High expectations, higher stakes? Changes in organizational attractiveness after receiving a rejection letter

While investments in employer branding are known for improving initial applicant attraction, their consequences reach far beyond. Building upon applicant attribution-reaction theory (AART), we explore the impact of employer brand equity on applicant reactions following a rejection. In particular, this study adopts a three-wave quasi-experimental vignette design to examine how different levels of employer brand equity (high vs. low) influence changes in organizational attractiveness after receiving a rejection letter (prototypical vs. appreciative). Data were collected from 236 Dutch and Belgian respondents who were (soon to be) active in the labor market, either being (self-)employed or final-year students. Results from a repeated-measures ANOVA reveal that an appreciative rejection letter may fully mitigate the negative effects of rejection for organizations with high employer brand equity. Conversely, prototypical rejection letters significantly decrease organizational attractiveness in high-equity organizations, undermining previously built employer brand equity. These findings underscore the importance of living the employer brand throughout the candidate journey and provide actionable insights for research and practice.