There is compelling evidence on the benefits of employee referrals and how the hiring of an employee’s referral can positively influence important referrer outcomes. However, not all employee referrals make it through the selection process and are hired, and the literature is void of research examining how these referral rejections can impact referrers. The current paper seeks to address this gap. Drawing from social exchange theory, this paper argues that referrers will be negatively affected by referral rejections and certain boundary conditions (i.e., strength of the referrer-referral relationship, referrer constituent attachment, and perceived fairness in the hiring process) will buffer the negative effect. Across two experimental studies, results largely supported predictions. This research contributes to the literature by developing theory for how referral rejections negatively impact referrers, expanding the referral literature by being the first to consider referral rejections, and offering an empirical examination of referral rejections.
