The effects of culture in anonymous negotiations: experiment in four countries

Internet technologies are increasingly used in various forms of communication, including negotiations. The paper explores the cultural implications in anonymous inter- and intra-cultural electronic negotiations. The negotiations were conducted via Inspire, a Web-based negotiation support system, and involved 166 subjects from Austria, Ecuador, Finland, and Switzerland. Hypotheses are formulated concerning the influence of cultural differences on negotiators' ex ante expectations concerning the negotiations and their outcomes, the negotiation atmosphere and the negotiation process. The results confirm considerable cultural differences in both expectations and process, and only weak differences in negotiation atmosphere.