Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
3-2007
Abstract
This study conceptualizes employer brand as a package of instrumental and symbolic attributes. Using a sample of 955 individuals (429 potential applicants, 392 actual applicants, and 134 military employees), we examine the relative importance of instrumental and symbolic employer brand beliefs across different groups of individuals: potential applicants, actual applicants, and military employees (with less than three years of tenure). Results show that instrumental attributes explain greater variance in the Army's attractiveness as an employer among actual applicants compared to potential applicants or employees. In all three groups, symbolic trait inferences explain a similar portion of the variance. In addition, in all three groups, symbolic trait inferences explain incremental variance over and above instrumental attributes. Implications for employer branding practices and image audits are discussed.
Discipline
Human Resources Management | Military and Veterans Studies | Organizational Behavior and Theory
Research Areas
Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources
Publication
Human Resource Management
Volume
46
Issue
1
First Page
51
Last Page
69
ISSN
0090-4848
Identifier
10.1002/hrm.20145
Publisher
Wiley: 24 months
Citation
LIEVENS, Filip.
Employer branding in the Belgian Army: The importance of instrumental and symbolic beliefs for potential applicants, actual applicants, and military employees. (2007). Human Resource Management. 46, (1), 51-69.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5621
Copyright Owner and License
Publisher
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20145
Included in
Human Resources Management Commons, Military and Veterans Studies Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons