This dissertation offers two essays on the engendering and the consequences of employee brand behavior. The first essay addresses the impact of employee brand behavior on customer experience in the retail environment. Retailers, with some exceptions, paid relatively little attention to the role that employees play in the experience they provide to their customers. While there seems to be a general consensus regarding both the importance of customer experience and the role of employees in delivering it, there has been no study attempting to measure the impact front-line employees have on the overall customer experience process from the consumer point-of-view. In essay two the antecedents that make up the customer experience construct are explored through the usage of a previously tested model with the addition of two new components: the employee in-role brand-building behavior construct and the expansion of the word-of-mouth construct to include social media word-of-mouth. The second essay complements essay one by focusing on the importance of employee branding behavior and examining its two variants: in-role and extra-role brand-building behavior. Both behaviors are engendered within the firm but companies are still struggling to differentiate between the two. The distinction between the two types is important because when developed correctly these behaviors can help companies build a competitive advantage. Since the differentiation gap between companies nowadays continues to shrink, companies must strive to develop a unique competitive advantage that cannot be easily copied by their rivals. The tailoring of such a specific set of brand oriented behaviors to be performed by employees is one potential solution to this challenge. By directing the behavior of employees that come into direct contact with customers, a firm has a unique opportunity to align all its branding promotional initiatives with those of its representatives in the front lines resulting in a more consistent customer experience.

To build successful new ventures or operate corporate companies, it is essential to consider the right company culture and employee benefits that fit the expectation of the employees and relevant to the operating industries and markets. On the other hand, efficient employee branding could significantly enhance talent acquisition and improve the firm performance. In general, company culture and employee benefits play important roles in shaping the employee branding. However, the main question is whether certain types of company culture and employee benefits could contribute to a better employee branding. This research study aimed to investigate the relationship of different types of company culture/employee benefits and employee branding. To this end, I first did literature review to understand the core ideas about company culture, employee benefits and employee branding. Then, I collected, decoded and analyzed the information about the written information of company culture and employee benefits available on the company official website as well as the numerical ratings of the company on the recruitment website. Next, I ran Welch’s t-tests and Pearson’s correlation tests by using a relatively smaller size of 40 companies to investigate their relationship and formulate empirical discussion. Based on the statistically significant results from Welch's t-tests and Pearson’s correlation tests, it is appropriate to suggest that companies with Clan/Adhocracy culture and concrete benefits have better employee branding.

Bakgrund: På dagens arbetsmarknad råder det en hård konkurrens om kompetent personal. Organisationer har sett potentialen i att utvidga marknadsföringens användningsområde och skapa ett arbetsgivarvarumärke, ett så kallat employer brand(EB). Corporate social responsibility (CSR)-innehåll i en platsannons har visats ha enpositiv inverkan på organisationsattraktivitet, vilket är en dimension av EB. En särskiljning mellan olika aspekter av CSR i en platsannons har dock inte gjorts. Denna uppsats tar således upp denna stafettpinne och undersöker dessutom hur CSR kananvändas i syfte att organisationer ska kunna stärka sitt EB i syfte att attrahera kompetentpersonal. Att finna implikationer gällande generation Y:s preferenser kring CSR i förhållande till val av arbetsgivare anses som ett steg närmare målet att attrahera ung kompetent personal och således även ett steg närmare hållbar human resourcemanagement (HRM). Syfte: Att bidra med en vidare förståelse kring CSR:s betydelse i organisationers arbetemed att stärka sitt EB och på så sätt kunna attrahera kompetent personal i förhållande till individer inom en specifik kohort; generation Y. Metod: Utefter studiens syfte valdes en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med mindre inslag av kvantitativ forskningsmetod. Fyra manipulerade platsannonser togs fram som undersökningsverktyg; en platsannons innehållande en lägre grad av CSR, en platsannons innehållande intern CSR, en platsannons innehållande extern CSR samt en platsannons innehållande en högre grad av CSR. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av tre experimentella fokusgrupper där respondenterna individuellt fick besvara tvåsvarsformulär. Vidare genomfördes en fokusgruppintervju med respektive experimentellfokusgrupp. Slutsats: Attraktiviteten gentemot en organisation ökar när CSR-innehållet ökar. Indikationer på att individer tillhörande generation Y finner intern CSR, i förhållande tillextern CSR, mer attraktivt vid val av arbetsgivare. Vidare indikeras att organisationer kan använda CSR i kampen om kompetent personal, särskilt intern CSR för att differentiera sig som arbetsgivare gentemot konkurrenter och således stärka sitt EB. / Background: In todays labor market, there is hard competition for competent staff. Organizations have seen the potential of expanding the scope of marketing and creatingan employer brand, a so-called employer brand (EB). Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) content in a job advertisement has been shown to have a positive impact onorganizational attractiveness, which is a dimension of EB. However, a distinctionbetween different aspects of CSR in a job advertisement has not been made. This essayaddresses this lack of research and also examines how CSR can be used in order fororganizations to strengthen their EB, in order to attract competent staff. Findingimplications regarding Generation Ys preferences around CSR in relation to choice ofemployer is considered as a step closer to the goal of attracting young competent staff andthus also one step closer to sustainable human resource management (HRM). Purpose: To contribute to a wider understanding of the importance of CSR in organizations' efforts to strengthen their EB, and thus attract competent staff in relation to individuals of a specific cohort; Generation Y. Methods: In coherence with the purpose of the study, a qualitative research method was chosen with a hint of emphasis on quantitative research methodology. Four manipulatedjob advertisements were presented as a research tool; a job advertisement containing alower degree of CSR, a job advertisement containing internal CSR, a job advertisement containing external CSR, and a job advertisement containing a higher degree of CSR. The study was conducted using three experimental focus groups where respondents individually responded to two response forms. Furthermore, a focus group interview was conducted with each experimental focus group. Conclusion: The attractiveness towards an organization increases as CSR contentincreases. There are indications that individuals of generation Y find internal CSRrelative to external CSR more attractive when choosing an employer. Furthermore, it isindicated that organizations can use CSR in the struggle for competent personnel, especially internal CSR, to differentiate themselves as employers against competitors, thus strengthening their EB.