WE WANT YOU! Experimental evidence on the impact of recruitment messaging on application intentions

Public organizations face increasing challenges to attract and retain young and highly qualified staff. Previous studies have shown that public service motivation (PSM) is associated with a higher propensity to apply for jobs... [ view full abstract ]

Public organizations face increasing challenges to attract and retain young and highly qualified staff. Previous studies have shown that public service motivation (PSM) is associated with a higher propensity to apply for jobs in the public sector, but the implications from these findings for the design of the recruitment process are still unclear. We investigate how messaging in the recruitment process impacts on person-job and person-organization fit, how these associations are moderated by PSM and how they translate into application intentions. In a survey experiment, we vary inspirational and rational messages on organizational missions and job tasks in fictional job advertisements and test our hypotheses in a sample of 600 students in Germany. Results show how messaging can reinforce some of the proposed relationships depending on the framing of the message. Our findings have implications for the selection and presentation of information in the recruitment process.