2.1. Marketing Communication
Communication is a process of transferring ideas and sharing meanings with particular organizations or individuals [
30]. One type of communication is marketing communication, used for transferring specific information to recipients in order to simplify marketing processes carried out as part of satisfying indirect and/or final demand [
31]. It may also refer to the strategy applied by an offeror, allowing him/her to reach the target market participants [
32].
According to the definition proposed by the American Marketing Association, marketing communication should be understood as “coordinated promotional messages and related media used for communication with the market” [
33]. Marketing messages can be transmitted by means of modern digital media and/or classical media, including radio, press and TV, as well as by means of personal sales. Thus, the content of the message is exposed in this approach, which distinguishes it from the process approach, in which attention is focused on the sequence of actions taken to make this message available to the recipients. Such an approach in defining marketing communication is presented by, among others Smith, Gopalakrishna and Chatterjee [
34].
In the context of the subject of this article, an integrated approach to marketing communication (the so-called IMC) seems particularly important. According to Batra and Keller, integrated marketing communication is “coordinated, consistent means by which companies try to inform, encourage, convince and remind consumers—directly or indirectly—about products and brands they sell” [
35]. The main premise of integrated marketing communication for an organization is to centralize and skilfully coordinate all methods, tools and communication channels with entities from its environment, so that they are effective in the long term [
36]. The effectiveness of an enterprise’s communication may influence the formation of positive relationships with clients [
37], which, in turn, may determine the enterprise’s image [
38]. Mentioned above, IMC includes the following elements: advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations, personal sales and digital/internet marketing [
39]. Each of those elements can also be used for influencing potential and current employees.
Effective marketing communication is one of the factors that may potentially affect the attitudes and behaviour of employees, including the degree of their involvement in the work performed or the attitude towards the employer. Mutual employee-employer relations are based on emotions generated in the psychological and cognitive spheres. Those emotions determine the level of employees’ trust in the employer, their willingness to accept changes [
40] as well as their openness towards changes [
41], etc.
It can therefore be assumed that enterprises wishing to consciously shape their image as employers should pay special attention to the way of communicating with individual participants of the external and internal labour market, as well as with other stakeholders. The employer’s image is determined by other sub-images and by the general picture of a particular enterprise.
2.2. The Image of an Enterprise as an Employer
The most general definition of an image is a way of perceiving someone or something or a picture created in a recipient’s mind [
42]. In the literature on management, company image is treated in terms of a derivative of an organization’s identity and the ways in which the organization communicates with its stakeholders [
43]. Sometimes the image is wrongly identified with identity or even with a brand. In addition, new “brand image” thinking constructs are created [
44,
45], whose introduction to the academic discussion only introduces conceptual chaos.
According to Alvesson [
46], company image is a holistic picture of an organization in the minds of entities from its surroundings. This picture is a result of shared values of members of a given organization, which are passed on to entities from its surroundings in the form of intentionally designed information. A similar way of defining company image is also presented by Hatch, and Schultz [
47].
In turn, Dowling defines image as a “set of meanings that allow a given subject to be identified, described, remembered and referred to” [
48]. Image is a direct picture of a given enterprise shaped in the minds of recipients [
49].
Therefore, company image can be identified with a set of information and opinions about the company as an employer, a client, a community, a supplier and a participant of a corporation. It is a mental picture which arises in the minds of stakeholders, based on specific activities of the organization [
50].
Company image can also be considered as a way of receiving a message of the nature of self-presentation by recipients interpreting the message in a broader context and in relation to their own reference framework [
51].
According to Fombrun and Van Riel [
52], company image is a result of the assessment of an enterprise by other entities, and the assessment refers to the way the entities perceive the previous and planned activities of the organization and compare them with the activities of its leading market rivals.
Ferrell and Hartline [
53] point out that company image may include positive and negative impressions, which result from the company’s past and present activity and from the perception of the actions it may take in the future.
The overall company image is the sum of its many sub-images, which include the image as an employer [
54]. Minchington [
55], defining the essence of the image of an enterprise as an employer, focuses on the perception of an organization as a workplace by its current employees, as well as other entities interested in this issue.
According to Jenner and Taylor [
56], the image of an enterprise as an employer reflects the efforts of the organization oriented towards communication with internal and external recipients, as a result of which the enterprise is perceived as a desirable and distinctive employer. Martin [
57] also narrows the definition of employer’s image to the so-called desired image; according to him, the image is what senior management wants to convey to public opinion about the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits offered by a given company. Martin also emphasizes that this image is characterized by a large dose of subjectivism. This results, among other things, from the fact that the information provided can be received in a different way depending on how important it is to its particular addressees [
57]. The analyses so far have focused mainly on a formal shaping of the image by an enterprise as an employer.
