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Recruitment methods, recruitment Recruitment

methods and
outcomes and information outcomes

credibility and sufficiency

Ashutosh Muduli 1615
Faculty of Management, SPM, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University,
Gandhinagar, India, and Received 5 July 2019
Revised 22 January 2020
Jeegnesh J. Trivedi Accepted 5 March 2020

Khyati School of business administration, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India

Abstract
Purpose – Recruiters’ decision to use recruitment methods (RMs) depends on several expected outcomes such
as number applications, quality of applicants, speed of filling up vacancy, post joining job performance,
absenteeism, commitment and satisfaction of the applicants. RMs may vary from each other in terms of its
capability to communicate different type of information. The current research aims at exploring recruiter’s
intention to use RMs like job advertisement (JA), online recruitment (OLR) and social media in reference to
several recruitment outcomes (ROs). Further, the role of information credibility and sufficiency (ICS) on
recruiter’s intention to use has been studied.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 242 recruiters from the manufacturing and
service sector of India. The survey instrument consists of RMs, recruitment outcome and credibility and
satisfaction that are identified following the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Confirmatory factor analysis
(CFA) was used for a simultaneous assessment of overall and specific elements of measurement validity and
reliability. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the hypothesized model.
Findings – The result shows that RMs significantly relates with ROs. In detail, social media recruitment (SMR)
significantly relates with pre ROs and post ROs; OLR significantly relates with pre ROs and post ROs and JA
significantly relates post ROs. Only JA insignificantly relates with pre ROs. The result also supports the
hypothesis that ICS acts as a mediator between the influences of RMs on ROs.
Research limitations/implications – The result of the study has important theoretical and managerial
implications. The theoretical implication is explained from the perspective of signaling theory (ST) and
elaboration likelihood model (ELM) theory.
Originality/value – The study is unique as multiple RMs have been studied with reference to both pre and
post ROs using the data collected from the recruiters.
Keywords Recruitment, Information credibility and Sufficiency, Pre and post-hire outcome, Recruitment
methods
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
In the era of competition for attracting talent, ‘recruitment’ function has been viewed as a
critical function (Breaugh, 2013; Chang and Chin, 2018; Priyadarshini et al., 2017). It acts as a
channel of discovering potential candidates and attracting them to fill up the existing
vacancies (Chang and Chin, 2018). Recruiters use various recruitment methods (RMs) such as
job advertisement (JA), online portals (job and web portals), word-of-mouth, social media, etc.
for attracting suitable applicants. Research witnessed that recruiters’ intention to use these
methods depend on several pre-hire and post-hire outcomes such as number applications,
quality of applicants, speed of filling up vacancy, post joining job performance, absenteeism,
Benchmarking: An International
commitment and satisfaction of the applicants (Fisher et al., 2014; Wei et al., 2016). For Journal
example, Fisher et al. (2014) found that recruiters prefer Social media recruitment (SMR) as it Vol. 27 No. 4, 2020
pp. 1615-1631
is more cost-effective and fills up vacancies very fast. Wei et al. (2016) found that online © Emerald Publishing Limited
1463-5771
portals has been more preferred as they are less expensive. DOI 10.1108/BIJ-07-2019-0312
BIJ Further, RMs may vary from each other in terms of its capability to communicate different
27,4 type of information (Williamson et al., 2003; Allen et al., 2007; Wei et al., 2016; Priyadarshini
et al., 2017). The literature on talent attraction recognizes that different RMs adopt different
communication pattern for communicating different types of information about the
organization, profiles, etc. to attract talent. For example, Wei et al. (2016) found that online
portal attracts talent by communicating information through hyperlinks, text (i.e. job opening
information), graphic images etc. Recruitment websites provides a lot of information about
1616 the organization, different job offers or the organizational culture (Allen et al., 2007).
Williamson et al. (2003) found that the informational orientation of company recruitment
websites (i.e. screening-oriented, recruiting-oriented or dual purpose) influences
organizational attraction via perceptions of website usability. Printed advertisement
provides few and limited information. SMR stimulates more active processing and
facilitates two-way communication between recruiters and recruitee (Fisher et al., 2014).
However, often communication media may fail to provide the required information to
applicants directly. In the absence of the required information, applicants may deduct
information about the job and the organization from the message presented in the
communication media (Highhouse and Hoffman, 2001). This matches with the basic
principles of signaling theory (ST) (Spence, 1974), which argues that the message presented in
the communication media serve as signals to applicants about what the organization may be
like (Ryan et al., 2000). For example, images related to company practices up loaded in the
Facebook or LinkedIn, endorsed by the existing or past employees can provide evidence of
corporate culture. Hence, recruiter’s decision about selecting recruitment method/s may
depend on its capability to provide sufficient credible information. Hence, influenced by the
ST we propose information credibility and sufficiency (ICS) to mediate between RMs and
recruitment outcomes (ROs).
Research on RMs is very rare. Whenever conducted, the focus is either on secondary data
based (Acikgoz, 2019) or primary data based but confined to a single method (Allen et al.,
2007; Bissola and Imperatori, 2014). Although few research has been reported on comparison
of two methods (Baum and Kabst, 2014; Basu, 2015), but very few used more than two
methods especially from the perspective of pre-hire outcome (PEHO) and post-hire outcome
(POHO). Studies on differentiating RMs from the information sufficiency and credibility are
very rare. Further, it is observed that most of the studies on recruitment have used laboratory
experiments (Acarlar and Bilgic, 2013) and very few empirical studies have been conducted.
Whenever conducted, most of the studies considered “job applicants” as sample respondents
(Van Birgelen et al., 2008; Priyadarshini et al., 2017), and very few have considered recruiters
as respondent creating a lack generalizability limitation (Breaugh, 2013). Thus, the current
research attempts to find answer to the following questions:
(1) Do recruiters’ intention to use JA, OLR and SMR based on ROs. Further, are they
different in terms of PEHO and POHO?
(2) Do recruiters’ intention to use the RMs are influenced by their capability to provide
sufficient and credible information?
(3) Is ICS mediating the relationship between RMs and ROs?
The paper structure consists of theoretical background and hypotheses, methodology,
results, discussion, implications, future research and limitations. The research model
indicating the relationship between RMs, ICS and ROs has been conceptualized following the
theory of planned behavior (TPB), the media richness theory (MRT) and the ST. While TPB
and MRT have been used for conceptualizing the relationship between RMs and ROs, MRT
guided to conceptualize a mediating role between RMs and ROs.
2. Theoretical background and research model Recruitment
The proposed research model argues that recruiter’s intention to use RMs may depend on the methods and
perceived ROs (both PEHO and POHO) and perceived capability of the RMs to provide
credible and sufficient information to the applicants. The model also proposed ICS as
outcomes
mediating RMs and ROs.
Recruitment method is an under-researched area, and hence the literature outside of this
area can be considered to provide a theoretical framework. In this connection, the literature on
individual decision making is explored and TPB (Ajzen, 1991) considered. TPB suggests that 1617
individual’s intention to perform a particular behavior is based on attitudes and beliefs about
that behavior. Individuals who hold favorable attitudes toward a given behavior will hold a
favorable attitude toward performing that behavior while a person who has negative
attitudes toward that behavior will hold unfavorable attitudes toward performing it (Singh et
al., 2019a). Influenced by TPB, we propose that RMs adoption is dependent on the attitude of
the recruiters toward ROs which can be PEHO and POHO.
In recruitment research, communication media (written advertisement, advertisement on
the company website, employee referrals, job fairs, social media, etc.) and information quality
plays an important role in attracting potential applicants (Priyadarshini et al., 2017).
Priyadarshini et al. (2017) used affective-cognitive model (ACM) by Shiv and Fedorikhin
(1999) to explain the role of information quality on talent attraction. We extended the research
by using the MRT (Daft and Lengel, 1986; Badger et al., 2014) and ST (Spence, 1974). While
the MRT focuses on the effects of communication media on organizational communication,
the ST argues that the message presented in the communication media serves as signals to
applicants. It is assumed that often communication media may fail to provide the required
information to applicants directly. In the absence of the required information, applicants tend
to deduct information about the job and the organization from the message presented in the
communication media (Highhouse and Hoffman, 2001). Hence, recruiter’s intention to use
RMs may also depend on the perceived capability of the methods in terms of ICS.
Influenced by the above theoretical framework, the research framework proposes RMs
have a direct association with ROs (PEHO and POHO) and ICS. Further, it is also
hypothesized that the relationship between RMs and ROs is mediated by ICS.

