Original Article

Organizational attractiveness of foreign firms in

Asia: Soft power matters
Received 9 May 2011; revised 23 April 2012; accepted 16 August 2012

Fabian J. Froesea,* and Yasuyuki Kishib

a
Georg-August-University Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
E-mail: ffroese@uni-goettingen.de
b
Niigata University, 2-8050 Igarashi, Nishi-ku, Niigata 950-2181, Japan.
E-mail: kishi@econ.niigata-u.ac.jp
*Corresponding author.

Abstract Attracting highly qualified talent is crucial for the success of organiza-
tions. This study investigates whether and how the soft power of countries or regions
(that is, the perceived influence and media exposure of the country/region) is related
to the organizational attractiveness of foreign firms. Survey results from more than
2200 initial job candidates from South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Phi-
lippines and Singapore indicate that the soft power of Japan and Western countries
predicts applicant attraction to organizations from these countries; this suggests the
importance of soft power in human resource management and international business.
Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Asian Business & Management (2013) 12, 281–297. doi:10.1057/abm.2013.3;
published online 13 February 2013

Keywords: applicant attraction; Asia; Image theory; Japan; recruitment; soft power

Introduction

Attracting high-quality applicants is a critical factor for the long-term success of

organizations (Rynes and Barber, 1990; Chapman et al, 2005; Ehrhart and
Ziegert, 2005). However, recent changes in the nature of work, demographics and
increased globalization present many challenges for attracting talent (Ployhart,
2006). Some countries have already reached a situation where firms must com-
pete in a ‘war for talent’; competition for highly qualified talent is particu-
larly intense in Asia (Han and Froese, 2010; Holtbrügge et al, 2010; Froese and
Peltokorpi, 2011; Kim et al, 2012). In China, the rapidly increasing demand for
job candidates with technical skills, relevant work experience and English fluency
has led hiring firms to offer salary premiums of up to 100 per cent to poach
suitable employees from their competitors (Han and Froese, 2010).
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 Froese and Kishi

Despite increased globalization, research has lagged behind in investigating

the consequences of international business on recruitment and applicant attrac-
tion. Major multinational enterprises (MNEs) such as Sony, a Japanese
electronics company, and Procter & Gamble, an American consumer goods
company, employ more than 60 per cent of their workforce outside their home
countries. Anderson and Witvliet (2008) show that, in different countries,
companies’ personnel selection practices and applicants’ perceptions will differ
greatly. MNEs may need to modify their recruitment practices if they wish to
succeed in the global war for talent.
In overseas markets, foreign-based companies may be less preferred employ-
ers (Robinson, 2003; Newburry et al, 2006), as they usually suffer from
the liability of foreignness, that is, disadvantages due to their lack of local
familiarity and local market knowledge (Zaheer, 1994). Newburry et al
(2006) found that in the United States, demographic factors such as race and
gender interact with the attractiveness of foreign-based companies. Turban et al
(2001) found that Chinese university students are more attracted to foreign
companies when the students are more risk- and money-oriented. Kopp (1994),
Yoshihara (2005) and Yu and Meyer-Ohle (2008) argue that local workers
disfavor Japanese employers in overseas markets, due to their ethnocentric
HR policies. However, demographics, personality traits and HR policies only
partially explain why local candidates are or are not attracted to foreign-based
employers.
Ployhart (2006) argues that demographics and job-organizational character-
istics have become less important in today’s knowledge-based global economy.
On the other hand, image has become more important. Several studies in the
United States and Europe confirm that corporate image is extremely important
(Highhouse et al, 1999; Lievens and Highhouse, 2003; Highhouse et al, 2007).
Froese et al (2010) extend the concept to country image and have applied it to
an Asian context. Their findings show that Vietnamese students are more
attracted to American than domestic companies; they are attracted to the image
of technological advancement and open-mindedness associated with the United
States. While these studies help us understand how image affects applicant
attraction, prior research is inconclusive (Highhouse et al, 2009) and pays little
attention to overseas recruitment (Froese et al, 2010).
This study extends the growing body of research on image and recruitment in
the international context by investigating how soft power influences applicant
attraction to prospective foreign-based employers in Asia. In Political Science,
soft power is a well-known construct that refers to peoples’ abilities to obtain
their wants through co-option and attraction (Nye, 1990). Given the well-
documented importance of both co-option and attraction in international
politics, soft power will probably affect applicant attraction to foreign employ-
ers. More rationale will be provided in the following sections. We believe that
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 Organizational attractiveness of foreign firms in Asia

this is the first study to apply the concept of soft power to the human resource
management and international business domain.
This article is structured in the following manner. In the next section, we
briefly review the recruitment literature, introduce the concept of soft power
and develop our hypotheses. The third section describes our methodology, and
the fourth presents our empirical findings. In the final section, we discuss our
findings, provide practical implications and avenues for future research, and
acknowledge the limitations of this study.

Literature Review and Hypotheses

The term recruitment refers to an organization’s efforts to identify, attract and

influence the job choices of qualified applicants (Ployhart, 2006). Recruitment is
only successful if the organization attracts a sufficient pool of applicants. Thus,
applicant attraction is a source of competitive advantage, as well as a critical
tool for organizational survival (Taylor and Collins, 2000). Several excellent
reviews reflect the important role of applicant attraction (Chapman et al, 2005;
Ehrhart and Ziegert, 2005; Ployhart, 2006).
Responding to the growing need for companies to better understand
job applicants, this study focuses on potential job applicants’ perceptions
(Chapman et al, 2005; Ehrhart and Ziegert, 2005). Ehrhart and Ziegert iden-
tify three over-arching metatheories that help explain applicant attraction:
environment-processing metatheory, interactionist-processing metatheory and
self-processing metatheory. Environment-processing metatheory focuses on
how an applicant’s actual and perceived environment shapes their attraction
to jobs. Interactionist-processing metatheory deals with the fit between indivi-
duals and organizations. Self-processing metatheory focuses on how individuals
handle information about themselves. This study is intended to investigate
how soft power affects applicant attraction in different countries (external
environments); thus, we adopt the environment-processing metatheory.
Within this metatheory, Ehrhart and Ziegert (2005) emphasize the important
roles of Signal theory (Spence, 1973; Rynes, 1991) and Image theory (Lindquist,
1974; Highhouse et al, 1999). According to Signal theory, applicants do
not have complete information; they interpret available information as signals,
for example, they may obtain their information from brochures advertising
work-life balance. In recent years, Image theory has gained wide popularity (see
Highhouse et al, 2009). According to Image theory, before making a job
decision, applicants will compare different choices and consider how the alter-
natives meet their job desires. Signals and images overlap to create an overall
impression of prospective employers, and have important influences on job-
seekers during the job-search process.
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 Froese and Kishi

Research on Image theory was originally developed from marketing

literature (for example, Collins and Stevens, 2002; Lievens and Highhouse,
2003; DelVecchio et al, 2007; Froese et al, 2010). While early research was
limited to studying corporate reputation and brand equity (Gatewood et al,
1993; Highhouse et al, 1999; Collins and Stevens, 2002), Lievens and Highhouse
(2003) developed a more comprehensive model that distinguishes between instru-
mental and symbolic image. Instrumental image refers to objective attributes
that are directly job- or organization-related (for example, pay and firm size);
symbolic image refers to the applicants’ subjective feelings and perceptions
regarding the employer. While Lievens and Highhouse show how symbolic
image represents corporate identity, Froese et al (2010) show how symbolic
image represents country images of technological advancement and open-
minded population. Both studies agree that people are influenced more by
symbolic than by instrumental image. However, this topic should be researched
further to better understand the dimensions of country image (Froese et al,
2010).
This study proposes that soft power is an important component of
country image and can help explain applicant attraction to employers based in
another country. In 1990, Nye proposed the concept of ‘soft power’, defined
as a person’s ability to obtain their desires through co-option and attraction.
In recent years, soft power’s effect in international politics has been well
documented (Nye, 2005; Miller, 2009; Heng, 2010; Melissen and Lee, 2011).
Soft power can be contrasted with ‘hard power’, which historically is the
predominant realist measure of national power, through economic size, military
or a nation’s gross domestic product. Hard power can be executed through
force and coercion. Soft power can be exercised by states, as well as by all actors
in international politics, including NGOs, media or international institutions,
through influence and persuasion. On the one hand, hard power is tangible and
can be easily measured numerically. On the other, soft power is a more subtle
measure of images that are evaluated through people’s perception.
Nye (2005) argues that soft power is not limited to ‘influence’, as hard power
can also exert influence via threats or payments. In addition, soft power is more
than just persuasion (the ability to move people by argument), even though
persuasion plays an integral role. Soft power includes the ability to attract, and
attraction often leads to acceptance. According to Nye, the ‘primary currencies’
of this type of power include an actor’s values, culture, policies and institutions.
Moreover, these ‘primary currencies’ can attract or repel other actors to ‘want
what you want’. Therefore, soft power can be used to obtain desirable outcomes
by creating positive impressions among foreign nationals.
Referring to the conceptual framework of Image theory, hard power is
related to instrumental image, whereas soft power is more closely related to
symbolic image, as it is more subjective. Like symbolic image, soft power
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may also influence international business and, specifically, applicant attraction

to foreign employers. In this study, we propose hypotheses related to two
central components of soft power: perceived country influence and media
exposure.
Japan, the United States and Europe have enjoyed tremendous economic
and political influence in Asia. European countries have long traditions of
trade and economic investment in Asia. In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, the Dutch East India Company sent about one million Europeans to
work in Asia and shipped more than 2.5 million tons of merchandise to and
from Europe and Asia. After World War II, the United States completed
influential military and economic development agreements with many Asian
countries. Japan has a colonial legacy in several Asian countries and still has
large investments throughout Asia. In summary, Japan, the United States
and Europe are the main investors in most Asian countries (UNCTAD, 2010).
In Asia, Japan emerged as the first industrialized country, symbolized by the
Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and the Osaka Expo in 1970. Its remarkable econo-
mic growth appeals to perceptions in other developing Asian countries; for
instance, Mahathir bin Mohamad, then Prime Minister of Malaysia, proposed
the ‘Look East policy’ in 1981, the purpose of which was to follow Japan’s
economic growth model.
These political and economic influences may also have brought Japanese
and Western influences to other Asian people, as politics and economics cannot
be isolated from social influences. In addition to its economic success, Japanese
cultural values of motivation and determination may appeal to some people.
In the developing countries of Asia, politically suppressed citizens may cherish
Western values of ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom’. Thereby, both Japan and the West
may have strongly influenced Asian people.
These perceived country influences have also played an important role in
creating images of these countries. Froese et al (2010) show how country images
have positive spillover effects, which make organizations from these countries
appear more attractive. Hence, if countries can convey a positive image, that
image may influence and attract people to work for companies from these
countries.
Countries can spread soft power through their perceived influence, as well
as in other ways. One commonly identified method is through the media, an
important pillar in today’s political arena that strongly influences public
opinion (for example, McCombs and Shaw, 1972; Page et al, 1987). Further,
Nye (2005) points out that a country’s media influence can significantly affect
its ability to obtain global acceptance. Western media is widespread across
Asia. For example, BBC and Hollywood movies are available almost anywhere
in Asia. Willnat et al (2002) find that US media exposure strongly influences
the values of Asian students. Japanese cartoons (anime) are widespread across
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 Froese and Kishi