A characteristic feature of the image of an enterprise as an employer is the fact that it can be shaped both by internal and external recipients. This bidirectionality evidently affects the effects of shaping the image of an enterprise as an employer. Current employees (internal recipients) perceive an enterprise as an employer on the basis of their personal experience related to horizontal interpersonal relationships (between employees of the same level of organization) and vertical interpersonal relationships (between subordinates and superiors). Positive relations occurring between the organization’s members in both of these systems have a positive impact on shaping the image of the enterprise as an employer among current employees. Their opinions reach participants of the external labour market.
Therefore, another area in which an enterprise should shape its image as an employer is its environment, including people appearing in the role of potential employees and people having direct relationships with them [
54]. Baruk defines the image of an enterprise as an employer as “a picture (reflection) shaped in the awareness of current and potential employees based on their experience (in the case of people employed in the company) or information reaching potential members of the organization, whose source are people creating a given organization and all types of mass media” [
54]. This image, both in the formal and informal dimension, can be shaped by means of classical and modern marketing communication channels, including social media.
2.3. Modern Marketing Communication Channels
People responsible for planning communication marketing activities in enterprises have been facing a serious challenge since the beginning of the 21st century. On the one hand, they have at their disposal a significant number of marketing communication channels, and on the other hand, they must skilfully coordinate the channels, creating their proper composition based on constant verification of their applicability. According to many researchers, traditional marketing communication channels, such as radio, television, newspapers, etc., will gradually lose their importance [
58,
59] for modern communication channels. That is why it is extremely important to define the channels unequivocally.
In the literature on the subject, one can come across many definitions of modern channels and modern media. Some of the definitions emphasize that a group of modern media consists of websites and other forms of digital communication, as well as information channels, in which active consumers are involved [
60]. According to Pratt [
61], modern (or new) media are inextricably linked with multimedia, and he claims that new media include all multimedia systems on-line, multimedia systems on the disk and multimedia systems connected with the development of technology for broadcasting or recording text, sound and image.
In turn, Manovich [
62] points out that in most cases new media are identified with the dissemination and sharing of information by means of a computer. According to him, this way of defining new media is too simplistic and does not fully present the complexity of the issue, which cannot be argued with. New media are distinguished by the following features [
62]: (1) numerical coding (the object of new media has a digital record that allows the object to be changed for example by using an appropriate algorithm); (2) modularity (the object of new media is created by a huge number of independent parts, able to function in an autonomous way); (3) automation (the use of an appropriate algorithm allows the entire object to be diametrically changed); (4) volatility (the object of new media may occur almost in an unlimited number of versions); (5) cultural transcoding.
On the other hand, some authors (including Lister, et al. [
63]) believe that new media can be seen through the prism of adjectives that allow them to be described. New media are digital, interactive, hypertext, virtual, network and simulated. It is, however, worth emphasizing that not all of the above features must be present at the same time and with the same intensity.
In turn, according to Winer [
64], the characteristics of new media can be limited to two features that distinguish them from traditional media. According to this author, these characteristics are interactivity and their digital character.
An interesting definition of new media was proposed by Witczak [
65]. According to him, new media should be defined as a digital process of creating and disseminating as well as processing, exchanging and storing some information which is subject to social communication of an individual and mass character. The key technologies that dynamize the development of new media are the Internet and mobile telephony.
As can be seen, taking into account the approaches applied, all definitions of modern (new) media can be divided into the following three basic groups: technological definitions, attribute definitions and process definitions.
Rapid technological development has meant that nowadays practically every recipient of communication activities can post their opinions about a given offeror, including an employer, on the Internet network platforms. The combination of these platforms together with applications enabling the collection of information has made it possible to obtain specific information about the employer immediately, at all times and from almost anywhere on earth [
66], being able to respond to them without deferring in time.
Before the emergence of new media, employees were able to express their opinions and share their experience about an employer usually within internal communication systems, which were created and controlled by the employer himself/herself [
67]. This meant that the possibility for free expression was limited.
The dynamic development of new media has made marketing communication methods of enterprises with the environment undergo quick changes. More and more organizations are taking advantage of modern marketing communication channels in their activities. This results, among other things, in the increased interest of researchers in issues related to social media marketing, digital marketing and mobile marketing [
68,
69,
70,
71,
72,
73,
74].
The results of an analysis of the literature on the subject indicate that research is being conducted on the use of modern marketing communication channels in human resource management, yet it is mainly limited to recruitment activities [
75,
76]. However, the use of modern marketing communication channels in the process of shaping the image of an enterprise as an employer, especially from the perspective of employees, is still not being analysed.
