Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 245-250).

Detta examensarbete har behandlat rekryteringsprocessen med fokus på intervjun. Arbetet har avgränsats till att studera icke-verbal kommunikation och mentala genvägar som kan förekomma i en arbetsintervju. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med sju intervjupersoner. Resultatet analyserades med tematisk analys. Forskning om rekryteringsprocessen, intervjumetodik, icke-verbal kommunikation och mentala genvägar användes som bakgrund vid analysen. Resultatet visar att icke-verbal kommunikation påverkar hur en kandidat uppfattas och att även mentala genvägar kan påverka.

<p>When firms are doing business it is important to meet the customer’s expectations. It is often in the first impression (the first time the parties meet in a sales encounter) that the seller fails to do this, sometimes resulting in the prospective customer dropping the whole thought of a business deal and no further relationship is established. The first impression results from the first image and understanding a seller creates in a potential customer: here the latter gets a brief insight into the former’s organization, credibility and overall quality. Each encounter or meeting is an opportunity to achieve trust and build a relationship, but also contains the risk of reducing credibility and losing all chances of a relationship. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the importance of the first impression when creating and building a business to business relationship and to describe the factors which influence this process. The theoretical framework is based on theories regarding the concept of first impression and the implications of two-way communication during the first encounter. These include the seller’s preparation and categorisation of the customer before each encounter. Other variations of communication concerns verbal and non-verbal communication, generalizations, cultural differences and circumstances where a failure can turn into an advantage. The present qualitative case study is based on interviews with five highly competent respondents with long experience of business relationships. They were chosen after discussions with Walter Carvajal, owner and MD of City Guest Service. The results showed that the first impression was very important in creating a business relationship. Some variables, e.g. gender, had less significance. Generally, the first impression included the small things a person perceived and interpreted during the first encounter. Combined, they determined whether a person chose to do business with the counterpart in question. All aspects of verbal and non-verbal commu-nication formed a basis for judging the other person. Cultural differences increased the acceptance level, reducing the risk of failure, when the parties were from differ-ent cultures.</p>

When firms are doing business it is important to meet the customer’s expectations. It is often in the first impression (the first time the parties meet in a sales encounter) that the seller fails to do this, sometimes resulting in the prospective customer dropping the whole thought of a business deal and no further relationship is established. The first impression results from the first image and understanding a seller creates in a potential customer: here the latter gets a brief insight into the former’s organization, credibility and overall quality. Each encounter or meeting is an opportunity to achieve trust and build a relationship, but also contains the risk of reducing credibility and losing all chances of a relationship. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the importance of the first impression when creating and building a business to business relationship and to describe the factors which influence this process. The theoretical framework is based on theories regarding the concept of first impression and the implications of two-way communication during the first encounter. These include the seller’s preparation and categorisation of the customer before each encounter. Other variations of communication concerns verbal and non-verbal communication, generalizations, cultural differences and circumstances where a failure can turn into an advantage. The present qualitative case study is based on interviews with five highly competent respondents with long experience of business relationships. They were chosen after discussions with Walter Carvajal, owner and MD of City Guest Service. The results showed that the first impression was very important in creating a business relationship. Some variables, e.g. gender, had less significance. Generally, the first impression included the small things a person perceived and interpreted during the first encounter. Combined, they determined whether a person chose to do business with the counterpart in question. All aspects of verbal and non-verbal commu-nication formed a basis for judging the other person. Cultural differences increased the acceptance level, reducing the risk of failure, when the parties were from differ-ent cultures.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [119]-124).

The technical society we live in is in a constant state of advancement and we are continuallyintroduced to new innovative ways of mediating information through. Today, plenty of mediachannels exist, for organizations to use when they strive to reach larger groups of people, butto achieve web site success; researchers have stated that considerations of user preferencesimplemented in web design are crucial. This makes understanding and addressing whichcharacteristics will be valued from the moment a user enters a site something that isconsidered helpful to the web designer in order to maintain user traffic and create an interest.In other words, something to catch the user’s attention to create a good first impression is necessary. The constant state of advancement of technology prevailing today has resulted in even morecomplex websites and a countless number of design principles to apply when designing forthe web. In spite of this, usability and visual appeal have remained central in prior research.To test these theories, a study was conducted by using a qualitative method in form of anexperiment consisting of eye tracking and an open-ended questionnaire. To perform the eyetracking the researchers created two mock-ups representing the main page of two differentwebsites. Each mock-up was developed with considerations towards two different designapproaches, one striving to achieve visual appeal and the other towards usability, todetermine which one the participants preferred. The study contained 50 participants who performed the experiment and answered thequestionnaire. Results from the eye tracking were presented in gaze plots and heat maps andthe result from the questionnaire was presented and analyzed through coding by the researchers. Final findings showed that the website preferred by most participants were the one developedwith the usable design approach. Additionally, the discussion presented the findings andreaches a conclusion of the study which finds connections between the chosen designapproach of the webpage and the participant’s choice of preferred webpage.

