EMPLOYEE TESTIMONIALS ON RECRUITMENT WEBSITES: DIFFERENCES IN JOB SEEKERS? INFERENCES ABOUT ORGANIZATIONS, CREDIBILITY PERCEPTIONS, ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRACTION, AND WEBSITE VIEWER BEHAVIOR Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this dissertation is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This dissertation does not include proprietary or classified information. _____________________________________ Harvell Jackson Walker III Certificate of Approval: ________________________ ________________________ William F. Giles Hubert S. Feild, Chair Professor Torchmark Professor Management Management ________________________ ________________________ Achilles A. Armenakis Joe F. Pittman Pursell Eminent Scholar Interim Dean Management Graduate School EMPLOYEE TESTIMONIALS ON RECRUITMENT WEBSITES: DIFFERENCES IN JOB SEEKERS? INFERENCES ABOUT ORGANIZATIONS, CREDIBILITY PERCEPTIONS, ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRACTION, AND WEBSITE VIEWER BEHAVIOR Harvell Jackson Walker III A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama August 4, 2007 iii EMPLOYEE TESTIMONIALS ON RECRUITMENT WEBSITES: DIFFERENCES IN JOB SEEKERS? INFERENCES ABOUT ORGANIZATIONS, CREDIBILITY PERCEPTIONS, ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRACTION, AND WEBSITE VIEWER BEHAVIOR Harvell Jackson Walker III Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this dissertation at its discretion upon request of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all publication rights. ____________________ Signature of Author ____________________ Date of Graduation iv DISSERTATION ABSTRACT EMPLOYEE TESTIMONIALS ON RECRUITMENT WEBSITES: DIFFERENCES IN JOB SEEKERS? INFERENCES ABOUT ORGANIZATIONS, CREDIBILITY PERCEPTIONS, ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRACTION, AND WEBSITE VIEWER BEHAVIOR Harvell Jackson Walker III Doctor of Philosophy, Auburn University, August 4, 2007 (M.S., Auburn University, 2006) (M.B.A., Auburn University, 2002) (B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2000) 224 Typed Pages Directed by Hubert S. Feild The current study examined job seekers? responses to organizations including employee testimonials on their recruitment websites. Using a persuasive communication framework, I tested how the message source (i.e., race of individual giving employee testimonial), the medium used for message communication (i.e., video with audio or picture with text), and job seeker characteristics (i.e., job seeker race) affected important job seeker reactions. Study participants (756 upper-level, undergraduate students; 55% v White and 45% Black) were randomly directed to the recruitment website (manipulated according to a 4 ? 2 experimental design) of a hypothetical organization. Results indicated that the inclusion of employee testimonials on recruitment websites influenced job seekers? organizational personality attributions, credibility perceptions concerning the information on the recruitment website, and attraction to organizations. More specifically, Black job seekers responded more favorably to organizations as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. White job seekers? reactions, on the other hand, responded less favorably when viewing the primarily Black employee testimonial condition as compared to the all White, primarily White, and balanced manipulations. The medium used to communicate employee testimonials was also found to influence job seekers? reactions. Organizations communicating employee testimonials via video with audio were rated higher in terms of innovativeness, style, credibility, and general attractiveness as compared to organizations including picture with text testimonials or no employee testimonials on recruitment websites. Study results also indicated that moderators mediators should be considered when evaluating the influence of racial composition of employee testimonials on job seekers? general attraction toward organizations. Finally, results suggested that communication media may reduce the effect of congruence between job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on perceptions of general attractiveness. Job seekers appear to be less influenced by the racial composition of employee testimonials when video with audio is used as the communication medium versus picture with text. Implications of these findings on organizational recruitment practices are discussed. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I must thank the committee members who guided me through this process. Many thanks to Junior Feild, Achilles Armenakis, and Bill Giles for their patience, advice, and guidance. They always treated me as a colleague and friend and were great mentors. I hope to find a group of individuals in my future employment that get along so well with one another on both a personal and professional level. I also appreciate my fellow graduate students who have offered support by listening to my research ideas, allowing me to collect data in their classes, working out with me at the gym, or joining me at the bar. It was comforting to know that Neil and Jeremy were easily persuaded to take a much needed break in downtown Auburn. I am also grateful that Jeremy constantly challenged me to work toward becoming a better teacher and researcher. It may not have seemed like he was motivating me at the time but I am certain that my work ethic has benefited. Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family. I feel very blessed to have surrounded myself with such a close group of friends. There is also no way that I would be in this position without my parents. My parents have been very supportive even though I know they feared I would be in school for the rest of my life. Lastly, I would like to thank my future spouse. I have known Elizabeth for about 13 years and would not trade our experiences for anything in the world. I appreciate her patience during this long process and the sacrifices that she made to help me. vii Style manual used: American Psychological Association (APA) Computer software used: Microsoft Word, and SPSS 15.0 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESES..................1 Introduction..............................................................................................................1 Job Seekers? Organizational Personality Inferences..............................................18 Credibility Perceptions Concerning the Information Provided on Recruitment Websites ............................................................................................28 Employee Testimonials and Job Seeker Attraction ...............................................31 CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................45 Participants.............................................................................................................45 Procedure ...............................................................................................................46 Recruitment Website Manipulations......................................................................50 Measures Used in Current Study ...........................................................................57 Measures Included in Future Studies.....................................................................61 Data Analyses ........................................................................................................65 CHAPTER 3. RESULTS..................................................................................................71 Manipulation Checks .............................................................................................71 Hypotheses Tests ...................................................................................................74 ix CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION..........................................................................................131 General Discussion ..............................................................................................132 Organizational Personality Attributions ..............................................................135 Credibility Perceptions Concerning the Information Provided on Recruitment Websites ..........................................................................................136 Employee Testimonials and Job Seeker Attraction .............................................137 Study Limitations.................................................................................................144 Future Research ...................................................................................................146 Implications..........................................................................................................149 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................152 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................154 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................170 Appendix A?Screenshots of Links on HBA?s Recruitment Website ................170 Appendix B?Testimonial Scripts.......................................................................180 Appendix C?Phase 1 Data Collection Survey ...................................................188 Appendix D?Phase 2 Data Collection Survey...................................................198 x LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Summary of Research Hypotheses .....................................................................41 Table 2. Summary of Study Participants ..........................................................................47 Table 3. Summary of Study Participant Characteristics ...................................................48 Table 4. Summary of Measures Used in the Study...........................................................66 Table 5. Summary and Categorization of All Study Variables ........................................67 Table 6. Summary of Measures Included for Future Studies ...........................................68 Table 7. Means, Standard Deviations, Coefficient Alphas, and Intercorrelations among Study Variables.......................................................................................75 Table 8. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Boy-Scout Perceptions........................................................................................80 Table 9. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Innovativeness Perceptions.................................................................................83 Table 10. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Style Perceptions...............................................................................................86 Table 11. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Dominance Perceptions ....................................................................................88 Table 12. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Thrift Perceptions..............................................................................................91 Table 13. Differences in Organizational Personality Attributions by Job Seekers Viewing Employee Testimonials Presented by Different Media ................................................................................................................95 Table 14. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Credibility Perceptions......................................................................................97 xi Table 15. Differences in Credibility Perceptions and Organizational Attractiveness by Job Seekers Viewing Employee Testimonials Presented by Different Media .........................................................................102 Table 16. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for General Attractiveness....................................................................................103 Table 17. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Intentions to Pursue Employment...................................................................106 Table 18. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Organizational Prestige...................................................................................109 Table 19. Tests of Mediating Effects of Credibility and Organization Personality Attributions on the Relationship Between the Interaction of Proportion of Minority Representation in Employee Testimonials ? Job Seeker Race on General Attractiveness....................................................114 Table 20. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Time Spent on Website (in seconds)........................................................................116 Table 21. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Whites? Racial Prejudice ? Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials on General Attractiveness....................................................................................119 Table 22. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Blacks? Ethnic Identity ? Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials on General Attractiveness....................................................................................122 Table 23. Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for Job Seeker Race ? Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials ? Communication Media on General Attractiveness.........................................126 Table 24. Summary of Research Hypotheses? Results ...................................................128 xii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The Brand Personality Framework......................................................................4 Figure 2. Organization Personality Structure......................................................................6 Figure 3. The Yale Persuasive Communication Model (YPC).........................................13 Figure 4. Screenshot of HBA?s Recruitment Homepage..................................................51 Figure 5. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on boy-scout attributions of organizational personality..........................................................................................................81 Figure 6. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on innovativeness attributions of organizational personality..........................................................................................................84 Figure 7. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on style attributions of organizational personality..........................................................................................................87 Figure 8. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on dominance attributions of organizational personality..........................................................................................................90 Figure 9. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on thrift attributions of organizational personality..........................................................................................................93 Figure 10. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on credibility perceptions of information provided on recruitment website......................................................................99 Figure 11. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on general attractiveness perceptions ...................105 Figure 12. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on intentions to pursue employment.....................108 xiii Figure 13. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational prestige.....................................110 Figure 14. Plot of interactive effects of website viewer race and racial composition of employee testimonials on time spent on HBA?s recruitment website (in seconds) ....................................................................................................117 Figure 15. Plot of interactive effects of White participant prejudice and racial composition of employee testimonials on general attractiveness..................121 Figure 16. Plot of interactive effects of Black participant ethnic identity and racial composition of employee testimonials on general attractiveness..................124 Figure 17. Plot of interactive effects of participants? race, communication media, and racial composition of employee testimonials on general attractiveness..................................................................................................127 1 CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESES Barnard (1938) argued that individuals are attracted to and remain with organizations out of choice. Almost 70 years later, human resource (HR) practitioners face the same challenges of attracting high quality applicants away from competitors. This task is becoming even more difficult in the 21 st century considering the current, relatively low unemployment rate and a lack of qualified applicants (Judy, 1999). Recognizing these challenges, organizations have devoted more resources to HR departments in an attempt to attract and retain desired employees (Leonard, 1999). More specifically, it has been estimated that 31% of HR budgets are used to address applicant attraction and employee retention concerns (Leonard, 1999). One strategy often used by organizations to influence job seekers? organizational attractiveness perceptions is communicating important information via recruitment websites (Cober, Brown, Blumental, Doverspike, & Levy, 2000; Harrington, 2002; McConnel, 2002). These websites are often the first contact job seekers have with potential employees (Carlson, Connerley, & Mecham, 2002) and thus may serve as the primary source of organizational information to job seekers (Cober, Brown, Levy, Keeping, & Cober, 2003). An advantage of using the Internet for recruitment purposes is that organizations can communicate a greater amount of information versus traditional recruitment practices such as brochures or newspaper advertisements. As suggested by 2 Ehrhart and Ziegert (2005), the Internet allows organizations to communicate ?richer? information to job seekers. In this context, richer information allows message receivers to better understand the information communicated by message senders (Daft & Lengel, 1984). Further, richer media have been shown to be more effective in communicating information than ?leaner? media (Daft, Lengel, & Trevino, 1987). One website characteristic that has the potential to provide a ?rich? communication medium and influence job seekers? organizational impressions is employee testimonials on recruitment websites. Employee testimonials allow job seekers to gather job and organizational information from the perspective of current employees. However, no research to my knowledge has investigated the influence of testimonials on job seekers? organizational perceptions. This appears to be an important omission considering that the employees chosen to give testimonials (Avery, 2003; Avery, Hernandez, & Hebl, 2004) and the media used to communicate employee testimonials (e.g., video with audio or picture with text) may influence the amount of information transmitted (e.g., Daft & Lengel, 1986) as well as job seekers? organizational perceptions (e.g., Allen, Van Scotter, & Otondo, 2004). Purpose of Present Research The purpose of this dissertation is threefold. Considering the importance of employment image to job seekers (Cable & Yu, 2006; Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; Slaughter, Zickar, Highhouse, & Mohr, 2004), the first goal of this study is to investigate the influence of employee testimonials on inferences made about organizations. Beginning with Gilmore (1919), researchers have acknowledged that consumers attribute human personality traits to products. The congruence between brand personality 3 perceptions and perceptions of self has been shown to explain brand preference (Malhotra, 1981; Sirgy, 1982). Research has also shown that consumers use these trait inferences to differentiate between brands (Pendergrast, 1993), and that these attitudes are relatively enduring. Aaker (1997) explicitly tested the brand personality construct in a consumer context and concluded that it generally consisted of five main dimensions: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. As depicted in Figure 1, each of these dimensions is associated with specific traits. For example, the sincerity factor is composed of traits such as down-to-earth, honest, and wholesome. Further, the excitement factor is composed of traits such as daring, spirited, and imaginative. Interestingly, Aaker, Benet-Martinez, and Garolera (2001) noted that these five brand personality dimensions are somewhat similar to the widely used Big-5 theory of human personality. More specifically, they suggested that the sincerity factor is closely related to agreeableness, the excitement factor is closely related to extraversion, and the competence factor is closely related to conscientiousness. However, no obvious connection can be made for the last two dimensions of brand personality: sophistication and ruggedness (Aaker et al., 2001). Recent studies have extended the concept of brand personality to recruitment and suggested that it is important to investigate the organizational trait inferences made by job seekers (Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; Slaughter et al., 2004). Timmerman (1996) and Slaughter, Zickar, Highhouse, Mohr, Steinbrenner, and O?Connor (2001) noted that job seekers typically described organizations in terms of ?personality-like? traits. Organizations perceived to be similar to their own personality were viewed as more attractive (e.g., Tom, 1971). Lievens and Highhouse (2003) built on these findings and 4 5 concluded that symbolic organizational attributes accounted for unique variance in attraction above and beyond applicants? perceptions about organizational characteristics. Similar to the conclusions drawn from the marketing literature, Lievens and Highhouse stressed that it is important for organizations to understand trait inferences because they are often used by job seekers to distinguish organizations from one another. Slaughter et al. (2004) also investigated the concept of organizational personality and developed a psychometrically sound scale to assess this construct. Their efforts suggested that five broad factors consisting of boy-scout, innovativeness, dominance, thrift, and style explained individuals? organizational personality trait perceptions (see Figure 2). More specifically, the boy-scout dimension included traits such as friendly and family-oriented, the innovativeness dimension included traits such as creative and exciting, the dominance factor included traits such as successful and popular, the thrift factor included traits such as simple (i.e., low budget) and deprived, and the style dimension included traits such as stylish and fashionable. Slaughter et al. noted that it was important to study personality trait inferences made about organizations because they have the potential to influence job seekers? perceptions about the organization as a place to work. Further, organizations? personality trait inferences ?may have the unintended effect of making the organization more or less attractive to potential applicants? (p. 87). A second objective of this dissertation is to investigate the effect of employee testimonials on job seekers? perceptions of credibility concerning the information provided on recruitment websites. Employee testimonials are a unique source of information to job seekers, and information sources have been shown to influence important workplace behaviors such as turnover and performance (see Zottoli & Wanous, 6 7 2000 for a review). Ullman (1966) was one of the first researchers to examine recruitment information sources. His research findings suggested that informal sources (e.g., employee referrals) resulted in lower turnover than formal sources (e.g., newspaper advertisements). Ullman concluded that his findings were a result of informal sources providing better quality information and because those referring potential employees were in a better position to assess job seeker potential for success and organizational fit. Saks (1994) further tested these propositions and found that informal sources of job information resulted in (a) more accurate and complete information, (b) higher met expectations, and (c) better ability to cope with jobs. Additionally, Zottoli and Wanous (2000) concluded that employees recruited via informal sources had lower turnover and higher performance than those recruited from formal sources. A theoretical explanation that has been offered to explain recruitment source effects is the realistic information hypothesis. By relating recruitment source effects to research concerning realistic job previews (RJPs), Zottoli and Wanous (2000) concluded that the realism hypothesis was useful in determining recruitment source effects. The realistic information hypothesis suggests that certain information sources provide more accurate information to job seekers (Rynes, 1991). For example, Breaugh (1992) proposed that job seekers having been referred by current employees have more realistic information about what it is like to work in the organization. Others have argued job seekers gathering information from sources such as newspaper advertisements or placement services will lack the necessary information to make an informed job choice decision (Williams, Labig, & Stone, 1993). 8 As previously mentioned, employee testimonials are a unique source of job and organizational information because it is difficult to classify them as either formal or informal. Employee testimonials may be considered formal sources of information because organizations exercise much discretion over the testimonials presented to job seekers via recruitment websites. On the other hand, employee testimonials may also be considered informal because job seekers gather information from the perspective of current employees. Considering that employee testimonials do not necessarily fit into the formal or informal information source categories, it is important to investigate how job seekers use the information provided in employee testimonials. In this research, I have attempted to provide insight into the usefulness of employee testimonials by investigating how the inclusion of employee testimonials influences job seekers? perceptions of credibility concerning the information provided on recruitment websites. A final objective of this study is to investigate what, if any, effects employee testimonials included on recruitment websites have on job seekers? perceptions of organizational attractiveness. Researchers have long recognized the need to understand job seekers? initial organizational attractiveness perceptions (Barber & Roehling, 1993; Rynes & Barber, 1990; Turban & Greening, 1997). For example, Barber (1998) suggested that the first phase of recruitment is the most important stage of recruitment because it is the time when job seekers form initial attractiveness perceptions. During this initial phase, job seekers gather information from a variety of organizations and have limited contact with organizational representatives. Therefore, the information presented in available recruitment material (i.e., recruitment websites) is used by job seekers as they decide to apply for open positions or seek employment elsewhere. 