THESIS PROPOSAL Employer Branding Through Social Media In the Generation Y Context November 2014 Iulia Kolesnicov, MA, PhD Student Center for Corporate Communication Department of Business Communication Business and Social Sciences Aarhus University Main supervisor: Associate Professor Irene Pollach PhD Secondary supervisor: Associate Professor Trine Susanne Johansen PhD
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THESIS PROPOSAL
Employer Branding Through Social Media
In the Generation Y Context
November 2014
Iulia Kolesnicov, MA, PhD Student Center for Corporate Communication
Department of Business Communication
Business and Social Sciences Aarhus University
Main supervisor: Associate Professor Irene Pollach PhD Secondary supervisor: Associate Professor Trine Susanne Johansen PhD
1. RESEARCH PROBLEM .............................................................................................................................. 4
2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 6 ARTICLE 1 – ARE THERE GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE JOB SEARCH PROCESS? ................................... 7 ARTICLE 2 – EMPLOYER BRAND PERCEPTIONS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION IN THE
CONTEXT OF GENERATION Y ........................................................................................................................................... 8 ARTICLE 3 – HOW DO COMPANIES MANAGE THEIR EMPLOYER BRAND ON SOCIAL MEDIA? ........................... 8
3. PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW – MAIN CONCEPTS ........................................................... 9 3.1. CONCEPTUALIZING EMPLOYER BRANDING ........................................................................................................... 9 3.2. SOCIAL MEDIA ......................................................................................................................................................... 11
4. RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................................................................ 12 4.1 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM IN CAREER STUDIES .................................................................................................. 12 4.2. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS ...................................................................................................................... 13
5. INITIAL FINDINGS – ARE THERE GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE JOB SEARCH
7. STUDY PLAN ............................................................................................................................................ 23
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OUTLINE
This thesis proposal represents a work in progress and intends to give an
overview over the current state of my PhD project, which investigates the communication of
the employer brand through social media in a generation Y context. This document presents
in a concise form my work over the past year and will first present the background of my
PhD project, the overall purpose and research question followed by the three sub-questions
that are meant to structure my project and briefly present the three independent yet
interrelated articles that will form the overall PhD thesis. I will then discuss the main
concepts followed by the research design and methodology The last part contains a more
detailed description of the first article, which is in the final phase and will soon be submitted
to a journal, as well as the overview of the research process, PhD courses and teaching
activities.
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1. Research problem
The “war for talent” (Beechler & Woodward, 2009; Chambers et al., 1998);
Elving et al., 2013; Girard & Fallery, 2010) and the globalization of the job market have
motivated many companies to use marketing techniques in the recruitment process. The idea
of applying marketing techniques to people management was first discussed in 1996 by
Ambler and Barrow who used the term employer brand to refer to “the package of functional,
economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the
employing company” (Ambler & Barrow, 1996). Employer branding includes
communication activities to both external and internal audiences regarding the company’s
offer that would make it distinctive among its competitors.
More and more researchers and practitioners have been focusing their attention
on employer branding, studying this topic from different perspectives such as organizational
behavior (Aiman-Smith et al., 2001; Cable & Turban, 2003; Cable & Yu, 2006), human
resources management (Bondarouk et al., 2013) corporate communication Aggerholm et al.,
2011; Shah, 2011), and branding (Elving et al., 2013; Moroko & Uncles, 2009). In
organizational behavior, Cable and other scholars have focused on the effect that different
factors had on organizational attractiveness and the intention to pursue specific jobs. In a
study from 2001 for example Aiman-Smith et al. (2001) concluded that factors determining
the attractiveness of an organization might not be the same as the factors that impact the
intention to pursue specific jobs. Bondarouk et al. (2013) studied the difference between what
academics and HR practitioners saw as necessary changes in the recruitment practice when
considering the future development of employer branding through social media. While
academics considered acquiring new skills in marketing communication and web-based
applications a necessity, HR practitioners considered that networking and being updated on
social media trends would suffice. Despite the variety of studies on employer branding from
different perspectives, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence that focuses on the job seekers
and their perceptions and attitudes towards employer brand communication, especially on
social media platforms. Most studies focus on how companies should use social media
platforms in their employer branding (Backhaus, 2004; Bondarouk et al., 2013; Girard et al.,
2013; Laick & Dean, 2011; Love & Singh, 2011; Sivertzen et al., 2013), but questions remain
unanswered about how employer branding is perceived by job seekers, e.g. what is their
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reaction when they interact with employer branding messages on social media platforms?
