Negative publicity and potential applicants' intention to apply amid a discrimination scandal: a moderated mediation model

Abstract

Purpose

The exposure of recruitment discrimination often leads to negative publicity, which can substantially affect organizational attractiveness and the behavioral intentions of stakeholders. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between negative publicity and intention to pursue a job, with organizational attractiveness as a mediator and perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate product quality (CPQ) as two moderators.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey completed by 382 college students in three universities in Nanjing, China, was used to empirically test the research hypotheses. The respondents were asked their intention to apply for a job at Meituan after the exposure of its recruitment discrimination scandal in 2017.

Findings

Perceived negative publicity negatively influences intention to pursue employment via organizational attractiveness. In addition, moderated path analysis indicated that perceived CSR strengthens and perceived CPQ weakens the direct effect of perceived negative publicity on organizational attractiveness and its indirect effect on intention to pursue employment.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should seek to replicate these findings in other contexts and populations, including people who are not new to the job market and to control additional firm-level and contextual variables.

Originality/value

This research confirms a moderated mediation model positioning organizational attractiveness as a mediator of negative publicity's effects on intention to pursue employment and organizational image as a moderator of such effects. This study also contributes to the debate concerning the effect of corporate image by demonstrating opposing effects of its different dimensions amid a discrimination scandal.

Citation

Ouyang, Z., Zhang, Y. and Hu, X. (2021), "Negative publicity and potential applicants' intention to apply amid a discrimination scandal: a moderated mediation model", Personnel Review, Vol. 50 No. 1, pp. 129-142. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-09-2019-0510