Employer brand, person-organisation fit and employer of choice. Investigating the moderating effect of social media
| Published date | 01 April 2019 |
| Date | 01 April 2019 |
| Pages | 799-823 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-10-2017-0299 |
| Author | Karnica Tanwar,Amresh Kumar |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
Employer brand,
person-organisation fit and
employer of choice
Investigating the moderating effect
of social media
Karnica Tanwar
Amity College of Commerce and Finance,
Amity University, Noida, India, and
Amresh Kumar
Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Pune,
Symbiosis International University, Pune, India
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between employer brand dimensions and
employer of choice (EOC). The paper also analyses the role of person-organisation fit in transferring employer
brand dimensions to EOC status, and the moderating role of social media in the relationship between
person-organisation fit and EOC.
Design/methodology/approach –Factor analysis has been conducted to validate the “employer
attractiveness”scale for identifying the dimensions of employer brand. Structural equation modelling has
been used to conduct mediation and moderation analysis. The results are based on the perceptions of college
students regarding employer brand dimensions and EOC status.
Findings –The paper provides empirical insights on how the person-organisation fit helps in transferring
employer brand dimensions to EOC status. The results indicate that the person-organisationfitactsasafull
mediator, indicating that for becoming a EOC, the dimensions of employer brand must be linked to the
person-organisation fit. Also, the moderation analysis results highlight the importance of social media towards
obtaining EOC status.
Originality/value –The authors believe that the study is the first of its kind to investigate drivers of
EOC, and to identify the role of the person-organisation fit as a mediating variable and social media as a
moderating variable.
Keywords Social media, Employer branding, Person-organization fit, Mediation analysis,
Moderation analysis, Employer of choice
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Over the last few years, organisations across the world have witnessed some radical
evolutionary leaps led by intense global competition and technology (Francis and
Bessant, 2005). War for talent has become a strategic business challenge as organisations
struggle to attract and retain qualified human capital (Price and Turnbull, 2007).
Thus, companies are looking for better qualified human resource (HR) capital. In order to
survive in this competitive environment, organisations are in search of HR that can be
used for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage in the environment. One
strategy that is more likely to become a winnerinthiswarfortalentisemployerof
choice (EOC) (Hult, 2011; Baker, 2014). Some of the established benefits of being a EOC
include employee and customer satisfaction, and employee attraction and employee
engagement rates (Baker, 2014; Rampl, 2014). The concept of EOC implies that employees
consciously choose to work for a EOC instead of other organisations (Herman and Gioia,
2000a). In fact, EOC is not only an organisation that employees aspire to work for but also
Personnel Review
Vol. 48 No. 3, 2019
pp. 799-823
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-10-2017-0299
Received 9 October 2017
Revised 24 June 2018
Accepted 23 August 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
799
Moderating
effect of
social media
one that they would recommend as a first-choice brand to a friend looking for a job
(Hult, 2011).
Companies have long recognised the importance of a brand as an important asset
to attract talented workers. A lot of attention has been devoted to the brand as a tool for
attracting and retaining customers. When this concept is applied to HR management
to attract potential employees, it is called employer branding (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004).
Employer branding is a strategy where by employers can distinguish themselves from their
counterparts by offering a package of psychological, economic and functional benefits to the
employees (Ambler and Barrow, 1996). Previous research has argued that employer brand
helps in positioning the firm in the minds of potential employees as a EOC (Branham, 2001;
Rampl, 2014). Lievens (2007) avers that becoming a EOC starts with the development of the
value proposition and the promotion of specific promises internally and externally. These
two key notions of value propositions and promises are promoted by the employer brand
(Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004).
Here, the authors would like to differentiate between “Employer of Choice”and
traditional recruitment outcomes such as “job pursuit intentions”,“acceptance intentions”or
“job–organization attraction”(Chapman et al., 2005). “Job pursuit intention”is reflected in
the applicant’s desire to apply for a job in an organisation by submitting an application.
This signifies the applicant’s eagerness to stay in the applicant pool, excluding his
commitment to a job choice. “Job organisation attraction”, on the other hand, measures
the attractiveness of an organisation for potential employees, in general, for example, how
attractive the job is for an employee. “Acceptance intentions”measure the likelihood
of an applicant accepting a job offer if it were forthcoming or the likelihood of an applicant
accepting a job offer from the company. In contrast, EOC is a kind of organisation that
employees would aspire to work for and would, therefore, accord preference to over other
organisations in their selection of jobs. Past studies have particularly talked about the
relationship between employer brand and traditional recruitment outcomes such as job
pursuit intentions (Devina et al., 2016). However, there are very few studies concerning
employer branding and EOC. Thus, it becomes important to identify whether employer
brand also helps in the creation of a EOC.
The first goal of the present study is thus to understand the linkage between employer
brand and EOC. As regards the value proposition of employer brand, Edwards (2009)
indicates that individuals prefer those organisations as EOCs which match their own
interests and values, or organisations wherein they can fit in. This match is explained
through the person-organisation fit. The person-organisation fit refers to the match between
an individual’s values and the value of the organisation (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). It refers
to the compatibility between employees and the organisation, as it is a fit between the
beliefs, cultures and values of employees, on one hand, and of the organisation, on the other
hand (Lauver and Kristof-Brown, 2001).
The person-organisation fit has been linked to employer brand in past research
conducted by Bhatnagar and Srivastava (2008). However, their study was qualitative
in nature. The case study approach was used to determine the importance of the
person-organisation fit in increasing visibility among prospective employees. The study
probed the need for conducting quantitative research in this area, and identifying the
relationship with the person-organisation fit in the context of employer brand. Thus, the
second goal of the study is to examine the role of the person-organisation fit in transferring
the employer brand dimensions to the EOC.
Becoming a EOC means that the company has carefully created an environment wherein
applicants are eager to work for it because they perceive it as a great place to work.
Therefore, an important question to be addressed here is what it takes for an organisation to
be chosen as a EOC. In order to remain competitive, organisations need to brand themselves
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