Firm reputation, recruitment web sites, and attracting applicants

Despite rapid growth in using Web sites to recruit applicants, little theoretical or empirical research has examined how firm attributes influence the effectiveness of recruitment Web sites. We developed and tested a model that examines the relationships among the firm's reputation as an employer, the attributes of the firm's Web site, and applicant attraction using data on business students' reactions to the recruitment Web sites of 144 firms. Results indicated that the amount of company and job attribute information provided on a recruitment Web site, the Web site's vividness, and the firm's reputation as an employer have a three-way interactive effect on prospective applicants' perceptions of the recruiting organization. As such, certain Web site attributes were more effective for firms with poor reputations and others for those with a good reputation. The implications of these results for recruitment research and for firms using Web sites as recruitment tools are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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