Marketing channels based on the media include social media. According to Kaplan, and Haenlien, media include “a group of Internet applications based on ideological and technological principles of Web 2.0 and enabling the creation and exchange of user-generated content” [
77]. At this point, it is worth emphasizing that in Web 2.0, unlike Web 1.0, platform users are no longer just recipients of information, but also co-creators [
78]. Social media are similarly defined by other authors (including [
79]), who identify them with Internet applications based on Web 2.0. Some authors defining social media, however, exhibit more aspects related to information resources that enable interaction and creation of network communities (inter alia [
80,
81]).
Social media are characterized by openness, fast information exchange and high level of user involvement. They create a virtual environment where one can express and exchange opinions, share experiences, distribute and control other information anywhere and anytime [
82,
83]. Social media enable social interactions to take place between people who would not make contact in any other way [
84]. It means that they change individual and group behaviours [
85] in each area of life.
In the case of personnel activity, employees, using social media and running their own blog, can express not only positive but also negative opinions about their employer. This may have a significant adverse effect on company image, both among potential employees and other stakeholders [
7]. Despite the fact that an increasing number of enterprises are deciding to take actions aimed at shaping their image as an employer [
86], it is worth remembering that social media are much more difficult to manage, as well as control [
87,
88]. Therefore, enterprises should carefully select social media in which they publish information about themselves, especially in relation to fulfilling the role of employer [
89].
The most well-known and widely used social media include Facebook (social networking site), Twitter (microblog), YouTube (site for posting videos), Instagram (portal for posting photos) and specialized social media platforms, such as LinkedIn and GoldenLine (portals with a recruitment and professional-business profile). Research conducted by O’Connor, Schmidt and Drouin [
90] showed that 86% of employees have co-workers among friends in social media, and 77% of people use social media while working. From the point of view of the subject matter of this article, it is also important that 44% of people provide information about their work via social media [
90]. Additionally, during the financial crisis, Facebook became the main social platform where users sought business contacts and new places of employment [
91].
Mobile marketing is another marketing channel based on new media [
92]. According to Kaplan, mobile marketing can be described as “any marketing activity carried out by means of the ubiquitous network, with which consumers are constantly connected through a personal mobile device” [
93]. Mobile marketing may include actions within enterprise communication with customers using short text messages (SMS), QR codes and websites displayed on mobile devices [
94] but also the transmission of picture messages (MMS) and image advertising on the screens of mobile devices.
While SMSs and MMSs have not found wider use as image-creating instruments, mobile social marketing has started to play a significant role in shaping company image as an employer. The creation of mobile marketing was related to the fact that the proliferation of the mobile Internet resulted in a specific combination of mobile communication with the classical Internet. However, the increase in the interest in social media meant that people using portals and social applications, wanting to be in constant contact with other users, started using mobile devices for this purpose [
73]. An advantage of this combination was the ceasing of restrictions on the time and place of the receipt of a marketing message. Internet access via mobile devices has meant that enterprises can communicate with their employees not only during their work and travel but also during leisure [
38]. The specific inseparable link between an employee and an employer can be treated as a negative consequence of the use of social media in marketing communication, which has a clear image overtone.
However, in practice, social media are still used rather as marketing communication channels regarding an offer of a given company [
95]. This is clearly evident on the energy market. Social media are used in this case to identify consumers’ attitudes towards renewable energy [
96], level of environmental consumers’ awareness [
97], stakeholders’ opinions [
98], etc.
Application of social media in personnel policy is very limited, although social media can successfully be used for activities aimed at creating a positive image of an enterprise as an employer. This statement applies to enterprises functioning on different markets, inter alia, energy market where often no attention is paid to employer’s image [
99]. It is clearly visible even though each energy company acts also as an employer. That is why the aspects connected with creating the employer’s image, especially external one, are as important for these firms as for the other companies. In the case of enterprises on the energy market, shaping their image in the role of employer is especially significant because of the importance of this industry for the economy on a regional, national and global scale.
In order to reduce the identified cognitive and research gap, the following research hypotheses were verified:
Hypothesis 1. Respondents’ attitude towards the use of modern communication channels for image-related purposes is a feature that differentiates opinions regarding activities that affect the shaping of a positive external image of an employer.
Hypothesis 2. There is a dependence between organizing promotional campaigns on non-professional social media (Facebook, Instagram) showing an enterprise as an attractive employer and respondents’ opinions regarding the use of modern communication channels for image-related purposes.
Hypothesis 3. There is a dependence between organizing promotional campaigns on professional social media (LinkedIn, GoldenLine) showing an enterprise as an attractive employer and respondents’ opinions regarding the use of modern communication channels for image-related purposes.
Hypothesis 4. The age of respondents is a feature that differentiates opinions regarding activities that affect the shaping of a positive external image of an employer.