Attracting Applicants on the Web: PO fit, industry culture stereotypes, and website design

Abstract

This study tested the extent to which industry culture stereotypes influence job-seekers' Person-Organization fit when job-seekers inspect organizations' websites. We proposed that PO fit would relate to Person-Industry (PI) fit, which is the fit between personal values and industry culture stereotypes. Furthermore, a good website design should negatively relate to the use of industry culture stereotypes for assessing actual organizations, yet this relationship should be moderated by job-seekers' PI fit. Our hypotheses were confirmed. An organization's website design affects the use of industry culture stereotypes, but this depends on an individual's PI fit. Individuals use industry culture stereotypes when inspecting organizations' websites particularly if they find the website less attractive and if PI fit is low.

Understanding internet recruitment via signaling theory and the elaboration likelihood model

“…Recently De Goede et al (2011) found that P-O fit perceptions based on organization websites correlated (r = .38) with organizational attraction, suggesting the importance of perceived fit in a recruitment context. Dineen et al (2002) found that providing customized fit information to individuals on a website with good aesthetic properties led to lower attraction for poorer fitting potential applicants.…”

“…Much of the early work in this area focused on aspects of the websites themselves, such as usability and aesthetics (Braddy, Thompson, Wuensch, & Grossnickle, 2003;Cober, Brown, Levy, Cober, & Keeping, 2003;Cober et al, 2000;Coyle & Thorson, 2001;Scheu, Ryan, & Nona, 1999;Williamson, Lepak, & King, 2003;Zusman & Landis, 2002) and the effects of employee testimonials (Braddy, Meade, & Kroustalis, 2008;Highhouse, Hoffman, Greve, & Collins, 2002;Van Hoye & Lievens, 2007;Walker, Feild, Giles, Armenakis, & Bernerth, 2009). More recent work has investigated a series of other variables not directly associated with the website, such as person-organization (P-O) fit (De Goede, Van Vianen, & Klege, 2011;Pfieffelmann, Wagner, & Libkuman, 2010), the role of previous information such as industry stereotypes (De Goede et al, 2011), and organizational familiarity (Walker, Feild, Giles, Bernerth, & Short, 2011). Perhaps the most comprehensive study to date was that of Allen et al (2007) which examined organizational brand and amount of information on attitudes towards the organization and website, and ultimately employment intention.…”

To Screen or Not to Screen? Using the Internet for Selection Decisions

“…Much of the research in P-O fit with respect to Internet webpages has focused on recruitment, with attention on applicants' perceptions of their fit with an organization based on the organizations' websites (e.g., Braddy et al 2009;De Goede et al 2011;Pfieffelmann et al 2010), rather than the reverse. However, managers and HR professionals may also try to measure P-O fit with Internet screening.…”

Applicant Perspectives During Selection: A Review Addressing “So What?,” “What’s New?,” and “Where to Next?”

“…Several studies have focused on identifying new determinants of justice perceptions associated with technology, including Web site design (De Goede, Van Vianen, & Klehe, 2011), Web site content and user-friendliness (Selden & Orenstein, 2011), system speed (Sinar, Reynolds, & Paquet, 2003), and degree of customization to the applicant (Dineen, Ling, Ash, & DelVecchio, 2007). Other studies investigated the characteristics of the applicant that determined or at least moderated perceptions of Internet-based procedures.…”