Who's Watching the Race? Racial Salience in Recruitment Advertising¹

Abstract

A recent finding (Thomas & Wise, 1999) suggested that the race of organizational representatives may be more important to minority applicants than to White applicants. Consequently, this study empirically examines the impact of race in recruitment advertising on applicant attraction. Participants (N= 194) were recruited in 3 field settings and were exposed to recruitment literature varying the race of a depicted organizational representative. Results indicate that Black and Hispanic participants were more attracted when minority representatives were depicted; White participants' reactions were unaffected by representative race. Moreover, the extent to which participants believed themselves to be similar to the representative fully mediated the effect for minority participants.

Am I the Right Candidate? Self-Ascribed Fit of Women and Men to a Leadership Position

“…If the person is perceived as similar to them, favorable reactions toward the job and the advertising organization are enhanced: For example, Perkins et al (2000) found that African Americans felt more attracted by a racially diverse group of employees depicted in the advertisement than by homogeneous white employees. Also, Avery et al (2004) observed racial congruence effects for African Americans when viewing recruitment advertisements. Similarly, a gender congruent role model might foster such favorable reactions.…”

Attracting Minority Applicants to Malaysian Organizations: The Effect of Race Composition

“…For instance, an organization may feature minority representatives in a job advertisement to signal its commitment towards diversity (Perkins et al 2000;Rynes 1991;Spence 1973). Past research has shown that minority (e.g., African American) applicants rated an organization featuring a group of African American representatives as more attractive than an organization featuring a group of Caucasian representatives (Avery 2003;Avery et al 2004;Perkins et al 2000;Wells 2008).…”

“…To date, there are four studies that have examined the effect of race composition on attraction (Avery 2003;Avery et al 2004;Perkins et al 2000;Wells 2008). These studies consistently showed that minority applicants are more attracted to organizations featuring a group of minority representatives than organizations featuring a group of majority representatives.…”

The diverse organization: Finding gold at the end of the rainbow

“…In this way, attention to diversity permeates every organizational action. As Avery, Hernandez, and Hebl (2004) such, deep differences in organizational culture may influence the expression of diversity in an organization. Examining diversity through Schein's lens of artifacts, values, and assumptions provides an interesting avenue through which to explore how culture impacts the expression of diversity in organizations.…”