Heterogeneity Effects of Social Media Recruitment on Job Application Intentions_Vol. 3 No. 3 (JNME 2026)_Journal of New Media and Economics (ISSN: 3005-5725)

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Heterogeneity Effects of Social Media Recruitment on Job Application Intentions

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jnme.202610307

Author(s)

Yicheng Zhou

Affiliation(s)

Department of Business Administration, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of social media recruitment (SMR) on job application intentions (JAI) and whether this relationship is moderated by job seeker personality (JSP), perceived information accuracy and reliability (IAR), and age (Gen Z vs. non–Gen Z). Using a quantitative research design, data were collected through a bilingual online questionnaire from 111 job seekers. SPSS was used to perform descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and moderated regression. The results indicate that SMR has a significant positive effect on JAI. However, JSP and IAR do not significantly moderate this relationship, while age shows only a marginal moderating effect, indicating a slightly stronger influence among younger job seekers. Overall, the results highlight the important role of social media recruitment in shaping application intentions and suggest that its effectiveness is generally consistent across the sampled job seeker groups. The study contributes to the literature on digital recruitment by clarifying the boundary conditions of SMR and providing practical guidance for organizations to maintain clear and engaging social media recruitment strategies.

Keywords

Social Media Recruitment; Job Application Intentions; Job Seeker Personality; Information Accuracy and Reliability; Generation Z

References

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