THE EFFECT OF ETHICAL SIGNALS ON RECRUITMENT ...

likely to be attracted to the organization. If the answer is yes, they are likely to pursue
the position. Signaling theory and social identity theory combine with that branch of
philosophy called ethics to provide a better understanding of applicant reactions to
organizational recruitment.
Finally, this research has implications for the Attraction-Selection-Attrition
model (Schneider, 1987). The ASA model states that applicants will be the most
attracted to organizations that are most like them. This study’s moderation analysis
supported this. Applicants with higher cognitive moral development were more strongly
affected by ethical organizational practices. Applicants with low cognitive moral
development did not seem to be as influenced by the ethical practices of the organization.
Several limitations were evident in this research. This first was the small sample
size. This limitation could explain the lack of support for many of the predicted
moderating effects. A better understanding of these variables would certainly benefit the
future research agenda. Study 2 (Chapter V) attempts to address some of these issues by
using a larger sample in the laboratory. This allows for a better evaluation of the
influence of the moderators on the ethical signals/recruitment outcomes relationship.
Future researchers should still conduct more research with bigger samples in the field,
especially given the external validity issues apparent with laboratory studies.
A second limitation in this study (related to the first) is the small number of job
offers received. Only about half the participants actually received a job offer subsequent
to completing their internship. This could be a reflection of a down economy and higher
unemployment rate during the study period. The result was that little could be
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