From branding to voice: how employees co-create the employer brand

Purpose The study aims to examine how employer branding influences employees' brand advocacy and voice behavior under the boundary conditions of psychological ownership and met expectations. The study positions employer branding as a central enabler of employee-driven brand co-creation, where employees do not merely consume organizational identity but actively shape, disseminate and safeguard it. Design/methodology/approach The study uses survey data collected from 397 employees in the United Kingdom via prolific and tests the proposed relationships using hierarchical linear regression and Hayes' PROCESS macro (Models 4 and 21) in SPSS. Findings The results suggest that employer branding encourages employees to advocate for the organization, and this advocacy becomes a pathway through which they voice for organizational improvements. Employer branding initiatives are more effective in driving brand advocacy for people with low psychological ownership. Moreover, when employees perceive that the organization fulfills their expectations, they are more willing to turn their advocacy into voice behavior. Practical implications The findings highlight the need for organizations to communicate employer branding initiatives internally, target branding initiatives toward employees with lower psychological ownership and fulfill employee expectations. Originality/value The study integrates social identity, psychological ownership and met expectations theories to explain how employer branding translates into co-creation behaviors that build a strong employer brand. It contributes to the employer branding literature by positioning current employees as active co-creators rather than passive recipients.