The influence of managers’ social networking information on job applicants
| Published date | 05 August 2019 |
| Date | 05 August 2019 |
| Pages | 161-179 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-03-2018-0023 |
| Author | Christopher A. Ballweg,William H. Ross,Davide Secchi,Chad Uting |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
The influence of managers’
social networking information
on job applicants
Christopher A. Ballweg and William H. Ross
Department of Management, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Davide Secchi
Department of Language and Communication, University of Southern Denmark,
Slagelse, Denmark, and
Chad Uting
Department of Management, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence and influence of social network website
(SNW) content about alcohol use and abuse on job applicant reactions to their prospective immediate
supervisor and toward applying for the job.
Design/methodology/approach –In Study 1, raters coded photographs and photo captions found on 1,048
personal SNWs of US managers or business owners. Approximately 22 percent of managers’personalSNWs
contained references to alcohol, providing a base rate large enough to warrant further research. In Study 2,
laboratory experiment participants saw a fictitious company’s website including a professional managerial
profile. A 3 ×3 factorial design then varied whether the prospective manager’s comments on his personal
SNW emphasized professional activities, social drinking, or alcohol abuse; also, the manager’s friends’
comments emphasized work activities, social drinking, or alcohol abuse. A control group did not see a
personal SNW.
Findings –Alcohol abuse information on personal SNWs –whether posted by the manager or by the
manager’s friends –negatively affected attitudes toward the manager. Alcohol abuse information posted by
the manager (but not by the manager’s friends) decreased the willingness of participants to apply for the
position. These findings were consistent with the Brunswick Lens Model and the warranting hypothesis.
Originality/value –This is the first study to investigate managerial SNW content and it effects upon
prospective job seekers’attitudes.
Keywords Social media, Personnel selection, Organizational attraction, Alcohol abuse,
Brunswick lens model, Social networking websites, Warranting hypothesis
Paper type Research paper
Social network websites (SNWs) such as Facebook
TM
allow people to correspond with
friends and discuss mutual interests. Employers also increasingly use personal SNWs to
screen job applicants (Nikravan, 2016). Much has been written about the content that job
applicants post to SNWs (e.g. Brown and Vaughn, 2011; Roth et al., 2016). Firms reject
applicants (Microsoft, 2010) because of content such as: alcohol abuse (58 percent),
inappropriate written comments (56 percent), unsuitable photographs or videos (55 percent)
and friends’inappropriate comments (43 percent). However, there is another, unexplored
aspect of SNWs: many managers also post information on personal SNWs (Matthews, 2011).
Yet, managers may not realize that prospective applicants may also visit managers’
personal websites (Beal and Strauss, 2008).
Evidence-based HRM: a Global
Forum for Empirical Scholarship
Vol. 7 No. 2, 2019
pp. 161-179
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2049-3983
DOI 10.1108/EBHRM-03-2018-0023
Received 29 March 2018
Revised 17 August 2018
Accepted 24 August 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2049-3983.htm
The authors thank Professors Hubert S. Feild, Allan Macpherson, Chad van Iddekinge, and
anonymous reviewers for comments made to earlier versions of this manuscript. The authors express
their appreciation to Daniel Bohnert for providing some of the stimulus materials used in Study 2 and
to Jeff Ross, Aaron Jefson and Samuel Ross for technical and clerical assistance.
161
Managers’
social
networking
information
Approximately 75 percent of job seekers use social media to learn about prospective
employers and 50 percent look for current employees’SNW profiles (Walters, n.d.). In total,
18 percent of job seekers search for information about hiring managers (Nikravan, 2016).
If applicants learn the name of their prospective supervisor, it is easy to find that manager’s
personal SNW. We are not arguing that seeking prospective managers’Facebook SNWs is
common; however, we are interested in what applicants might find and how they react when
they discover specific types of information within managerial SNWs.
How frequently is negative information (e.g. alcohol abuse) portrayed on managers’
SNWs? Study 1 provides base rate estimates. Study 2 investigates the following questions:
Does SNW information influence potential applicants’attitudes toward their prospective
immediate supervisor, the company, or their intentions to apply for jobs?
Study 1: what do managers post on their SNWs?
Literature review and hypothesis development
In spite of anecdotal portrayals (Smith and Kidder, 2010) of drunken, drug-abusing, and
promiscuous SNW users –including managers (Dibianca, 2013), we found no statistics reporting
the frequency of such activities among managers. Given their positions of responsibility,
perhaps managers do not portray themselves engaging in these activities; alternatively, because
SNWs are personal sites, portrayals of such behavior may be common. What percentage of
managers post this type of information to their SNWs? Study 1 provides an estimate.
SNWs often include photographs of the owner and others, with accompanying captions.
According to dual coding theory (Paivio, 1986), observers process images differently from
text, with images more easily recalled. Raters’personality judgments based upon Facebook
profiles are heavily influenced by photographs (Ivcevic and Ambady, 2012). Examining
photographs and associated commentary provides a “base rate”of potentially detrimental
behaviors among managers.
Gender differences are also examined. Women often post photos emphasizing family
relationships (McAndrew and Jeong, 2012), whereas men often accentuate risk-taking (e.g.
mountain hiking, extreme sports; Tifferet and Vilnai-Yavetz, 2014). If public revelation of
alcohol abuse, illicit drug use, and sexual behaviors are considered “risky,”then perhaps
men are more likely to post such photos. Hence, it is hypothesized that:
H1. Men are more likely than women to post photos and/or photo captions suggesting
alcohol abuse, illicit drug use, and explicit sexual behaviors.
Methods
Sample
Photographs and accompanying text found on SNW profiles of 1,144 managers were
examined; these were randomly-ge nerated by Facebook software when searching
12 US geographic regions (n¼54–108, M¼87.3). Occupational search terms included
“Manager,”“Management,”“Supervisor,”“Chief Executive Officer,”“Director,”“President,”
“Vice-President,”“Owner,”“Administrator,”and “Foreman.”In total, 96 SNWs (41 posted by
females, 55 by males) were excluded because of privacy settings. The final sample included
1,048 SNW profiles, (n
male
¼600; n
female
¼448).
Procedure
A coding system was developed on 100 profiles and subsequently applied to the entire
sample. This system included photographs and captions (posted within the previous two
years) referencing: drinking alcoholic beverages, taking illegal drugs, sexual behaviors, and
using profanity or obscene gestures. Given the vivid nature of such photographs, even one
162
EBHRM
7,2
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