Displaying Employee Testimonials on Recruitment Web Sites: Effects of
Communication Media, Employee Race, and Job Seeker Race on
Organizational Attraction and Information Credibility
H. Jack Walker
Texas Tech University and Radford University
Hubert S. Feild, William F. Giles,
and Achilles A. Armenakis
Auburn University
Jeremy B. Bernerth
University of South Alabama
This study investigated participants’ reactions to employee testimonials presented on recruitment Web
sites. The authors manipulated the presence of employee testimonials, richness of media communicating
testimonials (video with audio vs. picture with text), and representation of racial minorities in employee
testimonials. Participants were more attracted to organizations and perceived information as more
credible when testimonials were included on recruitment Web sites. Testimonials delivered via video
with audio had higher attractiveness and information credibility ratings than those given via picture with
text. Results also showed that Blacks responded more favorably, whereas Whites responded more
negatively, to the recruiting organization as the proportion of minorities shown giving testimonials on the
recruitment Web site increased. However, post hoc analyses revealed that use of a richer medium (video
with audio vs. picture with text) to communicate employee testimonials tended to attenuate these racial
effects.
Keywords: employee testimonials, organizational attraction, credibility, media richness
Several scholars have suggested that using the World Wide Web
for recruitment purposes provides benefits to organizations over
traditional recruitment practices, such as employment brochures or
newspaper advertisements (Cober, Brown, Blumental, Doverspike,
& Levy, 2000; Cober, Brown, Keeping, & Levy, 2004; Lievens &
Harris, 2003). Among these benefits is the capacity to communi-
cate a greater amount of information and reach more potential job
seekers. Displaying employee testimonials on corporate recruit-
ment Web sites is one tactic that might further enhance the re-
cruitment capacity of organizations. Marketing researchers have
long contended that customer testimonials positively influence the
persuasive power of advertising (e.g., Mittelstaedt, Riesz, &
Burns, 2000) because consumers prefer to consider the experiences
of “ordinary people” when making purchasing decisions (West-
phal, 2000). From a recruitment perspective, organizations incor-
porating employee testimonials on recruitment Web sites might
combine the benefits of controlling information presented to job
seekers with the positive effects job seekers often attribute to more
interpersonal sources of information (i.e., enhanced credibility;
Van Hoye & Lievens, 2007). Additionally, displaying employee
testimonials might encourage job seekers to identify with organi-
zations because job seekers see “the more human side of the
organization” (Cober et al., 2000, p. 487).
Despite the potential positive outcomes ...
Displaying Employee Testimonials on Recruitment Web Sites Eff.docx
1. Displaying Employee Testimonials on Recruitment Web Sites:
Effects of
Communication Media, Employee Race, and Job Seeker Race on
Organizational Attraction and Information Credibility
H. Jack Walker
Texas Tech University and Radford University
Hubert S. Feild, William F. Giles,
and Achilles A. Armenakis
Auburn University
Jeremy B. Bernerth
University of South Alabama
This study investigated participants’ reactions to employee
testimonials presented on recruitment Web
sites. The authors manipulated the presence of employee
testimonials, richness of media communicating
testimonials (video with audio vs. picture with text), and
representation of racial minorities in employee
testimonials. Participants were more attracted to organizations
and perceived information as more
credible when testimonials were included on recruitment Web
sites. Testimonials delivered via video
with audio had higher attractiveness and information credibility
ratings than those given via picture with
text. Results also showed that Blacks responded more favorably,
whereas Whites responded more
negatively, to the recruiting organization as the proportion of
2. minorities shown giving testimonials on the
recruitment Web site increased. However, post hoc analyses
revealed that use of a richer medium (video
with audio vs. picture with text) to communicate employee
testimonials tended to attenuate these racial
effects.
Keywords: employee testimonials, organizational attraction,
credibility, media richness
Several scholars have suggested that using the World Wide Web
for recruitment purposes provides benefits to organizations over
traditional recruitment practices, such as employment brochures
or
newspaper advertisements (Cober, Brown, Blumental,
Doverspike,
& Levy, 2000; Cober, Brown, Keeping, & Levy, 2004; Lievens
&
Harris, 2003). Among these benefits is the capacity to
communi-
cate a greater amount of information and reach more potential
job
seekers. Displaying employee testimonials on corporate recruit-
ment Web sites is one tactic that might further enhance the re-
cruitment capacity of organizations. Marketing researchers have
long contended that customer testimonials positively influence
the
persuasive power of advertising (e.g., Mittelstaedt, Riesz, &
Burns, 2000) because consumers prefer to consider the
experiences
of “ordinary people” when making purchasing decisions (West-
phal, 2000). From a recruitment perspective, organizations
incor-
porating employee testimonials on recruitment Web sites might
combine the benefits of controlling information presented to job
seekers with the positive effects job seekers often attribute to
3. more
interpersonal sources of information (i.e., enhanced credibility;
Van Hoye & Lievens, 2007). Additionally, displaying employee
testimonials might encourage job seekers to identify with
organi-
zations because job seekers see “the more human side of the
organization” (Cober et al., 2000, p. 487).
Despite the potential positive outcomes associated with em-
ployee testimonials, very little research has examined these
infor-
mation sources (see Braddy, Meade, & Kroustalis, 2006; High-
house, Hoffman, Greve, & Collins, 2002; and Van Hoye &
Lievens, 2007, for exceptions). Further, some researchers have
suggested that employee testimonials might have little or no
effect
on job seekers (Highhouse et al., 2002; Van Hoye & Lievens,
2007). Considering the scarcity of pertinent studies in the
recruit-
ment literature and calls for more research addressing Web-
based
recruitment (Highhouse & Hoffman, 2001; Rynes & Cable,
2003),
we designed the present study with two objectives in mind.