3. Hypotheses
3.1 Recruitment methods and recruitment outcomes
Recruitment process starts with creating awareness about vacancies among potential
candidates through different RMs such as advertisement, OLR methods, social media, etc.
These methods work as a medium of communication for recruiters to provide valuable and
accurate job-related information to prospective candidates which in turn stimulate those
candidates to apply for the same position in an organization. Recruiters’ intention to use
different RMs may depend on their attitude toward the usefulness of the methods in the form
ROs which can be a PEHO (easy accessibility, genuineness of resources, active processing,
helping to generate more favorable responses, meet timeframes and cost savings) and POHO
(efficiency and cost-effectiveness for recruiters, recruitees’ performance, retention of
recruitees, etc.).
The last decade has witnessed several researches on the recruiters’ intention to use
different RMs and their relationship with perceived usefulness of the methods in the form
ROs (PEHO and POHO) (Ho et al., 2012; Van Birgelen et al., 2008; Bissola and Imperatori, 2014;
Fisher et al., 2014). Alsultanny and Alotaibi (2015) found that users’ attitude significantly
influences the intention to use a specific recruitment method. Kashi and Zheng (2013) studied
the intentions to use e-recruitment to apply for a job using modified technology acceptance
BIJ model in Iran and found that perceived usefulness have significant impact on behavioral
27,4 intentions to use e-recruitment. Boehle (2000) found that expenditure on newspaper
advertising and headhunter retainer fees have dropped 20% in the USA as spending on
Internet recruitment has increased. Bissola and Imperatori (2014) found that social media as a
recruitment method offered appealing and valuable opportunities to attract and engage
talented young individuals and help to sustain both applicant pool quality and quantity.
Fisher et al. (2014) observed that SMR is a cost-effective recruitment approach which helps in
1618 getting employment opportunities posted fast, to meet timeframes. Ho et al. (2012) proved that
the website content and website stylistic features have differential effects on job seekers’ fit
perceptions, which can increase or decrease organizational attraction.
H1. Recruiters’ intention to use RMs is significantly related with ROs.
3.1.1 Social media recruitment and recruitment outcomes. Social media is a medium of free
participation which can allow communities to participate and try to build a genuine
relationship (Narvey, 2009). Social media can be roughly referred to as a “group of
Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of the
Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content” (Kaplan and
Haenlein, 2011, p. 60).
Having roots from social identity theory (Singh et al., 2019a,b), Social media is a dynamic
and relational tool and more important for recruitment and employer brand strategy. Girard
et al. (2013) found that SMR helps in finding talents which are not currently available with job
portals/ placement consultants and easier for verifying genuineness of resources. Christensen
et al. (2017) found that SMR are superior to offline methods both in terms of efficiency and
cost-effectiveness. In the context of medical research recruitment, Topolovec-Vranic and
Natarajan (2016) concluded that more than 40% of the studies found that SMR can be the
most effective method compared to traditional methods. Researchers have studied brand
activity and its impact on student recruitment and found that students tend to perform
positively when universities are utilizing social media as a recruitment method (Rutter
et al., 2016).
H1a. SMR is significantly related to PEHO and POHO.
3.1.2 Online recruitment and recruitment outcome. Internet has changed the recruitment
perspective for both organizations and job seekers (Ramkumar, 2018). OLR may include
recruitment through web portals and job portals. Basu (2015) investigated the practices of
fortune 500 companies and mentioned that future workforce is highly influenced by social
networking sites. Galanaki (2002) found that OLR adoption decision is mostly because of low
cost. CIPD report (2000) suggests that OLR reduces the three important costs of recruitment,
i.e. costs for creating job awareness, costs for employee selection and costs for lost
productivity primarily because it takes less time to fill up a position. A report by Workforce
(2000a) suggests that OLR free around 25 to 30% of HR time. Gopalia (2011) found that OLR is
useful for saving recruitment cost, reducing hiring time and helping companies in developing
a competitive edge, market image and attracting right experienced candidates.
H1b. OLR is significantly related to PEHO and POHO.
3.1.3 Job advertisement and recruitment outcomes. JA has received considerable attention from
recruitment researchers. It is considered the most common method of external recruitment.
Advertisement in newspapers (e.g. local and national), magazines, notice-boards, etc. can
provide needful information about the job in the form of the job description, job specification,
job title, required location, selection procedure and salary conditions, etc. Being the most
common method to attract applicants, JA has the advantage of reaching a large audience of
possible candidates. Stevens et al. (2010) found that advertisement attracts more extroverts.
Blackman (2006) proved that the information presented in an advertisement about a job Recruitment
opening is important as it clarifies the views of the job seekers about what that job entails. Born methods and
and Taris (2010) found that gender-specific JAs positively affect women’s motivation to apply.
Connerly, Carlson and Mecham (2003) argued that the advertisements that have job
outcomes
specifications and job description would achieve a more qualified applicant pool.
H1c. JA is significantly related to PEHO and POHO.
1619
4. Recruitment methods and ICS
Recruiter intention to choose RMs may depend upon the capability of the RMs to
communicate information that can be viewed as credible and sufficient by the applicants.
Acarlar and Bilgic (2013) found that credible information enhances employee attraction,
which in turn results in more applicants applying for the job. In the context of advertisement,
the message content of a JA serves as an important source of information, which a potential
applicant can use to become better acquainted with an organization before deciding on
whether or not to apply for the job. Priyadarshini et al. (2017) found that in e-recruitment
websites’ context information quality dimensions such as information relevancy, information
accuracy and information timeliness influence job seekers’ website attitude.
H2. RMs are significantly related to ICS.

