Organizational Web Sites: Web Site Content and Style as Determinants of Organizational Attraction

TLDR

Organizational web sites are a primary source of information for job seekers, yet no research has identified which site aspects most influence attraction. This paper investigates how perceptions of web site content and style affect organizational attraction. Two studies examined perceptions of content (compensation, culture, training) and style (aesthetics, usability) to assess their impact. Both content and style are significant precursors of organizational attraction, with practical implications for recruitment web site design and future research.

Abstract

Organizational web sites have become a primary source of information for job seekers. To date, no research has attempted to determine which aspects of organizational web sites most influence job‐seeker attraction to an organization. The current paper reports the results of two studies that examined how perceptions of organizational web site content (compensation, organizational culture, and training opportunities) and style (aesthetics and usability) influence organizational attraction. The present findings demonstrate that both the content and style of organizational web sites are important precursors of organizational attraction. These findings are discussed both in terms of their practical implications for designing effective recruitment web sites and their implications for future empirical work on organizational recruitment activities.