Impact of Social Media Activities on Employer Brand Equity and Intention to Apply

Using a brand equity perspective, we examine different forms of social media activities (i.e., entertaining, informative and interactive) which are used to create employer brand and their impact on intention to apply. Also, we assess whether employer brand equity dimensions (i.e., employer awareness, employer brand attraction, perceived job attributes) act as a mediating variable between social media activities and intention to apply. A total of 179 respondents evaluated three companies on the three dimensions of social media activities. Employer brand equity and intention to apply was measured using a standard scale drawn from the literature. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and structural equation modelling analysis techniques. Overall, we found that various forms of social media activities lead to higher intention to apply, and that employer awareness and employer attraction mediates the relationship between social media activities and intention to apply. Among the three dimensions of employer brand equity, the dimension of employer awareness seems to have the largest impact on the intention to apply and all three types of social media content generate employer awareness. Organizations can adopt social media strategies as a prominent tool to create employer brand equity and attract the best talent. In addition to traditional media of employer branding, due to the changing profile of job seekers, social media platforms should be considered seriously in promoting the organisation as an employer. Implications for managers and directions for future research are discussed.