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Consent Form for Participation in a Research Study

ESSEC Business School

Consumer Behavior Study

Please take this survey on a PC or laptop computer, and not on a mobile device (mobile phone or tablet).

Description

You are invited to participate in a research study on consumer behavior. We are interested in understanding how individuals respond to a certain negotiation scenario.

Time involvement

Your participation will take approximately 4 minutes.

Protection of confidentiality

The information that you give in the study will be handled confidentially. Your data will be anonymous which means that your name will not be collected or linked to the data.

Payments

You will receive 0.50 GBP as payment for your participation. Payment is only awarded if the study is completed. By completion, we mean that you have continued to the end of the study and that the answers you provide speak directly to the questions being asked (i.e., are not random answers).

Participant's rights

If you have read this form and have decided to participate in this project, please understand your participation is voluntary and you have the right to withdraw your consent or discontinue participation at any time. In this case, you will not earn any money (or credits). You have the right to refuse to answer particular questions. The results of this research study may be presented at scientific or professional meetings or published in scientific journals.

Contact information

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this research, its procedures, risks, and benefits, contact the Researcher, Faraz Ghodratizadeh at faraz.ghodratizadeh@essec.edu.

Agreement

By clicking on the button below ("Yes, I consent to participate in this study."), you agree to participate in the research study described above. This choice will serve as your signature confirming your consent. If you do not want to participate, exit the survey and "return" your submission on Prolific by clicking on the "stop without completing" button.

The scenario

You are shopping for a used car on an online marketplace. You've narrowed your search to a 2023 Toyota Camry.

The platform you're using has a new feature: you can fully delegate the negotiation to an AI agent that acts on your behalf. The seller is using the same feature — their AI agent will respond on their behalf. So the entire negotiation will happen agent-to-agent. Neither side types messages directly.

What's coming next

  1. Listing. You'll see the full listing for the car.
  2. Your context. You'll describe your situation — what's going on with you as a buyer.
  3. Instructions for your AI. You'll write a prompt telling your AI agent how to negotiate.
  4. Watch. You'll watch the two AI agents negotiate live.
  5. Wrap-up. A few questions, basic demographics, then a thank-you screen with your completion code.

You're considering this listing

FOR SALE Black 2023 Toyota Camry — front 3/4 view 📷 3 photos

2023 Toyota Camry SE — Black

Single owner · Garage-kept · Dealer-serviced · 📍 15 miles away

$25,500
Asking price · Average market price for this configuration: ~$24,000
Year
2023
Make
Toyota
Model
Camry SE
Color
Midnight Black
Mileage
32,000 mi
Transmission
Automatic
Fuel
Gasoline
Condition
Excellent
Owners
1 (private)
Accidents
None reported

Description

Selling my 2023 Toyota Camry SE in excellent condition. I bought it new in 2023 and it's been garage-kept and dealer-serviced its whole life. No accidents. The car drives like new — smooth, quiet, fuel-efficient.

Price is firm-ish, but I'm open to reasonable offers from serious buyers. Looking for a quick, clean sale.

Recent service & customizations

  • New Michelin Premier A/S tires — installed 2 months ago
  • Full service at Toyota dealership last month (oil, filters, brake check)
  • All-weather floor mats added (front + rear)
  • Original keys, owner's manual, and full service records included

What's included

  • Two key fobs
  • Owner's manual + complete service history
  • 4 winter tires on rims (separate, optional add-on)
👤
Private seller · Member since 2021
⭐ 4.9 · 12 prior listings · responds within 1 hour
Your situation: You can spend up to $24,500 (your hard walk-away). Your ideal target is $22,000. You're a cash-funded buyer — no financing delays.

Your situation

Now brief your AI agent

You're the buyer. Your AI agent will do the negotiation for you — you won't type any messages yourself. Use the box below to tell it how to negotiate on your behalf: how to open, when to push back, when to give in, what tone to use, and what your hard limits are.

Write it the way you'd brief a friend who was doing this for you — in your own words, in plain sentences. The more specific you are, the more your agent will sound like you.

Watch the negotiation

Starting…
Buyer offer
—
Spread
—
Seller ask
—

Negotiation transcript

Re-read any turn while you answer the questions on the right.

How did it go?

A few things about you

These help us understand who participated. None of this is shared with anyone outside the research team.

✓

Thank you for participating

Your responses have been recorded. Both negotiators in this study were AI agents — your prompt shaped your side, and the opposing agent's behavior was held neutral so we can compare across participants.

Your completion code (save this for your records):

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