The Influence of Social-Media Sites on Job-Seeker Intentions: Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter

Authors

  • Robert W. Stone University of Idaho Department of Accounting
  • Daniel M Eveleth University of Idaho Department of Business
  • Lori J Baker-Eveleth University of Idaho

Keywords:

Job-seeker intentions, Web 2.0, Social networking sites, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter

Abstract

Little is known about the role that company social media networking sites play in job seeker attraction. This research helps address this gap. Subjects in this study evaluated the websites of three potential employers and then selected one employer to follow on social media in subsequent weeks. Each week subjects evaluated content, the activity of the recruiter who managed each site, and the activity of other users. In addition, at the end of each week subjects evaluated the usefulness of the social networking site and reported their attitudes and intentions towards the company. The results showed no differences in job seekers’ attitudes toward the company across different companies before social media was used. Yet, after social media was used there were meaningful differences in these attitudes. Additional analysis showed that the social media forms of Facebook and Linkedin had significant influence on job seekers’ attitudes toward the company while Twitter demonstrated no such influences.

Author Biographies

Robert W. Stone, University of Idaho Department of Accounting

Professor Accounting and Management Information Systems

Department of Accounting

Daniel M Eveleth, University of Idaho Department of Business

Professor of Human Resources Management

Department of Business

Lori J Baker-Eveleth, University of Idaho

Professor Management Information Systems

Department of Business

References

Agarwal, R., & Karahanna, E. (2000). Time flies when you're having fun: Cognitive absorption and beliefs about information technology usage. MIS Quarterly, 24, 665-694.

Allen, D. G., Biggane, J. E., Pitts, M., Otondo, R. F., & Van Scotter, J. (2013). Reactions to recruitment web sites: Visual and verbal attention, attraction, and intentions to pursue employment. Journal of Business and Psychology, 28, 263-285.

Allen, D. G., Mahto, R. V., Otondo, R. F. (2007). Web-based recruitment: Effects of information, organizational brand, and attitudes toward a Web site on applicant attraction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1696 -1708.

Bazarova, N. N., & Choi, Y. H. (2014). Self-disclosure in social media: Extending the functional approach to disclosure motivations and characteristics on social network sites. Journal of Communication, 64, 635-657.

Black, S., Johnson, A., Takach, S., & Stone, D. (2012). Factors affecting applicant’s reactions to the collection of data in social network websites. Academy of Management Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Black, S., & Johnson, A. (2012). Employers' use of social networking sites in the selection process. Journal of Social Media in Society, 1, 7-28.

Bohnert, D., & Ross, W. H. (2010). The influence of social networking web sites on the evaluation of job candidates. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13, 341-347.

Braddy, P. W., Meade, A. W., & Kroustalis, C. M. (2008). Online recruiting: The effects of organizational familiarity, website usability, and website attractiveness on viewers’ impressions of organizations. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 2992-3001.

Breaugh, J. A., & Starke, M. (2000). Research on Employee Recruitment: So Many Studies, So Many Remaining Questions. Journal of Management, 26, 405-434.

Bright, L. F., Kleiser, S. B., & Grau, S. L. (2015). Too much Facebook? An exploratory examination of social media fatigue. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 148-155.

Cable, D. M., Aiman-Smith, L., Mulvey, P. W., & Edwards, J. R. (2000). The sources and accuracy of job applicants' beliefs about organizational culture. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 1076-1085.

Carpentier, M., Van Hoye, G., Stockman, S., Schollaert, E., Van Theemsche, B., & Jacobs, G. (2017). Recruiting nurses through social media: Effects on employer brand and attractiveness. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 73, 2696-2708.

Carpentier, M., Van Hoye, G., & Weng, Q. (2019). Social media recruitment: Communication characteristics and sought gratifications. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1669.

Chang, Y. P., & Zhu, D. H. (2012). The role of perceived social capital and flow experience in building users’ continuance intention to social networking sites in China. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 995-1001.

Cheung, C. M., Chiu, P. Y., & Lee M. K. (2011). Online social networks: Why do students use facebook? Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 1337-1343.

Cober, R. T., Brown, D. J., Levy, P. E., Cober, A. B., & Keeping, L. M. (2003). Organizational web sites: Web site content and style as determinants of organizational attraction. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 11, 158-169.