First,
we assessed job seekers’ reactions to organizations either
includ-
ing or excluding employee testimonials on recruitment Web
sites.
Second, we investigated job seekers’ reactions to different char-
acteristics of these employee testimonials.
In light of several persuasive communication (Hovland, Janis, &
Kelly, 1953) and recruitment (Barber, 1998; Breaugh & Starke,
2000) models, we manipulated the representation of racial
5. Hernan-
dez, & Hebl, 2004). Furthermore, communication media
richness
(picture with text vs. video with audio) should also influence
how
job seekers respond to employee testimonials displayed on
recruit-
ment Web sites (Allen, Van Scotter, & Otondo, 2004;
Highhouse
et al., 2002). In addressing our study objectives, we focused on
two
important prehire outcomes: (a) job seekers’ perceptions of
orga-
nizational attractiveness and (b) job seekers’ credibility percep-
tions concerning the information on recruitment Web sites (cf.
Van
Hoye & Lievens, 2007).
Presence of Employee Testimonials on Recruitment
Web Sites
Marketing researchers have found that inclusion of endorsers in
advertisements often leads to more favorable attitudes toward
products (Raju, Rajagopal, & Unnava, 2002) and increased
cred-
ibility perceptions of advertisements (Feick & Higie, 1992; Mit-
telstaedt et al., 2000). Others’ firsthand experiences (Fazio &
Zanna, 1981) apparently influence consumers, especially when
personal outcomes (e.g., evaluating an organization as a
potential
employer) are at stake (Sivacek & Crano, 1982). In a similar
vein,
management researchers have found that job incumbents often
represent credible information sources because these individuals
are closer to the work situation and hence are seen as having
greater expertise (Fisher, Ilgen, & Hoyer, 1979).
6. Employee testimonials might also play an important role in
engaging job seekers accessing recruitment Web sites (Cober et
al., 2000). These information sources should be effective in
com-
municating information about quality of work life issues and
allow
job seekers to better assess important person– organization fit
issues (Cober et al., 2000). Moreover, employee testimonials
might serve as an additional information source for job seekers,
and research suggests that more information in job
advertisements
increases organizational attractiveness (Yuce & Highhouse,
1998).
In contrast to these positive effects, other research has
suggested
that employee testimonials are counterproductive because job
seekers likely question the authenticity of anecdotal information
presented in organizationally controlled sources (Highhouse et
al.,
2002). Van Hoye and Lievens (2007) found that, for information
focusing on organizational issues, transmission by company-
independent sources resulted in higher organizational attractive-
ness and more organizational pursuit behavior as compared with
identical information presented through company-dependent
sources (i.e., employee testimonials). However, when
testimonials
presented information about individual employees, applicants
ex-
hibited higher levels of attraction to the organization. Given the
differing perspectives in the literature regarding the
effectiveness
of employee testimonials, we attempted to extend this research
by
determining whether the presence of Web-based employee testi-
7. monials influences job seekers’ reactions to organizations
display-
ing these testimonials. Although the literature does not clearly
point toward the prediction of positive or negative job seeker
reactions, we expected that job seekers would exhibit greater
attraction to organizations and view the information presented
as
more credible when employee testimonials are included on
recruit-
ment Web sites. We make this prediction because the media
richness potential of recruitment Web sites (an issue described
more fully in relation to Hypotheses 2a and 2b) provides the
opportunity to communicate a more persuasive message. There-
fore, we posit that:
Hypothesis 1a. Job seekers will have higher levels of attrac-
tion to organizations that include employee testimonials on
recruitment Web sites.
Hypothesis 1b. Job seekers will perceive information pre-
sented on recruitment Web sites as more credible when em-
ployee testimonials are included.
Employee Testimonial Characteristics
Employee Testimonial Communication Media
Media richness theory posits that communication effectiveness
depends on finding a match between communication
requirements
and media capacities (Daft & Lengel, 1984, 1986). In organiza-
tional settings, richer media (e.g., video with audio) are often
preferred over leaner media (e.g., text alone) because richer
media
are more effective in communicating complex material that
8. might
have multiple interpretations (Daft, Lengel, & Trevino, 1987).
Richer media might also be advantageous because of an ability
to
communicate affect and a personal focus through cues that are
interesting and engaging (Chaiken & Eagly, 1976; Short, Wil-
liams, & Christie, 1976). Further, richer media communicate
mes-
sages viewed as more accurate (Cable, Aiman-Smith, Mulvey, &
Edwards, 2000), seen as more credible (Cable & Yu, 2006), and
perceived as attracting more attention (Chaiken & Stangor,
1987;
Tybout & Artz, 1994). We expected that job seekers would rate
organizations higher in terms of organizational attractiveness
and
credibility of information presented when richer media (e.g.,
video
with audio), as compared with leaner media (e.g., picture with
text), communicate employee testimonials. Thus, we
hypothesized
the following:
Hypothesis 2a. Job seekers will have higher levels of attrac-
tion to organizations that use richer media (video with audio
vs. picture with text) to communicate employee testimonials.
Hypothesis 2b. Job seekers will perceive information pre-
sented on recruitment Web sites as more credible when richer
media (video with audio vs. picture with text) communicate
employee testimonials.
