The Trap That Skilled Negotiators Miss

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In negotiations, first offers become psychological reference points, and people often fail to adjust far enough away from them, even though they are free to counter any amount they want.

Although the anchoring effect is well documented, what makes this bias so frustrating is that it persists even among skilled and experienced negotiators. It shows up in procurement, strategic deals, and executive compensation conversations — any situation in which one party gets a number on the table early and the other party must respond under time pressure.

If you’re preparing for an important negotiation, the standard advice is familiar: Do your homework, know your target, and don’t reveal too much too soon. Those suggestions are useful, but none of them changes the fact that when the first offer lands, your mind starts thinking of counteroffers close to that number. The authors’ recent research, published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, identified a simple way to reduce the anchoring effect when you don’t control the first offer: Adopt a choice mindset right when you see the first offer.

The Power of Choice Reminders.  A choice mindset is a state of mind in which people perceive the availability of more choices than they are presented with. When in this mindset, people are more likely to recognize the options available to them, including nonobvious options (such as delaying a decision or changing the structure of a deal), particularly in situations in which they feel constrained (such as difficult negotiations).

In everyday life, a choice mindset is the difference between thinking “I have no choice; I have to take what I can get” and thinking “I have choices and can even consider options that have not been presented to me.” The key insight is that feeling constrained is not the same as being constrained, and the subjective perception of choice can be nudged.

This mechanism points to a simple practice you can use in negotiations. When the other side makes a first offer, you should aim to create a brief choice pause. This moment is not about theatrics; it’s about preventing the first number from becoming your default starting point. During this pause, try to think of multiple counteroffers that are within the bounds of reason, including a few that might appear aggressive but can still be defended based on relevant reference points. The goal is not to counter with the most aggressive number possible but to generate credible options that are not influenced by the first offer. If you have come to the negotiation table with your own first offer prepared, but your counterparty makes the first offer, rather than using their offer as a baseline for negotiations, counter with your preplanned first offer (and the accompanying rationale) even if it appears quite far from theirs.

This practice is even more effective when integrated into your preparation. Rather than just setting a single target and a walk-away point, prepare a set of counters that spans a meaningful range. This broader map protects you against the pull of a surprising anchor. By shifting the focus from a single point to a prebuilt range of possibilities, you change the tone of the internal deliberations before you ever respond externally.

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