CSR IN JOB SEEKING: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON
Master’s thesis
Graduate School of Communication Corporate Communication
Author: Carlotta Nora Rosi Student ID: 11368381 Supervisor: James Slevin Date: 28-06-2018
Abstract
Organizations are facing a challenge competing for loyal and talented employees. Especially in this case it is important for companies to appear as more attractive as possible starting from the first moment of the recruitment process, namely job vacancy. This research gives
companies’ suggestions by investigating what transforms a job vacancy into an effective recruitment tool. It is built on the assumption that a good and effective communication strategy in job vacancies is the key for attracting talented job seekers. The job description helps individuals evaluate their potential fit within the company. First, this study tests whether the mere presence of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) statement in the job vacancy makes the organization more attractive. Second, it aims to verify if this relationship is
mediated by the person-organization fit (P-O fit). Third, it adds culture type to the equation by testing if the presence of the CSR statements has a differing importance depending on if the job seekers have a masculine or feminine culture. A 2x2 online experimental design was used to test the hypotheses. The sample (N=211) included only Dutch and Italian respondents, representing a feminine and a masculine culture. The results showed that the presence of a CSR statement attracts job seekers to the organization and that this relationship is partially mediated by the P-O fit. However, no significant evidence was found when considering the different cultural backgrounds. Based on these findings organizations may conclude that including their CSR statement in the job vacancy is a useful strategy no matter individual’s cultural background.
Keywords: organization attractiveness, job vacancy, recruitment, CSR communication, cross-cultural communication
CSR in job seeking: a cross-cultural comparison
Organizations are dealing with an increasingly international and competitive environment (Catano & Hines, 2016). In order to reach a competitive advantage and
differentiate themselves from others, a company needs to attract and retain highly loyal and talented employees (Bhattacharya, Sen & Korschun, 2008; Elving, Westhoff, Meeusen & Schoonderbeek, 2013). Indeed, employees are considered one of the main valuable factors for the success of an organization (Carmeli & Weisberg, 2006). According to Chambers et al. (1998), companies are facing a “war for talent” caused by the shortfall of talent. It is becoming more and more difficult to bridge talented job seekers into the organization. To overcome this problem, organizations have to make themselves as attractive as possible from the very first interaction with a job seeker, which are often the job vacancies (van Hoye & Lievens, 2007).
Elving et al. (2013) discovered that the majority of job vacancies give limited information about the company without referring to their values. In order to be unique and attract a qualified applicant that suits the job vacancy, it is important to use a specific
recruitment communication strategy (Elving et al., 2013). A good recruitment communication strategy is one that uses the right wording in order to “hit the target” (Elving et al., 2013). As such, it seems that job vacancies have become a sort of advertisement where the goal is not to persuade individuals to buy a product, but to attract high quality and talented applicants (Elving et al., 2013). The job advertisement should therefore, happen in two steps: first, the organization needs to understand what the characteristics of the individual they want to attract are. Second, they need to create a job description that communicates these values and
leverage on them. Knowing which values the potential applicants find important and which needs they may have helps to build more tailored and effective, recruiting communication strategies (Chambers et al., 1998). As such, it is essential to understand potential workers’
values and needs since the very beginning but also to build a job vacancy that clearly states these values (Ma & Allen, 2009).
In this sense, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been shown to play a critical role (Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017). CSR is “a firm’s obligation to protect and improve its organization and the welfare of society” (Kim, Kang & Mattila, 2012, p. 43). The presence of CSR statements in job vacancies can highlight and make explicit the values a company is built on (Kim & Kim, 2010). They give the applicants an understanding of what to expect from the company they are applying for (Greening & Turban, 2000). If the applicant shares the same values, he/she is more likely to perceive a match with the company and to feel more attached to the company and position. This feeling is what the literature addresses as person-organization fit (P-O fit; Chatman, 1989). The P-O fit takes place when applicant’s personal values and norms match those of the organization and encourage a feeling of belongingness. Both CSR statement and P-O fit have been considered as factors that help to portray the organization as more attractive in the recruitment process. In fact, Turban and Greening (1997) stated that a CSR statement gives applicants a feeling of working for a socially responsible organization that subsequently enhances their self-image. CSR can also lead to a higher organizational attractiveness (Lin, Tsai, Joe & Chiù, 2012). Similarly, Backhaus (2004) argues that P-O fit also increases the attractiveness of the organization by leveraging on the feeling of similarity. The studies mentioned so far underline the positive power of the presence of CSR statements within job vacancies. However, it is not clear that there is always a positive effect on applicants. It is legitimate to think that some of them could be sceptical towards these CSR statements (Elving et al., 2013; Elving & van Vuuren, 2011).
The main challenge that global organizations are faced with is to understand whether a factor attracting new talented applicants, like CSR, is suitable for every country. Companies often have a general and global view of the market, without realizing that market needs vary
across countries (de Mooij & Hofstede, 2002). The lack of cross-cultural knowledge follows a scarcity of researches that focus on the differences between cultures. More cross-cultural studies are needed in order to give more practical implications on how organizations should operate in different countries (Adler, 1983). “Differences in national cultures call for differences in management practices” (Newman & Nollen, 1996 p.753), therefore, it is important for organizations that operate in different countries to know how to deal and communicate with diverse cultures. As the importance of certain values changes from nation to nation (Burton, Farh & Hegarty, 2000), it is important to know exactly which
organizational values to focus on, when addressing new employees with different cultural backgrounds. Ma and Allen (2009) suggest that job seekers having a different cultural background might consider differently the information given in the job vacancy.
To investigate this problem, the present study will use one of the most used and acknowledged cross-cultural frameworks, this being the one proposed by Hofstede (Hofstede, 1984, 1994, 2001). Although a number of scholars have criticised this model as not reflecting reality (Baskerville, 2003; McSweeney, 2009; Signorini, Wiesemes & Murphy, 2009), this framework has been proven to be accurate when studying recruitment process in companies having branches across countries (Ma & Allen, 2009). In this framework, Hofstede has defined 5 different cultural dimensions, namely: Individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, long and short-term orientation and masculinity/femininity. Within this research, I focus only on one of the five cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede, masculinity vs. femininity. A masculine culture is the one that values as important ambition and competitiveness, while a feminine culture focuses more on the quality of life and collaboration (Hofstede, 1984). To represent the two dimensions, I used a purposive sample composed by Italian and Dutch citizens, the first representing a masculine culture, the latter a feminine one (Hofstede, 1984). Previous studies (Blodgett, Lu, Rose & Vitell, 2001; Kim &
Kim, 2010; Peng, Dashdeleg & Chih, 2012; Yoo & Donthu, 2002) demonstrated that
masculine and feminine cultures weigh CSR statements differently. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that these two cultures will evaluate differently the presence of CSR statement in the job vacancy.
From all the above considerations, the following research question is formulated: To what extent does mentioning CSR in job vacancies increase attractiveness to an organization among job seekers and how does it change when the culture and person-organization fit of the applicants are being considered?
This research aims to give organizations recommendations about the presence of CSR in the recruitment process and the cultures where the CSR may be more successful to attract the best applicants. The present study also gives several contributions to the existing
literature. First, it helps to validate and update previous studies on CSR, organization attractiveness and P-O fit. Second, it aims to extend the knowledge about the importance of the information included in the job vacancies, also in relation to different cultures. Third, it enriches the knowledge about Hofstede’s cultural dimensions by, hopefully, adding a further trait (i.e. presence of CSR statement) that differentiates masculine and feminine cultures. Fourth, it helps to decrease the knowledge gap in cross-cultural studies.
Theoretical Framework Organization attractiveness and CSR
Organization attractiveness is the extent to which individuals are attracted to a
company and further willing to work for them (Albinger & Freeman, 2000). In a competitive, mature and international market, organizations need to differentiate themselves from their competitors and make themselves as attractive as possible. It is important for them to attract the best and appropriate employees regarding their needs in order to have a competitive advantage (Turban & Greening, 1997). To achieve this goal, companies need to use the most
appropriate recruitment communication strategy to make themselves attractive to the eyes of potential applicants (Bhattacharya et al., 2008; Elving et al., 2013).
Previous studies have proven that a positive perceived organization image attracts potential job seekers (Greening & Turban, 2000; Turban & Greening, 1997).
An important factor that can be considered as giving a favourable organizational image is CSR. Indeed, a positive CSR reputation has been proven to attract a high number of
applicants. Furthermore, studies have shown that job applicants look for organization’s CSR when choosing where to apply (Randy Evans & David, 2011).
This phenomenon may be explained by the signalling theory and the social identity theory. First, job seekers when looking for a job have to evaluate different job offers. This moment becomes critical for them because they have to make a decision about where to apply. Given the small amount of information included in the vacancies, job seekers look for clues that lead them to make a decision (Gatewood, Gowan & Lautenschlager, 1993;
Greening & Turban, 2000; Joo, Moon & Choi, 2016). Therefore, it is important for companies to adopt a good communication strategy in order to facilitate this decision process. According the signalling theory, all the information they are able to gather become signals. These signals can help individuals imagine how it would be to work for that potential organization because they are interpreted as giving information on the companies’ working condition (Greening & Turban, 2000; Joo et al., 2016). In these situations, CSR communication can be a key
recruitment tool. Therefore, the presence of a CSR statement may become a benchmark for potential job applicants while taking a decision on where to apply (Joo et al., 2016).
Second, the social identity theory states that being part of a social group influences peoples’ self-concept (Backhaus, Stone & Heiner, 2002; Greening & Turban, 2000).
Organizations are part of these social groups (Greening & Turban, 2000). Thus, individuals, in order to enhance their self-image, are more willing to work for companies that have a
positive CSR. This means that individuals like to show they are working for a company that share their same values and ideas (Devendorf & Highhouse, 2008). Moreover, the authors also discovered that organizations’ CSR statement not only attracts potential job seekers, but also increases their willingness to apply and further accept the job offer (Greening & Turban, 2000).
However, other scholars have highlighted that people might be sceptical towards organization’s CSR (Elving & Van Vuuren, 2011). For instance, people might believe that the company is using it as green washing strategy (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). A good CSR strategy needs to be well connected with the organization’s identity, and companies should give substantial proof to validate that they are being socially responsible (Du, Bhattacharya & Sen, 2010). These are important factors to consider when implementing a credible CSR strategy. Nevertheless, previous studies do not really provide proof to validate the conclusion that the presence of CSR in job vacancies might have a negative effect. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, I will consider the presence of the CSR statement in the job vacancy as a powerful tool of the organization rather than something damaging.
According to the aforementioned studies, the use of a CSR communication strategy has the ability to attract the best potential employees that best suits an organization (Backhaus et al., 2002; Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017; Turban & Greening, 1997). Therefore, it may be that just the presence of the CSR statement itself will make an organization more attractive to job seekers, who will then be more likely to consider working for them. Based on these
arguments, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H1: The presence of CSR in the job vacancy attracts more job seekers to the organization than the absence of CSR.
P-O fit is the match between values and norms stated by the organization and those of individuals (Chatman, 1989). Schneider (1987) was the first scholar that connected P-O fit to the recruitment research field. His model, attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) states that these three concepts are highly dependent on the degree of similarity between the organization and the individual (Cable & Judge, 1997). In practice, when job seekers look for a job it is likely that they evaluate job offers according to their perceived fit to organization’s values (Judge & Bretz, 1991). In other words, individuals reading job vacancies seek for companies’
characteristics that they might share. People are expected to be attracted to companies with whom they share some personal similarities. Indeed, studies have shown that individuals are more inclined to apply for organizations that they share the same values with (Bhattacharya & Sen, 2003; Cable & Judge, 1996; Devendorf & Highhouse, 2008; Randy Evans & Davis, 2011; Zhang & Gowan, 2012).
