The Role of Organizational Political Affiliations in Employee Recruitment
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Today’s increasingly polarized political climate and the growing presence of organizations on social media combine to create a relevant, timely avenue for new research at the intersection of politics, work and media. I manipulated organizational-level political affiliations using LinkedIn profiles and corporate political donation information and investigated the effects of these affiliations on important recruitment outcomes. Study 1 findings suggest that job applicants can form similarity perceptions with an organization based specifically on political affiliations conveyed through content on company LinkedIn profiles. Those similarity perceptions impacted one’s intent to apply and intent to accept a job offer from an organization through a mediating effect of organizational attraction. In Study 2, I manipulated organizational political affiliation using both company LinkedIn profiles and corporate donation information. Participants were randomly assigned to view profiles and donation information that were either consistent or inconsistent with the same political affiliation. I replicated the same indirect effect of political affiliation similarity on intent to apply and intent to accept a job offer via a mediating effect of organizational attraction found in Study 1. In Study 2, this mediation effect was moderated by the consistency of the political affiliations shown in the LinkedIn profile and donation information that applicants viewed, such that it was stronger when applicants viewed materials with a consistent political affiliation. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
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