Race of Testimonial Providers (Message Source)
and Job Seekers
The similarity-attraction paradigm (Byrne, 1971) states that
similar individuals are interpersonally attracted to one another
9. because they see themselves as possessing similar values,
princi-
ples, and beliefs (McGrath, 1998; Milliken & Martins, 1996).
Similarly, social identity theory suggests that individuals
classify
themselves into groups on the basis of characteristics such as
demographics (Harrison, Price, & Bell, 1998; Pelled, 1996). In
an
attempt to maintain high levels of self-esteem and have a
positive
self-identity, individuals evaluate categories that include the
self
more positively and judge out-group members more negatively
(Brockner, 1988; Tajfel, 1982; Tajfel & Turner, 1986).
1355RESEARCH REPORTS
Consistent with predictions made by these theories, research has
established that racial minorities’ organizational attractiveness
per-
ceptions are more favorable when they share demographic char-
acteristics with organizational representatives (Avery, 2003;
Avery
et al., 2004; Perkins, Thomas, & Taylor, 2000). Similarly, re-
searchers have concluded that racial minorities see demographi-
cally similar individuals as more credible sources of
information
(Clark & Maass, 1988; Perloff, 1993). When manipulating the
racial representation of recruitment advertisements, racial
congru-
ence effects for Whites are not as intuitive. It appears that racial
cues are less salient among White job seekers as long as
Whites’
representation remains in the majority (Avery et al., 2004;
10. Mehra,
Kilduff, & Brass, 1998; Perkins et al., 2000). Therefore, we
predicted the following:
Hypothesis 3a. Organizational attractiveness will increase for
Black job seekers and remain the same for White job seekers
as the proportion of racial minorities giving employee testi-
monials on recruitment Web sites increases.
Hypothesis 3b. Information credibility perceptions will in-
crease for Black job seekers and remain the same for White
job seekers as the proportion of racial minorities giving
employee testimonials on recruitment Web sites increases.
Method
Participants
We invited students (N � 1,010) enrolled in 7 upper level
management courses at a large, predominantly White university
(N � 562) and those enrolled in 12 upper level management
courses at three historically Black universities (N � 448) to
participate in the study. A total of 469 participants (83%) from
the
predominantly White university and 359 participants (80%)
from
the historically Black universities completed the first phase of
the
study (Time 1). Of these, 453 (97%) from the predominantly
White university and 323 (90%) from the historically Black uni-
versities completed the second phase (Time 2).1
In terms of job search activities, 665 (88%) participants indi-
cated that they were actively searching for employment or
would
do so in the next 6 months; 575 (76%) reported having
11. 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
Web
site to explore job opportunities and gather information about
an
organization. Thus, the sample appeared typical of young
profes-
sionals seeking entry-level employment and those sought by or-
ganizations through campus recruiting efforts (cf. Rynes & Bou-
dreau, 1986).
Even though 756 participants provided complete data for both
study phases, we included 546 of these for hypotheses testing.2
Of
these, 299 (55%) were White, and 247 (45%) were Black; 286
(52%) were men, and 260 (48%) were women. Participants aver-
aged 22.89 (SD � 1.74) years of age.
Procedure
Time 1 data collection. Instructors of the targeted classes
informed students that they had the opportunity to participate in
a
study intended to assess individual differences among college
students for which they would receive extra course credit.
Partic-
ipants created a unique user name to ensure participant
anonymity
and to match responses between Time 1 and Time 2 data
collection
efforts. After logging in, participants accessed an online survey
that included demographic items as well as several measures
12. collected for future research but not included in this study.
Time 2 data collection. Approximately 3 weeks after Time 1
data collection, the instructors told students in the targeted
classes
that a Fortune 500 organization (referred to as HBA
Corporation,
a hypothetical company) wanted their assistance in evaluating
the
company’s recruitment Web page. The instructors told the
students
to take the role of an active job seeker, evaluate the recruitment
Web site, and then answer a series of questions regarding their
reactions to the Web page and HBA Corporation as a potential
employer.
Recruitment Web Sites and Web Site
Content Manipulations
Research design. We patterned the study Web sites after those
used by actual firms (e.g., www.Wachovia.com,
www.Target.com).
Each Web site consisted of five information links (i.e., Career
Development, Pay and Benefits, Meet Our People, Company In-
formation, and Our Plan for Growth). All versions contained
identical information with the exception of the Meet Our People
link. We manipulated this link by varying (a) the representation
of
racial minorities in employee testimonials and (b) media
richness
used to communicate the testimonials. All Web site racial repre-
sentation conditions (except for the control condition) contained
the same testimonial content and gender representation (2 men
and
2 women) of those giving testimonials. The control condition
did
13. not include the Meet Our People link, as participants randomly
assigned to this site saw only the other four links. We used the
control condition to examine the presence versus absence of em-
ployee testimonials on recruitment Web sites.
For the study manipulations involving employee testimonials on
recruitment Web sites, we used a 2 (participant race: Black vs.
White) � 3 (representation of racial minorities in employee
testi-
1 We eliminated 6 respondents (4 from the historically Black
universities
and 2 from the predominantly White university) because of
incomplete
information. Additionally, our analyses only included responses
from
individuals who identified themselves as either Black or White.
Consistent
with Avery (2003), we permitted non-Black minorities to
participate in the
study so as not to alert participants to the racial nature of the
study, but we
eliminated these respondents (N � 12: 5 from the historically
Black
universities, 7 from the predominantly White university) from
the analyses.
