Brand Equity for E-recruitment companies

Transcription

1 Master Thesis Brand Equity for E-recruitment companies A quantitative research on individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites Authors: Mathias Guselin, Joakim Jörgensen, Sebastian Johansson Supervisor: Setayesh Sattari Examiner: Anders Pehrsson Date: Subject: Marketing Level: Graduate Level Course code: 4FE15E

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3 Acknowledgements This master thesis was conducted in the spring semester The thesis aimed to contribute to the understanding of the determinants of brand equity of e-recruitment websites and how they affect individuals intention to use such websites. Conducting the thesis has been a great challenge, however the execution was dependent on support and feedback from several individuals. Therefore, we would like to take this moment to show our gratefulness towards these individuals. We would like to express our gratefulness to our tutor, Dr. Setayesh Sattari, who has provided us with valuable feedback and expertise during the whole process; we admire your helpfulness and commitment. Also, we would like to thank our examiner, Prof. Anders Pehrsson, who made it possible for us to improve the thesis by providing us with valuable feedback and guidelines. Furthermore, we also would like to show our gratefulness to the individuals that answered the online questionnaire. Finally, we would like to thank our opponents and fellow students for giving us valuable feedback and recommendation during the whole process of this thesis. Växjö Mathias Guselin Joakim Jörgensen Sebastian Johansson III

4 Abstract Course/Level: Authors: Tutor: Examiner: Background: Purpose: Methodology: Conclusion: Keywords: 4FE15E/ Graduate Level Mathias Guselin, Joakim Jörgensen, Sebastian Johansson Dr. Setayesh Sattari Prof. Anders Pehrsson Internet has brought radical changes in the recruitment industry where individuals are increasingly turning to the Internet when seeking jobs. The increased use of e-recruitment is partly because it is considered to be the most effective way to reach the target group of applicants, and partly because of the cost savings and competitive pressure in the market. Therefore, is the brand a crucial factor for online companies such as e- recruitment websites thus having a strong brand can lead to competitive advantage in the market. The role of branding in e-marketing is increasingly getting more important. Previous research has used intention to purchase as an outcome of brand equity. However, this research studies brand equity towards intention to use as most e-recruitment websites offer free services. To describe the determinants of brand equity of e-recruitment websites and how they affect individuals intention to use such websites. A quantitative research was chosen to collect the data using an online questionnaire to be able to describe the variables relationship in this research. The findings of this research suggests that brand equity as a whole increases individuals intention to use an e-recruitment website. The determinant of brand equity; brand awareness, perceived quality and brand loyalty gave a positive and significant relationship towards individuals intention to use. The findings involving the moderator were found to be significant when using brand equity as whole, while being rejected when involving the determinants of brand equity. Brand equity, Brand awareness, Brand association, Perceived quality, Brand loyalty, Intention to use, E-recruitment IV

5 Table of content 1. Introduction Background Problem Discussion Purpose Research Questions Outline of The Paper Theoretical Framework Brand Equity Service Brand Equity Online Service Brad Equity Brand Awareness Brand Association Perceived Quality Brand Loyalty Intention to Use Hypothesis Formulation Conceptual Framework Research Model Methodology Research Approach and Research Design Data Sources Data Collection Method Operationalization and Data Collection Instrument Pre-test Sample Data Analysis Method Quality Criteria Validity Reliability Quality Data Control Methodology Summary V

6 5. Results Descriptive Statistics Hypothesis Testing Moderated Regression Analysis Summary of Hypothesis Testing Discussion Brand Equity The Determinants of Brand Equity Brand Awareness Brand Association Perceived Quality Brand Loyalty Moderating Effect Conclusion Research Implications Theoretical Implications Managerial Implications Limitations and Future Research List of References Appendix 1 - Descriptive of the constructs items Appendix 2 Online Questionnaire VI

