An integrative review of employer branding and OB theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature linked to the emerging field of employer branding, with a view to adding insight from the perspective of the management of human resources. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken entails reviewing books and academic journals from the area of marketing, organisational behaviour (OB) and business management. The review shows that research and theory from a range of fields can help add to one's knowledge of employer branding; these include areas of research that investigate organisational attractiveness to potential new recruits, research and writing linked to the psychological contract literature as well as work that examines organisational identity, organisational identification and organisational personality characteristics. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of the review is that, while different areas and fields of research are being drawn on to help identify useful knowledge that can improve one's understanding of what effective employer branding might involve, the literature and research in each area will be (necessarily) selective. Practical implications – The review has a number of general practical implications; many of these are highlighted in the propositions set out within each section. Originality/value – The originality of the review is that it is unique in showing how different areas of literature can be linked to employer branding. The review helps to integrate the existing literature in a way which can help personnel practitioners to immediately see the relevance of theories and research from a range of key academic fields.