Bring Pastries and Coffee to a Negotiation

Bringing pastries and coffee will do four things:

• Mimics Their Behavior. Both of you will be eating — and this mimicry builds rapport (see Chartrand & Bargh, 1999). Research confirms that eating improves negotiations (Maddux, Mullen, & Galinsky, 2008; Balachandra, 2013).
• Provides an Unsolicited Favor. Even if your counterpart hates pastries and coffee, this unsolicited favor will trigger an urge to reciprocate (Cialdini, 2006).
• Increases Their Glucose. People behave aggressively if their glucose is low (Donohoe & Benton, 1999). Conversely, increasing glucose can boost cooperation (Denson, von Hippel, Kemp, & Teo, 2010). Pastries and coffee increase glucose levels, so they should reduce aggression (Lane, 2011).
• Activates Physical Warmth. Our brain confuses physical warmth with personal warmth. Holding a warm beverage (e.g., coffee) boosts our interpersonal warmth and cooperative behavior (Williams & Bargh, 2008).

• Balachandra, L. (2013). Should you eat while you negotiate. Harvard Business Review.
• Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: the perception–behavior link and social interaction. Journal of personality and social psychology, 76(6), 893.
• Cialdini, R. B. (2006). Influence: the psychology of persuasion, revised edition. New York: William Morrow.
• Denson, T. F., von Hippel, W., Kemp, R. I., & Teo, L. S. (2010). Glucose consumption decreases impulsive aggression in response to provocation in aggressive individuals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(6), 1023-1028.
• Donohoe, R. T., & Benton, D. (1999). Blood glucose control and aggressiveness in females. Personality and Individual Differences, 26(5), 905-911.
• Lane, J. D. (2011). Caffeine, glucose metabolism, and type 2 diabetes. Journal of caffeine research, 1(1), 23-28.
• Maddux, W. W., Mullen, E., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Chameleons bake bigger pies and take bigger pieces: Strategic behavioral mimicry facilitates negotiation outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(2), 461-468.
• Williams, L. E., & Bargh, J. A. (2008). Experiencing physical warmth promotes interpersonal warmth. Science, 322(5901), 606-607.