Proceedings of 26th International Business Research Conference
7 - 8 April 2014, Imperial College, London, UK, ISBN: 978-1-922069-46-7
Satisfying Maximizers’ and Satisficers’ Information Needs
Through the Design of Advertisements in the Retail Trade
Yu-Lun Liu*, Kathleen Keeling**, and Nadia Papamichail***
Recruiting the right talent is a crucial issue for organizations (Ulrich, 2008),
especially in the retail industry, where staff turnover is relatively high as employees
have a low income and long work hours (Rhoads et al., 2002). Researchers (e.g.
Simons, 1955) identify two types of decision-making styles – ‘Maximizers’ and
‘Satisficers’. Maximizers prefer to research a subject as much as possible, and expect
to make the best possible choice. By contrast, Satisficers do not spend much time in
searching; they prefer to settle for a ‘good enough’ decision. Although research has
demonstrated that Maximizers and Satisficers have difference in their preferences
during the decision-making process, no research so far has examined how
organizations can satisfy both Maximizers’ and Satisficers’ information needs, and
attract them to join an application pool by using controllable recruitment information
sources (e.g. advertisements). The present study aims to explore what information
should be provided by organizations to jobseekers, in order to best satisfy their
information needs. Two scenario-based experiments were employed. Study 1 revealed
that a positive advertisement message containing more details of work conditions can
significantly increase both Maximizers’ and Satisficers’ intentions regarding joining the
company. However, the longer version of the advertisement message was not able to
prevent approximately 50% of the Maximizers looking for further position-related
information. In Study 2, Staff Word-of-Mouth (SWOM) messages were provided. In
these, the advertisement contained more ‘soft’ information, such as employees’
personal work experience. The results show that positive messages with details of hard
information plus positive AND negative SWOM messages can more effectively satisfy a
greater number of information needs for Maximizers. The findings provide useful
insight for companies that seek to attract jobseekers with different decision-making
styles.
Key Words: Maximizer, Satisficer, Staff Word-of-Mouth (SWOM), Decision-Making
style, Recruitment
Track: Management
* Yu-Lun Liu, Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
** Dr Kathleen Keeling, Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
***Dr Nadia Papamichail, Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom.