A comparison of the language used by hard discounters (e.g. Aldi and Lidl) and traditional supermarkets (e.g. Sainsbury’s, Tesco) on their recruitment/careers webpages in the UK
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- Abstract
- By using the above analysis methods, the conclusions drawn from this study can be summarized in three main points. First, for both traditional and discount supermarkets, the language used in their recruitment web pages and job advertisements almost perfectly reflects their corporate values and culture. Second, there is no significant difference in the language used on their respective recruitment pages. However, the choice of adjectives, verbs and personal pronouns differs according to their respective attitudes towards their employees. For example, Sainsbury's and Tesco prefer to use “we” and “our”, while Aldi and Lidl prefer to use “me” and “our”. Therefore, the latter two give readers a more intimate feeling. Third, the most obvious difference between the two types of supermarkets in terms of their respective job advertisements focuses on the description of salary. While the traditional supermarkets do not use figures to give clear salary levels for job seekers, the two discount supermarkets use figures to clearly inform about the benefits they can offer to their employees. This may be a powerful way for discount supermarkets to promote their strengths, so as to attract more job seekers and establish their image as a big business for the public.