9 It is important for organizations to be viewed as attractive during this first stage so that job seekers are exposed to later recruitment efforts (Barber & Roehling, 1993; Rynes, 1991; Rynes & Barber, 1990). Empirical research has confirmed the importance of the first phase of recruitment and concluded that organizational impressions are unlikely to change during the recruitment process (Lawler, Kuleck, Rhode, & Sorensen, 1975; Powell & Goulet, 1996). Additionally, initial organizational attractiveness perceptions have been related to final job acceptance intentions (Cable & Judge, 1996; Judge & Cable, 1997; Powell, 1991; Powell & Goulet, 1996). Considering these relationships, researchers have attempted to identify strategies organizations can incorporate in recruitment practices to positively influence job seekers? attraction during the early stages of recruitment (Barber, 1998; Cable & Graham, 2000; Cable & Turban, 2001; Collins & Stevens, 2002; Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; Turban, 2001). Despite these attempts, reviews of recruitment research have noted a lack of research addressing the first phase of recruitment (Anderson, 2001; Barber, 1998; Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Highhouse & Hoffman, 2001; Rynes, 1991). Understanding how job seekers respond to the information presented to them via recruitment websites (i.e., through employee testimonials) should provide important insights into the first phase of recruitment. Investigating the influence of employee testimonials on job seekers? organizational attractiveness perceptions is also important because organizations have the ability to design such features to attract desired job seekers. In the past, recruitment was mainly focused on generating a large number of applications (Wanous, 1992). However, the substantial costs associated with evaluating these applications (Leonard, 1999) have caused organizations to be more concerned with the attributes of job seekers attracted 10 during recruitment efforts (e.g., Slaughter, Stanton, Mohr, & Schoel, 2005; Taylor & Collins, 2000; Turban & Cable, 2003). Rynes and Barber (1990) have noted, ??there are both conceptual and empirical reasons for believing that most vacancies are eventually filled with someone?. The most interesting questions often involve not the numbers, but the characteristics, of those attracted? (p. 290). Of particular interest to this study is the use of employee testimonials to attract minority job seekers. The increased emphasis on diversity in the workforce (Ely & Thomas, 2001; Richard, 2000; Rynes & Barber, 1990) has caused many organizations to target ethnic minorities in recruitment efforts (Thaler-Carter, 2001). Between 1990 and 2000, ethnic minority representation in the workplace increased from 18% to 27% (Fullerton & Toosi, 2001). Additionally, the movement toward a more diverse workforce has the potential to positively influence organizational outcomes (Ely & Thomas, 2001; Richard, 2000; Richard, Barnett, Dwyer, & Chadwick, 2004). This trend does not appear to be slowing as one in every two organizations has indicated that they are planning to increase minority recruitment efforts (Thaler-Carter, 2001). Avery and McKay (2006) suggested that organizations take an impression management approach to attract ethnic minorities as potential employees. Among other things, they suggest that such tactics may involve appealing to minority job seekers by using minority recruiters or advertisements showing diversity (i.e., including minorities in employee testimonials). Therefore, it seems likely that organizations? use of employee testimonials will influence their ability to attract minority job seekers. Additionally, research incorporating the similarity-attraction paradigm (e.g., Goldberg, 2003) and 11 social identity theory (e.g., Avery, 2003) suggest that employee testimonials may be tailored to attract ethnic minorities (e.g., Gatewood, Gowan, & Lautenschlager, 1993). The remainder of this dissertation will be divided into five main sections. The first section introduces theory and research concerning persuasive communication. Persuasive communication research is pertinent to this study because organizations are in essence attempting to persuade job seekers to join their organization. Next, I briefly discuss current theories of job choice decisions in an attempt to shed light on the variables HR managers should consider when designing recruitment activities. Third, I investigate inferences made by job seekers about organizations based on (a) the racial characteristics of organizational representatives (i.e., message source), (b) the content of employee testimonials, and (c) the media used to communicate employee testimonials. A fourth section provides insight into job seekers? perceptions of employee testimonial credibility. Lastly, the fifth section investigates how the use of employee testimonials influences job seekers? organizational attractiveness perceptions. Collectively, this study attempts to address an important deficiency in the recruitment literature by investigating how job seekers respond to organizations? use of employee testimonials on recruitment websites. Theory of Persuasion Considering that calls have been made for recruitment research to incorporate marketing theory to explain job seekers? reactions (Cable & Turban, 2001; Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; Maurer, Howe, & Lee, 1992), the overarching theoretical framework for this study is drawn from (a) the persuasive communication literature (e.g., Hovland, Janis, & Kelly, 1953) and (b) recent conceptualizations of the recruitment process (e.g., 12 Barber, 1998; Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Rynes, 1991). Beginning in the 1950?s, Hovland and his colleagues investigated the persuasion process by attempting to answer the question, ?Who said what to whom and with what effect?? (Hovland et al., 1953). This approach led to the development of the Yale Persuasive Communication model (YPC) which posits that the persuasion process is influenced by four categories of factors: (a) the source of the message, (b) message content, (c) the medium used for message communication, and (d) audience characteristics (see Figure 3). Each of these categories has a direct influence on the formation of message receivers? attitudes. More recent persuasive communication models have identified similar factors and concluded that persuasion is influenced by a sender, a receiver, the message content, and the communication medium (Jackson, 1992). Similar models have been incorporated in the recruitment literature to explain job seekers? reactions to recruitment activities (Barber, 1998; Breaugh, 1992; Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Rynes, 1991). For example, Barber (1998) posited that recruitment efforts are influenced by five key dimensions: (a) actors, (b) activities, (c) outcomes, (d) context, and (e) recruitment phases. The actors and activities dimensions include variables that closely resemble those of the YPC model. More specifically, Barber characterizes actors as both the individual/job seeker and the organizational agents. The activities dimension includes variables such as the message content and choice of delivery medium. Breaugh and Starke (2000) took a slightly different approach and defined recruitment as consisting of five processes: (a) recruitment objectives, (b) strategy development, (c) recruitment activities, (d) intervening/process variables, and (e) recruitment results. During the strategy development stage, organizations must answer questions dealing with whom to 13 14 recruit, the recruitment sources to use, what message to communicate, and how to communicate the message. Again, these questions closely resemble those addressed in the YPC model. Because recruitment is often viewed as a persuasive process (Barber, 1998), the aforementioned models suggest that reactions to recruitment efforts are influenced by factors such as demographic characteristics of job seekers (i.e., audience characteristics) and organizational representatives (i.e., source of message) and communication media. The very nature of employee testimonials allows organizations to manipulate many of these variables (e.g., organizational representative race and communication media) in an attempt to influence job seekers? reactions. Doing so may influence (a) trait inferences about organizations, (b) job seekers? perceptions about employee testimonial credibility, and (c) job seekers? attraction to organizations including employee testimonials on recruitment websites. Theories of Job Choice Many theories have been used to explain job seekers? initial organizational perceptions, with signal theory (Spence, 1974) being the most widely cited. An underlying assumption of applying signal theory to recruitment is that job seekers lack complete information when making job choice decisions (Rynes, 1991). As such, environmental cues gathered during the recruitment process serve as signals of unknown job and organizational characteristics. For example, recruiter friendliness has been related to positive perceptions about the organization?s environment (Rynes, 1991; Rynes & Miller, 1983; Turban, Forret, & Hendrickson, 1998). Similarly, cues such as organizational policies (Aiman-Smith, Bauer, & Cable, 2001; Lievens, Decaesteker, 15 Coetsier, & Geirnaert, 2001) and recruitment activities (Turban, 2001; Turban, Campion, & Eyring, 1995) have also been shown to influence perceptions about organizational characteristics. Image theory (Beach, 1990) posits that the organization information presented to job seekers in recruitment material influences attractiveness perceptions. According to this theory, decisions are made after considering a variety of alternatives, weighing relevant information, and discarding irrelevant information (Stevens, 1998). Ultimately, decisions are made based on an assessment of the extent to which alternatives will fit the image of what is desired (Stevens, 1998). With regard to attractiveness perceptions and recruitment, image theory suggests that job seekers will be more attracted to organizations that exhibit perceived characteristics leading to the attainment of personal goals (e.g., promotional opportunities, salary increases). Vroom?s (1964) expectancy theory predicts similar relationships between job seekers? perceptions that the organizations will allow for goal attainment and organizational attractiveness (e.g., Connolly & Vines, 1977; Greenhaus, Sugalski, & Crispin, 1978; Vroom, 1966). Specifically, individuals perceiving organizations to be instrumental in the achievement of specific goals (e.g., promotional opportunities or salary) will be viewed as most attractive. Stated another way, individuals will be most attracted to organizations that are perceived to provide a favorable environment for the attainment of career goals. More recent attempts to explain job seekers? reactions to recruitment activities incorporate Schneider?s (1987) attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) model and the recent conceptualization of person-organization (P-O) fit (Kristof, 1996). According to ASA 16 theory, organizations move toward member homogeneity based on a three-step process. First, job seekers are attracted to organizations that are perceived to be similar in terms of interests, needs, preferences, and personality (Schneider, Smith, Taylor, & Fleenor, 1998). Second, organizations select job seekers that are perceived to share similar characteristics with current organizational members. Third, individuals will likely leave organizations, either voluntarily or involuntarily, if they do not match the characteristics of other organizational members. Empirical studies have generally supported the ASA theory?s propositions and concluded that similar individuals are attracted and selected by organizations. For example, Burke and Descza (1982) concluded that job seekers prefer organizations that match their own personality. Additionally, Judge and Bretz (1992) found that individuals preferred organizations that were perceived to have similar values. Further, researchers have concluded that individual differences such as materialism (Cable & Judge, 1996), self-esteem (Turban & Keon, 1993), and need for achievement (Bretz, Ash, & Dreher, 1989) predicted preferences in organizational reward systems. Finally, Slaughter et al. (2005) posited that personality differences explained organizational decisions about which job seekers were ?screened in? for further employment consideration. Research on P-O fit is grounded in the ASA theory?s framework and suggests that the information provided to job seekers early in the recruitment process allows them to assess perceived ?fit? with the organization (Kristof, 1996). Kristof (1996) was one of the first to explicitly define P-O fit as, ?? the compatibility between people and organizations that occurs when (a) at least one entity provides what the other needs, or (b) they share similar fundamental characteristics, or (c) both? (pp. 4-5). It is important to 17 point out that this definition recognizes P-O fit from both supplementary and complementary perspectives. Supplementary fit occurs when employees in the organization share similar characteristics. Individuals perceiving supplementary fit believe they share common values, goals, or personalities with current organization members. Complementary fit, on the other hand, occurs when the organization and employees meet each others? needs. This approach assumes a needs-supplies perspective in that employees and organizations complement each others? strengths and weaknesses. Researchers have operationalized P-O fit in slightly different ways (i.e., personality-climate congruence, Christiansen, Villanova, & Mikulay, 1997; Ryan & Schmitt, 1996; value congruence, Chatman, 1991; Kristof, 1996; and goal congruence, Witt & Nye, 1992). Despite the different terminology, the common theme in all P-O fit research is the notion of matching applicants with organizations in terms of values, beliefs, personality, and culture (Bretz, Rynes, & Gerhart, 1993; Kristof, 1996; O?Reilly, Chatman, & Caldwell, 1991). With regard to recruitment, research has concluded that job seekers prefer organizations that are perceived to match their own personality and values (Cable & Judge, 1996; Chatman, 1991; Judge & Cable, 1997), and these perceptions influence job choice decisions (Cable & Judge, 1996; Saks & Ashforth, 1997). More specifically, individuals will base job choice decisions on the perceived congruence between their personality, attitudes, and values and those of the organization (Schneider, Goldstein, & Smith, 1995). In regard to recruitment, P-O fit has been shown to influence job seeker attraction (Bretz et al., 1989) and job pursuit intentions (Bretz & Judge, 1994; Judge & Bretz, 1992). 18 Coupled together, the aforementioned theories suggest that job seekers? evaluation of information gathered from recruitment activities is complex. The remainder of this dissertation draws upon these theories in developing hypotheses to explain job seekers? reactions to employee testimonials communicated via recruitment websites. Job Seekers? Organizational Personality Inferences As previously mentioned, both signal theory and brand personality theory predict that job seekers make inferences about organizational characteristics and organizational personality traits based on information gathered during the recruitment process. Understanding the types of inferences that are made is important because research has shown that job seekers often make decisions with inadequate information (Rynes, 1991). Additionally, perceptions of organizational attractiveness have been shown to be influenced by these trait inferences (Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; Slaughter et al., 2004), but little is known about the antecedents of these perceptions (Slaughter et al., 2004). Demographic Characteristics of Organizational Representatives (Message Source) Researchers have long been interested in studying the relationship between demographic variables and workplace behaviors and outcomes. As such, several studies have investigated the influence of recruiter (i.e., information source) gender and race on job seekers? organizational perceptions (see Barber, 1998 for a review). In general, this stream of research has failed to find consistent results regarding the direct influence of recruiter demographic characteristics on job seekers? organization perceptions (e.g., Liden & Parsons, 1986; Taylor & Bergmann, 1987; Turban & Dougherty, 1992). 19 An alternative approach adopted by recent researchers is termed relational demography (e.g., McFarland, Ryan, Sacco, & Kriska, 2004; Tsui, Egan, & O?Reilly, 1992). Relational demography research proposes that people in workgroups compare their demographic characteristics with other members, and the perceived similarity/dissimilarity affects behavior (Baugh & Graen, 1997; Chatman, Polzer, Barsade, Neale, 1998; Chattopadhyay, Glick, Miller, & Huber, 1999; Riordan & Shore, 1997). Research has concluded that the perceived similarity/dissimilarity influences workplace outcomes such as commitment, absenteeism, turnover intentions (Tsui et al., 1992), citizenship behavior (Chattopadhyay, 1999; Riordan & Shore, 1997), innovation, and performance (Baugh & Graen, 1997; Chatman et al., 1998; Riordan & Shore, 1997). Most researchers (e.g., Chatman et al., 1998; Chattopadhyay, 1999; Tsui et al., 1992) that have adopted a relational demography approach have done so by incorporating either the similarity-attraction paradigm (Byrne, 1971, social identity theory (Tajfel, 1978), or self- categorization theory (Turner, 1984; 1987). The similarity-attraction paradigm states that similar individuals will be interpersonally attracted to one another. Research has concluded that attitudinal similarity (Byrne, 1971) and demographic similarity (Tsui & O?Reilly, 1989) are especially important to consider when predicting outcomes based on this theory. More specifically, individuals tend to view those sharing similar demographic characteristics as possessing the same values, principals, and beliefs as themselves (McGrath, 1998; Milliken & Martins, 1996). Somewhat related to the similarity-attraction paradigm, social identity theory and self-categorization theory are based on the assumption that individuals desire to maintain 20 high levels of self-esteem (Brockner, 1988) and have a positive self-identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). In doing so, individuals classify themselves into groups and attach values to these different social categories. Categories that include the self have consistently led to more positive evaluation of in-group members and a more negative evaluation of out- group members (see Tajfel, 1982 for a review). This tendency to rate in-group members higher than out-group members is a result of individuals? desire to enhance one?s self- esteem and social identity (Chattopadhyay, Tluckowska, & George, 2004). Additionally, the tendency to rate in-group members more positively has been used to explain the preference for homogenous workgroups (Messick & Mackie, 1989; Schneider, 1987). Ashforth and Mael (1989) took a slightly different approach to social identity theory and related it to the organization. They argued that organizational identification (Brown, 1969; O?Reilly & Chatman, 1996) affects both individual and organizational effectiveness. In an organizational setting, the categorization of the self and others is likely to be ?relational and comparative? (Tajfel & Turner, 1986, p. 16). When making these social categorizations, surface level traits such as demographics are often the most influential because they are readily visible and available (Harrison, Price, & Bell, 1998; Pelled, 1996). Additionally, research has shown that the tendency to categorize oneself in terms of race and sex has a strong influence on the development of social categories (Baugh & Graen, 1997; Tsui et al., 1992). Social identity theory also posits that behavior is predicted by the salience of the social category. In this context, salience is defined as, ??conditions under which some specific group membership becomes cognitively prepotent in self-perception to act as the immediate influence on perception and behavior? (Turner, 1987, p. 54). Not surprisingly, 21 some social categories tend to be more salient than others, thus having more of an influence on behavior. For example, researchers have argued that sex and race are likely to be more salient and influence self-categorization than other demographic characteristics such as education or organizational tenure (Hogg & Terry, 2000; Stangor, Lynch, Duan, & Glass, 1992; Tsui et al., 1992). Further, sex and race categorizations are important to consider because they have a strong influence on employee social identities (Chattopadhyay et al., 2004). Increasingly, recruitment and job search is being viewed as a social process (Herriot, 2002; 2004). Therefore, the application of social identity theory and self- categorization theory seems appropriate. Also associated with social identity theory, and especially relevant in a recruitment context, is the concept of a psychological group. A psychological group has been defined as a collection of people who classify themselves into the same social categories (Turner, 1984). A key characteristic of psychological groups is that members do not necessarily have to interact with one another. Rather, perceptions of being associated with the psychological group form the basis for identification with these groups. Tsui et al. (1992) argued that the organization can be an attractive psychological group to the extent that it is composed of members sharing the same demographic characteristics as the individual has chosen to categorize himself or herself. Research has extended the concept of social identity and psychological groups to recruitment and investigated the influence of relational demography on job seekers? organizational perceptions (e.g., Goldberg, 2003; Liden & Parsons, 1986; Taylor & Bergmann, 1987). For example, research findings have concluded that the effect of 22 recruiter sex on applicants is influenced by the applicants? sex (Liden & Parsons, 1986; Maurer et al., 1992; Taylor & Bergmann, 1987). Related research has investigated the influence of including diverse organizational representatives in recruitment advertising. Taking a relational demography approach, researchers have found that racial congruence between job seekers and organizational representatives influences organizational attractiveness perceptions for minorities (Avery, 2003; Avery et al., 2004; Perkins, Thomas, & Taylor, 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999). For example, Thomas and Wise (1999) concluded that recruiter and diversity variables accounted for differences in the organizational impressions of minority and White job seekers. More specifically, minorities had more favorable perceptions when the recruiter was also a minority while Whites did not appear to emphasize recruiter characteristics when making organizational assessments. Consistent with these findings, Avery et al. (2004) also found that Black and Hispanic job seekers were more attracted to organizations when minority organizational representatives were presented in advertisements. Again, White participants did not exhibit a preference for organizations based on the race of organizational representatives. Finally, Perkins et al. (2000) showed differences in attractiveness, perceived compatibility, and image among Blacks based on the demographic composition of job advertisements. Whites? perceptions, on the other hand, were not influenced by changes in the demographic representation of individuals included in job advertisements. A similar stream of recruitment research has recognized that organizations have the ability to manipulate the composition of those depicted in recruitment advertising. This research is relevant to this study because organizations typically include multiple 23 employee testimonials on recruitment webpages 1 . With regard to racial composition in recruitment advertisements, Perkins et al. (2000) concluded that Blacks responded more favorably in terms of attraction, compatibility, and organizational image when the racial composition was 50% Black and 50% White in recruitment advertisements versus advertisements where Whites were the proportional majority. Similarly, Avery (2003) found that Blacks? attraction to organizations increased as the proportion of Black managers depicted in recruitment advertising increased. Interestingly, none of the aforementioned studies found significant racial congruence effects for Whites when manipulating the racial composition of recruitment advertisements. Instead, it appears that racial cues are less salient among White job seekers as long as White?s representation remained in the majority (Avery et al., 2004; Davis & Burnstein, 1981; Mehra, Kilduff, & Brass, 1998; Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999). It also seems possible that relational demography will explain minority job seekers? inferences about organizations? personality traits. As previously discussed, organizational personality has been found to generally consist of the five dimensions of boy-scout, innovativeness, dominance, thrift, and style (Slaughter et al., 2004). Research has concluded that job seekers evaluate organizations in terms of these five dimensions and that resulting perceptions serve as indirect informational cues when making attractiveness assessments (Slaughter et al.). More specifically, the boy-scout, innovativeness, style, and dominance traits have been found to be positively related to organizational perceptions (i.e., attraction) while thrift was negatively related to attraction (Slaughter et al.). 1 For the purpose of this dissertation, I visited the recruitment websites of 20 Fortune 500 organizations and found that the number of employee testimonials ranged from 2-10 (M = 4.63, SD = 1.89). 24 Demographic similarity between job seekers and organizational representatives included in employee testimonials should influence organizational inferences based on these five dimensions. The likelihood of Black job seekers to be more attracted to organizations when representatives are similar in terms of demographic characteristics (Avery, 2003; Avery et al., 2004; Thomas & Wise, 1999) suggests that positive trait inferences will also be made about the organization. More specifically, Black job seekers should rate organizations high in terms of boy-scout (e.g., friendly, cooperative, and helpful), innovativeness (e.g., interesting, exciting, and original), dominance (e.g., successful and popular), and style (e.g., stylish and fashionable) dimensions when they share similar demographic characteristics as organizational representatives. Conversely, White job seekers should not be as influenced by racial congruence as long as Whites are in equal or majority representation (Davis & Burnstein, 1981; Mehra et al., 1998; Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999). When Whites are in minority representation, I expect race to become more salient and, therefore the racial composition of those depicted on a recruitment website should influence organizational perceptions. Based on the above logic, I offer the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1a: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the boy-scout organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. 25 Hypothesis 1b: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the innovativeness organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 1c: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the style organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 1d: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the dominance organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. The four previous hypotheses propose that positive organizational perceptions (i.e., boy-scout, innovativeness, style, and dominance) will be influenced by the racial congruence of job seekers and those depicted in employee testimonials. Because the thrift organizational personality dimension has been negatively related to organizational attractiveness perceptions (Slaughter et al., 2004), I expect Black job seekers to rate 26 organizations lower in terms of the thrift (e.g., simple and deprived) dimension as the diversity of those depicted in employee testimonials increases. Whites? thrift perceptions, on the other hand, should remain unchanged as long as Whites are in equal of majority representation. As such, I hypothesize: Hypothesis 1e: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization lower in terms of the thrift organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Communication Media and Organizational Personality Attributions The media used to communicate employee testimonials also have the potential to influence inferences made about organizations. Media richness theory (MRT) posits that communication effectiveness is dependent on finding a match between communication requirements and media capacities (Daft & Lengel, 1984; 1986). As such, richer media are characterized by the (a) opportunity for two-way communication, (b) ability to convey multiple cues (i.e., nonverbal), (c) ability to convey a sense of personal focus (i.e., warmth), and (d) language variety (Schmitz & Fulk, 1991). Research has generally concluded that face-to-face communication is the richest medium, followed by video with audio, then audio only, and then text only (Adams, Morris, & Van Scotter, 1999). MRT offers a possible explanation for job seekers? reactions to employee testimonials communicated via the Internet. With regard to these testimonials, organizations generally use two methods of communication. First, the testimonials may 27 include a picture of an employee accompanied by a text statement. A second option is to communicate testimonials in a video with audio format. This video consists of employees communicating their testimonials via word of mouth as opposed to text (i.e., video with audio). With regard to personality inferences made about organizations, researchers have suggested that unimpressive recruitment material may signal that the organization does not invest heavily in HR functions (Turban, 2001). Further, the use of a technologically superior recruitment website may indicate that the organization is also technologically advanced (Ehrhart & Ziegert, 2005). With this in mind, it seems likely that job seekers may make inferences about the organization based on the manner in which employee testimonials are communicated. Given the findings described above, it appears that organizations using video with audio as the medium to communicate employee testimonials should be rated higher in terms of the innovativeness and style dimensions than organizations using the picture with text option. Therefore, I hypothesize the following: Hypothesis 2a: Job seekers will rate organizations using video with audio testimonials higher in terms of the innovativeness organizational personality dimension than organizations using employee testimonials consisting of picture with text. Hypothesis 2b: Job seekers will rate organizations using video with audio testimonials higher in terms of the style organizational personality dimension than organizations using employee testimonials consisting of picture with text. 28 Credibility Perceptions Concerning the Information Provided on Recruitment Websites Job seekers often experience difficulty finding credible information sources as there is a general consensus that the truth is not always communicated (Rynes & Boudreau, 1986; Wanous & Colella, 1989). In this context, credibility is defined as the extent to which an audience perceives the information source as being knowledgeable and truthful (Ilgen, Fisher, & Taylor, 1979; Petty & Cacioppo, 1981). With regard to recruitment, research has found that job seekers often distrust corporate recruiters because they are seen as ?job sellers? versus sources of truthful organizational information (Fisher, Ilgen, & Hoyer, 1979). Further, evidence exists that job seekers differ in the sources of organizational information perceived to be credible (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Cable & Turban, 2001). Cable and Yu (2006) explicitly tested job seekers? credibility perceptions of three different recruitment information sources (i.e., company web sites, electronic bulletin boards such as Vault.com, and career fairs). Contrary to what was hypothesized, Cable and Yu concluded that career fairs and company websites were perceived to be more credible than electronic bulletin boards such as Vault.com. These results are especially interesting considering that organizations typically have more control over the information presented to job seekers via websites and career fairs, and there is a general consensus that truth in recruitment is rarely communicated (Rynes & Boudreau, 1986; Wanous & Colella, 1989). This conclusion may relate to job seekers? credibility perceptions of employee testimonials because organizations typically determine which employee testimonials are included on their recruitment website. 