From Cultural Script to Strategic Choice: Persuasion and Intercultural Adaptation in International Business Negotiations Among Swedish Professionals

Abstract

Research on international business negotiation (IBN) predominantly focuses on major cultural blocs, leaving smaller cultures such as Sweden underexplored. In addition, the role of persuasion strategies within IBN remains insufficiently developed, particularly in relation to cultural context. This study examines how Swedish professionals employ and adapt persuasion strategies when negotiating with non-Swedish counterparts, drawing on Cialdini’s persuasion principles, intercultural adaptation (IA) theory, and IBN frameworks. A qualitative research design was adopted, based on thirteen semi-structured interviews with experienced Swedish business professionals. The findings indicate that Swedish negotiators apply a culturally embedded hybrid logic, combining relational principles, such as liking, unity, and reciprocity, with rational, authority-based argumentation. The findings also show that persuasion principles are used sequentially, with their ordering shaped by the counterpart’s cultural orientation and the negotiation context. IA emerges as a reactive and iterative process, shaped by situational cues and professional roles. Structural conditions, including the strength of the best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA), informational asymmetries and internal alignment, further influence adaptation and persuasion strategy selection. The study suggests that practitioners should cultivate cultural self-awareness, sequence persuasion strategies in response to counterpart orientation, and establish a strong structural position prior to negotiation. These findings are subject to limitations, including a single-culture design, reliance on retrospective self-reporting, and the absence of a dyadic perspective.