求職者在網路社群的自我呈現與媒合 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學資訊管理學系. 博士學位論文指導教授:姜國輝博士. 政治大. 立求職者在網路社群的自我呈現與媒合. ‧ 國. 學. How Do Job Seekers’ Self-presentations Influence. ‧. Hiring Recommendation in Online Community?. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 研究生：孫弘岳中華民國一百零四年六月.

(2) 摘要. 隨著各式網路社群平台的興起，愈來愈多僱主運用網路社群來尋找潛在的人才；也有愈來愈多求職者運用這些平台來行銷自我，以吸引潛在僱主的目光。本研究探討經由網路社群，求職者如何透過自我呈現來增加職缺推薦機會。此外，本研究也分析求職者在網路社群上各種不同自我呈現內容對招募人員的遴選判斷，繼而推薦予雇主。本研究邀請網路招募人員，評估真實求職者在「領. 政治大英」社群網站上各式自我呈現內容的論點品質及來源可靠度，求職者與徵才職立. ‧ 國. 學. 缺的媒合性、及推薦職缺面試的傾向。本研究發現，求職者自我呈現內容的論點品質會直接影響招募人員判斷求職者是否符合工作與組織適配性，繼而反應. ‧. 在職缺推薦的傾向上；而求職者某些自我呈現內容的來源可靠度雖然與招募人. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. 員的個人喜好呈顯著正相關，但最終並不會因此而影響職缺推薦。. Ch. i n U. v. 關鍵字：網路社群、領英(LinkedIn)、自我呈現、推敲可能性模型、個人與環. engchi. 境適配性、人才招募。. ii.

(3) Abstract. As increasing numbers of employers utilise these platforms to screen job candidates, job candidates are increasingly presenting themselves in online communities to impress employers. This study investigated how a job seeker self-presentation affects recruiter’s hiring recommendations in an online communities and what categories of self–presentation contribute to fit perceptions for obtaining hiring recommendations. The study participants viewed potential candidates’ LinkedIn profiles and responded. 政治大 presentations, fit perceptions, and hiring recommendations. The results show that 立. to questions regarding the argument quality and source credibility of their self–. ‧ 國. 學. recruiters make inferences about job seekers’ person–job fit and person-organisation fit on the basis of argument quality in specific self–presentation categories, which in. ‧. turn predict recruiters’ intentions to recommend job seekers for hiring. Although. sit. y. Nat. certain specific categories of self–presentation offering source credibility have. io. al. er. positive associations with person-person (P–P) fit perception, there is a non-. v. n. significant relationship between perceived P–P fit and hiring recommendations.. Ch. engchi. i n U. Keywords: online community; LinkedIn; self-presentation; elaboration likelihood model (ELM); person–environment (P–E) fit; recruitment. iii.

(4) Table of Contents. List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study....................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Literature Review ...............................................................................................4 Job seekers and self-presentation ...................................................................................4 Self-presentation and online communities .....................................................................6 Self-presentation in online communities for job seekers ...............................................8. 政治大. Job seekers’ self-presentation and hiring recommendations .......................................11. 立. Chapter 3: Research Method ..............................................................................................19. ‧ 國. 學. Procedure and participants ...........................................................................................19 Measurements ..............................................................................................................27. ‧. Data analysis ................................................................................................................30. y. Nat. sit. Chapter 4: Results ..............................................................................................................32. n. al. er. io. Argument quality and perceptions of P–J fit ...............................................................35. i n U. v. Argument quality and perceptions of P–O fit ..............................................................36. Ch. engchi. Source credibility and perceptions of P–P fit ..............................................................37 P–J/P–O/ P–P fits and hiring recommendations ..........................................................38 Chapter 5: Discussion, Recommendations, and Conclusion .............................................39 Discussion ....................................................................................................................39 Recommendations ........................................................................................................42 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................45 References ..........................................................................................................................47. i.

(5) List of Tables Table 1. Demographic of the job seekers..................................................................... 22 Table 2. Correlations between variables ...................................................................... 32 Table 3. Hypothesised path coefficients ...................................................................... 33. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. ii.

(6) List of Figures Figure 1. The conceptual model of job seeker’s self-presentation and recruiter hiring recommendation in online communities ...................................................... 18. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. iii.

(7) Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study. An online community consists of members sharing common interests and purposes administered through guidelines and policies within a computer system (Preece, 2000). Online community life has increasingly become a significant part of our social lives (Burkell, Fortier, Wong, & Simpson, 2014) and has become a new channel through which organisations can connect with stakeholders, including job candidates (Madera, 2012). As increasing numbers of employers utilise these. 治政大 to impress employers increasingly presenting themselves in online communities 立 platforms to screen job candidates (Bohnert & Ross, 2010), job candidates are. (Dekay, 2009).. ‧ 國. 學. The information demonstrated in online community is often used in. ‧. combination with other, more traditional information, such as an applicant’s cover. y. Nat. sit. letter and résumé. Research suggests that recruiters use this online information to. n. al. er. io. make inferences about a job seeker’s motivation, conscientiousness, abilities, and. i n U. v. interpersonal skills, and that they use this information when deciding whom to. Ch. engchi. interview and hire (Cole, Field, & Giles, 2003). Research also suggests that recruiters are able to make reasonably valid personality inferences based solely on the information presented by the job seekers in online communities (Bohnert & Ross, 2010).. Online communities have paved new paths for job seeking in the computermediated communication (CMC) environment (Ikenberry, Hibel, & Freedman, 2010), but few studies have examined how cues in the context of an online community affect. 1.

(8) job seekers’ behaviours, such as impression formation and self-presentation strategies (van der Heide, D'Angelo, & Schumaker, 2012). Although self-presentation in online communities has been previously examined (e.g., Birnbaum, 2013; DeAndrea & Walther, 2011; Labrecque, Markos, & Milne, 2011; Schwämmlein & Wodzicki, 2012), job seeking within online communities is qualitatively different from many other online settings because of the anticipation of face-to-face job interviews (Jansen, König, Stadelmann, & Kleinmann, 2012) and the social script (Gioia & Poole, 1984) for the hiring process in this context.. 政治大. Membership in the LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) online community has. 立. grown exponentially (Gerard, 2011). The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. ‧ 國. 學. released a study finding that 81% of Inc. 500 companies use LinkedIn for talent acquisition (Barnes & Lescault, 2012). LinkedIn is perhaps the most successful and. ‧. widely used social networking site (SNS) for recruiters and job seekers and is the. Nat. al. er. io. sit. y. world’s largest professional network on the Internet (Adams, 2013).. A majority of LinkedIn members explicitly state that they may be contacted. n. v i n for reasons concerning new C career Several of these individuals, in their h eopportunities. ngchi U LinkedIn profiles, also include detailed descriptions of present and past work experience, summaries of their areas of expertise, and links to references made available by former supervisors and co-workers. Their stated contact interests, and the detailed résumé-like profiles that often accompany these interests, indicate that the majority of individuals registered with LinkedIn are concerned to locate opportunities that may advance their careers (Dekay, 2009).. Some articles suggest ways that job seekers can enhance their chances of. 2.