29 Demographic Characteristics of Organizational Representatives (Message Source) The previous discussion of relational demography suggests that individuals compare their demographic characteristics with others and that the perceived similarity or dissimilarity influences behavior as well as attributions made about the target (e.g., Baugh & Graen, 1997; Chatman et al., 1998; Chattopadhyay et al., 1999; Tsui et al., 1992). It also seems likely that relational demography will explain job seekers? perceptions about the credibility of recruitment websites including employee testimonials. More specifically, the race of the individuals depicted in employee testimonials will likely be a salient characteristic for Black job seekers when making credibility assessments (e.g., Mehra et al., 1998; Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999). The desire to enhance one?s social identity and self-image (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) should lead minority job seekers to have more positive evaluations of individuals that belong to the same social categories as themselves. Minority job seekers ought to have more positive views of minority organizational representatives and therefore are more likely to view these individuals as more credible information sources than demographically dissimilar organizational representatives. Because race is likely to be less salient for Whites as long as they are in equal or majority representation (Davis & Burnstein, 1981; Mehra et al., 1998, Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999), I do not expect changes in the racial composition of employee testimonials to affect Whites? credibility perceptions unless Whites have minority representation. As such, I hypothesize the following: 30 Hypothesis 3: Black job seekers will rate organizations? recruitment websites as more credible sources of information as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Communication Media and Credibility Perceptions Job seekers? beliefs concerning the accuracy of information provided about organizations? cultures are dependent on the manner in which the information is communicated (Cable, Aiman-Smith, Mulvey, & Edwards, 2000). More specifically, word-of-mouth communications have been found to result in higher perceptions of communication accuracy. Because recruitment messages communicated face-to-face have been shown to be more credible and attract more attention (Breaugh & Billings, 1988; Chaiken & Stangor, 1987; Tybout & Artz, 1994), I expect employee testimonials allowing job seekers to gather information via cues such as voice tone, facial expressions, etc. to also influence credibility perceptions. Cable and Yu (2006) provide further support for this assumption as they found that richer media was also perceived to be more credible. Since video with audio is a richer medium, I anticipate that the use of video with audio will be perceived as more credible than the use of picture with text, and I hypothesize the following: Hypothesis 4: Job seekers will perceive the information provided on recruitment websites as more credible when employee testimonials are communicated via video with audio versus employee pictures with text. 31 Employee Testimonials and Job Seeker Attraction Several of the aforementioned theories also suggest that employee testimonials may be designed to attract desired applicants. For example, the realistic information hypothesis (Zottoli & Wanous, 2000) posits that current organizational employees are important information sources because they are likely to share realistic information with potential employees (Breaugh, 1992). Further, informal sources of information (i.e., current employees) are perceived as providing more accurate and complete information (Saks, 1994). Despite the fact that organizations likely influence the content of employee testimonials included on their recruitment websites, findings by Cable and Yu (2006) indicate that job seekers may still use employee testimonials as sources of job and organizational information. More specifically, they concluded that media developed by the company itself was perceived to be richer and more credible than information from an independent website where job seekers can gather information from individuals unassociated with the organization. Therefore, it seems plausible that job seekers will prefer organizations that include employee testimonials on recruitment websites because they are able to gather information from informal sources. It also seems likely that the media used to communicate employee testimonials will influence organizational attraction ratings. In organizational settings, richer media (i.e., video with audio versus text alone) are often preferred because of their ability to communicate complex material that may have multiple interpretations (Daft et al., 1987). Additionally, richer media provide more cues that are interesting, engaging, and personally warm than other forms of communication (Chaiken & Eagly, 1976; Short, 32 Williams, & Christie, 1976). Another advantage of richer media is their ability to communicate affect (Allen et al., 2004). In the context of employee testimonials, this finding is important because Rynes, Bretz, and Gerhart (1991) concluded that recruiter affect and informativeness explained variance in applicant perceptions because they provided signals about the organization. Further, richer media may provide additional organizational information to job seekers via cues such as facial expressions, nonverbal behavior, and speaking tone. As an example, Young and Henemen (1986) concluded that the personal warmth of an organizational representative influenced applicant perceptions of organizational attractiveness. Richer media should be able to communicate this notion of personal warmth and, therefore, should influence perceptions to a greater extent than less-rich media. Following this logic, I offer the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 5: Job seekers will be more attracted to organizations including employee testimonials on recruitment websites than organizations not including employee testimonials. More specifically, job seekers? perceptions of organizational attraction will differ by media used to communicate employee testimonials such that video with audio will result in higher attraction than will testimonials consisting of picture with text. Message Source Recalling the previous discussion of relational demography and research findings concluding that demographic similarity influences attraction to organizations (Avery et al., 2004; Thomas & Wise, 1999), it seems likely that Black job seekers will be more attracted to organizations that depict Black organizational representatives in recruitment material. Mackie, Worth, and Asuncion (1990) explain that ?without exception,? in- 33 group members are more persuasive than out-group members. The perceived similarity between message recipients and product endorsers has also been shown to result in more positive attitudes about the product because viewers perceive that they were the intended audience (Aaker, Brumbaugh, & Grier, 2000). Further, studies have shown that Blacks, in contrast to Whites, are more attracted to media including Black characters (Dates, 1980) and are more attracted to products endorsed by Black spokespersons (Whittler, 1989). However, relational demography research generally suggests that race is less salient for Whites (Avery, 2003; Davis & Burnstein, 1981; Mehra et al., 1998; Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999) as long as Whites? representation is equal to minorities or in the proportional majority. I anticipate similar relationships with regard to the composition of employee testimonials and hypothesize the following: Hypothesis 6: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of attraction as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Mediators Between Message Source and Job Seeker Attraction While evidence exists that minority job seekers are more attracted to organizations depicting minorities in job advertisements (Avery, 2003; Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999), few of these studies have provided explanations of this phenomenon beyond the similarity-attraction paradigm. Avery (2003) is one exception as he found that minorities were more attracted to organizations in which they perceived opportunities for upward advancement. With regard to organizations? use of employee 34 testimonials, recruitment research warns that credibility perceptions should not be ignored (Allen et al., 2004; Cable & Yu, 2006). As such, I anticipate that credibility perceptions will mediate the relationship between demographic similarity of job seekers and organizational representatives and organizational attraction. More specifically, minority job seekers must perceive minority organizational representatives as credible sources of information in order for racial composition of employee testimonials to influence organizational attraction perceptions. Hypothesis 7: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by job seekers? credibility perceptions of the information provided on the recruitment website. Research also indicates that job seekers attribute personality characteristics to organizations, and these attributions have the potential to influence attractiveness perceptions (Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; Slaughter et al., 2004). However, little is known about the exact role that these perceptions play in determining job seekers? attitudes. It seems possible that organizations perceived to possess high levels of certain personality characteristics may help differentiate themselves from other organizations. Specifically, it appears that job seekers will prefer organizations that possess the boy- scout, innovativeness, dominance, and style dimensions (Slaughter et al., 2004). As such, I anticipate that these attributes will mediate the relationship between racial composition of employee testimonials and job seekers? organizational attraction. Hypothesis 8a: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated 35 by perceptions of the organization in terms of the boy-scout organizational personality dimension. Hypothesis 8b: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the innovativeness organizational personality dimension. Hypothesis 8c: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the style organizational personality dimension. Hypothesis 8d: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the dominance organizational personality dimension. Hypothesis 8e: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the thrift organizational personality dimension. Job Seeker Recruitment Website Behavior Another indication of job seeker attraction to organizations may be the time spent on recruitment websites gathering job and organizational information or the number of linked pages used to gather information (Appiah, 2004). Based on previous hypotheses predicting Blacks will respond more favorably to organizations including diverse (Black 36 and White) employee testimonials on recruitment websites, I also expect Blacks to spend more time browsing these websites and attempt to gather more information from the available links. Blacks should be more attracted to organizations using diverse employee testimonials and therefore be more likely to search for relevant job and organizational information on their websites. As in previous hypotheses, the time spent on recruitment websites and the number of links visited to gather information should not differ for Whites as long as they are in equal or majority representation. As such, I offer the following two hypotheses: Hypothesis 9: In contrast to Whites, Black job seekers will spend more time overall on recruitment websites as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. Whites? time spent on recruitment websites will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 10: In contrast to Whites, Black job seekers will attempt to gather more information from linked pages as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. The number of linked pages visited by White job seekers? should not differ according to the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Job Seeker Attitudes It is important to note that the previous three hypotheses and many relational demography studies treat race as a peripheral cue (e.g., Whittler & Spira, 2002). That is, 37 the race of organizational representatives will automatically influence (either positively or negatively) job seekers? organizational perceptions. However, others contend that race may instead motivate recipients to think about the content of the persuasive message (Petty, Flemming, & White, 1999; White & Harkins, 1994). More specifically, Petty et al. (1999) investigated the potential moderating effect of Whites? prejudice attitudes. They concluded that low prejudice Whites are more likely to elaborate on the content of messages delivered by stigmatized sources because they want to protect themselves against making unfair assessments based on the presence of the stigmatized source alone. Whittler and Spira (2002) took a slightly different approach and investigated ethnic identification as a potential moderator between product endorser race and Black consumers? attitude toward the product. As hypothesized, they found that Blacks who identify strongly with their ethnicity made more positive evaluations of the product when a Black endorser was present versus a White endorser. These conclusions were consistent for both strong and weak arguments. Conversely, Blacks who had a weak ethnic identification did not differ in their evaluations of the product with regard to the race of product endorser. Although this research was mainly conducted in a marketing setting, it is likely that these findings are also applicable in a recruitment context. Additionally, Avery (2003) noted that little relational demography research has considered possible moderators between the race of organizational representatives and job seeker attraction. This appears to be an important omission as organizations may be able to use this information to gain a better understanding of those who compose their applicant pool (Slaughter et al., 2005; Taylor & Collins, 2000; Turban & Cable, 2003). 38 The following hypotheses attempt to extend the findings of Petty et al. (1999) and Whittler and Spira (2002) to a recruitment context. Hypothesis 11: White job seekers? racial prejudice attitudes will interact with racial composition of employee testimonials to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, Whites low in prejudice will not be as affected by the proportion of minorities giving testimonials on recruitment websites. Conversely, Whites high in prejudice will rate recruiting organizations lower in terms of attraction as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. Hypothesis 12: Black job seekers? ethnic identification will interact with the racial composition of employee testimonials to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, Blacks low in ethnic identity will not differ in organizational attraction perceptions according to the racial composition of employee testimonials. Conversely, organizational attraction ratings for Blacks high in ethnic identification will be higher as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increases. Job Seeker Race ? Communication Media ? Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials It also seems likely that communication media will interact with job seeker race and proportion of minority representation on recruitment websites to influence perceptions of organizational attraction. I previously hypothesized that Black job seekers? attraction to organizations will increase as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. Because richer media have the capacity to communicate affect (Allen et al., 2004) and other non-verbal cues about the organization (e.g., Daft et al., 39 1987), I anticipate that the use of video with audio testimonials will lessen the influence of employee testimonial diversity on Blacks? attraction to organizations. Video with audio communication media should encourage Black job seekers to focus more on the content of the testimonials than the racial characteristics of organizational representatives. I expect similar relationships for White job seekers. Hypothesis 6 predicts that organizational attractiveness perceptions of Whites will not change as long as White employees are in equal or majority representation. I expect Whites? attractiveness perceptions to be lower if Whites are in minority representation. However, the strength of this relationship should be influenced by communication media in the same way as described above. The negative relationship between minority representation on recruitment websites and organizational attractiveness should be smaller when video with audio is used as the communication medium versus picture with text. As such, I hypothesize the following: Hypothesis 13: Job seeker race, racial composition of employee testimonials, and medium used to communicate employee testimonials will interact to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, the predicted positive relationship between the proportion of minorities giving employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be smaller for Blacks when video with audio is the communication medium versus picture with text. Additionally, the predicted negative relationship when Whites are in minority representation on organizational attraction will be smaller for Whites when video with audio is the communication medium versus picture with text. 40 Summary of Research Hypotheses Table 1 presents a summary of the research hypotheses for this dissertation. Hypotheses 1a-e and 2a-b assess organizational personality trait inferences made by job seekers based on the use of employee testimonials on recruitment websites. Hypotheses 3 and 4 investigate job seekers? perceptions of credibility concerning the information provided on recruitment websites. Hypotheses 5-8 and 11-13 involve using employee testimonials to understand the organizational attraction perceptions of desired job seekers. Finally, Hypotheses 9 and 10 investigate job seekers? recruitment website behavior. 41 Table 1. Summary of Research Hypotheses Hypotheses Hypothesis 1a: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the boy-scout organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 1b: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the innovativeness organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 1c: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the style organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 1d: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the dominance organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 1e: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization lower in terms of the thrift organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 2a: Job seekers will rate organizations using video with audio testimonials higher in terms of the innovativeness organizational personality dimension than organizations using employee testimonials consisting of picture with text. 42 Table 1 continued. Summary of Research Hypotheses Hypotheses Hypothesis 2b: Job seekers will rate organizations using video with audio testimonials higher in terms of the style organizational personality dimension than organizations using employee testimonials consisting of picture with text. Hypothesis 3: Black job seekers will rate organizations? recruitment websites as more credible sources of information as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 4: Job seekers will perceive the information provided on recruitment websites as more credible when employee testimonials are communicated via video with audio versus employee pictures with text. Hypothesis 5: Job seekers will be more attracted to organizations including employee testimonials on recruitment websites than organizations not including employee testimonials. More specifically, job seekers? perceptions of organizational attraction will differ by media used to communicate employee testimonials such that video with audio will result in higher attraction than will testimonials consisting of picture with text. Hypothesis 6: Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of attraction as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 7: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by job seekers? credibility perceptions of the information provided on the recruitment website. Hypothesis 8a: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the boy-scout organizational personality dimension. Hypothesis 8b: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the innovativeness organizational personality dimension. 43 Table 1 continued. Summary of Research Hypotheses Hypotheses Hypothesis 8c: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the style organizational personality dimension. Hypothesis 8d: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the dominance organizational personality dimension. Hypothesis 8e: The relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the thrift organizational personality dimension. Hypothesis 9: In contrast to Whites, Black job seekers will spend more time overall on recruitment websites as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. Whites? time spent on recruitment websites will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 10: In contrast to Whites, Black job seekers will attempt to gather more information from linked pages as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. The number of linked pages visited by White job seekers? should not differ according to the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equal or exceed the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Hypothesis 11: White job seekers? racial prejudice attitudes will interact with racial composition of employee testimonials to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, Whites low in prejudice will not be as affected by the proportion of minorities giving testimonials on recruitment websites. Conversely, Whites high in prejudice will rate recruiting organizations lower in terms of attraction as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increases. 44 Table 1 continued. Summary of Research Hypotheses Hypotheses Hypothesis 12: Black job seekers? ethnic identification will interact with the racial composition of employee testimonials to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, Blacks low in ethnic identity will not differ in organizational attraction perceptions according to the racial composition of employee testimonials. Conversely, organizational attraction ratings for Blacks high in ethnic identification will be higher as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increases. Hypothesis 13: Job seeker race, racial composition of employee testimonials, and medium used to communicate employee testimonials will interact to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, the predicted positive relationship between the proportion of minorities giving employee testimonials on organizational attraction will be smaller for Blacks when video with audio is the communication medium versus picture with text. Additionally, the predicted negative relationship when Whites are in minority representation on organizational attraction will be smaller for Whites when video with audio is the communication medium versus picture with text. 45 CHAPTER 2 METHOD Participants Data were collected from upper-level business students enrolled at a large predominantly White university and three historically Black universities located in the southeastern United States. These universities were targeted in an attempt to gather a diverse sample in terms of racial demographics. All students (N = 1,010) enrolled in seven, upper-level management courses at Auburn University (N = 562), two at Florida A & M University (N = 62), three at Tuskegee University (N = 74), and seven at Alabama State University (N = 312) were invited to participate in this study. A total of 469 participants (83% of all available students) from Auburn University, 42 (68% of all available students) from Florida A & M University, 55 (74% of all available students) from Tuskegee University, and 262 (84% of all available students) from Alabama State University completed the first phase of the study. Of these, 453 (97%) from Auburn University, 40 (95%) from Florida A & M University, 45 (82%) from Tuskegee University, and 238 (91%) from Alabama State University completed the second phase. Six respondents were eliminated due to incomplete information. Additionally, analyses only included responses from individuals who identified themselves as either Black or White. Consistent with Avery (2003), non- Black minorities were allowed to participate in the study so as to not alert participants of 46 the racial nature of the study, but these respondents (N = 12) were eliminated from the study. The final sample used for analyses consisted of 756 participants, which represented 75% of all students invited initially to participate in the study. Of the 756 participants who provided complete data for both phases, 414 (55%) were White, and 342 (45%) were Black. Participants included 406 (54%) men and 350 (46%) women with a mean age of 22.49 (SD = 1.54) years. Analyses revealed no significant differences among participants from the four universities in terms of two demographic questions (i.e., gender and age) and four job search experience questions Additionally, 665 (88%) participants indicated that they were either actively searching for employment or will be doing so in the next six months; 575 (76%) reported having previously interviewed for a full-time job; 620 (82%) had sent their resume to an organization seeking full-time employment; and 687 (91%) indicated that they had visited an organization?s recruitment website to explore job opportunities and gather information about an organization. Based on these findings, it appears that the sample used for analyses was typical of young professionals seeking entry-level employment and those being recruited by organizations during campus recruiting efforts (Rynes & Boudreau, 1986; Williams & Bauer, 1994). Table 2 provides a summary of the participant samples for the two data collection periods, and Table 3 summarizes participant characteristics. Procedure Time 1 data collection. Approximately 3 weeks into the spring 2007 semester, instructors of the targeted classes informed students that they had the opportunity to complete a study intended to assess individual differences among college students and 47 48 49 receive extra course credit. Via class email, participants were provided with a web address linking them to an instruction page for completing the survey. Before beginning the survey, participants were asked to create a unique user name that they could remember throughout the semester. This user name was used to ensure participant anonymity and to match responses from time 1 and 2 data collection efforts. After logging in with this user name, participants were directed to an online survey with items intended to measure their racial prejudice, ethnic identification, and some demographic questions. After completing the survey, participants were directed to a ?completion page? that they printed and turned in to their instructor as evidence of participation. Time 2 data collection. Approximately 3 weeks after time 1 data collection, students in the targeted classes were told that a Fortune 500 organization (referred to as HBA Corporation, a hypothetical organization) had requested their assistance in evaluating the organization?s recruitment webpage. Those agreeing to participate were provided with a web address that linked them to an instruction page. This page informed participants that their task was to take the role of an active job seeker, evaluate a recruitment website, and then answer a series of questions intended to gauge their reactions to the webpage and HBA Corporation as a potential employer. After reading the instructions, the participants were directed to HBA?s recruitment website. After viewing the website, participants completed a short including items intended to measure organizational personality attributions, credibility perceptions concerning the information provided on HBA?s recruitment website, and organizational attractiveness. They were then directed to a completion page that they printed and turned in as evidence of participation. 