Raveendhran, R., Kim, T., & Ryu, J. The Role of Digital Channels in Predicting Objective and Subjective Negotiation Outcomes. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, forthcoming.    

Today’s hiring and workplace communications are increasingly occurring in the digital space, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In two preregistered experiments and an internal meta-analysis, we test the subjective and objective impact of two digital channels—video and synchronous text—that are popularly used in today’s workplace contexts. In doing so, we isolate the role that richness of digital channels plays in influencing negotiation outcomes while holding synchrony constant. Specifically, we predicted that negotiating via video (versus synchronous text) will foster better integrative outcomes and improve negotiators’ subjective outcomes. Results indicated that negotiating via video, compared to synchronous text, improved subjective outcomes such as satisfaction with the negotiation process, satisfaction with negotiation outcomes, favorable impressions about one’s negotiation partner, and willingness to negotiate with the same partner again in the future. Contrary to our predictions, we did not observe significant improvements in objective negotiation outcomes (i.e., integrative outcomes) as a result of negotiating via video (versus synchronous text), suggesting the possibility that the influence of digital channels on negotiations is primarily perceptual. We discuss implications of our findings for research on negotiations, the psychology of technology, and the future of work.