Social influences in recruitment: When is word-of-mouth most effective?

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

3-2016

Abstract

We apply a policy-capturing design to examine the conditions under which word-of-mouth is most effective in recruitment. The effect of monetary incentives is compared to other key characteristics of word-of-mouth (the source, recipient, and message content) that might affect its impact on organizational attractiveness. In a first study, unemployed job seekers (N=100) were less attracted when they knew a monetary incentive was offered to the source of positive word-of-mouth. Conversely, they were more attracted when word-of-mouth was provided by a more experienced source (employee) and by a stronger tie (friend). These findings were replicated in a second study among employed job seekers (N=213). These results offer various implications for how recruiting organizations might make effective use of word-of-mouth.

Discipline

Human Resources Management | Organizational Behavior and Theory

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

International Journal of Selection and Assessment

Volume

24

Issue

1

First Page

42

Last Page

53

ISSN

0965-075X

Identifier

10.1111/ijsa.12128

Publisher

Wiley: 24 months

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12128

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