CSR has been discovered as a crucial element that may indirectly attract job seekers (Albinger & Freeman, 2000; Hudson, Bryson & Michelotti, 2017). This can be explained by the fact that CSR statements are able to represent companies’ beliefs and values (Kim & Kim, 2010). People that are socially responsible are more inclined to be attracted to and further apply for an organization that states the same values (Albinger & Freeman, 2000). For instance, if an organization states “We make a positive difference to our communities,
provide voluntary work to help socially vulnerable groups, preserve the environment and help those in need in case of emergencies” (Finance management trainee, n.d.), individuals who share the same values about the environment and helping people in need will perceive the organization as more similar to them and be further attracted to the organization’. For these reasons, P-O fit may be the underlying factor, which elicits organization attractiveness.
Therefore, it is important to know and to study if people’s attraction to an organizations’ CSR depends on the job seekers personal value. On the basis of this argumentation the following hypothesis will be stated:
H2: The relationship between CSR and organization attractiveness is mediated by person-organization fit.
Culture and CSR
Organizations working in an international environment need to be advised on the best recruiting communication strategy to use to attract high quality employees across different countries. Large organizations are likely to have different branches spread across several countries. Therefore, companies need to adapt their recruitment communication strategy to different cultures to avoid encountering several losses (de Mooij & Hofstede, 2002).
Bae and Kim (2013) stated that culture influences individuals’ judgment of ethical issues. Likewise, Christie et al. (2003) showed that peoples’ ethical attitude differs from culture to culture. On the same line, Burton et al. (2000) argued that every culture weighs differently the importance of certain values. More precisely, the authors discovered that in two different cultures, USA and Hong Kong, student’s orientation to CSR has been weighed in different ways. The results suggested that students from Hong Kong where more focused on companies economic responsibility than American students (Burton et al., 2000). Hence, individuals from different countries and with a different cultural background may have a different perception of organizations’ CSR (Kim & Kim, 2010).
When considering cultural studies, Geert Hofstede’s framework is recognized as one of the most valid and used worldwide. He defines culture as “ the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or society from those of another” (Hofstede, 1984, p. 82). This means that people are influenced by the society they grow up in. For instance, individuals reflect what they were taught by their parents and teachers
(Hofstede, 1984). Hofstede identified five different cultural dimensions: individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation/short-term orientation and masculinity/femininity (Hofstede, 2001). The Individualism/collectivism is “the degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of a group” (Hofstede, 1994, p.6). The power distance is the degree to which individuals belonging to a certain culture accept the unequal distribution of power (Hofstede, 1984). The uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people of a society manage situations of uncertainty (Hofstede, 1984). The long term orientation/short term orientation is about a vision to the future based on perseverance and parsimony or to the past by focusing on traditions (Hofstede, 2011). Finally, the masculinity/femininity dimension concerns the weight a society gives to values that are typically feminine (collaborative) versus the one that are usually associated towards men (competitiveness; Hofstede, 1984). Hofstede drew these conclusions by analysing the attitude of 88,000 IBM employees based in 72 different countries and regions (Hofstede, 1984, 1994, 2001).
However, some critiques have been raised against Hofstede’s framework. McSweeney (2009) and Baskerville (2003) stated that the Hofstede’s model is not reliable since it does not consider different facets of nations. According to the authors, the model does not recognise the complexity of cultures, such as the intra-national diversity (Baskerville, 2003;
McSweeney, 2009; Signorini et al., 2009). However, the number of studies criticizing Hofstede’s model is small compared to the number of those confirming its validity, therefore it will be adopted in the present study (Hofman & Newman, 2014, Kim & Kim, 2010; Bae & Kim, 2013; Williamson, 2002). Although the model describes five different cultural
dimensions, the time and resources available for investigation are rather limited. Therefore, the focus will be on one specific dimension: masculinity/femininity. Out of the five
perception (Hofman & Newman, 2014; Smith, Bond & Kagitcibasi, 2006). Two nations have been selected as representative of this cultural dimension: Italy and the Netherlands.
On the one hand, Italy is considered a more masculine culture and scores 70 on masculinity on the Hofstede dimension index. In contrast, the Netherlands is considered a more feminine culture and scores 14 on the same dimension (Hofstede, 1984). A masculine society is focused more on ambition, power, assertiveness and competitiveness, whereas its opposite, feminine, follows values like quality of life, cooperation and collaboration
(Hofstede, 1984, 1994, 2001). Hence, individuals high in femininity may be more susceptible to unethical behaviours because they may drive to conflicts (Hofman & Newman, 2013). A number of prior studies support this assumption. For instance, it has been discovered that feminine individuals are more sensitive to ethical behaviours than masculine individuals (Yoo & Donthu, 2002; Blodgett et al., 2001). Likewise, another study found that masculinity related negatively to CSR engagement (Peng et al., 2012). On the same line, Kim and Kim (2010) and Bae and Kim (2013), showed in their studies that feminine culture, compared to masculine, considers CSR as more important.
Following the line of these argumentations it can be assumed that individuals who hold a feminine culture are more attracted to companies that mention a CSR statement in their job vacancies.
Therefore, the following hypothesis will be tested:
H3: The presence of CSR in the vacancy attracts more job seekers to the organization than the absence of CSR, but this effect will be more pronounced for job seekers who have a feminine culture than job seekers who have a masculine culture.
Figure 1. Conceptual model of the research.
Method Sample
To investigate the influence of CSR statements and the cultural dimension in job vacancies a non-probability convenient sample combined with a snowball sampling technique were used to gather the data. These sampling techniques were suitable for this cross-cultural study because it made it easier to reach individuals coming from two different cultures. Respondents were recruited to participate to this study by sending the online invitation with a link to the questionnaire to acquaintances and friends via Facebook and email. Only
respondents who were Italian or Dutch could participate to the study. Therefore, participants were selected because of their nationality while other nationalities were excluded from the study.
