title: Aesthetic properties and message customization: navigating the dark side of web recruitment.
abstract: The authors examined recruitment message viewing time, information recall, and attraction in a Web-based context. In particular, they extended theory related to the cognitive processing of recruitment messages and found that the provision of customized information about likely fit related to increased viewing time and recall when good aesthetics were also present. A 3-way interaction among moderate-to low-fitting individuals further indicated that objective fit was most strongly related to attraction when messages included both good aesthetics and customized information. In particular, given this combination, the poorest fitting individuals exhibited lower attraction levels, whereas more moderately fitting individuals exhibited invariant attraction levels across combinations of aesthetics and customized information. The results suggest that, given good aesthetics, customized information exerts effects mostly by causing poorly fitting individuals to be less attracted, which further suggests a means of averting the "dark side" of Web recruitment that occurs when organizations receive too many applications from poorly fitting applicants.
authors: College of Business and Economics, Management Area, University of Kentucky, USA. brian.dineen@uky.edu
authors: Brian R
authors: BR
authors: Dineen
authors: Juan
authors: J
authors: Ling
authors: Steven R
authors: SR
authors: Ash
authors: Devon
authors: D
authors: DelVecchio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010560:Personnel Selection; D013997:Time Factors