5. Recruitment methods, information credibility and sufficiency and recruitment

outcomes
Recruitment is the primary tool for attracting applicants (de Waal, 2018; Stevens et al., 2010).
Recruiters attract potential applicants by sending messages containing information about
the organization, job, career advancement, company culture, etc. through various
communication media (Priyadarshini et al., 2017). Priyadarshini et al. (2017) used ACM by
Shiv and Fedorikhin (1999) to explain the role of information quality on talent attraction. We
extended Priyadarshini et al. (2017) research by using the MRT (Badger et al., 2014; Daft and
Lengel, 1986) which focuses on the effects of communication media on organizational
communication. Its major premise is that effectiveness depends on the match between
communication requirement and media richness. Richer media has the capacity to
communicate information that is high in volume, complex, ambiguous, susceptible to
multiple interpretations or unfamiliar to receivers (Daft et al., 1987; Allen et al., 2007). MRT
suggests that recruitment messages communicated through different media can be perceived
differently by different managers in terms of features and effectiveness to communicate
different types of information. The information presented in the media can clarify the concern
of the job seekers on what the job entails. Further, if the information in the media is relevant to
the job or organization, the vacancy is found to be more favorable (Priyadarshini et al., 2017;
Badger et al., 2014). Additionally, when relevant information is specific (rather than general),
it changes the applicant’s attitude toward the job and organization because of the potential
applicants’ information about the job and organization increases (Feldman et al., 2006).
Influenced by MRT, recruiters may choose a specific method (e.g. SMR) than others as
they may hold a positive attitude toward the capability of the method to provide credible and
sufficient information to the applicants. For example, in the context of job applicants
Priyadarshini et al. (2017) found that in e-recruitment websites’ context information quality
dimensions such as information relevancy, information accuracy and information timeliness
influence job seekers’ website attitude. Allen et al. (2007) investigated job seeker visual and
verbal attention and perceptions regarding company websites and found that web-based job
seekers focus visual attention on information containing hyperlinks and on text (i.e. job
BIJ opening information) more than graphic images or navigation tools. Ho et al. (2012) proved
27,4 that the content and the features of the website influence job seekers’ fit perceptions, which in
turn affected attraction level for an organization. Walker et al. (2009) investigated
participants’ reactions to employee testimonials presented on recruitment Web sites by
delivering testimonials and they noticed that testimonials delivered via video with audio had
higher attractiveness and information credibility ratings than those given via picture with
text. Van Birgelen et al. (2008) concluded that website information and navigability
1620 characteristics are highly related to applicants’ attraction to the organization and eventual
decision to apply for a job. In the recruitment process, satisfaction refers to the satisfaction of
the applicant with the content of information made available through different ROs. The
content may include compensation/benefits, job/career, security/success issues, etc. The
content of JAs influence the organizational attitudes of experienced job seekers more than
their inexperienced counterparts and they concluded that the quality of information
influences both attraction of the organization and pursuit of employment (Walker et al., 2009).
Breaugh (2013) found that the specificity and breadth of the information presented to the
candidate during recruitment can enhance the ‘realistic job preview’ which may enhance
satisfaction, performance and retention. It has been argued that to be realistic; one has to
communicate accurate information, which could be reached by sufficiently, detailed
information (specificity) and broad scope of information (large range of topics). Wanous
(1978) proved that in the long run individuals who were provided with accurate information
during the recruitment process, will be more satisfied with their jobs than less accurately and
less completely informed individuals. Additionally, satisfaction with the information was
found to be influenced by the amount of information provided in a source (Allen et al., 2007).
As the number of information increases along with its specificity, both ICS are also expected
to increase. Hence, we propose the following hypothesis:
H3. ICS will mediate the relationship between RMs and ROs.

6. Methodology
This section describes the population and sample, measurement instrument, procedures used
and data analysis in support of this survey-based relationship study.

6.1 Population and sample

The target population was the recruiters in the manufacturing and service sector of India; the
available population was the managing partners and HR partners/managers/directors
available in Gujarat, the most industrially developed province of India. We choose to consider
both service and manufacturing sector as hiring talent has been reported as a critical
challenge for both the sector (Talent Pro, 2019). The decision to collect data from the
recruiters is influenced by earlier studies (Breaugh, 2013) where researchers urged a need for
neglecting the view of applicants and focusing on recruiters for measuring the effectiveness
of ROs. The sample consists of recruiters using JA, OLR and SMR for recruitment. However,
as most of the recruiters use JA and OLR but few of them use SMR, the respondent falls within
the category of “hard-to-reach” category. We followed the “virtual networks” sampling
techniques rather than “snowball sampling” as this is more preferred to collect data from
“hard-to-reach” populations. This is because “snowball sampling” is criticized as biased
because it is not random (Baltar and Brunet, 2012).
Around 400 recruiters were targeted considering 1: 20 ratio between number of items (20
items) and sample (400 respondents). The decision to consider the 1: 20 ratio is to achieve the
threshold ratio level of 1:10 as suggested by Hair et al. (1998). For example, Hair et al. (1998)
suggested that as a general rule there should be at least ten times as many observations as Recruitment
there are variables to analyze, and that a higher ratio may even be preferable. From the 400 methods and
administered questionnaires 282 were returned; 42 were rejected as incomplete, leaving 240
that were useable (ratio 1:12 and hence acceptable), for a response rate of 60%.
outcomes

6.2 Procedure
This is a survey-based study. In order to refine and contextualize the measures used in this 1621
study, interviews were conducted with the managing partners (2 nos), HR senior director of a
reputed software firm, as well as university HR faculty (3 nos) who had served in recruitment
practices. The topics in the interview included recruiter’s preferred RMs, reasons for
preferring some RMs, etc. Few examples are: Advertisement is expensive, recruitment using
OLR provides quality applicants, SMR provides opportunity to communicate directly etc.
The outcome of these interviews was useful for conceptualizing the nuances in the
recruitment practices. It helped it further strengthening the proposed research model, i.e. the
relationship between RMs, ROs and ICS.
Following these interviews, a pilot study was conducted to test for any construct
weaknesses, and for weaknesses in the research design (Collis and Hussey, 2003). A pilot
study was conducted in a few selected manufacturing and service sector based companies of
India with a sample size of 30 (10 from the public sector and 20 from the private sector). As all
the variables passed the threshold Cronbach’s alpha reliability score (0.7), they all are
considered without any modification.