7 1. Introduction This chapter provides an introduction of e-recruitment and brand equity. The chapter also includes a problem discussion that problematizes the area and importance of brand equity for e-recruitment companies, which leads to the purpose of the study. 1.1 Background The way individuals gather information and resources on the Internet has been revolutionized due to the rise of globalization (Selden & Orenstein, 2011). The increased role of Internet and the number of individuals using it has developed new markets and in line with this, businesses have moved to the online environment (Ngai & Gunasekaran 2007; Rafiq et al., 2013). In accordance with this, Internet has brought radical changes in the recruitment industry where individuals are increasingly turning to the Internet when seeking jobs. At the same time, companies use commercial recruiting websites seeking for qualified applicants to conduct their recruiting procedure online (Singh & Narang, 2008; Sylva et al., 2009; Selden & Orenstein, 2011). This phenomenon is called e-recruitment, which is defined as...a hiring process that utilizes a variety of electronic means and technologies with the primary purpose of identifying, attracting, and selecting potential employees (Lee, 2011, pp. 231). The increased use of e-recruitment is partly because it is considered to be the most effective way to reach the target group of applicants, and partly because of the cost savings and competitive pressure in the market (Pfieffelmann et al., 2010; Thielsch et al., 2012). Firms that manage to recruit the most qualified individuals have higher potential to get a better position in the market (Thielsch et al., 2012). Accordingly, research shows that e-recruitment websites can play a crucial role in determining if companies attract qualified applicants (Allen et al., 2007; Dineen et al., 2007). In line with the advance of the technology within the e-recruitment business, new features and modern systems has been created to achieve strategic advantage within the market (Lee, 2007). The brand is a crucial factor for online companies such as e-recruitment websites and having a strong brand can lead to competitive advantage in the market (Christodoulides et al., 2006; Kim and Hyun, 2011). In order to measure how strong a brand is the concept brand equity is used (Rios & Riquelme, 2010). Brand equity is defined by Aaker (1991, p. 15) as...a set of assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or that firm s customers. Previous 1

8 research suggests that there are two different perspectives of brand equity, which are; consumer-based brand equity, focusing on the consumer's perception of the brand and firmbased brand equity, focusing on the financial value to the brand asset (Simon & Sullivan, 1993; Christodoulides et al., 2015). However, most marketing research regarding brand equity has focused on consumer-based brand equity (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993). 1.2 Problem Discussion The number of Internet users around the world is steadily increasing and this has created an opportunity for companies to conduct their business transactions online (Japhet & Usman, 2010). However, this has resulted in a highly competitive marketplace for online companies to be in (Zhilin et al., 2004). A big challenge for online companies is that customers now with the use of Internet seek, evaluate and compare information about products and services by themselves (Kucuk & Krishnamurthy, 2007; Chen, 2001). Bhatti et al. (2000) explains that because the customer can gather their own information on the Internet and that there exist many brands that offer the same type of service and products on their websites, is it difficult for online companies to retain and attract customers to their specific website. Therefore, it has become important for online companies to differentiate their brand from the competitors since a brand is vital for a company to be successful (Kim et al., 2002). Differentiating a brand against competitors can be a difficult task due to the fact that the services or products that are offered can be identical between different brands (Kim et al., 2002). However, brand equity can function as a powerful differentiator for companies and as a decision making tool for individuals (Aaker, 1991; Aaker, 1996; Keller & Lehmann, 2006; Keller, 2013). Researchers have focused attention to this as they have realized that building strong brand equity can give a competitive advantage in the form of being the brand that gives the customer most value (Biedenbach et al., 2015). Most of the research conducted concerning brand equity has focused on traditional firms, and little on how it affects online companies (Christodoulides & de Chernatony, 2010; Rios & Riquelme, 2008). This is in accordance with Alwi and Ismail (2013) given the increasing number of Internet users around the world, the role of branding in e-marketing is increasingly getting more important, still it is scarce attempts to measure brand equity in an online context. Rios and Riquelme (2008) explains that online companies need to think of brand equity in a different way since an online business context can differ from an offline business context as consumers may experience a brand differently when interacting with technology rather than 2

9 with people as it is intangible. Therefore, it is important for online companies through their websites to know what factors the consumers value the most in order to attract and differentiate themselves from the crowd (Hong-Youl, 2004). Especially, this has become a challenge for e-recruitment websites as it is one of the most widely practiced e-business areas (Lee, 2011) and the online service those companies provide for the users are similar (Kim et al., 2002). Hence, brand equity for these types of companies is a good measurement as it explains the added value for a brand, which a customer would evaluate his or hers preferences on which website to use (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 2003). Brand equity can be seen as a vital factor for being able to be associated with good performance in the customer s mind, thereby the companies should focus to look on what the customers base their values on, to strengthen customer loyalty and relationships in order to optimise pricing (Aaker, 1991). In the branding literature, consumer-based brand equity is traditionally recognized with four different determinants; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty (Aaker, 1996; Biedenbach et al., 2015; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995; Yoo & Donthu, 2001). According to Christodoulides et al. (2015) one of the most recognized and adopted model of consumer-based brand equity stems from Aaker (1991). Aaker (1991) argues that brand equity can be seen as a set of assets that is conceptualized into multidimensional concepts, which are the determinants mentioned above. Previous research has used intention to purchase as an outcome of brand equity (Agarwal & Rao, 1996; Cobb- Walgren et al., 1995). However, in this study, intention to purchase is referred to as intention to use as most e-recruitment websites offer free service in which the users do not actually purchase anything (Galanaki, 2002). In the context of e-commerce, previous research shows that individuals earlier experience with a website and fulfillment of the service delivery has an influence on individuals intention to use the website in the future (Cho, 2015; Chen et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2006). Therefore, in this study brand equity and its determinants will be used to measure individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites, since it is important to understand how the brand value is formed in the mind of the users and how it translates into choice behavior in the future (Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995). Research in the e-recruitment area is still called for since it has not been widely explored (Lee, 2011). By combining the lack of research regarding how brand equity and its determinants affects online service companies (Agiwal, 2013) and the research on e-recruitment businesses (Lee, 2011) will this study try to fill this gap. 3

