What Matters for Job Security? Exploring the Relationships among Symbolic, Instrumental Images, and Attractiveness for Corporations in South Korea

Juyeon Oh and Seunghwan Myeong
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Juyeon Oh: Center for Industrial Security & e-Governance, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea
Seunghwan Myeong: Department of Public Administration, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: This study examines the extent to which the symbolic and instrumental images and attractiveness toward an organization are related. This study further focuses on global human resource management and reports findings from two studies: Study 1 uses the data from undergraduate students, and Study 2 cross-validates the findings of Study 1 by using actual data from employees. The distinction of this study from previous works is that the present work focuses on a Korean organizational context (collectivistic cultures) and the differences between the potential applicants and employees in the perception of an organization′s attractiveness. Furthermore, it investigates the relationship between the symbolic and instrumental images toward organizations, unlike existing relative research. The results show that the symbolic and instrumental images are related, and the perceptions of the corporate image differ for the potential applicants and employees in the context of collectivistic cultures. The more competent employees consider their organization to be, the more job security they perceive their organization to provide. Moreover, the symbolic image of being competent is negatively related to the instrumental image of job security. Since this study used cross-sectional data, future studies need to use longitudinal data to establish our model′s causal claim empirically and investigate the underlying reasons behind these differences.

Keywords: recruitment; corporate image; symbolic image; instrumental image; attractiveness; South Korea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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