The initial number of participants was 288. 9 participants did not meet the nationality criteria and 68 dropped out from the questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 211
a master’s degree (47.4 %) or a bachelor’s degree (32.2 %). Only 17.3% of the participants had a lower level of education. The mean age of the respondents was 28 (SD= 10.31). In this study, respondents participated voluntarily giving written informed consent and no incentives were offered.
Design & Procedures
In order to investigate whether the presence of CSR in job vacancies had an effect on applicants’ organization attractiveness, this research made use of a two (CSR: presence vs. absence) by two (cultural dimension: masculinity vs. femininity) between subject factorial designs. This experimental design has been chosen because a previous study used this method in order to detect the influence of CSR communication in vacancies (Elving et al., 2013). Furthermore, the data was collected via an online survey (the full survey is available in Appendix A). As most present-day job seekers are nowadays applying for jobs on the Internet, the same environment has been employed in the present experiment in order to maximize the ecological validity of the results.
After receiving via email or Facebook the anonymous link to participate in the study, respondents had to accept the terms and conditions. Successively, a filter question was used to assess whether they came from Italy or from the Netherlands. Only after answering this question, and stating that they come from one of these two countries, they could proceed with the experiment. Respondents were exposed to one of the two experimental conditions and were asked to analyse a description of a fictional job vacancy. The experimental condition included the description of the position and of the company including the company’s CSR statement, whereas the control condition had no CSR statement. All respondents were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. Once they finished reading the job description they had to answer several questions. This questionnaire assessed individual’s attraction to the organization mentioned in the job vacancy. At the end of the questionnaire
respondents had to answer to some demographic questions, namely age, educational level and gender. Finally, all respondents were thanked for their participation. The data has been
collected between 05/05/2018 and 14/05/2018. Manipulation of Independent variables
CSR. The main independent variable in this study was organization’s CSR.
Organization’s CSR was manipulated by its presence or absence in a job vacancy. The job vacancy was fictional in order to prevent any bias that a known brand and its reputation may cause. To make the vacancy more credible and reliable I took an existing vacancy from the Zalando website (Start your Zalando journey here, n.d.). The company name was changed to “ClothingWorld” to emphasise the main business of the fictional company included in the experiment, namely clothing retail. Studies have shown that people have an increasing interest and a higher sensitivity in regard to fashion industries sustainability (Brosdahl & Carpenter, 2010; Chen & Burns, 2006). Because of the increasing awareness consumers have about the importance of sustainable textile industries, it is more likely that the presence or absence of CSR statement could influence respondents’ organization perceptions. Thus, the textile sector was a particularly interesting scenario for testing the hypotheses of the present study.
The two conditions differed only for the presence or absence of the CSR statement. According to Lin et al, (2012), philanthropic and environmental CSR attracts more applicants and therefore the CSR statement present in the vacancy had this focus. The statement will be the following: “ClothingWorld aims to reduce the environmental footprint of fashion
industries through innovative technologies. We strive to achieve growth by balancing our customers’ needs and those of our planet. The key of our Integrity is to protect natural resources and reduce the waste of water and raw materials in the production of our clothing” (Start your Zalando journey here, n.d.). The conditions variable was recoded into a dummy variable in order to facilitate the analysis (0= No CSR; 1= CSR).
Manipulation check
The manipulation of the organization’s CSR was checked via one item at the end of the questionnaire to verify that the presence of the CSR statement produced changes in participants’ perceptions of a socially responsible organization. First, participants were provided with the definition of CSR. This way each participant was aware of the meaning of CSR. Second, respondents were asked: “Was the company in the job vacancy socially
responsible?”. Respondents had to answer on a 5 point Likert scale from 1 (Not responsible at all) to 5 (Extremely responsible). To check whether the manipulation worked as intended I conducted an Independent sample T-test with the conditions, presence or absence of the CSR statement, as independent variable. The analysis showed that participants exposed to the presence of the CSR statement (M=3.40, SD=0.82) rated the company as more socially responsible than participants exposed to the mere job vacancy, absence of the CSR statement (M=2.71, SD=1.00), t (209) = -5,44, p < .001, 95% CI [-0.93, -0.44]. Therefore, the
manipulation was successful. Measures
Demographic variables
The demographic variables namely, age, gender and educational level, were used as control variables since prior studies found them to be connected to the perception of CSR (Albinger & Freeman, 2000; Greenig & Turban, 2000; Joo et al., 2016).
Moderator
Cultural dimension. The moderator, cultural dimension, was assessed by the two nationalities (Italian and Dutch) included in the study. These nationalities represented respectively a masculine (Italian) and a feminine (Dutch) culture. This variable was recoded into a dummy variable in order to facilitate the analysis (0= Dutch; 1= Italian).
In order to check whether these two nationalities represented their respective cultural dimension on an individual level, respondents were asked to answer a 4 items Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) that measures the masculinity degree (Yoo & Donthu, 2002). An example item is “It is more important for men to have a professional career than it is for women” (M = 1.62, SD = 1.12). The Cronbach’s alpha showed an acceptable internal reliability (α = .77). Therefore, a scale for masculinity was computed by averaging the items (M= 1.96, SD= 0.91).
Mediator
Person-organization fit. The mediator was person-organization fit. This variable was measured with three items on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (completely) taken from Saks and Ashforth (2002). An example item is: “To what extent are the values of the organization similar to your own values?” (M = 3.27, SD = 0.85). The Cronbach’s alpha showed a good internal reliability (α = .86). Therefore, a scale for P-O fit was computed by averaging the items (M= 3.21, SD= 0.78).
Dependent variable
Organization Attractiveness. The main dependent variable of this study is organization attractiveness. This variable was measured with five items on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree) taken from Highhouse, Lievens & Sinar (2003) and Joo et al. (2016). An example is: “For me, this company would be a good place to work.” (M = 5.05, SD = 1.37). The Cronbach’s alpha showed a good internal reliability (α = .89). Therefore, a scale for organization attractiveness was computed by averaging the items (M= 4.87, SD= 1.23).