2 The final sample used for our analyses consisted of 546
participants.
This number differs from the total number of participants that
completed
Time 1 and Time 2 surveys because 175 participants saw a Web
site
condition in which only Whites gave employee testimonials. At
the sug-
gestion of an anonymous reviewer, we removed these
14. participants to be
consistent with the absence of an all-Black employee
testimonial condition.
We also eliminated 35 participants from the study because they
failed to
accurately recognize the study’s manipulations. Participants
unable to see
or hear (N � 7) the video testimonials and those unable to
correctly
identify the racial representation of employees delivering
employee testi-
monials (N � 28) were removed from the sample used for
hypotheses
testing.
1356 RESEARCH REPORTS
monials: low vs. medium vs. high) � 2 (communication
medium:
picture with written text vs. video with audio) quasi-
experimental
design in which all cells were fully crossed. Representation of
racial minorities in employee testimonials was presented as
either
low (25%: depicting 1 Black and 3 White employees), medium
(50%: depicting 2 Black and 2 White employees), or high (75%:
depicting 3 Black and 1 White employee). We manipulated com-
munication media richness by displaying either (a) a picture of
an
employee with text testimonial or (b) a video of an employee
giving an audio testimonial. Table 1 summarizes the number of
participants exposed to each study manipulation condition.
Representation of racial minorities in employee testimonials.
15. To depict racial minority representation in the testimonials, we
hired Black and White actors from a university theatre
department.
For the actors chosen to appear in the testimonials, we
undertook
a pilot test with a separate sample of 86 upper level
management
students to determine whether there were differences among the
actors’ mean physical attractiveness ratings (Haugtvedt, Petty,
&
Cacioppo, 1992). Mean physical attractiveness ratings among
the
actors did not differ.3
Employee testimonial content. Actors memorized scripts
(ranging from 355 to 371 words) modeled after actual employee
testimonials on Fortune 500 corporate recruitment Web sites.
Each
script involved the actors responding to four questions: (a) Why
did you choose HBA? (b) What do you enjoy most about
working
at HBA? (c) How would you describe HBA’s culture? (d) How
do
you like to spend your free time? (See the Appendix for an
example employee testimonial.) Because testimonial content can
influence participants’ perceptions of organizational attraction
(Van Hoye & Lievens, 2007), we conducted a pilot test with
another sample of 96 upper level management students to deter-
mine whether the employee testimonials differed with respect to
organizational attractiveness. Mean organizational
attractiveness
ratings did not differ after reading the testimonial script
content.4
Actors’ photographs and testimonial filming occurred at a uni-
versity media studio. The actors used similar poses and facial
16. expressions in the testimonials. We filmed the actors’ from their
shoulders up and with the same background in each testimonial.
Measures
Control variables. We attempted to account for possible Web
site playfulness effects (Cober et al., 2004) by including
measures
of recruitment Web site attractiveness (Sicilia, Ruiz, &
Munuera,
2005; assessed with four items rated on a 7-point semantic
differ-
ential scale: unattractive/attractive, unpleasant/pleasant,
unfavor-
able/favorable, useless/useful; coefficient alpha � .72), total
time
spent on the recruitment Web site (in seconds), and total
number
of recruitment Web site links visited. These variables served as
covariates in analyses of covariance and as control variables in
hierarchical regression analyses. In addition, we entered gender
and age in Step 1 of the regression analyses to control for any
possible confounding effects (cf. Avery, 2003). Finally, we
incor-
porated ethnic identity (Phinney, 1992; assessed with a five-
item
scale measuring affirmation and belonging; example item: “I am
happy that I am a member of the group I belong to”; coefficient
alpha � .76) in Step 1 to control for possible ethnicity
influences.
Organizational attractiveness. We assessed participants’ at-
traction to HBA Corporation as a place to work using five items
from Highhouse, Lievens, and Sinar’s (2003) Organization
Attrac-
tion Scale. A sample item is, “For me, this company would be a
17. great place to work.” Coefficient alpha for the measure was .86.
Perceived credibility of recruitment Web site information. A
four-item scale from Johnson and Kaye (2002) assessed partici-
pants’ perceptions of HBA’s recruitment Web site as a credible
information source. A sample item is, “The information
presented
on HBA’s Web site was believable.” Coefficient alpha for the
measure was .84.
Results
Initially, we determined whether differences existed among
participants from the four universities. Multivariate analysis of
variance results, Wilks’s � � .96, F(18, 1618.35) � 1.32, ns,
revealed no differences in participants’ age or gender or in 4
participants’ job search activities (e.g., had previously visited
an
organization’s recruitment Web site) previously described.
There-
fore, we combined the data from all participants in the four
universities.
3 Participants (N � 86) were randomly shown 1 of the 11
actors’ pictures
and asked to rate it in terms of physical attractiveness on a scale
ranging
from 1 (unattractive) to 5 (attractive). The mean physical
attractiveness
ratings for the actors did not differ, F(10, 85) � 1.23, ns.
4 Participants (N � 96) took the role of a job seeker considering
an
organization for employment and were told to assume that, in
conducting
research about an organization, they had the opportunity to
18. speak with a
current employee. We randomly assigned one of seven
testimonial scripts
and told the participants that this transcript summarized their
conversation
with the current employee. After reading the transcript, the
participants
responded to Highhouse et al.’s (2003) 15-item scale of
organizational
attraction. Coefficient alphas for this three-dimensional 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 among the seven
testimonials’ script
content for the three organizational attraction dimension
ratings, Wilks’s
� � 1.31, F(18, 246.56) � 1.31, ns.
