Osaka Keidai Ronshu, Vol. 55 No. 3 September 2004
123
A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF
THE COGNITIVE PROCESS OF
JAPANESE UNDERGRADUATE JOB SEEKERS*
Tomoki Sekiguchi
Abstract
This paper reports two pilot studies that were designed to investigate the cognitive process of
Japanese undergraduate job seekers in the early stages of their job search process. Results of the
first study found that job attractiveness was the most important and corporate reputation was as important as pay level in evaluating prospective employers. Results of the second study indicated that
perceived job attractiveness partially mediated the relationship between perceived corporate reputation and organizational attractiveness.
Keywords : Organizational attractiveness, Recruitment, Japan
INTRODUCTION
The topic of recruitment in general and job seekers’ behaviors in particular has been relatively underdeveloped compared with other topics in human resource management (Barber,
1998 ; Rynes, 1991 ; Breaugh & Starke, 2000). From the international perspective, applicant job
search behavior and job choice decisions in the non-Western context such as in Asia remain unexplored.
This research is, to my knowledge, an initial attempt to investigate the cognitive process of
Japanese undergraduate job seekers. Specifically, this research focuses on the early stages of
their job search process and examines how they evaluate prospective employers. Because recruitment and hiring in Japanese firms and job seekers’ attitudes and behaviors are deeply embedded in the cultural and institutional environment of Japan (e.g., Robinson, 2003), this paper
begins with a brief review of the recruitment and hiring practices in Japanese firms. Based on
the review, hypotheses are developed regarding the cognitive process of Japanese undergraduate job seekers in their early stages of job search. Two pilot studies that tested these hypotheses are reported, followed by general discussions.
RECRUITMENT AND HIRING IN JAPAN
Hiring for regular, full-time employees in Japanese organizations heavily relies on the re* An early version of this paper was presented at the 8th International Western Academy of Management
Conference, Shanghai, China, June 2004.
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cruitment and selection of fresh school graduates without full-time work experience. Especially, hiring core employees directly from universities is the central part of the hiring process for
most Japanese firms (Morishima, 1995 ; Robinson, 2003). According to the survey conducted
in 1996, 83.7% of the responding firms reported that they emphasized hiring new school graduates while only 1% of the responding firms reported that they focused on hiring mid-career employees ( Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, 1997).
Typical Japanese firms conduct recruitment and selection on a yearly basis and hire a cohort
of fresh school graduates annually in April, instead of conducting recruitment and selection
throughout the year as vacancies arise (Morishima, 1995). Undergraduate students in Japan
usually prepare for job search in their third year, and get job offers in their fourth year. A typical
job search for undergraduate students proceeds as follows. First, they start job search by requesting information from companies. They use Internet, magazines, campus career centers,
and personal networks to access companies’ information and request recruitment materials.
Then, companies hold seminars or information sessions for the students who looked at the recruitment materials, and proceed onto the written exam and subsequent interview stages. Ordinarily, conditional job offers are given to the appropriate candidates upon after 2 or 3 interviews
( Japan Institute of Labor, 2003).
An important research question in this Japanese undergraduate students’ job search process
is how they evaluate prospective employers that would influence the subsequent application
decisions. In other words, what are the major determinants of the organizational attractiveness
as an employer for Japanese undergraduate students? Practically, the issue of organizational attractiveness is critical both for organizations and undergraduate job seekers. For organizations,
attracting more qualified applicants leads to a larger pool of applicants to choose from, which results in greater utility for their selection systems (Boudreau & Rynes, 1985 ; Murphy, 1986).
For undergraduate job seekers, they should be careful not to be attracted erroneously by companies whose jobs and /or cultures do not fit well with them.
The issue of organizational attractiveness is also important especially in Japan because for
typical Japanese students, job choice virtually means “company choice.” This is partly because
the definition and nature of jobs for entry-level employees are often broad and ambiguous.
