Effects of Conversation Politeness on Hiring Decision in Online Labor Markets: An Inverted U-Shaped Relationship Exploration

Lingfeng Dong, Ting Ji and Jie Zhang ()
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Lingfeng Dong: Alibaba Business College, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Ting Ji: School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Jie Zhang: Institute of Digital Finance, Zhejiang University City College, Hangzhou 310015, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-11

Abstract: This study examined the effect of politeness, as a key reflection of linguistic features of conversation in the online labor marketplace, on hiring behavior. Drawing on the politeness theory, a non-linear relationship was theorized. A hypothesis was put forward and examined against a large-scale archival dataset from a Chinese online labor market. Using an econometric model, the results demonstrated that there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between politeness and hiring decisions. The study offers theoretical implications to the online labor market literature and politeness theory by providing empirical insights on the role of politeness in hiring decision. In addition, our findings offer beneficial and practical contributions for vendors and platform operators.

Keywords: online labor market; live chat; politeness; hiring decision; inverted U-shaped relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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