Online Employer Reviews as a Data Source: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Employees generate a rich source of information by publishing employer reviews online. However, researchers seeking to harness employer review data face an elusive body of research to build on. Therefore, I present a systematic, multidisciplinary literature review, presenting the information obtained from employer reviews, the research topics covered, and the data sources used. My analysis of 28 peerreviewed journal articles shows that studies extract insider knowledge, information on employee satisfaction and changes in employee satisfaction, insights into workplace culture, and linguistic style from employer reviews. Studies do so to predict firm performance, to explore employee satisfaction factors, and to uncover the linguistic style of employer reviews. Glassdoor is the primary data source used. Finally, I identify five avenues for further research.

On the application of the Two-Factor Theory to online employer reviews

“…Nowadays, online employer reviews are available in large volumes and provide new research opportunities by complementing traditionally collected data (e.g., manually conducted employee surveys) in organizational sciences (Stamolampros et al 2020). Online employer reviews are employer evaluations written by current or former employees on dedicated reviewing websites and typically reflect the accumulated experiences of employees (Höllig 2021). Thus, these reviews provide rich information about employers and have already served as foundations for numerous empirical studies, for example, in the context of employer branding (Dabirian et al 2017), organizational culture (Das Swain et al 2020) as well as corporate performance (Luo et al 2016).…”

Using text mining and crowdsourcing platforms to build employer brand in the US banking industry

“…Previous research offers valuable insights into the employer branding framework, employer brand and its relationship with attracting and retaining talents, organization profitability, increased employee engagement, and cost structure (Berthon et al., 2005; Höllig, 2021; Jonsen et al., 2021; Kargas & Tsokos, 2020). Yet, there is a scarcity of literature explaining the process of exploring the EVP preferences from the insights of employees (Anslinger & Dickel, 2008).…”