Japanese firms traditionally use the following job categories for employee career : blue collar,
white-collar administrative and white collar technical. For college graduates, positions are typically classified into white-collar generalists (sogo-shoku), staff employees (ippan-shoku), and
white-collar technical employees (gijutsu-shoku) ( Japan Institute of Labor, 2000). As a result,
job opening information for undergraduate job seekers is generally broad and sometimes no
specific job descriptions are included. In many cases, it is uncertain about which department
or job a new hire will be assigned at the time of the application process because actual assignment will be made after he or she is employed in April. Therefore, it may be too early for ordinary Japanese university students to determine what kind of specific job or career they pursue. Rather, they will have opportunities to narrow down their specialty or career track within
the firm after they are hired.
Another reason for the importance of organizational attractiveness is associated with the
characteristics of Japanese organizations that typically maintain long-term relationship with em-
THE COGNITIVE PROCESS OF UNDERGRADUATE JOB SEEKERS
125
ployees. Although growing number of Japanese firms use mid-career hiring these days, many
Japanese employees believe that they will stay in the same organization for a long time. Some
researchers use the concept of “ie” or family as a metaphor of Japanese firms (e. g., Bhappu,
2000). That is, a new hire of Japanese firms can be analogous to the new member of a large
family. Therefore, typical Japanese employees strongly identify themselves with their employing organizations.
DETERMINANTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRACTIVENESS
This preliminary investigation focuses on corporate reputation, pay level, and job attractiveness as major factors that influence Japanese undergraduates’ initial job search. These factors have been thought to influence organizational attractiveness and job choice decisions in
the Western context (Barber & Roehling, 1993 ; Cable & Judge, 1994 ; Gatewood, Gowan, &
Lautenschlager, 1993 ; Rynes, Bretz & Gerhart, 1991). However, research is lacking on the
relative importance of these factors in both Western and non-Western contexts.
In Japan, major surveys are conducted annually by some large staffing agencies or similar organizations to investigate Japanese undergraduate job seekers’ attitudes and behaviors toward
their job search activities, as well as current situation of Japanese firms’ recruitment and hiring
practices. Major surveys include those conducted by Recruit, Mainichi Communications, and
Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development ( JPC-SED) (Mainichi Communications, 2003; Recruit, 2003; Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development,
2004). Note that sample of some surveys also includes graduate students without full-time
work experience (i. e., those who entered graduate schools directly upon the completion of undergraduate programs), but these students are typically treated as the same group of job seekers (i. e., “shinsotsu” or fresh prospective graduates) in Japan.
Published reports of these surveys include factors that students think important for job (employer) choice, and the ranking of the best companies to work for. As for the factors that are
important for job choice, all of these surveys include items related to corporate reputation, pay
level, and job attractiveness as well as other factors. Results from these surveys suggest that
job attractiveness is one of the most important factors for undergraduate students to choose a
job or company. Both surveys also show that pay level is the moderately important, but corporate reputation is relatively less important for their job choices. For example, the survey conducted by Recruit, to which 1,400 student responded, found that 77.0% of the respondents
chosen the item, “I can do the job that I want to do,” as the important factor in choosing an employer. That was the highest percentage among all items in the questionnaire. On the other
hand, 55.5% of the respondents chosen the item, “Good compensation and benefits,” and 35.4%
of the respondents chose “The firm itself and its products are socially recognized.” This basic
tendency regarding the three factors has not changed dramatically in recent years.
Although existing surveys are effective in gathering large sample of students, different approach is necessary to understand the detailed cognitive process of undergraduate job seekers.
The first pilot study uses experimental policy-capturing methodology to investigate the relative
importance of corporate reputation, pay level, and job attractiveness on organizational attractiveness. As is described later in this paper, policy-capturing seems more appropriate to inves-
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tigate the cognitive process, and thus findings from this approach may differ from the major
survey results described above due to the methodological difference.
My first hypothesis regarding the relative importance of the three factors in organizational
attractiveness is consistent with major survey results. That is, it is predicted that job attractiveness will be the strongest determinant of organizational attractiveness as employers. It is because job seekers may basically pay attention to what kind of job they will be assigned or
whether the job meets their career or other needs, even if the definition and scope of the job
in Japan is ambiguous for younger employees. Therefore, whether their job would be interesting, motivating, or satisfying their needs, may be one of the most important factors in evaluating an organization as an employer.
Hypothesis 1 : Job attractiveness will be the most important factor in evaluating prospective employers.