Asia, much like Disney cartoons are widespread in most Western countries.
Thus, many Asians are exposed to Japanese culture from a young age. Prior
studies show that Japanese media influence (such as popular culture) is globally
accepted and attractive to many, particularly in Asia (Iwabuchi, 2002, 2010;
Otmazgin, 2008). Indeed, movies can even increase tourism to a country
(Connell, 2005; Beeton, 2006). According to the contact hypothesis (Allport,
1954; Pettigrew and Tropp, 2006), as people become more exposed to a certain
object, they will become more attracted to it. This implies that if Asians have
more exposure to Japanese and Western media, they will become more
attracted to that country or region. If they are more attracted to a location
then they may also be more interested in working for companies from that
location. In a related study, Moon and Nelson (2008) find that media exposure
and cultural values can predict attitudes toward a certain business model.
We therefore assume that applicant attraction to certain companies can be
influenced by perceived country influence and media exposure. We propose the
following (more specific) hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1a: Perceived country influence from Japan is positively related to
applicant attraction to Japanese organizations.
Hypothesis 1b: Perceived country influence from Western countries is posi-
tively related to applicant attraction to Western organizations.
Hypothesis 2a: Japanese media exposure is positively related to applicant
attraction to Japanese organizations.
Hypothesis 2b: Western media exposure is positively related to applicant
attraction to Western organizations.

Methodology

This study is part of a larger research project, the purpose of which is to

determine the scope and content of lifestyles, political attitudes, values and
consumption patterns in Asia. We have collected data from approximately 2400
university students across six Asian countries: South Korea, China, Vietnam,
Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. All the data were derived from the
Asian Student Survey conducted by Waseda University Global COE Program,
Global Institute for Asian Regional Integration (GIARI). Professional research
agencies were hired to collect 400 questionnaires from each country. From the
questionnaires received, we selected only respondents who chose ‘domestic’,
‘Japanese’ or ‘Western’ organizations as their first choice of employer; this
resulted in a final sample of 2208 (usable response rate ¼ 92 per cent). To avoid
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misunderstandings and prevent respondent fatigue, the research agencies

conducted the questionnaires during face-to-face interviews. International and
graduate students were excluded. To ensure an equal distribution of several
factors, including gender (50 per cent female), academic year (freshmen,
sophomore, junior and senior, 25 per cent each) and major (sciences versus
humanities/social science, 50 per cent each), we set quotas for each country. The
average age of respondents was 20.59 years (SD ¼ 1.59).

Measures

Main variables

The dependent variable applicant attraction was measured using the following
question: ‘Which company or organization would you like to work for most?’
The questionnaire allowed the respondents to choose from several responses,
including ‘a domestic company or organization’, ‘Western’, ‘Japanese’, ‘other
Asian’ or ‘Other’, and respondents were asked to specify the name of the
country or region. To measure perceived country influence and media exposure,
we repeated the questions used in the Asia Barometer (Inoguchi, 2009). We
assessed the perceived country influence with the following question: ‘Do you
think the following countries have a good or bad influence on your country?’
Respondents were given the opportunity to answer the same question for
different countries and regions, including both Japan and Western countries;
each answer was coded on a Likert scale from 1 (bad influence) to 5 (good
influence). To measure media exposure, we asked the following question: ‘How
often are you exposed to TV programs, movies and animation produced in the
following countries?’ Respondents were given the opportunity to answer the
same question for different countries and regions; their frequency of consump-
tion was coded from 6 (almost every day) to 1 (never).

Control variables

Prior research has found that demographics and job characteristics may affect
organizational attractiveness (see Chapman et al, 2005). Thus, in this study, we
controlled for age, gender, academic year, major subject and job characteristics.
We measured respondents’ age and academic year in years. To specify their
gender (0 ¼ male, 1 ¼ female) and major (0 ¼ Science, 1 ¼ other), we used
dummy codes. Their job characteristics were measured using three items
that reflected the respondents’ preferences for extrinsic job characteristics
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 Froese and Kishi

(for example, pay); these characteristics were taken from Froese et al (2010).
The Cronbach’s a for this scale was 0.67, which indicated an acceptable reliability.

