The effects of customizing recruitment information to individual job seekers in a Web-based recruitment context: A multi-level experimental investigation

Although the growth of Web-based recruitment in recent years is phenomenal, little recruitment research has occurred in the context of the Web. This dissertation examines theoretical and practical issues relating to how the Web's interactive capability might be leveraged to enhance recruitment outcomes for job seekers and organizations. Specifically, customization of feedback regarding potential fit with organizations and jobs in terms of values, needs, and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) was examined, as was the opportunity for job seekers to customize the order in which information was presented in position postings. Theories of person-environment fit, similarity-attraction, attraction-selection-attrition, message elaboration, non-compensatory decision making, and information search costs are applicable to this investigation and were used to derive hypotheses at multiple levels of analysis. These hypotheses focused on how customization of information might affect the relationship between job seekers' actual and perceived fit, as well as how customization might impact job seeker search costs and satisfaction, and applicant pool size and fit.; A 2 (customization of fit feedback) x 2 (customization of the order of information presentation) x 20 (number of position postings; within-subjects) experimental design was used to test hypotheses. Three hundred and forty eight individuals participated in the study. In Phase 1, participants provided background data regarding values and needs preferences, KSA levels, and information ordering preferences. During Phase 2, these participants visited a mock Web-based "job board" containing 20 position postings. For each of the postings, they were asked to indicate their perceived fit and were given the opportunity to apply for the position. Results showed that customized fit feedback acted to strengthen links between actual and perceived fit constructs, whereas customized information ordering did not exhibit significant hypothesized effects. At the individual level of analysis, job seeker search costs (operationalized as time spent browsing position postings) and satisfaction were invariant across conditions. At the organizational level, applicant pool size did not vary across conditions, but applicant pool values and KSA fit were enhanced among organizations providing customized fit feedback. These results are discussed along with study limitations, directions for future research, and practical implications.