While Kearns warns that the setting was artificial, he says it's possible that greater persuasive power could lie with well-connected individuals in the everyday online world too.

The Power inquiry teamed up with a London council to give local residents a direct role in setting the following year's budget.

'Many of us walk around with a default setting and a belief that to be a good negotiator you should use threats, anchoring, bluffing, banging the table and a general show of power,' Weiss said.