Next, although major survey results suggest that pay level is modestly important and corporate reputation is less important in evaluating prospective employers, I predict that corporate
reputation will be at least equally important as pay level for several reasons. First, research in
the West suggests that both pay (Cable & Judge, 1994 ; Rynes, Schwab & Heneman, 1983) and
corporate reputation (Belt & Paolillo, 1992 ; Cable & Graham, 2000) are important determinants of organizational attractiveness. Social identity theory also suggests that one’s employer plays an important role in determining an individual’s self-concept (Dutton, Dukerich &
Harquail, 1994).
Second, the major survey results may contain the social desirability effect. In the surveys,
students may have hesitated to answer that they considered corporate reputation seriously
when choosing an employer. In Japan, it is not socially desirable to choose an employer based
sorely on its reputation ; focusing on corporate reputation can be interpreted as caring about
sekentei or social appearance. On the other hand, Japanese students are often advised that they
should choose a company based on their career goals or what they really want to do. Therefore,
even if corporate reputation is in fact an important determinant of organizational attractiveness
at the cognitive or even unconscious level, it may not be reflected in the results of the typical
surveys. Thus, it is reasonable to predict that corporate reputation will be at least equally important as pay level in evaluating prospective employers.
Hypothesis 2 : Corporate reputation will be as important as pay level in evaluating
prospective employers.
HEURISTICS IN EVALUATING PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYERS
Although Japanese undergraduate job seekers may think that job attractiveness is the most
important factor in choosing an employer, the ranking of the best companies to work for reflects different aspect of job seekers’ attitudes and cognitive process in job search. The ranking
reported by Mainichi Communications (2003), as well as other rankings shows that companies
THE COGNITIVE PROCESS OF UNDERGRADUATE JOB SEEKERS
127
that many university students want to work for are typically large-sized, familiar to consumers,
and highly respected by the society. At a glance, this seems inconsistent with the earlier hypothesis that job attractiveness would be the most important in job choice. From the ranking,
it appears that corporate reputation is more important for organizational attractiveness than job
attractiveness is.
However, from the cognitive viewpoint, it is predicted that the effect of corporate reputation
on the organizational attractiveness is rather indirect. That is, the relationship between perceived corporate reputation and organizational attractiveness may be mediated by job attractiveness that is the direct and the most important determinant. Because of the limited
information in the early stages of the job search process, undergraduate students may use a
cognitive shortcut, or heuristics, in such a way that the jobs in a company with high reputation
are essentially interesting and satisfy their needs. Put another way, perceived corporate reputation may influence perceived job attractiveness through the use of cognitive heuristics.
Availability heuristics suggests that individual judgment may be biased to when specific examples are easily recalled. Because organizations may receive high reputation through their
attractive products, services, or social performance (Fombrum & Shanley, 1990 ; Turban &
Greening, 1996), undergraduate job seekers may tend to evoke the jobs that are closely related
to such attractive images and they tend to underestimate the possibility that actual jobs they
will be assigned may be different from or worse than their expectations.
Hypothesis 3 : Perceived corporate reputation will be related to job attractiveness.
It is also predicted that perceived job attractiveness in turn causes organizational attractiveness as a prospective employer. This is consistent with the earlier hypothesis that job attractiveness will be the most important determinant of organizational attractiveness. Therefore,
perceived job attractiveness would mediate the relationship between perceived corporate reputation and organizational attractiveness. This may be especially true for undergraduate job
seekers in their early job search stages because they usually lack necessary information to
evaluate prospective employers.
Hypothesis 4 : Job attractiveness will mediate the relationship between perceived corporate reputation and organizational attractiveness.
In order to examine the hypotheses developed so far, two pilot studies are conducted.
STUDY 1
Study 1 was designed to explore the relative importance of corporate reputation, pay level,
and job attractiveness on organizational attractiveness. Specifically, this study was conducted to
test Hypotheses 1 and 2. Policy-capturing methodology, a regression-based approach to assess
individual judgment and decision making, was utilized for this study. In contrast to typical survey questionnaires that directly ask participants to rate the importance of each factor, policycapturing never asks participants to rate the relative importance. Rather, policy-capturing indi-
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rectly infers the relative weights of the variables in question through regression analysis.
