Social enterprise as a good employer brand? Impact of recruitment information from the perspective of signal theory

Authors: Forrence HsinHung Chen; Chih-Huang Lin; Chia-Hsing Wang

Journal: Corporate Management Review. Jun. 2023, 43(1): 1-30

Keywords: Recruitment information cues, presentation styles and aesthetics, employer brand, organizational attractiveness, signaling theory

Abstract:
With growing awareness of social responsibility and sustainability, more and more young jobseekers are considering whether a prospective employer engages in relevant social responsibility actions. Therefore, in the context of employment, it is worth investigating whether the background, content, and methods of recruitment advertisements affect jobseekers’ subjective judgment. This study adopts a new social enterprise as the research context to examine whether the employer brand influences the organization’s attractiveness to jobseekers. Additionally, it explores the moderating effect of information cues, presentation styles, and aesthetics on this relationship. It applies a between- subjects design in which information cues, presentation styles, and aesthetics are manipulated in 3 pretests and 12 scenarios involving 157 young potential jobseekers. From the perspective of signaling theory, this study confirms not only the positive impact of employer brands on organizational attractiveness but also the important moderating role of information presentation styles. Practical implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.