Corporate Social Performance As a Competitive Advantage in Attracting a Quality Workforce

TLDR

Research indicates that a talented workforce is a key competitive advantage, and theories suggest that corporate social performance signals and enhances applicants’ self‑image, influencing their job preferences. The study tests whether firms can attract job applicants by leveraging corporate social performance as a signal of workplace quality. An experiment manipulated firms’ CSP levels and measured applicants’ job pursuit intentions, revealing higher interest in socially responsible firms. The results demonstrate that higher CSP increases applicants’ likelihood to pursue jobs, indicating CSP can serve as an effective recruitment signal.

Abstract

Several researchers have suggested that a talented, quality workforce will become a more important source of competitive advantage for firms in the future. Drawing on social identity theory and signaling theory, the authors hypothesize that firms can use their corporate social performance (CSP) activities to attract job applicants. Specifically, signaling theory suggests that a firm’s CSP sends signals to prospective job applicants about what it would be like to work for a firm. Social identity theory suggests that job applicants have higher self-images whenworking for socially responsive firms over their less responsive counterparts. The authors conducted an experiment in which they manipulated CSP and found that prospective job applicants are more likely to pursue jobs from socially responsible firms than from firms with poor social performance reputations. The implications of these findings for academicians and practitioners alike are discussed.