Employer branding: strategic implications for staff recruitment

Abstract

In many developed economies, changing demographics and economic conditions have given rise to increasingly competitive labour markets, where competition for good employees is strong. Consequently, strategic investments in attracting suitably qualified and skilled employees are recommended. One such strategy is employer branding. Employer branding in the context of recruitment is the package of psychological, economic, and functional benefits that potential employees associate with employment with a particular company. Knowledge of these perceptions can help organisations to create an attractive and competitive employer brand. Utilising information economics and signalling theory, we examine the nature and consequences of employer branding. Depth interviews reveal that job seekers evaluate: the attractiveness of employers based on any previous direct work experiences with the employer or in the sector; the clarity, credibility, and consistency of the potential employers’ brand signals; perceptions of the employers’ brand investments; and perceptions of the employers’ product or service brand portfolio.     

The employee brand: Is yours an all-star?

In this article, a typology is presented which will help organizations better reflect the brand image they desire. The assisting typology is based on the extent to which employees know and understand the organization's mission, values, and desired brand image, and the degree to which they perceive their psychological contracts with the organization as being honored. Organizations can be classified as all-stars, rookies, injured reserves, or strike-out kings, based on the characteristics of a preponderance of their employees. As categorized, rookie organizations cannot deliver the desired brand image because most of their employees lack the knowledge and understanding to do so. Injured reserve organizations, on the other hand, cannot achieve the same because firm employees perceive their psychological contracts with the organization as having been violated, which renders the individuals unwilling and unmotivated. For their part, strike-out king organizations share rookie and injured reserve organizations' worst characteristics. Finally, and conversely, all-star organizations consistently deliver the desired brand image to others because their employees are both able and motivated to do so. To help firms attain this highly desired status, specific guidelines are presented herein which may help organizations become “all-stars” in their own right.     

The brand personality dimensions of business-to-business firms: a content analysis of employer reviews on social media

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand personalities that employees are creating of their employer brands, in particular business-to-business (B-to-B) brands, when describing these brands on social media. We examine how the brand personalities, based on written online reviews, differ between high- and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Methodology/Approach: 6,300 written employee reviews from a social media platform, Glassdoor, are used for content analysis in DICTION, to determine the brand personality dimensions they communicate (J. L). An independent B-to-B brand ranking data source, Brandwatch, is used as a reference to various brands’ level of ranking, while an ANOVA test is used to determine whether there is a difference in the brand personality trait means when comparing high and low-ranked, and high- and low-rated brands.

Findings: Our findings suggest that a strong social media presence does not equate to a strong employer brand personality perception among employees, since there are no significant differences between B-to-B firms based on their rankings.

Research Implications: Extant literature has mostly explored the impact of either critical reviews or favourable customer ratings and reviews on company performance, with very little research focusing on the B-to-B context. In addition, research employing DICTION for the purposes of content analysis of reviews is sparse. The methodology used in this study could thus be employed to further compare and contrast the reviews from a single company, dividing top and low starred reviews to compare discrepancies.

Practical Implications: The results of this study show how online shared employee experiences of employer brands contribute to the formation of a distinct employer brand personality. From a managerial viewpoint, engaging with current and past employees and being cognizant of the online narratives that they share on social media, may be an early indicator of where the firm is lacking (or showing strength) in its’ employee engagement. This would offer a way for firms to both understand their employer brand personality as well as gauge how they compare to top employers in a specific sector or industry.

Originality/Value/Contribution: The study attempts to grow the literature of employee brand engagement in a B-to-B context, by recognizing the important role that employees play in engaging with their employer brand online. Two main contributions are offered. The first contribution relates to the finding that employees perceive highly-rated B-to-B brands as being more competent, exciting, sincere and sophisticated than low-rated B-to-B brands. Second, the methodology used in this study proves to be a novel and accurate way of comparing employee reviews and perceived employer brand personality, with the employer-created intended brand image.     

Der Flexibilitätsbeitrag in der Arbeitslosenversicherung

The controversy around fixed-term contracts centres around the conflict between the employer’s need for flexibility and the employee’s need for security. The authors propose flexible contributions for employers to the public unemployment insurance system to balance both interests. The employers’ contributions for their temporary staff would increase while the contributions for their permanent staff would in turn decrease slightly. The authors calculate four versions. With regards to the total sum of contributions, the first version holds the contributions received constant while the second version leads to a reduction. They then repeat these two calculations for fixed-term contracts without substantive grounds. The flexibility premium takes into account the higher unemployment risk of employees with fixed-term contracts and establishes monetary incentives for employers to hire employees with permanent contracts.     

