Researchers Aleksander Ellis, Stephen Humphrey, and Donald Conlon of Michigan State University and Catherine Tinsley of Georgetown University have studied this new transactional form, which they call brokered ultimatum games, or BUGs. They define a BUG as any transaction involving an intermediary in which one side offers an ultimatum price that the other side either accepts or rejects.

These researchers are particularly interested in bidders’ fairness perceptions of the negotiation. As the success of Priceline indicates, when it comes to BUGs, the faster the response, the more satisfied the customer. In addition, study participants are more satisfied with a BUG and more likely to use it again and to refer other to the BUG when their offers are accepted – no surprise there.