Deciphering the dynamic influence of competing job offers on recruiters' hiring decisions

This research investigates the impact of competing job offers on recruiters' hiring inclination toward the best available candidate. Across five studies, we explored how knowledge of such offers influences recruiters' decision making and showed that awareness of competing offers significantly sways hiring intentions. Our findings revealed that the mere presence of competing offers, rather than their quantity, can make recruiters' attitudes more favorable toward the candidate and increase hiring inclination. This pattern diverges somewhat from research and theory on social impact that finds additional, though decreasing, impact of additional others on social judgment. One reason for this, we suggest, is that competing offers create two opposing influences: Whereas additional offers increase favorability toward the candidate, they also decrease the likelihood that the candidate will accept the offer. Supporting this possibility, when the two mechanisms are no longer conflicting-because instead of offers, it is additional rejections of the candidate-then different numbers of rejections by others do have an impact (of making one less likely to make an offer). Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).