Constantinides, E., Lorenzo-Romero, C., & Alarcón-del-Amo, M. C. (2013). Social Networking Sites as Business Tool: A Study of User Behavior. In: Glykas M. (eds) Business Process Management. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 444. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 221-240.

Cugelman, B., Thelwall, M., & Dawes, P. L. (2009). Dimensions of web site credibility and their relation to active trust and behavioural impact. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 44, 456-470.

da Motta Veiga, S. P., Clark, B. B., & Moake, T. R. (2019). Influence of job-dedicated social media on employer reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-019-00083-z.

Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32, 554-571.

Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 89, 319-340.

Devaraj, S., Fan, M., & Kohli, R. (2002). Antecedents of B2C Channel Satisfaction and Preference: Validating e-Commerce Metrics. Information Systems Research,13, 316-333.

Dineen, B. R., & Allen, D. G. (2013). Internet recruiting 2.0: shifting paradigms. In: Cable DM, Yu KYT editors, The Oxford Handbook of Recruitment. New York, Oxford University Press.

El Ouirdi, M., El Ouirdi, A., Segers, J., & Pais, I. (2016). Technology adoption in employee recruitment: The case of social media in Central and Eastern Europe. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 240-249.

Ellison, N., Vitak, J., Gray, R., & Lampe, C. (2014). Cultivating social resources: The relationship between bridging social capital and Facebook use among adults. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19, 855-870.

Ellison, N. B., & Vitak, J. (2015). Social network site affordances and their relationship to social capital processes. The handbook of the psychology of communication technology, 205-227.

Eveleth, D. M., Baker-Eveleth, L. J., & Stone, R. W. (2015). Potential applicants’ expectation-confirmation and intentions. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 183-190.

Feldman, D. C., Bearden, W. O., & Hardesty, D. M. (2006). Varying the content of job advertisements: The effects of message specificity. Journal of Advertising, 35, 123-141.

Frasca, K. J., & Edwards, M. R. (2017). Web‐based corporate, social and video recruitment media: Effects of media richness and source credibility on organizational attraction. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 25, 125-137.

French, A. M., Shim, J. P., Otondo, R. F., & Porter, J. R. (2016). Developing a loyal community: an empirical analysis evaluating antecedents to loyalty in social networking. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 12, 114-130.

Green, D. T., & Pearson, J. M. (2011). Integrating website usability with the electronic commerce acceptance model. Behaviour & Information Technology, 30, 181-199.

Gregory, C. K., Meade, A. W., & Thompson, L. F. (2013). Understanding internet recruitment via signaling theory and the elaboration likelihood model. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 1949-1959.

Guo, C., Shim, J., & Otondo, R. (2010). Social network services in China: An integrated model of centrality, trust, and technology acceptance. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 13, 76-99.

Huang, J. W., & Lin, C. P. (2011). To stick or not to stick: The social response theory in the development of continuance intention from organizational cross-level perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 1963-1973.

Irving, P. G., & Meyer, J. P. (1994). Re-examination of the met-expectations hypothesis: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 937–949.

Katz, E., & Blumler, J. G. (1973). Uses and gratifications research. The Public Opinions Quarterly, 37, 509-523.

Khan, M. L. (2017). Social media engagement: What motivates user participation and consumption on YouTube? Computers in Human Behavior, 66, 236-247.

Krishnan, A., & Hunt, D. S. (2015). Influence of a multidimensional measure of attitudes on motives to use social networking sites. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18, 165-172.

Leonardi, P. M., & Treem, J. W. (2012). Knowledge management technology as a stage for strategic self-presentation: Implications for knowledge sharing in organizations. Information and Organization, 22, 37-59.

Lin, H. F. (2010). Applicability of the extended theory of planned behavior in predicting job seeker intentions to use job‐search websites. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 18, 64-74.

Maurer, S. D., & Cook, D. P. (2011). Using company web sites to e-recruit qualified applicants: A job marketing based review of theory-based research. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 106-117.

Neubaum, G., & Krämer, N. C. (2015). My friends right next to me: A laboratory investigation on predictors and consequences of experiencing social closeness on social networking sites. CyberPsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18, 443-449.