50 Recruitment Website Manipulations Designing the recruitment websites used for data collection (time 2) involved manipulating (a) the racial composition of a group of four employees giving testimonials on corporate recruiting websites and (b) the medium used for communicating the testimonial information. More specifically, manipulations were made according to a 4 (racial composition of employee testimonials) ? 2 (communication media) fully crossed experimental design. Employee testimonial racial composition was manipulated using Cox?s (1991) model of organizational diversity as a template (e.g., Avery, 2003). Racial composition of the four employees giving testimonials on the recruitment website was presented as either (a) all White (depicting only White employees), (b) primarily White (depicting 3 White employees and 1 Black employee), (c) primarily Black (depicting 3 Black employees and 1 White employee), or (d) balanced (depicting 2 Black employees and 2 White employees). The gender ratio of those giving testimonials was held constant (2 males and 2 females) to control for possible confounding effects (e.g., Avery, 2003). Communication medium was manipulated by including either (a) a picture of an employee with text testimonial or (b) video of an employee giving an audio testimonial. The website used for data collection was designed to resemble those used by actual organizations (refer to Figure 4 for a screenshot of HBA?s recruitment homepage; see Appendix A for screenshots of all website links). Webpage content was designed to recruit job applicants for an entry-level management position. This approach was taken because the majority of participants were business majors and had been or would be applying for similar positions in the near future. The homepage provided links for participants to gather information about HBA as a place to work. These links included 51 52 ?Career Development, Pay and Benefits, Meet Our People, Company Information, and Our Plan for Growth? (see Appendix B for screenshots of all website links). All versions contained identical information with the exception of the ?Meet Our People? link. A control condition was also included that did not include the ?Meet Our People? link. Instead participants randomly directed to this site were only given the ?Career Development, Pay and Benefits, Company Information, and Our Plan for Growth? links to gather information. Based on the aforementioned criteria, a total of nine websites was designed for data collection. Four websites included testimonials (racial composition of employee testimonials including either all White employees, primarily White employees, balanced employees, or primarily Black employees) communicated via picture with text, four included testimonials communicated via video with audio, and one control website did not include employee testimonials. In order to construct the website including testimonials, seven testimonials were needed from two White males, two White females, two Black females, and one Black male. Several actors were used multiple times to make the necessary manipulations. The seven testimonials were used to alter the racial composition of employees giving testimonials according to either the all White, primarily White, balanced, or primarily Black criteria. Further, the all White employee testimonial condition included two White males and two White females. The primarily White condition included two White females, one White male, and one Black male. The balanced manipulation included one Black male, one Black female, one White male, and one White female. Finally, the primarily Black condition included one Black male, two Black females, and one White 53 male. The specific assignments of gender in the primarily Black and primarily White groups were made on the basis of personal attractiveness ratings made of each actor (to be discussed later). Racial composition of employee testimonials. To manipulate the racial composition of organizational representatives, actors were recruited from the Auburn University Theatre Department. A flyer was posted in the common areas of the Theatre Department soliciting individuals to work as actors in a research project. A $50 incentive to participate was advertised on the flyer. Interested individuals were asked to email the investigator and arrange a time for a short meeting to explain their role in the project. A total of 11 individuals (two Black males, three Black females, three White males, and three White females) expressed interest in this project. All 11 actors were hired even though only seven (one Black male, two Black females, two White males, and two White females) were needed to create the necessary study manipulations. Additional actors were hired in order to select seven who were most similar in terms of acting quality and physical appearance (Haugtvedt, Petty, & Cacioppo, 1992). During the informational meeting, actors were provided with a testimonial script (see Appendix A for the seven testimonial scripts used in the study), asked to memorize the script, and told to dress in business-casual attire. All scripts were modeled after actual employee testimonials found on the recruitment websites of Fortune 500 organizations (i.e., McKinsey.com, Wachovia.com, BankofAmerica.com). Additionally, efforts were made to ensure that the length of the testimonials was relatively the same (the number of words ranged from 355-371 words). Each script involved the actors responding to four questions: Why did you choose HBA? What do you enjoy most about 54 working at HBA? How would you describe HBA?s culture? and How do you like to spend your free time? A pilot test was performed to initially ensure that the content of the testimonials did not influence participants? perceptions of organizational attraction. Students enrolled in three, upper-level management courses (N = 107) were given the opportunity to participate in the pilot test and receive extra course credit. Those deciding to participate (N = 96, 90%) were asked to take the role of a job seeker considering an organization for employment. Participants were told to assume that in conducting research about an organization, they had the opportunity to speak with a current employee. The participants were randomly assigned to 1 of the 7 testimonial scripts and told that this transcript summarized their conversation with the current employee. After reading the transcript, participants responded to Highhouse, Lievens, and Sinar?s (2003) 15-item scale measuring three dimensions of organizational attraction (see a description of this scale in the Measures section). Coefficient alphas for this three-dimension scale were .78 for general attractiveness, .74 for intentions to pursue employment, and .82 for organizational prestige. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated no differences for any of the three organizational attraction dimension ratings according to the testimonials? script content, Wilks' ? = 1.31, F (18, 246.56) = 1.31, p = ns. An example of an actual testimonial used in the study is shown below (see Appendix B for all testimonial scripts: Why did you choose HBA? I joined HBA for the opportunity to learn and develop professionally. Given the momentum of the Firm in the marketplace and with clients, I have the 55 opportunity to work on many complex and rewarding transactions. I also joined the Firm for its people and culture. I find that employees at HBA are aggressive, yet still cooperative and supportive. HBA employees are more interested in identifying opportunities for the Firm and identifying innovative solutions for clients. There is a tremendous sense of relentlessness and optimism for helping our clients win. What do you enjoy most about working at HBA? Teamwork is an essential component of success in our department. Associates work with all areas of the business and it is critical that we openly communicate with one another. The culture of teamwork that exists at HBA is different than any other company that I have worked with and I feel it provides us with an important competitive advantage. At HBA teamwork is what drives our success. How would you describe HBA?s culture? After an initial month of training, my first day in my group was September 10, 2001, which allowed for only one day of introduction into the group before the September 11 attacks. HBA was displaced from its downtown headquarters and initially did not have an office in which to operate its business. It was a very challenging time for New York employees, but I remember our first gathering at the Midtown Sheraton hotel a few days after 9/11. Our Chairman and CEO delivered a speech about the willfulness, relentlessness, and optimism of the people at HBA. I remember him asking us to look to our left and look to our right and take note that ?this is family!? and that ?we will get through this.? The Firm rebounded from the dislocation even stronger and our momentum continues. How do you like to spend your free time? My husband and I have two very young boys, and we enjoy spending time with them, teaching them about the world, and watching them grow. We also have a new dog, and it is always fun to watch the kids interact with a new family member. I also play tennis with friends and try to get outside with the family as often as possible. I scheduled 11, one-hour blocks at the university studio to film each testimonial. Still pictures were also taken of each actor (to be used for the picture-with-text communication media manipulation). Next, the actors were videotaped responding to each of the four, scripted questions based on their assigned testimonial. When filming, each actor was asked to use similar poses and facial expressions in delivering the testimonial. Additionally, the videos were filmed from the actors? shoulders up, and the 56 same background was shown in each testimonial (i.e., a painting and a plant were in the background). The videos were then edited to resemble testimonials commonly used on recruitment websites. More specifically, the actors? responses were separated by brief ?fade in? and ?fade out? effects so that the testimonials appeared to be a casual conversation. The length of the edited testimonials ranged from 102-116 seconds. As previously mentioned, 11 actors were filmed, but only seven were needed for the study?s manipulations. In deciding which actors to include, another pilot test was performed to ensure actors? attractiveness was held constant. Students (N = 91) enrolled in two, upper-level management courses at Auburn University were invited to participate in this pilot test and receive extra course credit. Those agreeing to participate (N = 86, 95%) were randomly shown 1 of the 11 actors? pictures and asked to rate it in terms of attractiveness on a scale ranging from 1 = unattractive to 5 = attractive. These attractiveness ratings were used in choosing the seven actors to include in the actual study. The attractiveness ratings for these individuals were not statistically different from one another, F (10, 85) = 1.32, p = ns. These efforts were made to ensure actor attractiveness did not have confounding effects on participant reactions to the organization (Haugtvedt et al., 1992). The final actors chosen for the main study included one Black male, two White males, two Black females, and two White females. Communication media. Communication media were manipulated by presenting the employee testimonials using either (a) video with audio or (b) a still picture with text. The content of the testimonials (video with audio as well as picture with text) presented by the organizational representatives was identical. 57 A panel of Ph.D. students in management (N = 7) was asked to judge the quality of the video-with-audio and picture-with-text manipulations and compare them to actual employee testimonials presented by a Fortune 500 organization on its recruitment website. More specifically, they were provided with a link to the website used for this study and a link to an actual recruitment website used by a real Fortune 500 organization and asked to note any differences in quality that may exist between the two websites. The entire panel agreed that the website used in this study was similar in quality to those used by actual organizations to recruit job seekers. Measures The independent variables used for this study took three different forms. First, job seekers? race naturally occurred and was recorded during the time 1 data collection effort. A second set of independent variables (racial composition of employees included on the website and communication media) was experimentally manipulated. More specifically, the four organizational representatives on the webpage were presented as either all White (four White employees), primarily White (three White employees and one Black employee), primarily Black (three Black employees and one White employee), or balanced (two Black employees and two White employees). Communication media were manipulated by presenting the employee testimonials using video with audio or picture with text. Finally, a third set of independent variables consisted of psychological constructs assessed through scales included on a web-based questionnaire. The dependent variables for this study also took several different forms. The first set of dependent variables assessed participants? organizational personality attributions (i.e., boy-scout, innovativeness, style, dominance, and thrift). A second set of variables 58 was used to measure participants? credibility perceptions concerning the information provided on HBA?s recruitment website. The third set of dependent variables was used to determine participants? organizational attraction perceptions. Lastly, a fourth set of variables was behavioral measures of how the participants navigated the website (i.e., time on website and number of links visited). Other variables used for this study included control variables (i.e., age and gender), moderating variables (i.e., racial prejudice and ethnic identity), and mediating variables (organizational personality attributions and credibility perceptions). All of the aforementioned variables are described in more detail below. Demographic variables. Participants were asked to indicate their gender, age (in years), race (e.g., White, Black, Latin-American, Asian, other), current student classification (e.g., junior, senior), and academic major (e.g., marketing, finance, accounting). In an attempt to control for any possible confounding effects (e.g., Avery, 2003), gender and age were used as control variables when conducting data analyses. Job search experience. In addition to the demographic questions, participants were asked to indicate the following: (a) When do you expect to graduate? (b) Have you previously interviewed for a full-time job? (c) Have you sent your resume to an organization seeking full-time employment? (d) Do you plan to search for full-time employment in the next six months? (e) Are you currently searching for full-time employment? (f) Have you ever visited a company?s webpage to explore job opportunities? Participants responded to the first question by indicating the semester in which they plan to graduate. The remaining questions were answered by asking 59 participants to indicate either ?yes? or ?no.? Job search experience questions were similar to those used by Cole (2003). Racial prejudice. Six items from McConahay?s (1986) Modern Racism Scale was used to assess individuals? prejudicial attitudes towards Blacks. A sample item from this measure is, ?African Americans have gotten more than they deserve economically.? One item was deleted from the original seven item scale because it was thought to be too dated (e.g., Walker, Feild, Giles, Bernerth, & Jones-Farmer, 2007). The deleted item was, ?African-Americans have more influence on school desegregation plans than they ought to have.? Participants responded to each item using a five-point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Previous studies have reported a coefficient alpha of .81 for this measure (James, Brief, Dietz, & Cohen, 2001). Coefficient alpha for the measure was .82 in this study. Ethnic identity. Individuals? ethnic identity was assessed using five items from Phinney?s (1992) Multigroup Measure of Ethnic Identity. These five items belonged to a subscale of ethnic identity labeled ?affirmation and belonging.? Participants used a four- point scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree, in responding to each question. A sample item from this measure is, ?I am happy that I am a member of the group I belong to.? Previous studies have reported a coefficient alpha of .90 for this measure (Appiah, 2004). Coefficient alpha for the measure was .76 in this study. Organizational attraction. Participants? attraction to HBA Corporation as a place to work was assessed using subscales of Highhouse et al.?s (2003) 15-item organizational attraction scale. These 15 items measure three dimensions of organizational attraction (i.e., general attractiveness, intentions to pursue employment with the organization, and 60 organizational prestige). A sample item for each dimension is as follows: general attractiveness, ?For me, this company would be a great place to work;? intentions to pursue, ?I would accept a job offer from this company;? and prestige, ?I would find this company a prestigious place to work.? Study participants responded to each item using a five-point Likert response format ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Coefficient alphas for this measure have been reported to be .88 for general attractiveness, .82 for intentions to pursue, and .83 for prestige (Highhouse et al., 2003). Internal consistency reliabilities for the subscales were .86 for general attractiveness, .89 for intentions to pursue, and .89 for prestige in this study. Organizational personality trait inferences. Organizational personality trait inferences were assessed using a 33-item measure from Slaughter et al. (2004). Participants were asked to rate the degree to which 33 adjectives included in this measure described HBA. The 33 items include adjectives that are related to the five factors of organizational personality, i.e., boy scout, innovativeness, dominance, thrift, and style. Example items for each dimension are as follows: boy-scout: ?friendly, pleasant, personal;? innovativeness: ?interesting, unique, exciting;? dominance: ?successful, popular, busy;? thrift: ?low-budget, undersized, deprived;? and style: ?stylish, fashionable, trendy.? Participants responded to each adjective as it related to their perception of HBA on a scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Slaughter et al. (2004) reported coefficient alphas of .87 for boy scout, .87 for innovativeness, .76 for dominance, .88 for thrift, and .71 for style. Coefficient alphas for this study were .93 for boy-scout, .88 for innovativeness, .88 for dominance, .91 for thrift, and .95 for style. 61 Perceived credibility of information on recruitment website. Job seekers? perceptions of HBA?s recruitment website as a credible source of information was assessed using a four-item scale from Johnson and Kaye (2002). A sample item from this measure is, ?The information presented on HBA?s website was believable.? Participants responded to each item using a scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Coefficient alpha for this measure has been reported to be .84 (Cable & Yu, 2006). Coefficient alpha for the measure was .84 in this study. Website activity. Online computer software was used to time and track participants as they browsed HBA?s recruitment website (Appiah, 2004). This software recorded (a) participants? overall time spent on the website (in seconds) and (b) the number of links visited by participants as they navigated through the recruitment website. Measures Included for Future Studies During time 2 data collection, I included several measures not related to this dissertation in an attempt to gather data for future studies. I have described these measures in the following section. Organizational representative expertise. Organizational representative (i.e., the employee giving the testimonial) expertise was assessed using three items from Fisher et al. (1979). These items included, ?This person really knows a lot about this company,? ?I consider this person to be an extremely credible source of information about this job,? and ?This person really knows what he/she is talking about.? Participants responded to these questions using a five-point Likert response format ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Coefficient alpha for this three-item measure has been 62 reported to be .81 (Fisher et al., 1979). Coefficient alpha for the scale in this study was .77. Organizational representative trust. Organizational representative trust was measured using three items from Fisher et al. (1979). These items were, ?I feel this person is extremely trustworthy,? ?I believe this person is telling me the truth as he/she sees it,? and ?I feel this person is not being honest with me? (reverse scored). Participants responded to these questions using a five-point Likert response format ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Coefficient alpha for the measure in this study was .81. Organizational representative liking. Organizational representative liking was assessed with three items from Fisher et al. (1979). These items included, ?This person seems like a very nice person,? ?I believe that I would really like this person,? and ?I really don?t care to get to know this person any better? (reverse scored). Participants responded to these questions using a five-point Likert response format ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Coefficient alpha for the scale in this study was .71. Recruiting organization?s emphasis on diversity. HBA?s emphasis on diversity was assessed using a four-item scale from Avery et al. (2004). This measure included the following items, ?Clearly, diversity is not important to HBA? (reverse scored), ?Employees at HBA are probably very similar to one another? (reverse scored), ?I suspect that HBA discriminates against minorities? (reverse scored), and ?It is unlikely that HBA employs many minorities? (reverse scored). Participants rated each item using 63 a five-point Likert response format ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Coefficient alpha for the scale in this study was .74. Perceptions of organization?s technological advancement. Participants? perceptions regarding HBA?s technological advancement was assessed using three items that I developed specifically for the study. These items included the following, ?HBA is a technologically advanced organization,? ?HBA places an emphasis on technology in everyday business activities,? and ?HBA is ahead of the competition with regard to the use of technology.? Participants responded to each item using a five-point Likert response format ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Coefficient alpha for the scale in this study was .88. Subjective person-organization (P-O) fit. Subjective P-O fit was assessed using three items from Cable and Judge (1996). These items included the following: ?To what degree do your values, goals, and personality ?match? or fit this organization and the current employees in this organization?? ?To what extent do your values and personality prevent you from ?fitting in? this organization because they are different from most of the other employees? values and personality in this organization?? and ?Do you think the values and ?personality? of this organization reflect your own values and personality?? Participants were asked to respond to each item using a five-point Likert response format ranging from 1 = not at all to 5 = completely. Cable and Judge (1996) reported a coefficient alpha of .87 for this measure. It is also important to note that previous studies have used similar scales of comparable length to assess subjective P-O fit (e.g., Cable & Judge, 1996; Dineen, Ash, & Noe, 2002; Judge & Cable, 1997). Coefficient alpha for the scale in this study was .79. 64 Perceived media richness. Perceived media richness was assessed using an eight- item measure from Webster and Trevino (1995). Participants were asked to use a five- point scale ranging from 1 = not at all to 5 = very much to rate how they characterized HBA?s website. For example, participants rated the ability of HBA?s recruitment website to ?Give and receive timely feedback? or ?Use rich and varied language.? Coefficient alpha for the scale in this study was .82. Cognitive effort. Participants? cognitive effort used to evaluate recruitment message content was assessed using two items from Cacioppo, Petty, & Morris, 1983. These two questions included the following: ?To what extent were you trying hard to evaluate the content of the recruitment website?? and ?How much effort did you put into evaluating the communication?? A five-point Likert response format ranging from 1 = not at all to 5 = very much was used to answer each item. Coefficient alpha for the measure in this study was .93. Personal relevance. Two items adapted from Cacioppo et al. (1983) were used to assess personal relevance of the information gathered from HBA?s recruitment website. These items were as follows: ?How likely is it that you would use an organization?s recruitment website during your job search?? and ?How personally relevant or important did you find the information presented on HBA?s website?? Participants responded to these items using a scale ranging from 1 = not at all relevant to 5 = very relevant. Coefficient alpha for the scale in this study was .91. Summary of Measures Used in the Study Table 4 contains a summary of the measures used to test the study hypotheses. Table 5 provides a list and categorization of each variable used in this study, i.e., control, 65 demographic, independent, dependent, moderator, or mediator, and indicates the data collection period (time 1 or time 2) for each variable. Finally, Table 6 summarizes additional measures that were completed by participants for use in future studies. Data Analyses The total sample (N = 756) used for the analyses included 93 (all White, video with audio), 92 (primarily White, video with audio), 82 (balanced, video with audio), 83 (primarily Black, video with audio), 82 (all White, picture with text), 87 (primarily White, picture with text), 84 (balanced, picture with text), 84 (primarily Black, picture with text), and 69 in the control group (no employee testimonials presented). Hypotheses 1a-e, 3, 6, 9-13 were tested using hierarchical multiple regression using a method outlined in Aiken and West (1991) for testing the interaction of categorical variables. For testing hypotheses using hierarchical multiple regression, any statistically significant (p ? .05) ?R 2 indicated that the variable entered in that step explained significant variance above those variables entered in previous steps (Aiken & West, 1991). For all hypotheses tested with moderated hierarchical multiple regression, gender and age were entered in step 1 of the analysis to control for the possible confounding effects of these variables (e.g., Avery, 2003). Additionally, communication media was entered in step 1 as a control variable where appropriate. Step 2 involved entering the main effects of the study variables while step 3 involved entering the hypothesized interactions. It should be noted that in order to test many of the hypotheses, I used dummy- coded variables for employee testimonial composition (e.g., Avery, 2003). Using this procedure allows for more easily interpretable results (Aiken & West, 1991). The all 66 67 68 69 White condition was designated as the comparison variable while primarily White, balanced, and primarily Black were entered in the regression equation as dummy variables. The comparison group (all White) was assigned a value of 0 in all dummy variables. The group being contrasted to the comparison group (either primarily White, balanced, or primarily Black) was assigned a value of 1 for that dummy variable only. Thus, the regression results (Tables 8-12, 14, 16-18, and 20-23) do not contain the comparison group (all White). Because Whites were coded as 0, the main effects for these dummy variables (step 2) revealed the effects of employee testimonial racial composition on Whites. The effect of employee testimonial racial composition on Blacks was identified by investigating the interaction effects included in step 3. To more fully investigate the hypothesized relationships, the regression results (Tables 8-12, 14, 16-18, and 20-23) contain standardized coefficients, unstandardized coefficients, 95% confidence intervals for the unstandardized coefficients, ?R 2 , and Cohen?s d (where applicable). Cohen?s d was used to calculate the overall effect size. More specifically, this statistic represents the difference in predicted values divided by the pooled standard deviation (Hausknecht, Halpert, Di Paolo, & Moriarty Gerrard, 2007). Cohen (1969; 1988) recommended general guidelines of .2 for small, .5 for medium, and .8 indicating large standardized differences between the effect and comparison groups. Hypotheses 2a-b, 4 and 5 were tested using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Finally, the hypothesized mediated relationships (Hypotheses 7 and 8a-e) were tested using Baron and Kenny?s (1986) 4-step mediation test. The same method has been outlined in more recent academic literature (i.e., Holmbeck, 1997, Frazier, Tix, & Barron, 2004). Identifying a mediated relationship 70 involves four main steps. One must show a relationship between the (a) mediator and dependent variables (M-D), (b) between the independent and mediator variables (I-M), (c) between the independent and dependent variables (I-D), and (d) between the independent-mediator-dependent variables (I-M-D). Once these relationships have been established, a mediated model is supported if the direct path between the independent and dependent variables is not significant in the I-M-D model. One can conclude partial mediation when the relationship between I-D is lower in the I-M-D model than when it is tested directly (Baron & Kenny, 1986). In testing for possible mediation, Sobel?s (1982) test for indirect effects was also incorporated. Researchers have argued that Baron and Kenny?s method is too conservative and that using the Sobel method provides a better balance between Type I and Type II errors (MacKinnon, Lockwood, Hoffman, West, & Sheets, 2002). Recent studies have also incorporated both methods in testing for mediation effects (Chen, Kirkman, Kanfer, Allen, & Rosen, 2007; Rupp & Spencer, 2006). 