Results

Table 1 provides an overview of the results regarding respondents’ employer

choice. As shown in the table, the respondents’ preferences for domestic,
Japanese and Western employers varied significantly across countries (Pearson
w2 (10) ¼ 189.06, Po0.001). In China and South Korea, respondents preferred
domestic companies (60.7 per cent and 62.5 per cent, respectively), whereas
Western companies were their second choice (36.9 per cent, 35.6 per cent);

Table 1: Overview of employer choice across countries

Country Choice of employer Total

Domestic Japanese Western

South Korea
Count 230 7 131 368
Percentage within country 62.5 1.9 35.6 100.0

China
Count 232 9 141 382
Percentage within country 60.7 2.4 36.9 100.0

Vietnam
Count 153 52 152 357
Percentage within country 42.9 14.6 42.6 100.0

Thailand
Count 109 89 172 370
Percentage within country 29.5 24.1 46.5 100.0

Philippines
Count 152 55 165 372
Percentage within country 40.9 14.8 44.4 100.0

Singapore
Count 150 43 166 359
Percentage within country 41.8 12.0 46.2 100.0

Total
Count 1026 255 927 2208
Percentage within country 46.5 11.5 42.0 100.0

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however, they tended to avoid Japanese employers (2.4 per cent, 1.9 per cent).
In other countries, foreign employers, especially Western companies, were more
popular among university students. Japanese companies were relatively popular
in Thailand.
Table 2 shows the means, standard deviations and correlation of variables.
Our results show that the highest correlation appeared between respondents’
age and academic year (r ¼ 0.59, Po0.001), probably because seniors are
usually older than freshmen. Several more significant correlations appeared,
although all at lower levels. For example, we found a significant correlation
between Japanese influence and Japanese media exposure (r ¼ 0.13, Po0.001).
We conducted a multinomial regression analysis to test the hypotheses. We
chose this type of analysis because the dependent variable was categorical in
nature. As we wanted to see how soft power affects an applicant’s attraction to
companies from different countries, we used respondents who had selected
domestic companies as the reference group. Table 3 depicts the unstandardized
beta values, standard errors and Wald values. Wald values represent the relative
importance of the respective variable. Overall, our model explained application
attraction well: Cox and Snell Pseudo R2 ¼ 0.17, Nagelkerke ¼ 0.20, 2 Log
Likelihood ¼ 3821.8, w2 (28) ¼ 403.3, Po0.001.
Results show that the perceived country influence from Japan (b ¼ 0.44,
Po0.001) and Japanese media exposure b ¼ 0.34, Po0.001) were positively
related to attraction to Japanese companies. These results support Hypotheses 1a
and 2a. Furthermore, these two variables had the highest Wald values among all
relevant variables, thus indicating strong predictive power. Perceived Western
influence (b ¼ 0.14, Po0.01) and Western media exposure (b ¼ 0.34, Po0.001)
were positively related to attraction to Western companies, providing support for
Hypotheses 1b and 2b. Further, exposure to Western media was the strongest
predictor of attraction to Western companies among all variables (Wald ¼ 52.47).
Further support for our hypotheses can be found in the fact that Japanese
influence and Japanese media related only to attraction to Japanese companies,
and the same is true for Western influence, media and companies.
In addition, we found that several control variables were strongly related to
applicant attraction. In Korea and China, Japanese companies were the least-
preferred employers, while Western companies were less popular than domestic
companies. On the other hand, Western and Japanese companies were attrac-
tive to applicants in Thailand. Our findings also showed that extrinsic job
characteristics were only related to Western companies (b ¼ 0.52, Po0.001),
suggesting that job applicants expect higher pay and advancement opportu-
nities in Western companies. An applicant’s college major was negatively
related to their attraction to Japanese employers (b ¼ 0.33, Po0.05); the
results indicate that science majors preferred Japanese companies. Female
students preferred Western companies (b ¼ 0.35, Po0.001).
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Table 2: Means, standard deviations and inter-correlations of variables

Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 Age 20.59 1.97 1 — — — — — — — — —

2 Gender 0.50 0.50 0.14 1 — — — — — — — —
3 Academic year 2.43 1.10 0.59 0.00 1 — — — — — — —
4 Major 0.49 0.50 0.02 0.18 0.01 1 — — — — — —
Asian Business & Management

5 Extrinsic job characteristics 3.41 0.47 0.08 0.07 0.00 0.18 1 — — — — —

6 Japanese influence 3.71 1.09 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.06 1 — — — —
7 Western influence 3.44 1.14 0.10 0.02 0.03 0.05 0.05 0.31 1 — — —
8 Japanese media 3.83 1.41 0.09 0.10 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.13 0.02 1 — —
9 Western media 3.83 1.41 0.09 0.10 0.05 0.03 0.12 0.13 0.02 0.03 1 —
10 Japan company dummy 0.10 0.30 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.05 0.02 0.17 0.03 0.15 0.03 1
11 Western company dummy 0.38 0.48 0.03 0.06 0.02 0.00 0.10 0.04 0.08 0.03 0.16 0.26

Note: 0.05or correlation is significant at 0.05 level (2-tailed), 0.06oro0.08 correlation is significant at 0.01 level, 0.09or correlation is significant at
0.001 level (2-tailed).
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Table 3: Results of multinomial regression analysis

Japanese companies Western companies

B SE Wald B SE Wald

Control variables
Age 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.03 0.05 0.40
Gender 0.18 0.16 1.25 0.35 0.10 12.22
Academic year 0.05 0.11 0.19 0.10 0.07 2.22
Major 0.33 0.16 4.37 0.11 0.10 1.41
Job characteristics 0.02 0.17 0.01 0.52 0.11 20.83
Korea dummy 1.87 0.44 18.39 0.35 0.17 4.12
China dummy 1.28 0.44 8.48 0.20 0.21 0.93
Vietnam dummy 0.23 0.27 0.76 0.23 0.18 1.66
Thai dummy 1.01 0.29 12.45 0.42 0.20 4.61
Philippines dummy 0.14 0.38 0.13 0.14 0.24 0.37

Soft power
Japanese influence 0.44 0.10 19.63 0.05 0.06 0.97
Western influence 0.04 0.07 0.27 0.14 0.05 9.63
Japanese media 0.34 0.06 29.22 0.07 0.04 3.20
Western media 0.09 0.07 1.50 0.34 0.05 52.47
  
, , shows significance at Po0.001, Po0.05, Po0.01, respectively.
Notes: Reference group ¼ domestic companies, Cox and Snell Pseudo R2 ¼ 0.17, Nagelkerke ¼ 0.20,
2 Log Likelihood ¼ 3821.8, w2 ¼ 403.3, df ¼ 28.

Discussion and Conclusions

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to apply the soft power
concept to international business and human resource management. Prior
research has indicated that symbolic image is a more accurate tool for predicting
applicant attraction than demographics and job-organization characteristics
(Lievens and Highhouse, 2003; Froese et al, 2010). We argue that soft power
should be considered a component of symbolic image. Our empirical findings
show that soft power, measured using applicants’ perceived country influence
and media exposure, has a significant impact on applicant attraction. Respon-
dents who had more exposure to Japanese media and perceived that they had a
more positive country influence from Japan were more attracted to Japanese
prospective employers. The same relationships apply to Western influence,
Western media exposure and Western employers. Thus, the findings in this
study contribute to a better understanding of symbolic image and applicant
attraction in an international context. Furthermore, our findings suggest that
soft power plays an important role in recruitment, as well as other international
business domains (for example, tourism and sales of merchandise products).
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 Froese and Kishi

