Abstract (eng)
Previous research has shown that there is an interest in comparing negotiations with various communication modes. There are studies that examine the differences between electronic and face to face negotiations, however, little research has been done on analyzing the differences in the used language, and even less on doing this analysis with the help of text mining instead of human coding. This thesis attempts to close this gap in the literature by exploring the differences in the usage of several word categories between electronic and face to face negotiations by using the software program LIWC. Furthermore, the influence of the different negotiation phases and the interpersonal relationship on the language usage are examined. In addition, the correlation between the usage of certain word categories and the negotiation outcome is tested. The results of the empirical study showed that the usage rates of words conveying emotions, especially negative emotions, and exclusive pronouns (you) are higher in electronic negotiations than in face to face negotiations. On the other hand, the usage of agreeable language proved to be lower in electronic negotiations. Moreover, a positive correlation between the usage of agreeable language and a positive negotiation outcome was found, while the extensive usage of the exclusive pronouns showed to be correlated with a negative outcome.