心理契约违背和员工离职的关系研究

在中国环境背景下,员工会在组织社会化的初期阶段形成各自的心理契约,进入组织后,由于个体差异、组织实践等多方面因素影响,造成心理契约破裂,进而产生心理契约违背,员工从态度和行为上发生变化,从而带来离职现象。从员工心理契约形成及心理契约违背的作用机制角度出发,可以在人力资源管理实践中采取相应的对策来主动防止员工离职。     

Factors influencing generation Y’s purchase intentions of prototypical versus me-too brands

The current study examines self-confidence, perceived quality, extrinsic attributes and perceived risk as drivers and inhibitors of Generation Y’s purchase intentions of prototypical and me-too brands. A survey of 348 respondents demonstrated that self-confidence and perceived quality produced significant positive effects on purchase intentions for the me-too brands. Extrinsic attributes produced a significant positive effect on purchase intentions for the prototypical brand. Perceived financial/performance risk produced a significant negative effect on purchase intentions for both the prototypical and me-too brands, while perceived psychological risk produced a significant negative effect on purchase intentions for the prototypical brand. Understanding the factors underlying Gen Y’s consumer behaviour is crucial, particularly due to their considerable consumption potential and the increasing sophistication of brand marketing in the marketplace.     

Why do consumers prefer a hometown geographical indication brand? Exploring the role of consumer identification with the brand and psychological ownership

This research investigates the consumer purchase intention of products with geographic indications (GIs) based on a sample of 351 valid responses in three representative regions that are well known for their GIs of navel orange brands. Drawing on theories of consumer-brand relationship, social identity or consumer identification with the brand, and psychological ownership, our empirical results support our research hypotheses. Specifically, it is found that consumers tend to have a higher purchase intention for hometown GI brands than for non-hometown GI brands. Meanwhile, the impact of brand origin, that is, hometown versus non-hometown GI brand, on consumer purchase intention of GI products is found to be mediated by consumer identification with the GI brands. In addition, psychological ownership moderates the impact of hometown GI brands on purchase intention in that high psychological ownership enhances the impact of brand origin on purchase intention, whereas low psychological ownership negates this effect. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications are provided.     

Determinants of Success of Employer Branding in a Start‐up Firm in Nigeria

This article aims at providing an understanding of factors that determine the success and failure of employer branding. An African steel‐producing start‐up company developed an employer brand image, which enabled it to effectively attract and hire talent from the labor market and inspired high engagement and productivity. A few years later, the firm lost its attractive brand image and its employer brand loyalty also declined. The study is a longitudinal investigation, and data were collected from policies and through structured interviews with the employees, ex‐employees of the organization, and prospective employees. Findings show amazing success of the employer brand in the first six years in talent attraction, hiring, engagement, and retention. Thereafter, the brand lost its potency, and its dysfunctionality significantly impacted on the future of the firm—employee dissatisfaction, decline in productivity, and increase in turnover. The reasons include a toxic organizational environment, overbranding, failure to keep promises, disconnect between employer branding and human resource strategy, shift of emphasis by senior management from people to production, and lack of a dynamic and differentiated employee value proposition. The study offers practical lessons to managers. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Perceived brand authenticity and social exclusion as drivers of psychological brand ownership

Firms strive hard to make their brands imbibed in consumers’ lives. Psychological brand ownership is one of the best ways to make consumers psychologically own the brand to generate favorable behavior. Thus, it becomes imperative for firms to know about the ways through which psychological brand ownership can be induced. To this end, the current study primarily examines perceived brand authenticity and social exclusion as the important antecedents to psychological brand ownership. In total 407 responses were collected through online mode. The results demonstrate that both perceived brand authenticity and social exclusion engender a sense of psychological brand ownership. In addition, the findings also lend support to positive word of mouth and purchase intentions as the outcomes of psychological brand ownership. The study presents some important implications to both academicians and practitioners.     