10 1.3 Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of brand equity of e-recruitment websites and how they affect individuals intention to use such websites. 1.4 Research Questions How are brand equity and its determinants related to individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites? How does the relationship of brand equity and its determinants to individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites change if individuals have acquired a job via an e-recruitment website? 1.5 Outline of The Paper Chapter 2 presents existing theory that has been utilized for this research and ends with the formulations of hypotheses. In chapter 3 a conceptual framework is presented with a conceptual model. Further, chapter 4 explains how the research was conducted and presents different methodology sections of how the researchers have followed through this research. Chapter 5 presents the results from the data collection, which further is discussed in chapter 6. Chapter 7 presents a conclusion, where the purpose of the study is answered and finally chapter 8 brings up theoretical and managerial implications, limitations and future research. 4

11 2. Theoretical Framework This chapter presents existing theory that has been utilized for this study. The theory consists of the following parts; Brand equity, brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, brand loyalty and intention to use. To finalize the chapter, the formulations of hypotheses are presented. 2.1 Brand Equity A brand is a name and a symbol that is unique to the producer, which identifies the services or products of the producer. The brand signals the source of the product and distinguishes it from other competitors (Aaker, 1991). Having loyal customers for a company is essential to maintain a good customer base of returning customers since they are willing to pay more and are also less costly to serve (Zhang et al., 2014). Thus, showing commitment to customers and establish a satisfied customer base is a valuable asset which far exceeds the value of a single transaction as the values of a lifetime customer and the customers opinions will bring more business in future periods (Ambler, 1994; Shugan, 2005). In order to measure a brand s value, the term brand equity is used (Aaker, 1991). The most common definition of what brand equity conceptualizes is the added value to the product or service once the brand is presented (Farquhar, 1989; Aaker, 1991; Park & Srinivasan, 1994; Keller, 1993). A product offers a functional benefit, but the brand asset enhances its value beyond its functional use (Farquhar, 1989). There are two perspectives of brand equity, firm-based brand equity and customerbased brand equity. For firms, strong brand equity increases cash flow to the company and have even been accountable as an intangible financial value on firm s balance sheets (Christodoulides & de Chernatony, 2010; Simon & Sullivan, 1993; Pike et al., 2010). The benefit of strong customer-based brand equity is how customer values one product over the other despite the same product utility, due to the favorable brand association the customers holds in mind towards the brand or trademark (Keller, 2003). Consumer-based brand equity is accepted to many being measured in four key constructs, which is brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, brand loyalty (Aaker, 1996; Yoo et al., 2000; Pike et al., 2010; Kim & Hyun, 2011; Buil et al., 2013). 5

12 2.1.1 Service Brand Equity Brands play an important role to customers when buying or selecting between different services, since the brand can help the customer to better visualize and understand the service before a purchase (Berry, 2000). Services lack tangibility, which makes the company and the brand in focus, different from products the service interaction is more representative of the brand (Berry, 2000). Trust in terms of being able to live up to promises, can both enhance or kill a brand (Keller, 2003). Therefore, the experiences of the service is vital for the brand, if the marketing does not live up to the customers expectations the brand cannot save the service, as the brand itself is the promise of a good service (Berry, 2000; Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2010). According to He and Li (2011) the main focus of brand equity for service brands is the overall service quality, as investments in service quality will positively affect customers perception and the service experience, which in turn would strengthen the brand associations. Kimpakorn and Tocquer (2010) explains that service brands have to rely more on the employees as the brand is formulated internal, then forwarded by the staff as they are the foundation of the brand. Reaching high brand equity for services is about delivering consistent and compelling experiences, which the customer will hold favourable (Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2010). However, the context of the service may differ as new ways of delivering services has emerged through technology, e.g. self service systems online where an interpersonal service system can take place, does not create brand equity through the interaction between customer and employees (Meuter et al., 2000) Online Service Brad Equity Online service brand equity differs from traditional consumers perspective on good s brand equity (Rios & Riquelme, 2008). In accordance to how Berry (2000) explains that a product represents the brand, online services differ, as the derived experience is the actual brand formation. In an online environment the service is delivered without an interaction between an employee and customer, which differs from traditional services (Meuter et al., 2000; Rios & Riquelme, 2008). Hence, for web-based brands the brand equity is argued for being formed on some additional antecedents as security, navigation and accessibility (Rios & Riquelme, 2008). Page and Lepowska-White (2002) has from traditional brand equity theories (Keller, 2003; Aaker, 1991), conceptualised web equity. Web equity is a framework for how online companies can build or create added value online (Page & Lepkowska-White, 2002). Since there are several different e-recruitment websites online (monster.se, criutway.se, mycarer.se, linkedin.com, framtiden.se ect.), an important goal for such companies would be to enhance the likelihood the potential customer would think of their website first (Page & Lepkowska- 6