Our findings also provide several additional contributions to a better under-

standing of recruitment in Asia and recruitment for foreign companies. Our
large-scale, multi-country survey revealed that applicant preference for compa-
nies from certain countries varies considerably across countries. In China
and Korea, initial job candidates preferred domestic companies and disliked
Japanese companies. Job candidates in Southeast Asia were more open to
Western and Japanese companies. In Thailand, applicants preferred Western
employers, although Thailand differed from the other countries in that
Japanese companies were similarly appreciated to domestic companies.
However, the soft power concept only partially accounted for these results.
Historical animosities (Klein et al, 1998), ethnocentrism (Kopp, 1994), liabi-
lities of foreignness (Zaheer, 1994), differences in job-organization character-
istics (Pudelko and Harzing, 2007) and emerging successful domestic MNEs
(Han and Froese, 2010) can potentially explain these differences. For instance,
our findings suggest that some applicants prefer Western companies because
they are perceived as offering higher pay and better promotion opportunities
(Ono, 2007; Han and Froese, 2010). In contrast, Japanese companies are
perceived as liable to limit the career opportunities of host-country employees
(Kopp, 1994). Western companies are also preferred by Asian female applicants;
our findings suggest that Asian females expect more gender egalitarianism, in
contrast to traditional roles in most Asian countries (Hofstede, 2001). Our
findings also suggest that science students tend to prefer Japanese companies,
perhaps because they have an image of engineering excellence.

Practical Implications

The results of this study lead to several managerial recommendations and

policy implications. First, a country’s environment may make it easier or harder
to recruit talent. If a company’s main priority is the acquisition of talent (for
example, for setting up R&D facilities) then it should carefully choose the
‘right’ country to help them meet that goal. Companies can conduct surveys
that can reveal whether they would have a country-of-origin advantage or
disadvantage; then, they can make an appropriate choice of location. For
instance, our study results show that job candidates in China and Korea may
be less interested in working for Japanese companies. Other things being
equal, therefore, Japanese companies may be better seeking talent from other
countries, such as Thailand. If companies suffer from a country-of-origin
disadvantage, they should try to downplay hide their national origin and
instead emphasize their corporate image. Another long-term solution could be
increased localization, for example, through appointing more locals to key
positions.
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 Organizational attractiveness of foreign firms in Asia

Second, as perceived country influences have a substantial influence on

organizational attractiveness and potentially other important outcomes (for
example, tourism), governments should judiciously manage their country’s
image. For instance, a Japanese prime minister should carefully consider public
reaction before visiting Yasukuni Shrine, a shrine that honors Japanese war
dead; as such official visits upset the Koreans and Chinese, the prime minister
should assess whether the visit will outweigh any potential detrimental out-
comes for image and business overseas.
Third, as media exposure has such a strong influence on organizational
attractiveness, companies and governments can promote their countries by
sponsoring media originating from their countries. Furthermore, companies
could use this expenditure as an advantage to promote these activities as
‘corporate social responsibility’ in their home country and elsewhere. By this,
companies could enjoy double-positive effects, which they would receive from
both increased media exposure and corporate social responsibility activities.
Fourth, our study shows that applicants are attracted to Western companies
because they anticipate better pay and promotion opportunities. Japanese
companies may consider offering similar opportunities to reduce the attractive-
ness of Western firms. The same logic applies to gender egalitarianism in the
workplace. If Japanese firms should implement such changes, they could also
promote their improved job and gender equality characteristics.

