Improving Subjective Value in Construction Claim Negotiations: Role of Behavioral Primers

Abstract

Even though most studies have merely focused on the relationship between behavioral primers and objective value, subjective value plays an important role in evaluating negotiation outcomes. This study aims to investigate the influence of behavioral primers on subjective value in construction claim negotiations, with the purpose of improving the unbalanced status quo of objective and subjective value. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect required data from China, with a total of 226 valid questionnaires received. The results of hierarchical regression analyses show that both rationality-oriented and cooperation-oriented behavioral primers positively impact subjective value, while both task-oriented and competition-oriented behavioral primers exert negative impact. Neither relation-oriented nor emotion-oriented behavioral primers produce a significant effect. Finally, the authors provided management implications and future research directions. This study will not only enrich research on the relationship between behavioral primers and negotiation outcomes, but also contribute to selecting favorable behavioral primers contingently by practitioners. Therefore, subjective value would be improved, and cooperation between different parties would be promoted.