مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

 مجله تحقیقات بازاریابی – Journal of Business Research

Recruitment is one of the most important functions required for attaining and retaining human capital-based competitive advantages. In particular, a firm’s ability to attract high-caliber applicants has been subject to intense debate (Chapman, Uggerslev, Carroll, Piasentin, & Jones, 2005; Uggerslev, Fassina, & Kraichy, 2012), as the early stages of the recruitment process affect later stages, as well as the general pool of human resources, from which a firm can draw personnel (Allen, Mahto, & Otondo, 2007; Jones, Willness, & Madey, 2014). While applicant attraction has been intensely studied, our understanding of diversity recruitment or, more specifically, the question of how to attract minority applicants (here defined as prospective applicants from ethnic minority populations) remains scant (Avery et al., 2013). This dearth of research contrasts with the practical and scientific relevance of this topic. As Ployhart (2006, p. 877) articulated in his review, this continues to be a key question in recruitment research, namely “how can organizations best attract and retain a diverse applicant pool?”

The increased interest in a diversified workforce (Avery, 2003; Rynes & Barber, 1990) and growing international exchange and migration require practitioners and scholars to understand minorities’ reactions towards recruitment advertisements (Avery, Hernandez, & Hebl, 2004). However, research on this topic is still in its infancy (Avery et al., 2013; Casper, Wayne, & Manegold, 2013). Consequently, this study attempts to address the limited research with regards to ethnic minorities on this matter.

Moreover, while previous studies yielded important and interesting insights into diversity recruitment, they also showed mixed results about the effectiveness of diversity messages in enhancing applicant attraction (Avery & McKay, 2006; Avery et al., 2013). To resolve these ambiguities, the existing literature focused on individual or job level moderators, such as an individual’s previous experience with discrimination (Williamson, Slay, Shapiro, & Shivers-Blackwell, 2008), racial tolerance (Brown, Cober, Keeping, & Levy, 2006) and the hierarchical level of the advertised job (Avery, 2003). However, characteristics of the recruiting firm, such as its country-of-origin, have received far less attention. In an increasingly globalized world, firms no longer only recruit in their domestic environment but also in foreign markets (Baum & Kabst, 2013). Given the continuously rising number of migrants and internationally operating firms, there is a greater likelihood that both the prospective applicant and the recruiting firm have a migration background. We therefore add to the findings of previous studies by introducing the country-of-origin of the recruiting firm as a moderating factor in diversity recruitment. The country-of-origin of the recruiting firm might be an important contingency for understanding reactions of ethnic minorities towards recruitment activities in general and diversity messages in particular. Especially for ethnic minorities, reactions towards recruitment materials might be more positive if the recruiting firm has the same country-of-origin as the prospective applicant because of perceived similarities (Min Han, 1989).