71 CHAPTER 3 RESULTS Before combining data from the four universities, it was important to determine whether differences existed among participants from these locations. As such, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was computed to determine if there were any differences on two participant demographic variables (e.g., age and gender) and four job search variables (e.g., currently searching for employment or planning to do so in the next 6 months, previously interviewed for full-time employment, submitted a resume for full-time employment, and previously visited an organization?s website to gather job and organizational information) among the participants from the four universities. Because no significant differences were found, Wilks? ? = .97, F (21, 2142.67) = 1.06, p = ns, data from all participants in the four universities were combined. Manipulation checks. Several forms of manipulation checks were made in order to (a) determine if participants could see and hear the video with audio manipulation, (b) test whether participants recognized the racial composition of the individuals presented in the employee testimonials, and (c) check whether changing the racial composition of the employee testimonials affected participants? beliefs about the organization?s emphasis on diversity. The data used for each manipulation check were collected after participants completed measures used to test the study hypotheses so as to not prime participants regarding the true nature of the study. 72 The first manipulation check question asked participants to indicate if they had viewed a website with a video and audio testimonial or one with a picture and text. Those presented with the video and audio manipulation were asked if they were able to watch the video and hear the audio at the computer used to participate in the study. Considering the many different Internet browsers and computer operating systems, it was necessary to ensure that HBA?s website would function properly for all study participants. Approximately 98% of those presented with the video and audio manipulation (N = 343) reported that they were able to see and hear the testimonial. The second manipulation check question asked participants to identify the racial composition of the individuals presented in the employee testimonials. More specifically, participants were asked to indicate the number of Black and White employees depicted on the organization?s recruitment website. This approach was taken to ensure participants viewed the employee testimonial link and to evaluate whether or not they noticed the race of employees giving testimonials. Approximately 92% (N = 696) were able to correctly identify the number of Black and White employees included on the recruitment website. A final manipulation check was performed to ensure that manipulating the racial composition of the employee testimonials affected participants? beliefs about the organization?s emphasis on diversity. Researchers have argued that the information provided in recruitment materials influences perceptions about unknown organizational characteristics (Rynes, 1991; Rynes & Miller, 1983; Turban et al., 1998). Therefore, it was important to ensure manipulating the racial composition of employee testimonials influenced beliefs about the organization. To accomplish this task, a 4-item scale (Avery 73 et al., 2004) was embedded in the time 2 survey. This measure included the following items, ?Clearly, diversity is not important to HBA? (reverse scored), ?Employees at HBA are probably very similar to one another? (reverse scored), ?I suspect that HBA discriminates against minorities? (reverse scored), and ?It is unlikely that HBA employs many minorities? (reverse scored). Avery et al. (2004) reported a coefficient alpha of .75 for this measure. Coefficient alpha for this measure in the present study was .78. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to confirm participants? beliefs that organizations including racially diverse employee testimonials placed more of an emphasis on workplace diversity. Results indicated a significant difference in perceptions of HBA?s emphasis on diversity depending on the racial composition of employee testimonials presented on HBA?s website, F (4, 755) = 108.88, p < .001, ? 2 = .36. As anticipated, the all White employee testimonial condition received significantly (p < .01) lower emphasis on diversity scores (M = 2.15, SD = .66) than the other four conditions. Additionally, the balanced condition received significantly (p < .01) higher emphasis on diversity scores (M = 3.67, SD = .72) than any of the other four conditions. Emphasis on diversity scores for the other conditions were as follows: no employee testimonials (M = 2.60, SD = .66), primarily White (M = 2.63, SD = .63), and primarily Black (M = 3.01, SD = .79). Scheff? post hoc multiple comparisons confirmed significant (p < .05) differences in HBA?s emphasis on diversity between the all White, primarily White, balanced, and primarily Black employee testimonial conditions. Results of the aforementioned analyses indicated that participants recognized the study?s manipulations. More specifically, the vast majority of participants receiving the video with audio manipulation were able to view and listen to the employee testimonials 74 communicated via this manner. Further, participants accurately recalled the racial composition of the employees included on the website they received. Finally, as expected, the racial composition of employee testimonials affected participants? views of the organization?s emphasis on a culture reflecting diversity. Hypotheses Tests Table 7 reports the means, standard deviations, intercorrelations, and coefficient alphas for all study variables. As indicated, all coefficient alphas for measures used in this study exceeded the generally accepted cutoff of .70 (Nunnaly, 1978). Additionally, the dependent variables consisting of the organizational personality attributes (r = -.32 ? .31) and participant reactions (i.e., general attractiveness, intentions to pursue, organizational prestige, and credibility perceptions; r = .22 ? .51) generally had relatively low intercorrelations. As previously mentioned, three dummy coded variables (i.e., primarily White vs. all White, balanced vs. all White, and primarily Black vs. all White) were used to assess the impact of racial diversity of employee testimonials on several dependent variables (i.e., organizational personality traits, organizational attraction, etc.). This procedure allowed me to compare the impact of each level of employee testimonial racial diversity (i.e., primarily White, primarily Black, or balanced) to the all White employee testimonial condition (the condition chosen as the comparison group). Additionally, the nature in which race was coded (0 = White, 1 = Black) allowed me to compare the influence of racial diversity of employee testimonials for both Whites and Blacks. More specifically, because Whites were coded as zero, all coefficients that included race took on a value of zero when writing the regression equation. Therefore, the main effects for 75 76 77 78 racial diversity of employee testimonials indicated how Whites responded to each specific condition when compared to the all White condition (the comparison condition used for dummy coding). For example, if the main effect for the primarily Black employee testimonial condition had a statistically significant negative coefficient, I can conclude that Whites rated organizations lower in terms of the dependent variable when primarily Black employee testimonials were presented as compared to the all White condition. Because Blacks were coded as one, the slope coefficient for the race main effect indicated how Blacks responded to the all White condition when compared to White participants. Additionally, the interaction between race and each specific employee testimonial condition can be used to determine how Blacks responded to these conditions when compared to all White employee testimonials. For example, if the slope coefficient for race ? balanced was statistically significant and positive, I can conclude that Black participants rated organizations higher in terms of the dependent variable for the balanced condition when compared to the all White condition. Organizational Personality Attributions?Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials Hypothesis 1a proposed that Black job seekers would rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the boy-scout organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. However, White job seekers? ratings would be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. 79 Table 8 presents the moderated hierarchical multiple regression analyses used to test this hypothesis. In step 3 of the analysis, the main effect for the primarily Black vs. all White employee testimonial condition (? = -.29, p < .001) indicated that White website viewers rated organizations using primarily Black employee testimonials lower in terms of boy-scout (e.g., friendly and family-oriented) organizational personality attributes than organizations using all White employee testimonials. Results also suggested that there were no differences in boy-scout perceptions for White website viewers when presented with the balanced vs. all White (? = .08, p = ns) and primarily White vs. all White (? = .03, p = ns) employee testimonial conditions. In step 3 of the analysis, entry of the job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White (? = .14, p < .05), job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White (? = .27, p < .001), and job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = .62, p < .001) interactions accounted for unique variance in perceptions of the organization in terms of the boy-scout organizational personality dimension (?R 2 = .11, p < .001). To investigate these interactions, interaction effects were plotted against boy-scout perceptions (Aiken & West, 1991) and are shown in Figure 5. As predicted, Black viewers of the website rated organizations higher in terms of the boy-scout dimension as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. Additionally, White viewers? boy-scout perceptions were the same under the all White, primarily White, and balanced employee testimonial conditions but were lower when viewing the primarily Black employee testimonial condition. Therefore, Hypothesis 1a was supported. Hypothesis 1b stated that Black job seekers would rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the innovativeness organizational personality dimension as the 80 81 82 proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. Conversely, White job seekers? ratings would be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Consistent with my hypothesis, the main effect for primarily Black vs. all White (? = -.29, p < .001) indicated that White viewers rated organizations lower in terms of innovativeness when presented with the primarily Black employee testimonial condition as compared to the all White employee testimonial condition but no differences existed when comparing the primarily White (primarily White vs. all White, ? = -.05, p = ns) and balanced (balanced vs. all White, ? = -.09, p = ns) employee testimonial manipulations to the all White employee testimonial condition (see Table 9). With regard to Black website viewers, the job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White (? = .15, p < .05), job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White (? = .28, p < .001), and job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = .56, p < .001) interactions suggested that Blacks? organizational innovativeness ratings were higher as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. The addition of the job seeker race ? racial composition of employee testimonial interactions accounted for unique variance in innovativeness perceptions (?R 2 = .10, p < .001). Figure 6 presents a plot of these interactions. As hypothesized, racial composition of employee testimonials did not influence White viewers? innovativeness attributions except under the primarily Black employee testimonial condition. Based on these findings, Hypothesis 1b was supported. Hypothesis 1c posited that Black job seekers would rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the style organizational personality dimension as the proportion of 83 84 85 Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. White job seekers? ratings would be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. As seen in Table 10, the main effects indicated that White viewers? style perceptions were not statistically different when presented with the all White, primarily White (? = -.01, p = ns), and balanced (? = - .01, p = ns) employee testimonial conditions but were significantly lower when presented with the primarily Black (? = -.33, p < .001) employee testimonial condition. For Black participants, the addition of the job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White (? = .14, p < .05), job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White (? = .22, p < .001), and job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = .51, p < .001) accounted for unique variance in style perceptions (?R 2 = .08, p < .001). These results indicated that Black viewers rated organizations higher in terms of the style organizational personality dimension as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. Plots of these interactions (Figure 7) confirmed these relationships. Therefore, Hypothesis 1c received full support. Hypothesis 1d predicted that Black job seekers would rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of the dominance organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. White job seekers? ratings, on the other hand, would be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Table 11 contains the results of the hierarchical regression used to test this hypothesis. The main 86 87 88 89 effects for primarily Black vs. all White (? = -.19, p < .01) indicated that White website viewers? dominance perceptions were lower under the primarily Black employee testimonial condition when compared to the all White employee testimonial condition. However, Whites? dominance perceptions did not differ when presented with the all White, primarily White (primarily White vs. all White, ? = -.02, p = ns), and balanced (balanced vs. all White, ? = .02, p = ns) employee testimonial conditions. With regard to Black website viewers, the hypothesized interactions between job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White (? = .20, p < .01) and job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = .33, p < .01) indicated that Blacks rated organizations higher in dominance when Black employees where in equal or majority representation when compared to the all White employee testimonial condition. However, in contrast to that hypothesized, no difference was found in Blacks? dominance ratings when presented with either the all White or primarily White employee testimonial conditions (job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White, ? = .10, p = ns). The addition of the interaction terms in step 3 of the analysis accounted for unique variance in dominance perceptions (?R 2 = .04, p < .001). Therefore, Hypothesis 1d was partially supported (see Figure 8 for plots of these relationships). Hypothesis 1e stated that Black job seekers would rate a recruiting organization lower in terms of the thrift organizational personality dimension as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. White job seekers? ratings would be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. As seen in Table 12, White 90 91 92 website viewers? thrift perceptions did not differ when presented with the all White, primarily White (primarily White vs. all White, ? = -.04, p = ns), or balanced (balanced vs. all White, ? = -.04, p = ns) employee testimonial conditions. However, as predicted, White viewers? thrift perceptions were higher when presented with the primarily Black employee testimonial condition as compared to the all White employee testimonial condition (? = .20, p < .001). The addition of the job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White (? = -.18, p < .01) and the job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = -.34, p < .001) interactions indicated that Black viewers? thrift perceptions were lower when an equal or majority proportion of Black employees gave employee testimonials. Contrary to that predicted, Black viewers? thrift perceptions did not differ under the primarily White employee testimonial condition when compared to the all White employee testimonial condition (job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White, ? = .11, p = ns). The entry of these interaction terms in step 3 accounted for unique variance in thrift perceptions (?R 2 = .07, p < .001). Based on these findings, Hypothesis 1e was partially supported (see Figure 9 for plots of these relationships). Organizational Personality Attributions? Communication Media Hypotheses 2a and 2b stated that the media used to communicate employee testimonials would influence job seekers? organizational personality perceptions. First, Hypothesis 2a posited that job seekers would rate organizations using video with audio testimonials higher in terms of the innovativeness organizational personality dimension than organizations using employee testimonials consisting of picture with text. 93 94 Hypothesis 2b predicted that job seekers would rate organizations using video with audio testimonials higher in terms of the style organizational personality dimension than organizations using employee testimonials consisting of picture with text. To test these hypotheses, a one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted with innovativeness and style organizational personality perceptions as the dependent variables and employee testimonial communication media (i.e., no employee testimonial used, picture with text as communication medium, and video with audio as communication medium) as the independent variable. Results indicated differences (Wilkes? ? = .85, F (4, 1504) = 32.05, p < .001) in organizational personality perceptions according to the media used to communicate employee testimonials. To further explore the nature of these differences, two, one-way ANOVAs were conducted (see Table 13 for a summary of results). Results indicated that mean differences in innovativeness perceptions were a result of the communication media, F (2, 753) = 39.99, p < .001, ? 2 = .10. More specifically, organizations using video with audio to communicate employee testimonials were rated higher in terms of innovativeness (M = 3.46, SD = .69) than organizations using picture with text (M = 3.18, SD = .68) and organizations not using employee testimonials on their recruitment website (M = 2.69, SD = .66). Scheff? post-hoc multiple comparisons confirmed that mean differences existed among the three communication media groups (p < .01). Therefore, Hypothesis 2a was supported. Similar results were found for Hypothesis 2b. One-way ANOVA results revealed differences in style perception ratings depending on the communication media, F (2, 753) = 38.59, p < .001, ? 2 = .09. Style perceptions were higher when using video with audio 95 96 as the communication medium (M = 3.31, SD = .78) as compared to picture with text (M = 3.10, SD = .75) and no testimonials (M = 2.45, SD = .60) appearing on the recruitment website. Scheff? post hoc multiple comparisons again revealed significant mean differences among the three groups (p < .01). Thus, Hypothesis 2b was supported. Job Seeker Reactions?Credibility Perceptions Hypothesis 3 predicted that Black job seekers would rate organizations? recruitment websites as more credible sources of information as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. Conversely, White job seekers? ratings would be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Results of the hierarchical moderated multiple regression used to test this hypothesis can be found in Table 14. The main effects indicate that differences existed among White website viewers? credibility perceptions of the information provided on HBA?s recruitment website. Contrary to my hypothesis, Whites perceived organizations using primarily White employee testimonials as more credible (primarily White vs. all White, ? = .16, p < .01) than organizations using the all White employee testimonial approach. No differences existed in White viewers? credibility perceptions of organizations using the balanced employee testimonial approach and organizations using all White employee testimonials (balanced vs. all White, ? = .05, p = ns). Finally, Whites rated the information provided on recruitment websites as less credible when presented with the primarily Black employee testimonials as compared to the all White testimonials (primarily Black vs. all White, ? = -.24, p < .001). 97 98 The entry of all three interaction terms (job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White, ? = .14, p < .05; job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White, ? = .26, p < .001; job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White, ? = .57, p < .001) accounted for unique variance in credibility perceptions (?R 2 = .10, p < .001) and suggested that Black website viewers perceived higher credibility of information under the primarily White, balanced, and primarily Black employee testimonial conditions as compared to the all White employee testimonial condition. Plots of these relationships can be found in Figure 10. As predicted, Black website viewers? credibility perceptions were higher as the number of Blacks giving employee testimonials increased. Taking into account results for both White and Black participants, Hypothesis 3 received partial support. Hypothesis 4 posited that job seekers would perceive the information provided on recruitment websites as more credible when employee testimonials are communicated via video with audio versus employee pictures with text. To investigate this hypothesis and another to be posited later (Hypothesis 5), a one-way MANOVA was used to test for differences in credibility perceptions and three dimensions of organizational attraction (i.e., general attractiveness, intentions to pursue employment, and organizational prestige) depending on the medium used to communicate the testimonial. Results indicated differences in the participants? ratings depending on the communication medium viewed (Wilks? ? = .82, F (8, 1500) = 19.74, p < .001). To further investigate these differences, I used a one-way ANOVA to test for differences in credibility ratings when no testimonials were presented, when picture with text was used as the communication medium, and when video with audio was used as the communication medium. Results of this analysis revealed a difference in credibility 99 100 perceptions depending on communication medium, F (2, 753) = 64.18, p < .001, ? 2 = .14. As hypothesized, credibility perceptions were higher when video with audio (M = 3.76, SD = .62) was used as the communication medium versus picture with text (M = 3.49, SD = .67), and organizations not including employee testimonials on their recruitment website (M = 2.89, SD = .52). Scheff? post hoc multiple comparisons confirmed mean differences in credibility ratings among all three communication media (p < .01). Therefore, Hypothesis 4 received full support. Employee Testimonials and Organizational Attraction Hypothesis 5 tested whether job seekers would be more attracted to organizations including employee testimonials on recruitment websites than organizations not including employee testimonials. More specifically, it was predicted that job seekers? perceptions of organizational attraction will differ by medium used to communicate employee testimonials such that video with audio will result in higher attraction than will testimonials consisting of picture with text. As mentioned in the previous section (Hypothesis 4), a MANOVA revealed differences in participants? ratings of credibility perceptions and the three dimensions of organizational attraction (i.e., general attractiveness, intentions to pursue employment, and organizational prestige) depending on communication media. To further test differences in job seekers? organizational attraction, a one-way ANOVA was conducted on each dimension of Highhouse et al.?s (2003) organizational attraction framework (i.e., general attractiveness, intentions to pursue employment, and organizational prestige). Results revealed a significant difference in general attractiveness depending on the medium used to communicate employee testimonials in recruitment materials, F (2, 753) = 28.66, p < .001, ? 2 = .07. 