An Uphill Struggle - Employer Branding in Controversial Companies

Abstract: This thesis aims to examine how companies in controversial industries conduct employer branding and the way this is affected by factors such as their products and general reputation, the research question is: How Do Companies With a Negatively Associated Consumer Brand attract Talent and Maintain the Employer Brand? The central structure of the thesis means to illustrate the relationship between different aspects that contribute to a company's public image. The study is limited to companies present on the Swedish market. Our literature review depicts a lack of a single, holistic framework that provides a representative view of the factors that contribute to the strength or weakness of an employer brand. Furthermore, the link between the consumer brand and employer brand has been researched primarily on a rudimentary level, and a deeper understanding of the dynamics in this relation is sought for. Finally, research on employer branding from a controversial company perspective has, to our knowledge, not been conducted before. A multiple case study was conducted and five companies in controversial industries (tobacco, alcohol and gambling) were included in the data sample. Interviews were conducted with representatives within HR, PR/Communications and Public Affairs to ensure a broad empirical foundation. Consumer brand appears to be the most important factor when it comes to the creation of company awareness. Our findings indicate that the consumer brand feeds into the employer brand and is key to successful employer branding. Consequently, companies that have to separate the employer branding practices from their consumer branding, whether due to overly negative reputational losses on account of their products or legal requirements, are at a heavy disadvantage in regards to attracting talent. Such disadvantaged companies, however, try to compensate for this dynamic by imbuing their recruiting processes with greater amounts of transparency and brand ambassadorship. A refined model based on Hepburn's "Four elements of employer reputation" is introduced as well as a model that proposes emphasis on the interrelation between the employer brand, consumer brand and corporate brand.