To test H1 I conducted an independent sample t-test. To test H2 the mediation effect, I used Process model number 4. Finally, H3 was tested by conducting a factorial ANOVA. The analyses were conducted on SPSS and the full syntax is available in Appendix B.
Results Randomization checks
A number of analyses were conducted to check whether participants randomly assigned to the four conditions did not differ for age, gender and education level. Before starting the analysis the education level variable has been recoded into a dummy variable in order to facilitate the analysis (0= Low education; 1= High education). First, a factorial ANOVA was conducted to check that participants across the four conditions did not differ in age. The Levene’s test is significant, F(3, 207) = 12.275, p < .001, and therefore the
assumption of equal variances has been violated. This means that the results should be looked at with caution. The results showed that participants did not significantly differ in age across the two conditions and the two cultural dimensions F(1, 210) = 0.585, p = .445. Second, two Chi-square tests were performed in order to check that participants did not differ in gender and education level across the two CSR conditions. The results showed that participants did not differ in gender, χ² (2) = 0.001, p = .999, and in their education level, χ² (1) = 0.237, p = .627. Third, other two Chi-square tests were performed and showed that respondents in the cultural dimension conditions (Dutch and Italian) did not differ in age χ² (2) = 5.204, p = .074. However they differed in their education level χ² (1) = 7.304, p = .007. For this reason,
education level was included as a control variable in H3. Excluding the last case, the analyses showed that the randomization was successful.
Preliminary analysis
A preliminary analysis was conducted before starting the main analyses. More precisely, this analysis wanted to check whether on an individual level the two cultures
included in this study differed on the masculinity scale. An independent t-test was carried out in order to check whether there was a significant difference in the level of masculinity
between Italians and Dutch participants. The results showed that there was no difference between Dutch (M=1.95, SD=0.81) and Italians (M=1.97, SD=1.00), t(209) = -0.19, p =.847, 95% CI [-0.27, 0.22]. The two cultures did not differ on the masculinity dimension on an individual level. The third hypothesis (H3) will still be tested because of Hofstede’s
assumption that on national level the two cultures should differ (Hofstede, 1984, 1994, 2001). Main analysis
The first hypothesis (H1) stated that the presence of a CSR statement in a job vacancy attracts more job seekers to the organization than when CSR statement is absent. To test this assumption an independent sample t-test was performed with CSR (presence or absence) as an independent variable and organization attractiveness as a dependent variable. The Levene’s test is significant, F(2, 200.705)=8.85, p =.003, and therefore equal variances are not
assumed. The analysis showed that participants who were exposed to the job vacancy with the CSR statements were more attracted to the organization (M= 5.17, SD=1.03) than participants who were exposed to the job vacancy without the CSR statement, (M= 4.60, SD=1.33). This mean difference (d=0.57) was significant, t(200.705) = -3.49, p = .001, 95% CI [-0.89, -0.25]. Therefore, H1 was retained.
The second hypothesis (H2) posits that the relationship between the presence and absence of the CSR statement and organization attractiveness is mediated by the P-O fit. In order to test this hypothesis the model 4 in PROCESS (Hayes, 2013) has been performed with CSR (presence and absence) as an independent variable, individuals’ organization
attractiveness as a dependent variable and P-O fit as mediator. There was a direct effect of CSR on P-O fit, b=0.30, SE= 0.11, t=2.84, p =.005, 95% CI [0.09, 5.11]. Further, there was a direct effect of P-O fit on organization attractiveness, b=1.10, SE=0.08, t=14.61, p < .001,
95% CI [0.95, 1.25]. In addition, there is a significant direct effect between the CSR
conditions and organization attractiveness, b=0.24, SE=0.12, t=2.01, p = .046, 95% CI [0.01, 0.47], therefore, P-O fit did only partially mediate this relationship, indirect effect=0.33, 95% BCBCI [0.11, 0.63]. Hence, H2 was retained. P-O fit partially mediates the relationship between the CSR conditions and organization attractiveness.
The third hypothesis (H3) states that the presence of CSR in the vacancy attracts more job seekers to the organization when they have a more feminine culture than those with a more masculine one. To test this hypothesis a two-way ANOVA was performed with CSR as an independent variable,’ organization attractiveness as a dependent variable and cultural dimension (Italian and Dutch) as a moderator. Since the randomization check showed that the groups did differ in education level, this variable will be used as a control in the analysis. The Levene’s test is significant, F (3, 207)=3.896, p = .010, and therefore the assumption of equal variances has been violated. This means that the results should be looked at with caution. The moderation analysis showed that the interaction effect between CSR and cultural dimension was not significant F (1, 206) = 2.133, p = .146. Thus, whether individuals have a more feminine or masculine culture does not have an effect on the extent they are attracted to the organization. Therefore, H3 was rejected.
Conclusions
There is no doubt that a “war for talent” is constantly going on in the marketplace. The number of companies competing for excellence in their field is increasing but, at the same time, the number of highly skilled and valuable employees remains rather stable. In this sense, many companies are working hard for the best employees to join their workforce. Hence, companies are advised to make themselves as attractive as possible to the eyes of potential applicants. This study enriches previous studies on CSR communication strategies to use to attract new employees. First, pre-existing assumptions were tested, then they were enriched
by adding a new important variable: cultural dimension. Overall, this study aimed to provide suggestions on how companies should construct job vacancies to attract the best applicants according to their cultural background.
According to the hypotheses, the factors that were likely to influence the responses of the participants were: the presence of CSR statement in the job vacancies, P-O fit and culture. The findings of this study confirmed the first hypothesis. When CSR is mentioned in job vacancies individuals are more attracted to the organization. This means that job seekers are more likely to consider and be attracted to companies stating their CSR in the vacancy. These expectations are in line with previous studies that analysed the influence of CSR
communication on job applicants (Backhaus et al, 2002; Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017; Turban & Greening, 1997). Support for this result is given by signalling theory, which states that individuals reading vacancies are always looking for signals that allow them to get an idea of the working environment of that specific company’. In this case, CSR communications work as one of those signals (Greening & Turban, 2000). Moreover, another theory supporting this finding is social identity theory. Individuals might be more interested in working for a social responsible company to feel more socially accepted (Backhaus et al., 2002; Greening & Turban, 2000).