101 More specifically, organizations were rated higher in general attractiveness when employee testimonials were presented in recruitment material via video with audio (M = 3.67, SD = .53) than when testimonials were presented via picture with text (M = 3.45, SD = .73) or no employee testimonials were included in recruitment materials (M = 3.07, SD = .62). Scheff? post hoc multiple comparisons confirmed that significant differences existed in general attractiveness ratings according to communication medium. No differences were found for intentions to pursue employment or organizational prestige according to the medium used to communicate employee testimonials. Therefore, Hypothesis 5 was partially supported. Table 15 summarizes the results for both Hypotheses 4 and 5. Hypothesis 6 predicted that Black job seekers will rate a recruiting organization higher in terms of attraction as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. White job seekers? ratings will be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. To test this hypothesis, I ran separate hierarchical moderated multiple regressions using each of Highhouse et al.?s (2003) three dimensions of organizational attraction (i.e., general attractiveness, intentions to pursue, and prestige) as dependent variables. Tables 16-18 contain the results of these analyses. As can be seen in Table 16, the main effect for primarily Black vs. all White (? = - .36, p < .001) indicate that White website viewers? general attractiveness perceptions were lower under the primarily Black employee testimonial condition when compared to the all White employee testimonial condition. Additionally, consistent with my 102 103 104 hypothesis, Whites? general attractiveness ratings did not differ for the primarily White (primarily White vs. all White, ? = -.05, p = ns) or balanced (balanced vs. all White, ? = - .09, p = ns) employee testimonials when compared with the all White employee testimonial condition. With regard to Black website viewers, the job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White (? = .34, p < .001) and job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = .65, p < .001) interactions suggested that Black viewers? general attractiveness perceptions were higher when Black employees were in equal or majority representation. Contrary to my hypothesis, general attractiveness ratings did not differ between the primarily White and all White employee testimonial conditions (job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White, ? = .02, p = ns). Plots of these relationships can be found in Figure 11. The entry of these interaction terms in step 3 of the analysis accounted for unique variance in general attractiveness ratings (?R 2 = .16, p < .001). Table 17 contains the results of the regression analysis on Highhouse et al.?s (2003) second organizational attraction dimension, intentions to pursue employment. As hypothesized, White website viewers? intentions to pursue employment did not differ when presented with the all White, primarily White (primarily White vs. all White, ? = .09, p = ns), and balanced (balanced vs. all White, ? = .07, p = ns) employee testimonial conditions. However, their intentions to pursue employment were lower when presented with the primarily Black (primarily Black vs. all White, ? = -.16, p < .005) testimonial condition. Investigation of the interaction effects revealed that Black viewers? intentions to pursue employment did not differ when presented with the all White or primarily White 105 106 107 employee testimonial conditions (job seeker race ? primarily white vs. all White, ? = .03, p = ns), but were higher when they viewed both the balanced (job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White, ? = .30, p < .001) and primarily Black (job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White, ? = .53, p < .001) employee testimonial conditions. The addition of these interaction terms accounted for unique variance in participants? intentions to pursue employment (?R 2 = .11, p < .001). Figure 12 contains plots of these relationships. As presented in Table 18, I found similar relationships for organizational prestige, the last dimension of Highhouse et al.?s (2003) organizational attraction framework. White website viewers? organizational prestige ratings did not differ when viewing the all White, primarily White (primarily White vs. all White, ? = .05, p = ns), or balanced (balanced vs. all White, ? = .07, p = ns) employee testimonial conditions but were lower when presented with the primarily Black (primarily Black vs. all White, ? = .27, p < .001) employee testimonial condition. Black website viewers? organizational image ratings did not differ when presented with the all White or primarily White (job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White, ? = -.05, p = ns) employee testimonial conditions but were higher when viewing the balanced (job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White, ? = .17, p < .01) and primarily Black (job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White, ? = .50, p < .001) employee testimonial conditions. Plots of these relationships can be found in Figure 13. Hypothesized relationships were found for both White and Black website viewers with regard to the general attractiveness dimension of organizational attraction but not for the intentions to pursue employment or organizational prestige dimensions. More specifically, Black website viewers did not differ in intentions to pursue employment or organizational 108 109 110 111 prestige when presented with the primarily White and all White employee testimonial conditions. As such, Hypothesis 6 was partially supported. Job Seeker Reactions?Credibility Perceptions as a Mediator Between Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials and Organizational Attraction Hypothesis 7 posited that the relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and racial composition of employee testimonials on organizational attraction would be mediated by job seekers? perceptions of organizational credibility. To test this hypothesis, I incorporated Baron and Kenny?s (1986) four-step process in testing for mediation. To test all mediation hypotheses, (a) the general attractiveness dimension of Highhouse et al.?s (2003) organizational attraction framework was used as the dependent variable and (b) employee testimonial composition was treated as a quantitative variable whereas it was treated as categorical in all other hypotheses. In doing so, the variable name was changed to proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials. The all White employee testimonial condition was coded as 0, the primarily White employee testimonial condition as .25, the balanced employee testimonial condition as .50, and the primarily Black employee testimonial condition as .75. This approach was taken to aid in the interpretation of results. To test Hypothesis 7, I began by testing for a relationship between the independent and dependent variables (I-D). Regression results revealed a significant relationship between the interaction of proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials ? job seeker race (I) and general attractiveness (D), ? = .35, p < .001. Step 2 involved investigating the relationship between credibility perceptions (the mediating 112 variable or M) and general attractiveness (D). Credibility perceptions were found to be positively related with general attractiveness perceptions (? = .15, p < .001). Third, I found a significant relationship between the proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials ? job seeker race interaction (I) and organizational credibility (M), ? = .22, p < .001. The final step involved investigating the relationship between the proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials ? job seeker race interaction and general attractiveness after controlling for organizational credibility. Full mediation would be present if the slope coefficient for proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials ? job seeker race was no longer significant after controlling for credibility perceptions. However, the slope coefficient for the proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials ? job seeker race remained significant (? = .33, p < .001), but its effect on general attractiveness decreased when compared with the standardized slope coefficient derived in step 1. This procedure suggested that perceptions of organizational credibility partially mediated the relationship between the proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials ? job seeker race interaction and general attractiveness. Therefore, Hypothesis 7 was partially supported. Job Seeker Reactions--Organizational Personality Attributions as a Mediator Between Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials and Organizational Attraction Hypotheses 8a-e predicted that the relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race and employee testimonial composition on organizational attraction would be mediated by perceptions of the organization in terms of the organizational personality 113 dimensions (Hypothesis 8a, boy-scout; Hypothesis 8b, innovativeness; Hypothesis 8c, style; Hypothesis 8d, dominance; Hypothesis 8e, thrift). To test these hypotheses, I used the same four-step process described in Hypothesis 7. The I-D relationship (proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials ? job seeker race interaction on general attractiveness) remained the same for Hypotheses 8a-e (? = .35, p < .001). The I- M relationships were significant for boy-scout (? = .17, p < .001), innovativeness (? = .29, p < .001), style (? = .27, p < .001), and dominance (? = .14, p = .001) but not for thrift (? = .01, p = ns). Therefore, I continued testing for mediation effects for boy-scout, innovativeness, style, and dominance but not thrift. M-D relationships were significant for boy-scout (? = .12, p < .001), innovativeness (? = .16, p < .001), style (? = .20, p < .001), and dominance (? = .15, p < .001). Finally, testing the full I-M-D model revealed that the proportion of minority representation in employee testimonials ? job seeker race (independent) was still significant after controlling for boy-scout (? = .32, p < .001), innovativeness (? = .32, p < .001), style (? = .31, p < .001), and dominance (? = .33, p < .001) perceptions, but this effect was lower than in the I-D model (step 1). Sobel?s (1982) approach to testing for mediation effects also suggested mediating effects for the boy-scout, innovativeness, style, and dominance organizational personality attributions. Based on the aforementioned procedures, Hypotheses 8a-d were partially supported while Hypothesis 8e was not supported. Table 19 contains a summary of the analyses and results in testing Hypotheses 7 and 8a-e. Job Seeker Recruitment Website Behavior Hypothesis 9 posited that, in contrast to Whites, Black job seekers would spend more time overall navigating recruitment websites as the proportion of Black employees 114 115 (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. White job seekers? time spent on HBA?s recruitment website would be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Results of the moderated hierarchical regression used to test this hypothesis are presented in Table 20. The main effects for primarily White vs. all White (? = .04, p = ns), balanced vs. all White (? = .01, p = ns) and primarily Black vs. all White (? = .29, p < .001) indicated that White website viewers spent the most time on recruitment websites that included primarily Black employee testimonials. This finding was opposite of the hypothesized relationship. The time spent on all White, primarily White, and balanced employee testimonial websites did not differ among White website viewers. For Black website viewers, the job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White (? = .19, p < .01) and job seeker race ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = .15, p < .05) interactions suggested that Blacks spent more time navigating websites that included racially balanced or primarily Black testimonials as compared to websites including the testimonials of only White employees. There was not a significant difference in time spent on the recruitment website for Blacks viewing the primarily White compared to the all White employee testimonial condition (job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White, ? = -.01, p = ns). The entry of the interaction terms in step 3 accounted for unique variance in time spent navigating the recruitment website (?R 2 = .02, p < .005). Plots of these effects are presented in Figure 14. Contrary to Hypothesis 9, White website viewers spent more time evaluating the content of websites including primarily Black employee testimonials. As such, Hypothesis 9 was partially supported. 116 117 118 Hypothesis 10 predicted that Black job seekers would visit more linked pages on HBA?s recruitment website as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. The number of links visited by White job seekers would be unaffected by the racial composition of employees giving testimonials as long as White employees equaled or exceeded the number of Blacks depicted on the website. Neither the main effects (primarily White vs. all White, ? = -.04, p = ns; balanced vs. all White, ? = -.08, p = ns; primarily Black vs. all White, ? = -.01, p = ns) nor the hypothesized interactions (job seeker race ? primarily White vs. all White, ? = .07, p = ns; job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White, ? = .08, p = ns; job seeker race ? primarily Black, ? = .03, p = ns) were significant. Additionally, the entry of the interaction terms in step 3 failed to account for unique variance in the number of linked pages viewed by website viewers (?R 2 = .00, p = ns). Therefore, Hypothesis 10 was not supported. Job Seeker Attitudes Hypothesis 11 predicted that White job seekers? racial prejudice attitudes would interact with racial composition of employee testimonials to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, Whites low in prejudice would not be as affected by the proportion of minorities giving testimonials on recruitment websites. Conversely, Whites high in prejudice would rate recruiting organizations lower in terms of attraction as the proportion of Black employees (relative to Whites) giving testimonials shown on an employment website increased. As may be seen in Table 21, the entry of the set of prejudice ? primarily White vs. all White (? = -.12, p = ns), prejudice ? balanced vs. all White (? = -.36, p < .001), and prejudice ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = -.36, p < 119 120 .001) interactions accounted for unique variance in the general attractiveness perceptions of White website viewers (?R 2 = .05, p < .001). To further investigate these interactions, high and low conditions of White website viewers? racial prejudice scores were plotted one standard deviation above and below the mean (see Figure 15) for each of the four employee testimonial conditions (i.e., all White, primarily White, balanced, and primarily Black). As predicted, general attractiveness ratings for those high in prejudice were lower as the proportion of minorities giving employee testimonials increased. Contrary to my hypothesis however, those low in prejudice appeared to be most attracted to organizations in which Black and White employees were in equal representation, but general attractiveness was lower when Whites were in minority representation. Therefore, Hypothesis 11 was partially supported. Hypothesis 12 posited that Black job seekers? ethnic identification would interact with the racial composition of employee testimonials to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, Blacks low in ethnic identity would not differ in organizational attraction perceptions according to the racial composition of employee testimonials. Conversely, organizational attraction ratings for Blacks high in ethnic identification would be higher as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. Table 22 contains the results of the hierarchical moderated multiple regression used to test this hypothesis. In step 3 of the analysis, the entry of the ethnic identity ? primarily White vs. all White (? = .08, p = ns), ethnic identity ? balanced vs. all White (? = .19, p < .05), and ethnic identity ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = .20, p < .05) interactions accounted for unique variance in the general attractiveness ratings of Blacks (?R 2 = .02, p < .05). 121 122 123 Plots were constructed with high and low conditions of Black website viewer ethnic identity plotted one standard deviation above and below the mean for each of the four employee testimonial conditions (i.e., all White, primarily White, balanced, and primarily Black). These plots (shown in Figure 16) indicated that those high in ethnic identity were more attracted to organizations as the number of minority representatives included in the employee testimonials increased. The relationship between racial composition of employee testimonials and general attractiveness for those low in ethnic identity did not differ according to the proportion of minority employees giving testimonials. As such, Hypothesis 12 was supported. Job Seeker Race ? Communication Media ? Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials Hypothesis 13 proposed a three-way interaction among job seeker race, racial composition of employee testimonials, and communication media to predict organizational attraction. More specifically, the predicted positive relationship between the proportion of minorities giving employee testimonials on organizational attraction for Blacks would be smaller when video with audio was the communication medium versus picture with text. Additionally, the predicted negative relationship when Whites are in minority representation on organizational attraction would be smaller for Whites when video with audio was the communication medium versus picture with text. To test this hypothesis, age and gender were entered in step 1 as control variables. Step 2 involved the main effects for communication media, job seeker race, and the dummy coded variables for racial composition of employee testimonials (i.e., primarily White vs. all White, balanced vs. all White, and primarily Black vs. all White). I entered all possible 124 125 2-way interactions in step 3. Finally, step 4 involved entering the hypothesized three- way interactions. As seen in Table 23, the entry of job seeker race ? communication media ? primarily White (? = .05, p < .05), job seeker race ? balanced vs. all White (? = -.21, p <.05), and job seeker ? communication media ? primarily Black vs. all White (? = -.38, p < .001) accounted for unique variance in Black website viewers? general attractiveness (?R 2 = .03, p < .001). Figure 17 contains plots of the three-way interactions. As predicted, the positive relationship between the racial composition of employee testimonials on general attractiveness was lessened for Blacks when video with audio was used as the communication medium. Additionally, the negative relationship between White minority representation in employee testimonials on general attractiveness was lessened for Whites when viewing video with audio employee testimonials versus picture with text employee testimonials. Therefore, Hypothesis 13 was supported. Summary of Research Findings Table 24 contains a summary of the study?s research findings. To summarize, eight hypotheses were supported, 12 were partially supported, and 2 were not supported. 126 127 128 129 130 131 CHAPTER 4 DISCUSSION The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the influence of including employee testimonials on job seekers viewing organizational recruitment websites. To my knowledge, no such research currently exists in the recruiting literature. This is an important gap because existing theory is not clear as to how employee testimonials influence job seekers? organizational perceptions. From one perspective, employee testimonials may be seen as important information sources because they are informal in nature, and informal sources of information have been shown to result in lower turnover and higher performance (Zottoli & Wanous, 2001). Informal sources allow job seekers to gather important information about topics such as the organization?s culture, values, expectations, etc. from the perspective of current employees. On the other hand, because organizations typically exercise much discretion regarding the content of testimonials included on their recruitment website, job seekers may view employee testimonials as a mere extension of what employment managers want to communicate in order to sell the organization to potential applicants. In fact, researchers have shown that job seekers are aware organizations attempt to control impressions through recruitment materials (Cable et al., 2000; Fombrun & Shanley, 1990). Further, a recent study by Cable and Yu (2006) emphasized the need for recruitment sources to be viewed as credible in predicting communication effectiveness and influencing job seekers? organizational perceptions 132 because recruiters are often mistrusted by job seekers (Fisher et al., 1979). The media capabilities associated with the Internet also allow organizations to manipulate certain employee testimonial characteristics to influence job seekers? organizational perceptions. Persuasive communication theory suggests that individuals delivering testimonials (i.e., race of employees) and medium used to communicate testimonials (i.e., video with audio or picture with text) will influence job seekers? reactions to organizations (Barber, 1998; Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Hovland et al., 1953). Existing recruitment research has found that job seekers are more attracted to organizations in which they share demographic characteristics with those included in recruitment advertising (Avery, 2003; Avery et al., 2004; Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999). Additionally, recent research has incorporated media richness theory (MRT) and concluded that messages delivered via richer channels are more effective in influencing job seekers? organizational perceptions (Allen et al., 2004; Cable & Yu, 2006). This dissertation attempted to shed light on a previously unstudied topic by identifying important information that may be used to attract job seekers. I focused on the effect of manipulating employee testimonial characteristics (i.e., race of employees and communication medium) to influence important job seeker attitudes such as organizational personality attributions, perceptions of credibility concerning the information provided on recruitment websites, and attraction to organizations. General Discussion Several of the hypotheses dealing with manipulating the racial composition of those giving employee testimonials are grounded in the similarity-attraction paradigm and social identity theory. These theories suggest that individuals will be more attracted 133 to organizations in which they share demographic characteristics with organizational representatives. Previous recruitment research has found support for these predictions as minorities are more attracted to organizations depicting minorities in recruitment advertisements (Avery, 2003; Avery et al., 2004; Perkins et al., 2000). Similar findings were found in this study as Black job seekers? organizational personality attributions, credibility perceptions concerning the information provided on recruitment websites, and organizational attraction were influenced by the racial composition of employee testimonials. While the findings concerning Black job seekers are consistent with the similarity-attraction paradigm and social identity theory, the reactions of White job seekers to changes in the racial composition of organizational representatives are not as intuitive. In general, Whites? reactions to recruitment material have not been found to be influenced by the race of organizational representatives (Avery 2003; Avery et al., 2004; Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999). Based on these findings, researchers have concluded that race is more salient for Blacks when evaluating an organization because they constantly face situations in which they are in the numerical minority (Avery 2003; Avery et al., 2004; Mehra et al., 1998; Perkins et al., 2000; Thomas & Wise, 1999). White job seekers, on the other hand, rarely face situations in which White employees are in minority representation (Davis & Burnstein, 1981). However, Avery et al. (2004) suggested that these results may not be as clear cut as they appear. They warned that their results may have been different if White job seekers were given the choice between an organization depicting Black employees and an organization showing White employees. This study was designed to shed light on White job seekers? response to a 134 situation in which White employees are in the minority by including a primarily Black employee testimonial condition. In this study, White job seekers were less likely to be influenced by the race of organizational representatives unless White employees were in minority representation. More specifically, organizational personality attributions, credibility perceptions concerning the information provided on recruitment websites, and organizational attraction did not change when White job seekers were presented with the all White, primarily White, or balanced employee testimonial conditions but were lower when presented with the primarily Black condition. Based on these findings, it appears that race of current employees may be a salient characteristic for Whites when evaluating organizations, but less so than it is for Blacks. Race was determined to be more salient for Black job seekers because their attributions tend to be more positive with increasing representation of Black employees whereas for White job seekers, attributions are roughly equal until the most extreme condition (primarily Black) is presented. As suggested by Davis and Burnstein (1981), these relationships likely result from White job seekers being accustomed to sharing racial characteristics with the majority of employee representatives. It is not until this scenario is violated that White job seekers consider the race of current employees when evaluating organizations. The next three sections provide a more detailed discussion of the study?s findings as they relate to the four main objectives of this study (providing insight into job seekers? organizational personality attributions, credibility perceptions concerning the information provided on recruitment websites, organizational attraction, and recruitment website 135 viewer behavior). After doing so, I will discuss limitations, directions for future research, and the study?s implications. Organizational Personality Attributions The first objective of this study was to investigate the influence of employee testimonials on job seekers? organizational personality attributions (i.e., boy-scout, innovativeness, style, dominance, and thrift). Several recent studies have found that image perceptions have an important influence on job seekers? organizational attraction (Lievens & Highhouse, 2003; Slaughter et al., 2004). Results of this study suggest that both Black and White job seekers considered the racial composition of those giving testimonials and the media used to communicate testimonials when making organizational personality attributions. More specifically, Black job seekers rated organizations higher in terms of the boy-scout, innovativeness, style, and dominance organizational personality dimensions and lower on the thrift dimension when Black employees were in equal or majority representation. White job seekers? ratings on all five organizational personality dimensions did not differ when presented with the all White, primarily White, or balanced employee testimonial conditions but were lower in terms of boy-scout, innovativeness, style, and dominance and higher in thrift when presented with the primarily Black employee testimonial condition. The medium used to communicate employee testimonials was also found to influence job seekers? organizational personality attributions. Job seekers rated organizations higher in terms of the innovativeness and style organizational personality dimensions when video with audio was used to communicate employee testimonials versus picture with text or not including employee testimonials on the recruitment 136 website. This finding is consistent with researchers? contention that job seekers use the materials included on recruitment websites to make inferences about unknown organizational characteristics (Rynes, 1991). The findings concerning job seekers? organizational personality inferences are consistent with Slaughter et al.?s (2004) assertion that these attributions emerge from the different ways that an organization presents itself to job seekers (i.e., a culture of diversity or a technologically advanced culture). It appears that the racial composition of those giving employee testimonials and the medium used to communicate these testimonials may communicate information cues to job seekers (Highhouse & Hoffman, 2001; Spence, 1974) and from these cues, job seekers attribute certain organizational personality characteristics. Organizations must be conscious of transmitted information cues (including unintentionally communicated ones) because they can result in adverse self-selection, a process in which the most qualified applicants self-select out of the applicant pool because they are likely to have more employment options (Bretz & Judge, 1998; Rynes et al., 1991). Credibility Perceptions Concerning the Information Provided on Recruitment Websites This study?s findings also suggest that the racial composition of employee testimonials and communication medium influences perceptions of credibility in much the same way as it does organizational personality attributions. As hypothesized, Black job seekers? credibility perceptions increased as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. Conversely, White job seekers? credibility perceptions were lowest when presented with the primarily Black employee testimonial condition as 137 compared to the all White, primarily White, and balanced employee testimonial conditions. The medium used to communicate testimonials was also found to affect job seekers? credibility perceptions. Organizations using recruitment websites in which testimonials were communicated via video with audio were rated higher in terms of credibility than organizations using the picture with text approach or those not including employee testimonials on their recruitment website. This finding is consistent with the predictions made by media richness theory (MRT). Job seekers likely perceived employee testimonials communicated via video with audio as ?richer? and were able to gather more information from cues such as facial expressions or tone of voice (Daft & Lengel, 1984). Richer media (i.e., video with audio employee testimonials) allows for more effective transmission of identical messages when compared with leaner media (i.e., picture with text employee testimonials (Daft & Lengel, 1986). Additionally, Cable and Yu (2006) concluded that media perceived to be richer was also rated higher in terms of credibility. Organizational Attraction The last objective of this dissertation was to investigate how employee testimonials influence job seekers? organizational attraction. Similar to the findings concerning organizational personality attributions and credibility perceptions, job seekers? organizational attraction was influenced by the racial composition of employee testimonials and communication medium. Black job seekers? organizational attraction perceptions were higher on all three dimensions (general attractiveness, intentions to pursue employment, and organizational prestige) of Highhouse et al.?s (2003) 138 organizational attraction framework as the number of minorities giving testimonials increased. Additionally, White job seekers? ratings on the three dimensions of organizational attraction were not significantly different when presented with the all White, primarily White, or balanced employee testimonial conditions but were significantly lower when presented with the primarily Black employee testimonial condition. Communication medium was not found to consistently influence all three dimensions of job seekers? organizational attraction. Job seekers rated organizations higher in terms of general attractiveness when they viewed recruitment websites including testimonials communicated via video with audio versus picture with text or websites not including employee testimonials. However, there were no significant differences in intentions to pursue employment or organizational prestige according to the medium used to communicate employee testimonials. These findings support the notion that perceptions of attractiveness do not necessarily translate to influence intentions (Slaughter et al., 2004). As previously mentioned, many psychologists contend that judgment and actual choice are two different processes (Hammond, 1996; Payne, Bettman, & Johnson, 1993). Results of this study suggest that job seekers? perceptions of a diverse culture may influence general attractiveness, intentions to pursue employment, and the organization?s image. However, the medium used to communicate employee testimonials on recruitment websites only affected general attractiveness attitudes and not job seekers? intentions to pursue employment or organizational image. Another important study finding was that credibility perceptions concerning the information provided on recruitment websites and organizational personality attributions 139 (i.e., boy-scout, innovativeness, style, and dominance) partially mediated the relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race ? racial composition of employee testimonials and general attractiveness of HBA. As previously mentioned, several studies have found that minority job seekers are more attracted to organizations depicting minority employees in recruitment advertisements. Several of these studies have considered possible moderators in this relationship (Avery, 2003; Pelled, Xin, & Weiss, 2001; Vecchio & Bullis, 2001) but to my knowledge none have considered possible mediators. The finding concerning the partial mediating effect of credibility is important because it further emphasizes the need for organizations to closely consider the individuals included on recruitment websites and the medium used to communicate recruitment information. Richer forms of media are likely to result in higher perceptions of credibility (Cable & Yu, 2006) and, based on the findings from this study, partially explain job seekers? general attractiveness perceptions. The partial mediating effects of the boy-scout, innovativeness, style, and dominance organizational personality dimensions are also important because little is known about how these attributions actually influence job seekers? attitudes and behaviors. The concept of organizational personality is relatively new, and more research is needed to understand how job seekers use these attributions when evaluating organizations (Slaughter et al., 2004). The results of this study suggest that organizational personality attributions partially explain the relationship between the interaction of job seekers? race ? racial composition of employee testimonials on general attractiveness. 140 Job Seeker Recruitment Website Behavior Organizations should also consider the amount of time job seekers spend on their recruitment website and the number of links job seekers visit to gather important information when evaluating their recruitment programs (Appiah, 2004). This information may give insight into job seekers? organizational attraction, or at the very least, interest in the website. Measuring these behaviors is also important because they may be an indication of job seekers? effort expended in processing recruitment messages. As previously mentioned, messages that are processed thoroughly are more likely to remain stable and are most predictive of behavior (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Results of this study indicated that Black job seekers spent the most time on recruitment websites that included balanced or primarily Black employee testimonials. The time White job seekers spent on recruitment websites did not differ when viewing the all White, primarily White, or balanced employee testimonial conditions but, contrary to my hypothesis, also increased when viewing the primarily Black employee testimonial condition. A possible explanation for the unexpected findings concerning White job seekers can be drawn from the persuasive communication literature. Several researchers have found that Whites are highly motivated to process messages delivered by stigmatized sources (i.e., Blacks; Monteith, 1993; Petty et al., 1999; White & Harkins, 1994). One explanation for this behavior is that many Whites are aversive racists (White & Harkins, 1994). Aversive racists are characterized by uncomfortable and negative feelings toward stigmatized groups (Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986). These individuals are more likely to closely evaluate messages delivered by Blacks in an attempt to ?cover their bases? and 141 justify a negative response in a non-prejudicial manner even though they have negative feelings toward Black message sources (Petty et al., 1999). Other researchers have argued that non-prejudiced Whites may also closely evaluate messages delivered by Blacks in an attempt to ensure their responses are not prejudiced (Monteith, 1993). More specifically, Petty et al. (1999) concluded that individuals low in prejudice closely evaluated messages delivered by stigmatized sources in an attempt to protect these individuals from unfair reactions from themselves or others. Stated another way, Whites low in prejudice closely evaluated messages delivered by Blacks so that they can be sure their attitudes were based on the message itself and not on the race of the message source. The previous discussion concerning how individuals process messages delivered by stigmatized sources suggests that White job seekers may also be more motivated to process recruitment information presented by organizations depicting primarily Black employee testimonials. This may be the case because Whites want to justify their attitudes without appearing racist (aversive racists) or because they want to ensure that their opinions are based on the message itself and not a result of the message source?s race. As such, it is not surprising that prejudice and non-prejudice White job seekers spent more time evaluating recruitment websites that depict primarily Black employee testimonials. No support was found for Hypothesis 10 which posited that Black job seekers would attempt to gather more information from available links as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. It was predicted that White job seekers would not differ in the number of links visited to gather information as long as White employees 142 giving testimonials were in equal or majority representation. The previous discussion of stigmatized message sources and message processing may also explain the lack of support for this hypothesis. Whites may have been attempting to gather information from organizations using balanced or primarily Black employee testimonials to ensure that resulting attitudes were based on the content of the information presented itself. Lack of support for Hypothesis 10 regarding race differences also suggests that study participants were equally thorough when examining HBA?s recruitment website and that their reactions were a result of evaluating all information included on the website. Job Seeker Attitudes Results also indicated that individual differences (White job seekers? racial prejudice attitudes and Black job seekers? ethnic identity) may explain within-group (i.e., race) responses to changes in the racial composition of those giving employee testimonials. As suggested by Avery (2003), few relational demography studies have examined potential moderators (see Avery, 2003; Pelled et al., 2001; Vecchio & Bullis, 2001 for exceptions) in relational demography research. As hypothesized, White job seekers high in prejudice rated general attractiveness toward HBA lower as the proportion of minorities giving testimonials increased. White job seekers low in prejudice, on the other hand, were most attracted to organizations in which White and Black employees were in equal representation on their recruitment website. Black job seekers? ethnic identity was also found to moderate the relationship between racial composition of employees giving testimonials and general attractiveness. The general attractiveness ratings of those low in ethnic identity did not differ among the four employee testimonial conditions. Those high in ethnic identity, however, rated 143 organizations higher when organizations included balanced and primarily Black employee testimonials. Identifying these individual differences may help organizations understand the type of job seekers that compose their applicant pool. The substantial costs associated with evaluating applications (Leonard, 1999) have caused organizations to be more concerned with the attributes of job seekers attracted during recruitment efforts (e.g. Slaughter et al., 2005; Taylor & Collins, 2000; Turban & Cable, 2003). Rynes and Barber (1990) have noted, ?there are both conceptual and empirical reasons for believing that most vacancies are eventually filled with someone?.The most interesting questions often involve not the numbers, but the characteristics, of those attracted? (p. 290). Based on this study?s findings, organizations can better understand the individual characteristics of those either attracted to or deterred by the racial composition of employees depicted on a recruitment website. Job Seeker Race ? Communication Media ? Racial Composition of Employee Testimonials This study?s findings concerning the three-way interaction of job seekers? race ? communication media ? racial composition of employee testimonials to predict general attractiveness also has important implications for organizations. Results indicated that White job seekers? lower ratings of organizations depicting primarily Black employee testimonials were more pronounced when picture with text was used as the communication medium versus video with audio. Similarly, Black job seekers? lower perceptions of organizations depicting all White or primarily White employee 144 testimonials were less pronounced when video with audio was the communication media versus picture with text. These findings add to both the relational demography and media richness literatures. It appears that employee testimonials communicated via video with audio led job seekers to evaluate these messages using factors other than the demographic characteristics of the message source. The ability of video with audio communication media to communicate affect (Allen et al., 2004) and other non-verbal cues such as facial expression and tone of voice (Daft et al., 1987) seems to have motivated job seekers to look past the race of the employee giving the testimonial and focus on the content of the message itself. A possible explanation for this finding is that employees giving testimonials via video with audio (a richer communication medium) were viewed as more credible (Allen et al., 2004; Cable & Yu, 2006), even if their race was different than the job seeker. Another possibility is that job seekers were able to more closely identify with employees giving video with audio testimonials because the communication medium was richer. Organizations should carefully consider these findings when designing recruitment websites because credibility of message sources has been repeatedly shown to predict how information sources influence audience attitudes and behaviors (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Johnson & Kaye, 1998; Meyer, 1988). Study Limitations A possible limitation of this study is that participants were upper-level undergraduate students. However, responses to four job search experience questions indicated that participants were typical of young professional job seekers. More specifically, 88% of participants indicated that they were currently searching for full-time 145 employment or plan to do so in the next six months. Further, these are the type of individuals organizations often target during on-campus recruitment efforts (Rynes & Boudreau, 1986; Williams & Bauer, 1994). A second limitation that also relates to the participant sample is that individuals were recruited from four different universities in the southeastern United States. The use of additional universities in different regions would have provided more generalizability to our results. However, it should be noted that our sample was drawn from large and small universities, both public and private, and located in two states. The sample was large (N = 756), and race (55% White, 45% Black) and gender (54% male, 46% female) were roughly equally represented. The nature in which study data were collected presents another potential limitation. Participants were the source of both predictor and criterion data, introducing the possibility for common-method variance. In an attempt to reduce the possible effect of common method variance, I incorporated a temporal separation of predictor and criterion data (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003). More specifically, there was a three-week gap between phase 1 and phase 2 data collections. While these steps reduced the likelihood of common-method variance, there remains the possibility that contaminating effects were present. In addition, I collected unobtrusive, behavioral measures (e.g., time spent on website and number of links visited) that should not be associated with common-method variance. Another potential limitation is that the design of HBA?s recruitment website was limited to manipulating diversity with only Black and White employees. Other major demographic variables in addition to race (e.g., gender, age) were not manipulated. Moreover, the racial composition of employees giving testimonials could have included 146 other minorities such as Latin-Americans or Asian-Americans. However, previous research has indicated that minority job seekers focus on the presence or absence of fellow minorities and not necessarily on congruence with their own race (Avery et al., 2004). The nature in which organizational attraction was measured introduces another possible limitation. Several hypotheses used only the general attractiveness dimension of Highhouse et al.?s (2003) organizational attraction framework in assessing job seekers? attitudes. Researchers have argued that attitudes may not necessarily translate to job pursuit behavior (Slaughter et al., 2004). However, others suggest that the attitudes formed during the first phase of recruitment should not be ignored (Barber, 1998) because they are unlikely to change during the recruitment process (Powell & Goulett, 1996; Turban, 2001). More specifically, the attitudes formed during the initial phase of the recruitment process are the best predictor of attitudes at the end of the process (Powell, 1991; Turban et al., 1998). Future Research Future research would benefit from addressing several of the aforementioned limitations. First, future studies could manipulate racial composition of employee testimonials by including minorities other than Blacks. It would be interesting to see if similar relationships were present for Black, White, Latin-American, and Asian- American job seekers when viewing Latin-American or Asian-American employees giving testimonials. Future research should also investigate the possible confounding effects of gender. For example, the similarity-attraction paradigm suggests that Black 147 males may respond more negatively to White women giving a testimonial versus White men (Byrne, 1971). Future research might also investigate the effects of manipulating other variables associated with employee testimonials. For example, Avery (2003) found that the job title of those depicted in recruitment advertisements influenced job seeker attitudes. More specifically, the presence of minorities in managerial positions was viewed more favorably by minority job seekers. It would be interesting to see if these findings translate to employee testimonials. Future researchers might also manipulate the actual message content of employee testimonials to determine any possible effect on job seeker attitudes. For example, Blacks have been shown to possess a more communal orientation than Whites (Bowman, 1991; Cox, Lobel, & McLeod, 1991; Oyserman, Gant, Ager, 1995; Triandis, Kurowski, & Gelfand, 1994). In this context, ?communal? is characterized by intimacy, agreeableness, and a desire to feel part of a larger group (Wiggins, 1992). It is possible that Black job seekers might prefer organizations where the testimonial content allows them to assess the presence of a supportive, team-oriented culture. Another area for future research would be investigating how other website characteristics influence job seekers? organizational personality attributions and credibility perceptions. Several studies have found that website characteristics influence job seekers? attraction (Cober, Brown, Keeping, & Levy, 2004; Cober, Brown, Levy, Cober, & Keeping, 2003; Dineen et al., 2002; Dineen, Ling, Ash, & DelVecchio, 2007). For example, a recent study by Dineen et al. (2007) concluded that good aesthetics and the ability to deliver customized information to job seekers actually lowers the 148 attractiveness perceptions of unwanted job seekers. Additionally, Dineen et al. (2002) found that the use of person-organization (P-O) fit instruments on recruitment websites also influenced job seekers? organizational attraction. None of these studies have investigated how these website characteristics influence organizational personality attributions and credibility perceptions. Doing so is important because these attitudes are important to consider in predicting job pursuit behaviors (Slaughter et al., 2004; Cable & Yu, 2006). It would also be interesting for researchers to further investigate the relationship between job seekers? organizational attraction and website behavior. Intuitively, it appears that a reciprocal relationship would exist. The more one is attracted to an organization, the more likely one is to fully utilize its recruitment website. Moreover, the more a job seeker uses a recruitment website (assuming that it is well-designed and has good content), the more likely the job seeker would be increasingly attracted to the organization. However, results from this study suggest that this relationship is more complicated in that White job seekers spent more time on the recruitment websites of organizations depicting primarily Black employee testimonials as compared to the other three employee testimonial conditions even though Whites were not as attracted to these organizations. Finally, future research may also attempt to determine if the relationships found in this study are stable over time. Research has concluded that the processing of persuasive messages is important to consider in predicting attitudinal stability (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). It would be interesting to determine if the racial composition of those giving employee testimonials or the communication medium influences the stability of job 149 seekers? organizational personality attributions, credibility perceptions, and attraction over time. Implications The finding concerning Black and White job seekers? responses to changes in the racial composition of employees giving testimonials is important for organizations to consider when developing recruitment materials. Previous studies have suggested that displaying diverse employees in recruitment advertisements will aid in the recruitment of minority job seekers (Avery, 2003; Avery et al., 2004; Perkins et al., 2000). For example, Perkins et al. concluded, ?Portraying diversity in one?s advertisements may assist in recruiting minority job seekers but have little effect on non-minorities? (p. 248). Additionally, Avery et al. noted that including diverse employees in recruitment advertisements is a ?win-win scenario? for firms seeking diversity because they can attract minorities without deterring White job seekers. Results of this study, however, suggest that White job seekers may respond negatively to organizations depicting White employees in the minority. Based on this study, it appears that organizations may be well served to depict employees using equal representation of Blacks and Whites. Black job seekers were found to respond more favorably (in terms of organizational personality attributions, credibility perceptions concerning the information on recruitment websites, and attraction) to organizations choosing the balanced employee testimonial condition as compared to the all White or primarily White employee testimonial condition, even though these ratings may have been higher for the primarily Black condition. White job seekers did not differ in these reactions when presented with the all White, primarily 150 White, or balanced employee testimonial conditions. Therefore, it appears that the best way to attract minority job seekers without deterring Whites is by including equally represented Black and White employees. With this being said, it is also important for organizations to carefully evaluate the messages sent to job seekers through recruitment advertisements (e.g., Dineen et al., 2007; Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005). Job seekers often use recruitment materials to make inferences about unknown organizational characteristics (Rynes, 1991; Turban et al., 1998). With regard to this study, it appears that both Black and White job seekers make inferences about organizational culture based on the racial composition of those giving testimonials. Therefore, organizations must ensure that recruitment materials are representative of their actual culture. Failure to do so may cause job seekers to incorrectly determine their fit with organizations. Those incorrectly perceiving low fit will likely self-select out of the recruitment process while those incorrectly perceiving high fit may result in unnecessary recruiting and selection efforts and expenditures. Moreover, if hired, they will likely experience disappointment with the actual organizational culture (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). This study also has other important implications because it provides insight into how the information presented early in the recruitment process influences job seekers? attitudes toward organizations. Researchers have continued to call for more research addressing the first phase of recruitment to better understand the factors that influence job seekers? pursuit behaviors (Anderson, 2001; Barber, 1998; Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Highhouse & Hoffman, 2001; Rynes, 1991). Previous research has attempted to explain job seekers? initial attitudes toward organizations by investigating how the racial 151 composition of those included in recruitment advertisements influences attraction (Avery, 2003; Avery et al., 2004; Perkins et al., 2000). Results generally suggest that the racial composition of those included in recruitment advertisements influences job seekers? perceptions of organizational attraction. However, it is important to further investigate job seekers? initial attitudes toward organizations (Barber, 1998) because perceptions of attractiveness do not necessarily translate into job pursuit behaviors (Slaughter et al., 2004). In fact, several cognitive psychologists have argued that judgment (i.e., organizational attraction) and choice (i.e., job pursuit) are two different processes (Hammond, 1996; Payne et al., 1993). Might job seekers? organizational personality inferences further explain the gap between perceptions of attractiveness and job pursuit intentions? Little is known about the antecedents of organizational personality perceptions, and more research is needed to identify organizational practices that influence the development of these inferences (Slaughter et al., 2004). Findings from this study suggest that the employees included in recruitment advertisements are used to evaluate existing diversity in the organizations. Because organizational personality attributions were found to change in both Black and White job seekers according to the racial composition of employee testimonials, it appears that organizational diversity policies are an antecedent to organizational personality inferences. Investigating job seekers? perceptions of credibility concerning the information provided on recruitment websites is important because large variations exist in the sources of information job seekers consider to be credible (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Cable & Turban, 2001; Fisher et al., 1979). Credible information is more likely to be 152 considered personally relevant (Cable & Turban, 2001; Johnson & Kaye, 1998; Meyer, 1988) and therefore results in more thoughtful processing of recruitment information (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The amount of effort job seekers exert in evaluating recruitment messages is important because thoughtful processing has been shown to result in attitudes that are enduring and predictive of behavior (Cialdini, Petty, & Cacioppo, 1981; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Additionally, thoughtful processing of persuasive messages leads to more specific attitudes about a product or organization (Petty & Cacioppo, 1981). Conclusion The current study attempted to shed light on job seekers? responses to organizations including employee testimonials on recruitment websites. Identifying such relationships is important because job seekers often use the information included on recruitment websites to form initial organizational attitudes (Barber, 1998; Rynes, 1991). Results indicated that job seekers consider the racial composition of employee testimonials and the communication media when evaluating organizations. 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Human Resource Management Review, 10, 353-382. 170 APPENDIX A SCREENSHOTS OF LINKS ON HBA?S RECRUITMENT WEBSITE 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 APPENDIX B TESTIMONIAL SCRIPTS 181 Testimonial #1 Why did you choose HBA? HBA appeared to be the most exciting and supportive culture of any of the organizations that I considered. I was impressed by the analyst program that they offered to recent college graduates. Every employee whom I met during the recruiting process was interesting and consistently delivered similar messages about being delighted with his or her experience at HBA. There was no hesitation or roundabout answers when I asked them about advancement opportunities, which they stressed to be very achievable and likely. What do you enjoy most about working at HBA? I like the dynamic work environment where every day presents a new challenge. My manager and other team members are fun to work with, and they are very helpful in furthering my understanding of the role and overall industry. I enjoy being able to relate to the companies and products that we cover. We do joint research as a team, and I have exposure to many different aspects of our business, which helps me understand trends and global strategy. It is also energizing to gain exposure to top-level management at the companies we cover, and exciting to be able to question them about their progress and new changes. How would you describe HBA?s culture? There are so many different opportunities within this company. There really is a culture that allows you to succeed and achieve your personal goals. If I should reach a point in life where I want to do something different, I don't have to leave HBA. The most common thing that I've heard from people at HBA is that they've held anywhere from four to eight different positions and never left the company! I can explore almost every career path I desire from now until retirement, and still enjoy all the benefits of working for HBA. How do you like to spend your free time? For the past three months, I have been training for a half-marathon. One of my coworkers has gotten me involved in a local running club and we have long runs every Saturday morning. I really enjoy the challenge of pushing myself to be faster and faster. I also enjoy spending time with my coworkers outside of the office. 182 Testimonials #2 Why did you choose HBA? I chose HBA because of the people. Prior to joining the Firm full-time I had the opportunity to participate in the summer analyst program. Through this opportunity I was able to experience HBA?s culture, and by the end of the program, there was no doubt I wanted to be part of the Firm. HBA stresses hard work and commitment from all employees. I was also attracted to HBA because their strategy takes a long-term view, and its growth has enabled us to achieve outstanding results. HBA employees embody a cooperative spirit and open-mindedness which makes it a more stimulating environment, and enables us to find innovative solutions to serve our clients. What do you enjoy most about working at HBA? The facet of my job that I enjoy most is being able to participate in a variety of tasks everyday that further my knowledge of the business. In addition, I enjoy the active involvement with professionals from all areas of the organization. I also believe that there is significant room for advancement in HBA and that hard work is truly valued and rewarded. How would you describe HBA?s culture? HBA, like other firms, has the challenge of retaining top talent and staying competitive globally. In meeting this challenge, HBA rewards performance, provides advancement where deserved and encourages cross training. Senior management also recognizes the importance of embracing and practicing work/life balance. From my perspective, this is equally critical to talent retention and recruitment, and will ultimately create an easier path to meeting the goal of successfully competing globally. I also believe HBA?s mentoring program says a lot about our culture. I believe that it is our responsibility as we move through our careers to help coach and develop those individuals who are less experienced or are new to the business. This fosters a collaborative, team-oriented culture while ensuring individual development. How do you like to spend your free time? My main interest outside work is spending quality time with my family. Additional interests include travel, the performing arts, tennis, philanthropy and community affairs. That?s what I like so much about working at HBA. Managers understand that there is life outside of work. 183 Testimonial #3 Why did you choose HBA? I joined HBA for the opportunity to learn and develop professionally. Given the momentum of the Firm in the marketplace and with clients, I have the opportunity to work on many complex and rewarding transactions. I also joined the Firm for its people and culture. I find that employees at HBA are aggressive, yet still cooperative and supportive. HBA employees are more interested in identifying opportunities for the Firm and identifying innovative solutions for clients. What do you enjoy most about working at HBA? Teamwork is an essential component of success in our department. Associates work with all areas of the business and it is critical that we openly communicate with one another. The culture of teamwork that exists at HBA is different than any other company that I have worked with and I feel it provides us with an important competitive advantage. At HBA teamwork is what drives our success. How would you describe HBA?s culture? After an initial month of training, my first day in my group was September 10, 2001, which allowed for only one day of introduction into the group before the September 11 attacks. HBA was displaced from its downtown headquarters and initially did not have an office in which to operate its business. It was a very challenging time for New York employees, but I remember our first gathering at the Midtown Sheraton hotel a few days after 9/11. Our Chairman and CEO delivered a speech about the willfulness, relentlessness and optimism of the people at HBA. I remember him asking us to look to our left and look to our right and take note that ?this is family!? and that ?we will get through this.? The Firm rebounded from the dislocation even stronger and our momentum continues. How do you like to spend your free time? My husband and I have two very young boys and we enjoy spending time with them, teaching them about the world and watching them grow. We also have a new dog and it is always fun to watch the kids interact with a new family member. I also play tennis with friends and try to get outside with the family as often as possible. 