(9) employment by optimising their self-presentation on LinkedIn (e.g., Damnianović, Matović, Kostić, & Okanović, 2012). However, little evidence exists to determine whether job seekers’ efforts to build their professional identity online are merely futile attempts to advance their careers or whether they might actually help job seekers secure opportunities for job interviews (Guillory & Hancock, 2012). As the realm of job seeking in online communities has not been studied extensively (Bohnert & Ross, 2010; Davison, Maraist, & Bing, 2011), there is a gap in the current research on job seekers’ self-presentation in online communities. This study addresses the research. 治政 influence recruiters’ hiring recommendations in an 大 online community? Accordingly, 立. gap by investigating the following question: How does a job seeker’s self-presentation. this study also explores the categories of self-presentation that contribute to fit. ‧ 國. 學. perceptions for obtaining hiring recommendations.. ‧. To answer the research question, the study begins by reviewing a well-known. Nat. sit. y. approach in social psychology – self-presentation (Goffman, 1959) – to understand. n. al. er. io. how job seekers present themselves and manage their self-presentations in an online. i n U. v. community. Second, the study explains how job seekers’ self-presentations lead to. Ch. engchi. recruiters’ hiring recommendations through recruiter multiple-fit perceptions of applicants based on the theory of person–environment fit (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005). Finally, the study employs an elaboration likelihood model (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) to provide a useful framework for making predictions regarding which self-presentation factors influence recruiters' evaluations of job seekers (Forret & Turban, 1996) and therefore influence recruiter hiring recommendations.. 3.

(10) Chapter 2: Literature Review Job seekers and self-presentation. One explanation for the behaviour of people in various social situations is provided by the script concept (Gioia & Poole, 1984), which considers contextspecific norms that specify the impressions that people should convey of themselves (Leary, 1995), such as self-presentation in seeking a job (Marcus, 2009). The goal of self-presentation is to make others accept the images that individuals claim for themselves (Goffman, 1959). In the workforce recruiting context, job seekers must. 政治大. present themselves in accordance with a script and ensure that recruiters positively. 立. evaluate their image (Jansen et al., 2012; Lievens & Peeters, 2008).. ‧ 國. 學. A script is defined as a “schematic knowledge structure held in memory that. ‧. specifies behaviour or event sequences that are appropriate for specific situations”. sit. y. Nat. (Gioia & Poole, 1984). Scripts guide behaviour in many social situations, for instance,. io. al. er. going to a restaurant, visiting the doctor, in performance appraisals, and in conversations with the boss (Abelson, 1981). Scripts may also be considered as. n. v i n C h the impressionsUpeople should convey of context-specific norms that specify engchi themselves (Leary, 1995).. Usually, a script is acquired through learning and experience (Gioia & Poole, 1984). Recruiters are typically trained in how to process in personnel selection situations, how to evaluate written job applications, and how to conduct job interviews. In other words, recruiters share their beliefs in the appropriateness of specific self-presentational behaviours. Job seekers are likely aware of the expectations of recruiters. They may acquire this script through learning materials or. 4.

(11) their own experiences about job applications. Thus, job seekers have probably learned to present themselves in an appropriate way so that the probability to be hired is higher (Jansen, König, Stadelmann, & Kleinmann, 2012).. Consistent with the script concept, personal profile and résumé content are generally considered to be evidence of a job seeker’s employability (Breaugh, 2009; Nemanick & Clark, 2002), and these features have become the most commonly used tools in personnel selection (Cole, Rubin, Feild, & Giles, 2007). Job seekers may acquire this script through self-help books or websites focusing on how to succeed in. 政治大. self-presentation with a strong profile and résumé (Tyler & McCullough, 2009).. 立. Online communities such as LinkedIn have initiated a new era of workforce. ‧ 國. 學. recruitment (Guillory & Hancock, 2012) in which recruiters are increasingly using. ‧. these SNSs to source and screen job candidates (Davison et al., 2011), and job seekers. sit. y. Nat. are encouraged to create professional identities in combination with their personal. io. al. er. profile and résumé content to enhance the likelihood that they will convey a positive impression in the new script (Caers & Castelyns, 2011). This new script may also. n. v i n Cmeet influence whether job seekers expectations in online communities h erecruiters’ ngchi U (Bohnert & Ross, 2010; Damnianović et al., 2012).. 5.

(12) Self-presentation and online communities. Online communities are actually online manifestations of physical communities, despite their strong reliance on technology and physical distance between participants (Daneshgar & Ho, 2008). When people become members of a community, they must select the relevant and appropriate pieces of information for their self-presentation to be consistent with the script for the group (Hornsey, Grice, Jetten, Paulsen, & Callan, 2007).. 治政 want to become visible to the out a member profile, deciding to which extent they大立. When people become members of a community, usually the first step is to fill. group and which impression they want to convey. It is a key premise in self-. ‧ 國. 學. presentation research that people want to be liked by their audience and want to get. ‧. the audience to think favourably of themselves (Baumeister, 1982). People must. sit. y. Nat. select those pieces of information for their self-presentation that are relevant and. io. n. al. er. appropriate in the given situation (Leary, 1993).. i n U. v. Managing self-presentation in online communities is an integral part of private. Ch. engchi. and professional life (Rui & Stefanone, 2013). However, the willingness to provide personal information in member profiles on these SNSs is generally high because members gain acceptance through extensive self-presentation that facilitates the establishment of relationships with other network members (Schwämmlein & Wodzicki, 2012).. The first SNS, Classmates.com, was established in 1995 (Cashmore, 2007). It provided a means by which geographically dispersed graduates of specific schools. 6.

(13) could reintroduce themselves and initiate communications. Three years later, the first business-oriented SNS—eademy—was created. The purpose of this U.K.-based enterprise was to offer a forum in which employees throughout the world could locate former colleagues or forge new relationships with professionals who might share expertise or serve as useful contacts for sales or other business-related activities. Since then, at least 10 major business-oriented SNSs have emerged, the largest being LinkedIn (DeKay, 2009), which maintains a membership of more than 347 million members in over 200 countries and territories at the end of 2014, according to the. 政治大. LinkedIn official website.. 立. van Dijck (2013) found that a LinkedIn profile can be used to shape an. ‧ 國. 學. idealised portrait of one’s professional identity by displaying skills to peers and anonymous evaluators. LinkedIn asked members not to provide their life story but to. ‧. highlight specific skills, thus promoting their strengths for different business. y. Nat. sit. stakeholders. Members were also urged to complete their profiles with. n. al. er. io. recommendations or statements from colleagues or clients praising their performance. i n U. v. or competencies. A member’s professional identity might also receive a boost from. Ch. engchi. contributing to the Question and Answer space provided by the SNS (Raban, 2009), which is typically called a ‘post and comment’. Accordingly, withholding personal information appeared to be incompatible with the key motivations for joining these online communities (Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, & Hughes, 2009). In other words, the large amount of information disclosed on these SNS might be a response to the CMC environment, which made the goal of building self-presentation salient, particularly for job seekers (Dekay, 2009).. 7.

(14) Self-presentation in online communities for job seekers. The use of SNS for recruiting seems to be widely accepted because of its close relation to the act of posting a job advertisement on the Internet. This type of activity just posts the advertisement on an online community (e.g., LinkedIn) that has even added classified sections for job seekers and job posters (Davison et al., 2011). LinkedIn allows users to research companies with which they may be interested in working. When typing the name of a given company in the search box, statistics about the company are provided. These may include the ratio of female to male employees,. 政治大. the percentage of the most common titles/positions held within the company, the. 立. employees (DeKay, 2009).. 學. ‧ 國. location of the company's headquarters and offices, or a list of present and former. ‧. Because using these online communities can allow for more targeted recruiting. sit. y. Nat. (i.e., applicants may be identified by certain characteristics), it is possible that using. io. al. er. some SNSs may produce more qualified applicants. Also, many organizations use these SNSs to identify passive job-seekers (SHRM Staffing Research 2008), who use. n. v i n the websites to indicate that C they in and available for certain job h are e ninterested gchi U positions and occupations (Davison et al., 2011).. Individuals essentially create online resumes with their job histories and qualifications. The linked online community enhances this content by connecting the information to other professionals, companies, and interest groups. The basic profile consists of a summary of the individual's skills, experience, and education, all very similar to a professional resume. The online community allows for more flexibility in the types of content one can include and more creativity in the way the content is. 8.