13 White, 2002). This is in line with Keller (2003) and Aaker s (1991) traditional theory about brand equity, that having strong brand equity will lead to customers choosing one product or service over the other once the brand is introduced. But also that it will bring increased financial value in future periods (Ambler, 1994; Shugan, 2005), in this case traffic to the company s website. Therefore, brand equity will be measured in the four different dimensions, brand awareness, brand association, brand loyalty and perceived quality. 2.2 Brand Awareness According to previous research brand awareness is a factor affecting brand equity for online companies (Kim et al., 2002; Rios & Riquelme, 2010). Brand awareness takes place when an individual is familiar with a specific brand and the likelihood that the brand will come to the individual s mind. Berry (2000) states that brand awareness is an individual s ability to think of a firm when a certain product category is recalled. Brand awareness is divided into two different parts; Brand recognition and brand recall (Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1991). Brand recognition is when an individual can verify a prior exposure to a specific brand when a cue is given to the brand (Keller, 1993). Further, brand recognition requires that the individual correctly separate the brand as having been heard or seen earlier (Keller, 1993). Brand recall is an individual s capability to retrieve a brand when it is being mentioned (Rosenbaum- Elliott et al., 2011). Brand awareness is a crucial first step for consumers when selecting to purchase from a certain brand and can have a crucial impact on individuals consideration in the purchase phase of a product or service (Konecnik & Gartner, 2007; Page & Lepkowska-White, 2002). Lin et al. (2014) argue that brand awareness has a significant importance in individuals decision-making process when being exposed to new situations. When an individual chose a product the choice could be based on perceptions about the brand such as popularity of the brand, how strong reputation the brand has and how well known the brand is (Lin et al., 2014). According to Page and Lepkowska-White (2002) brand awareness can be built upon two different perspectives; communication from the firm itself or external communication without support from the company. The communication by the firm itself refers to when the company communicates their message by online channels such as banner ads and offline channels such as advisement in newspapers. The external communication is communication without help from the firm itself such as word of mouth, which have been found to be a 7

14 powerful tool in order to leading individuals to visiting web sites (Page & Lepkowska-White, 2002). 2.3 Brand Association Brand association has according to previous research an impact on brand equity (Aaker, 1996; Biedenbach et al., 2015; Cobb-Walgren et al., 2005; Yoo & Donthu, 2001). Aaker (1991, p. 109) defines brand association as anything linked in memory to a brand. Balaji (2011) argues that brand association is a factor that differentiates the brand in individuals minds and can give individuals a reason for purchasing a specific product or service. In the aspect of brand association, the information connected in the memory for individuals is a crucial part for brand equity and are considered to include the meaning of the brand for individuals (Keller, 1993; Balaji, 2011). According to previous research trust is a crucial factor for online companies in order to create positive brand association (Rios & Riquelme, 2008; Page & Lepkowska-White, 2002). According to Delgado-Balleste et al. (2003, p.11) trust is defined as feeling of security held by the consumer in his/her interaction with the brand, that is based on the perceptions that the brand is reliable and responsible for the interests and welfare of the consumer. The main reason why trust must be created is because online businesses are intangible and therefore it is difficult for individuals to judge the companies from intangible cues (Berry, 2000). Individual s inability to trust online companies has been a barrier for online transactions due to that individuals want to feel safe when making a purchase from an online business (Rios & Riquelme, 2008; Rios & Riquelme, 2010). Another factor affecting individuals brand association is customer service support. However, this factor is argued to not directly influence brand equity (Rios & Riquelme, 2010). On the other hand, the factor customer service is probably the most crucial characteristic for online businesses and can be a key determinant in order to differentiate the company from competitors in the market (Chaffey, 2000; Kim et al., 2002; Lennon & Harris, 2002; Christodoulides et al., 2006). If it is easy to come in contact with the online business, the customer s trust and confidence towards the firm will increase (Page & Lepkowska-White, 2002). 8

