The Effect of Friendship on Decisions: Field Studies of Real Estate Transactions

Abstract

A field study of real estate agents' transactions demonstrates that business friendship affects the negotiation process and the outcome of transactions more for agents with 10 or more years of experience in real estate brokerage than for less experienced agents. Newer agents rely more on friendly relations and on impression management techniques to do well in a transaction, while the more experienced agents consider genuine business friendship and its norms useful for facilitating transactions. Different scripts for friendship may explain the consistency within each of the two groups.