Corporate or Employee Source? The Effect of LinkedIn Employer Branding Source on Employer Evaluations and Intention to Apply

Professional social networking platforms have transformed employer branding by reshaping how organizations communicate with potential applicants and by altering the perceived source of employer-related messages. While corporate-generated employer branding messages remain central to organizational communication strategies, such messages may also be interpreted as controlled, promotional and strategically managed. In contrast, employee-generated communication may function as a more socially grounded and credible signal of the employment experience. Drawing on signaling theory and source credibility theory, this study examines whether the source of LinkedIn employer branding content influences employer evaluations and intention to apply and investigates the proposed pathway underlying this relationship. A between-subjects experiment was conducted with 198 participants, who were randomly assigned to view either a corporate-generated or an employee-generated LinkedIn employer branding message. The employer branding message was held constant across conditions and only the attributed source was manipulated. The study examined perceived employer authenticity, employer brand trust, organizational attractiveness and intention to apply. Participants exposed to the employee-generated LinkedIn message reported significantly higher perceived employer authenticity, employer brand trust, organizational attractiveness and intention to apply than those exposed to the corporate-generated post. Path analysis also identified a significant serial indirect effect consistent with the proposed pathway from LinkedIn source to intention to apply through perceived employer authenticity, employer brand trust and organizational attractiveness. These findings suggest that employee source can operate as a perceived authenticity signal within platform-mediated employer branding. The study contributes to employer branding research by demonstrating that, in professional social media environments, the source of employer branding content meaningfully influences how potential applicants interpret and evaluate the employer. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of integrating credible employee-generated LinkedIn communication into employer branding strategies rather than relying exclusively on corporate-controlled communication.