When evaluating an applicant online, individuals are often concurrently exposed to a diverse cross-section of self- and other-generated information with varying relevance to the candidate’s actual job skills. Moreover, these various data may not always be internally consistent. Utilizing profiles on the microtask site Fiverr, a fully-crossed 2 × 2 × 2 experiment (N= 92) tested main and interaction effects of exposure positively- and negatively-valenced (1) self-generated task-relevant, (2) self-generated task-irrlevant photographic, and (3) other-generated task-relevant information, all within the same stimulus. Contrast analyses results support significant interactions among cues on perceptions of an applicants’ employability and person-job fit. The significant two- and three-way interactions are discussed with respect to warranting theory and the halo effect, and practical implications for applicants and employers are presented.
AdkinsC. L.RussellC. J.WerbelJ. D. (1994). Judgments of fit in the selection process: The role of work value congruence. Personnel Psychology, 47, 605-623. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1994.tb01740.x
2.
AntheunisM. L.SchoutenA. P. (2011). The effects of other-generated and system-generated cues on adolescents’perceived attractiveness on social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 16, 391-406. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2011.01545.x
3.
BauerT. N.TruxilloD. M.MansfieldL. R.ErdoganB. (2012). Contingent workers: Who are they and how can we select them for success? In SchmittN. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of personnel assessment and selection (pp. 865-878). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
4.
BerkelaarB. L.BuzzanellP. M. (2015). Online employment screening and digital career capital: Exploring employers’ use of online information for personnel selection. Management Communication Quarterly, 29, 84-113. doi:10.1177/0893318914554657
5.
CableD. M.JudgeT. A. (1994). Pay preferences and job search decisions: A person-organization fit perspective. Personnel Psychology, 47, 317-348. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1994.tb01727.x
6.
CableD. M.JudgeT. A. (1996). Person-organization fit, job choice decisions, and organizational entry. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process, 67, 294-311. doi:10.1006/obhd.1996.0081
CarrC. T. (2016). An uncertainty reduction approach to applicant information-seeking in social media: Effects on attributions and hiring. In LandersR. N.SchmidtG. B. (Eds.), Using social media in employee selection: Theory, practice, and future research (pp. 59-78). New York, NY: Springer.
9.
CarrC. T.StefaniakC. (2012). Sent from my iPhone: The medium and message as cues of sender professionalism in mobile telephony. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 40, 403-424. doi:10.1080/00909882.2012.712707
10.
CarrC. T.WaltherJ. B. (2014). Increasing attributional certainty via social media: Learning about others one bit at a time. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19, 922-937. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12072
11.
ConnellyC. E.GallagherD. G. (2004). Emerging trends in contingent work research. Journal of Management, 30, 959-983. doi:10.1016/j.jm.2004.06.008
12.
D’AngeloJ.Van Der HeideB. (2016). The formation of physician impressions in online communities: Negativity, positivity, and nonnormativity effects. Communication Research, 43, 49-72. doi:10.1177/0093650213491112
13.
De CuyperN.De WitteH. (2010). Temporary employment and perceived employability: Mediation by impression management. Journal of Career Development, 37, 635-652. doi:10.1177/0894845309357051
14.
DeAndreaD. C. (2014). Advancing warranting theory. Communication Theory, 24, 186-204. doi:10.1111/comt.12033
15.
DeAndreaD. C.Van Der HeideB.VendemiaM. A.VangM. H. (2015). How people evaluate online reviews. Communication Research. doi:10.1177/0093650215573862
16.
DionK.BerscheidE.WalsterE. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24, 285-290. doi:10.1037/h0033731
17.
EdwardsC.EdwardsA.QingQ.QahlS. (2007). The influence of computer-mediated word-of-mouth communication on student perceptions of instructors and attitudes toward learning course content. Communication Education, 55, 255-277. doi:10.1080/03634520701236866
18.
GeH.CaverleeJ.LeeK. (2015, May). Crowds, gigs, and super sellers: A measurement study of a supply-driven crowdsourcing marketplace. Paper presented at the 9th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), Oxford, UK.
19.
GilmoreD. C.BeehrT. A.LoveK. G. (1986). Effects of applicant sex, applicant physical attractiveness, type of rater and type of job on interview decisions. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 59, 103-109. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.1986.tb00217.x
20.
GilmoreD. C.FerrisG. R. (1989). The effects of applicant impression management tactics on interviewer judgments. Journal of Management, 15, 557-564. doi:10.1177/014920638901500405
21.
