THE EFFECT OF ETHICAL SIGNALS ON RECRUITMENT ...

fictitious organization. Participants in the ethical condition read, “Local communities
and activists are thrilled by ABC’s apparent concern for the environment…ABC
Manufacturing has been repeatedly recognized for never violating the terms of its permit
because of high BOD levels.” A sample statement for the unethical manipulation is:
“Local communities and activists are outraged by ABC’s apparent lack of concern for
the environment…ABC Manufacturing has been repeatedly fined for violating the terms
of its permit because of high BOD levels.” Finally, those participants in the neutral
condition read: “while researching the organization, you cannot find any news articles
(positive or negative) about the ethics of the company.”
Recruitment Practices
The third and final factor is recruitment practices. Recruitment practices was
manipulated using the interview. In the ethical condition, participants read that after
telling the recruiter that the project they worked on with a competing organization is
confidential, the recruiter replies, “Here at ABC Manufacturing, we pride ourselves on
being an ethical company and we would never ask you to reveal confidential information
from another organization.” In the unethical condition, the participant read that the
recruiter replied, “Just answer this question and you get the job.” Lastly, in the neutral
condition, the recruiter replied, “Fine.”
Measures
Scales for the following items can be found in Appendix A.
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