Recruitment-related information sources and organizational attractiveness: Can something be done about negative publicity

The present study begins to fill a gap in the recruitment literature by investigating whether the effects of negative publicity on organizational attractiveness can be mitigated by recruitment advertising and positive word-of-mouth. The accessibility–diagnosticity model was used as a theoretical framework to formulate predictions about the effects of these recruitment-related information sources. A mixed 2 2 experimental design was applied to examine whether initial assessments of organizational attractiveness based on negative publicity would improve at a second evaluation after exposure to a second, more positive information source. We found that both recruitment advertising and word-of-mouth improved organizational attractiveness, but word-of-mouth was perceived as a more credible information source. Self-monitoring did not moderate the impact of information source on organizational attractiveness. N egative publicity about companies has become rathercommon in this media era and is likely to have pervasive effects on company sales and stock prices (Abowd, Milkovich, & Hannon, 1990; Fombrun & Shanley, 1990). In addition, negative media attentio