Eh. There are other reasons for an exploding offer. One is that companies don't want to get into a bidding war, so they offer a tradeoff: accept a certain offer

Eh. There are other reasons for an exploding offer. One is that companies don't want to get into a bidding war, so they offer a tradeoff: accept a certain offer, or find someone else willing to engage in a bidding war. If you had exactly two job opportunities, and they were willing to negotiate down ("Oh, you'll take $80K? Great. $75K is the most we can do"), you'd probably want to use an exploding offer, too.