Limitations and Avenues for Future Research

Whereas this study has explored new areas, future research can make several
improvements to further increase our understanding of soft power’s role in
applicant attraction and other domains. We have demonstrated the importance
of soft power on applicant attraction, and in addition, we believe that soft
power can also impact other outcomes, such as tourism and merchandising.
Future studies may determine how and to what degree soft power influences
various business-related outcomes.
Second, in this study, we collected data from more than 2200 respondents
across six countries. Large-scale surveys are expensive and difficult to coordi-
nate. However, all the countries were located in Asia, where soft power may
have stronger effects because of Asia’s collective and harmony-oriented culture
(Hofstede, 2001), and countries’ political dependence on other countries.
Future studies should analyze soft power’s role in other regions and countries.
Third, we created a single category of ‘Western’ influence, which was a com-
bination of the United States and Western Europe. Although Americans and
Europeans may balk at being clustered into one group, this clustering is
common among Asians. In fact, the Japanese call this cluster ou-bei and
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 Froese and Kishi

Chinese use the term ou-mei. From another perspective, it is common for
Americans and Europeans to discuss ‘Asians’ and the ‘Asia-Pacific’, despite
pronounced differences within these regions. Nevertheless, future studies could
further distinguish between different countries and regions.
Fourth, perceived country influence and media exposure were measured
using only single items. Single items can have the same predictive validity as
multiple-item scales (for example, Wanous et al, 1997; Bergkvist and Rossiter,
2007). Nevertheless, future studies should consider using multiple-item and
multi-dimensional scales so they can better understand soft power. For
instance, such studies may help show which type of media exposure has a
stronger impact, and which type is only of peripheral importance.
Fifth, the cross-sectional design of this study might have biased the results. In
the early stages, image and soft power may have stronger impacts on applicant
attraction, but their strength may weaken in later stages of the recruitment
process. Longitudinal studies could further substantiate our findings and
increase understanding. Moreover, soft power is subject to sudden changes
(for example, sudden political conflict or scandal). Future studies may explore
how such events affect soft power and its outcomes.
Sixth, all respondents in our study were university students from prestigious
universities. Thus, our sample may not accurately represent applicant attraction
among initial job seekers, as companies do not limit their recruiting process to
students from elite universities. On the other hand, major foreign firms do
prefer to recruit from such top universities. Future studies might also investi-
gate applicant attraction in more mature applicants, and other studies might
wish to investigate applicants who currently have jobs; then the results can be
compared (Lievens and Highhouse, 2003; Lievens, 2007).
Finally, as all responses were collected from the same individuals, our
findings may be affected by common-method bias. Our use of different question
types and anchors (that is, Likert scale and categorical questions) counteracts
this. Furthermore, we separated questions concerning the dependent and
independent variables by more than 40 completely unrelated questions. Thus,
it is unlikely that respondents would notice any connection between these items.
Future studies may try to collect data from other sources (for example, soft
power assessed via nationwide polls). We hope that this article inspires other
researchers to further investigate soft power’s role in business.

Acknowledgements

This study analyzed data from Asian Student Survey conducted by Waseda
University Global COE Program, Global Institute for Asian Regional Integra-
tion (GIARI).
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 Organizational attractiveness of foreign firms in Asia

The first author gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Japanese
Society for the Promotion of Science, for a research stay at the University of
Tokyo when he worked on this manuscript. Both authors would like to thank
Waseda University, Graduate School of Asia–Pacific Studies, for generous
support.

About the Authors

Fabian J Froese is a Professor and a Chair of Human Resource Manage-

ment and Asian Business at Georg-August University of Göttingen, Germany.
Before this appointment, he taught at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea.
He obtained a doctorate in International Management from the University of
St Gallen in Switzerland and another doctorate in Sociology from Waseda
University. His research interests lie in cross-cultural management and interna-
tional human resource management, with a regional focus on China, South
Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Yasuyuki Kishi is an Associate Professor of Management and Sociology of

Niigata University, Japan, with research interests in globalzation, SMEs,
human resource management and cross-cultural studies. He received his PhD
in International Relations from Waseda University. He served as an Honorary
Research Associate at the University of Hong Kong. He has worked as a
Research Associate at Waseda University and Project Research Fellow at the
University of Tokyo.

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