Employer brand, person-organisation fit and employer of choice: Investigating the moderating effect of social media

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between employer brand dimensions and employer of choice (EOC). The paper also analyses the role of person-organisation fit in transferring employer brand dimensions to EOC status, and the moderating role of social media in the relationship between person-organisation fit and EOC.

Factor analysis has been conducted to validate the “employer attractiveness” scale for identifying the dimensions of employer brand. Structural equation modelling has been used to conduct mediation and moderation analysis. The results are based on the perceptions of college students regarding employer brand dimensions and EOC status.

The paper provides empirical insights on how the person-organisation fit helps in transferring employer brand dimensions to EOC status. The results indicate that the person-organisation fit acts as a full mediator, indicating that for becoming a EOC, the dimensions of employer brand must be linked to the person-organisation fit. Also, the moderation analysis results highlight the importance of social media towards obtaining EOC status.

The authors believe that the study is the first of its kind to investigate drivers of EOC, and to identify the role of the person-organisation fit as a mediating variable and social media as a moderating variable.