A party's leverage is based on its ability to award benefits or impose costs on the other side.
[5] In order for a negotiating side's leverage to work in their favor, the threats or promises they put forth must be perceived as credible by the opposing group.
The power from positive leverage comes from the opportunity to provide or withhold the needed item or action.
[8] This type of leverage is maximized when the negotiating groups agree on these social standards or norms and see them as relevant to the discussion at hand.
[2] An example of normative leverage would be for one party to appeal to another's religious or moral standards as grounds for acting in a certain way.
Richard Shell refers to the Hanafi hostage situation as an example of using normative leverage in his book on bargaining and negotiation.
Forming a coalition with other parties during a negotiation can increase the amount of leverage that group has over opposition.
Studies in social psychology have found that individuals will often conform to the beliefs of the larger group.
As time moves forward, leverage can shift if one group needs to come to a resolution sooner than the other.
[2] Transportation workers, for example, can use time to their advantage by conducting last minute strikes that put increased pressure on their employer to settle labor disputes in order to be able to fulfill their obligations to their customers.
The improper use of negative leverage can put the opposing party in duress, leading them to make decisions that they normally would not if they had free will.