(15) displayed. The profile reveals much more information than a cover letter and resume. Depending on the content the user chooses to include, a profile may or may not be related to an individual's professional qualifications (Fawley, 2013).. A traditional resume or curriculum vitae is a document created to indicate that an individual has the education and experience to do a job. In LinkedIn, users can include a photograph, write a short blurb attesting to their expertise, and add media links that share presentations, digital portfolios, or a list of books they are reading. Personal interests and the LinkedIn groups and associations to which a person belongs. 政治大. are part of the profile, as are the reasons someone may be contacted, such as career. 立. opportunities, new ventures, or "getting back in touch." Individuals may enhance. ‧ 國. 學. their profiles to achieve a desired goal in the same way that a resume can be bolstered to improve the chances of getting an interview (Fawley, 2013).. ‧. sit. y. Nat. Consistent with Goffman (1959), members in online communities have. io. al. er. various socio-discursive needs – expressive, communicative, or promotional – that reflect the need for different personas and that necessitate different addresses.. n. v i n C his often a goal of self-presentation, Although gaining employment it is not the engchi U exclusive goal; people engage in self-presentation for many social reasons, including to conduct business, to establish friendships, or simply to express themselves (Shepherd, 2005). Consequently, difficulties may arise when a person wishes to create multiple impressions for different audiences online (Labrecque et al., 2011). Failures may also become clear if a job seeker’s online self-presentation does not match a recruiter’s expectations (Bohnert & Ross, 2010). Because personal goals affect selfpresentation in online communities, it is important for job seekers to provide. 9.

(16) information related to specific topics and recruiter interests that may enhance the likelihood of obtaining hiring recommendations (Schwämmlein & Wodzicki, 2012).. Erving Goffman (1959) theorized self-presentation as a performance; the need for a multiple, composite self has only increased since public communication moved to an online space. This article will analysis how the job seekers’ self-presentations influence recruiters’ perceptions based on the job seeker’s LinkedIn profile with different self-presented categories.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 10.

(17) Job seekers’ self-presentation and hiring recommendations. Because a job seeker’s self-presentation in an online community contains a wide range of information (Rosenberg & Egbert, 2011), how recruiters perceive and make decisions based on that information is critical to the hiring process (Caers & Castelyns, 2011). The theory of person–environment fit (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005) and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) may help determine whether job seekers’ online self-presentation can predict recruiters’ hiring recommendations (Dineen, Noe, & Ash, 2002).. 治政 a job seeker can influence Tsai, Chi, Huang, and Hsu (2011) found that大立. recruiter evaluations through impression management. Although the effect of. ‧ 國. 學. applicant impression management has been studied primarily in the context of. ‧. employment interviews (e.g., Jansen et al., 2012), researchers have noted that job. sit. y. Nat. seekers may employ online impression management tactics to create a desirable. io. al. er. image (Guillory & Hancock, 2012). Job seekers can affect recruiters’ person– environment fit perceptions by promoting themselves (Sekiguchi, 2007), which can in. n. v i n C hto be offered subsequent turn increase their opportunities e n g c h i U job interviews or the job itself (Higgins & Judge, 2004). Person–environment fit generally refers to the compatibility between individual and work environment characteristics (Kristof-. Brown et al., 2005). Person–environment fit encompasses a variety of manifestations, and fit between an employee and the work environment has been shown to increase the likelihood of maximum work efficiency (Caplan & Harrison, 1993). The person– environment fit literature highlights the attraction aspect of both Schneider’s (1987) attraction–selection–attrition model and Byrne’s (1971) similarity–attraction. 11.

(18) paradigm and suggests that people are attracted to organisations that have characteristics congruent with their own. Attraction–selection–attrition model assumes that individuals’ characteristics are the basic ingredients of existing organizational culture. This implies that the match between individuals and their organization also should refer to the match between individuals’ characteristics and the characteristics of others in the organization (Schneider, Smith, Taylor, & Fleenor, 1998). Two of the most commonly examined aspects of person–environment fit are person-job (P–J) fit and person–organisation. 政治大. (P–O) fit (Gregory, Meade, & Thompson, 2013). Recruiters’ perceptions of P–J and. 立. P–O fit were examined by Kristof-Brown (2000), who demonstrated that while highly. ‧ 國. 學. correlated each contributed uniquely to predicting hiring recommendations.. ‧. P–J fit is defined as the match between the abilities of a person and the. sit. y. Nat. demands of a job or the needs/desires of a person and what is provided by a job. io. er. (Edwards, 1991). The concept of P–J fit is the traditional foundation for employee selection (Werbel & Gilliland, 1999). P–O fit is “the compatibility between people. al. n. v i n and organisations that occursCwhen one entity provides what the other needs, h eatnleast gchi U they share similar fundamental characteristics, or both” (Kristof, 1996). This. definition focuses on fit of the person with the whole organisation rather than a specific job, vocation, or group (Kristof, 1996).. Moreover, people like and are attracted to others who are similar, rather than dissimilar, to themselves (Byrne, 1971). Previous similarity–attraction effect manipulations include personality traits (Banikiotes & Neimeyer, 1981), attitudes (Yeong Tan & Singh, 1995), ethnic backgrounds (Hu, Thomas, & Lance, 2008), and. 12.

(19) facial features (Bailenson, Iyengar, Yee, & Collins, 2008), among others. A popular explanation for similarity-attraction put forward by Byrne and Clore (1970) is based on people's need for accuracy: “Finding people who share similar attitudes or background corroborates one's own beliefs and as such, positively enforces one's feeling of accuracy”. Compared with the P–J and P–O fit, Person-Person (P–P) Fit (P–P) has been relatively neglected in selection research (Tsai et al., 2011). The theoretical base underlying P–P fit emphasizes effects of similarity (i.e., the optimal fit between preferences of people) or dissimilarity and considers the direction of. 政治大. dissimilarity to be irrelevant (Van Vianen, 2000).. 立. Self-presentation is a key process of argument and persuasion aimed at making. ‧ 國. 學. a desired impression on a particular audience in an online community (Rosenberg & Egbert, 2011). The ELM is a theory of the processes responsible for yielding to. ‧. persuasive communication (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) and can be used to explain how. Nat. sit. y. job seekers’ self-presentations influence recruiters’ hiring recommendations (Forret &. n. al. er. io. Turban, 1996). The ELM posits that information that is more relevant to the message. i n U. v. topic is more likely to be processed via a ‘central’ route in which the merits of the. Ch. engchi. information are deliberately evaluated; that is, presented information is critically evaluated and judged on the merit of its content. By contrast, less relevant information is more likely to be processed via a ‘peripheral’ route in which more superficial cues play a larger role in attitude formation (Gregory et al., 2013). The central and peripheral routes to persuasion are not exhaustive and are not mutually exclusive categories of persuasion (O'Keefe, 2002), and people may engage in both central and peripheral processing simultaneously (Choi & Salmon, 2003).. 13.

