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Abstract
We investigate whether customers' overall impression of online property listings can be influenced by the real estate agent, and whether this influence depends on the customer's demographic characteristics. A sample of 1,594 potential homebuyers took an online audio/visual tour of a typically priced home in their area. Subjects were shown one of eight conditions in which we varied agent gender (male/female), agent attractiveness (attractive/less attractive), and pathos (used/not used). The results show that segments of customers are drawn to different real estate agents, but contrary to our expectations, customers were not necessarily drawn to similar agents or more attractive ones.
New real estate agents are often advised to target a specific niche, similar to the concept of target marketing for firms. Yet, while there is abundant research on how larger firms can identify and target consumer segments (Smith and Cooper-Martin, 1997; Lovelock, 1983), there are few actionable suggestions for a real estate agent to accomplish this same task. In order to attract buyers, real estate agents often post their pictures and contact information, along with property listings. To that end, this research investigates how real estate agent information included in online listings can attract customers, rather than examining the later stages of the buying process, in which personal selling occurs. Once a customer has contacted a real estate agent, the agent should use best practices in professional selling, such as customer orientation and adaptive selling (Franke and Park, 2006), in which each buyer is treated as an individual. Nevertheless, it is still important to understand the segmentation process so that agents can attract customers.
There is an opportunity cost to viewing houses (Pryce and Oates, 2008). So, it is likely that people will only meet with an agent to view a property if they have a sufficiently favorable overall impression of that property's listing. According to the "halo effect," peoples' evaluations are often influenced by salient but irrelevant attributes (Johnson and Vidulich, 1956; Lucker, Beane, and Helmreich, 1981). We opine that real estate agent characteristics influence customers' overall property evaluations. However, these individuals have diverse backgrounds and preferences; thus, two people could form very different attitudes towards the same salesperson. For example, the theory of homophily posits that people prefer others who are...