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How Do the Dimensions of Corporate Reputation Affect Employment Intentions?

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Abstract

Corporate reputation is a multifaceted concept that encompasses several components. Each component has prominent effects on different stakeholders. This study shows how different components of corporate reputation influences potential employees’ intentions. We manipulated different aspects of a hypothetical firm's reputation in a between-subjects experimental design with seven treatments. In each treatment, one aspect of corporate reputation was negatively manipulated. Results of hierarchical regression analysis provide strong support for our central research thesis; among the six corporate reputation dimensions, workplace conditions is found to exert the strongest effect on potential employees’ intentions to seek employment with a company. Managerial and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the quality of this paper. We are also grateful to Prof. Dr Nurullah Genc for his contribution to the paper.

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Appendices

APPENDIX A

Scale Items of the Measures

Part A. Intentions to seek employment with the company

  1. 1)

    I would love to work for Company XYZ.

  2. 2)

    I would accept a lower salary to work for Company XYZ.

  3. 3)

    I would be proud to work for Company XYZ.

  4. 4)

    I would not seek employment with a company rather than Company XYZ.

Part B. Assessment of company reputation

According to the information provided in the text, how would you evaluate the following features of Company XYZ? Please rate each feature by giving a rank between 0 (extremely poor) and 10 (perfect).

  1. 1)

    Feelings evoked in your mind about the company.

  2. 2)

    Its way of treatment to its employees.

  3. 3)

    Its financial performance.

  4. 4)

    Its social and environmental performance.

  5. 5)

    Quality of its products.

  6. 6)

    Success of its management.

  7. 7)

    Its overall reputation.

APPENDIX B

Illustrative Vignettes

‘Company XYZ’ (All positive control version)

Company XYZ is functioning in the consumer electronics industry. It has gained a favorable position in the eye of the general public. First of all, it is respected for the high quality of its products. Customers believe that the firm's reputation for value is among the best in the industry. That is because the company is committed to customer orientation and it highly respects consumer rights. Consequently, the company holds the leading position in the market. The company is also known for its financial soundness. It has consistently provided investors with excellent returns and has proved to be a very valuable long-term investment. This is probably because of the high quality of its top managers. The executives of the firm display an efficient vision and leadership. They closely monitor the rapidly changing market and take the necessary steps immediately. They constantly try to find new, promising investment fields to ensure a sustainable growth. The company also offers attractive work place conditions for its employees. It is committed to promoting and developing the capabilities of the employees. It provides a wide range of personal and professional development opportunities. The company's pay system also rewards the employees by giving them what they deserve. Thus, employee satisfaction is higher than the industry average, and labor turnover is very low. Moreover, Company XYZ is respected for its support to social causes. Its support to social responsibility projects is never underestimatable. It is highly involved in the community and philanthropic issues, and supports social causes such as fight against poverty, discrimination, and violation of human rights, developing the Third World, and so on. It exclusively collaborates with pro-environmental organizations to develop a sustainable business environment. The company constantly improves its technology to decrease energy and resource consumption and waste production throughout the manufacturing processes.

Negative Information about Social & Environmental Responsibility of Company XYZ

(The following paragraph is replaced with the italicized text above, to negatively manipulate the dimension of social & environmental responsibility. A similar procedure is followed to negatively manipulate the other reputation dimensions, in each treatment.)

But for all that, the company is criticized for not being responsible to the natural environment and to the needs of the community. It always refuses the calls coming from philanthropic associations for supporting social causes. The company is accused of being selfish and behaving mean to sponsoring societal projects. Even worse, its manufacturing technology is quite old and put an undue stress on the environment by consuming excessive resources or producing excessive waste or pollution. In the past, Company XYZ has paid significant fines and penalties for environmental pollution.

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Alniacik, E., Alniacik, U. & Erdogmus, N. How Do the Dimensions of Corporate Reputation Affect Employment Intentions?. Corp Reputation Rev 15, 3–19 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/crr.2011.25

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