Furthermore, there are few studies on how companies manage their employer brand both at a
strategic level (the patterns of decisions taken in a company in order to reach its recruiting
goals) and at an operational level (routines), e.g. how much do companies engage in dialog
with their audience in their employer brand communication? And how much of the employer
brand is transmitted in one-way communication and how much it is co-created in two-way
communications?
At the same time, technological advancements have led to significant media
consumption changes, especially among Generation Y, for whom social media has become
the main source of information, “providing access to information that was previously
withheld or unavailable” (Lichy, 2012). The term Generation Y has been attributed to the
population born between 1979 and 1998 and that most recently entered the job market.
Napoli & Ewing (2000) suggest that the historical event Generation Y revolves around is the
digital revolution, which made them rapidly and easily adaptable to innovation and change.
Already in 1998, authors like for example Tapscott (1997) have started the debate around the
new generation that was very familiar with and reliant on the new digital technology. Since
2011, social media has been the primary source of vacant positions and information about the
prospective companies’ culture and work practices (Laick & Dean, 2011). In 2013 Facebook
and LinkedIn were the most visited sites by students searching for jobs (Herbold & Douma,
2013). It is well accepted across both practitioner and academic literature that social media
use is one of the most conspicuous attributes of Generation Y (Bissola & Imperatori, 2013;
De La Llama et al., 2012; Lichy, 2012; Ryberg & Larsen, 2012; Shaw & Fairhurst, 2008).
Considering the popularity social media technologies have among the young generation, it
was only expected that companies would start providing information online, not only
consumer-related information, but also recruitment-related.
In the past few years the topic of Generation Y’s distinct behavior has been
widely discussed, including but not limited to behavior in the workplace and job search
process. The discussions have been ongoing in the practitioner literature (Armour, 2005;
McCrindle, 2010a, 2010b) as well as in academic journals (Choi et al., 2013; Josiam et al.,
& Fairhurst, 2008; Treuren & Anderson, 2010). Group 2 consists of respondents over the age
of 35 representing other generations. Table 2 describes the socio-demographic characteristics
of the two groups. Table 2. Sample population
In order to identify the potential differences between the two groups, I
developed four hypotheses concerning significant differences between the two groups
regarding job search self efficacy, job search method, ideal job and ideal employer. In testing
the hypotheses I used two independent sample t-tests and the comparison of means. The
results showed no significant differences in ideal job, job search self-efficacy or job search
methods. However, significant differences between Generation Y and other generations were
found regarding their ideal employer, where Group 1 granted significantly more importance
to international job and pay and advancement attributes, whereas Group 2 rated significantly
more important the job characteristics and people and culture attributes. Considering that the
two groups showed significant differences in ideal employer attributes, it could be
hypothesized that these differences, or other differences, could also appear within the same
group, for example Generation Y, when splitting it into two sub groups according to age.
Therefore, Group1 was divided into two sub-groups: Group 1A consisting of respondents
under 27 years old and Group 1B consisting of respondents between 28 and 35 years old. The
same hypotheses as above were tested on the two sub groups to determine whether there are
intra-generational differences within the job search process. If this were the case, the theory
of generations could not be applied for the job search process, as the differences would not be
caused by differences in generation, but rather by differences in age. I decided to do a
robustness test and compare the two subgroups within Group 1 (Generation Y sample) to test
for the homogeneity of the group. The two independent samples t-tests showed no significant
differences between the four tested constructs (job search self efficacy, job search methods,
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ideal job and ideal employer). Thus, the empirical evidence supports the homogeneity of the
group, highlighting that Generation Y is a homogeneous group.
The results of this initial study provide empirical evidence to support the theory
of generations within the job search process showing that, despite having similar goals,
similar levels of confidence or job search methods, Generation Y is interested in other
attributes in an ideal employer than other generations. By confirming for intra-generational
differences within the same constructs of the job search process, this study eliminates the
possibility that the differences in ideal employer characteristics are merely caused by age.
Regarding the practical implications, this study provides empirical evidence to support a
tailored employer brand communication in the recruitment process. Companies that intend to
attract a young pool of applicants ought to focus on communicating those employer attributes
that are attractive for this generation. For instance, in order to attract Generation Y applicants,
characteristics such as international opportunities, higher pay and advancement possibilities
are much more appealing than communicating the organizational culture.
The next step in my project is to conduct a preliminary literature review on
employer branding focusing on the perception of the employer brand on social media. In
order to provide empirical evidence on this topic, I will conduct in depth interviews as
described in Section 2.