Titel: Påverkar fastighetsmäklarens klädsel förtroende hos kunden?  Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Emma Ekvall och Yolanda Tidlund  Handledare: Lars-Johan Åge Datum: 2023 juni Syfte: Syftet med studien är att analysera kundens personlighetsdrag och skapa en förståelse för hur kunden uppfattar fastighetsmäklarens klädsel samt hur det påverkar förtroendet hos kunden. För att besvara syftet kommer studien att undersöka förtroendet hos populationen för fastighetsmäklare, hur fastighetsmäklarens klädsel påverkar förtroendet och sambandet mellan kundens personlighetsdrag inom The Big Five och deras uppfattning av fastighetsmäklarens klädsel som förtroendeingivande. Metod: Denna studie använder en kvantitativ metod med ett deduktiv synsätt för att undersöka ämnet. Datainsamlingen genomfördes genom en webbaserad enkät som distribuerades till ett bekvämlighetsurval via olika plattformar såsom Facebook, Instagram och LinkedIn. Totalt erhölls 176 svar, varav 173 bedömdes vara användbara för analys. För att analysera datan användes statistikprogrammet JASP. För att presentera och tolka resultaten utfördes deskriptiva analyser och bivariata korrelationsanalyser. Resultat och slutsats: Undersökningens resultat visar på ett svagt samband mellan kundens personlighetsdrag och deras uppfattning av fastighetsmäklarens klädsel som förtroendeingivande. Specifikt identifieras ett samband mellan agreeableness och neuroticism samt bedömningen av fastighetsmäklarens klädsel. Sammanfattningsvis visade deltagarna i studien generellt sett högt förtroende för fastighetsmäklare, där formell klädsel betraktades som mest förtroendeingivande. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar till kunskap om hur fastighetsmäklarens klädsel påverkar förtroendet. Denna studies resultat är också användbart i praktiken för fastighetsmäklare. Genom att förstå hur klädseln påverkar förtroendet kan fastighetsmäklare anpassa sin klädsel för att bli mer konkurrenskraftig på marknaden och bättre möta kundernas förväntningar.  Förslag till vidare forskning: Denna studie visar ett svagt samband mellan kundens personlighetsdrag och deras uppfattning av fastighetsmäklarens klädsel som förtroendeingivande. Studien indikerar att andra faktorer som kön, ålder, erfarenhet, förtroende och stereotyper har större inverkan på förtroendet än kundens personlighetsdrag. Därmed hade det varit intressant att vidare undersöka hur sociala och demografiska faktorer påverkar förtroendet för fastighetsmäklarens klädsel, samt genomföra undersökningen i en bredare målgrupp. / Titel: Does the attire of real estate agents impact customer trust? Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Authors: Emma Ekvall and Yolanda Tidlund  Supervisor: Lars-Johan Åge Date: 2023 June Aim: The purpose of this study is to analyze the customer's personality traits and gain an understanding of how the customer perceives the real estate agent's attire and how it influences customer trust.To address the purpose, the study will examine the population's trust in real estate agents, the impact of real estate agent attire on trust, and the correlation between the customer's personality traits within the Big Five framework and their perception of the real estate agent's attire as trustworthy. Method: This study employs a quantitative approach with a deductive perspective to investigate the subject. Data collection was conducted through a web-based survey distributed to a convenience sample via various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. A total of 176 responses were obtained, of which 173 were deemed usable for analysis. The statistical software JASP was utilized to analyze the data. Descriptive analyses and bivariate correlation analyses were performed to present and interpret the results. Result and conclusions: The results of the study indicate a weak correlation between the customer's personality traits and their perception of the real estate agent's attire as trustworthy. Specifically, a correlation is identified between agreeableness and neuroticism and the evaluation of the real estate agent's attire. In summary, the participants in the study generally displayed a high level of trust in real estate agents, with formal attire being perceived as the most trustworthy. Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes to the knowledge regarding the impact of real estate agent attire on trust. The findings of this study are also applicable in practice for real estate agents. By understanding how attire influences trust, real estate agents can adapt their clothing choices to become more competitive in the market and better meet customer expectations. Suggestions for future research: This study demonstrates a weak correlation between the customer's personality traits and their perception of the real estate agent's attire as trustworthy. The study indicates that other factors such as gender, age, experience, trust, and stereotypes have a greater impact on trust than the customer's personality traits. Therefore, it would be interesting to further investigate how social and demographic factors affect trust in real estate agent attire, as well as conducting the study among a broader population.

Based on prior research, people tend to be more prone to save women before saving men, and this thesis presents two studies examining the social acceptance of having these different preferences. Participants (N=805) were randomly assigned to one of two studies, and within each study they were assigned to one of two conditions (allocation condition or choice condition). The participants first read a description of two medical helping project in which one project can treat only men while the other one can treat only women. Participants then read and rated six targets’ answers (three male targets and three female targets), based on their first impression (level of warmth and competence) of targets expressing a preference towards men, women, an equal preference, or no preference. In the first study, the projects presented the same number of treated patients (three patients), and in the second study, the project treating male patients was higher (four patients) than the project treating female patients (three patients). Results showed that a female preference are viewed as a more socially accepted preference than a male preference, but only when the number of treated patients in each project are equal. Also, when male targets express a female preference, they are seen as more competent than female targets with a female preference, but only when they express their preference in ratings of the project. When the number of treated patients differed between the projects, a female preference is not viewed as a more socially accepted preference than having a male preference, there were also no significant difference between how men and women were perceived in their competence level.