(20) Forret and Turban (1996) argued that the use of central routes for information, such as P–J fit and P–O fit, enables recruiters to process job seekers' qualifications more thoroughly, resulting in greater discrimination between more and less qualified applicants. However, when necessary job information is lacking, recruiters' ability to discriminate between applicants on the basis of qualifications is reduced, and recruiters will tend to rely more on peripheral route information that is irrelevant to organisational performance, such as P–P fit.. ELM acknowledges that argument quality and source credibility are key. 政治大. determinants of persuasion outcomes (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Argument quality. 立. should be defined and assessed in terms of the presence of and relationships among. ‧ 國. 學. rational assertions (Boller, Swasy, & Munch, 1990); source credibility refers to the extent to which the source of a persuasive message is perceived to be capable of. ‧. making correct assertions (Pornpitakpan, 2004). Mak, Schmitt, and Lyytinen (1997). y. Nat. sit. proposed that source credibility has been regarded as one of the major peripheral cues,. n. al. er. io. whereas the strength of argument quality has been found to be a critical factor for. i n U. v. central route messages. In other words, an individual with central route information. Ch. engchi. processing is always influenced by argument quality, whereas an individual with peripheral route information processing is always persuaded by source credibility (Li, 2013).. In line with person–environment fit, P–O and P–J fit are relevant information in the context of job recruiting and will be processed by a central route that is always influenced by argument quality, whereas P–P fit is irrelevant information and will be processed by a peripheral route that is always influenced by source credibility.. 14.

(21) Because argument quality and source credibility have positive effects on perceived online information quality (Yi, Yoon, & Davis, 2013), we predicted that job seekers in an online community would be perceived as having P–J and P–O fit when their self-presentations have high argument quality and that their self-presentations would be perceived as having P–P fit when they have high source credibility. We therefore proposed that a recruiter’s perceptions of the argument quality and source expertise of a job seeker’s self-presentation in an online community would mediate the relationship between a job seeker’s self-presentation and P–J/P–O fit, on the one hand,. 政治大. and P–P fit, on the other hand, and would therefore influence recruiter hiring recommendations.. 立. positively affect recruiters’ perceptions of P–J fit.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Hypothesis 1(H1): The argument quality of a job seeker’s self-presentation will. Hypothesis 2(H2): The argument quality of a job seeker’s self-presentation will. sit. y. Nat. positively affect recruiters’ perceptions of P–O fit.. al. er. io. Hypothesis 3(H3): The source credibility of a job seeker’s self-presentation will. n. positively affect recruiters’ perceptions of P–P fit.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. After evaluating the job seekers’ P–J/P–O/P–P fit, recruiters will then decide whether or not to recommend these job seekers for hire. P–J fit is concerned with the fit between applicants’ knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) and the job requirements for future performance (Higgins & Judge, 2004). Because P–J fit has been shown to predict a job seeker’s future task performance (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005), recruiters are motivated to match job seekers’ KSAs with job requirements during the candidate screening processes through SNSs (Roulin & Bangerter, 2013).. 15.

(22) Therefore, recruiters’ evaluations of P–J fit based on job seekers’ self-presentations tend to have positive effects on hiring recommendations (Kristof-Brown, 2000). Thus, this study proposes the following:. Hypothesis 4(H4): Recruiters’ perceptions of P–J fit based on job seekers’ selfpresentation will positively affect hiring recommendations. P–O fit is concerned with the compatibility between applicants and organisational characteristics for value congruence (Piasentin & Chapman, 2007). Research has consistently found that selecting applicants with high levels of P–O fit. 政治大. can predict not only lower levels of turnover intention and absenteeism (Arthur, Bell,. 立. Villado, & Doverspike, 2006) but also higher levels of job satisfaction, organisational. ‧ 國. 學. commitment, and organisational citizenship behaviour (Wei, 2012). Because perceived P–O fit is a measure of an individual’s perceived congruence with an. ‧. organisation (Kristof-Brown, 2000), job seekers’ self-presentation as provided on a. Nat. sit. y. SNS may allow recruiters to determine whether the job seekers’ personal. n. al. er. io. characteristics fit well with an organisation’s characteristics (Roulin & Bangerter, 2013). Therefore, we propose the following:. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Hypothesis 5(H5): Recruiters’ perceptions of P-O fit based on job seekers’ selfpresentation will positively affect hiring recommendations. Research has found that hiring decisions are made based on both objective qualifications (e.g., P–J fit and P–O fit) and subjective impressions (e.g., Wade & Kinicki, 1997). Subjective impressions affect hiring recommendations significantly more than objective qualifications because of an affective effect (Roebken, 2010) or unavoidable prejudices (Lodato, Highhouse, & Brooks, 2011) that may be unrelated. 16.

(23) to job or organisational performance (Highhouse, 2008). Research evidence indicates that recruiters give subjectively desirable applicants more favourable evaluations than subjectively undesirable applicants and that subjective impressions increase recruiters’ perceived person-person (P–P) fit, thereby influencing hiring recommendations (e.g., Davison et al., 2011). For example, job seekers’ opinions or background information may enhance recruiters’ “similarity–attraction” or affective effects toward these applicants, which might increase recruiters’ intentions to hire the applicants (Rynes, Barber, & Varma,. 政治大. 2000). As a result, job seekers presenting attributes that are more desirable to. 立. recruiters will likely be considered ideal employees by such recruiters (Garcia,. ‧ 國. 學. Posthuma, & Colella, 2008). Kaptein, Castaneda, Fernandez, and Nass (2014) found that similarity-attraction can have positive effects on people's evaluations of others in. ‧. online communities. Based on these arguments, we propose the following:. sit. y. Nat. Hypothesis 6(H6): Recruiters’ perceptions of P-P fit based on job seekers’ self-. io. al. er. presentation will positively affect hiring recommendations.. n. v i n Ch Based on these six hypothesises, develops the conceptual framework e n gthec study hi U. that is shown in figure 1 to explain how a job seeker’s self-presentation affects recruiter hiring recommendations and to identify the factors of effective selfpresentation in online communities that lead to a hiring recommendation. The. hypothesised relationships are based on person–environment fit theory and the ELM as discussed in previous reviewing section.. 17.

(24) Self-Presentation in Online Communities. H1. Perceived P-J Fit. H4. Argument Quality H2 H5. Perceived P-O Fit Source Credibility. H3. Recruiter Hiring Recommendation. H6. Perceived P-P Fit. Figure 1. The conceptual model of job seeker’s self-presentation and recruiter hiring recommendation in online communities. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 18.

(25) Chapter 3: Research Method Procedure and participants. This study was constructed in a field setting of social recruiting that includes actual recruiters’ and job seekers’ profiles for various job vacancies on LinkedIn to frame the posited relationships between the independent and dependent constructs – as specified in our conceptual research model (see Figure 1). This research began with a pilot test that consisted of five in-depth interviews with human resource (HR) professionals who have hiring experience with LinkedIn and two focus groups (one. 政治大. with the five HR professionals and one with five actual job seekers using LinkedIn).. 立. The participants in the pilot study are members of the authors’ local and. ‧ 國. 學. personal networks. These participants were invited by telephone and participated in. ‧. the study in a conference room in a local HR association in Shanghai, China. The. sit. y. Nat. pilot participants (the HR professionals had a mean age of 39 and three were female,. io. al. er. whereas the job seekers had a mean age of 41 and two were male) were located in China and worked in different industrial sectors (e.g., consumer goods, consulting,. n. v i n Ch financial services, hi-tech manufacturing, i U software). e n g candhcomputer. The pilot test suggested that all the paths in our structural model were significant and recommended that LinkedIn’s self-presentation categories of ‘updated activity on the personal page’, ‘connections’, ‘number of connections’, ‘joined groups’, ‘joined organisations’, and ‘following’ be excluded for this study because this information is seldom noticed by recruiters or used for self-presentation by job seekers and because it is irrelevant to perceived P–J/P–O/P–P fit and hiring recommendations when recruiters review the profiles of potential candidates for. 19.

