The experiential employer brand: An application to salespeople

Abstract

Employer brand conceptualizations have done much to support stronger recruiting practices for workers. Employer brand literature, though, fails to encapsulate an experiential approach and to consider that work can be consumed. Beginning with the recommendation by Mosley to apply an experiential approach of the employer brand, this research identifies specific dimensions of the experiential employer brand (EEB) in sales. The field sales position is unique in its impact on the firm’s success and customer experience, as well as its boundary-spanning nature and the high rate of mobility afforded salespeople due to high demand. A failure to match promised and actual work experiences can lead to rapid turnover particularly among salespeople because they can easily find other work. For these reasons, we explore the EEB over five studies applying Holbrook’s experiential brand framework. Five studies resulted in an EEB framework, revealing specific dimensions of the EEB. Two steps (focus group and analysis of 651 work experience commentaries posted on glassdoor.com) inform the creation of an EEB scale, which subsequent studies (n = 234 and n = 210 salespeople) test. The EEB approach can help firms and sales managers to understand the experiential nature of their employer brand and enhance the appeal of their offers.