This study examines the role of positive communication in AI-generated recruitment messaging and its influence on Generation Z job seekers. Drawing on positive communication scholarship (Mirivel & Fuller, 2024) and the Human Needs Approach (Socha & Beck, 2015), we explore how AI-generated job descriptions shape anticipatory socialization and perceptions of workplace culture. Using qualitative focus groups, we identify key themes related to authenticity, engagement, and the fulfillment of fundamental psychological needs. Findings indicate that although positive communication enhances job attractiveness, job seekers remain skeptical of AI-generated content unless it aligns with real-world workplace values. Organizations must balance AI efficiency with human oversight to maintain trust and ensure transparency in recruitment messaging. This study contributes to business communication research by offering practical and pedagogical implications for AI-integrated hiring strategies and ethical recruitment communication.

Expectancy violations theory, a communicative framework, is applied in this study to understand how recent college graduates form, evaluate, and respond to violated job-searching expectations. In-depth interviews of college seniors ( N = 20) who were currently job searching helped answer the three research questions posed. Using a thematic analysis, the findings indicate that young job seekers evaluate some negative information positively because it reduces their uncertainty and that expectations and responses to expectancy violations change over time and are not stagnant, as the theory originally predicted. Other contributions, limitations, and teaching implications are discussed.