As the proverb goes, beauty is only skin-deep and it appears that this is true when it comes to the influence of real estate agents
As the proverb goes, beauty is only skin-deep and it appears that this is true when it comes to the influence of real estate agents.
The American Real Estate Society has published a study conducted by academics from several real estate institutes which took a sample of 1,594 potential homebuyers who took an online audio/visual tour of homes in their area.
The videos shown were hosted by real estate agents of different genders, verbal dexterity and ‘attractiveness’.
The results show that segments of customers are drawn to different real estate agents but were not necessarily drawn to agents similar to them or those deemed as more attractive.
When it comes to language, the use of superlatives in property descriptions had varied results depending on the potential homebuyer.
Those that were suspicious of the agents’ motives were likely to be negatively influenced by over-exaggerated descriptions while those who were less suspicious appear more susceptible to pathos.
“Our study shows that an agent’s physical attractiveness, similarity to the prospective home buyer, and use of pathos influences the overall impression of the home, but not in a consistent enough way to specifically instruct agents to adopt a certain strategy,” Seiler said. “Importantly, adopting the incorrect strategy could very well work against the agent.”
The American Real Estate Society has published a study conducted by academics from several real estate institutes which took a sample of 1,594 potential homebuyers who took an online audio/visual tour of homes in their area.
The videos shown were hosted by real estate agents of different genders, verbal dexterity and ‘attractiveness’.
The results show that segments of customers are drawn to different real estate agents but were not necessarily drawn to agents similar to them or those deemed as more attractive.
When it comes to language, the use of superlatives in property descriptions had varied results depending on the potential homebuyer.
Those that were suspicious of the agents’ motives were likely to be negatively influenced by over-exaggerated descriptions while those who were less suspicious appear more susceptible to pathos.
“Our study shows that an agent’s physical attractiveness, similarity to the prospective home buyer, and use of pathos influences the overall impression of the home, but not in a consistent enough way to specifically instruct agents to adopt a certain strategy,” Seiler said. “Importantly, adopting the incorrect strategy could very well work against the agent.”
