Job applicants\u27 testing and organizational perceptions: The effects of test information and attitude strength

This quasi-experimental study examined job applicants\u27 organizational perceptions prior to and immediately after completing pre-employment assessments, and after the hiring decision was announced. Participants were actual applicants (N = 262) for non-exempt level data processing positions at a medium-size Midwestern insurance company. As part of the selection process, applicants completed both a cognitive ability test and a personality inventory. Information about the tests was used as a manipulation. Approximately half of the participants received information prior to completing the assessments that explained the tests\u27 content, job relatedness, and validity, and a description of the testing process, while the other half were not provided with this information. Applicant perceptions were measured prior to testing, immediately after testing, and after hearing about the hiring decision (approximately 30 days after testing). Applicants\u27 general test fairness perceptions, attitude strength antecedents, information condition, hiring decision, as well as a number of control variables, were used as predictors of applicants\u27 organizational attraction and word-of-mouth behavior. Testing information was significantly related to organizational attraction at each measurement phase and to recommendation behaviors after the hiring decision was announced. Additionally, information provision influenced applicants\u27 posttest organizational attraction through its impact on applicants\u27 interactional justice perceptions. Applicants\u27 organizational knowledge and job importance, two attitude strength antecedents, were positively related to applicants\u27 pretesting organizational attraction. The attitude strength antecedents and test information interacted to influence applicants\u27 post-hiring decision organizational attraction and word-of-mouth behavior, such that applicants receiving information whose attitude strength was high were more strongly attracted to the organization and engaged in more word-of-mouth behavior. This research indicates that providing job applicants with pretesting information increases their attraction to the organization and their pro-organizational behaviors. Both practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed