Exploring the attractiveness of social enterprises to job seekers: The role of perceived value fit and prestige

Existing research indicates that job seekers are attracted to organizations demonstrating social responsibility. This seems especially true for commercial enterprises that engage in socially responsible practices, but is challenged in the case of social enterprises. While commercial enterprises stay focused on their primary aim of generating financial revenues when engaging in social responsibility, social enterprises’ social responsibility is primary and at the core of their business. However, the attractiveness of social enterprises on the job market has not been the focus of extant research. This study aims to enrich the academic literature by exploring the attractiveness of social enterprises to job seekers. When studying job seekers’ intentions to pursue a job with a social enterprise, we also examine some of the underlying mechanisms that affect individuals’ attraction process to social enterprises. We perform an experimental design study involving 349 Belgian students about to graduate. The results reveal that participants’ intentions to pursue a job with a social enterprise are significantly lower in comparison to their job pursuit intentions with commercial enterprises. Furthermore, factors relating to personal values, like perceptions of value fit and individuals’ prosocial values, play a significant role in the attractiveness of social enterprises.