The contingencies of person-organization fit perceptions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build on previous studies on the link between objective and subjective person-organization fit (P-O fit) and argue that the strength between objective and subjective fit is contingent on advertisement attractiveness and organizational image. Accordingly, the authors observe if advertisement attractiveness and organizational image help to strengthen the objective-subjective P-O fit relation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conduct a survey among 942 individuals and compare between prospective jobseeker ( n =629) and actual jobseeker ( n =313) subsamples. Findings – Generally, the authors show that ad advertisements positively moderates the relation between objective and subjective fit. Moreover, the authors show that advertisement attractiveness moderates the relationship between objective and subjective fit for prospective jobseekers while the moderating influence of advertisement attractiveness is not significant for actual jobseekers. Organizational image, however, is shown to act as a negative moderator, particularly for the actual jobseeker sample. Research limitations/implications – The authors aim to contribute to prior research by emphasizing how the link between objective and subjective P-O fit can be elevated by cues such as advertisement attractiveness and might be disturbed by a very good organizational image. Practical implications – This study informs practitioners how two important recruitment signals, job advertisement and organizational image, influence the transmission of objective into subjective fit and thus help firms to improve their recruitment efforts. Originality/value – Even though many studies support the effects of P-O fit on organizational attractiveness or application intentions, only little is known in terms of how the relationship between the two dimensions of P-O fit – objective and subjective fit – can be positively influenced. Hence, there is a lack of understanding of how firms can focus their recruitment efforts effectively on highly fitting individuals.