Selling oneself, the social construction of real estate agent-client/customer relationships

Abstract

This thesis examines relationships between real estate agents and their clients and customers in process terms. A symbolic interactionist approach consistent with the Chicago school was utilized. The principal means of gathering the data were taped interviews with 93 volunteers (vendors, purchasers and real estate agents) who were asked to recall their experiences with buying and selling homes as well as with each other. A loosely structured questionnaire format which was adjusted according to the experiences of the informants was utilized. Some data were also gathered through participant observation by the researcher while working as a real estate salesperson, prior to and during the researcher period.

The study began with a string of interviews in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario area in September, 1992, continuing on through the spring of 1993. A majority of the interviews were conducted at that time. A second wave of interviews was conducted in the Brantford, Ontario area during the winter and spring of 1997.

The career contingency model provided the framework for this project. Its utilization made it possible to conceptualize this various stages of involvement: initial involvements, continuities, discontinuities, and reinvolvements, and to follow the natural history of these relationships. In doing so we looked at: how contact was made; how agents presented themselves; what prospects liked or didn't like about them; the strategies agents utilized to neutralize reservations; agent strategies for fostering commitment and building relationships; when and how relationships were ended; agent strategies for making deals; and agent strategies for achieving long-term commitment, hence reinvolvement, after closing the deal. A central theme affecting the relationship at all stages was trust. The ways in which trust was generated and lost was at the core of this study.