Table 1
Number of Black and White Participants Presented With Three
Employee Testimonial Conditions
Employee testimonial
conditions
Minority representation displayed in
recruitment Web site employee testimonialsa
Low Medium High
Black White Black White Black White
No employee testimonial
19. (control condition)b
Picture with text 40 40 30 44 44 36
Video with audio 35 53 38 44 29 43
Note. N � 546.
a Low minority representation � 25%: 1 Black employee: 3
White em-
ployees; Medium minority representation � 50%: 2 Black
employees: 2
White employees; High minority representation � 75%: 3 Black
employees:
1 White employee. b The control condition displayed all Web
site links other
than employee testimonials (N � 70: Blacks � 28; Whites �
42).
1357RESEARCH REPORTS
Hypotheses Tests
Table 2 reports the means, standard deviations, coefficient al-
phas, and intercorrelations among the study variables. We tested
Hypotheses 1 (a– b) and 2 (a– b) using multivariate analysis of
covariance (MANCOVA) and univariate analysis of covariance
(ANCOVA). For the MANCOVA, organizational attractiveness
and information credibility perceptions were the dependent vari-
ables, and employee testimonial communication condition (i.e.,
no
employee testimonial used, picture with text, and video with
audio) was the independent variable.
The MANCOVA results indicated that differences existed
among the employee testimonial conditions, Wilks’s � � .84,
20. F(4,
1078) � 24.83, p � .001, multivariate �2 � .08. We conducted
two ANCOVAs (see Table 3) to investigate the nature of these
differences. Results revealed differences in organizational
attrac-
tiveness, F(2, 545) � 19.71, p � .001, �2 � .07, and
information
credibility, F(2, 545) � 47.32, p � .001, �2 � .15, depending
on
the employee testimonial conditions in recruitment materials.
Con-
sistent with predictions made by Hypotheses 1a and 1b,
differences
(see Table 3) in organizational attractiveness and information
credibility existed when comparing the video with audio
condition
and the no-employee testimonial condition (organizational
attrac-
tiveness, Cohen’s d � 1.03, Bonferroni post hoc 95%
confidence
intervals � 0.37, 0.85; information credibility, Cohen’s d �
1.56,
Bonferroni post hoc 95% confidence intervals � 0.73, 1.21) as
well
as when comparing the picture with text condition and the no-
testimonial condition (organizational attractiveness, Cohen’s d
�
.59, Bonferroni post hoc 95% confidence intervals � 0.18, 0.67;
information credibility, Cohen’s d � 1.07, Bonferroni post hoc
95% confidence intervals � 0.48, 0.97).
Table 3 reports results for Hypotheses 2 (a– b). The results
show
that participants rated organizations higher in attractiveness and
information credibility when comparing employee testimonials
21. presented via video with audio versus testimonials presented via
picture with text (organizational attractiveness, Cohen’s d �
.27,
Bonferroni post hoc 95% confidence intervals � 0.04, 0.33; in-
formation credibility, Cohen’s d � .37, Bonferroni post hoc
95%
confidence intervals � 0.10, 0.39). Thus, these results
supported
Hypotheses 2a and 2b.
Table 4 summarizes hierarchical regression analyses used to
test Hypotheses 3 (a– b) and reports the unstandardized coeffi-
cients because standardized coefficients are not interpretable
when investigating interaction effects (Aiken & West, 1991). In
Step 3, addition of the Participant Race � Representation of
Racial Minorities in Employee Testimonials interaction was
significant (organizational attractiveness, B � .50, p � .001;
information credibility, B � .42, p � .001) and accounted for
unique variance in organizational attractiveness (�R2 � .09,
p � .001) and information credibility perceptions (�R2 � .07,
p � .001). We plotted the interaction effects for each dependent
variable to determine the nature of these relationships. Because
each plot was similar, we have included one example plot of the
interaction effect of Web site viewer race and representation of
racial minorities in employee testimonials on organizational
attractiveness (see Figure 1). As expected, Black participants’
ratings of organizational attractiveness and information credi-
bility increased as the number of racial minorities giving em-
ployee testimonials increased. Contrary to our hypotheses, how-
ever, White participants’ ratings of organizational
attractiveness and information credibility decreased as the num-
ber of minorities giving testimonials increased. Testing for the
simple slopes’ significance confirmed that each slope was dif-
ferent from zero: Organizational attractiveness for White par-
ticipants, t(466) � �4.94, p � .001, and for Black participants,
t(466) � 4.65, p � .001; information credibility for White
22. participants, t(466) � �4.88, p � .001, and for Black partici-
Table 2
Means, Standard Deviations, Coefficient Alphas, and
Intercorrelations Among Study Variables
Variable M SD N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1. Participant gendera 0.48 0.50 546 —
2. Participant raceb 0.45 0.50 546 .15�� —
3. Participant age (in years) 22.89 1.74 546 �.17�� .09� —
4. Ethnic identity 2.96 0.48 546 .05 .40�� .09� (.76)
5. Number of Web site links
visited 6.65 1.85 546 �.04 .04 .01 .02 —
6. Total time spent on Web site
(in seconds) 735.35 109.87 546 .06 .04 �.03 .01 .05 —
7. Web site attractiveness 4.08 0.70 546 �.02 .07 �.01 .01 .07
.07 (.72)
8. Use of employee
testimonialsc 0.87 0.33 546 .03 .12�� .01 .03 .10� .43��
.09� —
9. Communication mediad 0.51 0.50 476 .02 .06 .01 .02 �.03
�.05 �.04 —
10. Representation of racial
minorities in employee
testimonialse 1.98 0.83 476 �.03 �.02 .14�� �.02 .04 �.04
�.02 �.04 —
11. Organizational attractiveness 3.50 0.78 546 .08� .23�� .06
.13�� �.05 .09� .10� .24�� .14�� .03 (.86)
12. Recruitment Web site
23. information credibility 3.56 0.73 546 .04 .14�� .09� .12� .02
.11� .12�� .36�� .18�� �.04 .40�� (.84)
Note. Parentheses contain coefficient alphas for measures used
in the study. All tests are two-tailed.