An important implication that can be useful for practitioners is that implementing a CSR communication strategy in job vacancies is a good way to attract job seekers.
Furthermore, this strategy helps organizations differentiate themselves from others by showing their own values and so win the “war for talent”. Therefore, companies should consider applying this strategy when seeking for new employees.
The second hypothesis was also in line with the expectation of the research. The relation between CSR statements and organization attractiveness was found being partially mediated by P-O fit. More precisely, job seekers are more inclined to consider organizations
that share their same values. This result is a confirmation of prior studies on the topic. CSR has been considered as showing important values and beliefs of an organization (Albinger & Freeman, 2000). Chatman (1989) discovered that an important factor for job seekers when applying for a job offer is feeling that they fit the company. By doing so they might feel more reassured applying for a company they feel to belong to (Chatman, 1989).
This finding has an important implication for organizations. Indeed, it suggests that companies should use a CSR communication strategy. By doing so, companies can attract individuals that share their values and therefore be a greater fit for the company. This feeling of belonging is important because as shown by Cable and Judge (1996), it increases the level of personal satisfaction and well-being of the employee, which in turn increases working performance and eventually contributes to the greater success of the company.
The third hypothesis was not confirmed. Culture was expected to make a difference in how people evaluate the presence of the CSR statement in the job vacancy. More precisely, the feminine culture was supposed to be more attracted to the job offer containing the CSR statement than the masculine culture. The final results showed that Dutch (feminine culture) participants reading the job vacancy with the CSR statement did not react differently than Italian (masculine culture) ones. This assumption was based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory and prior research stating that these two cultures weigh ethical issues differently (Blodgett et al., 2001; Burton et al., 2000; Peng et al., 2012; Yoo & Donthu, 2002).
This finding suggests to companies having different branches around the world that when using a CSR communication strategy to attract potential employees they do not have to differentiate the strategy between masculine and feminine cultures. CSR statements are effective no matter the cultural background. This means that they will have the same positive outcome in both cultures.
Discussion
The findings of this research are a reason for discussion among practitioners and scholars and give interesting insights to be used to enrich the current knowledge. First, based on their masculinity scores, there was no significant difference between Italian and Dutch subjects in their perception of the presence of the CSR statement in the vacancy. This result seems in contrast with Hofstede’s framework. However, the characteristics of the sample could explain my results. Due to the limited time and resources available, a convenient
sample combined with a snowball sampling technique has been used to gather the data. These sampling types are not generalizable since they collect data from a specific group of
individuals. As the sample is not representative of the entire population, future research might consider replicating this study by using a different sample.
The study is based on Hofstede’s secondary data, namely it assumes that individuals share the same values on a national or regional level. To confirm this assumption, I tested whether there was a difference between the two cultures on an individual level of masculinity. By doing so, I addressed the criticisms that state that the framework is not considering the heterogeneity of nations and, therefore, not reflecting reality (McSweeney, 2002;
McSweeney, 2009; Yoo, Donthy & Lenartowicz, 2011). As stated by Yoo et al. (2011) in cross-cultural studies there is a necessity to measure culture on an individual level. The finding of this analysis showed that there was not a difference of the two cultures on an individual level on the masculinity scale. This result seems to suggest that Hofstede’s framework might not always work. Future cross-cultural research should therefore analyse cultures on an individual level with the CVSCALE (Yoo et al., 2011). By using primary data organisations can collect more detailed information on individuals’ culture and consequently be able to create a more tailored communication strategy.
Another point for discussion is CSR. This study wanted to give new insights on how to use CSR communications in order to attract new applicants. Although the findings confirmed the expectations, some remarks have to be made. In this research CSR was considered as a powerful and useful communication strategy to use when it comes to influencing and attracting job seekers to an organization. But this might not always lead to positive outcomes. According to Du et al. (2010), CSR communication is a critical topic. As previous studies proved, CSR communication has to be aligned with the company’s identity and reputation. When this alignment is missing or not perceived by the public, people start to be sceptical towards the organization (Du et al., 2010; Elving, 2013). Moreover, for
companies that have a bad reputation, it is advised to keep CSR communication quiet till the moment stakeholders start to change ideas about them (Elving, 2013). For this reason, practitioners should first acknowledge stakeholders’ opinions and then consider whether it might be a good idea to use a CSR strategy in job vacancies.
To measure whether the CSR statement had an effect on individuals, they were exposed to a job offer of a fictitious brand. This might have had an influence on the outcome, because in existing brands reputation plays an important role when it comes to evaluating companies’ CSR. By using a fictitious brand the reputation was not considered. Future research might consider replicating this study by using an existing brand to evaluate in which cases using a CSR communication strategy might be the best strategy to use.
In addition, three other limitations of the study should be recognised and addressed by future research. These limitations might have influenced the outcome of this study. First, to be more generalizable to all masculine and feminine cultures, future research should consider extending this study design to include other countries. Second, future research might consider replicating the study by using the native language of the participants when setting up the questionnaire. The language of the questionnaire used to gather the data was English. This
might have been a limitation of this study since I included only Dutch and Italian individuals that knew the English language. Considering that the respondents used for this study were not English native speakers this might have influenced the outcome of the study. Third, future research can be more generalizable by extending this study to a more wider age range. The mean age of the sample was 28. This might have affected the outcomes since previous studies have discovered that millennials are more sensitive to CSR than older respondents
(Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017). The limitations highlighted above imply that further research is needed to enrich the findings to make them more effective and efficient. However, they surely offer interesting insights that will give companies a strong competitive advantage necessary to win the “war for talent”.
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Appendix A Questionnaire
Dear participant,
I would like to invite you to participate in a research study to be conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School of Communication, a part of the University of Amsterdam.