184 Testimonial #4 Why did you choose HBA? I chose HBA because I felt comfortable with the people I met during the recruiting process, and I believe in the Firm?s strategy. Everybody at HBA is an individual. The Firm has a strong independent culture where everyone is respected for the different strengths they bring to the table. Although the Firm is a global organization, senior people are accessible and junior employees can make an impact. What do you enjoy most about working at HBA? I enjoy that I have been given a tremendous amount of responsibility for projects that often involve the Firm committing a substantial sum of money to finance a deal. I have ownership over the analytical work necessary to evaluate a deal. I have the opportunity to interface with bankers around the Firm and interact with our clients. I also love the fact that every project and every day is different. I really feel that I make a difference at HBA and that my work is appreciated. How would you describe HBA?s culture? After September 11, 2001, the Firm was not able to return to its former headquarters at Three World Financial Center. As a temporary solution, we took over a hotel in Midtown Manhattan and turned it into a fully functioning organization in about a week. Working out of a hotel was challenging at times, but then you remember what happened and how lucky you are to be alive. September 11 put everything in perspective. The way our department handled these obstacles really says a lot about our culture. We work very hard but at the same time realize that work is not everything. How do you like to spend your free time? I really enjoy baseball and have made it a goal of mine to visit all of the Major League Baseball stadiums. I have visited about half of them and look forward to visiting the other half in the next 3-4 years. I am also working on my master?s degree in economics. HBA has been very supportive of me continuing my education. Other than that, I enjoy photography, museums and working out. 185 Testimonial #5 Why did you choose HBA? I interned at HBA the summer after my junior year in college. I had the opportunity to preview what working here full time is like. During the summer I had a chance to get to know the culture and to learn a lot about the organization. As an American studies major and coming from a liberal arts school, I had a lot to learn, which is what I love about the job. After interning at HBA, I never considered any other organization. What do you enjoy most about working at HBA? The peers in my analyst class are terrific and are all very intelligent. Senior people here really take the time to teach you. Analysts work hard, but we have a lot of fun, and I?ve made some of my best friends here. HBA?s greatest asset is the quality of the people that we hire. I also enjoy that there really is no typical day or month. I might focus on research and development of a presentation for a week or refining and testing financial analyses for months. Work at HBA is never monotonous. How would you describe HBA?s culture? When I was considering what I wanted to do after I graduated from college, I knew the right kind of culture was critical. I wanted to be at a place that had smart and fun people. I have found exactly that environment at HBA. The most important thing that I have learned is that you need to like the people you work with. At HBA, we have a lot of fun, and I can?t even begin to count the number of times a day that I wholeheartedly laugh. You grow as a family with the people you work with. We really have a family culture that cares about each others? well-being. How do you like to spend your free time? Outside of work I enjoy running and playing lacrosse. I?ve joined a lacrosse league and play on the weekends when I can. Athletics aside, I enjoy going to museums, many of which, we get into free with our HBA ID and can usually bring four guests for free as well. 186 Testimonial #6 Why did you choose HBA? HBA is focused on results and its people. I decided to join the Firm and have remained here because the Firm appreciates diversity in thinking. It gave me the space and the opportunity to be myself and grow. During the recruitment process, I really got the sense that employees respected and appreciated each others? ideas. It was evident in everyone?s actions that we were all working together to achieve a common goal. In addition to the camaraderie, the guidance I received from senior people at HBA cemented my desire to work here full-time. I knew this would be a place where I could develop as a professional and work with senior people who really invested in my career. What do you enjoy most about working at HBA? I enjoy HBA because of the environment ? the people are fun, the day moves quickly, there is a lot of energy. Building relationships with clients and HBA?s employees is a necessity in this job, and one I enjoy immensely! I also find it interesting relating the everyday responsibilities of my job to the economic world at large ? making sure HBA is always communicating with our clients seems all the more relevant in the wake of recent accounting scandals. How would you describe HBA?s culture? I would say that HBA?s managers really strive to provide a supportive culture and it has helped me excel in my job. As an English major, I did not have the same background knowledge as a finance major might have, so I needed to learn a lot of the basics. Because of the complex structure of our operations, coming up the learning curve posed quite a challenge. My manager enrolled me in several analyst classes that helped tremendously. However, I think the most valuable knowledge is gained from day-to-day experience, talking about operations and learning directly from my fellow coworkers. There really is a culture of teamwork and support here at HBA. How do you like to spend your free time? Outside of work, I?m very involved with non-profit organizations such as the Harlem Children?s Zone and Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. I?ve always strongly believed in the importance of giving back. I also love traveling, Latin dancing and snowboarding. 187 Testimonial #7 Why did you choose HBA? When I was considering HBA I had multiple offers. I chose HBA because of what its competitors had to say about the Firm. Across Wall Street, the description of HBA was consistent and positive, which I found unique. I got the sense that HBA?s reputation wasn?t a marketing ploy, it was the truth. I was also very interested in the Women?s Initiatives Leadership Program. The first event I attended was informative and entertaining; HBA?s initiative to provide a forum for women?s issues is innovative and unique. The growth of opportunities for women at Lehman is tremendous. What do you enjoy most about working at HBA? I believe HBA is flexible enough to enable individuals to perform to their potential and not be confined by their job title. I have repeatedly been given increased responsibility in line with my capabilities and performance. If I worked for one of our bigger competitors, I don?t think I?d have nearly the same opportunities as I do in my role here. HBA is entrepreneurial in that the organization enables individuals to excel. I also enjoy that I have constant interaction with people across multiple groups and divisions. Teamwork is very important to me. The ?One Firm? mentality is clearly demonstrated by how well everyone on the team works together. How would you describe HBA?s culture? I consider success to be a moving target. My brief time at HBA has consisted of two main actions -- one is working hard, the other is learning ... everything. These traits, as well as the terrific team of people I work with are key to my current and future success. I believe HBA will allow me a great opportunity to achieve my professional goals and to truly make a difference. I believe HBA?s culture allows employees to work hard and achieve their personal goals. How do you like to spend your free time? Outside of work I like to travel, read and cook exotic dishes. I have been taking an introductory cooking class in the city and trying to make it so I don?t eat out so often. I also enjoy spending time with my family and watching movies. 188 APPENDIX C PHASE 1 DATA COLLECTION SURVEY (Note: The survey was administered online) 189 This survey contains questions intended to measure individual differences among college students. Each section has a specific set of instructions. Before beginning this survey, please choose a unique user name that you will remember for the remainder of the semester. This user name will be used as evidence of participation in this study. You must remember the user name in order to receive the extra credit points. After completing the survey, you will directed to a ?Completion Page.? Print this page and bring it to your instructor/professor as evidence of participation. The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Your USER NAME ________________ Please complete the following demographic questions: 1.) What is your gender? Male Female ? ? 2.) What is your age (in years)? ________ years old 3.) What is your race? Caucasian African-American Asian Latin American Other ? ? ? ? ? 4.) What is you current student classification? Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior ? ? ? ? 5.) Indicate the major that most closely describes your academic major. Management Marketing Finance Accounting ? ? ? ? Economics Entrepreneurship Other ? ? 6.) In what semester do you expect to graduate? ________ (please indicate the semester and year, Example: Spring 2006) 190 7.) Have you previously interviewed for a full-time job? Yes No ? ? 8.) Have you sent your resume to an organization seeking full-time employment? Yes No ? ? 9.) Do you plan to search for full-time employment in the next 6 months? Yes No ? ? 10.) Are you currently searching for full-time employment? Yes No ? ? 11.) Have you ever visited a company?s webpage to explore job opportunities? Yes No ? ? Listed below is a series of adjectives. Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree that the following adjectives are descriptive of you. 1.) Friendly Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 2.) Attentive to People Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 3.) Pleasant Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 191 4.) Family-oriented Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 5.) Cooperative Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 6.) Personal Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 7.) Helpful Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 8.) Clean Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 9.) Honest Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 10.) Interesting Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 11.) Exciting Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 12.) Unique Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 192 13.) Creative Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 14.) Boring Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 15.) Plain Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 16.) Original Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 17.) Successful Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 18.) Popular Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 19.) Dominant Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 20.) Busy Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 21.) Active Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 193 22.) Low budget Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 23.) Low class Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 24.) Simple Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 25.) Reduced Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 26.) Sloppy Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 27.) Poor Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 28.) Undersized Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 29.) Deprived Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 30.) Stylish Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 194 31.) Fashionable Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 32.) Hip Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 33.) Trendy Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? Below is a series of statements. Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. 1. Over the past few years, the government and news media have shown more respect to Blacks than they deserve. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 2. It is easy to understand the anger of Black people in America. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 3. Discrimination against Blacks is no longer a problem in the United States. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 4. Over the past few years, Blacks have gotten more economically than they deserve. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 5. Blacks are getting too demanding in their push for equal rights. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 195 6. Blacks should not push themselves where they are not wanted. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? Listed below is another series of statements. To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of these statement? 1.) I have spent time trying to find out more about my own ethnic group, such as its history, traditions, and customs. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 2.) I am active in organizations or social groups that include mostly members of my own ethnic group. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 3.) I have a clear sense of my ethnic background and what it means to me. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 4.) I like meeting and getting to know people from ethnic groups other than my own. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 5.) I think a lot about how my life will be affected by my ethnic group membership. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 6.) I am happy that I am a member of the group I belong to. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 7.) I sometimes feel it would be better if different ethnic groups did not try to mix together. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 196 8.) I am not very clear about the role of my ethnicity in my life. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 9.) I often spend time with people from ethnic groups other than my own. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 10.) I really have not spent much time trying to learn more about the culture and history of my ethic group. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 11.) I have a strong sense of belonging to my own ethnic group. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 12.) I understand pretty well what my ethnic group membership means to me, in terms of how to relate to my own group and other groups. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 13.) In order to learn more about my ethnic background, I have often talked to other people from my ethnic group. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 14.) I have a lot of pride in my ethnic group and its accomplishments. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 15.) I don?t try to become friends with people from other ethnic groups. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 197 16.) I participate in cultural practices of my own group, such as special food, music, or customs. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 17.) I am involved in activities with people from other ethnic groups. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 18.) I feel a strong attachment towards my own ethnic group. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 19.) I enjoy being around people from ethnic groups other than my own. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 20.) I feel good about my cultural or ethnic background. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? 198 APPENDIX D PHASE 2 DATA COLLECTION SURVEY (Note: The survey was administered online) 199 Time 2 Survey This survey is intended to measure your reactions to HBA?s recruitment website. Each section contains a separate set of instructions so make sure that you read them carefully. Before beginning this survey, please log in with the same user name that you used when completing the first survey of the semester. This user name will be used to ensure that you completed both surveys. After completing the survey, you will be directed to a ?Completion Page.? Print this page and return it to your instructor/professor as evidence of participation. The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Your USER NAME _________ Listed below is a series of adjectives. Please indicate the extent to which you agree that the following adjectives are descriptive of HBA Corporation as described on HBA?s webpage. 1.) Friendly Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 2.) Attentive to People Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 3.) Pleasant Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 4.) Family-oriented Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 5.) Cooperative Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 200 6.) Personal Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 7.) Helpful Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 8.) Clean Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 9.) Honest Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 10.) Interesting Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 11.) Exciting Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 12.) Unique Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 13.) Creative Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 14.) Boring Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 201 15.) Plain Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 16.) Original Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 17.) Successful Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 18.) Popular Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 19.) Dominant Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 20.) Busy Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 21.) Active Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 22.) Low budget Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 202 23.) Low class Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 24.) Simple Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 25.) Reduced Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 26.) Sloppy Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 27.) Poor Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 28.) Undersized Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 29.) Deprived Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 30.) Stylish Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 31.) Fashionable Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 203 32.) Hip Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 33.) Trendy Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? Listed below is a series of statements about HBA Corporation. Based on your reading of the company?s webpage, please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements about HBA. 1.) For me, this company would be a good place to work Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 2.) I would not be interested in this company except as a last resort. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 3.) This company is attractive to me as a place for employment. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 4.) I am interested in learning more about this company. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 5.) A job at this company is very appealing to me. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 6.) I would accept a job offer from this company. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 204 7.) I would make this company one of my first choices as an employer. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 8.) If this company invited me for a job interview, I would go. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 9.) I would exert a great deal of effort to work for this company. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 10.) I would recommend this company to a friend looking for a job. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 11.) Employees are probably proud to say they work at this company. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 12.) This is a reputable company to work for. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 13.) This company probably has a reputation as being an excellent employer. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 14.) I would find this company a prestigious place to work. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 15.) There are probably many who would like to work at this company. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 205 Listed below is a series of statements about the employees presented on HBA Corporation?s website. Based on your impressions of these employees, please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. 1.) These people really know a lot about the company. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 2.) I consider these people to be an extremely credible source of information about this job. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 3.) These people really knows what they are talking about. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 4.) I feel these people are extremely trustworthy. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 5.) I believe these people are telling the truth as they see it. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 6.) I don?t feel these people are being honest with me. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 7.) These people seem like really nice people. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 8.) I believe that I would really like these people. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 206 9.) I really don?t care to get to know these people better. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? Answer the following questions as they best describe your reactions to the information provided on HBA?s website. 1.) The information presented on HBA?s website was believable. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 2.) The information presented on HBA?s website was fair. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 3.) The information presented on HBA?s website was accurate. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 4.) The information presented on HBA?s website was complete. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 5.) The information presented on HBA?s website was unbiased. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? Listed below is a series of statements about HBA Corporation?s culture. Based on your reading of the company?s webpage, please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements about HBA?s culture. 1.) Clearly, diversity is not important at HBA. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 207 2.) Employees at HBA are probably very similar to one another. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 3.) I suspect that HBA discriminates against minorities. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 4.) It is unlikely that HBA employs many minorities. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 5.) HBA is a technically advanced organization Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 6.) HBA places an emphasis on technology in everyday business activities. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 7.) HBA is ahead of the competition with regard to the use of technology. Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? Listed below is a series of statements about your perceptions of HBA Corporation as a place to work. Based on your reading of the company?s webpage, please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements about HBA. 1.) To what degree do your values, goals, and personality ?match? or fit this organization and the current employees in the organization? Not at all Not very well Neutral Somewhat well Completely ? ? ? ? ? 208 2.) To what extent do your values and personality prevent you from ?fitting in? this organization because they are different from most of the other employees? values and personality in this organization? Not at all Not very well Neutral Somewhat well Completely ? ? ? ? ? 3.) Do you think the values and ?personality? of this organization reflects your own values and personality? Not at all Not very well Neutral Somewhat well Completely ? ? ? ? ? Listed below is a series of statements about HBA Corporation? recruitment webpage. Based on your reading of the company?s webpage, please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. 1.) To what extent were you trying hard to evaluate the content of HBA?s recruitment websites? Not at all Not very much Neutral Somewhat Very much ? ? ? ? ? 2.) How much effort did you put into evaluating HBA?s recruitment website? Not at all Not very much Neutral Somewhat Very much ? ? ? ? ? 3.) How likely is it that you would use an organization?s recruitment website during your job search? Not at all relevant Not very relevant Neutral Somewhat relevant Very relevant ? ? ? ? ? 4.) How personally relevant or important did you find the information presented on HBA?s website? Not at all relevant Not very relevant Neutral Somewhat relevant Very relevant ? ? ? ? ? The information presented on HBA?s recruitment website was: 1.) Not very believable Very believable 1 2 3 4 5 209 2.) Not very fair Very fair 1 2 3 4 5 3.) No very accurate Very accurate 1 2 3 4 5 4.) Not very in-depth Very in-depth 1 2 3 4 5 Use the scale below to rate how much you would characterize HBA Corporation?s recruitment website as having the ability to: 1.) Give and receive timely feedback Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 2.) Transmit a variety of different cues beyond the explicit message (e.g., nonverbal cues) Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 3.) Tailor messages to your own or other personal circumstances Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 4.) Use rich and varied language Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 5.) Provide immediate feedback Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 6.) Convey multiple types of information (verbal and nonverbal) Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 210 7.) Transmit varied symbols (e.g., words, numbers, pictures) Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? 8.) Design messages to your own or others' requirements Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree ? ? ? ? ? Rate HBA Corporation?s recruitment website using the following adjective sets: 1.) Negative Positive 1 2 3 4 5 2.) Unpleasant Pleasant 1 2 3 4 5 3.) Unfavorable Favorable 1 2 3 4 5 Rate HBA Corporation as an organization using the following adjective sets: 1.) Unattractive Attractive 1 2 3 4 5 2.) I do not like it I like it 1 2 3 4 5 3.) It is bad It is good 1 2 3 4 5 4.) Disagreeable Agreeable 1 2 3 4 5 How were the employee testimonials presented on HBA?s website that you saw? Video with audio Picture with text ? ? 211 If you were presented with the video employee testimonials, were you able to watch the video and hear the audio at the computer you used to complete this study? Yes No ? ?