Previous works on organizational attractiveness always focused only on organizational-level factors, such like organizational or work characteristics. However, there are only limited researches discussing the influence of individual-level issues. Therefore, the multi-level theory will be applied to this paper to discuss the relationship among organizational characteristics, employer knowledge and job seeker¡¦s intention to apply. Moreover, this paper draws on marketing concepts of consumer-based brand equity to the recruitment context to identify the dimensions of employer knowledge. Based on data collected from 43 companies and 329 job seekers in the job fair, the finding suggests that organizational size is significant and positively related to both job seekers¡¦ employer knowledge and their intention to apply. Furthermore, all of the dimensions of employer knowledge are significant predictors of job seekers¡¦ intention to apply. Specially, the result also shows that organizational size is significant related to job seekers¡¦ intention to apply through employer knowledge. While taking employer knowledge into consideration, organizational size¡¦s initial influence on job seekers¡¦ intention to apply is completely disappearing. This finding confirms the mediate effect of employer knowledge between organizational characteristics and job seekers¡¦ intention to apply.

Most of previous word of mouth studies focused on marketing and consumer behavior issues. However, for job applicants, word of mouth could be a significant reference when applicants are looking for jobs. The present study tried to find out if word of mouth will influence organizational attractiveness perceived by potential applicants and under what situations related to word of mouth have the stronger effect. Hence, the study examined if the impact of word of mouth and if these impacts are moderated by the situational variables of tie strength with presenters and expertise of presenters and moderated by individual-difference variables of self-monitoring, self-esteem, and risk-taking. Results indicated that word of mouth has significant impact on organizational attractiveness. The moderation effects of potential applicants¡¦ tie strength with presenters, expertise of presenters, and self-esteem are also supported.

Most of previous works focused on the relationship between organizational attractiveness as an employer and instrumental attributes of employer image. Potential job seekers were viewed as rational and alone decision makers. However, in addition to objective facts, potential job seekers consider other facts when they make a job decision such as emotional facts and perceived harmony with organization. Furthermore, potential job seekers hold a vague impression on a potential employer. Others¡¦ opinions of potential employers must be their crucial information sources and they may change decision because of others¡¦ opinion. The study add symbolic meaning construct to employer image and research the relationship between it and organizational attractiveness as an employer and found it is significant related to organizational attractiveness as an employer. The mediated effect of the similarity between potential job seekers¡¦ personality and organizations¡¦ personality and others¡¦ opinions are considered here. Both of them don¡¦t significant mediated the relationship between employer image and organizational attractiveness as an employer.

Scholars suggest that organizational diversity management (DM) programs are useful not only to satisfy legal requirements or social demands, but also to further the achievement of business objectives. However, much is still to be learned about the effects of such programs on individuals' perceptions of the organization. After reviewing the relevant literature on organization-level DM programs, I present a theoretical framework using recent literature that takes a strategic perspective on DM. This research classifies organization-sponsored DM programs into qualitatively different categories. Using the typology, I develop a model that proposes person-organization fit perceptions and attributions as mechanisms driving the relationship between DM programs and organizational attractiveness. I describe two experimental studies designed to test the proposed relationships between organizational diversity perspectives and applicants' perceptions of organizations. The first follows a two-phase between-subject design, while the second uses a within-subject policy-capturing methodology. Results, implications, and conclusions are discussed.

Although a vast amount of research has examined why job seekers become attracted to organizations, few studies have focused on how job seekers develop an initial attraction and attachment to organizations. In order to address this gap in the literature, this study examined the relationship between the ways new organizations communicate and potential job seekers' perceptions of organizational attractiveness and anticipatory organizational identification. The organizational identification literature has previously shown that organizations often use a variety of inducements in their communication to foster identification among members, and that when members perceive that membership in an organization is an opportunity to affirm, distinguish, or enhance their self-concepts, the perceived organizational identity becomes more attractive. Drawing upon these findings, this study posited that a similar relationship would occur between organizations and potential job seekers. In addition, based on findings on social categorization, this study examined whether the effectiveness of identification inducements varied depending on whether the new organization was situated within an established or emerging industry. In established industries, new organizations face the risk of being stereotyped based on job seekers' preexisting knowledge of the industry, and therefore effectively invisible to job seekers as unique organizations. In emerging industries, because it is not entirely clear what defines this set of organizations, new organizations face the risk that job seekers may be less certain about how they might connect with these organizations, and therefore tend to find them less attractive. As a consequence of these cognitive differences, this study posited that the effectiveness of identification inducements would depend on the type of industry. An experiment was conducted to test these hypotheses. Participants consisted of students either currently or recently active in job seeking activities. The findings indicate that the presence of identification inducements in an organization's external communication positively impacted job seekers' perceptions and attachment to organizations, and that the primary mechanism for this effect was job seekers' perception of similarity. No differences were found between new organizations in established versus emerging industries in terms of the impact of identification inducements. Theoretical and managerial implications of these results were discussed. / text

