Green certification and organizational attractiveness: The moderating role of firm ownership

Abstract

AbstractAt a time of critical talent shortages and environmental challenges, it is necessary to increase understanding of how green employer certification (GEC), as an ethical market signal, affects job seekers' perceptions. This study examines whether the relationship between GEC in recruitment advertisements and organizational attractiveness is mediated by firms' perceived prestige and person‐organization (PO) fit and if it varies according to firm ownership (i.e., investor‐owned vs. member‐owned). Results from a controlled online experiment firstly show that the communication of GEC has an indirect positive influence on organizational attractiveness via the mediating effects of perceived prestige and perceived PO fit. Secondly, depending upon firm ownership, people interpret the same certification differently: the communication of GEC thus has an indirect influence on organizational attractiveness and significantly improves firms' perceived prestige and PO fit among member‐owned firms but not among investor‐owned firms. Hence, practitioners should consider the value of including environmental certification in their recruitment advertising strategy while considering the issue of firm ownership.