How recruitment signals become memes: competitive intelligence dynamics in ten Chinese AI firms
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This qualitative study analyses recruitment texts from ten Chinese AI firms using grounded theory, NVivo , and network visualisation to identify meta-memes that structure competitive recruitment signalling. The findings demonstrate how recruitment memes replicate across firms of different sizes, revealing differentiated signalling strategies under resource constraints and extending signalling theory towards a memetic intelligence perspective. By conceptualising recruitment texts as replicable informational units, this study extends traditional signalling theory and competitive intelligence research towards a memetic intelligence perspective. It contributes a micro-textual explanation of how competitive signals diffuse, stabilise, and evolve within technology-intensive labour markets.
Source: Future Business Journal
Authors: Heran Guan, Rossilah Jamil
Institution: University of Technology Malaysia
Language: English
Topic: Employer Branding and e-HRM
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7143468002