a 0 � male; 1 � female. b 0 � White; 1 � Black. c 0 � not
used; 1 � used. d 0 � picture with text; 1 � video with audio. e
1 � low; 2 � medium;
3 � high.
� p � .05. �� p � .01.
1358 RESEARCH REPORTS
pants, t(466) � 3.38, p � .001. Taking into account the results
for both Black and White participants, we found partial support
for Hypotheses 3a and 3b.
Post Hoc Analyses
Because video with audio employee testimonials might allow
job seekers to better identify with organizational representatives
(Allen et al., 2004; Perloff, 1993), we expected that under such
conditions, job seekers would focus more on message content,
even if a demographically dissimilar individual delivered it.
Accordingly, we investigated a three-way interaction among
com-
munication media, minority representation in testimonials, and
participant race (see Table 5). The three-way interaction terms
were significant for both organizational attractiveness (B �
�0.63,
p � .001) and information credibility (B � �0.39, p � .001)
and
explained unique variance in the dependent variables (organiza-
24. Table 3
Analysis of Covariance Results for Three Employee Testimonial
Conditions and Ratings of Organizational Attractiveness and
Recruitment Web Site Information Credibility
Source
Organizational attractiveness Recruitment Web site information
credibility
M SD F �2 M SD F �2
Covariates
Number of Web site links visited 3.35 .01 0.43 .00
Total time on Web site (in seconds) 0.23 .00 2.13 .00
Web site attractiveness 4.57 .01 5.62 .01
Employee testimonial conditionsa 19.71��� .07 47.32���
.15
No employee testimonial (control) 3.06 0.60 2.87 0.57
Employee picture with text testimonial 3.47 0.77 3.56 0.71
Employee video with audio testimonial 3.65 0.55 3.81 0.63
Note. N � 546. Overall multivariate analyses of covariance
included total number of Web site links visited, total time spent
on Web site (in seconds),
and Web site attractiveness as covariates, Wilks’s � � .84, F(4,
1078) � 24.83, p � .001, multivariate �2 � .08. The means
reported are unadjusted for
any effects due to the covariates.
a All employee testimonial condition means for the
organizational attractiveness and recruitment Web site
information credibility ratings are significantly
different ( p � .001).
��� p � .001.
25. Table 4
Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for
Organizational Attractiveness and
Recruitment Web site Information Credibility
Step
Organizational
attractiveness
Recruitment Web
site information
credibility
B �R2 B �R2
Constant 3.67 3.19
1. Control variables .07��� .07���
Participant gendera .13� .08
Participant age (in years) .01 .02
Ethnic identity .07 .08
Communication mediab .19��� .25���
Number of Web site links visited �.03 �.01
Total time spent on Web site (in seconds) .03 .02
Web site attractiveness .09� .11��
2. Main effects .04��� .03��
Participant racec �.68��� �.53���
Representation of racial minorities in employee testimonialsd
�.24��� �.24���
26. 3. Interaction effects .09��� .07���
Participant Race � Racial Minority Representation .50���
.42���
Overall R2 .20��� .17���
Adjusted R2 .18 .15
Note. N � 476. The sample does not include the 70 participants
viewing the control condition that involved no
employee testimonials. The unstandardized regression
coefficients are those derived in Step 3 of the model. All
tests are two-tailed.
a 0 � male; 1 � female. b 0 � picture with text; 1 � video with
audio. c 0 � White; 1 � Black. d 1 � low;
2 � medium; 3 � high.
� p � .05. �� p � .01. ��� p � .001.
1359RESEARCH REPORTS
tional attractiveness, �R2 � .05, p � .001; information
credibility,
�R2 � .03, p � .001). Interaction effect plots revealed that the
crossover effects between participant race and racial minority
representation in employee testimonials were much smaller
when
video with audio, versus picture with text, was the
communication
medium (see Figure 2 for an example plot). That is, use of a
richer
medium to communicate employee testimonials tended to
attenu-
27. ate the effects of race on recruitment Web site viewers’
organiza-
tional attractiveness and information credibility perceptions.
Discussion
This study investigated recruitment Web site features that have
received only limited attention in past research. Participants
expe-
rienced higher levels of organizational attraction and perceived
higher information credibility when viewing employee
testimoni-
als on recruitment Web sites. In addition, study participants
attrib-
uted higher levels of organizational attraction and credibility to
recruiting organizations when employees delivered the
testimoni-
als orally (with accompanying video) rather than textually (with
an
accompanying photograph). These findings are consistent with
recent research concluding that richer media produce higher
infor-
mation credibility perceptions (Cable & Yu, 2006). Our results
also suggest that job seekers consider the richness of media
used to
communicate organizational information when evaluating poten-
tial employers’ attractiveness.
