Focality and Salience in Negotiations : Structuring the Conceptual Space

Title data

Schuessler, Rudolf:
Focality and Salience in Negotiations : Structuring the Conceptual Space.
In: Schuessler, Rudolf ; van der Rijt, Jan-Willem (ed.): Focal Points in Negotiation. - Cham : Palgrave-Macmillan , 2019 . - pp. 45-75
ISBN 978-3-030-27901-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27901-1_3

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Abstract in another language

In Chapter 3, Rudolf Schuessler analyses the differences between uses of focality in contexts of negotiation and game-theoretical coordination. The ability to communicate in negotiations is the most important difference between these two contexts. Schuessler argues in detail that this does not mean that focality and salience are obsolete in the context of negotiation. He identifies three crucial problems for the application of focal point analysis to negotiations – divergent perceptions of agents, ambiguous references to terms, and volatile or low expectations about the chances to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion – and illustrates the impact of these problems by analyzing various paradigmatic focal points, such as natural landmarks and contours of terrain (e.g. mountain ridges, rivers), simple or round numbers, axis of symmetry, geometrical or geographical centers.