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6. References
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branding in sustainable organisations. Corporate Communications: An International
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Aiman-Smith, L., Bauer, T. N., & Cable, D. M. (2001). Are you attracted? Do you intend to
pursue? A recruiting policy-capturing study. Journal of Business and Psychology, 16(2),
219–237.
Ambler, T., & Barrow, S. (1996). The Employer Brand. Journal of Brand Management, 4,
185–206.
Armour, S. (2005). Generation Y: They’ve arrived at work with a new attitude. USA Today.
Backhaus, K. B. (2004). An exploration of corporate recruitment descriptions on
Monster.com. Journal of Business Communication, 41(2), 115–136.
Backhaus, K., & Tikoo, S. (2004). Conceptualizing and researching employer branding.
Career Development International, 9(5), 501–517.
Beechler, S., & Woodward, I. C. (2009). The global “war for talent.” Journal of International
Management, 15(3), 273–285.
Bissola, R., & Imperatori, B. (2013). Recruiting Gen Yers Through Social Media: Insights
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Resources Management (Vol. 12, pp. 59–81): Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Bondarouk, T., Resources, H., & Weekhout, W. (2012). Employer Branding and its Effect on
Organizational Attractiveness via the World Wide Web : Results of quantitative and
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branding through social media? results of the delphi study into the perceptions of hr
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Cable, D. M., & Yu, K. Y. T. (2006). Managing job seekers’ organizational image beliefs:
The role of media richness and media credibility. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4),
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evidence and implications. International Journal of Human Resource Management,
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Accessing the parts that other approaches cannot reach. Journal of Vocational Behavior,
64(3), 407–422.
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value: Uses of Facebook in hiring processes and the role of identity in social networks.
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7. Study Plan Overview over the research process
Semester 1
(Fall 2013) • Preliminary literature review • Establishing a tentative theoretical framework • Developing the questionnaire for the first article • Collecting empirical data
• PhD course: Publishing in International Journals (SDU) 9-11 Oct., 2
ECTS • PhD course: Digital Analysis of Qualitative Data (CBS) 11-13 Nov.,
3 ECTS • PhD course: Planlægning og gennemførelse af seminar- og
holdundervisning; Center for Undervisning og Læring 2 Oct.
Semester 2
(Spring 2014) • Continued with the preliminary literature review, focusing on
secondary concepts used in developing the first article: job search self efficacy, job search process, job search method, ideal job, ideal employer
• Data analysis • Writing the first article: Generational differences in the job search
process
• PhD course: Publish or Perish: Preparing, Writing and Reviewing Business Research (SDU) 17-18 Feb., 24 Jun, 30 Sep., 5 ECTS
• PhD course: Research Paradigms in Strategic Communication. From Public Relations and Organizational Communication to Corporate Communication (AU BSS) 5-8 May, 5 ECTS
• Research Seminar – NORDKOMM, Denmark, 21-23 Feb.
• Teaching activities – Integrated Marketing Communication tutorials, BA MMC
Semester 3
(Fall 2014) • Continued writing and revising the first article • Preliminary literature review, focusing on employer branding, social
media, perception of branding communication • Will develop interview guides • Will start collecting data for second and third articles
• PhD course: Methodology for Quantitative Research (SDU) 29 Sep – 3
Case Studies, Grounded Theory And Action Research (AU BSS), 24-28 Nov., 5 ECTS
• PhD course: Introduction to Philosophy of Science (AU BSS), 26-29 Jan 2015, 5 ECTS
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• Teaching activities – Communication in a Marketing Perspective tutorials,
BA MMC
Semester 4
(Spring 2015)
• Continue literature review on main and secondary concepts • Continue data collection • Initiate data analysis for the second article • Writing the second article: Employer Brand Perceptions Through
Social Media Communication
• Visiting PhD: University of Innsbruck, Institute for Organization and Learning, 1 March – 31 May 2015
• Conference: Corporate Communication International (NY USA) 2-5
Jun. 2015
Semester 5
(Fall 2015)
• Finish writing the second article and submit to a journal
• Writing the third article: How Do Companies Manage Their
Employer Brand On Social Media
• Writing the overall theoretical framework and research design for
the PhD thesis
Semester 6
(Spring 2016)
• Finish the discussion and concluding chapters
• Write up the thesis
• Proof reading
• Handing in the thesis 31 Aug. 2016
PhD courses – Total 30 ECTS
Overview over teaching activities
Course Activity Time No. of hours
BA MMC Integrated Marketing Communication
Teaching + examination Feb. – Jun. 2014 275 hours
MA CC Social media Internal censor Jun., Aug. 2014 18 hours