Enticing the IT crowd: employer branding in the information economy
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 23 August 2019
Issue publication date: 7 October 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an instrument to measure employer branding in the information age. Firms increasingly migrate from matter-intensive business models to information-intensive models, where value lies in information rather than the physical objects. This shift has, in turn, led to a change in employee work skills. This is particularly true in the information technology (IT) sector, where firms rely on a limited supply of skilled labor. Employer branding, a firm’s reputation as a place to work, is an important strategy to attract and retain employees.
Design/methodology/approach
From the literature, the authors developed and refined an instrument to measure key value propositions of employer brands. The potential IT employees surveyed in the study were students enrolled in the disciplines of computer science and information systems at a comprehensive university in North America. The study went through three stages resulting in an instrument for psychometric properties.
Findings
This research revealed eight employer branding value propositions that future IT employees care about. These dimensions are important for both IT firms and industries competing for skilled IT labor to understand and manage.
Originality/value
This paper extends the work of Berthon et al. (2005) on employer branding to the information intensive age and particularly the IT sector. It allows executives to manage and measure their employer brand so as to maximize competitive advantage in attracting and retaining skilled employees.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a special section “Emerging Technologies in Business and Industrial Marketing”, guest edited by Jeannette Paschen, Leyland Pitt and Jan Kietzmann.
Citation
Dabirian, A., Berthon, P. and Kietzmann, J. (2019), "Enticing the IT crowd: employer branding in the information economy", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 34 No. 7, pp. 1403-1409. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-11-2018-0333
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited