Elucidating the role of gender differences via TAM in e-recruitment adoption in India: a multi-group analysis using MICOM

Purpose This paper aims to answer two research questions: first, to study the factors that directly and indirectly influence the intentions of job-seekers and second, to examine the moderating role of gender differences in e-recruitment adoption through the application of technology acceptance model (TAM) in India. Design/methodology/approach A convenience sampling technique was used to collect online data via GoogleDocs through various online channels such as social media, LinkedIn and email. The final data was collected from 364 final-year graduates and postgraduate students to confirm the impact of female and male differences, measurement invariance in composite models (MICOM) and multi-group analysis (MGA). Findings The results indicated that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) have a direct impact on attitude (AT), whereas PU influenced behavioral intentions (BI) of job-seekers, but PEOU did not. AT directly leads to the BI. The outcomes of mediation analysis show that AT partially mediates the relationships between PU to BI and PEOU to BI. Further, the findings of MICOM and MGA showed that gender significantly moderates all the relationships between the constructs except for the influence of AT on BI. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the current literature, revealing that the original TAM model is still pertinent and effective in prevailing periods in emerging markets. The significance of PEOU and PU on AT and BI implies that job-seekers will strongly adopt e-recruitment when it is user-friendly and assist them to accomplish their tasks easily and efficiently. Moreover, gender has a vital moderating influence in e-recruitment adoption. In the case of females, the effect of PEOU is stronger, and for males, PU has a substantial impact on adoption. Practical implications Developers and recruiters should provide significant information related to salary, location and job profile on e-recruitment to enhance the adoption rate of online recruitment. Further, the usefulness of e-recruitment systems was more significant for males compared to females, whereas female job-seekers prefer the e-recruitment system, which is easy to use and operate. Originality/value This research fills a gap in the literature by examining the essential factors affecting the BI of job-seekers as well as empirically testing the impact of gender differences to adopt TAM for e-recruitment – an under-explored subject in developing countries like India.