The title of the study for which I am requesting your cooperation is ‘CSR in Job seeking: a cross-cultural comparison’. In the online survey, you will be asked to evaluate a job vacancy and imagine you have all the skills and the background that fits the position. Only individuals coming from Italy and the Netherlands are going to be included in the study. The goal of this research is to understand what attracts people to an organization and if this changes according to a different cultural background.
The study will take about 7 minutes.
As this research is being carried out under the responsibility of the ASCoR, University of Amsterdam, we can guarantee that:
1) Your anonymity will be safeguarded, and that your personal information will not be passed on to third parties under any conditions, unless you first give your express permission for this. 2) Participating in the research will not entail your being subjected to any appreciable risk or discomfort, the researchers will not deliberately mislead you, and you will not be exposed to any explicitly offensive material.
For more information about the research and the invitation to participate, you are welcome to contact the project leader Carlotta Rosi at any time.
Should you have any complaints or comments about the course of the research and the
procedures it involves as a consequence of your participation in this research, you can contact the designated member of the Ethics Committee representing ASCoR, at the following
Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam; 020‐ 525 3680; ascor‐ secr‐ fmg@uva.nl. Any complaints or comments will be treated in the strictest confidence.
I hope that I have provided you with sufficient information. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your assistance with this research, which I greatly appreciate.
Kind regards, Carlotta Rosi
Sample informed consent
I hereby declare that I have been informed in a clear manner about the nature and method of the research, as described in the email invitation for this study.
I agree, fully and voluntarily, to participate in this research study. With this, I retain the right to withdraw my consent, without having to give a reason for doing so. I am aware that I may halt my participation in the experiment at any time.
If my research results are used in scientific publications or are made public in another way, this will be done such a way that my anonymity is completely safeguarded. My personal data will not be passed on to third parties without my express permission
√ I understand the text presented above, and I agree to participate in the research study.
1) Where do you come from?
Italy
The Netherlands
other
2) Now you will be presented with a job vacancy. Assume that you have all the skills and the background to fit in the position. Please take your time to read the job vacancy and answer to the related questions.
First condition with presence of CSR statement
ClothingWorld is Europe’s leading clothing company. This is an exciting time to join us. ClothingWorld was founded in Berlin and this is where it all comes together. We have more than 5,000 employees working in our branches spread around the world.
We promote the world’s best fashion experience and want to build lasting relationships with our customers in all 15 countries where ClothingWorld is active. As a Communication Manager your position requires to engage with our customers through e-mails, push notifications, offline mailings, and parcel inserts and translate
our internal campaigns
ClothingWorld aims to reduce the environmental footprint of fashion industries through innovative technologies. We strive to achieve growth by balancing our customers’ needs and those of our planet. The key of our Integrity is to protect natural resources and reduce the waste of water and raw materials in the production of our clothing.
ACTIVITIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Plan, prepare, and send all newsletters, push notifications, and other e-mail marketing campaigns where distribution is managed locally based on central input (i.e., e-mails and push notifications with manual components)
Adapt direct communication to local needs based on customer insights and country strategies where distribution is managed locally
YOUR SKILLS
You have a degree in Business; Advertising or equivalent and have 1-2 years of experience in the Marketing field
You are fluent in English
You are proficient in using Microsoft Office (especially Excel) You have a proactive approach and strive for excellence
Second condition without CSR statement
ClothingWorld is Europe’s leading clothing company. This is an exciting time to join us. ClothingWorld was founded in Berlin and this is where it all comes together. We have more than 5,000 employees working in our branches spread around the world.
We promote the world’s best fashion experience and want to build lasting relationships with our customers in all 15 countries where ClothingWorld is active. As a Communication Manager your position requires to engage with our customers through e-mails, push notifications, offline mailings, and parcel inserts and translate
our internal campaigns
ACTIVITIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Plan, prepare, and send all newsletters, push notifications, and other e-mail marketing campaigns where distribution is managed locally based on central input (i.e., e-mails and push notifications with manual components)
Adapt direct communication to local needs based on customer insights and country strategies where distribution is managed locally
YOUR SKILLS
You have a degree in Business; Advertising or equivalent and have 1-2 years of experience in the Marketing field
You are fluent in English
You are proficient in using Microsoft Office (especially Excel) You have a proactive approach and strive for excellence
Answer to the following statements (P-O fit scale items):
To what extent are the values of the organization similar to your own values?
To what extent does your personality match the personality or image of the organization?
To what extent does the organization fulfill your needs?
To what extent is the organization a good match for you?
Answer to the following statements (organization attractiveness scale items):
For me, this company would be a good place to work.
This company is attractive to me as place for employment
I am interested in learning more about this company.
A job at this company is very appealing to me.
Answer to the following statements (masculinity scale items):
It is more important for men to have a professional career than it is for women
Men usually solve problems with logical analysis; women usually solve problems with intuition.
Solving difficult problems usually requires an active forcible approach, which is typical of men.
There are some jobs that a man can always do better than a woman
Manipulation check
CSR definition: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a business approach that contributes to sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders.
o Was the company in the job vacancy social responsible? From 1 (responsible) to 7 (not responsible)
Demographics
Gender o Male o Female
Age:
o What is your age? (e.g. 25)
Educational level
What is your educational level? o Les than high school o High school degree o Bachelors degree o Master degree o Professional degree
o Doctorate
Field of study
Please specify your field of studies.
o Economics and Business o Humanities
o Engineering o Law
o Medicine o Arts
o Social and Behavioural Science o Science
o Dentistry o Other
Appendix B Syntax
**Delete missing values. USE ALL.
COMPUTE filter_$=(NMISS(FieldOfStudies) <1).
VARIABLE LABELS filter_$ 'NMISS(FieldOfStudies) <1 (FILTER)'. VALUE LABELS filter_$ 0 'Not Selected' 1 'Selected'.
FORMATS filter_$ (f1.0). FILTER BY filter_$. EXECUTE.
