**4. Methodology**

To test the proposed hypotheses, a survey questionnaire was chosen as a method in a quantitative approach. The questionnaire as a research method was chosen due to its

numerous advantages, such as the simplicity of use and the broad availability of respondents [61]. It is also easy to create and distribute. The survey was conducted through an online questionnaire created in Google Forms, and it consisted of closed-ended questions. All the details of the research were presented to the respondents, at the same time informing them that their answers were anonymous to avoid bias development.

The questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first part comprised questions concerning the respondents' demographics (gender, age, education, position in the company, and the company's core activity). The second part of the questionnaire measured independent variables—employer brand dimensions, while in the third part, the respondents had to answer questions that measured the dependent variable —affective organizational commitment.

#### **4.1 Sampling**

The sampling frame was chosen from the financial portal Finiinfo, which provides financial and operational information for Croatian companies [62]. A random sample of small and medium-sized enterprises was chosen from the data, taking into account their representation in the activity sector [63]. Every company was double-checked to make sure it fits the definition of SME [64]. The questionnaire was distributed in September 2022, to around 900 e-mail addresses, which were provided by the database. Given that all questions in the questionnaire were marked as mandatory, 100% of all completed questionnaires were considered valid. It took around 3 weeks to collect the answers, which resulted in 104 completed questionnaires, representing a response rate of 11.5%. The demographics of the sample, presented in **Table 1**, reveal that out of 104 respondents, 59.6% are women and 40.4% are men. The majority of respondents are aged between 31 and 51 (72.1%) and have a higher education level (73.1%). The respondents hold different positions in the organization and are employed in companies of various business activities, ranging from service industries to production, construction, and trade indicating that the sample is representative of the observed population [63].


*The Influence of Employer Brand Dimensions on the Affective Organizational Commitment… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112133*


**Table 1.**

*Characteristics of the respondents.*

### **4.2 Operationalization of the observed variables**

All observed variables, dependent and independent ones, were measured with a five-point Likert-type scale, whereby employees of small and medium-sized enterprises had to express their agreement or disagreement with given statements ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Cronbach's alpha coefficients of all observed variables are above 0.7, which indicate a high internal consistency of the instrument [65]. As a dependent variable, *affective organizational commitment* was measured with items from Allen and Meyer's Organizational Commitment Scale [37]. It is the multiitem scale that measures three different types of organizational commitment: affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. Since this study observes affective organizational commitment, 5 out of 8 questions from the indicated subscale were used in the questionnaire. Certain questions were changed from a negative form to a positive one, mostly to avoid later mistakes when coding the answers [66]. An example of the question included is: *"I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization*". Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient is 0.935.

The dimensions of employer branding, as independent variables, were measured with the "Employee Attractiveness ("EmpAt") Scale" [20]. This multiitem scale consists of 25 items measuring employer attractiveness through 5 dimensions: application value, interest value, social value, economic value, and development value. Each of the dimensions was measured with four items. Examples of the questions included are: "*The organization both values and makes use of my creativity*", or "*How important is it for you to have a good relationship with your colleagues*?". Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients of the scales are social value (α = 0.892), interest value (α = 0.798), economic value (α = 0.780), application value (α = 0.731), and development value (α = 0.785).
