Anonymity in NSS: more than meets the eye

The author explores the concept of anonymity in negotiation support systems (NSS). Current frameworks focus on the effects of technology and task on individual performance in groups but are not useful for exploring questions about people and their personal agendas. Being a person in a negotiation involves tactics to express and shield the self from others. Three facets of anonymity in NSS are explored. First, anonymity seems to be a multidimensional concept. Second, there are at least two states of anonymity. Finally, anonymity interacts with cues in the environment to produce a number of different personal states that require different tactics in order to cope. These states provide four alternative explanations for the effects of computer-mediated meetings