** Recode Condition variable into a dummy variable. RECODE Condition (1=1) (2=0) INTO Condition_REC. VARIABLE LABELS Condition_REC 'Condition_REC'. EXECUTE.
** Recode Nationality variable into a dummy variable. RECODE Nationality (1=1) (2=0) INTO Nationality_REC. VARIABLE LABELS Nationality_REC 'Nationality_REC'. EXECUTE.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=Nationality_REC Condition_REC /ORDER=ANALYSIS.
FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=Gender Age /STATISTICS=STDDEV MEAN MODE /ORDER=ANALYSIS.
**Reverse Organization attractiveness variable.
RECODE OrgAttr_OrgAttr_2 (1=7) (2=6) (3=5) (4=4) (5=3) (6=2) (7=1) INTO OrgAttr2_REC.
VARIABLE LABELS OrgAttr2_REC 'OrgAttr2_REC'. EXECUTE.
** Reliability check person-organization fit variable. RELIABILITY
/VARIABLES=P_Ofit_P_Ofit_1 P_Ofit_P_Ofit_2 P_Ofit_P_Ofit_3 P_Ofit_P_Ofit_4 /SCALE('ALL VARIABLES') ALL
/MODEL=ALPHA
/STATISTICS=DESCRIPTIVE SCALE /SUMMARY=TOTAL.
** Compute person-organization fit scale variable. COMPUTE
P_Ofit_Scale=MEAN(P_Ofit_P_Ofit_1,P_Ofit_P_Ofit_2,P_Ofit_P_Ofit_3,P_Ofit_P_Ofit_4) .
EXECUTE.
DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=P_Ofit_Scale /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV MIN MAX. ** Organization attractiveness reliability check. RELIABILITY
/VARIABLES=OrgAttr_OrgAttr_1 OrgAttr2_REC OrgAttr_OrgAttr_3 OrgAttr_OrgAttr_4 OrgAttr_OrgAttr_5
/SCALE('ALL VARIABLES') ALL /MODEL=ALPHA
/STATISTICS=DESCRIPTIVE SCALE /SUMMARY=TOTAL.
** Compute organization attractiveness scale variable. COMPUTE
OrgAttr_Scale=MEAN(OrgAttr_OrgAttr_1,OrgAttr2_REC,OrgAttr_OrgAttr_3,OrgAttr_Org Attr_4,OrgAttr_OrgAttr_5).
EXECUTE.
DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=OrgAttr_Scale /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV MIN MAX. ** Cultural dimension reliability check.
RELIABILITY
/VARIABLES=masculinity_masculinity_1 masculinity_masculinity_2 masculinity_masculinity_3 masculinity_masculinity_4
/SCALE('ALL VARIABLES') ALL /MODEL=ALPHA
/STATISTICS=DESCRIPTIVE SCALE /SUMMARY=TOTAL.
** Compute Cultural dimension scale variable. COMPUTE
Mascu_Scale=MEAN(masculinity_masculinity_1,masculinity_masculinity_2,masculinity_ma sculinity_3,masculinity_masculinity_4).
EXECUTE.
DESCRIPTIVES VARIABLES=Mascu_Scale /STATISTICS=MEAN STDDEV MIN MAX. ** Manipulation check.
T-TEST GROUPS=Condition_REC(0 1) /MISSING=ANALYSIS
/CRITERIA=CI(.95).
** Randomization checks on age, gender and education level. UNIANOVA Age BY Condition_REC Nationality_REC /METHOD=SSTYPE(3)
/INTERCEPT=INCLUDE
/EMMEANS=TABLES(OVERALL) /PRINT=HOMOGENEITY DESCRIPTIVE /CRITERIA=ALPHA(.05)
/DESIGN=Condition_REC Nationality_REC Condition_REC*Nationality_REC. CROSSTABS
/TABLES=Condition_REC BY Gender /FORMAT=AVALUE TABLES /STATISTICS=CHISQ
/CELLS=COUNT
/COUNT ROUND CELL.
RECODE EduLevel (1 thru 2=0) (3 thru 6=1) INTO EduLevel_REC. VARIABLE LABELS EduLevel_REC 'EduLevel_REC'.
EXECUTE. CROSSTABS /TABLES=Condition_REC BY EduLevel_REC /FORMAT=AVALUE TABLES /STATISTICS=CHISQ /CELLS=COUNT
/COUNT ROUND CELL.
CROSSTABS
/TABLES=Nationality_REC BY EduLevel_REC /FORMAT=AVALUE TABLES
/STATISTICS=CHISQ /CELLS=COUNT
/COUNT ROUND CELL. CROSSTABS
/TABLES=Nationality_REC BY Gender /FORMAT=AVALUE TABLES
/STATISTICS=CHISQ /CELLS=COUNT
/COUNT ROUND CELL.
**Preliminary analysis.
/MISSING=ANALYSIS /VARIABLES=Mascu_Scale /CRITERIA=CI(.95).
**H1: The presence of CSR in the vacancy attracts more job seekers to the organization than the absence of CSR.
T-TEST GROUPS=Condition_REC(0 1) /MISSING=ANALYSIS
/VARIABLES=OrgAttr_Scale /CRITERIA=CI(.95).
**H2 PROCESS MODEL 4: The relationship between CSR and organization attractiveness is medited by person-organization fit.
**H3: The presence of CSR in the vacancy attracts more job seekers to the organization than the absence of CSR, but this effect will be higher pronounced for job seekers who have a feminine culture than job seekers who have a masculine culture.
UNIANOVA OrgAttr_Scale BY Condition_REC Nationality_REC /METHOD=SSTYPE(3)
/INTERCEPT=INCLUDE /SAVE=PRED RESID SRESID
/PLOT=PROFILE(Condition_REC*Nationality_REC) /EMMEANS=TABLES(Condition_REC*Nationality_REC) /PRINT=ETASQ HOMOGENEITY DESCRIPTIVE
/CRITERIA=ALPHA(.05)