15 2.4 Perceived Quality Perceived quality is according to Aaker (1996) a key dimension used when measuring brand equity. Previous research within the brand equity context has found that there is a relationship between perceived quality and brand equity (Buil et al., 2013; Kim & Hyun, 2011; Pinar et al., 2014; Yoo et al., 2000). Perceived quality can be defined as the superiority or excellence of a product based on the consumer s judgement (Zeithaml, 1988). Having brand superiority is vital aspect to consider when building relationship with the customers as it relates to the extent customers think of the brand as better and more unique than other brands (Keller, 1993). Parasuraman et al. (1985) argue that it is difficult for consumers to evaluate the quality of a service compared to products or goods, as there are no tangible comparisons that can be made. This is in accordance with Berry (2000) and Kim et al. (2002) who explain that service companies needs to deliver better visualization and make it easy for customers to understand the intangible products (e.g., website quality). Kim et al. (2002) argue that this is important for online service companies and that the brand is reflected upon its website. Most of the interaction between an online company and customer is through the website and therefore it is important for the brand to have a high quality website. According to Kim et al. (2002) and Gommans et al. (2001) there are three underlying factors that assist in order to build a high quality website; web usability, design and information architecture. The meaning of these factors are that it should be easy to navigate on the website, easy to use and that the information on the website is accurate (Kim et al., 2002). This is in accordance with Yang and Fang (2004) who argue that ease of use and easy of navigation of a website is key to attract both experienced and new customers. If the perceived quality of a website is lacking it can hinder the success of an online business (Yang & Fang, 2004; Jiang et al., 2015). As mentioned above, perceived quality is seen as a key dimension when creating brand equity (Aaker, 1996). This is consistent with Pinar et al. (2014) who argue when measuring the dimension towards brand equity in an university context, perceived quality is seen as the most important dimension. This is contradictory with Yoo et al. (2000) who find that brand loyalty is the dimension that has the strongest relationship with brand equity. 2.5 Brand Loyalty Brand loyalty is another dimension that researchers have acknowledged impact brand equity (Aaker, 1996). According to Rios and Riquelme (2008) brand loyalty is by far the most influential among the different determinants of brand equity. Brand loyalty can be defined as 9

16 how likely it is for a customer to switch to another brand, especially in situation when a brand is making changes within the company (e.g., product features or price) (Aaker, 1996). Gommans et al. (2001) describe it in a more traditional view that loyalty is when a consumer repeats their buying behavior towards a specific brand. Creating customers into loyal customers is important for companies as it can give several strategic advantages such as higher market share, reducing marketing costs (less expensive to retain customers than attract new), gaining new customers and minimize the risk of competitive threats (Atilgan et al., 2005). Keller (2001) argues that a company has gained loyal customers when they are willing to invest time, energy, or money into a specific brand. This could be that the customers join a community that is representing the brand, receive updates or visit websites that is related to the brand (Keller, 2001). For online brands it is important that the website is of high quality in order to attract loyal customers (Gommans et al., 2001). The information, design, and fast page loading are important factors to build a loyal customer base. Further, Gommans et al. (2001) argue that online consumers nowadays expect that websites are efficient and not time consuming. Hence, it is important to have a good quality website in order for the customer to not switch to another brand s website (Gommans et al., 2001). Previous research has found that brand loyalty has a direct relationship to brand equity (Yoo & Donthu, 2001; Buil et al., 2013; Pinar et al., 2015). However, there have been discussions among brand equity literature if brand equity is an outcome of brand loyalty (Aaker, 1996) or if brand loyalty is an outcome of brand equity (Rios & Riquelme, 2008; Page & Lepkowska, 2002). Rios and Riquelme (2008) argue that there is no evidence that brand loyalty is an outcome of brand equity and that this is just an assumption. 2.6 Intention to Use In order to be able to gain understanding of certain behavior, one has to identify intentions to perform that behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Behavioral intention could be the likelihood that an individual repeats a purchase and the intention to continue to be a customer of a company (Wang et al., 2006; Cho, 2015). Favorable behavioral intentions show that individuals have established a bond with the firm, which is considered as an outcome influenced by individual s emotions (Zeithaml et al., 1996; Kuo et al., 2012). Ajzen (1991) and Zeithaml (1988) argue for the importance of intention to use and its connection to attitude, where the intention representing an individual s decision-making process and behavior. In the context of e-commerce, previous research shows that customers earlier 10

