1. Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility on Social Media:
How job seekers are building their perceptions of organizations
Travis Gable, Nkem Obi-Melekwe, Nile LaTowsky, Brian Shangwa, Shawn M. Bergman
Appalachian State University
Method
Participants
• 350 potential job seekers from the online crowd
sourcing internet marketplace “MTurk”
Data Analysis
• A factorial ANOVA will determine if the different sets of
mock profiles resulted in differential outcomes for the
studies participants
Measures
• Outcomes: Organizational Attractiveness/ Intent to
apply
Predictors of Org. Attractiveness/ Intent to apply
CSR Components:
1. Community/Philanthropy
2. Work-life balance
3. Ethical Environmental Considerations
Hypothesis
• Hyp1: Potential job seekers rely on company websites
when constructing their perceptions of an organization
more than they do social media.
• Hyp2: Organizations who project the CSR values of
community involvement/philanthropy, work-life balance,
and ethical considerations for the natural environment
through social media will result in higher ratings of
organizational attraction and intention to join from job-
seekers
• Hyp3: Organizations who use both visual graphics and
text to portray CSR will have higher ratings of favorability
Key Terms
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
a business’s attention to and fulfillment of
responsibilities to multiple stakeholders which exist at
various levels: economic, legal, ethical, and
philanthropic
Corporate Social Performance (CSP)
the evaluation of how well organizations are meeting
their espoused CSRs
Organizational Attractiveness
An attitude or expressed general positive affect toward
an organization, viewing that organization as a desirable
entity with which to develop some form of a
relationship
Applicant Perception
Process by which people translate sensory
impressions into a coherent and unified view of the
world around them
Implications
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
• To what extent are job seeker’s using social media and
corporate websites in constructing their perceptions of
an organization?
• How effective are visual graphics and text for a
companies attention to social responsibility through
social media and company websites?
Research Questions
If findings support our hypotheses then companies,
particularly those who highlight CSR should re-evaluate
how they are investing resources into their social media
and company websites
Companies will be able to identify effective means of
soliciting their values and social considerations to
potential job applicants.
Recruiters can expect to see an overall increase in job
applicants through the job seekers perception of a
strong person-organization fit
The presence of CSR in a
Corporations Social
Media
Corporation
does present
CSR
Presents CSR through
company's website
Corporation
Provides a social
media page
Corporations
social media
does not
present CSR
Presents CSR
through text
only
Presents CSR
through
graphics only
Presents CSR
on social media
using both
graphics & text
Corporation does
NOT provide a social
media page
(Facebook)
Corporation
presents NO
CSR
• Research suggests that companies with stronger CSP
are seen as more attractive employers (Jones, Willness,
& Madey, 2014)
• Recognizing the impact that CSR can have on an
applicant’s decision to apply for a position, companies
are beginning to highlight certain facets of CSR via social
media (Eberle, Berens, & Li, 2013).
• Both CSR and CSP are generally characterized as
having several dimensions, but we have narrowed our
focus to
• community involvement/philanthropy
• work-life balance
• ethical considerations for the natural environment
Mock Profile Model