The dark side of employee referral bonus programs : potential applicants’ awareness of a referral bonus and perceptions of organizational attractiveness

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of potential applicants’ awareness of employees being rewarded for referrals on organizational attractiveness, based on credibility theory and the multiple inference model. In a first study (N=450), final-year students were less attracted to the organization when they knew employee referrals were rewarded, which was partially explained by lower credibility perceptions. Moreover, varying the specific characteristics of the referral bonus program (i.e., timing, size, type, recipient) did not improve potential applicants’ perceptions of credibility and attractiveness. A second study (N=127) replicated the negative effect of referral bonuses on organizational attractiveness and found that it could be explained by both potential applicants’ inferences about the referrer’s other-oriented motive and lower referrer credibility. Whether employees explicitly stated their referral reason was bonus-driven or not did not affect these results

Social media recruitment : communication characteristics and sought gratifications

This study examines how social media pages can be used to influence potential applicants' attraction. Based on the uses and gratifications theory, this study examines whether organizations can manipulate the communication characteristics informativeness and social presence on their social media page to positively affect organizational attractiveness. Moreover, we examine whether job applicants' sought gratifications on social media influence these effects. A 2 x 2 between-subjects experimental design is used. The findings show that organizations can manipulate informativeness and social presence on their social media. The effect of manipulated informativeness on organizational attractiveness depends on the level of manipulated social presence. When social presence was high, informativeness positively affected organizational attractiveness. This positive effect was found regardless of participants' sought utilitarian gratification. Social presence had no significant main effect on organizational attractiveness. There was some evidence that the effect of social presence differed for different levels of social gratification

Attracting applicants through the organization’s social media page : signaling employer brand personality

The purpose of this study is to examine how potential applicants’ exposure to an organization’s social media page relates to their subsequent organizational attractiveness perceptions and word-of-mouth intentions. Based on signaling theory and the theory of symbolic attraction, we propose that potential applicants rely on perceived communication characteristics of the social media page (social presence and informativeness) as signals of the organization’s employer brand personality (warmth and competence), which in turn relate to organizational attractiveness and word-of-mouth. Data were gathered in a simulated job search process in which final-year students looked for an actual job posting and later visited an actual organization’s social media page. In line with our hypotheses, results show that the perceived social presence of a social media page was indirectly positively related to attractiveness and word-of-mouth through its positive association with perceived organizational warmth. Perceived informativeness was indirectly positively related to these outcomes through its positive association with perceived organizational competence. In addition, we found that social presence was also directly positively related to organizational attractiveness. These findings suggest that organizations can use social media pages to manage key recruitment outcomes by signaling their employer brand personality

Recruiting nurses through social media : effects on employer brand and attractiveness

Aim: To investigate whether and how nurses' exposure to a hospital's profile on social media affects their perceptions of the hospital's brand and attractiveness as an employer. Background: Since in many places across the globe hospitals are struggling with nursing shortages, competition is rising to be perceived as an attractive employer by this target group. Organizations are increasingly using social media for recruitment, however, little is known about its effects on potential applicants' perceptions of the organization as an employer. We thus examine whether these effects occur and rely on the media richness theory to explain the mechanisms at play. Design: A between-subjects experimental design was applied. Three conditions were used: a control group, one condition that required visiting the Facebook page of a hospital and one condition that required visiting the LinkedIn page. Method: The focal organization was an existing Belgian hospital which had a LinkedIn and a Facebook page. An online questionnaire was sent to nursing students and employed nurses over 5 months in 2015-2016. Results: Nurses' exposure to the hospital's Facebook or LinkedIn page had a significant positive effect on a majority of the employer brand dimensions, both instrumental and symbolic. In addition, nurses who visited the Facebook page felt more attracted to working at the hospital. Most of these effects were mediated by social presence. Conclusion: Nurses' perceptions of employers can be positively influenced by seeing a hospital's social media page. Hospitals can thus employ social media to improve their employer brand image and attractiveness

To be yourself or to be your ideal self? Outcomes of potential applicants' actual and ideal self-congruity perceptions

Recruitment research on person–organization fit has typically focused on organizations’ fit with potential applicants’ actual self, not considering other possible self-images. Based on image congruity theory, we investigate how actual and ideal self-congruity relate to application intentions and intentions to spread word-of-mouth. In a first study, conducted in Belgium, actual and ideal self-congruity related positively to both outcomes. The relation with application intentions was equally positive for actual and ideal self-congruity. Ideal selfcongruity showed a stronger positive relation with word-of-mouth intentions. A second study replicated these findings in the United States and tested for social adjustment concern (need to impress others) as a moderator. As social adjustment concern increased, relations of both outcomes with ideal (actual) self-congruity were stronger (weaker)

Managing organizational attractiveness after a negative employer review : company response strategies and review consensus

Online negative reviews about organisations as employers can have a negative impact on potential applicants’ organisational attractiveness. However, due to a lack of research, organisations do not know how to manage attitudes after a negative review. Based on attribution theory and signalling theory, we conducted two experimental studies investigating the effect of two response strategies to a negative review on organisational attractiveness: a denial and an accommodative response. The results of a first study show that a denial results in higher organisational attractiveness compared to not responding and that this effect is explained by lower review credibility and higher organisational trustworthiness. No difference was found between an accommodative response and no response in terms of organisational attractiveness. A second study shows that when consensus information (conceptualised as high agreement amongst a large number of reviews) was added, company responses did not influence organisational attractiveness, regardless whether reviewers agreed about the organisation as a good or a poor place to work. Overall, the findings imply that responding to a negative employer review can influence potential applicants’ perceptions, but when there is high agreement amongst a large number of reviews, an organisation’s ability to manage organisational attractiveness through responding seems limited