Online stores are becoming a natural part of our daily life, and more and more services and products are purchased through an online store. As e-commerce is growing, so is computer fraud, and trustworthiness is now an important topic in e-commerce. Exploring what components in an e-commerce experience, from a customer's point of view, that affect trust is therefore important. The web page can be equated to the look of a physical store, but a company needs to have other trust indicating elements in an online store since a consumer cannot touch the product or have an eye to eye dialog with the salesman. So, the question is How do you display things in an online store to appeal trust in the first impression of the shop and what other graphical factors matterswhen you want to appeal trust? Our definition of trust is taken from McKnight and Chervany and is defined as "the extent to which one party is willing to depend on the other party in a given situation with a feeling of relative security, even though negative consequences are possible". We also build our study on how different colors get people to react in a certain way and the importance of the first impression. To answer the question about how to appeal trust in an online shop, we sent out a form to students at KTH Royal Institute of Technology containing 31 images of online stores and asked them to answer the question "Does this web shop seem trustworthy to you?" on each of these images. When creating the various images with different designs we wanted to include designs that we thought were going to be perceived as trustworthy, and designs that we thought not. We could then change some aspects in those designs to see what works or not. The result shows that online stores that are deemed professional is the most trustworthy ones and we can conclude that intense colors are something to avoid, while having a certificate and providing contact information is something to recommend. / Butiker online blir en mer och mer naturlig del av våra dagliga liv och allt fler varor och tjänster köps idag via butiker online. Samtidigt som e-handeln växer så växer även datorrelaterade brott, och trygghet är nu ett viktigt ämne inom e-handeln. Att utforska vilka grafiska komponenter i en webbutik som inger trygghet ur en kunds synvinkel är därför viktigt. En hemsida kan likställas med hur en fysisk butik ser ut, men företagen behöver andra trygghetsindikerande element i en webbutik eftersom kunder inte kan röra vid produkter eller ha en dialog med en försäljare. Frågan är alltså "Hur visar du element som förmedlar trygghet vid ett första intryck av butiken och vad för grafiska faktorer spelar roll om du vill förmedla en trygghetskänsla?". Vår definition av trygghet kommer från McKnight och Chervany och definieras som "Den utsträckning en part är villig att bero av en annan part i en given situation med en känsla av relativ säkerhet, även om negativa konsekvenser är möjliga". Vi har också grundat vår studie i hur olika färger får människor att reagera på ett visst sätt vid ett första intryck. För att svara på frågan hur man kan tillämpa trygghet i en webbutik så skickade vi ut en enkät till studenter vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan innehållandes 31 bilder på webbutiker och ställde frågan "Känns denna webbutik trygg för dig" efter varje bild. När dessa bilder gjordes ville vi inkludera design vi trodde skulle upplevas som trygg och design vi inte trodde skulle kännas trygg. Vi kunde sedan ändra element i dessa för att se vad som fungerade och vad som inte fungerade. Resultaten visar att webbutiker som verkar professionella är de tryggaste och vi kan dra slutsatsen att mätta färger är något att undvika medan att ha ett certifikat och ha kontaktinformation är något att rekommendera.

Tänker du på det första intryck du får av någon du möter i vardagen? Kanske du funderar på hur dem är som person? Efter att ha sett någon för första gången bildas omedelbart ett första intryck och en uppfattning om dennes personlighet. Syftet med vår kvasiexperimentella studie är att undersöka hur bedömningen baserad på första intrycket av en individs personlighets stämmer överens med hur individen uppfattar sig själv. Urvalet bestod av 10 deltagare, sex kvinnor och fyra män. Åldersspannet låg mellan 23 till 55 år (M= 31,6; SD= 12,0). Deltagare har genomfört personlighetstest, fått se bilder av andra deltagare och sedan bedömt hur de uppfattat deras personlighet. Differensmåtten belyste att deltagare tenderade att självskatta högre poäng än vad de blev bedömda inom personlighetsdragen. Bedömningarna och självskattningarna inom några av personlighetsdragen visade en måttlig till stor effektstyrka (d.v.s. samvetsgrannhet, öppenhet, neuroticism). Men i studien förekom ingen signifikant korrelation mellan bedömd och självskattad personlighet. / Do you think about the impression you make of someone you meet in everyday life? Maybe you are thinking about what they are like as a person? Upon meeting someone, an impression of their personality swiftly develops. Our quasi- experimental study aimed to explore if assessment based on the first impression of an individual's personality is consistent with how the individual perceives themself. The sample consisted of 10 participants, six women and four men. Participants' age range was between 23 to 55 years old (M= 31,6; SD= 12,0). Participants underwent personality tests, viewed images of other participants, and then assessed how they perceived their personality. Differential measure showed that participants tended to self-assess higher scores than they were rated within the personality traits. The ratings and self-assessments in some of the personality traits showed a moderate to large effect size (i.e. conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism). However, there was no significant correlation between rated and self-assessed personality in the study.