How and Why Commitment-Focused Hospitality Employee Recognitions Attract Growth-Minded Job Seekers: An Inspiration Theory Perspective

Abstract

Applying inspiration theory, this research contrasts the effect of commitment- versus achievement-focused social media employee recognition on growth- versus fixed-minded job seekers’ perceived organizational attractiveness and job pursuit intentions. Results across two studies show that growth-minded job seekers exhibit significantly higher levels of perceived organizational attractiveness and job pursuit intentions toward commitment-focused (vs. achievement-focused) recognition. In contrast, there was no discernible difference among fixed-minded job seekers. Notably, these effects were moderated by recognized individuals’ organizational status (i.e., employee vs. management) and the recognition reshare party (i.e., recognized individual vs. company). Moreover, the findings observed that the conditional effects were underpinned by the mechanism of inspiration. This research offers valuable insights for the hospitality management literature and provides pragmatic recommendations for hospitality firms and HR professionals aiming to attract growth-minded potential employees.