Technology adoption in employee recruitment: The case of social media in Central and Eastern Europe

• Recruiters' intention to use social media relies on their job-related gains.
• Effort expectancy and social influence are also significant predictors.
• Facilitating conditions and behavioral intention to use social media impact usage.
• New interaction effects are found using education and managerial position.

Social technologies are increasingly used in several organizational functions, including human resource management. The focus of this study is on social media adoption in employee recruitment and selection in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The theoretical lens used in this study is the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), extended to include the impact of the recruiters' managerial position and educational level on technology adoption. Results obtained from partial least squares path modeling, using cross-sectional data collected from 224 recruiters, showed that the core hypotheses of the UTAUT were supported, namely the positive impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence on behavioral intention, as well as the positive impact of facilitating conditions and behavioral intention on usage behavior. As expected, the recruiters' characteristics triggered many interaction effects, but none of them impacted facilitating conditions. Managerial implications are discussed and future research suggestions are provided.