Displaying employee testimonials on recruitment web sites: effects of communication media, employee race, and job seeker race on organizational attraction and information credibility.

Full Abstract

This study investigated participants' reactions to employee testimonials presented on recruitment Web sites. The authors manipulated the presence of employee testimonials, richness of media communicating testimonials (video with audio vs. picture with text), and representation of racial minorities in employee testimonials. Participants were more attracted to organizations and perceived information as more credible when testimonials were included on recruitment Web sites. Testimonials delivered via video with audio had higher attractiveness and information credibility ratings than those given via picture with text. Results also showed that Blacks responded more favorably, whereas Whites responded more negatively, to the recruiting organization as the proportion of minorities shown giving testimonials on the recruitment Web site increased. However, post hoc analyses revealed that use of a richer medium (video with audio vs. picture with text) to communicate employee testimonials tended to attenuate these racial effects.

Author information

Author/s: Walker, H Jack (HJ); Feild, Hubert S (HS); Giles, William F (WF); Armenakis, Achilles A (AA); Bernerth, Jeremy B (JB);

Affiliation: Area of Management, Rawls College of Business, TexasTech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. jack.walker(-atsign-)ttu.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Multicenter Study; Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal: The Journal of applied psychology (J Appl Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 94 (issue 5) : pp 1354-64

Dates: Created 2009/08/25; Completed 2009/10/06;

PMID: 19702377, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/6/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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