17 experience with a website and fulfillment of the service delivery has an influence on the consumer s intention to use the website in the future (Cho, 2015; Chen et al., 2009). Further, they have found that if a online service can establish perceived usefulness (relevant jobs) and perceived ease of use (quality and navigation) the satisfaction of the online service will lead to a continuous usage (Chen et al., 2009). This is in line with Park et al. (2007) who finds that for online service companies, website quality is an important factor for making individuals willing to use a website. The factors within website quality were, ease of use, information quality, responsiveness and security/privacy which all had a positive relationship towards individuals intention to use (Park et al., 2007). 2.7 Hypothesis Formulation Previous research have found that brand equity positively affect a consumer's intention to purchase (Berry, 2000; Buil et al., 2013; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995; Yoo & Donthu, 2001). Buil et al. (2013) argue that firms who possess a high level of brand equity has the ability to easier capture consumers intention to use their products or services. With this in consideration the following hypothesis was formulated: H1 - Brand equity has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. Also, if that relationship is moderated by a usage of an e-recruitment website which had lead to a job in the past, as an earlier experience of the service delivery influence individuals intention to use (Cho, 2015; Chen et al., 2009), thereby: H1a - Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between brand equity and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. The determinants that measures brand equity has also been investigated in how it relates to intention to use. Hutter et al. (2013) suggests that brand awareness has a positive relationship to individuals intention to use in an online context. Therefore, this study test if it exists in the context of e-recruitment websites: H2 - Brand awareness has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites. Also, if that relation affected by the usage of an e-recruitment website had lead to a job in the past (Cho, 2015; Chen et al., 2009), thereby: H2a - Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between brand awareness and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. 11

18 Another dimension that have been investigated towards individuals intention to use is brand association (O Gass & Grace, 2004). Previous research has found that brand association has a positive effect on individuals intention to use (O Gass & Grace, 2004). With this in consideration the following hypothesis was established: H3 - Brand association has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites. Also, if that affected by the usage of an e-recruitment website had lead to a job in the past (Cho, 2015; Chen et al., 2009), thereby: H3a - Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between brand association and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. Perceived quality has also been researched towards intention to use. Netemeyer et al. (2004) mentions that perceived quality has been associated with intention to purchase and that it is a core construct within brand among the determinants of brand equity. It has been found that there is a positive relationship between perceived quality and intention to purchase (Tsiotsou, 2006) and therefore is the following hypothesis considered in this study: H4 - Perceived quality has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites. Also, if that relation is affected by the usage of an e-recruitment website had lead to a job in the past (Cho, 2015; Chen et al., 2009), thereby: H4a - Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between perceived quality and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. Brand loyalty is also considered to have an effect on individuals intention to use. According to Shukla (2009) brand loyalty has a positive impact on use intention. This will this be tested in the context of e-recruitment website which generates this hypothesis: H5 - Brand loyalty has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. Also, if that relation is affected by the usage of an e-recruitment website had lead to a job in the past (Cho, 2015; Chen et al., 2009), thereby: H5a - Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between brand loyalty and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. The relationships are further explained and motivated in the next chapter where a conceptual model of the framework is displayed. 12

19 3. Conceptual Framework Based on the theoretical framework, the conceptual model is developed which presents how the research will be conducted. 3.1 Research Model It is known among the branding literature that brand equity is affected by four dimensions; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty (Aaker, 1991, 1996; Pinar et al., 2014; Yoo et al., 2000). However, there is scarce research that has investigated brand equity and its determinants in an online service context (Alwi & Ismail, 2013), which this study aims to investigate. The model that the authors of this study were influenced by stems from the model that (Aaker, 1991) developed. This model is widely referred to and one of the most recognized when measuring consumer-based brand equity (Christodoulides et al., 2015). In this study brand equity and its determinants will function as independent variables and have intention to use as the dependent variable. Usually brand equity is measured to intention to purchase (Agarwal & Rao, 1996; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995). Despite this, intention to purchase is in this study referred to as intention to use because of the free service of e-recruitment websites (Galanaki, 2002). However, as Park et al. (2007) and Chen et al. (2009) explains that the factors leading to intention to use websites are similar to those of brand equity online. Therefore, the model assisted and explained how this research intends to measure brand equity and its dimensions to intention to use within the context of e- recruitment websites. Further, if the relationships are moderated by if a respondent have acquired a job via an e-recruitment website. 13

20 Figure 3.1 Conceptual model H1 Brand equity has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites. H1a Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between brand equity and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. H2 Brand awareness has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites. H2a Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between brand awareness and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. H3 Brand association has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites. H3a Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between brand association and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. H4 Perceived quality has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites. H4a Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between perceived quality and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. H5 Brand loyalty has a positive relationship on individuals intention to use e- recruitment websites. H5a Acquired a job via an e-recruitment website moderates the relationship between brand loyalty and individuals intention to use e-recruitment websites. 14

21 4. Methodology This chapter explains how the research was conducted and presents different methodology sections of how the researchers have followed through this research. The chapter describes both theoretical and practical implementations of how it was performed. 4.1 Research Approach and Research Design A descriptive design of the research was used to describe the different concepts in relation to each other, it allowed to answer and analyze the data on how, what and why concerning a specific situation (Aaker et al., 2010). Already established research within the field of brand equity and its constructs together with intention to use was studied and interpreted towards the collected data. This gave the research a deductive approach (Hyde, 2000; Creswell, 2014), to which a quantitative approach was adopted to collect data as it helps to draw a large sample of the population to draw general conclusions of the characteristics of the population (Hyde, 2000). As for the research design, a social survey research was appointed. A social survey research implies that the information is gathered from multiple cases at one specific time (Bryman & Bell, 2011). This is followed in order to make it possible to make associations and patterns between different variables (Bryman & Bell, 2011). 4.2 Data Sources This study chose to make use of primary data. The use of primary data gives the opportunity to more specifically answer the purpose regarding the particular problem within the research since it contains the accurate information of the investigated subject (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Saunders et al., 2009). Since there is scarce research of brand equity in a e-recruitment context towards intention to use, collecting primary data was more accurate and reliable to answer the purpose. 4.3 Data Collection Method This research aimed to generalize the result from a larger population and therefore an online questionnaire was used as data collection method (Hyde, 2000). The online questionnaire was posted on the social media Facebook during a period of seven days in order to collect the data in different days of the week. Further, a mail with a link to the online questionnaire was sent out to students at Linnaeus University. The first part of the online questionnaire consisted of a short explanation of e-recruitment and examples of e-recruitment websites. In addition, the 15

22 first part consisted of a question regarding if the respondents had used e-recruitment websites before. In addition, the respondents was given the possibility to write the e-recruitment website they were most active on in order to have this e-recruitment website in mind during the online questionnaire. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of questions regarding the constructs brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, brand loyalty and intention to use. In order to measure the different items within each construct a likert scale was used. The labels were conducted as follow; 1 Strongly disagree, 2 Disagree, 3 Somewhat disagree, 4 Neither agree or disagree, 5 Somewhat agree, 6 Agree, 7 Strongly agree. In the end of the questionnaire a moderator question was asked regarding if the respondents ever had got an employment via an e-recruitment website followed by four questions about the respondents demographics, which were gender, age, occupation and level of education. 4.4 Operationalization and Data Collection Instrument The operationalization was used in order to handle the framework for the data collection and analysis (Bryman & Bell, 2011). In addition, it describes in what way the theoretical framework was divided into different concepts, which could be examined and measured (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2005). The operationalization has been divided into five different dimensions, Intention to use, brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty. Construct Definition Items adopted from article Items Intention to use Is the likelihood that an individual repeats a purchase and the intention to continue to be a customer of a company (Wang et al., 2006, Chen et al., 2009). Belanche et al., 2012 Brahmana & Brahmana, 2013 Lee & Lee, 2015 ITU1.The likelihood that I use this e- recruitment website is high. ITU2. I think it is a good idea to use this e-recruitment website. ITU3. I am eager to use this this e- recruitment website in the future. Brand awareness When an individual is familiar with a specific brand and the likelihood that the brand will come to the individual s mind (Berry, 2000). Yoo & Donthu, 2001 Pinar et al., 2014 Page & Lepkowska- White, 2002 AW1. I recognize this e-recruitment website among other similar websites. AW2. I would recognize the logo of this e-recruitment website. AW3. I only use e-recruitment websites that I am aware of. AW4. I came in contact with this e- recruitment website because I heard about it from friends or family. 16

23 Brand awareness Anything linked in memory to a brand and a factor that differentiates the brand in individuals minds and can give individuals a reason for selecting a specific product or service (Aaker, 1991; Balaji, 2011) Balaji, 2011 Aaker, 1996 Rios & Riquelme, 2008 Rios & Riquelme, 2010 Nath & Bawa, 2011 Wang et al., 2004 AS1. I trust this e-recruitment website. AS2. I trust that this e-recruitment website keeps my personal information safe. AS3. It feels safe to disclose personal information on this e-recruitment website. AS4. The customer service is easy to contact on this e-recruitment website. AS5. The customer service can be contacted in different ways on this e- recruitment website. Perceived quality The superiority or excellence of a product based on the consumer's judgments (Zeithaml, 1988). He & Li, 2011 Kao & Lin., 2016 Pinar et al., 2014 Rios & Riquelme, 2008 Yoo & Donthu, 2001 Yoo et al., 2000 PQ1. This e-recruitment website has high quality. PQ2. It is easy to navigate on this e- recruitment website. PQ3. The information is easy to understand on this e-recruitment website. PQ4. This e-recruitment website has an appealing design. PQ5. This e-recruitment website offers jobs that is of good quality PQ6. This e-recruitment website has a wide variety of job offers. Brand loyalty When a consumer repeat their buying behavior toward a specific brand (Gommans et al., 2001). Keller, 2001 Yoo et al., 2000 Yoo & Donthu, 2001 BL1. I consider myself to be loyal to this e-recruitment website. BL2. This e-recruitment website would be my first choice. BL3. I will not choose other e- recruitment websites if this e- recruitment website is available. Table 4.1 Operationalization 4.5 Pre-test A pre-test was conducted in order to generate valuable information of how the study should be designed and to make the questions in the questionnaire as relevant as possible (Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2005). It is crucial to conduct a pre-test when conducting a self-completing questionnaire since there is no moderator available to answer potential questions from the participants. In addition, it helps to improve potential deficit in the research (Bryman & Bell, 2011). In order to assure that the questions were correctly formulated and to see if there was any questions, which could be excluded or added the questionnaire was presented to two lectures at Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden. In addition, a pre-test was conducted by 17

