734 ... negotiating via text—and you may be surprised by the variety of their answers Choose one, and write a simulation-game contextually suitable for text messaging (for the importance of such context/medium... negotiation literature and couch negotiation via text messaging against a background of communication theory Text Messaging Surprises Communication Theorists Text messaging’s specific applications... suggestions for how to become an effective text messaging communicator in negotiation contexts We Do Text a Lot, Don’t We? Negotiation activity is only one area in which text messaging plays a much more