University of Twente Student Theses
Creating an attractive employer brand in the blogosphere : the influence of the source and message valence on online perceived organizational attractiveness
Reinders, J.W. (2015) Creating an attractive employer brand in the blogosphere : the influence of the source and message valence on online perceived organizational attractiveness.
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| Abstract: | Nowadays many companies are struggling with their online-, social media- and weblogging policies for employees. Companies fear negative postings online and therefore forbid employees to post in general or forbid to post negative content about the company. But is this a good policy? Or do negative reviews contribute to a favorable employer brand image as well? Online marketing- and offline recruitment literature already confirmed the importance of the source and message valence in reviews and its influence on purchase intention and attractiveness of the company as an employer. But can this be translated into online recruitment setting as well? Therefore, the present study examines the effects of the source, message valence and a combination of both on online perceived organizational attractiveness (from now on oPOA) in the blogosphere. Multiple analyses of variance showed that in this student sample positive weblogs did score higher on intention- and attribution elements compared to weblogs with positive- and negative elements. Furthermore, weblogs written by company-dependent sources are perceived as less sceptical compared to weblogs written by company-independent sources. However, a combination of the source and message valence does not result in higher or lower oPOA. Explanations for these results can be found in the self-selection hypothesis, expectancy theory, positivity effect, diagnostic perceptions and the credibility and expertise of company-dependent and company-independent sources. Implications can be found in the different approach of weblogs in online recruitment literature compared to online reviews in marketing literature. Furthermore a step-by-step plan for managers was generated which shows how to use weblogs in a way that contributes to perceptions of organizational attractiveness. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/67017 |
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