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Organizations are increasingly using electronic recruiting (e-recruiting) to attract job seekers because it reduces recruiting costs, saves time, and reaches a wide array of potential applicants (Stone and Dulebohn, 2013). Research showed that 100 percent of large US organizations now use web-based systems to recruit individuals (Smith, 2015). Although traditional recruiting is an effective means for attracting applicants, new technologies have emerged focusing on digital communication channels (the internet and digital networks) which has changed the way organizations communicate with potential applicants. Although e-recruiting and traditional recruiting differ in terms of communication channels and media richness, there are benefits of each at different stages of recruitment (Badger et al., 2014; Baum and Kabst, 2014). The focus of this study is on the initial communication via an organization’s website and the factors that enhance the effectiveness of e-recruiting in attracting diverse job seekers.
E-recruiting is defined as the use of web-sites, web-portals, or kiosks to attract individuals, and enable them to apply for jobs online (Braddy et al., 2006). Research on e-recruiting found that e-recruiting was more likely to attract higher quantities, but not necessarily higher quality job seekers than traditional methods (Baum and Kabst, 2014; Chapman et al., 2005; Chapman and Webster, 2003).
E-recruiting research revealed that a number of factors influenced applicant attraction. First, website characteristics including ease of use, navigability, and quality aesthetics (e.g. color, website design) (Cober et al., 2003; Zusman and Landis, 2002), and communication of vacancy characteristics (e.g. pay) had a positive impact on attraction (Cober et al., 2003). Second, organizational characteristics (e.g. reputation) (Braddy et al., 2006; Lyons and Marler, 2011), applicant characteristics (e.g. computer skills, personality) (McManus and Ferguson, 2003), and feedback about person-organization fit and message customization (Dineen et al., 2002; Dineen and Noe, 2009; Williamson et al., 2003) also affected attraction. Technology has evolved exponentially since the earlier studies of e-recruiting. The ability to tailor message to applicants has been studied (Kraichy and Chapman, 2014) as well as media richness in virtual reality-type contexts (Badger et al., 2014).
In view of the widespread use of the internet as an e-recruiting method, it is evident that research is needed to examine its effectiveness. This paper attempts to fill...