Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility on Social Media:How job seekers are building their perceptions of organizations

Travis Gable, Nkem Obi-Melekwe, Nile LaTowsky, Brian Shangwa, Shawn M. Bergman

Appalachian State University

Method

Participants• 350 potential job seekers from the online crowd

sourcing internet marketplace “MTurk”Data Analysis• A factorial ANOVA will determine if the different sets of

mock profiles resulted in differential outcomes for the studies participants

Measures• Outcomes: Organizational Attractiveness/ Intent to apply

Predictors of Org. Attractiveness/ Intent to apply

CSR Components:1. Community/Philanthropy

2. Work-life balance3. Ethical Environmental

Considerations

Hypothesis

• Hyp1: Potential job seekers rely on company websites when constructing their perceptions of an organization more than they do social media.

• Hyp2: Organizations who project the CSR values of community involvement/philanthropy, work-life balance, and ethical considerations for the natural environment through social media will result in higher ratings of organizational attraction and intention to join from job-seekers

• Hyp3: Organizations who use both visual graphics and text to portray CSR will have higher ratings of favorability

Key Terms Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

a business’s attention to and fulfillment of responsibilities to multiple stakeholders which exist at various levels: economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic Corporate Social Performance (CSP)

the evaluation of how well organizations are meeting their espoused CSRs

Organizational AttractivenessAn attitude or expressed general positive affect

toward an organization, viewing that organization as a desirable entity with which to develop some form of a relationship Applicant Perception

Process by which people translate sensory impressions into a coherent and unified view of the

world around them

Implications

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• To what extent are job seeker’s using social media and corporate websites in constructing their perceptions of an organization?

• How effective are visual graphics and text for a companies attention to social responsibility through social media and company websites?

Research Questions

If findings support our hypotheses then companies, particularly those who highlight CSR should re-evaluate how they are investing resources into their social media and company websites

Companies will be able to identify effective means of soliciting their values and social considerations to potential job applicants.

Recruiters can expect to see an overall increase in job applicants through the job seekers perception of a strong person-organization fit

• Research suggests that companies with stronger CSP are seen as more attractive employers (Jones, Willness, & Madey, 2014)

• Recognizing the impact that CSR can have on an applicant’s decision to apply for a position, companies are beginning to highlight certain facets of CSR via social media (Eberle, Berens, & Li, 2013).  

• Both CSR and CSP are generally characterized as having several dimensions, but we have narrowed our focus to

• community involvement/philanthropy • work-life balance • ethical considerations for the natural environment

Mock Profile Model