7. Measures
This is a survey-based study. The survey instrument has been designed following previous
research (Gibbs et al., 2015; Parry and Wilson, 2009; Allen et al., 2007 and Hong, 2006). RMs
instrument has been designed following the TPB (Ajzen, 1991), Recruitment outcome
instrument has been designed following Parry and Wilson (2009) and ICS instrument has
been designed following Allen et al. (2007) and Hong (2006). The survey instrument consisted
of RMs (9 items), Recruitment outcome (12 items) and ICS (5 items), for a total of 26 items. Each
component is described next. The Likert-type scale of 1–5, 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5
being “strongly agree” was used to measure the items.
RMs: RMs refer to the decision of the recruiter to adopt advertisement, OLR or social
media for employee recruitment. Influenced by the TPB (Ajzen, 1991), we propose that
recruiters attitude and belief about the advertisement, OLR or social media may influence
their decision to adopt for employee recruitment. Recruiter attitude and belief about the
advertisement, OLR or social media has been measured through nine questions, three
questions each for each type of recruitment method. Sample items includes “JA should have a
central role in the hiring process”, “Social media has been considered important in the
industry”. The alpha reliability of RMs was 0.92.
ROs: ROs refer to the expected benefits that the recruiters perceived to get by using social
media. RO has been measured considering two aspects of RO, i.e. PEHO and POHO. Sample
pre-recruitment items include “it is better in communicating ideas than others”, “it is desired
practice now,” “it is compatible with company culture,” “it is simple to use.” Sample post
recruitment items are “it helps to get better candidates than other methods,” “it saves cost,” “It
helps assess intelligence.” The alpha reliability of ROs was 0.83.
ICS: Recruitment and information sharing are closely related with each other. The
attraction of candidates requires the recruiters to generate and disseminate information
which is not only relevant but also reliable. Thus, ICS here refers to the capability of the
recruitment method to provide relevant and reliable information to the candidates to attract
BIJ for the existing vacancy. ICS have been measured through an adapted scale prescribed by
27,4 Allen et al. (2007) consisting of five items. Sample items are “it helps me in getting in-depth
information about the candidate”; “it satisfies me with the amount of information provided
about the candidate.” The alpha reliability of ICS was 0.81.

8. Statistical techniques
1622 Structural equation modeling (SEM) (Amos 16) has been used to test the hypothesized model
(Figure 1). SEM is a family of statistical models that seek to explain the relationship between
multiple variables are more effective when testing models that are path analytic with
mediating variables and contain latent constructs that are being measured with multiple
indicators (Hair et al., 2006). Because our model contains several latent variables (using
subscales) and involves mediating variables (based on subscales), and based on the review of
the empirical evidence supporting the hypothesized relationships, SEM was considered
appropriate.
SEM researchers propose a two-step procedure when testing theoretical models
(Medsker et al., 1994). The first step is to examine and validate the measurement model;
the second step tests the structural model and conducting hypothesis tests (Garver and
Williams, 2009). Following Garver and Williams (2009), at the first step, confirmatory
factor analysis (CFA) was used to refine and validate the measurement model. CFA,
rather than EFA (exploratory factor analysis), was used as the items included in the
survey had been used and validated previously. This helped us to evaluate the
contribution of each item to the construct (latent variables). The measurement model also
provides an assessment of convergent and discriminant validity, while the full model
provides an assessment of predictive validity. Then, at the second step, the structural
model was tested to determine the strength of the hypothesized relationships between
the constructs.

8.1 Measurement model: validity and reliability

CFA was used for a simultaneous assessment of overall and specific elements of
measurement validity and reliability. CFA showed that all factor loadings and path
coefficients were statistically significant. The t-values were above the required value of
1.96. Convergent validity is good as all the items and variables has high and significant

Information
Recruitment
H2(+) Credibility &
Methods
Sufficiency
H1(+)
Job
Advertisement H3(+)

H1.a.