Dissertation offers a methodological contribution to empirical studies on employer branding in higher education, exploring a framework for employer brand development. The Organizational Attractiveness Extraction Scale (OAES) was developed and a national study of organizational attractiveness as an employer in 19 Lithuanian higher education institutions (N = 1105) was carried out allowing: to identify the prevailing model of human resource management systems in HEIs; to extract unique employment experience attributes, or an organizational attractiveness mix; to unfold employee expectations of benefits provided by work at a particular HEI; to diagnose the health of HEI’s unintentional employer brand; to discover the gaps of factual and desirable employment experience, indicating the perceived employment experience quality and possible areas for improvement; to differentiate types of attitudinal employee segments; to determine the type of institution’s employment-based identity; to predict affective commitment based on employment experience inputs; to gain generational competence to apply market segmentation approach to employer branding. Based on the synthesis of empirical results, an analytical and typological framework for employer brand development was designed employing OAES methodology, enabling the organizations to strategically build their employer brands, facilitate organizational attractiveness and to differentiate from their competitors in the labor market. / Ši disertacija siūlo metodologinį pagrindimą empirinėms darbdavio ženklodaros aukštajame moksle studijoms, taikant kompleksišką požiūrį į darbdavio ženklo formavimą. Disertacijoje sukurta Organizacinio patrauklumo vertinimo skalė (OPVS) ir atliktas nacionalinis organizacijos, kaip darbdavio, patrauklumo tyrimas 19 Lietuvos aukštųjų mokyklų (N = 1105) leido: identifikuoti vyraujantį darbo santykių modelį aukštojo mokslo institucijose (AMI); išgryninti unikalias AMI darbinės jausenos charakteristikas, sudarančias jų organizacinio patrauklumo kompleksą; atskleisti darbuotojų lūkesčius konkrečios AMI atžvilgiu; diagnozuoti nesąmoningai kuriamo darbdavio ženklo įvaizdį; nustatyti neatitikimus tarp suvoktos esamos ir suvoktos laukiamos darbinės jausenos, įvertinant darbinės jausenos kokybę ir tobulintinas sritis; nustatyti darbuotojų darbinių jausenų segmentus; nustatyti AMI organizacinio patrauklumo tipus; remiantis darbinės jausenos vertinimu prognozuoti emocinį darbuotojų įsitraukimą; įvertinti kartų lūkesčius ir taikyti rinkos segmentavimo požiūrį kartų kontekste darbdavio ženklodaroje. Gautų empirinių tyrimo rezultatų sintezės pagrindu disertacijoje sukurta tipologinė darbdavio ženklo formavimo sistema naudojant parengtą OPVS metodiką, kuri įgalina organizacijas atskleisti ir strategiškai valdyti darbdavio ženklą, didinti organizacinį patrauklumą ir išskirtinumą bei sėkmingiau konkuruoti darbo rinkoje.

Ši disertacija siūlo metodologinį pagrindimą empirinėms darbdavio ženklodaros aukštajame moksle studijoms, taikant kompleksišką požiūrį į darbdavio ženklo formavimą. Disertacijoje sukurta Organizacinio patrauklumo vertinimo skalė (OPVS) ir atliktas nacionalinis organizacijos, kaip darbdavio, patrauklumo tyrimas 19 Lietuvos aukštųjų mokyklų (N = 1105) leido: identifikuoti vyraujantį darbo santykių modelį aukštojo mokslo institucijose (AMI); išgryninti unikalias AMI darbinės jausenos charakteristikas, sudarančias jų organizacinio patrauklumo kompleksą; atskleisti darbuotojų lūkesčius konkrečios AMI atžvilgiu; diagnozuoti nesąmoningai kuriamo darbdavio ženklo įvaizdį; nustatyti neatitikimus tarp suvoktos esamos ir suvoktos laukiamos darbinės jausenos, įvertinant darbinės jausenos kokybę ir tobulintinas sritis; nustatyti darbuotojų darbinių jausenų segmentus; nustatyti AMI organizacinio patrauklumo tipus; remiantis darbinės jausenos vertinimu prognozuoti emocinį darbuotojų įsitraukimą; įvertinti kartų lūkesčius ir taikyti rinkos segmentavimo požiūrį kartų kontekste darbdavio ženklodaroje. Gautų empirinių tyrimo rezultatų sintezės pagrindu disertacijoje sukurta tipologinė darbdavio ženklo formavimo sistema naudojant parengtą OPVS metodiką, kuri įgalina organizacijas atskleisti ir strategiškai valdyti darbdavio ženklą, didinti organizacinį patrauklumą ir išskirtinumą bei sėkmingiau konkuruoti darbo rinkoje. / Dissertation offers a methodological contribution to empirical studies on employer branding in higher education, exploring a framework for employer brand development. The Organizational Attractiveness Extraction Scale (OAES) was developed and a national study of organizational attractiveness as an employer in 19 Lithuanian higher education institutions (N = 1105) was carried out allowing: to identify the prevailing model of human resource management systems in HEIs; to extract unique employment experience attributes, or an organizational attractiveness mix; to unfold employee expectations of benefits provided by work at a particular HEI; to diagnose the health of HEI’s unintentional employer brand; to discover the gaps of factual and desirable employment experience, indicating the perceived employment experience quality and possible areas for improvement; to differentiate types of attitudinal employee segments; to determine the type of institution’s employment-based identity; to predict affective commitment based on employment experience inputs; to gain generational competence to apply market segmentation approach to employer branding. Based on the synthesis of empirical results, an analytical and typological framework for employer brand development was designed employing OAES methodology, enabling the organizations to strategically build their employer brands, facilitate organizational attractiveness and to differentiate from their competitors in the labor market.

