The Effects of Media Richness on Multilateral Negotiations in a Collaborative Virtual Environment

Abstract

Negotiations between three or more parties are more complex than dyadic negotiations concerning the integration of various interests. In this study, we investigated negotiation in a collaborative virtual environment. We focused specifically on communication channels and their impact on negotiation in three-person groups. Three conditions of media richness were varied in the collaborative virtual environment: text chat, audio channel, and a combination of both. Furthermore, various nonverbal signals and a function for taking notes were available to the participants in every condition. The results show that participants in the conditions with audio channel and with audio channel and text chat are more satisfied with the communication process and need less time to find a solution. The quality of the negotiated result does not differ between the conditions. Adding text chat to the audio channel does not enhance the potential of solving negotiation problems. Audio-based communication seems to meet the requirements of negotiating better than text chat in terms of a more satisfying and faster communication process.

Social Presence in Synchronous Virtual Learning Situations: The Role of Nonverbal Signals Displayed by Avatars

“…One experiment was conducted with groups of three persons (81 male and 30 female participants; mean age, 23 years), while the other experiment used groups of six (114 male and 24 female participants; mean age, 23 years). As predicted and in line with other studies (Hiltz et al 1986;Scheck et al 2008;Siegel et al 1986), the audio channel was used most often during collaboration in both experiments. In the conditions where the nonverbal signals were available, they were used significantly more often than the text channel.…”

“…For instance, speech bubbles containing text Fig. 3 Options window to adapt vitero to the needs of the learning situation chat messages can be provided or signals that help to identify who is talking in the audio channel, such as mouth movements or sound waves at the avatar's loudspeaker (Anderson et al 2001;Scheck et al 2008). Moreover, positive involvement of learners can be achieved, for example by providing feedback and cues for the nonverbal expression of emotions.…”

Ugly Duckling by Day, Super Model by Night: The Influence of Body Image on the Use of Virtual Worlds

“…Telepresence occurs when the perception of the mediated environment takes precedence over the unmediated one (Steuer, 1992). Virtual environments enhance telepresence by increasing interactivity and vividness (Coyle & Thorson, 2001;Steuer, 1992;Scheck et al, 2008). Interactivity is "the extent to which users can participate in modifying the form and content of a mediated environment in real time" (Steuer, 1992, p. 84), and is determined by the speed with which a medium can be manipulated, the range of ways content can be manipulated, the similarity between the mediated environment control and manipulation to the real world, and the ability to interact as if one was present in the mediated environment (Ha & James, 1998;Steuer, 1992).…”

From Letter to Twitter: A Systematic Review of Communication Media in Negotiation

“…To start with, descriptive process characteristics, such as negotiation time and amount of communication, may differ between communication modes. Overall, synchronous media with an audio channel, such as FTF, video, and telephone were found to need less time for finalizing a negotiation than text-based communication such as email or instant messaging (IM) in the majority of studies reporting negotiation time (Galin et al 2007;Geiger 2014;Mennecke et al 2000;Purdy et al 2000;Scheck et al 2008;Suh 1999;Wang and Doong 2014;Yang 2012). In From Letter to Twitter: A Systematic Review of Communication… a similar vein, computer support made text-based negotiation quicker compared to pencil and paper as witnessed by fewer offer rounds in a study by Mahenthiran et al (1993).…”