Race also played an important role in our results. Job seekers’
race interacted with the representation of racial minorities in
employee testimonials, and this interaction influenced job
seekers’
reactions to employee testimonials. Consistent with prior
relational
demography research (e.g., Avery, 2003; Avery et al., 2004) and
our hypothesis, Blacks’ perceptions of organizational attractive-
28. ness and information credibility increased as the proportion of
minorities giving testimonials increased. However, in contrast
to
our prediction, Whites’ organizational attraction and credibility
perceptions of recruitment Web site information decreased when
minority representation in employee testimonials increased.
The social psychology literature offers a possible explanation
for our unexpected findings concerning Whites’ reactions to
changes in the racial diversity of organizational representatives.
McGuire and colleagues (McGuire & McGuire, 1981; McGuire,
McGuire, Child, & Fujioka, 1978) concluded that individuals
spontaneously evaluate the external environment and define
them-
selves in terms of characteristics that distinguish them as
individ-
uals from the majority. Demographic characteristics such as
gen-
der (Cota & Dion, 1986) and ethnicity (McGuire et al., 1978)
are
especially salient characteristics when making these self-
concept
evaluations. With regard to the aforementioned recruitment
studies
investigating the effect of organizational representatives’ race
(e.g., Avery, 2003; Avery et al., 2004), none included a
condition
in which Whites were in minority representation. Because race
was
not distinctive for the White majority, race was not salient for
Whites. It appears that when presented with a condition in
which
Whites are in the minority, as in the present study, race
becomes
salient in defining Whites’ identity.
29. Our post hoc analyses suggested an interesting caveat to the
findings described above concerning the interaction between job
seeker race and representation of racial minorities in employee
testimonials. The richness of media used to communicate em-
ployee testimonials influenced both Blacks’ and Whites’
reactions
to changes in the representation of racial minorities in employee
testimonials. Whites’ lower ratings and Blacks’ higher ratings
of
organization attractiveness and information credibility as the
racial
minority representation on the Web site increased were more
pronounced when picture with text served as the communication
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Low Medium High
O
rg
an
iz
at
io
30. na
l A
ttr
ac
tiv
en
es
s
Representation of Racial Minorities in Employee Testimonials
White Participants Black Participants
Figure 1. Plot of interactive effects of Participant Race �
Representation of Racial Minorities in Employee
Testimonials on organizational attractiveness.
1360 RESEARCH REPORTS
medium versus video with audio. These findings are consistent
with predictions from media richness theory. The ability of
video
with audio media to communicate affect (Allen et al., 2004) as
well as other nonverbal cues, such as facial expression and tone
of
voice (Daft et al., 1987), apparently provided more information
to
participants when evaluating organizations. As a result, these
cues
communicated in video with audio testimonials could have al-
lowed participants to more closely identify with employees and
31. focus more on what employees said rather than the race of the
employees making the statements.
Implications for Organizations
Our findings suggest issues that organizations should contem-
plate as they weigh the desirability of using Web-based
employee
testimonials. First, designers of recruitment Web sites should
consider using employee testimonials. Second, organizations
should consider the medium used to communicate company
infor-
mation. Because job seekers use testimonials to assess their fit
with
potential coworkers, and richer media are likely to provide
additional
cues when making these evaluations, organizations should
consider
video with audio as the medium to deliver employee
testimonials.
Third, our post hoc analyses suggest that organizations that use
rich media to communicate Web-based employee testimonials
have considerable flexibility as to the racial representation of
those
employees providing testimonials. In our study, as long as the
Black representation of testimonial providers varied from 25%
to
75%, there were no significant racial differences in
organizational
attraction and information credibility.
Study Limitations and Future Research
Incorporating participants from historically Black universities
presented a possible limitation to our study. Students from these
32. universities likely experience many situations in which Blacks
are
the majority in terms of racial representation. Therefore,
partici-
pants might have responded more negatively to the conditions in
which Blacks were the minority. Although we attempted to ac-
count for this possibility by controlling for ethnic identity in
our
analyses, future research should examine possible effects of
racial
context.
Also associated with our study design were possible confound-
ing effects of audio with visual cues in our employee
testimonial
manipulations. That is, we did not include an experimental
condi-
tion that combined picture with audio or video with text. Thus,
our
results are limited to just two media conditions and do not
neces-
sarily generalize to other communication methods.
Another potential limitation involved our positing media rich-
ness as a sole determinant of job seeker reactions. Cober et al.
(2004) proposed that Web site playfulness (i.e., the presence of
Table 5
Summary of Moderated Hierarchical Multiple Regression for
Participant Race � Racial
Minority Representation in Employee Testimonials �
Communication Media on Organizational
Attractiveness and Recruitment Web site Information
Credibility
Step
33. Organizational
attractiveness
Recruitment Web
site information
credibility
B �R2 B �R2
Constant 4.21 3.51
1. Control variables .05��� .04��
Participant gendera .13� .08
Participant age (in years) �.03 .01
Ethnic identity .02 .06
Number of Web site links visited �.01 �.02
Total time spent on Web site (in seconds) .03 .01
Web site attractiveness .08� .11��
2. Main effects: .06��� .05���
Participant raceb �1.03��� �.91���
Communication mediac .01 .03
Representation of racial minorities in employee testimonialsd
�.37��� �.33���
3. Two-way interaction effects .17��� .08���
Participant Race � Communication Media .60� .41
Participant Race � Racial Minority Representation .87���
.62���
Communication Media � Racial Minority Representation .28��
34. .19
4. Three-way interaction effects .05��� .03���
Participant Race � Communication Media � Racial
Minority Representation �.63��� �.39���
Overall R2 .33��� .20���
Adjusted R2 .31 .18
Note. N � 476. The sample does not include the 70 participants
viewing the control condition that involved no
employee testimonials. The unstandardized regression
coefficients are those derived in Step 4 of the model. All
tests are two-tailed.
a 0 � male; 1 � female. b 0 � White; 1 � Black. c 0 � picture
with text; 1 � video with audio. d 1 � low;
2 � medium; 3 � high.
