Employer Postcrisis Image Restoration: Implications for Recruitment

Abstract

A crisis can severely tarnish a company’s image and attempts to restore the damaged image may negatively affect postcrisis recruitment efforts. Because company image plays an important role in job seeker attraction, and company crises are on the rise, we examined the effects of postcrisis image restoration on job seeker attraction. We applied image restoration theory to a repeated-measures 2 (negative or neutral company information at Time 1) × 3 (two types of image restoration, and neutral for the same company at Time 2) factorial experimental design. We used the psychology of apologies to understand the underlying mechanisms by which a company’s image changes in the context of image restoration. Results showed that Time 2 ratings of image were more positive after restoration attempts; however, there was no significant difference between the two types of restoration or with the neutral condition. We also found that attraction to the organization assessed at Time 2 fully mediated the relationship between perceptions of image and intentions to pursue a job opportunity. The implications of our findings are that the valence of image restoration influences job seekers’ pursuant behavior more than what is said within image restoration.