The Evolution of Employer Branding: A 25-Year Journey Through Global Trends, Thematic Clusters, and Intellectual Foundations

Abstract

Over the past two decades, employer branding has emerged as a strategic domain at the intersection of marketing, human resource management, and organizational behavior. This study conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of 145 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2024, drawing data from the Scopus database and analyzed using Biblioshiny (RStudio). The review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the intellectual evolution and thematic development of employer branding scholarship. Key findings reveal five major research streams: (1) internal branding and employee outcomes, (2) employer attractiveness and signaling theory, (3) digital and social media-based employer branding, (4) value-driven and CSR-oriented employer branding, and (5) employer brand equity and strategic talent management. Furthermore, a TCCM (Themes, Context, Characteristics, Methodology) synthesis highlights critical research gaps, including the dominance of Western corporate settings, limited cross-disciplinary perspectives, and a methodological reliance on survey-based studies. This review contributes to the literature by mapping the scientific landscape of employer branding and proposing a future research agenda that calls for greater contextual diversity, theoretical integration, and methodological innovation.