Therefore, social desirability effects are mitigated to a certain extent by this technique. Also
the experimental design in policy-capturing facilitates causal inferences, enabling researchers
to better assess the judgment and decision-making policies held by individuals.
Participants
Participants were 19 undergraduate students who attended an organizational research course
at a private university in Osaka, Japan. All students majored in business administration, and
were in their second-year at the university, with 14 males and 5 females. All students had some
kinds of non-fulltime work experience (e.g., part-time work) and their average non-fulltime
work experience was 2 years.
Procedure
This study was conducted during the regular class time in order to introduce the students to
an experimental method in organizational research. After they agreed to participate in this
study, they completed the research material.
Research material. The research material consisted of general instructions, 12 hypothetical
company profiles, and follow-up questions. In the general instructions, participants were instructed to play a role of an undergraduate student who had started his / her job search activity
and his / her primary task was to evaluate 12 hypothetical companies based on the information
provided in each company profile. The three variables, namely, corporate reputation, pay level,
and job attractiveness, were manipulated in each company profile. Corporate reputation and job
attractiveness were manipulated at two levels (i.e., high, low), and pay level was manipulated
at three levels (i.e., high, average, low). Each participant read all of the possible combinations
of the three variables, namely, twelve (i.e., 2×3×2) profiles. Profiles were shown in a random
order. Participants rated the attractiveness of each company as a prospective employer.
Measures. Three items were used to assess organizational attractiveness and one item
was used to assess the perceived possibility to get a job offer. A 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 7 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree) was used for these items. Items for organizational attractiveness are, “I would apply for the position of this company,” “I would like
to work for this company,” and, “I would accept a job offer from this company.” Factor analysis
with principle component solution identified single factor that explained 92.5% of the variance.
Cronbach’s alpha reliability estimate for this measure was .96. The single item for the perceived possibility to get a job offer is, “I think I can get a job offer from this company.”
In addition to the policy-capturing approach, direct important ratings were also included as
alternative measures of the relative importance of the theree factors. In those ratings, participants were asked to rate how important each of the corporate reputation, pay level, and job attractiveness when choosing prospective employers, by allocating total of 10 points into each
factor.
THE COGNITIVE PROCESS OF UNDERGRADUATE JOB SEEKERS
129
TABLE 1
Means and standard deviations from policy-capturing analysis
Variable
Corporate reputation
Pay level
Job attractiveness
Mean standardized
Standard deviation
regression coefficient
.31
.30
.76
.20
.18
.11
Results
Policy-capturing results. In order to capture the judgment policies of study participants,
multiple regression analysis was conducted for each participant, with organizational attractiveness as a dependent variable and corporate reputation, pay level, and job attractiveness as independent variables. Because independent variables in this study were orthogonal, standardized
regression coefficients (i.e., Bata weights) were interpreted as the relative importance of the
three variables placed by a participant. Table 1 includes the means and standard deviations of
the standardized regression coefficients for the three variables. The average multiple correlations for all participants was .92, indicating the high consistency in their judgment policies.
Consistent with Hypothesis 1, job attractiveness was the most heavily weighted variable
among the three factors (average beta weight was .76). Also, consistent with Hypothesis 2, the
relative importance of corporate reputation and pay level were almost equal (average beta
weights were .31 and .30, respectively). Paired-sample t-tests indicated that the weight of job
attractiveness was significantly larger than the weights of pay level ( t＝7.72, p<.01) and corporate reputation ( t＝6.96, p<.01). However, the difference between the weights of pay level
and corporate reputation was not significant ( t＝.31, n. s.). Therefore, the relative weights of
pay level and corporate reputation were considered equal when participants evaluated prospective employers. Thus, above results provide support for Hypotheses 1 and 2.
Results from the direct importance ratings. The means and standard deviations of the three
factors in the direct importance ratings are shown in Table 2. Consistent with Hypothesis 1, job
attractiveness was the most important factor in evaluating prospective employers. But contrary
to the policy-capturing results, corporate reputation was rated as the least important. Pairedsample t-tests indicated that the mean score of job attractiveness was significantly higher than
that of pay level ( t＝4.23, p<.01) and the mean score of pay level was significantly higher than
TABLE 2
Means and standard deviations from direct importance ratings
VariableVariable
Mean
Standard deviation
Corporate reputation
Pay levelPay level
Job attractiveness
2.37
3.74
5.53
1.34
1.59
1.78
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that of corporate reputation ( t＝5.12, p<.01). This result can be interpreted as a replication of
the existing major survey results that reported that corporate reputation was relatively less important in job choice.