(26) hiring purposes.. The survey profiles of job seekers reflect the majority of LinkedIn members: currently employed individuals who are interested in obtaining information concerning new career possibilities and who are prepared to act upon these opportunities in this online community (Dekay, 2009). In conducting the research, we joined a professional LinkedIn group that job-seekers and recruiters commonly use to search for jobs and candidates in the HR field. From this group, we connected with five recruiters in charge of hiring full-function HR Managers in the consumer goods,. 政治大. consulting, financial services, high-tech manufacturing, and computer software. 立. industries in China. The mean age of the recruiters was 38, and three participants were. ‧ 國. 學. female (60%). Within this group, 90% of members are HR managers or superiors and senior recruiters who focus on sourcing candidates.. ‧. sit. y. Nat. We selected the recruiters who posted similar job vacancy information (China. io. er. HR Manager) on the “jobs” discussion board in the group, and then we requested to connect with them (if they were not previously the authors’ connections on LinkedIn). al. n. v i n C h in this study. There and then invited them to participate e n g c h i U were five participants who accepted our invitation.. After the recruiters agreed to participate in the study, we instructed them in the survey procedure through a web meeting and then sent a questionnaire to each of them. Each recruiter was asked to randomly and carefully review 20 LinkedIn profiles within both their and the researchers’ connections who meet the basic requirements in terms of relevant experience, educational background, and work location, which is the information that determines recruiters’ initial judgements regarding hiring. 20.

(27) recommendations (Cole et al., 2007). If the selected profile was from a job seeker who had already been interviewed, then the recruiters were asked to find another profile. The purpose of this step was to eliminate or minimise the possibility that the recruiters’ interview-based impressions of a job seeker would contaminate their evaluation of the job seeker’s self-presentation (Tsai et al., 2011). By the end of this process, the recruiters had reviewed a total of 100 LinkedIn profiles for the five job vacancies.. If the selected candidates were not previously connected with the recruiters,. 政治大. we introduced (a LinkedIn’s networking function) the recruiters to connect with the. 立. job seekers because some candidates’ profiles were visible only to their direct. ‧ 國. 學. connections on LinkedIn. Thus, the recruiters could evaluate job seekers’ full profiles and self-presentations on LinkedIn after they were “within” connected.. ‧. sit. y. Nat. Of the 100 LinkedIn profile owners (see Table 1), 58% were female, and 66%. io. al. er. had a master’s degree or above. A total of 68% of the profile owners had worked for their current employer for more than three years. Furthermore, 12% of the companies. n. v i n were in the consumer goodsC industry, were in the consulting industry, 15% were h e n10% gchi U in the financial services industry, 21% were in high-tech manufacturing, 22% were in computer software, and 20% were in other industries. In addition, 79% of the companies had more than 1000 employees.. 21.

(28) Table 1. Demographic of the job seekers Items. Description Female Male. Gender. Count 58 42. Percentage 58% 42%. Industry. Consumer goods Consulting Financial service High-tech manufacturing Computer software Others. 12 10 15 21 22 20. 12% 10% 15% 21% 22% 20%. Company Size. <500 500-1000 1001-5000 5001-10000 >10000. 11 10 39 25 15. 11% 10% 39% 25% 15%. 2 22 35 33 8. 2% 22% 35% 33% 8%. 3 63 34. 3% 63% 34%. 政治大. n. Ch. Doctoate Master Bachelor. engchi U. y. sit. io. al. ‧. Nat Degree. <1 year 1-3 years 3-5 years 5-10 years >10 years. er. Tenure with current employer. 學. ‧ 國. 立. v ni. To avoid the potential problem of social desirability (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003), the respondents were simply told that the purpose of this study was to identify factors that influenced recruiters’ perceptions when reviewing job seekers’ LinkedIn profiles. When reviewing a job seeker’s LinkedIn profile, the recruiters themselves decided how much time to spend screening the profile. Once they felt that they had sufficient information to form an opinion regarding a job seeker,. 22.

(29) they were asked to complete the surveys evaluating the job seeker’s self-presentation information quality (argument quality and source credibility), fit perceptions, and hiring recommendations. With the information openly provided by each job seeker once connected on LinkedIn, recruiters can review the self-presentation categories for each job seeker, which includes (1) portrait, (2) profile summary, (3) experience, (4) volunteer experience and causes, (5) projects, (6) languages, (7) certifications, (8) publications, (9) education, (10) discussion posts and comments, (11) recommendations, (12) endorsed skills and expertise, (13) interests, and (14) honours. 治政大 perspective according to LinkedIn: 立. and awards. Each self-presentation category is described based on job seeker’s. ‧ 國. 學. (1) Portrait: It is a job seeker’s picture or a look shot that allows people to recognize him/her. This means that this little, square image is a job seeker’s. ‧. first chance to make a good impression on their target audiences.. sit. y. Nat. io. al. er. (2) Profile summary: It is information about a job seeker’s mission, accomplishments, and goals. This 2,000-character space is where the LinkedIn. n. v i n Ckey algorithm searches for Job seekers fill it with information they h ewords. ngchi U think their target audience is looking for, and to jazz it up with awards or. anything that will make job seekers stand out. Recruiters will want to put in keywords that match those of the candidates they are looking for, and job seekers will want to use terms that their potential employers might be looking for.. (3) Experience: The information is to demonstrate a job seeker’s professional positions and experience, including jobs, volunteer posts, military, board of. 23.

(30) directors, non-profit, or professional activities. Under experience, job seekers can go beyond their resume by sharing media such as relevant videos, images, presentations or articles quoting them. Also, job seekers can spruce up their profile with visuals, take advantage.. (4) Volunteer experience and causes: Job seekers can share their volunteer experience, the organizations they support, and the causes they care about with their entire network. A LinkedIn survey reports that volunteer experience can give job seekers an edge with recruiters. Recruiters consider volunteer work. 政治大. equally as valuable as paid work experience.. 立. (5) Projects: The section is an ideal place to show off some of job seekers’. ‧ 國. 學. actual work, similar to a portfolio of experiences. One of the great ways in. ‧. which job seekers can communicate to potential employers what the profile. sit. y. Nat. owners can do for them is by showing them what the job seekers have done. io. n. al. er. for other similar employers or clients.. i n U. v. (6) Languages: If being able to speak or write in other languages is important. Ch. engchi. in job seekers’ prospective jobs, job seekers can list the language skills along with their proficiency level by adding this section to their LinkedIn profile.. (7) Certifications: Having a certification on job seekers’ profile can be a beacon for opportunity and a powerful way to showcase expertise. LinkedIn allows job seekers to add professional certifications to their profile in oneclick. Any certification issuer can easily add to their website.. 24.

(31) (8) Publications: The Publications section can describe and provide links to articles, books and e-books with uploaded files. Job seekers can also include links to blog posts, particularly if users have contributed articles on sites other than their own.. (9) Education: Job seekers can add more education to their profile and list details, including their credential's name, major of study and attendance dates. They can also add extracurricular activities or clubs in which they participated, as well as list any awards and accomplishments they achieved throughout their. 政治大. degree programs. LinkedIn supports multiple entries and allows job seekers to. 立. add as many credentials and schools as needed.. ‧ 國. 學. (10) Discussion posts and comments: LinkedIn Groups are where individuals. ‧. with common interests, professions, and university affiliations connect. The. sit. y. Nat. group members can create great exposure to their target audiences through. io. al. n. visibility and personal brand within the group.. Ch. engchi. er. posting discussion and comments, which can help job seekers to build. i n U. v. (11) Recommendations: A recommendation is a comment written by a LinkedIn member to recognize or commend a job seeker. Viewers of a LinkedIn profile often view the recommendations the profiles owner received on her or his profile to see what others have to say about her or his work. Recruiters searching for new candidates may prefer to work with people who come recommended by someone they know and trust.. 25.

