8. CEO Influencers on LinkedIn

This paper examines how chief executive officer (CEO) influencers and employee electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on LinkedIn impact a startup’s employer brand. Specifically, how startup CEO influencers’ self-disclosure and employees’ eWOM affect the perceived employer attractiveness, and the extent to which employee eWOM moderates the relationship between CEO self-disclosure and employer attractiveness. A 2 (self-disclosure: low vs. high) × 2 (eWOM: comment vs. no comment) between-subjects online experiment was conducted with a random sample of 228 students and young professionals. The findings demonstrate that low self-disclosure posts led to a significantly higher employer attractiveness than high self-disclosure posts. Moreover, employee eWOM moderated the relationship between CEO self-disclosure and employer attractiveness.