Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to reexamine the effects of spatial distance on the psychological processes and behavior of negotiators found by Hatta and Ohbuchi, using a different measure of social presence. Participants were 20 undergraduate students, and negotiations were conducted via computer. They were assigned to either a close or remote condition. The results indicated that participants in the remote condition felt less social presence of the other, and exited from the negotiation task sooner than those in the close condition. It also was found that the less salient social presence was, the weaker was the effect of the negotiation continuation norm. The results of this study are in conformity with a previous study, showing that an increased physical distance weakens the sense of social presence and the effect of the normative expectation to continue negotiations, facilitating an early exit from negotiations.

Key words: Electronic negotiation, social presence, continuation norm, spatial distance, exit behavior.