(32) (12) Endorsed skills and expertise: Skill and expertise endorsements are a great way to recognize a job seeker’s first-degree connections' skills with one click. They also let the job seekers’ connections validate the strengths found on their own profile. These endorsements are a simple and effective way of building job seekers’ professional brand and engaging their network.. (13) Interests: Job seekers can use this section to incorporate keywords and outline their professional passions. Also, job seekers can add interests that display personality and that take advantage of its search engine optimization potential for recruiters.. 立. 政治大. (14) Honours and awards: Industry honours and achievements can show off a. ‧ 國. 學. job seeker’s hard-earned awards, and this section may help a job seeker’s. ‧. profile stand out from the electronic slush pile. While much of a job seeker’s. sit. y. Nat. profile is a subjective characterisation of his/her abilities, honours and Awards. io. n. al. er. provide objective validation for his/her accomplishments.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 26.

(33) Measurements. The measures were adapted primarily from previously validated questionnaires when possible. Minor modifications were made to fit the context of the present study. All the items used a six-point Likert scale with anchors ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (6). The preliminary instrument was pilot tested using a convenience sample of 30 HR professionals in a LinkedIn group who have experience recruiting in online communities. The results of the pilot test were evaluated using Cronbach’s reliability and factor analysis. Cronbach’s alpha indicator was used to. 政治大. assess the initial reliability of the scales. The standard lower bound for Cronbach’s. 立. alpha is 0.6 (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 2010). Any items that did not. ‧ 國. 學. significantly contribute to reliability were eliminated. A factor analysis was then performed to examine whether the items produced the expected number of factors and. ‧. whether the individual items loaded on the appropriate factor as expected. The. y. Nat. sit. criterion for factor loading suggested by Hair et al. (2010) is greater than 0.5. The. n. al. er. io. measurement was then refined by removing the items that did not load significantly. i n U. v. onto the expected constructs. As a result, the Cronbach’s alpha (α) values ranged from. Ch. engchi. 0.77 to 0.97, which indicated a satisfactory level of reliability.. Argument quality. This study measured argument quality for each self-presentation category using three items adopted from Bhattacherjee and Sanford (2006): ‘The information presented by the job seeker on LinkedIn was informative’, ‘The information presented by the job seeker on LinkedIn was valuable’, and ‘The information presented by the job seeker on LinkedIn was persuasive’. The α score for these items ranged from .87-. 27.

(34) .99.. Source credibility. The study measured source credibility for each self-presentation category using three items adopted from Bhattacherjee and Sanford (2006): ‘The job seeker presenting the information on LinkedIn was trustworthy’, ‘The job seeker presenting the information on LinkedIn was credible’, and ‘The job seeker presenting the information on LinkedIn appeared to be experienced and professional’. The α score. 政治大. for these items ranged from .94-.99.. 立. Perceived P–J fit. ‧ 國. 學. The study measured perceived P–J fit using Kristof-Brown’s (2000) three-item. ‧. scale: ‘The job seeker fits the demands of the job’, ‘Other employees will think this. sit. y. Nat. job seeker is qualified to do this job’, and ‘I am confident that this applicant is. io. n. al. er. qualified for this job’. The α score for these items was .90.. Perceived P–O fit. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The study measured perceived P–O fit from Cable and DeRue’s (2002) threeitem scale: ‘The things that the job seeker values in life are very similar to the things that the hiring organisation values’, ‘The job seeker’s values match the hiring organisation's values and culture’, and ‘The hiring organisation's values and culture provide a good fit with the things that the job seeker values in life’. The α score for these items was .94.. 28.

(35) Perceived P–P fit The study measured perceived P–P fit on the basis of Howard and Ferris’ (1996) three-item scale for measuring ‘affect toward applicant’: ‘The job seeker has qualities that I like’, ‘I would like to do something with the job seeker’, and ‘I would like to spend free time with the job seeker’. The α score for these items was .98.. Hiring recommendation. The study adopted three items from Tsai, Chen, and Chiu (2005) to assess. 政治大. recruiters’ intentions in terms of hiring recommendations: ‘I consider the job seeker to. 立. be suitable for hiring into the hiring organisation’, ‘The job seeker would have a good. ‧ 國. 學. future in the hiring organisation’, and ‘The job seeker would perform well for the hiring organisation’. The α score for these items was .91.. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 29.

(36) Data analysis. To test the hypotheses, the partial least squares (PLS) method was used. PLS is suited for explaining complex relationships, as it avoids two serious problems: inadmissible solutions and factor indeterminacy (Fornell & Bookstein, 1982). Moreover, PLS offers the benefit of lower sample size requirements (Chin, Marcolin, & Newsted, 2003). In the context of this study, PLS was employed to examine the proposed paths from argument quality to P-J fit and P–O fit and the path from source credibility to P–P fit for each of the 14 self-presentation categories. To evaluate. 政治大. convergent validity, three criteria were used. First, the standardised factor loadings. 立. were greater than 0.7. Second, the composite reliability (CR) was greater than the. ‧ 國. 學. cutoff value of 0.7. Third, the average variance extracted (AVE) was greater than the 0.5 threshold (Fornell & Larcker 1981). Each research construct of the 14 structural. ‧. models conforms to the above three criteria, indicating adequate convergent validity. y. Nat. sit. for this exploratory study. To assess discriminant validity, the root square of AVE and. n. al. er. io. all reflective interconstruct correlations were compared (Sánchez-Franco & Roldan,. i n U. v. 2005). Because the square root of the AVE was greater than all the interconstruct. Ch. engchi. correlations, this result provides evidence of sufficient discriminant validity.. Because this study collected data from a single respondent regarding each job seeker, common method variance (CMV) might possibly have inflated the relationships among the variables. To examine this possibility, we first followed Podsakoff et al.’s (2003) approach to examine the CMV using Harman’s single factor test for the 14 models. To complement Harmon’s test, this study conducted an additional analysis as outlined by Klein, Rai, and Straub (2007) and Liang, Saraf, Hu,. 30.

(37) and Xue (2007). The results demonstrate that the average substantively explained variance of the indicators is between 0.70 and 0.78, whereas the average methodbased variance is between 0.016 and 0.029. The ratio of substantive variance to method variance is between 26:1 and 39:1. Second, we adopted Malhotra, Kim, and Patil’s approach (2006) and modelled all items as indicators of a factor representing the common method effect. The results indicated a poor fit with the 14 models. For example, the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) was 0.538 (<0.90), and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.133 (>0.08). Given the results of both tests,. 政治大. we believe that CMV is not a significant problem in our research.. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 31.

(38) Chapter 4: Results. Two tables were created to help describe the data in this sample. The correlations among all measured variables appear in Table 2. A summated score was saved for the construct of cognitive response to preserve the multiple aspects of the concept when estimating the 14 complete models. We tested the hypotheses with PLS, and Table 3 presents all of the hypothesised paths.. Table 2. Correlations between variables. 政治大. Argument Source P-J Fit Quality Credibility 1.000 1.000 1.000. 0.348** 0.768** 0.183. P-P Fit. 0.315** 0.154 0.131 0.591** 0.087 0.201* 0.442** 0.396** 0.286**. 學. 0.350**. -0.098. -.0.179. 0.202*. 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000. 0.487** 0.762** 0.884** 0.299** 0.145. 0.369** -0.088 -0.022 0.335** -0.134 0.555** 0.721** 0.156 0.407** 0.151 -0.195 0.141 0.272** 0.263** 0.038. 1.000. 0.370**. 0.460**. y. sit. io. 1.000. ‧. ‧ 國. 立. Nat. Argument Quality. Portrait Profile summary Experience Volunteer experience & causes Projects Languages Certifications Publications Education Discussion post and comment Recommendation Endorsed skills and expertise Interests Honors & awards Portrait Profile summary Experience Volunteer experience & causes Projects Languages Certifications Publications Education Discussion post and comment Recommendation. P-O Fit. er. Variables. 0.166. n. a1.000 iv l C 0.780** 0.286** 0.141 n 1.000 h -0.107 0.387** e n g 0.297** chi U. Hiring Recommendation 0.339** 0.621** 0.475** 0.055 0.361** 0.340** 0.724** 0.106 0.323**. 0.016. 0.329**. -0.089. 0.175. 0.140. 0.206*. Source Credibility. 1.000 1.000 0.348** 0.768** 0.183. 0.171 0.791** 1.000 1.000 1.000. 0.109 0.214* 0.055 0.434** -0.170 0.666** 0.354** 0.374** 0.632** 0.261* -0.004 0.210* 0.284** 0.134 0.265**. 0.127 0.402** 0.479** 0.360** 0.343**. 0.350**. 1.000. 0.333** 0.354** 0.673**. 0.499**. 0.487** 0.762** 0.884** 0.299** 0.145. 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000. 0.151 -0.101 0.188 0.316** 0.156 0.606** 0.648** 0.159 0.400** 0.101 0.106 0.554** 0.194 0.387** 0.094. 0.215* 0.294** 0.594** 0.227* 0.158. 0.370**. 1.000. 0.218*. 0.232*. 0.510**. 0.302**. 0.780**. 1.000. 0.107. -0.049. -0.034. 0.084. 32.

