119 Seconds To Make A Positive First Impression
- It takes less than two minutes to form a first impression
- One in 20 Brits researches others online before meeting them
They say first impressions are the most important. That has never been truer, as new research from Experian CreditExpert – the UK’s most trusted credit monitoring service – reveals just how quickly we form opinions.
It takes the average Brit just 119 seconds to form a first impression of someone – and that impression counts. More than eight in 10 Britons (84 per cent) judge on first impressions – and one in 10 (nine per cent) refuses to change their mind once they have formed their initial opinion of another.
Yet despite many Britons’ judgemental nature, nearly a third of us (29 per cent) feel we have been unfairly treated based on a bad first impression.
In the social media age, it’s not the impressions you make when first meeting someone but the ones you make even before then that make the difference. Nearly one in 10 Britons aged under 35 (eight per cent) forms their first impression based on what they can glean from Google or find on social media websites, with one in 20 (five per cent) deliberately researching people online before meeting them. Consequently, one in 10 young Brits (10 per cent) admit they carefully manage their online presence to make the best impression on others.
Peter Turner, Managing Director of Experian Interactive, said: “Whether it’s a date, a job interview, seeing the bank manager or meeting the in-laws, first impressions count. When we meet someone face-to-face we often feel more in control of the image we make. But increasingly it’s the impressions that we make online such as on social networking sites or when applying for credit – that are making the difference”
The best way to make a good impression:
1. Being on time (64.7 per cent)
2. Being polite (64.5 per cent)
3. Friendliness (54 per cent)
4. Having a nice smile (44 per cent)
5. Clean hair (37 per cent)
And a bad impression:
1. Bad breath (65.2 per cent)
2. Being rude (64.9 per cent)
3. Being late (52 per cent)
4. Not making eye contact (38 per cent)
5. Dirty nails (32 per cent)
