What does it mean if a company asks for your SSN number prior to hiring you?

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Id say they are going to do a background check. If you are on the fence as to applying to the job or not, ask the employer. At Radio Shack for instance, they ask for a Social Security Number to make sure you are not a theft risk as an employee.  

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One of the major reason these days is to be certain you are who you say you are. There are a lot of fake ID's with SSN#'s belonging to someone else. Almost every application for every job requires you to give your SSN.  

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Most every application requires you to put down a Social Security Number, it's not good hiring practice to just come right out and ask, without some kind of actual application. I would say it's just part of the application process.
A lot of companies nowdays do backround checks, fraud is such a common practice you never know who is who and what they are really being honest about. It's a way of protecting themselves, and you. To check out if you can legally work here, if you have had convictions that would cause you to not be able to work for them. Some companies even check your credit.  

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Companies in CA require SSN as part of I-9 Process for the INS (Immigration) department. The INS can show up at any time and do an audit of employee files and if the I-9 is not included with at least 2 forms of identification (CA Drivers License, or SSN card or Passport, Military ID, the company can be fined for failure to have this information. The information is kept in a separate from the employee personnel file, separate binder (usually alphabetized) with a copy of the I-9 and 2 forms of identification stapled together. Most companies will include a statement with the employment application and I-9 stating the I-9 must be completed and returned with two forms of identification within 3 days of employment.