The use of employer branding has gained popularity since the concept was introduced by Tim Ambler and Simon Barrow in 1996. At first, this consisted of three types of benefits (e.g., functional, economic and psychological) and later Lievens and Highhouse (2003) added two additional benefits: instrumental and symbolic. The concept of employer branding has then been used to attract potential employees, and lately, it has been discussed that the employer brand needs to be adapted to attract and retain Millennials. One way to adapt the employer brand is to review what attributes of an organization is communicated to potential employees. Most research regarding Millennials and employer branding has been conducted in the United States of America (USA) and not in many countries. Because of this, this thesis was conducted with the foundation of previous research that was adapted to and focused on Swedish Millennials. The objective was to find out what attributes is the most important to Swedish Millennials in order to attract and retain them as employees. The result of this thesis was created by first looking at previous research and defining a research problem and a research question. Then, the theoretical framework was conducted, leading to the method chosen to perform this study. Thereafter, the data was gathered and analyzed, leading up to the findings and conclusions that the attributes that are most important concerns the psychological benefits, followed by instrumental benefits and then functional benefits. Furthermore, economic and symbolic benefits are not considered to be as important to Swedish Millennials. / Sedan begreppet employer branding introducerades av Tim Ambler and Simon Barrow år 1996, har dess användning ökat. När begreppet först introducerades bestod det av tre förmåner (funktionella, ekonomiska och psykologiska) och utökades sedan av Lievens and Highhouse (2003) med instrumentella och symboliska förmåner. Sedan dess har employer branding använts för att attrahera eventuella arbetstagare. På senare tid har diskussioner först huruvida ett företags employer brand behöver anpassas för att attrahera och behålla individer som tillhör Generation Y (milleniegenerationen). Ett sätt att anpassa ett företags employer brand är att undersöka vilka attribut en organisation förmedlar till potentiella anställda. Majoriteten av all forskning som har skett kring Generation Y har genomförts i USA och det är svårt att hitta forskning kring ämnet som har utförts i ett annat land. På grund av detta har denna uppsats fokuserat på svenska millennier och undersökt vilka attribut hos ett företag som är viktigast för att ett företags ska bli attraktivt för dem. Resultatet i den här uppsatsen togs fram genom att först att ha tittat på vad tidigare forskning har kommit fram till och vad som har saknat för att hitta ett teoretiskt gap och framställa ett syfte med den här uppsatsen. Sedan sammanställdes relevant forskning som ledde till en passande metod. Detta i sin tur ledde till en datainsamling som analyserades för att hitta vilka attribut som är viktigast för svenska millennier, vilket visade sig vara främst psykologiska följt av instrumentella samt funktionella attribut. De ekonomiska samt symboliska attributen räknas inte vara lika viktiga som de övriga attributen.

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This research thesis has researched about how employer branding and its relationship to person - organization fit. It focuses on personality traits of applicants and how it can impact their attractiveness of the organization advertised in job adverts. The purpose of this research thesis is to explain what relationship employer branding via job advertisements has when it comes to establishing P - O fit. In this case between future business students and organizations. The thesis had a deductive approach a cross - sectional research design was applied. A quantitative research method (logistic regression) was used and came from primary data. The research findings show that employer branding has a positive relationship to creating attractiveness of firms and also has an impact upon person-organization fit. Our findings also indicated that personality characteristics is hard to categorize in order to see what specifically in employer value proposition can attract a specific employee preference. The limitations were the number of respondents, a larger sample unit could have impacted the results more. Also, using a qualitative method in terms of semiotics could give a more detailed output on respondents’ personality traits. The original value of the research thesis is that it focused specifically on business students and to what degree employer value proposition is related to person-organization fit.