(39) Endorsed skills and -0.107 expertise Interests 0.171 Honors & awards 0.791** P-J Fit P-O Fit P-P Fit. 1.000 1.000 1.000. 0.069. -0.144. 0.160 0.219* 0.500** 0.173 1.000 0.095 0.095 1.000 0.408** 0.305**. -0.264**. -0.032. 0.580** 0.711** 0.408** 0.305** 1.000. 0.217* 0.466** 0.799** 0.287** 0.509**. Note: n=100; * p<0.05, **p<0.01. (two-tailed). Table 3. Hypothesised path coefficients H1. H2. H3. H4. H5. H6. 0.335**. 0.158. 0.634**. 0.721**. 0.164**. 0.167. 0.112. 0.025. 0.402. 0.096. 0.215. 0.364. 0.009. 0.046. 0.448**. 0.404**. 0.283. 0.2. 0.163. 0.008. 4.Volunteer experience & causes β. -0.119. -0.224. 0.674*. R2. 0.2. 0.163. 0.454. 0.377**. -0.091. 0.19. a l0.142 Ch 0.331**. 0.008. 0.036. 1.Portrait. 2.Profile summary β. 0.603**. 立. 2. 2. R. 6.Languages β 2. R. 7.Certifications β. n. R. 0.109. 0.613*. 0.723**. 0.2. 0.403. R. 0.523. 0.004. 0.163. 8.Publications β. 0.151. -0.307. 0.554*. R. 0.023. 0.094. 0.307. β. 0.268**. 0.293**. 0.11*. 0.072. 0.086. 0.012. 0.474**. 0.189. 0.51*. 0.225. 0.036. 0.26. 2. 2. 0.720**. 0.719**. 0.722**. n U i en g c h 0.375 0.017 -0.132. 0.165**. 0.164. 0.717. ‧. 2. io. β. Nat. 5.Projects. 0.722**. 學. 3.Experience β. ‧ 國. R. 政治大. 0.717. y. R. sit. 2. er. β. iv. 0.716**. 0.165**. 0.166. 0.714. 0.166**. 0.166. 0.715 0.165**. 0.168. 0.715 0.167**. 0.168. 0.71 0.714**. 0.168**. 0.168. 0.713 0.719**. 0.166**. 0.166. 0.712. 9.Education 2. R. 10.Discussion post and comment β 2. R. 0.718**. 0.166**. 0.168. 0.714. 0.720**. 0.166*. 0.163. 0.714. 33.

(40) 11.Recommendation β. 0.285*. -0.255. 0.055. 0.081. 0.065. 0.003. 0.322**. 0.314. -0.289. R. 0.104. 0.171. 0.083. β. 0.113. 0.226. 0.579**. 0.013. 0.051. 0.335. 0.432**. -0.173. 0.711**. 0.187. 0.03. 0.505. 2. R. 12.Endorsed skills and expertise β 2. 0.717**. 0.167*. 0.169. 0.713. 0.722**. 0.166*. 0.162. 0.713. 13.Interests 2. R. 14.Honors & awards β 2. R. 0.720**. 0.166**. 0.165. 0.715 0.715**. 0.168*. 0.169. 0.709. Note: n=100; * p<0.05, **p<0.01.. 立. 政治大. This study adopted Claudia’s (2012) approach to test whether the results are. ‧ 國. 學. valid when controlled for the effect of different raters (the five participated recruiters).. ‧. The analysis of dummy variable “rater” was included in the full model, and causal. sit. y. Nat. links from the control variable to each endogenous variable in the model were drawn.. io. er. The PLS based structural equation modeling analysis was run once more with the control variable included in the model. The difference of each path coefficient and R. al. n. v i n C h between this U square value for the each hypothesis testing model and the base model engchi. was less than 0.005. This means that the effect of different rater did not significantly influence the study results.. 34.

(41) Argument quality and perceptions of P–J fit For H1, the results show that the argument quality for the self-presentation categories in the online community has a significant influence on P–J fit (β=0.27 to 0.72, p<0.05) except for volunteer experience and causes, publications, and interests. The results indicate that the self-presentation messages with higher levels of argument quality in the online community tend to stimulate recruiters to perceive better P–J fit. The most important self-presentation categories with argument quality that positively affect perceived P–J fit are certifications, profile summary, and discussion posts and comments.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 35.

(42) Argument quality and perceptions of P–O fit. With regard to H2, the results show that the argument quality of the selfpresentation categories in the online community – including experience and education – has a significant influence on P–O fit (β=0.29 to 0.40, p<0.01). The results indicate that when receiving a self-presentation message regarding experience and education with higher levels of argument quality in an online community, recruiters tend to perceive higher levels of P–O fit.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 36.

(43) Source credibility and perceptions of P–P fit. For H3, the source credibility of the self-presentation message in the online community has significant effects on perceived P–P fit (β=0.11 to 0.71, p<0.05), except with respect to profile summary, experience, projects, certifications, recommendations, and endorsed skills and expertise. The results suggest that a job seeker’s source credibility in terms of their portrait, volunteer experience and causes, languages, publications, education, discussion posts and comments, interests, and honours and awards in an online community tends to stimulate recruiters’ feelings. 政治大. regarding P–P fit. The most important self-presentation categories with source. 立. credibility that positively affect perceived P–P fit are volunteer experience and causes,. ‧ 國. 學. portrait, and languages.. ‧. Taken together, the results show that self-presentation messages with. sit. y. Nat. argument quality in online communities tend to result in perceptions of P–J and P–O. io. al. er. fit by recruiters, whereas self-presentation messages with source credibility in online. n. communities lead to perceptions of P–P fit by recruiters. Thus, H1, H2, and H3 are partially supported.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 37.

(44) P–J/P–O/ P–P fits and hiring recommendations. With respect to H4, H5, and H6, the path from argument quality for selfpresentation in the online community to P–J fit and P–O fit and the path from P-J fit and P-O fit to hiring recommendations were both positive and significant (β=0.72 and 0.16, p<0.05). However, the path between P–P fit and hiring recommendation was not significant. This result indicates that under higher levels of argument quality for selfpresentation in online communities, recruiters will perceive job seekers’ P–J and P–O fit and will therefore be more willing to recommend such job seekers for hiring.. 政治大. However, P–P fit does not mediate the relationship between source credibility for. 立. self-presentation in online communities and hiring recommendations. Therefore, H4. ‧ 國. 學. and H5 are supported, but H6 is not.. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 38.