Pentina, I., Gammoh, B. S., Zhang, L., & Mallin, M. (2013). Drivers and outcomes of brand relationship quality in the context of online social networks. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 17, 63-86.

Praveena, K., & Thomas, S. (2014). Continuance intention to use Facebook: A study of perceived enjoyment and TAM. Bonfring International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management Science, 4, 24-29.

Pronschinske, M., Groza, M. D., & Walker, M. (2012). Attracting Facebook 'fans': The importance of authenticity and engagement as a social networking strategy for professional sport teams. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 21, 221-232.

Ramírez-Correa, P. E., Arenas-Gaitán, J., & Rondán-Cataluña, F. J. (2015). Gender and Acceptance of E-Learning: A Multi-Group Analysis Based on a Structural Equation Model among College Students in Chile and Spain. PLoS ONE, 10, 1-17.

Robins, D., & Holmes, J. (2008). Aesthetics and credibility in web site design. Information Processing and Management, 44, 386-399.

Rynes, S. L., Heneman, H. G., & Schwab, D. P. (1980). Individual reactions to organizational recruiting: A review. Personnel Psychology, 33, 529-542.

Sandvig, J. C. (2016). The role of social media in college recruiting. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 12, 23-34.

Shang, S. S., Wu, Y. L., & Li, E. Y. (2017). Field effects of social media platforms on information-sharing continuance: Do reach and richness matter? Information & Management, 54, 241-255.

Spence, M. (2002). Signaling in retrospect and the informational structure of markets. The American Economic Review, 92, 434-459.

Srivastava, J., Saks, J., Weed, A. J., & Atkins, A. (2018). Engaging audiences on social media: Identifying relationships between message factors and user engagement on the American Cancer Society’s Facebook page. Telematics and Informatics, 35, 1832-1844.

Steijn, W. M., & Schouten, A. P. (2013). Information sharing and relationships on social networking sites. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16, 582-587.

Stone, R. W., Baker-Eveleth. L. J, & Eveleth, D. M. (2015). The Influence of the Firm’s Career-Website on Job-Seekers’ Intentions to the Firm. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 5, 111-130.

Tarute, A., Nikou, S., & Gatautis, R. (2017). Mobile application driven consumer engagement. Telematics and Informatics, 34, 145-156.

Thompson, L. F., Braddy, P. W., & Wuensch, K. L. (2008). E-recruitment and the benefits of organizational web appeal. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 2384-2398.

Tong, S., & Walther, J. B. (2011). Relational maintenance and CMC. Computer-mediated Communication in Personal Relationships, 53, 98-118.

Turban, D. B., & Cable, D. M. (2003). Firm reputation and applicant pool characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 24, 733-751.

Turban, D. B., & Keon, T. L. (1993). Organizational attractiveness: An interactionist perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 184-1993.

Uggerslev, K. L., Fassina, N. E., & Kraichy, D. (2012). Recruiting Through the Stages: A Meta-Analytic Test of Predictors of Applicant Attraction at Different Stages of the Recruiting Process. Personnel Psychology, 65, 597-660.

Van Hoye, G., & Lievens, F. (2009). Tapping the grapevine: A closer look at word-of-mouth as a recruitment source. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 341-352.

Veland, R., Amir, D., & Samije, S. D. (2014). Social media channels: the factors that influence the behavioural intention of customers. International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 12, 297-314.

Venkatesh, V., & Davis, F. D. (2000). A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: Four longitudinal field studies. Management Science, 46, 186-204.

Walker, H. J., Bauer, T. N., Cole, M. S., Bernerth, J. B., Field, H. S., & Short, J. C. (2013). Is this how I will be treated? Reducing uncertainty through recruitment interactions. Academy of Management Journal, 56, 1325-1347.

Webster, J., & Ho, H. (1997). Audience engagement in multimedia presentations. ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems, 28, 63-77.

Zhang, S., Zhao, L., Lu, Y., & Yang, J. (2015). Get Tired of Socializing as Social Animal? An Empirical Explanation on Discontinuous Usage Behavior in Social Network Services. PACIS, 125.

Downloads

Published

2019-12-31

Issue

Section

Special Issue: Human Resources