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While much is known about applicant reactions to past recruitment and selection practices, there have been numerous calls for research that addresses recent changes in practice (e.g., McCarthy, Bauer, Truxillo, Anderson, Costa, & Ahmed, 2017). For example, Derous and De Fruyt (2016) and Ryan, Inceoglu, Bartram, Golubovich, Grand, Reeder, and Yao (2015) have each identified the need to better understand how technological advancements affect staffing-oriented outcomes (e.g., applicant reactions). More specifically, Dineen and Allen (2013) and others have called for research that investigates technology-enabled communication between organizations and applicants; specifically concluding that electronic forms of communication “are not simply more efficient electronic versions of paper-based” (p. 382) communication. And along these lines, Lievans and Slaughter (2016) and others (e.g., Dineen & Soltis, 2011; Tippins & Adler, 2011) have noted that, while we know that communication between recruiters and applicants plays a critical role in affecting applicant reactions, much less is known about communication that occurs after a selection decision has been made (i.e., offer/reject). In order to help answer these calls for more research on technology-based communication with applicants at the end of the selection process the purpose of this study is to investigate applicant reactions to email communication with rejected applicants.
With increasing popularity of applicant tracking systems (Derous & De Fruyt, 2016; Laumer, Maier & Eckhardt, 2015; Bussler & Davis, 2001) driven by a desire for efficiency (Ryan & Derous, 2016), many companies have resorted to automated, minimalist rejection emails, if they send a rejection message at all (O’Donnell, 2015). And, because organizations often pay little attention to the interpersonal nature of correspondence with applicants early in the recruitment process (Walker, Helmuth, Field & Bauer, 2015), at a time when they are interested in increasing applicants’ attraction to the organization, it is easy to imagine that correspondence with applicants at the end of the process would also include little interpersonally-sensitive information; and therefore might have a negative effect on applicant reactions.
The main goal of this study is, therefore, to examine the effect of rejection-email characteristics on job seekers’ expected reactions; specifically, whether email characteristics affect word-of-mouth intentions toward the company. In addition, we examine how an email has its effect on intentions by investigating the mediating role of job-seekers’ attitudes toward the recruiter who sent the email.