(45) Chapter 5: Discussion, Recommendations, and Conclusion Discussion. The goals of this study were to deepen our understanding of the explanations and evaluations of how a job seeker’s self-presentations influence recruiters’ hiring recommendations in online communities. The results of this study revealed that recruiters positively perceive P–J fit, P–O fit, and P–P fit when a job seeker offers argument quality and source credibility for specific self-presentation categories on LinkedIn, which indicates that there is indeed a commonly shared script (Jansen et al.,. 政治大. 2012) that places clear demands on job seekers’ self-presentation in online. 立. communities. Moreover, our findings suggest that recruiters make inferences about. ‧ 國. 學. job seekers’ P–J fit and P–O fit based on the argument quality in specific selfpresentation categories, which in turn predict recruiters’ intentions to recommend job. ‧. seekers for hiring.. sit. y. Nat. io. er. In particular, we found that volunteer experience and causes, publications, and interests were unrelated to recruiters’ P–J fit perceptions. It is plausible that the. al. n. v i n C h non-work activities relationship between job seekers’ e n g c h i U and perceived P–J fit depends on undetected moderators. For example, given that involvement with non-work activities is an indicator of job seekers’ vocational interests (Ehrhart, 2007), recruiters may rely more on job seekers’ publications as a basis of their judgements of P–J fit when the job vacancies require occupants to have more artistic (e.g., journalist) than conventional (e.g., human resources) traits.. Our results were consistent with Roulin and Bangerter (2013), which indicates that recruiters use job seekers’ self-presentation signals in online communities to infer. 39.

(46) characteristics that are predictive of P–O fit and P–J fit for hiring recommendations, while they focus more on job-related information that is available in online profiles, such as experience and education (Kristof-Brown, 2000).. In applying the ELM to recruitment in an online community context, because recruiters do not always have the ability or the motivation to process job seekers’ qualifications – central route information (Forret & Turban, 1996) – they may be persuaded by identification with the source presented by the job seeker through peripheral route information processing (Bhattacherjee & Sanford, 2006). If the. 政治大. persuasive messages come from a credible source, affective response (e.g., perceived. 立. P-P fit) can be evoked (Li, 2013).. ‧ 國. 學. However, the relationship between perceived P–P fit and hiring. ‧. recommendations was non-significant in this study. We propose two possible. sit. y. Nat. explanations for this finding. First, recruiters under high levels of accountability and. io. al. er. training load will engage in greater elaboration than recruiters under low levels of accountability and training load, and when recruiters engage in greater elaboration,. n. v i n they will be influenced moreCbyhcentral route information e n g c h i U (Forret & Turban, 1996). Because our participants were all well-trained professional recruiters who are accountable for the recruiting outcome, they have sufficient motivation and ability to engage in a high level of elaboration for hiring recommendations using central cues (e.g., P–J and P–O fit perceptions) rather than peripheral (e.g., P–P fit perception) cues. Another possible explanation may be the strong correlations between P–P and P–J fit (r=0.41) and between P–P and P–O fit (r=0.30). Thus, the unique effects of P-P fit on hiring recommendations may become non-significant after controlling for the. 40.

(47) effects of P–J/P–O fit.. Although this study provides interesting results, certain limitations must be discussed. First, to collect data from the actual online profile screening process, we measured all variables on the basis of self-reports from the recruiters, which may cause a CMV problem. CMV is a complex topic, and one can never be certain of the extent to which correlations are inflated or attenuated as a result of the measurement method (Gregory et al., 2013). Although we cannot eliminate the possibility of CMV affecting our correlations, we do not find evidence that the hypotheses were supported solely as a result of CMV.. 立. 政治大. Second, our convenience samples of recruiters and online profiles were small. ‧ 國. 學. for some analyses, resulting in limited external validity and generalisation. Thus, our. ‧. results should be replicated in future studies. Future research may also attempt to. sit. y. Nat. replicate the above results in a different online community or SNS (e.g., Facebook).. io. al. er. Although other SNSs were not included within the scope of this study, it is. n. conceivable that members of these sites (who may also include many LinkedIn. Ch. engchi. registrants) are similarly concerned.. i n U. v. Finally, this study used HR professional vacancies for sampling. Different job vacancies may have different targeted job seekers, who may have engaged in different forms of self-presentation. Thus, future research may elucidate different job vacancies to decrease the variance among different job seekers in online communities.. 41.

(48) Recommendations. Our research also has implications for theory and research. The present study proposed a model that links job seeker self-presentations to recruiter hiring recommendations in an online community and is rooted in the ELM (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) and person–environment fit theory (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). The model indicates that self-presentation in online communities may be currently emerging as a new persuasive message for recruiter hiring recommendations. When the recruiter carefully scrutinises the job seeker's qualifications on job-relevant. 政治大. messages (e.g., P–J and P–O fit), the recruiter is engaging in high elaboration through. 立. a central route, and his/her attitude toward the job seeker will be influenced more by. ‧ 國. 學. the argument quality of the messages. When the recruiter does not carefully process the job seeker's qualifications but is instead influenced by messages (e.g., P–P fit) that. ‧. Nat. al. er. io. sit. through a peripheral route (Forret & Turban, 1996).. y. are unrelated to job-relevant information, the recruiter is engaging in low elaboration. In other words, in online communities, recruiters who perceive P–J and P–O. n. v i n C h might haveUactivated a central route for the fit from job seekers’ self-presentations engchi elaboration of information, and those who perceived P–P fit from the job seekers’. self-presentations might have followed the peripheral route, which is more immediate and not as deep for hiring recommendations. Future research would benefit from examining how job seekers’ self-presentations actually influence recruiter recommendations based on this study.. LinkedIn has gained popularity in recent years and has become the preferred mode of employment for many professional users. This study provides evidence that. 42.

(49) the self-presentation is an integral part of persuasion process occurring on LinkedIn. Self-presentation, also known as impression management, is the use of behaviours to intentionally regulate the impressions that observers have of oneself (Goffman, 1959). Jones and Pittman (1982) developed a taxonomy of impression management techniques that individuals commonly use. Their taxonomy included selfpromotion, ingratiation, exemplification, intimidation, and supplication. Researchers can adopt or expand this taxonomy to study the users’ self-presentation tactics on LinkedIn, which are beyond the scope of this article but which could be explored in future research.. 政治大. Our results also have practical implications for recruiters and job seekers.. 立. When recruiters want to search potential job candidates, professional SNS (e.g.,. ‧ 國. 學. LinkedIn) profiles may serve as an extended online résumé that allows job applicants and recruiters to exchange detailed job-related information at low cost and without the. ‧. legal or ethical issues associated with private SNSs (e.g., Facebook). As research. Nat. sit. y. shows that recruiters’ perceptions of P–J and P–O fit are good predictors of applicants’. n. al. er. io. future performance and retention (Tsai et al., 2011), some attempt should be made to. i n U. v. ensure that recruiters are instructed in how to assess P–J and P–O fit based on the online profiles.. Ch. engchi. Since many job seekers build their profiles in this online community for professional use and expect employers to view their profiles (Roulin & Bangerter, 2013), they may have various needs for different personas, necessitating different addresses in the online community (Bohnert & Ross, 2010). Managing multiple online personas is increasingly difficult, and separating one’s social and professional worlds appears to be nearly impossible without the proper mechanisms for exercising. 43.

(50) such control (Labrecque et al., 2011). Individuals seeking a job or building a career clearly recognise the importance of constructing a consistent personal-professional image online. The key features of self-presentation for job seekers are the profile summary, work experience, and educational background. Furthermore, this study found that a job seekers’ portrait affected perceived P–J fit and P–P fit by recruiters. LinkedIn users ought to be more aware of their photo appearance to multiple audiences having access to their profile and being perceives to their images in the online space.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 44.