Homebuyers are not swayed by an attractive real estate agent or the use of exaggerated property descriptions.
The findings are revealed in a study conducted by several academics for the American Real Estate Society which asked 1,594 potential homebuyers to watch online tours of homes, guided by a variety of real estate agents.
Consumers appear not to be influenced by agents who are similar to themselves, or those that were deemed ‘attractive’.
The use of language was viewed differently depending on the trust levels of consumers; those that were suspicious of an agent’s motive were less likely to be swayed by superlatives than those with less suspicion.
The study concluded 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 and adopting the incorrect strategy could very well work against the agent.
The findings are revealed in a study conducted by several academics for the American Real Estate Society which asked 1,594 potential homebuyers to watch online tours of homes, guided by a variety of real estate agents.
Consumers appear not to be influenced by agents who are similar to themselves, or those that were deemed ‘attractive’.
The use of language was viewed differently depending on the trust levels of consumers; those that were suspicious of an agent’s motive were less likely to be swayed by superlatives than those with less suspicion.
The study concluded 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 and adopting the incorrect strategy could very well work against the agent.