Individual difference and perceived possibility to get a job offer. For exploratory purpose, the
effects of gender and work experience on the perceived possibility to get a job offer were examined using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Following steps were made in the analysis.
First, it had to be determined whether there was systematic between-subjects variance in perceived possibility to get a job offer. Results from a one-way ANOVA model in HLM demonstrated that there was significant between-subjects variance (66%) compared with withinsubjects variance (34%). Then, an intercepts-as-outcomes model was performed to determine
if variance in the intercept parameter could be predicted by the level 2 independent variables,
namely, gender and non-fulltime work experience. The result found that non-fulltime work experience significantly explained the variance (
＝.56, t＝2.14, p<.05) but gender did not (
＝−.33, t＝−1.11, n. s.). This result indicates that, in general, the more non-fulltime work experience participants had, the more they felt that they were likely to get a job offer. This is reasonable considering that work experience would increase students’ self-efficacy toward job
search activities.
Discussion of Study 1
Both Hypotheses 1 and 2 were supported in this study. The difference of the results between
policy-capturing and direct importance ratings suggests that major surveys conducted annually
underestimated the importance of corporate reputation in job choice partly due to the social desirability effect among undergraduate students. Exploratory analysis found that those who had
longer non-fulltime work experience perceived higher possibility to get a job offer than those
who had shorter non-fulltime work experience did. This is consistent with the view that selfefficacy regarding job search would increase as students have longer work experience. Female
students might have been less confident in getting a job offer because female are usually disadvantageous in searching a job in Japan. However, this study did not provide any evidence of
gender difference.
STUDY 2
Study 2 was designed to examine the relationship between perceived corporate reputation,
job attractiveness, and organizational attractiveness using the within-subjects research design.
Especially, this study was conducted to examine the mediating relationship stated in Hypothesis 4, as well as the students’ use of heuristics reflected in Hypothesis 3. Contrary to the traditional between-subjects design, within-subjects research design deemed appropriate for this
study considering the nature of actual job search process in which multiple options are considered (Collins & Stevens, 2002).
THE COGNITIVE PROCESS OF UNDERGRADUATE JOB SEEKERS
131
Participants
Participants were 19 students who attended the same management research methods class
as Study 1. The demographic characteristics of the participants were almost the same, such
that all students were in their second-year at the university, 14 were male and 5 were female.
Procedure
After participants agreed to participate in this study, they completed the research material.
In the research material, participants were shown the names of 24 existing Japanese companies
and the industries in which the companies were belong to, and asked to answer 5 questions regarding each company. The 24 real companies were chosen in a following manner. Four companies were chosen from the top list of the best companies to work for voted by university
students (Mainichi Communications, 2003). Remaining 20 companies were chosen from the
top firms on the lists of the excellent company rankings (Nikkei, 2003). The excellent company
rankings consist of several rankings based on different criteria. Four companies were chosen
from the list of “the most profitable companies,” six companies were chosen from the list of
“the most rapidly growing companies”, four companies were chosen from the list of “the most
stable companies”, and six companies were chosen from the list of “the biggest companies.”
Therefore, all of the twenty-four companies were best companies measured by different criteria, but only five or so were very popular as employers among undergraduate students.
Measures. Familiarity, perceived corporate reputation, perceived pay level, perceived job
attractiveness, and organizational attractiveness were measured. Single-item 7-point Likerttype scales ranging from 7 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree) was used for these measures. The item for familiarity was, “I know this company well.” The item for perceived corporate reputation was, “This company’s reputation is high.” The item for perceived pay level was,
“The pay level of this company is high.” The item for perceived job attractiveness was, “The
jobs in this company is interesting.” Finally, the item for organizational attractiveness was, “I
would like to work for this company.”
Results
A summary of means, standard deviations, and correlations of the five variables is shown in
Table 3. As shown, perceived corporate reputation was significantly correlated with organizational attractiveness, indicating that students were attracted to the employer ahich they believed was receiving high reputation. Next, perceived corporate reputation was significantly
correlated with job attractiveness, which provides initial support for Hypothesis 3.
