| Understanding how organizations impact society and potentially benefit a variety of stakeholders is important. The impact that an organization's corporate social responsibility (CSR) has on job applicants can be crucial to organizational survival. This study quantitatively investigates the relationship between individual CSR orientation and perceptions of employer attractiveness among senior level undergraduate business students and graduate business students. Each study participant completed a survey to identify their CSR orientation (concern for economic performance versus society) and then rated their perceptions of employer attractiveness to eight organizational vignettes. Each vignette differed in the degree to which the described organizations participated in economic, ethical and discretionary behaviors.; Findings from the study provide evidence that job applicants do differentiate among organizations with varying degrees of CSR and find them differentially more or less attractive. The findings also supported previous studies showing that males and females view CSR differently. Females identified firms with higher discretionary behaviors as more attractive than males. This study also demonstrated that gender often moderated the relationship between CSR orientation (CSRO) and perceptions of employer attractiveness. CSR orientation also impacted ratings of employer attractiveness. For instance, for individuals with a higher concern for economic performance orientation, economic behavior was a key indicator of attractiveness regardless of an organization's performance on ethical and discretionary behaviors. This was not the case for individuals with a higher concern for society orientation. Another major finding related to the perception of the absence of ethical or discretionary behaviors. For job applicants making employment decisions and rating employer attractiveness, the absence of ethical or discretionary behaviors seemed to be more important than the presence of these same types of organizational behaviors.; This research adds to literatures around social responsibility, CSR orientation, employer recruitment, and employer attractiveness. During the past six decades, interests in the social responsibility of organizations has increased in disciplines as varied as management science (Makower, 1994), business ethics (Carroll, 2000a), psychology (Koys, 2001), sociology (Lackey, 1987; Strand, 1983), and organization development (Kraft, 1991). Consequently, this study identifies the critical need for future research to investigate the specific components of CSR and CSR orientation. |