Online
Recruitment H1.b.(+)
Recruitment
Outcomes
Social Media H1.c.(+)
Figure 1.
Recruitment
Hypothesized model
factor loadings (greater than 0.60 as suggested by Bagozzi and Yi (1988). Discriminant Recruitment
validity was measured by comparing the square root of the average variance extracted methods and
to the correlation between constructs (Braunscheidel and Suresh, 2009). As indicated in
Table 1, each construct was higher than the corresponding inter-construct correlation
outcomes
estimates, suggesting good discriminant validity. Moreover, the correlation coefficients
among the constructs do not exceed 0.85, indicating that multicollinearity is not a
problem (Kline, 2005). Reliability estimates for the three scales, based on the CFA, all
exceeded the 0.70 cut-off value suggested by Hair et al. (2006) , providing evidence of 1623
scale reliability (RMs-0.92, SMR-0.89, OLR-0.72, ADV-68, ICS-0.81and ROs-0.83). CFA
also helped us in assessing common method biases (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). CFA
helped in extracting three factors with eigenvalues >1.0.
The combined variance accounted for was 77.52%. Common method bias is less of an
issue if more than one factor is identified, and none of the factors account for the
majority of the variance explained (Patel and Conklin, 2012). The overall fit statistics of
the CFA are χ 2 5 83.107; d.f. 5 76; p 5 0.084; CFI 5 0.815; GFI 5 0.817;
RMSEA 5 0.076; CMIN/df 5 2.358; RMR 5 0.034; and NFI 5 0.938 (see Table 2). The
model fit the data very well, and all the indices were within the recommended ranges (see
Table 1 and Table 2).

Mean 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 RMs 3.54
2 SMR 3.72 0.236**
3 OLR 3.18 0.175** 0.314*
4 JA 2.12 0.234* 0.257** 0.184*
5 ROs 3.14 0.236* 0.234* 0.264** 0.336**
Table 1.
6 PEHO 3.24 0.375** 0.248** 0.134* 0.234* 0.234* Mean, standard
7 POHO 2.54 0.326* 0.364** 0.236** 0.156** 0.184** 0.236** deviations and
8 ICS 3.72 0.738** 0.318* 0.375** 0.402** 0.382** 0.298** 268* correlations among
Note(s): *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 variables

Overall model measure Model score Acceptable model fit Acceptable range

CFI 0.912 Passed >0.90

GFI 0.924 Passed >0.90
RMSEA 0.076 Passed <0.10
CMIN/DF 2.358 Passed <3
RMR 0.034 Passed >0.05 Table 2.
NFI 0.926 Passed >0.90 Measurement fit model
BIJ 8.2 Structural model and findings
27,4 Before the path coefficients can be assessed, the fitness of the structural model must be
evaluated. As shown in Table 3, the goodness-of-fit statistics generally indicate a good fit to
the data. The c2 statistic was non-significant (χ 2 5 103.347; d.f. 5 75; p 5 0.01), indicating an
acceptable fit (Kline, 2005). Each of the remaining model fit indices shown in Table 3(CFI, GFI,
and NFI) exceed the acceptable fit level of 0.90 (Kline, 2005). The RMSEA does not exceed the
acceptable fit measure of 0.08 (Browne and Cudeck, 1993), nor does the RMR exceed 0.05
1624 (Kline, 2005). The probability value that the model is a close fit is convincing at 0.950. J€oreskog
and S€orbom (1996) suggested that the p-value for this test should be >0.50.
The path estimates show that RMs significantly relates with RO (β 5 0.176, p < 0.001). In
detail, SMR significantly relates with PEHO (β 5 0.236, p < 0.005) and POHO (β 5 0.186,
p < 0.005), OLR significantly relates with PEHO (β 5 0.108, p < 0.005) and POHO (β 5 0.132,
p < 0.005), JA significantly relates PEHO (β 5 0.088, p < 0.001). Only JA is insignificantly
relates with POHO (β 5 0.055, T 5 0.853).
For the purpose of examining the mediating effect of ICS on the influence of RMs and ROs,
we tested three conditions using AMOS analysis (Little et al., 2007). First, the independent
variable (RMs) must be related to the mediator (ICS). Results show that RMs has a significant
positive direct relation with ICS (β 5 0.236, p < 0.005). Thus, the first condition for mediating
effect is met. Then, the relationship between the independent and dependent variable shows
that RMs has a positive and direct relationship with ROs (β 5 0.176, p < 0.001), supporting the
second condition. In the third condition, ICS is significantly and positively related with ROs
(β 5 0.738, p < 0.005).
Table 4 indicates that RMs is both directly and indirectly related to ROs. However, the
strength of the relationship between RMs as a predictor variable and ROs as a criterion
variable is weakened when taking into account the mediator(ICS); β increased from 0.176 to
0.286; R2 increased from 0.031 (F 5 7.17) to 0.545 (F 5 141.84) when the mediator is added.
This supports the hypothesis that ICS acts as a mediator between the influences of RMs on
ROs. The path coefficients are shown in Figure 2.

Overall model measure Model score Acceptable model fit Acceptable range

CFI 0.942 Passed >0.90

GFI 0.957 Passed >0.90
RMSEA 0.088 Passed <0.10
Table 3. CMIN/DF 2.542 Passed <3
Measurement RMR 0.024 Passed >0.05
structural model NFI 0.942 Passed >0.90

ICS ROs PEHO POHO

Direct Direct Indirect Total

RMs 0.236* 0.176** 0.286* 0.461

SMR 0.236* 0.186*
OLR 0.108* 0.132*
JA 0.88** 0.55
Table 4. ICS 0.738* 0.738
Summary of effects Note(s): *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01
 Job Recruitment
Advertisement
Information methods and
Recruitment methods 0.236(*) credibility and
Online Recruitment sufficiency outcomes
method

Social media
0.738(*)
Recruitment

1625
0.176(*) Recruitment
outcome
Figure 2.
Path coefficients model

9. Discussion
In the existing competitive globalized world, recruitment has emerged as a key element of
organizational effectiveness. Recruitment practices and activities aims at identifying and
attracting applicants to become an organizational member. Recruitment research has focused
on various methods such as JAs, online methods, employee referrals, campus recruitment and
much more. Often, recruiters’ intention to use a method depends on the expected pre-hire
outcomes and post-hire outcomes. The effectiveness of RMs has also been influenced by the
capability of the concerned method to provide credible and sufficient information to the
applicant and get attracted to the vacancies. Thus, the current study has been conducted to
investigate the effectiveness of selective ROs and examine the mediating role of information
credibility and satisfaction.
First, the study result suggests that SMR is significantly related to both PEHO
(β 5 0.236*, p > 0.05) and POHO (β 5 0.186*, p > 0.05). Consistent with previous research
(Christensen et al., 2017), the result proved that SMR helps in easy accessibility to quality
applicants, ensures genuineness of resources, enables active processing, helps to generate
more favorable responses, meet timeframes and ensures cost savings. Recruiters use social
media as it is relatively better from other RMs in terms of easy access to quality applicants
and generating a more favorable response by initiating two-way communications between
the recruiter and the applicants. Further, the research result also proved that SMR is
significantly related to post-hire ROs. In other word, recruiters use social media as it helps in
hiring better talent in terms of performance, ensures more talent retention. Agreeing with
previous research, the result suggests that recruiters prefer social media more as it is
relatively better, compatible, less complex, ensures trialability and observability in attracting
quality talents and ensures more talent retention.
Second, the study result suggests that OLR is significantly related to both PEHO
(β 5 108*, p > 0.05) and POHO (β 5 132*, p > 0.05). Consistent with previous research (Van
Birgelen et al., 2008; Gopalia, 2011), the study proves that job portals and web portals are
significantly related with pre-hire ROs(easy accessibility, genuineness of resources, active
processing, helping to generate more favorable responses, meet timeframes, cost savings)
and post-hire ROs (efficiency and cost-effectiveness for recruiters, recruitees’ performance,
retention of recruitees, etc.).
Third, the study result suggests that JA is significantly related to PEHO (β 5 0.88,
p > 0.05, t 5 1.37) and insignificantly POHO (β 5 0.055, p > 0.05, t 5 0.883). Consistent with
previous research (Baker, 2015; Allen et al., 2007), the study proves that JA is more related to
PEHO (e.g. more favorable responses, meet timeframes, cost savings, etc.) and less related
with POHO (efficiency and cost-effectiveness for recruiters, recruitees’ performance, retention
of recruitees, etc.). This may be because the nature of the message presented in
advertisements influence job seekers who deduct information about the job and the
BIJ organization from the message presented in advertisements (Highhouse and Hoffman, 2001).
27,4 This is truer as JA express how an organization wants to be perceived rather than providing
an objective description of the organization (Erez et al., 2001).The wordings of the ads are
interpreted as signals of the organizational culture and values and hence, influence
applicants’ intentions to pursue further contact with the firm. Hence, the content and layout
characteristics of the advertisement are critical for attracting applicants.
Fourth, responding to the call for research on the role of various mediating variables
1626 between RMs and recruitment outcome, the hypothesis has been framed and tested. In this
connection, we have considered ICS as a mediating variable between RMs and recruitment
outcome. The study result proved the positive significant mediating effect of ICS between
RMs and recruitment outcome. The result suggests that effectiveness of RMs depend on the
capability of the concerned hiring process to provide credible information and satisfying the
applicants through the related information. This is consistent with previous research
findings (Acarlar and Bilgic, 2013; Breaugh, 2013; Van Hoye and Levens, 2007). For example,
Acarlar et al. (2013) studied a different kind of information given in a JA and found that more
credible and satisfactory information presented in job ads will result in more attraction to the
organization, which in turn results in more applicants applying for the job and potentially
better hiring for the organization. Pornpitakpan (2004) suggested that more credible sources
of information are more persuasive in both changing attitudes and gaining behavioral
compliance from the applicants. In line with this framework, the attraction effect was entirely
mediated by credibility (Van Hoye and Levens, 2007). Further, the study also proved that
applicant’s satisfaction toward the quality and quantity of information also acts as a
determiner of the most suitable recruitment method.