� p � .05. �� p � .01. ��� p � .001.
1361RESEARCH REPORTS
sound, video, animation, etc.) might positively influence
partici-
pants’ reactions. As such, one might argue that participants’
pos-
itive organizational reactions to employee testimonials
presented
via video with audio were simply a result of Web site
playfulness
versus the richness of the media with which testimonial
informa-
tion was communicated. Although we cannot completely rule
out
35. this possibility, we attempted to account for these effects by
controlling for the number of recruitment Web site links visited,
total time spent on Web site (in seconds), and Web site
attractive-
ness. We also conducted post hoc analyses to examine
differences
in these variables for the three employee testimonial
communica-
tion conditions (i.e., no testimonial, picture with text, and video
with audio).5 Because the results showed that total time spent
on
the Web site was significantly higher when comparing both the
video with audio and picture with text conditions with the no-
testimonial condition, Web site playfulness effects might have
influenced our results. Accordingly, future research on Web site
employee testimonials should assess the relative influence of
me-
dia richness and Web site playfulness on relevant criteria.
Future research also needs to extend our study. For example, the
similarity-attraction paradigm suggests that Black men, as com-
pared with White men, respond more negatively to White
women
giving a testimonial (Byrne, 1971). Moreover, future investiga-
tions might manipulate actual message content of employee
testi-
monials to determine possible racial differences in job seeker
attitudes (Van Hoye & Lievens, 2007). For example, previous
research found that Blacks possessed a more communal
orientation
than Whites (Cox, Lobel, & McLeod, 1991; Oyserman, Gant, &
Ager, 1995). Therefore, Black applicants might respond more
favorably to Web site testimonial content representing a
support-
ive, team-oriented culture (Braddy et al., 2006).
36. In addition, future research should further examine the commu-
nication capacity of the Internet to identify ways of influencing
job
seekers’ attitudes. Our post hoc findings suggest that richer
media
diminishes differences in Black and White participants’
reactions
to changes in the racial representation of employees giving
testi-
monials. Might using richer media also affect reactions to other
organizational information? For example, would video of the or-
ganization’s geographic location and physical facilities (e.g.,
of-
fices) influence job seekers more than reading the same
informa-
tion presented via text?
Conclusion
The current study sheds additional light on job seekers’ re-
sponses to employee testimonials on recruitment Web sites.
Iden-
tifying such relationships is vital because job seekers often use
recruitment Web site information to form initial organizational
attitudes (Barber, 1998; Rynes, 1991). Our results indicated that
job seekers consider organizations’ use of employee
testimonials,
racial representation of employees giving these testimonials,
and
the communication media used to present them when viewing
5 MANOVA results indicated that differences in the number of
recruit-
ment Web site links visited, total time spent on the Web site,
and Web site
37. attractiveness, Wilks’s � � 0.79, F(6, 1082) � 23.13, p � .001,
existed
among the media used to communicate employee testimonials
(i.e., no
employee testimonial, picture with text, or video with audio).
We con-
ducted three analyses of variance to determine the nature of
these differ-
ences. No differences were found for the number of Web site
links visited,
F(2, 545) � 2.93, ns, or Web site attractiveness, F(2, 545) �
2.87, ns,
according to communication media. However, communication
media did
influence the total time spent on the Web sites, F(2, 545) �
67.34, p �
.001, �2 � .17. Participants spent significantly more time on
Web sites that
included video with audio (M � 748.93, SD � 99.19) and
picture with text
(M � 758.96, SD � 105.75) testimonials as compared with Web
sites not
including employee testimonials (M � 607.27, SD � 89.85).
Time spent
on the Web sites did not differ between the video with audio
and picture
with text conditions.
2
3
4
5
38. Low Medium High
O
rg
an
iz
at
io
na
l A
tt
ra
ct
iv
en
es
s
Representation of Racial Minorities in Employee Testimonials
White Participants/Video with Audio Black Participants/Video
with Audio
White Participants/Picture with Text Black Participants/Picture
with Text
Figure 2. Plot of interactive effects of Participant Race �
Representation of Racial Minorities in Employee
Testimonials � Communication Media on organizational
39. attractiveness.
1362 RESEARCH REPORTS
organizations’ recruitment Web sites. These findings emphasize
the importance for organizations of carefully considering the
com-
munication capabilities of the World Wide Web when planning
and developing corporate recruitment strategies.
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Appendix
Sample Employee Testimonial
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
be-
ing delighted with his or her experience at HBA. There was no
hesitation or roundabout answer when I asked them about ad-
49. vancement opportunities, which they stressed to be very achiev-
able 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
understand-
ing 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
50. 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. We 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.”
Received January 8, 2008
Revision received November 11, 2008
Accepted November 24, 2008 �
1364 RESEARCH REPORTS
