Management Control Systems

Captivating company: dimensions of attractiveness in employer branding
Pierre Berthon
Bentley College

Michael Ewing
Monash University

Li Lian Hah
MPH, Malaysia

The internal marketing concept specifies that an organisation’s employees are its first market. Themes such as ‘internal advertising’ and ‘internal branding’ have recently entered the marketing lexicon. One component of internal marketing that is still underdeveloped is ‘employer branding’ and specifically ‘employer attractiveness’. Employer attractiveness is defined as the envisioned benefits that a potential employee sees in working for a specific organisation. It constitutes an important concept in knowledgeintensive contexts where attracting employees with superior skills and knowledge comprises a primary source of competitive advantage. In this paper, we identify and operationalise the components of employer attractiveness from the perspective of potential employees. Specifically we develop a scale for the measurement of employer attractiveness. Implications of the research are discussed, limitations noted and future research directions suggested.

Introduction
Until fairly recently, customers were seen to be only those external to the organisation. Indeed, many managers would argue that externally oriented marketing is difficult enough without introducing the notion of ‘internal customers’ (Ewing & Caruana 1999). The internal marketing concept argues that the organisation’s personnel are the first market of any company (George & Gronroos 1989; George 1990), the rationale being that
International Journal of Advertising, 24(2), pp. 151–172 © 2005 Advertising Association Published by the World Advertising Research Center, www.warc.com

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employees are internal customers and jobs are internal products. Job products must attract, develop and motivate employees, thereby satisfying the needs and wants of these internal customers,

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