10. Theoretical implications

The result of the study has important theoretical implications. The theoretical implication can
be explained from the perspective of ST (Rynes, 1991) and elaboration likelihood model
(ELM) theory (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). Theoretically, the result extends the application of
the ST from the evolutionary biology and economics context to the context of human resource
management (HRM) in general and recruitment in particular. The extension to recruitment is
by proving that the effectiveness of RMs depends more on the capability of the method to
provide credible information to the applicants. The result that reliable data can foster more
talent attraction may extend the application of the ST by sensitizing the recruiters about the
candidates’ tendency to collect the unavailable information from the respective recruitment
method. As the theory prescribes that individual tend to consider the available information as
signals of the other explicit unavailable information required by the applicant before
applying for the particular vacancy. Second, the result may also be considered as an
extension of the ELM theory to the domain of recruitment. The ELM theory’s focus on
persuasive message can be relevant to the field of recruitment. The focus of the theory on
central route based message can provide valuable guidelines for the recruiters to design
messages and consider information that is personally relevant to the applicants which in turn
can promote better attraction.

11. Managerial implications

The result also has significant implication for managerial practice. First, the study result that
SMR is significantly related to both PEHO (r 5 0.18, p > 0.05) and POHO (r 5 0.18, p > 0.05)
suggests managers to rely on SMR as it is relatively better, compatible, less complex, ensures
trialability and observability in attracting quality talents and ensures more talent retention.
For example, social media sites like Facebook can be used to maximize the number of
applicants by designing a strategy to like an employer’s fan page on Facebook. The purpose Recruitment
is to build a pipeline of potential applicants who are available for internship, summer and methods and
post-graduate opportunities. This can help the employers to drive traffic to their pages on
Facebook through their corporate career sites (Seeing out talent. . ., 2016). Further, social
outcomes
media platform can be used for showcasing organizational practices capable of attracting
talents. For example, organizational practices promoting happiness can attract potential
candidates (de Waal, 2018) and hence social media platform can be used to share this news.
Second, the result that OLR is significantly related to both PEHO and POHO suggests 1627
managers to optimize the use of online ROs. Further, as the designing website is more critical
for the success of OLR, managers need to design websites giving importance to attributes like
aesthetics, navigational capacity and specificity of information (Stone et al., 2005). Instead of
mere sharing information, managers may choose to keep the relevant testimonials and
policies which can give sufficient message to the job seekers about the organizational culture.
Culture-specific competitive organizational awards won and testimonials, culture-specific
pictures and/or employee testimonials on a “careers” website can be displayed in the web
portals to help in attracting more quality talents than written sentences and paragraphs.
Third, the result that JA is significantly related to PEHO such as more favorable
responses, meet timeframes, cost savings, etc. proves that the nature of the message
presented in advertisements influences job seekers who deduct information about the job and
the organization from the message presented in advertisements. Hence, managers are
suggested to focus on the content and presentation of the advertisement as the content can
convince the applicants whereas the presentation and the visuals used in the advertisement
can play a very important role in grabbing the attention of the readers (Keshari et al., 2012).
Finally, by looking at the importance of ICS, the corporate practitioners may provide
information with empirical evidence as it will enhance more positive attitudinal and
behavioral effects on the prospective applicants. In this connection the managers need to be
influenced by the ST (Rynes, 1991) which postulates that in the absence of relevant
information, the applicant may use the available information as an indicator of unknown
attributes such as organization’s working conditions, culture, etc. which further helps them to
determine their course of action. This signal of working conditions or culture of an
organization could lead the job seekers to expect that this company would have a favorable
work environment along with a competitive wages-and-benefits package and excellent
learning opportunities. This expectation may raise the job seekers’ overall impression of the
organization, thus giving rise to their intention to pursue employment there. Hence, the
practitioner’s need to be careful to touch upon all these related areas too.

12. Limitations and future scope

Although adequate precautionary measures were taken, the study has some limitations.
First, obtaining data from a single geographical region limits the generalizability of the
findings to other geographic areas. The study is confined to a single province of India
(Gujarat, India), and, hence, the results may not be generalized to other geographic areas. To
enhance external validity, future research should obtain data from broader geographic
regions.
Second, the study focused on three RMs only, i.e. social media, OLR and JA. Future
research can be conducted considering other methods such as word-of-mouth, campus hiring,
referral, etc.
Third, in the current study, RMs have been measured considering the perception of
recruiters only. We have not considered the applicants whose perception can be equally
important. However, as the majority of recruitment research has been conducted considering
BIJ the recruitees (Breaugh, 2013), the present study can have a unique contribution as it is one
27,4 among those few studies which have considered recruiters. However, considering a hybrid
approach, future research can be planned considering both the recruiter and the applicants. A
comparative study of recruiters and applicants may add more value to the recruitment
research domain.
Fourth, the result related SMR and its positive relation with both pre and POHO can be
extended to a comparative study of all the social media platforms such as LinkedIn,
1628 Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their relative impact on pre and POHO.
Finally, we have tried to cover the same number of respondents both from the public and
private sector to get similar information from both the sectors. As we know public sector
firms possess traditional and rigid norms as compare to the private sector, it became difficult
for us to fetch information from them, so we got only 87 samples of public sector against 153
samples of private sector firms. In the future, the more nuanced approach can be applied to
get more information from the public sector which may give a balanced outcome.

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Corresponding author
Ashutosh Muduli can be contacted at: ashuhrm@gmail.com

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