Hypothesis 4 predicted the mediating role of perceived job attractiveness on the relationship
between perceived corporate reputation and organizational attractiveness. To test the hypothesis, the mediated regression analysis was performed using pooled data (Table 4). Because this
study used within-subjects design, repeated-measures regression approach was also utilized
(Cohen & Cohen, 1983 ; Morrison & Vancouver, 2000). Dummy variables were developed for
Osaka Keidai Ronshu, Vol. 55 No. 3
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TABLE 3
Means, standard deviations, and correlations of the variables used in Study 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Familiarity
Reputation
Pay level
Job attractiveness
Org. attractiveness
Mean
SD
1
2
3
4
5
4.61
4.86
4.47
4.31
3.82
2.52
1.94
1.50
1.38
1.61
−
.87
.65
.58
.56
−
.75
.66
.65
−
.73
.64
−
.78
−
Note. All correlations were significant at p<.01 level.
n＝456 (19 participants×24 profiles)
TABLE 4
Mediated regression analysis results in Study 2
Step 1
Person effect
Step 2
Perceived corporate reputation
Model 1
Model 2
Model 3
Model 4
.09 −.38
.21**
−.03 −.16
.09**
.09 −.38
.21**
.09 −.38
.21**
.64**
.38**
.68**
.43**
.64**
.38**
Step 3
Perceived corporate reputation
Perceived job attractiveness
Total .59**
.52**
.60**
.17**
.23**
.60**
.56**
.77**
.77**
Note. Dependent variables were organizational attractiveness for Model 1, 3, and 4, and job attractiveness
for Model 2.
Standardized regression coefficients are reported.
Person effect consists of 19 dummy variables. Some of the standardized regression coefficients were
significant, but were not reported in the Table.
**p<.01
n＝456 (19 participants×24 profiles)
all but one participant, and were entered into each regression equation in the first step to control for person effect. Then, variables in questions were entered into the regression for subsequent analyses.
Baron and Kenny (1986) suggest four conditions to test mediation. First, the initial variable
(i.e., perceived corporate reputation) should be significantly related to the dependent variable
(i.e., organizational attractiveness). This was supported by the correlation reported above and
THE COGNITIVE PROCESS OF UNDERGRADUATE JOB SEEKERS
133
the regression analysis (Model 1 in Table 3). Second, the initial variable should be related to
the mediator variable (i.e., perceived job attractiveness), which is equivalent to Hypothesis 3.
This was also supported by the correlation reported above and the regression analysis (Model
2 in Table 3). Third, the mediator variable should be significantly related to the dependent variable even after controlling for the initial variable. Model 3 in Table 3 shows that perceived job
attractiveness was significantly related to organizational attractiveness after controlling for perceived corporate reputation. Finally, to establish full mediation, the effect of initial variable
should become no longer significant when both the initial and mediator variables are entered in
the regression at the same time. Model 4 in Table 4 shows that the effect of perceived corporate reputation did not disappear completely, but that the magnitude of the effect (i.e., standardized regression coefficient) decreased compared with the first condition (from .64 to .23).
This indicates the partial mediation of perceived job attractiveness. Thus, Hypothesis 4 was
partially supported.
Discussion of Study 2
It was found that perceived corporate reputation was related to perceived job attractiveness.
