Social Identity Signaling in Public Relations: Job Pursuit Intention among Students With Marginalized Racial and Ethnic Identities and Queer Identities

This study is one of the first research investigations that examined the effectiveness of DEI cues on a fictitious public relations agency’s website in attracting early-career practitioners with marginalized racial and ethnic identities and queer identities by conducting a 2 (identify as marginalized or not) x 2 (high or low DEI cues) between-subject online experiment. By integrating social identity theory, intergroup emotions theory, and signaling theory, the present study provides an overview of the cognitive and affective process underlying how public relations students perceive DEI cues and evaluate a workplace. This study highlights the importance of DEI efforts and communication of such efforts and provides critical social-psychological insights for public relations research.