24 randomly selecting 10 representatives of the sample that answered the questionnaire in order to get feedback and avoid potential misunderstandings. 4.6 Sample The study was aimed towards individuals who had used e-recruitment websites before. A nonprobability sample technique with convenience sampling method was used since it was the most suitable for the time frame (Bryman & Bell, 2011). However, the convenience sampling method can be criticized due to the lack of randomness of the sampling process, which is needed to be able to generalize the results to a whole population (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Nevertheless, collecting the data during a longer period and different times during the week gives more credibility since the diversity of the population increases. Therefore, the results can be generalized to a greater extent (Malhotra & Birks, 2010; Aczel & Sounderpandian, 2009). The only criteria to submit the questionnaire was to have experience of a e-recruitment website before, since the study is aimed towards users of these types of websites. Therefore, a question concerning if the individual had used an e-recruitment website before opened the questionnaire. If the respondent did not have any past experience they were not allowed to complete the questionnaire to avoid misleading and not influencing the data with ignorance to get as much reliable data as possible. To be able to quantify data and make generalizations from it, the study needed an appropriate sample size (Green, 1991; Ghauri & Grønhaug, 2005; Hair et al., 2010; Malhotra & Birks, 2010). A questionnaire should have the foundation of 50 respondents, adding eight times the number of independent variables, N > 50+8 x m, while m being the number of independent variables (Green, 1991; Pallant, 2010). Therefore, the questionnaire was continuously spread until it achieved a minimum of 90 completed questionnaires, in excess of the samples, which have no past experience with e-recruitment websites. After the data was collected, there were 128 out of 175, which could be used for further analysis. 4.7 Data Analysis Method This study used the statistical program SPSS to analyze the results that was collected from the online questionnaire. This program helped the researchers to organize and calculate the data in order to answer this study s hypothesis. According to Bryman and Bell (2011) SPSS is a software that is widely used among research which conducts quantitative studies. It gives the user precise data when performing analysis (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The following parts that are presented below were taken into consideration when performing the SPSS analysis. 18

25 Descriptive statistics Firstly, before running the descriptive statistics was the data from the questionnaire coded and categorized in numbers in order to make calculations in the SPSS. According to Gravetter and Wallnau (2008) descriptive statistics are usually conducted in order to summarize and describe each of the participants score to simplify the data gathered, which then can be organized and presented in graphs or tables to make it easy for the researcher. By doing this gave a clear understanding of how each participant within the sample answered the questions and how the characteristic distribution of the population was. Therefore, to simplify the data collected in this research the authors displayed and categorized the descriptive data into gender, age, occupation and level of education in order to summarize the data in a simple manner to show the reader what sample the study based it findings on. These four different demographic aspects were also used as control variables in the regression analysis presented below to see if these additional variables might have had an influence of the relationships between this study s independent variables towards the dependent variable (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Regression analysis To test the hypothesis of this study a multiple linear regression was included. The data was analyzed in order to test the relationship between this study s independent variables; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty, towards the dependent variable intention to use. In order for the relationships to be statistically significant it had to display a p< 0.05 (Richardson, 2011). Moreover, by conducting a regression analysis one can see how much one variable affects another variable by looking at the beta value. The beta value shows if the relationship between the two variables indicates a positive or a negative relationship and how relatively strong that relationship is (Pallant, 2010). Another factor to consider in this type of analysis is the adjusted R 2, which suggests how much of the dependent variable can be predicted by an independent variable (Pallant, 2010). Interaction variable A moderator analysis of the variables brand equity, brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty was conducted to see if the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable was moderated by if the use of an e- recruitment website had lead to a job. By dividing the sample into two groups to calculate an interaction variable, could determine an effect on intention to use e-recruitment websites if an individual had acquired a job via an e-recruitment website. The participants who previously 19