Because participants at the time of study may not have enough knowledge about the actual jobs
in presented companies, they may have used availability heuristics in assessing the attractiveness of the job in such companies. Second, it was found that job attractiveness partially mediated the effect of perceived corporate reputation on evaluating prospective employers. Students
may have thought that jobs in highly respected organizations were interesting and would satisfy
their needs, thus they were attracted to such organizations. Corporate reputation may also have
had direct effect on organizational attractiveness, which means that students were attracted to
the organizations with high reputation, partly because belonging to such organizations may lead
to the positive self-views.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
The major findings from the two pilot studies are as follows. First, of the three factors that
influence the organizational attractiveness, namely, corporate reputation, pay level, and job attractiveness, job attractiveness was the most important determinant of organizational attractiveness. Second, contrary to the major survey results which found that corporate reputation
was relatively less important, corporate reputation was found to be as important as pay level in
evaluating prospective employers. This indicates the possibility that major surveys have underestimated the importance of corporate reputation on students’ job choice. Third, the length of
non-fulltime work experience was related to the perceived possibility to get a job offer such
that the longer the work experience, the higher the participants felt that they were likely to get
a job offer in general. Fourth, perceived corporate reputation was related to perceived job attractiveness, indicating that students may have used availability heuristics in estimating the attractiveness of the job. Finally, perceived job attractiveness was found to partially mediate the
relationship between perceived corporate reputation and organizational attractiveness. This indicates that the effect of perceived corporate reputation on organizational attractiveness was
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somewhat indirect. That is, students may use the information about the corporate reputation in
evaluating the job, which in turn directly affects the evaluation of prospective employers. There
may also be the direct relationship between perceived corporate reputation and organizational
attractiveness. That is, if an organization is highly respected from the society, job seekers may
be attracted to the organization as an employer partly because belonging to the organization
promotes their positive self-views.
Results of these pilot studies have implications for both research and practice. First, present
studies would be the first step toward deeper understanding of the job seeker’s behavior in
Japan, which may be embedded in Japanese culture and institutional structure. Second, findings
from these studies indicate the possible use of heuristics by job seekers during job search activities. Such heuristics may likely to be used when there is not enough information to assess
prospective jobs or employers. Although having not examined in this research, other cognitive
mechanisms such as selective perceptions and attribution biases may also be in effect during
the job search process. Third, it is suggested that the process in which job seekers are attracted to a certain organization may not be simple but may contain some intervening variables.
Findings of the present studies indicate that job attractiveness is one of the possible mediating
factors. Fourth, findings suggest that there is a possibility of mismatch between new hires and
organizations in Japan, especially in socially respected firms, because job seekers may rely on
the information about corporate reputation and make biased estimation of job attributes in their
job choice activities. The findings also suggest the importance of realistic job previews (RJPs)
(e.g., Wanous, 1973) in recruitment and hiring practices of Japanese firms. A realistic job previews is to provide job applicants with realistic information about the demands of the job, the
employer’s expectations of the jobholder, and the working environment. Research suggests
that the effect of RJPs would be high when job applicants have unrealistically high expectations
for their prospective jobs (Breaugh & Starke, 2000 ; Philips, 1998). As job applicants rely on
the limited information and use cognitive heuristics, unrealistic expectations about prospective
jobs would increase for companies with high reputation. In this case, RJPs will be the effective
way to adjust their expectations and promote their self-selections.
Because present studies and findings were essentially preliminary, limitations to be improved in the future studies should be mentioned. First of all, the two pilot studies were conducted with relatively a small number of participants. Although such small sample size is usually acceptable in a policy-capturing or within-subjects study for ideographic investigation
(Aiman-Smith, Scullen & Barr, 2002), large-sample size is desirable if between-subjects factors are considered. Second, common method variance was likely in Study 2. Although Study
2 provided some evidence of cognitive heuristics of undergraduate job seekers and partial mediating effect of job attractiveness, this single study cannot rule out alternative explanations regarding the relationship between measures of different constructs that is independent of the
hypotheses (Podsakoff, MicKenzie, Lee & Podsakoff, 2003). Despite these limitations, present
studies are valuable as a first step toward deeper understanding of the cognitive process of
Japanese job seekers.
Considering the limitations of the present studies, future research should replicate and extend the major research findings reported in this paper. Future studies could also examine vari-
THE COGNITIVE PROCESS OF UNDERGRADUATE JOB SEEKERS
135
ous individual difference factors such as applicant qualifications, personality, and socio-economic
status that may affect the determinants of organizational attractiveness and subsequent job
choice behaviors. Especially, not only organizational attractiveness, but also other important
outcomes such as initial decisions to apply and subsequent interests in the prospective employers should be examined in the future studies (Aiman-Smith, Bauer & Cable, 2001). Finally, future studies could investigate how job applicant behaviors in various countries are embedded
in the specific cultural or institutional structures in the country. This line of research would
provide information about the generalizability and boundary conditions of the theories of recruitment practices and applicant job search behaviors.
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