What drives Ideal Employer Image?: A study of university students' perceptions in China, the US and Germany

Abstract: This thesis will undertake a progressive investigation of employer branding, with a global comparison of university students’ perceptions towards their ideal employers. Given the lack of available theories in the employer branding field, the newly developed intersection of HR, Marketing, PR and Communications, an inductive quantitative approach is taken based on a multi-national, large scale survey conducted among over 50,000 university students in China, the US and Germany in the Spring of 2006. The research question “What are the key factors driving the Ideal Employer Image in China, the US and Germany” is discussed in three stages: 1. Students’ desired characteristics of an ideal employer; 2. Cluster analysis (SPSS) of Ideal Employers helps us identify which companies group together and what attributes each group has. ; 3. Regression analysis (SPSS) to determine attributes with the most significant influence on students’ choices of their ideal employers. The findings not only proved that differences do exist among students’ perceptions towards ideal employers in China, the US and Germany, but also suggested factors that are most influential in each country. Furthermore, the findings also indicate that employer associations and job offerings have different impact upon students’ ideal employer choices in different countries.