I think the danger with that kind of thinking ("negging works, lots of women like it") is that only a certain kind of woman likes it: women with major self-esteem problems. And women with major self-esteem problems are less likely to be able to form healthy relationships... so you're unfortunately shooting yourself in the foot by creating a filter that attracts more of those.

"if women don't like this, they have to clearly signal to us" — the problem with that approach is that psychologically healthy women will "signal" by walking away from you. At the beginning of a relationship (when negging usually first appears), well-adjusted people won't invest energy in trying to change you; they'll just assume you've decided what kind of guy you want to be, and so they'll walk away. Since negging is a form of psychological and emotional abuse, some women will have a zero-tolerance policy about it. The healthiest ones, that is, will have a zero-tolerance policy about it, since it's generally toxic to say, "Just let me behave low-key abusively first, because you can always protest later." That's not a good deal. Healthy women won't want it.

Can you find a sweet woman who tolerates the low-key abuse that is negging? Yes, it might happen. But just be aware of the risk you run: negging will likely repel the women with sound mental health. I don't think that's what you want to happen, so this comment is simply a friendly warning. ;)