GreenbergJ. (1987). The college sophomore as a guinea pig: Setting the record straight. The Academy of Management Journal, 12, 157-159.
22.
HorneyN. (2016). The gig economy: A disruptor requiring HR agility. People & Strategy, 39, 20-27.
23.
JudgeT. A.CableD. M.HigginsC. A. (2001). The employment interview: A review of recent research and recommendations for future research. Human Resource Management Review, 10, 383-406. doi:10.1016/S1053-4822(00)00033-4
24.
KallebergA. L. (2000). Nonstandard employment relations: Part-time, temporary and contract work. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 341-365. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.341
25.
KnouseS. B. (1983). The letter of recommendation: Specificity and favorability of information. Personnel Psychology, 36, 331-341. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1983.tb01441.x
26.
Kristof-BrownA. L. (2000). Perceived applicant fit: Distinguishing between recruiters’ perceptions of person-job and person-organization fit. Personnel Psychology, 53, 643-671. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2000.tb00217.x
27.
Kristof-BrownA. L.ZimmermanR. D.JohnsonE. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals’ fit at work: A meta-analysis of person-job, person-organization, person-group, and person-supervisor fit. Personnel Psychology, 58, 281-342. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2005.00672.x
28.
LeeK.WebbS.GeH. (2014, June). The dark side of micro-task marketplaces: Characterizing fiverr and automatically detecting crowdturfing. Paper presented at the 8th International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, Ann Arbor, MI.
MorrowP. C. (1990). Physical attractiveness and selection decision making. Journal of Management, 16, 45-60. doi:10.1177/014920639001600104
31.
MorrowP. C.McElroyJ. C.StamperB. G.WilsonM. A. (1990). The effects of physical attractiveness and other demographic characteristics on promotion decisions. Journal of Management, 16, 723-736. doi:10.1177/014920639001600405
32.
NisbettR. E.WilsonT. D. (1977). The halo effect: Evidence for unconscious alteration of judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 250-256. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.35.4.250
33.
ParksM. R. (2011). Boundary conditions for the application of three theories of computer-mediated communication to MySpace. Journal of Communication, 61, 557-574. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01569.x
34.
ResnickP.ZeckhauserR.SwansonJ.LockwoodK. (2006). The value of reputation on eBay: A controlled experiment. Experimental Economics, 9, 79-101.
35.
RosenthalR.RosnowR. L. (1985). Contrast analysis: Focused comparisons in the analysis of variance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
36.
RoulinN.BangerterA.LevashinaJ. (2015). Honest and deceptive impression management in the employment interview: Can it be detected and how does it impact evaluations?Personnel Psychology, 68, 395-444. doi:10.1111/peps.12079
37.
SaksA. M.AshforthB. E. (1997). A longitudinal investigation if the relationship between job information sources, applicant perceptions of fit, and work outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 50, 395-426.
38.
SchoutenA. P.AntheunisM. L.AbeeleM. V.Lith VanC. (2015, May). How online profile pictures affect recruiters’ perceptions of job candidates. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
39.
van der LandS. F.WillemsenL. M.UnkelS. A. J. (2015). Are spectacles the female equivalent of beards for men? How wearing spectacles in a LinkedIn profile picture influences impressions of perceived credibility and job interview likelihood. In NahF. F.-H.TanC.-H. (Eds.), HCI in business (pp. 175-184). New York, NY: Springer.
40.
WaltherJ. B.DeAndreaD.KimJ.AnthonyJ. C. (2010). The influence of online comments on perceptions of antimarijuana public service announcements on YouTube. Human Communication Research, 36, 469-492. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2010.01384.x
41.
WaltherJ. B.ParksM. R. (2002). Cues filtered out, cues filtered in: Computer-mediated communication and relationships. In KnappM. L.DalyJ. A. (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd ed., pp. 529-563). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
42.
WaltherJ. B.TongS. T.DeAndreaD.CarrC. T.Van Der HeideB. (2011). A juxtaposition of social influences: Web 2.0 and the interaction of mass, interpersonal, and peer sources online. In BirchmeierZ.Dietz-UhlerB.StasserG. (Eds.), Strategic uses of social technology: An interactive perspective of social psychology (pp. 172-194). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
43.
WaltherJ. B.Van Der HeideB.HamelL. M.ShulmanH. C. (2009). Self-generated versus other-generated statements and impressions in computer-mediated communication: A test of warranting theory using Facebook. Communication Research, 36, 229-253. doi:10.1177/0093650208330251