Involvement,Tolerance for Ambiguity,and Type of Service Moderate the Effectiveness of Probability Marker Usage in Service Advertising

Results of two experiments reveal that the use of probability markers in advertisements affects brand attitude and purchase intentions, and that this is moderated by the type of service, customers’ involvement, and their level of tolerance for ambiguity. Services in the study were classified as more or less hedonic/utilitarian, and more or less involving. Probability markers affect consumers’ brand attitude and purchase intentions for less-involving services, while this effect is not significant for more-involving services. In addition, higher tolerance for ambiguity results in preference of hedges over pledges or no probability markers, while for consumers with lower tolerance for ambiguity the opposite holds. With regards to service type, for more-hedonic, less-involving services the use of hedges in advertising copy increases brand attitude and purchase intentions, while for more-utilitarian, less-involving services pledges result in highest levels of brand attitude and purchase intentions.     

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) employer brand process: integrative review and comprehensive model

ABSTRACT

Firms are increasingly drawing on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their employer branding to improve attractiveness and engage current and potential employees, and to ensure consistency in employee brand behaviours. However, there is a dearth of literature synthesising CSR and employer branding research to understand employee engagement with CSR-firms from a branding perspective. In this article, the authors carried out an integrative literature review of CSR and employer branding literatures. Informed by signaling theory, the authors develop a conceptual model of the CSR employer branding process as a cohesive view from the potential and current employee perspective. Our review highlights the need for firms to achieve CSR consistency in terms of (a) embeddedness of CSR values, and (b) levels of internal CSR. These two factors frame a typology that enable managers to better execute their CSR employer brand identity to achieve favourable results, such as a high-quality talent pool and positive affective, cognitive and behavioural employee outcomes.     

品牌在商品进口中的作用--来自中国葡萄酒进口商的证据

将传统的供应商选择标准归纳为品牌功能绩效,同时引入品牌情感绩效概念,以顾客满意作为中介变量、以重复购买意向作为因变量构建理论模型并提出研究假设,数据收集是通过对206家葡萄酒进口商发放问卷的方式进行的。研究发现：供应商的品牌功能绩效和品牌情感绩效都会正向影响进口商满意度,供应商的功能绩效还正向影响进口商的重复购买意向,但情感绩效没有实现对进口商重复购买意向的直接影响,情感绩效通过影响进口商满意度间接影响其重复购买意向。     

Is beauty always good? Effects of visual presentation of Influencer’s aesthetic labor on brand purchase intention

Aesthetic labor plays a crucial role in social media influencer marketing. Based on the theories of aesthetic labor and social media influencers, this study aims to identify the psychological mechanism and boundary conditions of the effects of visual presentation of influencers’ aesthetic labor on consumers’ brand purchase intention. The results of five studies indicate that the visual presentation of influencers’ aesthetic labor and consumers’ regulatory focus have an interactive effect on brand purchase intention. Specifically, promotion-focused consumers (vs. prevention-focused consumers) are more willing to purchase brands endorsed by influencers with a high-level (vs. low-level) visual presentation of aesthetic labor through para-social relationships. Furthermore, the homophily between influencers and consumers moderates this interaction effect. These findings have significant managerial implications for influencers and other retailing marketers to leverage aesthetic labor to win consumers’ purchase intention towards related brands.     

Antecedents and consequences of idiosyncratic deals: A frame of resource exchange

This study examines the antecedents and consequences of both timing and content of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) for attracting and retaining valuable employees. A resource exchange frame theorizes the influence pattern of personal individualism value, social skill, and perceived insider status on i-deals timing. Individualism and social skill are expected to relate to both ex ante and ex post i-deals; perceived insider status is anticipated to relate only to ex post i-deals. The frame also suggests that i-deals’ content and personal development relate primarily to relational and balanced psychological contracts; the other ex post i-deals, flexibility and workload reduction relate to transactional psychological contracts. The frame was tested with data collected from 289 Chinese employees in the telecommunication industry.     

The dark side of up-selling promotions: Evidence from an analysis of cross-brand purchase behavior☆

This research investigates how up- and down-selling promotions affect customers’ cross-brand purchasing and churn behavior at a multi-brand retailer. We employ a hidden Markov model that accounts for the dynamics of customers’ latent brand preferences and attrition and captures the resulting purchase behavior in response to promotional offers. Using data on coupon promotions and purchase transactions from an online retailer, we find that coupons for a higher-end brand increase customers’ likelihood of purchasing the brand. While this suggests that the retailer can increase its short-term revenues by sending coupons for the higher-end brand to customers of the lower-end brand, we find that customers up-sold via coupons are more likely to switch back to the lower-end brand, in comparison to other customers of the higher-end brand, limiting the positive effect of up-selling promotions in the long term. Moreover, lower-end brand customers’ promotion-induced brand switching leads to their increased attrition from the retailer, which negatively affects long-term purchase behavior and revenues. In contrast, when triggered by down-selling coupons, customers’ brand switching does not impact their attrition. Based on these findings, we demonstrate how our model-based approach can assist marketers’ multi-brand couponing decisions.     

承担社会责任 打造雇主品牌

中国企业在发展过程中,尚未形成承担企业社会责任方面意识,这往往导致企业失却了在人力资源市场上的竞争活力,并严重影响到了企业可持续的发展。作者认为关注中国企业对企业社会责任承担的问题,全面打造新型雇主品牌,提升企业员工的敬凝聚力和忠诚度,是企业发展面临的重要课题。     

Antecedents of participation in online brand communities and their purchasing behavior consequences

This study intends to fill some gaps in knowledge about online communities and their influence on consumers’ purchase decisions. A review of the extant literature on online brand communities reveals that most prior studies have focused on identifying the factors associated with joining and participating in online communities. However, limited studies examine the implications of participation in online brand communities in terms of consumer behaviors, such as brand liking and intention to purchase the brand. In addition, these few studies have either focused on the influence of operational elements of the online community on purchase intention or on the influence of community members’ characteristics regarding purchase intention. Therefore, this study aims to provide an integrated framework for operational and user characteristics’ antecedents associated with consumers’ participation in online brand communities and their effect on purchase decisions. Structural equation modeling was used to test the conceptual model. Data were collected via a survey of the Facebook pages of 282 members of Egyptian telecommunication companies. The findings provide insights into how these antecedents should be managed to enhance participation in virtual telecommunication communities.     

Does Service Employee Arrogance Discourage Sales of Luxury Brands in Emerging Economies?

Upscalex stores selling luxury brands from Western, developed countries are having a strong presence in many emerging markets. However, it is not uncommon to find that the service employees of these stores are arrogant and inhospitable. This article uses a dual attitudes perspective to show how service employee arrogance affects customers’ attitudes and purchase intentions toward luxury brands in emerging markets. Experimental findings show that arrogance produces dual attitudes, with positive implicit attitudes exerting a stronger influence than unfavorable explicit attitudes on purchase intentions. In addition, for customers with high self‐esteem, service employee arrogance has a negative effect on their purchase intentions. In line with the expectation disconfirmation model, when service employees change their arrogant attitudes and subsequently show hospitality, customers also change their expectations. When the improved service exceeds customers’ expectations, their explicit attitudes turn positive and exert a stronger influence on purchase intentions than when service employees are consistently hospitable.     

消费者个体差异对品牌资产的影响研究——基于可辩解型产品伤害危机

本文认为,在可辩解型产品伤害危机中,与轻度消费者相比,重度消费者会在更大程度上维持对品牌态度、感知质量、购买意向、品牌合意性的认知,因此,基于重度消费者的品牌资产受损程度也更小。这样的结果,可以从社会心理学的角度得到解释。社会心理学研究表明,行为会影响态度,所以危机发生前的重度购买行为会形成对产品的正面态度;在可辩解型产品伤害危机发生以后,虽然客户接收到了负面信息,但为了减少自身的焦虑情绪和不协调感,重度消费者会在更大程度上维持对产品品牌的知识构成。     

Determinants for Effects of Celebrity Negative Information: When to Terminate a Relationship with a Celebrity Endorser in Trouble?

This study examines three factors that influence consumers’ brand evaluation and purchase intention under negative celebrity information. The study is designed to investigate the effects of consumers’ perceived associative strength between celebrity endorser and brand, the role of congruence between a celebrity endorser's negative information and his/her endorsed brand, and the effects of consumers’ level of brand commitment. The study's findings suggest that congruence or “fit” between a celebrity endorser's negative information and an endorsed brand moderates a consumers’ evaluation of brand and purchase intentions. The study finds that a strong associative link between the brand and the celebrity endorser leads to lower brand evaluation as well as lower purchase intention. It also finds that consumers with a higher level of brand commitment are less likely to react negatively to a celebrity's bad publicity than are consumers with a lower level of brand commitment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.